Ok- I REALLY want one of these....

So one of my favorite blogs, Brown Paper Packages, is offering a giveaway for a Silhouette. I have never entered a blog giveaway but there is nothing on this earth I want more than a Silhouette- oh the possibilities!! Follow the link and check it out, and look around the blog for awhile- pure genius!!

http://brownpaper--packages.blogspot.com/2010/12/silhouette-machine-giveaway.html

25 Days of Christmas- Days 1-5

In an attempt to squeeze every last moment

of Christmas fun out of this December, I created 25 Days of Christmas. Start with one advent calendar, add some candy, mix in 25 Christmas activities and TA DA- a month full of fun! Here are the highlights so far...

Day 1- Take a Santa lunch to Daddy at work

The kids were super excited to surprise Nate at work with Einsteins Bagel sandwiches (I craved these in California where nobody can make a decent bagel). No pictures due to the fact that Nate would have killed me if I had whipped out the camera in front of the entire cafeteria at his building but we had a good time.

Day 2- Sugar Cookies

We had to bring 4 dozen sugar cookies to the Ward party so Linc and I strapped on our aprons and made a giant mess in the kitchen. The cookies were baked and cooled by the time Grandma and Grandpa got home so we frosted and sprinkled for the rest of the night. Martha Stewart may not have approved of the decorating but they did taste good!

Day 3- BG1 Ward Christmas Party

We took the family to the Christmas party at the church building and we all had a good time- the kids mostly enjoyed the cookies and rolls! Linc found some new friends to run around with and we enjoyed catching up with old friends.

Day 4- Decorate the Christmas tree

In our house growing up this was always done the day after Thanksgiving but thanks to mom and dad's new windows being installed, decorating got pushed back into December- which was perfect for us! Reagan wanted to eat the ornaments and actually broke a large glass one (there was only temporary panic :) and Linc wanted to put every single ornament on the same branch. We had to do some adjusting afterwards. Nate helped Linc put the angel on the top of the tree (but not before Nate reminded me, once again, that angels do not have wings!) Now the tree is up and gorgeous and Reagan wants to walk in the room and touch it at least five times a day!

Day 5-Write our Letter to Santa

I found this cute Santa letter design on one of my favorite Blogs and did my best to replicate it with my own humble computer and printer. I thought it turned out cute but I was definitely more excited about it than Linc was. I had to practically staple him to the floor so he would sit still long enough to tell me what he wanted to write to Santa. Although he has no problem telling me every day what he wants (a hippopotamus and a bike) he just didn't want to bother writing it to Santa- maybe next year :)

My baby is ONE!!

I don't know where the time went but suddenly our baby girl was a year old!! She has really been such a fun and easy baby that I sometimes feel like we forget her in the chaos of our lives! Somehow she has survived though and we love watching her learn new things and grow into a little person. Reagan is an extremely lazy baby and is content to just sit there and watch the world pass by. She loves noise and activity and is the most content when surrounded by lots of people. Everyday she looks more and more like her Aunt Kimmy and her Grandma Devlin- I often wonder if strangers think I am her nanny since she looks nothing like me! We are working on pulling up to standing and one day, I hope, she will start walking. She was definitely born to live life at her own pace, much like her daddy! She and her brother are starting to play together which is fun to watch and Linc, for the most part, has been a very good big brother. We had a fun little party for Reagan with family and friends at our house. We had a great time celebrating our baby girl with those we love...

Just woke up from her nap to discover a bunch of people in her house

With cousin Haylee- the girls have to stick together

All pretty and ready for her party

The table decorations- Pinwheels and Polka Dots was the theme

Trying to touch the lit candle

Enjoying her cake- definitely my daughter!

Looks just like Aunt Kimmy

New books from Grandpa Bond

She wouldn't let go of the puppy- she's a snuggler

Thanks to Aunt Brenna who took all the beautiful pictures of the party!

4th of July

We had a really fun 4th of July although I missed the Vernon Hills Parade- it's a slice of Americana you know :) So we had our ward picnic on Saturday and the kids had fun swimming and playing in the Malcolms fabulous backyard. Sunday we had church, dinner at the Stokes, and fireworks at the Berretts. Everything went according to plan until Linc touched a sparkler to his face and got a nasty burn on his forehead (you turn away for one second and that's what happens!) Of course I forgot my camera for fireworks but here are some cute ones of the kids at the picnic.

Mom and Ray Ray

Linc played in this castle for the entire party- he cried when we had to leave it behind!

Dad and Reagan enjoying the picnic

On the Lake

We are so lucky to be friends with the Berretts, I have truly never met two people who were as kind, thoughtful, and generous as they are. What would my life have been like if I had never met Carroll?? She really is the sister I never had. So not only are they awesome people but they also have a boat. Now Nathan and I have never been boating people- it just isn't in our genetic makeup- but the Berretts have shown us the error of our ways. They took us to Pine Flats in April and we got to enjoy a beautiful day on the lake. We thought Linc would be terrified of tubing but he was super excited to get on it and loved every minute. He kept saying "faster, faster"- he is always full of surprises.

Nate and I went out first- so fun!

Nate with Linc, he wanted to go faster than Dad did!

Concentrating on keeping the front of the tube up- great face!!

Reagan chilled out the entire time in the boat. At least she looked good!

Visit from Grandma and Grandpa

So we have a lot of catching up to do, starting with our fabulous visit from my parents in March. We enjoyed showing them around Clovis and making a trip up to Sacramento to see David, Kelly, and their babies- Bear and Ripley. We also got to take Lincoln and Reagan to the California State Railroad Museum. We were so happy that Mom and Dad could visit- we don't get to see them often enough.

Almost everyone (we really missed Matt and his family)

David and Kelly and their babies

Linc loved watching Uncle Dave play his bagpipes

Nate really enjoying the museum

Our Family

Lincoln couldn't get enough of the Thomas Trains!

Grandpa showing Linc the kinds of trains he played with as a kid

Doesn't that just say it all??

Our kids are so lucky to have two grandparents who love them so much.

Love you mom and dad!

Kites, Leprechauns, and Bunnies!!

We have had quite an eventful few months here in Clovis and I just finally got around to downloading all our pictures from the new camera to the computer. We had a great time when Aunt Hedder and Jordan came for a visit. The weather was great and Heather and Jordan took all the kids on a picnic at the park. They even surprised the kids with kites to fly and, of course, Jordan took amazing pictures of the whole outing...

For St. Patrick's Day we started with a breakfast of green applesauce and french toast and then we organized a Leprechaun Hunt with some good friends (I copied the idea from my uber creative cousin Lacey- gotta give credit where credit is due). The kids followed shamrocks around the yard and found little surprises that the leprechaun had left for them until they finally found his pot of gold! I think they had a great time and I enjoyed celebrating our kid's Irish heritage!

Easter was a little hectic this year but the kids had fun so that's all that matters. Lincoln woke up and found not only his easter basket but also his sisters (Reagan slept through all the excitement). We tried to scale back on the candy this year since the past few years we have had a ton of candy lying around for months afterward and who really needs that? After baskets we had brunch at the Devlin's, then a fabulous easter egg hunt at Carroll's dad's home, back home for whirlwind naps, and then back to the Stokes for dinner. We were all a little exhausted by the end of the day. I think Lincoln liked the egg dying the most- we almost didn't do it but I'm glad we pulled it out in the end (even if it was at 9pm the night before!)

My parents had a wonderful visit this past week, I will try to blog about all the fun we had before the end of the week!