Our Little Crew is 2!!

Is it true?  Can he really be two?!!

It seems like just the other day he was born...

We love you so much, Crew!  Happy Birthday little man!

First Dance Recital

This past Tues. was Caysja's very FIRST dance recital ever.  It was so darling!  She did great and I was so proud of her! ( I have a video of it, but it's not letting me put it on here at the moment so I'll have to get Caleb to help me with that when he comes home in a week...)

Anyway, the theme was "Winter Wonderland".  Caysja's class did three dances with costume changes each time but this is the only costume I got a picture of, unfortunately.  (The costumes are rented, so I didn't get to take her picture in them when we got home either.)  Caysja's teacher's mother made each costume and she did a fantastic job.  I was really impressed with Caysja's teacher, Miss Kortney.  To get three and four year olds to learn ONE dance is amazing let alone THREE dances!  And they really knew them quite well!  I think Caysja may actually have a little bit of natural talent.  She really followed her teacher well and was right on the beat most of the time--plus, she told me she had so much fun!

My little dancer all dressed up and ready to "Rock around the Christmas tree"

Caysja, her cousin Mariah, and friend McKell before they went on stage

This is her whole class minus one girl

With her teacher, Kortney Calder

The girls also had the opportunity to perform (as a sort-of dress performance) for a retirement center in Idaho Falls, the Bon Adventure.  

Hugs!  

Caysja loves her cousin, Mariah, and she's so lucky to get to take dance with her this year.

Silly girls - Who knows what they were doing here!?  Pretending to be Santa Claus?

We had to take this picture because they have matching coats--and it wasn't planned that way either!

Giving Thanks 2010

Our biggest blessing this year was that Caleb made it home SAFELY from his rotation in Tacoma Washington on Thanksgiving day (about 2 am).  The roads were pretty bad in some places so we were so very thankful that he was okay!  Caysja and I colored a a big sign to surprise him.  He was so excited to see the kids after being gone for nearly a month, that he woke them up at 2 am to give them hugs and kisses.  They were SOOO happy to see him!  (And luckily for us, they did go back to sleep okay, thank heavens!)

We celebrated Thanksgiving at my parent's house.  My sister Chalise and her husband Steve came from Salt Lake.  Caysja said, "daddy, I'm so excited that you're here because today we're going to have 'roast beast' for dinner!"  (I couldn't figure out where she'd gotten that one until I remembered that she'd been watching "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and that's what they eat for dinner--she must have thought it was the same thing as turkey- ha ha!)

Chalise and me--she's growing her hair out.  

Could we pass for twins?

Silly girls!

Making pie with Grandma

Priesie and me
I had to take a picture of our matching hats (well...mine is actually a headband but close enough, eh?)

Crew was in heaven with Caleb around.  He always wanted to be where daddy was, doing whatever daddy was doing.

Caysja made these cute pilgrim/Indian costumes in Preschool
(do you like her pose?  It seems to be her favorite one lately...)

The day after Thanksgiving we got out Caleb's parent's Christmas tree and decor from their garage.  Then Caleb put the kids up in the shelves just for fun.  They loved it!  A secret hideout just their size!

We had a whole week with Caleb home and it was wonderful.  We went sledding, played in the snow, built forts, went to a movie, out to eat, to the temple, Christmas shopping, a family progressive dinner with Caleb's brothers, etc.  Today he left for his December rotation in Jacksonville, Florida.  We'll miss him but he'll be home for Christmas.  And guess what?  The end of November marks the half way point of this loooooong year of him being away from us!!  Woohoo--only 6 months to go til graduation in JUNE!

 Being apart these past 6 months has been pretty hard, I'm not going to lie.  But at the same time, I have a greater appreciation for Caleb and everything he does for me.  Heaven sakes, he's doing these away rotations this year for US--to be able to provide for us one day and I know it isn't easy on him either.  He is a wonderful husband and father and I can't wait til we are a whole complete family again.  

I LOVE YOU, Honey!

First Trip to the Dentist

Wow, my little girl is growing up!  Where does the time go?  A couple weeks ago I took Caysja to the dentist for the first time.  She got her teeth cleaned and was so brave throughout the whole thing.  I was so proud of her. 

She loved getting to watch a movie with the headphones on.

And the best part of all is...YIPPEE--no cavities!

Winter Wonderland

Arizona, I really miss you right now...

So I was really hoping for a light winter with very little snow...that went out the window when we got dumped on the first week of November!!  We must have had at least 6 inches to start and now we have over a foot.  My kids were pretty excited since it was their first experience with snow in their whole lives.  However, after walking around in it for a while, Caysja informed me, "snow is soooo cold--I want to go back to AZ where it's warm!"

Showing off her new snow boots

First snowball fight with her cousin Mariah

Building our first snowman (check out the dress-up ladybug wings Caysja's wearing-ha ha!)

Thanks for your help, Grandpa.   Frosty the Snowman looks pretty good!

(Sorry, I forgot to rotate this picture before I posted it.)

You can see how thrilled Crew was with getting all bundled up...

Over Thanksgiving break while Caleb was home, we took the kids sledding for the first time...Caysja was a fan, Crew was NOT

Family pic