Visiting Grandma Spady

After nearly eight months of being unemployed, Sam got a new job and starts on Monday! We are very excited to be getting a paycheck again. We wanted to make the most of his last few days of freedom and had decided to go see his grandmother in Oregon. The day before we were going to leave we found out that she had fainted at a Relief Society meeting and they had to call an ambulance. She was dehydrated and had a minor infection but was okay. We were glad that we were able to go out and make sure that she was taken care of for a few days. We left on Friday after Sarah got out of preschool and drove straight through. We arrived in Cottage Grove about 2:00 in the morning Pacific time. The girls handled the drive very well. We spent the weekend visiting and going on walks along this wonderful paved trail that the city has put in. It was a wonderful weekend and we were sad to see it end. We left early Tuesday morning and drove all the way home that day. Again, the girls did wonderful on the drive. We did have one minor meltdown from Sarah. She had been playing with a balloon all weekend that she had named Balloonie, of course. Before we left she asked Grandma Spady to draw a face on her balloon. While we were driving we heard a loud pop from the back seat followed by a wailing cry from Sarah. "My best friend popped!" She was so upset that Lily started to cry. I couldn't help it, I started to laugh so hard I had tears in my eyes. She eventually got over it.

Here are a few highlights from the trip.


We went to church with Grandma Spady on Valentines Day. Sarah went into primary and she got this huge heart shaped sugar cookie from the teachers. She also got a bunch of Valentine cards from the other kids in her class. When we got home from church, Lily climbed up on the table and she and Sarah started eating the little candy hearts off of the cookie.


Later that day we went for a walk along these great exercise trails that they have in Cottage Grove. It had been raining all day and the smell was wonderful. It was a mix of rain, earth and wood smoke from the surrounding houses. It was just what I needed.




The next day we went and got some KFC and went to Dorena Lake. It's kind of a tradition that Sam's mom and her family used to do when she was growing up. There were also walking trails along the lake and after we ate we explored for a little while. It turned into a beautiful day.


Lily really enjoyed the corn on the cob. Sam found some deer tracks and was showing Sarah.


Lily discovered pussy willows for the first time.


We found some violets, one of my favorite flowers.

We met this sweet German lady in the parking lot as we were leaving. She let the girls pet her dogs and Lily took right to them. Sarah needed a little coaxing but she warmed up after awhile.


It was such a nice trip and I'm very glad that we went.

Sarah's birthday

My little girl is a big 4 years old. For Sarah's birthday we thought it would be fun to go see the new Disney move "The Princess and the Frog". Sarah has been talking about it for months and had asked for a Tiana doll for Christmas. Sam's parents and his brother Ned and his wife Cathy and their son Jackson joined us for the movie. We stopped at Grandma and Grandpa's house before the movie so they could give Sarah her present which was a Princess Tiana dress. She wore that and her birthday hat to the movie. Sarah loved all of the attention that she got from people at the theater. After the move was over she and Jackson walked out together holding hands. It was so cute. Later that night we invited both sets of grandparents over for cake and ice cream. Sarah had requested a Cinderella cake but she only wanted Cinderella's head. It's a good thing her dad is so talented. He made the cake and got some help from Grandma Hacking. I think she had a fun birthday.

I know I'm a little behind on this post. I've been waiting for Sam to download a picture of Sarah at the theater standing in front of the Princess and the Frog sign in her Princess Tiana dress but we haven't taken the time to figure out how to get it off his phone since I didn't take my camera to the theater. I've decided to post this anyway and then update the picture later.

Rail Trail

We decided that we needed to go for a walk today as a family and I suggested that we check out the new Rail Trail out in West Kaysville. We didn't know what to expect when we got there or if the trail would even be usable. I thought that it might be covered with snow but we decided to give it a try. Sarah wanted to take her new scooter that she got at Christmas and it would give me a chance to try and get some pictures. The trail was clear and the girls had such a good time that they didn't want to go home. Lily kicked and screamed when we put her in the car and kept it up the whole way home. We walked part of the trail and then the girls played in the snow. Sam took my camera and got a bunch of cute pictures of all of us. I think we will be going back there a lot, especially when the weather warms up. Then we got to come home and my brother Kevin and his family came over and brought us pizza for dinner. We had a great visit and the kids played and had a great time. Thank you Kevin and Jeni and boys. We love you

.

I love the above picture of Lily. It shows so much of the mischieviousness in her nature.

Sam took all of these pictures except for the one of Sarah on her scooter. He did a fantastic job.

Snow Day

We got several inches of snow last night and today. We put Lily down for a nap and then went out to play around in the snow while shoveling the walk and driveway. We had a great time and I got some fun pictures of Sam throwing whole shovel loads of snow on Sarah. She was a good sport until it all went down the back of her coat then she was ready to go in and have some hot chocolate.

Later that day, we got to listen to our two little girls running around squealing and laughing as they played together. Then we had a tea party and after that put on the soundtrack for Phineas and Ferb that Sam got for Christmas and sang and danced around together. These are the days when I realize that this is what we waited for all those years.

Christmas

This Christmas season was busy and full of activities. We enjoyed attending concerts and performances for several nieces and nephews as well as Sarah's dance recital. We enjoyed the family parties that we had and are thankful for the many people who were so generous to us. We had a little box of goodies and presents left on our doorstep and someone else did the twelve days of Christmas for us. We received everything from toilet paper to scotch tape, from eggs to a frozen turkey breast. Sarah loved going to the door each day to see what we would get. So, whoever you are, thank you very much.

We had our traditional German meal on Christmas Eve and invited Sam's parents to join us. We have borrowed another tradition where we open presents of new pajamas on Christmas Eve. We tried to tell the story of Jesus birth but with two little ones, attention spans are very short.

It was so much fun to watch the girls open presents the next morning. Lily got the hang of it pretty quick. We would tear the wrapping paper a little to get her started and then she would just pick up the present by the paper and shake it until the present fell out. It was a great day and we hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.

It's so nice to have brand new pajamas to sleep in.

Lily climbs on everything.

Lily and her new car. This thing was such a pain to put together. Thanks goodness for 24 hours of a "Christmas Story" to help us get through until 2:30 in the morning.

After we had opened all of the presents Sarah said, "I guess I was a good girl."

I had to add this photo of Sarah later that night. Lily and I went to bed early on Christmas day and Sam and Sarah were playing games. Sarah decided she wanted a bath so when she got out, Sam wrapped her up in her new robe that she got from Grandma Shauna. She wanted to sit next to the heating vent and get warm. Sam went to find her after awhile and she had fallen fast asleep. I guess it was a good Christmas.

A day in the life of Lily

I know I just had a post all about Lily, but we had one day where she was into everything. She is such a busy little baby that I have a hard time keeping up with her. Here are just a few pictures of some things she got into that day.

She got a hold of a cup of water and proceeded to fill it with dirt from one of my potted plants.

She got into my closet and climbed into the cube organizer that I have in there.

This is after eating dinner. She had food all over her, especially in her hair.

One of the things I didn't get a picture of that day was Lily and Sarah running around the house with swim diapers on their heads and giggling.

This is a typical day in the life of Lillian Joyce (and her mother). She is a hand full but a lot of fun.

Sarah's dance recital

The beginning of December Sarah had her first dance recital. For weeks she kept saying that she didn't want to get up on the big stage and dance in front of all those people so we weren't even sure if she was going to go through with it. But once we started getting her dressed in her costume and doing her hair she got really excited. I told her she could put on a little make up and she thought she was so grown up. She got up on the stage and was wonderful. She also loved dancing in pajamas in the Polar Express number. She did such a good job and we were very proud of her.

Sarah with her class before the recital started.