We had a wonderful Christmas Day!! It was very busy, but so great. We started out the morning at 7:30, with just Ali. It was nice and quiet. I started making a batch of sugar cookies for Elder Willis. He had seemed a little down hearted the night before and so we thought that would cheer him up. I got that done and then started another batch of rolls for our lunch at 12:00 noon.

Andie woke up at 8:30 and came down the stairs. We didn't even hear her. When I turned, I saw her eyes filled with excitement as she saw her new toy kitchen next to the Christmas Tree. I caught a little on tape of her "hopping" for excitement. It was great!!

We opened presents as a family and had a great time! We were so blessed with all of the fun gifts and toys from everyone! Thank you so much!

After presents, we had the sister missionaries join us for breakfast. The night before we discovered that we both planned on having French Toast, so we thought we would combine our efforts. It was fun just having the sisters over!! When they left, it was time to roll out the rolls...OOPS!!! I had given my rolling pin to the Elder's to make their sugar cookies and they were gone for the day! So, I used a tall glass, that kinda worked, but made it a longer process. Meanwhile, Shawn was bathing the girls and getting them ready for the day.

In the middle of my roll making, I made a pumpkin roll as well. I had received a call the night before from an investigator would "would like a pumpkin roll for Christmas!" I thought, "Wouldn't we all!" She asked if I would make her one and I didn't know how to say no. Needless to say, it just put one more thing on the to do list Christmas Morning.

By 11:30, the rolls were baked, the pumpkin roll prepared and Shawn and the girls were all ready. I sent them to deliver the pumpkin roll and I jumped in the shower to be ready for our 12:00 lunch! It was a little place on Heaven to get out of the shower and getting ready, realize no girls were crying, nothing was baking - it was nice and quiet!!

We had been invited to the Standor's house for Christmas Dinner. Did I mention I also made a trifle for this? We took our rolls and trifle and had a great time!! It was so nice of them to invite us over - the food was delicious and the conversation was great.

We left around 2pm so that we could be home for when Elder Pratt called. Around 3pm, no Elder Pratt call yet, but the sister's had come over again so they could call home. Needless to say, by the time they were done with their calls, we had missed Elder Pratt! No worries though - it was for a good cause!! Elder Pratt - we love you and know you are doing the Lord's work!!

At 5:30 we headed out again for the Bradley's home where we had been invited for over for pie. Sister Bradley had made pumpkin and cherry pie and I my second cheese cake. We enjoyed pie and then played 5 crowns and apples to apples.

At 8:30 we left and headed over to the Palmer's!!! We were so excited to visit them. They were great - they made us yummy fish sticks at 9:30 at night and then we played the game SET while all the kids played and had fun. By 11:30, we had decided we had a great day and called it quits!! Thanks Lance and LeAnn - we really had a blast!!

Well - that was our Christmas Day - We have been resting and recovering since (hence the delay for posting! haha) Of course, we missed home and family, but feel so blessed that we could spend the day with such great friends. Our lives really have been so blessed since moving to Georgia and we couldn't be in a better situation.

We are grateful for the gospel in our lives and home. We wish that everyone had a joyous Christmas Holiday and are looking forward to a wonderful New Year!!

Christmas Eve Celebrations!

We had an eventful Christmas Eve. I made my first Turkey!! Let me tell you, the most disgusting thing I have ever done!! Pulling out the neck and the bag full of whatever! It broke and the liver, heart - I don't know what was falling into my hands as I was on the phone with my dad freaking out!! Thanks for talking me through it dad - but it was gross!! I was afraid I would never want to eat Turkey again! I did forget to take finishing pictures - but it turned out EXCELLENT!!! I even made homemade stuffing, which was divine!! (Yes, it includes all those turkey parts! YUCK! - but it makes it delicious!

Along with our turkey and stuffing, I made mashed potatoes, gravy, homemade rolls, spinach salad, pear jello and cheesecake. We also had corn and green beans. It all turned out so yummy. Why so much food you might ask? Well, we had invited the missionaries over who are our neighbors - 6 in all. We had a great dinner, followed by the nativity story and then some fun games.

Sister Shaw and Sister Chipman
Elder Willis, Elder Edwards, Elder Rasmussen and Elder HeapsWe had a great time with them all!
Broderick Family on Christmas Eve
The night ended with the girls opening their Christmas Pajama's! Thanks Grandma T!!
Andie was so excited that Ali got Minnie Mouse Pajama's - she wanted to wear them to bed. They kinda fit - it was funny!!


Such funny girls!! They are too cute!

More Birthday Fun...

Yes - It has been a while, but life has finally calmed down a bit. We have had such a BUSY Christmas holiday. It has been a blast. So here we go - more pictures of Andie's Birthday Bash!! In the afternoon, we went bowling with Andie. She had so much fun.
Ali and Shawn
Mom helping "push"She loved waiting for the ball to pop back up after she sent it down the lane. Rarely would she wait to see if she hit any of the pins, she just wanted to get her ball back. It was hilarious.
We let her ride in the car with Kermit the Frog. As soon as I put the quarter in and it started moving, she didn't like it as much!
I attempted making the cake, and it was good - but my frosting was too soft to decorate it cool, so it looks not so delicious. Oh well.
Andie licking the spatula from making the cake!Andie liked her cake, I had to help her blow out the candle though!We made birthday hats for everyone that came. The Palmer's and Gleason's were great sports for wearing them! It was fun!!Megan - Mary, MaryAmber and AmyJocelyn and Brian. Joy was taking pictures for me - thanks Joy!
Thanks to everyone who came to her party, but also to everyone who couldn't come. Grandma's did a great job and she loved all of her new toys, books, puzzles and presents!! We are so lucky to have such great family and friends!!

I got an AWARD!!!

Made you look!! I really got tagged from my friend JOY and this is how she presented her tag, so I thought I would follow suit.

Here are the rules: Tell about the person who tagged you and then tag your friends!

Let me tell you about JOY! JOY has been such a great friend since last December. When Shawn came out to Georgia to visit, it was Brian and JOY who offered to put him up for a few nights! Instantly serving!! Today, I am staying home with the girls from church, because they are too sick to attend. I e-mail JOY to see if we can borrow some Christmas movies, really just Miracle on 34th Street. She not only drops them off on their way to church, but brings me 5 movies!!! She's great. She has been such a good friend since we have come to Georgia, I love when we go walking together and have play dates together. Thanks JOY for bringing JOY into my life (sorry, I couldn't resist!!)

I tag....JILL and anyone else who wants to write about me. :)

Happy Birthday Andie!!!!

Today our little girl is TWO year's old. Can you believe it?

We have started out the day in sets of TWO's!

First - she ate TWO bowls of cereal for breakfast!!
Second - She got to open TWO presents. She got a new pair of pants, which she wasn't too excited for. She opened the top of the present and said, "Pants!" Then she put it down and looked for her next present.
Her second present was a shirt. She was so excited to wear it, she ran upstairs when we said, "Go take a bath and you can wear your new clothes!!"


After her bath, we painted her toenails and fingernails PINK!!

She is trying to get a sneak peek at the rest of her presents!!
We will keep updating the post throughout the day so you can see all the fun things we do! Wish you were all here to celebrate with us!!

Two Cute Sisters!!

I must say...although it has been challenging having kids so close in age, it has definitely been worth it. Andie and Ali are spending more time together playing, laughing and just being plain silly. Here are a few pictures. The way Ali is growing, she might be walking in the next month or two!! She pulls herself up on EVERYTHING and just tries to do ALL that Andie does. It is great!
Santa Claus visited Athens on Saturday - Ali loved him and they each got a stuffed animal from him! Thanks Santa!!
Andie was a little suspicious, but at least she didn't cry, right!!
Silly girls. I rotated the picture and saved it before I posted, but I guess it didn't want to switch! Any suggestions?

We hope all our friends and family are having a WONDERFUL holiday season!

RS Enrichment Christmas Party

Life is finally starting to slow down. The last few weeks it seems I have been baking, making and providing food for a lot of parties - it has been fun and I love to bake, but it is nice to have a break.

Here are a few pictures from our December Enrichment. I was in charge of making Grandpa's bean dip, pumpkins rolls and mint brownies!! They were all delicious and turned out great!!

We had a fun White Elephant gift exchange and then a short presentation on the true meaning of Christmas - which is Jesus Christ.

So, as we were encouraged, I will encourage you too! Share the gift of the gospel this season - you will feel great if you do!

Facebook

So - I thought that blogging was addicting, but really, FACEBOOK is so much worse. Maybe there was a reason I never joined. It has been so fun finding people and checking up on them. What do you think? Facebook, Blogging or both?

Ok - I need ideas...

I was so blessed with my first child to sleep through the night at 6 weeks and has kept with it for two years. My lovely 2nd child however does not. She wakes up usually 3-4 times a night wanting to be rocked, her pacifier, or just to be awake. We feed her at 5am. Have tried other feedings, but it doesn't seem to help. So, she is not hungry. She is warm, we play music. We have tried letting her just cry herself back to sleep but there were 2 problems: First, she shares a room with Andie and has woken her up. Second, she stands up on the crib and can't figure out how to let go to get back down.

So - the question is posed. How can I get her to sleep? I should also mention she does not take naps during the day and if she does, it will not last longer than 45 minutes. PLEASE any type of suggestion is welcome...and I am so sorry for you mothers out there with this problem!! It is not a fun one!