Christmas dresses on and ready for church!

This morning the girls wore their Christmas dresses and I was so excited Parker was in a good mood for pictures; she was actually cooperating with me and smiled on cue! Haven, on the other hand, was annoyed that Parker got to sit on the Snowman gift box and she was on the floor. Thankfully, she is old enough to reason with and bribe... so I did manage a few good shots!

Haven turns FOUR!

Haven celebrated her 4th Birthday this last Saturday. I learned from last year and decided to take the party OUT OF THE HOUSE! We went to our local gymnastics center and had a group of her friends run around, play, jump and eat cupcakes. It was the perfect party... for all of us.

We also had Nate's sister, Bekah, and her new fiance, Mike, here to visit. It was really fun for the girls to hang out with Auntie Bekah. We had an early Christmas together and loved sharing all of it with family.

Finally, I just had to add a picture of my friend Jody and I with our ugly Christmas sweatshirts on as we participated at our MOPS Ugly Christmas sweater contest! Don't be too jealous of how hot we look. =0)

Crazy moment of the week: This last week all of us girls were struck with the 24 hour stomach flu. I left MOPS early yesterday because I was feeling nauseated and knew I needed to get home. I grabbed Haven from Preschool and was driving home when I began to feel my mouth water. I threw out some items that were in a plastic TJMaxx bag in the driver's seat and fortunately, one with no holes in the bottom. I ralphed in the bag while driving my kids home down Reserve Street. I like to think I just accomplished a whole new level of multitasking. I managed to keep the vehicle in the middle of the lane and we did make it safely home.

December Madness

I haven't posted a blog for a while. Mainly, because I use Facebook more and more now as my main resource of communication and connection, and partly because the demands of "mom" get the best of my time. Or, I just am lazy. If it is alright with you, I am just going to skip over Halloween and Thanksgiving and jump right into December.

I am going to call this month December Madness. Mainly because of all that happens in this month for us! I really enjoy all the festivities and love the lights, the baking, the decorations around the house, the advent calendar on the wall counting down the days... it all makes me feel cozy and assured that this is the time to share love, joy and peace with the ones we love. So far, December has been a lot of fun... but it does feel like madness at times! At the beginning of the month, I hosted and help decorate a table for our church's women's Christmas tea. It is so fun to have Heidi and her husband, Justin here in Missoula. She had the most darling Kate Spade china (with pok-a-dots) and I contributed the centerpiece and favors. It was our first time hosting for the event, so we did arrive later than we should have, forgot that we needed candles (I took a few tea lights from the kitchen so we wouldn't be the only ones no shimmering with light), and were the last table to tear down.

Haven and I attended the Christmas Teddy Bear Tea together. She loved meeting Santa and Mrs. Clause, make a craft (her jingle necklace), sip her tea and listen to a story read by Mrs. Clause. It was fun to hang out together (minus our cute, but crazy 17 month old) and feel like Christmas has truly come!

Pumpkin Patch

Time for the Annual Pumpkin Patch! It definitely is a right of passage for Fall and something we enjoy participating in every year. We moms love the opportunity to take CUTE pictures and show off our kiddos among all the pumpkins. My in-laws brought the neighbor girls and my dear friend, Jody, joined us with her two boys, Colby and Landon.

Fall

I haven't been in the blogging mode lately - mainly because our September was busy. Now that it is October, the weather is cool and the leaves are dropping leaving the skeletal tree branches bare and ready for snow (we had snow October 7th!). I am slowly changing gears to hibernating season. I am cooking more, layering more, reading more, drinking hot drinks more - all things I love. Speaking of love, I love my girls! Here are a few pics of them before church this past Sunday. Sisterly Love...

USC vs. UW

I can truly say this was the one of the MOST exciting games I have ever had the pleasure to watch live! Since Nate is a die-hard, committed, loyal, strangely infatuated Trojan fan and one of my best friends , Lisa, is now Mrs. Tuiasosopo (married to Marques who was a former UW quarterback and is now on the UW coaching staff), we made the long trek to connect on Saturday for the big game. I am so glad we did! Not only did I get to see my dear friend, Lisa and her new baby boy, Braydon, I got to see Nate cry and weep as his powerhouse USC team bowed down to the UW Huskies! Obviously, I was rooting for purple and gold.

During game time, my parents took the girls to the Woodland park zoo. They had a blast seeing every animal and exhibit there. As a result, they both crashed when they hit their car seats for the trip home.

We were also able to meet up after the game with our newly relocated #1 babysitter and friend - Kyleigh - who is now a Northwest University student. We took her out to dinner and Haven got to give Kyleigh one more hug before we get to see her again in December.