Nicholas & Karlee Turn ONE!

Nicholas and Karlee 1 day old

Wow! I honestly can't believe my little babies are ONE! It's definitely a cause for celebration! What a blessing it has been to have Nicholas and Karlee in our home. They have made our family so complete and we can't imagine having one without the other. We love them so much! We've breathed somewhat of a sigh of relief for making it through this first year, but now that they are almost walking...we really don't see them getting any easier!!! They aren't just into everything, but EVERYWHERE now! Also, I swear the day they turned ONE, they got Attitude! They are too cute not to love! Happy Birthday, Sweeties! Thanks for teaching me patience, how not to sweat the small stuff and for making me laugh out loud everyday!

Nicholas and Karlee woke up on their birthdays to find lots and lots of balloons to play with outside their bedroom doors.

Karlee especially loved the balloons!

We took the kids to Wacky Bounce for a few hours to play. It's a huge indoor play place with inflatable slides and trampolines and a little toddler section. Karlee liked the slides and the inflatables but Nicholas DID NOT!!! He clung to us for dear life!

Here is a cute smile from Nicholas!

Busy! Busy! Busy! Nicholas is known for stealing toys. Whatever Karlee has, he wants and GETS! Lucky for him, Karlee just moves on to the next toy. She is getting smarter, though and crawls far, far away from him when she wants to sit and play with something.

The two practically sitting on top of each other! They are such little buddies and always right by each other.

After Wacky Bounce, we took the kids home for naps and then opened presents. I think Macy had more fun opening the presents and playing with the toys than Nicholas and Karlee did.

So, who doesn't love a cupcake! I got inspired after seeing a cupcake tree like this one in Papercrafts Magazine! I call Nicholas and Karlee my little "Monkeys" so this seemed fitting!

Nicholas and Karlee LOVED being sung too! I blew out their candles for them, since they were both going for the fire and then let them have at it. Karlee grabbed the whole cupcake and dug right in! Nicholas wasn't so sure! I had to give him a few bites so he could see what he was missing out on!

Now, he's loving it!

All Gone!

The Mom Song

Every time I see this video, I laugh hysterically! Here's to all you GREAT moms out there!
(Pause my music before you push play so you can hear this!)

Christmas Cheer

Macy, Preston and Tyson as Baby Jesus!

We spent Christmas Eve at my brother Jon's home in Providence, Utah, just up the street from my parents house. We had a FULL agenda that night: dinner, Christmas bingo; a craft for the kids (all Tonya's doing), a ping pong tournament (which Mark lost to my nephew, Jaxon, who is 11, in the championship game---he's really good), karaoke, a lightening basketball tournament and a living nativity followed by the singing of Christmas carols. It was such a fun night. My brother and his wife sure know how to throw a PARTY! We are seriously considering coming back for next year's party.

Because we decided to fly to Utah at the last second due to the huge snow storm that hit the Northwest the day we were suppose to hit the road, we had to ship all of the kids Christmas presents back to Oregon. We thought we'd have our van to haul everything back in and of course, Santa wouldn't be Santa if he hadn't brought the dollhouse. That is ALL Macy wanted! It just arrived today (a week later) and it was like Christmas all over again at our house!

Christmas jammies!
Taking a picture with both twins looking is next to impossible!

These kids must have been good because Santa delivered!

This one in particular got spoiled!

Karlee exhausted after playing with all her toys!

By the way...I became a new Aunt on Christmas Eve. My sister, Lezlee, had her baby boy that morning. Welcome Cole Ryan Strong! We can't wait to meet you!

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Helicopter Tour of Kauai

One of the coolest things we did while we were in Hawaii was take a helicopter tour to see the island. We got a great deal on it after listening to a little speal on Marriott timeshares. We saw the most breathtaking views, hundreds of waterfalls, and the magnificent Napali Coast that you can only see by air or boat. It was incredible! Seriously, this goes right up there in the top 10 greatest things I've ever done in my life! It was almost a spiritual experience and certainly unforgettable!

Mele Kalikimaka from Kaua'i

Me, on vacation in Hawaii!

Mark, Macy and I left the twins with my in-laws and went on vacation to Kauai the week before Christmas with my parents! It was so completely relaxing and wonderful! A little more sunshine could have made the week even more perfect but you can't beat a week wearing flip flops and shorts. While everyone else was experiencing huge snow storms back on the mainland, Kauai was also having its share of unusual weather and was covered in clouds the entire week. The sun did show it's face a few times and I was running to catch some rays when it did. Despite the weather, we had so much fun with my parents and it was nice to have them all to ourselves. Macy was spoiled by all of us and I think she loved every minute of it! All she wanted to do was swim, swim, swim even at 7:30 in the morning. Mark was great to take her out! We tried to sleep in (hard with a 3 year old), took naps, laid by the pool, read, shopped, ate Hula pie (almost every night), played on the beach, swam in the ocean, toured the island and laughed a lot. We missed the twins, but didn't miss all the work that comes along with them. We were excited to get back to them and kiss their little cheeks. My in-laws survived to say the least. They are so great! Now, they need a vacation.

Snow Angel!

Macy making her FIRST snow angel!!! She has been waiting a long time to do so!

Macy and her cousin, Maddie out playing in the snow! Notice the beautiful, snow-covered Wellsville Mountains in the background!

PURE FUN!

It's funner going down the hill than UP!!!
(Macy and her cousin, Preston) This picture just makes me laugh!

While we were in Utah, it snowed like crazy! For the first time, Macy had the chance to play in the snow and go sledding. She was such a doll all bundled up! Mark took her up to my brother's house where they have the BEST sledding hills right in their backyard! It didn't matter how may rides they went on down the hill, Mark was the one packing the sled back up. He was completely worn out by the time they were done. Macy could have kept on sledding all day long if Dad could have kept up!