Happy 29th Ryan!

This amazing and wonderful husband of mine celebrated his 29th birthday last week! Since it was on a Sunday Ryan and I went out to lunch at PF Changs while my parents watched the girls. It was such a nice, peaceful lunch. Then we did a little bit of Christmas shopping. 

On Sunday, we celebrated his birthday by a day of delicious food. I made the yummy pudding rolls and sausage for breakfast, an Asian pasta salad for lunch, and for dinner we had Bob and Sue join us for some Chicken Parmigiana. 

Birthday presents this year included: a new pocket knife, car cell phone charger, new running socks, new extra large towels, some new clothes, Boggle, and some birthday checks (which he got a new coat with). 

I love this man so much! I am so grateful for him and for how much he does for our family. I am so proud of him and all that he has accomplished by the age of 29. He is such a great example to me, and I am so lucky to call him mine! Happy birthday honey!

November Randoms

We had such a beautiful fall. It was very mild, which made for many warm fall days. One morning, we met our friends Jess and Oliver at the park and enjoyed the awesome weather. Penny was having a tough time, but I just had to capture this amazing frown. She is the just the cutest. Livy, also the cutest thing ever, just said, "Wee...wee...wee..." every time I pushed her on the swing. She was on the swing for over 30 minutes. We are now looking forward to some fun times in the snow!

 We have also had such a great time this last year having dinner with Grandpa almost every single Wednesday and Sunday. Livy calls him "Other Grandpa". She loves to give him big hugs. This picture was taken one night when she volunteered him to play catch with her with her stuffed animal. I'm loving this time we are able to spend with him. 

I have the best friends. Even if it has been months and maybe even years things are just where we left them. We had a last minute get together to introduce little Penny, as well as Liz's little Matilda. I hope we can continue to get together for years to come. 

This was the years first snow in Provo. Livy was so excited, she wanted to go outside and touch it, run in it and play in it. She's especially excited about her new coat that has a little pink owl on it and a belt with a bow on it. 

Livy's preschool went to the Fire Station last week. We learned there is a difference between a Fire Engine and a Fire Truck (the truck has the big ladder), got to see all of their equipment, and they taught them to call "911" if they see a fire, and to "Stop, drop and roll" and showed them what a real fire fighter looked like in all of his gear so they wouldn't be scared if they ever saw him in an emergency. The kids were all slightly frightened, but loved it at the same time. 

 Baby Pen is a great little helper with the laundry. This is how I'm often carrying the laundry up and down the stairs. 

Sisterly love. Livy will most of the time ignore Penny, but occasionally she'll give her the sweetest little hugs and kisses.  

This has become one of my new favorite things, Penny loves looking at herself in the mirror. She thinks it's pretty funny. She almost gets herself laughing. 

Ryan went on a business trip to North Carolina, so I was lucky enough to have help from Mimi and Grandpa, and even got treated to a night at one of our favorites, Brick Oven.

3 Months

Sweet Baby Penny is 3 months old! She is such a joy. I always have people asking how she is, and my response every time is, "She's perfect". Honestly, this baby is such a dream. She has been sleeping 7-9 hours every night from about 10 pm - 5 am, then she eats and goes right back to sleep till about 8 am. She is happy for about an hour, then will sleep, eat, play, repeat. She is such a sweetie. She spends most of her day naps in her swing, but she'll go right to sleep at night with out much of a fuss and sleep in her bed all night long.  

She has been such a big smiler the last few weeks. She loves to be talked to, and loves hearing different noises, especially a purring noise. Almost every time we make her smile, she turns her head (like the picture up on the left). She has the sweetest little smile, and little dimples on each cheek. She has the most kissable cheeks. Penny has had a lot more awake time where she is content and happy, which is so nice. She doesn't have to be held all of the time. She really has started to enjoy my mom's little bouncer that has some lights, music, and moving parts. She'll kick her feet, and swat her hands. We love this little girl so much and are so grateful for the happiness she brings into our home. We love you Baby Pen!

Snow Canyon Half Marathon 2013

While I was still pregnant, some how I thought I'd be ready to run the Snow Canyon Half only 2 1/2 months after I had a baby. Well, that did not happen. I was able to run 3 miles that other day though! But last month Ryan decided it'd be fun to have a little get-a-way and run the beautiful course through Snow Canyon. The girls were absolutely perfect during the drive. Livy was great with her iPad, and Penny slept almost the entire time we were on the road, besides the last 30 minutes or so. We were fortunate enough to get to stay in Ryan's Aunt Nancy's home down there. It was a such a beautiful and relaxing weekend. Ryan did awesome in his race too! He felt great, and had a great time, and said it was probably one of his favorite races ever!  As we were leaving to meet Ryan at the finish line I realized the race came right by the house we were staying in. So we were able to stop and cheer him on a few times! I was so proud of this handsome and tenacious husband!!

It was way too cold to go swimming, but I really loved this view all weekend. 

Halloween 2013

There was no question what Livy wanted to be for Halloween this year. She has been talking about it ever since last Halloween. Ariel. Not just Ariel, but Ariel in the Pink Dress. We were grateful for a modest Ariel and not one with a tight fin and a shell bikini top. I was so happy we found a dress and wig to complete the perfect Ariel look. Livy was in heaven. She was so funny when I first put on the wig, she immediately started singing, "Ah, ah, ah... ah, ah, ah..." just like Ariel. 

On Halloween we realized that our schedules collided a bit so we all got together last minute for a fun Halloween lunch party! Ryan and David were able to leave work, and Crissi brought all of her girls. Including the sweet 1 week old Brooklyn!! 

Penny. Oh Penny. Just the cutest little ladybug ever. 

That evening we went to Qualtrics for their Halloween family party. I decided last minute that Ryan and I were going to dress up too. So We found a decent wig for Ryan so he could be Prince Eric with Livy. And I was a bee with Penny. Livy is always calling Ryan Prince Eric, so I thought this was a perfect time for her dream to come true. They were the cutest. Livy was so happy. And Ryan on the other hand, was a trooper, but he is a much better blond! 

We went to my parent's ward Trunk-or-Treat since we missed our wards' a few weeks ago. Penny was cold, tired and hungry, so Ryan took Livy up to go trick-or-treating with Grandpa Bob. He said she was the best and cutest trick-or-treater. Once again, she really only wanted pink candy. But she accepted a few brown ones. It was a fun and successful Halloween.