Change....(a long one with tons of pictures)

 Has it really been over 3 months since I've last updated this poor blog? I know I made a goal to be better about updating our memories, but in my defense it's been a pretty crazy few months. Lots of emotions. Lots of memories. Lots of experiences. So here's a quick update on what our family has been up to....some with pictures and some without.

1. We had a wonderful Christmas! We were able to see most of our families, which is the best part if you ask me!

2. Emily started going to a new gym for her gymnastics classes. She loves it and had really improved!

 3. Geoff and I were able to go to the Tabernacle Choir's Christmas Concert with his parents. It was wonderful and I'm really hoping it can become one of our new Christmas traditions every year!

 4. Emily has discovered how much she loves to draw. I think she's pretty talented! The first one if a fisherman and the second is a cowboy. :)

 5. Miss Abby is now a Sunbeam. It's really hard to believe she's a primary girl now! She's has mixed feelings about it too. She wanted to wear her favorite yellow dress on her first Sunday as a Sunbeam because it's the color of the sun, of course!

6. Geoff and I have been spending alot of time going thru old pictures and backing them up. I came across this one and had completely forgotten about it. I love it. This picture was taken on a Sunday afternoon hike. I found out I was pregnant with Emily a few weeks after this. This picture brings tears to my eyes for many reasons. I love it!

 7. Abby was invited over to our favorite photographer's house for a photoshoot. Of course Emily couldn't let Abby be the only one getting pictures taken! (That girl loves a photoshoot!) I'm thrilled with the results! We are so grateful to have Alyona in our life! She is such a great friend to me and Emily and does such a great job of capturing their cute personalities!

 (Sophie had to get in on the fun, too.)

 8. We got to meet the biggest dog I have ever seen. Mr. Apollo is Patty's new dog and Abby is completely smitten with him. She lovingly calls him "Aunt Pollo" and can't wait for him to visit again. 

9. Abby learned about Police Officers at preschool and proudly announced that she is and "op-fficer just like Uncle Mike!" the entire day she would shout out "Op-fficer Abby reporting for duty!" Funny girl!

 10. I discovered that there actually is love in our little family! (Sometimes I'm not so sure!) I thought this little note was so sweet. 

 11. We got a dog! Well.....for about 4 days. Abby has been begging for a dog and so on a whim we went to the pet store. As soon as Geoff held this little guy he was sold. Almost immediately I noticed the hives and sneezing and itching starting. I tried to just deal with it but after waking up with my eyes swollen shut, we decided he had to go. Poor guy.

12. Geoff, his dad, and my dad build a shed. This man of mine always amazes with his talent and determination. 

 13. The girls climbed our new trees. 

 14. Our last walk home from Emily's school.

15. And the biggest change of all.....we MOVED!! Into a HOUSE! Of our very OWN!!! I'm pretty sad that this is the only picture I took of the big move. It was such a busy day and I didn't even think of taking pictures.

 16. Saying good-bye to our old home was very emotional for me. 

 We lived in this townhouse for 4 years! I hated it...but I also loved it. I learned a lot while living here. I brought two babies home here. We witness countless miracles and answered prayers here. It was my safe place...a place where we taught our girls about Heavenly Father and how to pray to Him. This home will always have a tender place in my heart. We made so many friends that I hope will last forever. And we belonged to a wonderful ward that helped us, prayed for us, and basically took care of us when we couldn't. That being said, I'm so excited for our new home! It's so nice that the girls have a backyard of their very own and space to run and play. I'm excited to be back in my home ward and just around the corner from my parents. Right before we moved in I could hear the girls in the backyard. Emily pulled them close to her and pointed out that they could see Grandma and Grandpa Sant's house. I heard her say "Aren't we the luckiest girls to get to live so close to grandma and grandpa?" I'm excited for the new memories we will create here. Life is good!

A boring few weeks

We really haven't had alot going on the last few weeks. It's been pretty nice because I know the next month will get a little hectic with Christmas approaching. 

\A few weeks ago Emily became and All-Star Reader. She's very proud of this accomplishment and worked very hard to achieve it. She had a goal of learning 150 sight words by the end of 1st grade. For every 25 words she passed off she earned a star for her shirt. We are so proud of her!! 

 Abby had her Thanksgiving Feast for preschool. I was so tempted to just skip the whole thing because I was pretty sure she wouldn't even go up on stage to do her part. But we went and she did great! Grandma and Grandpa Sant came and could tell that it made Abby happy that they came just for her. She had no desire to do any crafts and kept saying "There is too many people for me!" So when it came time for her to go up on stage we were all surprised when she went with her class. She even said her part: "They'll make a feast of me if I should stay."

I love this picture of Grandpa and Sophie coloring. He was just a big help to entertain her during Abby's program.

 Emily decided it was time to get her hair cut. I made me a little sad because her hair was getting so long. But she said it was always getting in the way and she was tired of the tangles. I think she looks pretty darn cute with her new do. It fits her bouncy personality. She's excited to surprise everyone at school tomorrow.

 I thought these two pictures were funny. This is how Sophie entertained herself during Sacrament Meeting today. She stayed under that chair for most of the meeting and sang and chatted to herself. It made it pretty nice for the rest of us! I was actually able to listen today!

Abby has been practicing writing her name. I think she's doing pretty good! She turns the paper upside down and writes a V and then turns it to the right side, crosses the V and continues on with the rest. Pretty funny. She is very proud of herself and I'm proud, too. It does make me a little sad that she's growing up, though! 

Sick of being sick!!!

(Geoff and the girls watching a movie on the computer.)

 Last week was pretty much a "recovery week". Almost everyone in our house was sick. Sadly, the mom was the very sickest.....that's not supposed to happen!! I got a cold about a month ago....not a bad cold, just an annoyance. But as time went on I became sicker and sicker and my cough got pretty nasty sounding.  I was exhausted all the time and couldn't really function....I was just in "survival mode" while Geoff was at work and the kids watched ALOT of TV. The minute he walked in the door I would head to bed. I was starting to get worried so Geoff called his brother who's a PA and he said that most likely I had walking pneumonia and prescribed me some meds. Within a few days I could tell I was slowly getting better. Everyone else had a colds, fevers, croupy coughs, puking, and pink eye. It's been pretty rough around here! We've had the humidifier running around the clock and we've been dishing out lots of cough medicine and Motrin.

Emily is still coughing and I'm wondering if we need to head to the doctor to make sure she doesn't have pneumonia. But, even though we've all been miserable, life still goes on. Here's a few things that happened this week.

Tuesday was this handsome man's 34th birthday. We had some fun things planned in Idaho Falls, but he ended up having to work all day which was such a huge bummer. By the time he got home from work it was bedtime for the girls, so we had a quick dinner of French Toast, bacon, and hash browns, and then opened his presents. Emily really wanted to get him a rake and she had the perfect one picked out....and old rusty one from Grandpa Sant's shed. Silly girl. Thankfully Grandpa let her have it. (I'm sure Geoff was thrilled with it!) And funny Abby wanted to get him some hot dogs. She wouldn't let us leave the store until she could pick out the perfect hot dogs for her favorite daddy. We just love this man so much!! He is the best husband and daddy. He works so hard to provide a good life for us. I know he's so tired all the time, but he always tries to be happy and full of energy when he gets home from work. He isn't one of those men who just sits around when he's home, either. He's always up helping with the kids and helping me get things picked up. I love him!

I'm sad this is the only picture I took of him that day. He was pretty spoiled with some ammo, a book about Mormon outlaws, and a bunch on money and gift cards for new tools. I'm still sad that his day didn't turn out how we had planned. Hopefully sometime soon we can have a "make-up" day and have some fun in Idaho Falls. 

I'm pretty sure Sophie is going to drive me batty before her 3rd birthday! If she isn't getting into things she shouldn't, she is climbing or destroying something. (Amazingly, the minute the other two girls aren't around she turns into a cuddly angel.) This latest battle wound was quite the doosy. Geoff and I were trying to get the furniture moved after cleaning the carpets and we heard a loud crash followed by screaming. Never good. Geoff found Sophie on the floor of the girls bedroom next to Emily's dresser that was tipped over and their TV and DVD player on the floor. Thankfully she just got a cut under her eye...that turned into a pretty good black eye the next day. I am so grateful that that's all that happened to her....it could've been SOOOO much worse! Hopefully that'll teach her a little lesson.

While Geoff and I were out on a date with some friends, we got a call from Emily that she had lost a tooth!! YAY!! This tooth has been loose for months and really needed to come out. The only problem was that she lost it so Grandma Sant helped her write a letter explaining what happened. She was pretty relieved that The Tooth Fairy left her some money anyway. 

A busy week!!!

What 6 year old girl knows how to tie a perfect slip knot? I'm proud to say that our girl knows how!! 

 Geoff went in to check on Emily one night this week and found this slip knot around her wrist and another one around the leg of her favorite stuffed tiger. I guess she was worried about him running away in the night. Silly girl!! 

 This is one of those moments that I hope I'll never forget. Since we got our piano, Emily has been really excited about singing along. While we were at my parents house she asked Grandma Sant if they could play some songs. Mom played some familiar primary songs while Emily sang along. I'm so grateful I could be there to watch. I hope Emily will always remember that special time.

 Monday was Crazy Hair Day at school. Emily was so excited and planned and planned how she wanted her hair done. She decided on a mohawk with knots. If you know anything about me then you'd know that hair and makeup are not my strong point. (I really need to work on this since I have 3 girls!) Well, this is what we came up with and she was beyond thrilled!

 

Tuesday was Crazy Sock Day.

Wednesday was Abby's Preschool Halloween Party. She DID NOT want to go and she let me know that she "hates everything that is fun!" I'm glad we forced her to go because she ended up having a great time. Her party was the last hour of class and when we got there she had big smile on her face....but quickly turned it to a frown the minute she saw us. I'm on to her! She's trying to trick us into thinking she doesn't like preschool but I know deep down she loves it. 

 Wednesday night was our ward Trunk-or-Treat and Carnival. They were so excited to get their costumes on! Thankfully I have the bestest friends who takes pity on my poor children and offered to do Emily's makeup both days. (She also fixed Emily and Abby's hair on Thursday!) I think their costumes turned out pretty darn cute this year.

 Emily was so excited to be spooky this year. No princess stuff for this girl!

 This is how Abby wore her mask most of the night. Funny girl!

 Abby and her bestie, Teagan. These two are the cutest together!

I'm pretty confident that the girls had a fun Halloween. They got to see some friends and family and got way too much candy. It was a fun week and I'm glad it's over. Now, on to the good holidays!! Thanksgiving and Christmas here we come!!