Snow

This month seemed like it snowed a ton more than it usually does during the month of December.  I got to drive in this for a couple of hours (which should have taken less than half of that time)...

While Aliyah did this. 

It probably would have been lovely to watch the snow falling and the quiet of ridiculously slow cars in the warmth of a padded car seat…Meanwhile I was totally white knuckled!

Aliyah was even able to go play with her cousin and friends outside. 

They built Olaf...

 Kind of...

 Grandpa took Aliyah and some cousins sledding.

  

 I love this shot of grandpa pulling Aliyah through the snow.

Oh snow…how I have a love-hate relationship with you!

A Big Moment

Naps in the crib became rough at the beginning of December. So I would let Aliyah have quiet time and pull out her pillow and other sleeping needs incase she fell asleep. Which happened fairly often.

Often enough that I hoped that if we just opened her bed that she would sleep in the bed and not on the floor. It didn't really happen that way. I just had to accept the fact that Aliyah was done taking naps. 

But Aliyah was SOOO excited to have a big girl bed.  She is awesome about staying in her bed at night--and blessing to me I don't have to go get her out of bed in the morning (it's the little things that make me happy!)

 

Daddy is the best to play with. I often find him and Aliyah playing pretty seriously in whatever they are doing.  Dave gets down and plays just like Aliyah wants him to. I love it!

Aliyah's First Dance Recital

I am pretty sure that Dave and I were much more nervous about how this would turn out than Aliyah…probably because Aliyah had no idea what was going on.  We tried to prep her and explain, but she was kind of grumpy the day of the recital.  I could see a number of scenarios happening: a) she would cry the whole entire time on stage b) she would cry and run off stage c) she would just stand there and not do anything d) she would try to take off her costume (something she kept trying to do as soon as we had gotten it on her), or e) she would be awesome.  

Why did I ever doubt!

She was amazing.  She did ALL of the movement..she even sang with the music! Dave and I were so surprised, but thankful!  We are proud of our little sugar plum!

with Mama!

Temple Square

We went to Temple Square couple of days after Thanksgiving.  We decided to ride Trax from Sandy to downtown, had dinner at Crown Burger, and then went to see the lights.  Good thing that trains are exciting for kids, because it was a bit of a long process to get from Sandy to downtown, but fun nevertheless and especially when there are cousins to play with!

Cousins listening to the message in the North Visitor Center.

( not one of them is looking at the Christus!)

It was a wonderful way to start the Christmas season.  

October!

We were able to go to our annual BYU game. It is fun to support our nice--Aliyah loves going on the field to see her and eating ice-cream.  Go Cougars!

One of our date nights this month was to go see the witches at Gardner Village in West Jordan.  Aliyah loved them.  There were a few particular ones that she remember--this one flying on the bike and the one sitting on the toilet in the outhouse (she mentioned that one for a couple of weeks after!)

This is Aliyah's common request--to have Repunzel hair.  She will use her baby blanket and want us to put it on her head at night.  Pretty good imagination right?

Library fun.  I love going to the library--for me and for Aliyah!

HALLOWEEN!

Aliyah wanted to be Cinderella for Halloween-fortunately her cousin had an old dress-up that she could wear.  She loved being dressed like Cinderella and she loved getting candy (but she would only eat the suckers..more chocolate for us!)

We went trick-or-treating with cousins!

Dance, Dates, and Departures

 Aliyah started dance class! It is one of the cutest things I have ever seen.  She is at least 4 months younger than the youngest in her class and it might show just a little bit in her ability to hold still, but she has a patient teacher and room for improvement.  She sure is cute.

We have been trying really hard to make sure to do date nights…that are actually planned. One of our favorites has been going to the park--it is fun for everyone involved!

Dave's sister left for her mission the end of September.  We are so excited for her and all that she will experience.  We know that she is blessing the lives of so many in New York. Her nieces and nephews will miss her!

Summer

A neighbor gave us 4 different varieties of tomato plants. We were excited about each of them, but had heard wonderful things about the one that would produce small orange tomatoes that were very sweet. We were not disappointed.  Aliyah LOVED them.  She would seriously eat them like candy. That's okay by me!

One of Aliyah's new favorite places to visit during the summer while at my parents house is the creek that is just behind their backyard.  We have played there on a number of occasions--we just need to be better prepared with bug spray!

Then there is always our pool. Aliyah likes to just play on the stairs.  She'd be content there the whole time, but we still try to get her out in the water. We want her to be comfortable with water, hopefully next summer will be better. Here we were at our pool with sisters and their little ones. Pool time is soo much more fun with family and friends.

And a little bit more outdoor water time…with Aliyah's cousin and the sprinklers!