Jessica's Birthday

We were still in Utah for Jessica's birthday. Aunt Janice threw a super fun Princess Party for Jessica and Emily (and went to all this work on her own birthday!) She even brought supplies and guided me through frosting a Cinderella cake for Jessica and a Tinker Bell cake for Emily. The girls had so much fun dressing up with their girl cousins and being princesses!

Christmas

Here it is 1 month later--I have lots of catching up to do!

Here's the way our Christmas Tree looked most of the time this year! The usual decorations were way too fascinating to touch and play with, but the girls had lots of fun coming up with their own decorations for the lower half of the tree (over and over again.)



We had a wonderful trip to Utah for the holidays to be with our families.



We met up with our friends, the Richards, who were in Utah for the holidays as well at temple square.



The Alder Family had an awesome Christmas Party.





We spent Christmas with Nate's family. Christmas Eve we went to the Martineau Christmas Party.





Jessica was very excited about her Cinderella dress...almost as excited as she was about the candy cane!!



Emmy and her new doll and stroller.



Trying out Grandpa's new drill press.



Jessica ate her lollipop from Alden and Kira in one sitting (she even took off her Cinderella dress for a few minutes so she could eat it!!)



We hiked to a missile crash site.



And to some Indian ruins.



Making ice cream for the New Years Party.



We had such a wonderful Christmas--thanks everyone for taking time and thought for us!

Thanksgiving

We had family for Thanksgiving!! We haven't been with family for 5 years, so it was a lot of fun to have Crystal and Mike come over from Indiana.

We started off the feasting with a pie party on Wednesday night. We had way too much pie--it was great!







Thanksgiving we cooked and cooked all morning (well Crystal and I did while Nate and Mike played football at the church and the girls happily made messes all over the house:)
Then we ate and played all afternoon and evening.



Sadly, Crystal and Mike had to go Friday morning.
We went to St. Louis on Friday and Saturday so we could go to the temple. We also walked across the Mississippi River on a bridge that used to be old Route 66--it was amazing!

It's a Girl!!

We found out a couple weeks ago that we will be having another girl (3 for 3) in early April!!

Jessi in Italian

So, I have been swapping babysitting for voice lessons with my friend for a couple months. I really haven't been practicing enough, but I guess enough for Jessica to catch on to some of the song I have been learning.

I just busted out laughing when Jessica sang this to me yesterday. I had her sing it to Nate and he recorded her. (Please forgive his snort in the middle as he tries to hold back laughter.)

Catching Up

So, I haven't blogged in a long time... We did make it back from Vermont to Illinois at the end of the summer. We have been having a lot of fun in Illinois for our final year here.

The first of October we went on a camp out with our friends the Bairs. It was great fun, but it got COLD that night and in the morning (you may notice Emily's purple lips.)





(Spencer asking Jessica if she wants to go for a spin! Maybe someday...)





Jessi even got to try fishing for a few minutes.



Nate went to Mt. Rushmore for a conference. He decided that his face would be number 5!!









My sisters Janice and Crystal came for a very fun visit. Janice flew out from Utah and Crystal came over from Indiana. We went to Nauvoo and Chicago and played around town as well. We had a blast!

Nauvoo


A walk in Busey Woods




Willis Tower (Sears Tower--do you think the new name will ever stick?)


"The Bean" at Millenium Park, Chicago


HALLOWEEN

At the pumpkin patch


Fairy Emily (She loved carrying around her magic wand and headband, and was just a little doll about it!)


Jessica wearing a Madeline costume (not to be confused with Jessica being Madeline.) If she was asked "who are you?" she'd give the answer "Bambi" or "Belle" and I tried to get her to tack on, "but my costume is Madeline"....I guess she is only rarely Jessica although she wears Jessica clothes...


The Jack's Jack-o-lanterns (Nate's is the ship, mine the owl)

Maine

We took a trip to Maine last weekend and it is beautiful! We went to Moody Beach Saturday morning. It is a good thing our girls are early risers (they very cheerfully woke us up in the hotel at 5:45) because the beach got really crowded, but when we first got there it wasn't bad at all.

I hadn't ever been in an ocean warm/safe enough to swim in (Oregon was too cold for me last year) and it was super fun! Jessi really enjoyed being in the water with Dad.



Emily mainly enjoyed the wet sand, she filled this bucket over and over again!



Jessica found a very large seashell!



Nate swimming in the waves.



We had to try a "lobster roll" which is a big thing in New England. Basically it is lobster on bread with butter--and it is really good. Even Jessica liked lobster!



Emily really enjoyed her hotdog!



Last of all we saw Cape Neddick Lighthouse.



It was on an island so we couldn't go in or see it up close, but the island was really close and very beautiful! This is more what we pictured Maine like--big rocks down to the ocean...