Tiggs Cabin for Fall Break

Oh man! This cabin was so much fun! At the beginning of the year we "won" a weekend at the Twiggs cabin (paid for it) and we had no idea what to expect. It was so wonderful. It had three levels and 4 bedrooms with tons of beds for everyone. The place was filled with taxidermy animals and it was nuzzled in these beautiful aspens. The best part was the HUGE swing that swung right into the gorgeous trees. It was seriously so amazing.

My mom, Dad, Boose, Bryan and Jennie and their kids stayed there together. The first night snowed and it made it beautiful! We ate yummy soup, played games, made "haunted" gingerbread houses for Halloween, did a glow-in the dark dance party and put a movie on for the kids while us adults talked. It was so fun. Lucy had a cold and of course screamed all night and kept most of the house awake....but other than that it was fine :). The next day Bryan and Jennie made a pancake and egg breakfast and we just played games and played outside during the day. Around 4 pm we headed to Heber to a park to let the kids get some energy out. We went to a burger joint and Cade and I and the girls stayed one more night after everyone else had gone home. The girls had so much fun. I'm sure grateful for others allowing us to stay in their cabin!

Lucy is 22 months!

My girls are growing so fast! Lucy is already going to be 2 in just a couple months. It seems like she just had her first birthday. I want to make an update on my girls but I will do that in their birthday posts. This is about LuLu!

Lucy is finally starting to feel better and sleep better (its about time, RIGHT????). In the first of September, she started sleeping through the night and seeming to feel better. We got her dose for her acid reflux meds figured out and her tubes were taking care of her ears. She slept GREAT for about 5-6 weeks. So refreshing. Then the middle of October she got sick and had a rough time again. She had a cough/cold for over three weeks which caused ear infections. But now that she has tubes we can just do drops in her ears instead of giving an oral antibiotic all the time which can mess with her insides. It's been wonderful now that she is finally not sick!

Aside from her health issues Lucy is a spunky, fun little girl! These are some of her favorite things:

- Wrestling with mom and dad
- When her sisters pretend to "get her" and chase her around. Her giggle is so dang cute.
- Loves feeding Penny treats and throwing the frisbee for her.
- LOVES the movie "Frozen" now and talks about Elsa and Anna all the time.
- Coloring just like her sisters. She will color just about anything if you don't watch her :).
- Going to nursery with Nora. She really looks forward to it.
- Taking out all of the mixing bowls from the lower cupboards and playing in the cupboard by herself.
- Playing dress-up. She will bring a play dress to me and say, "Princess dress wear".

Some things that still aren't her favorite:

- Going down to bed at night. She just would rather not :). But she is TONS better than before and once we actually get her to sleep she usually sleeps through the night.
- Her car seat is still not fun....however, since we turned her forward facing she doesn't have to be physically shoved down into the seat anymore and forced to be buckled. Finally better than that.

Lucy is SOOO full of energy all the time and constantly moving. I think she is our busiest child so far. She usually has to be in a room with other people, but occasionally I will find her playing pretend by herself. Lucy can definitely throw tantrums but now that she is starting to communicate the tantrums are lessening. It is SO nice that I can tell her "Oh! You want ____?" and "say please" and she can understand me. Lucy is talking SO much. She loves to learn new words and repeats about everything I say. She is putting two and three words together really well and communicating in a way that isn't frustrating for both of us. I LOVE it. About a month ago Cade and I were really concerned that her "terrible twos" were starting BEFORE she turned two, but not that she can tell us what she wants, it's been okay and given us hope for the next two years :).

Here are some fun pictures of our Lucy-Lu. We love her fun personality. And she sure has a lot of it!

Little Nauvoo Reunion

Nauvoo. A little piece of heaven and a place that holds my heart! BUT the thing that made that experience so special were all the people. The senior missionaries have a reunion once a year and this year they invited our year of Young Performing Missionaries to come and sing during their program. I LOVE all those seniors and I love that it forced us YPMs to get together! We sang songs from our shows and dressed in pioneer clothes (my actual dress from Nauvoo). It was so wonderful!!

Us with Sis. Davis (our director from there).

2017 School Starts!

School always comes so fast! This year Emma is in 2nd with Mrs. Ross, Reese is now at Lincoln Academy with Emma and is in Kindergarten with Mrs. Dean. Nora just started her first year of preschool with Mrs. Jill (Zimmerman from our ward). She was so excited that she gets to wear and backpack and go to school like a big girl! I love my girls so much!

This year Emma and Reese are both in the Let's Play Music program (Emma year 3 and Reese year 1). They also both take dance together and love it. I'm excited so see how they grow this year.

Lake Chelan- Just Adults!

So my husband is pretty much the most amazing person in the world. Since he was going on a fishing trip with his Dad and Uncle and cousins in July, he told me I could go to Chelan with my parents and siblings! My mom mentioned, "Well, Dad and I ARE going to Chelan this summer after all and you guys are invited but children are not." Cade looked at me and said, "why don't you go?" I was SOOOOOOO excited. After it got closer I was feeling pretty guilty about leaving him behind and of course I wanted him to come with me. But we had just gotten back from trek the month before and Lucy was still having a hard time (sleeping and super needy) so it wasn't a good thing for us both to go. We flew Cade's mom up to Utah and she helped Cade out the 6 days I was gone.

My mom, Dad, Bryan, Jennie, Boose, Jor Jor and I all piled into Bryan and Jennie's van and road tripped to Lake Chelan Washington! Even the car ride was fun. I didn't have a screaming baby in the van the whole time and others needing snacks and hugs the whole time. Of course I missed my girls while I was there, but it was definitely a relaxing and enjoyable vacation with lots of games, water fun, walks, and alone time. I loved every minute of it.

One of the biggest highlights of THIS trip to Chelan was our day to Stehiekin. It is a 1 1/2 hour boat ride or 4 hour ferry ride (one way) to go to this remote town that you can only get there by boat- no roads lead there. My mom and dad had been but the rest of us hadn't because we always have children with us and its just tricky with children. So we rented a boat early in the moRning and it took just over an hour (we were SPEEDING!!!). When we got there we walked to the bike rental place and rented bikes to ride around. The town was just tons of trees all around and it was GORGEOUS. The bike riding was definitely a highlight. I could have done it ALL day long. Then we rode to a bakery and got the last of the cinnamon rolls. After that we rode for a while and stopped at a little old school and beautiful houses and scenery. Then we made our way to Rainbow Falls. I was a wimp for most of the time and didn't want to get in. I just waded along with Bryan and Jennie and Dad. Boose and Jor Jor were brave and swam around in it. I HATE being cold and this water was absolutely freezing. But as we started heading back to the trail I thought "ah, what the heck. What if I never come here again?" So I got in and my Dad, Bryan and jennie decided to follow suit! It was freezing and I screamed the ENTIRE time I was in the water but it was worth it for the memory.

After Rainbow Falls we rode back to the bakery and ate lunch (which was very yummy) and then stopped at a cute little garden/farm. I loved seeing this guy and how self-sufficient he was. Honey, fruit and veggies, goats milk, etc. It was a beautiful area. Then we rode back and turned in our bikes. Sad day. I wanted to stay there for weeks. It was so fun!!!!! I hope i get to go back someday!

Our adventures in Steheikin. Seriously so amazing: