The End of an Era

Greg turned 30. I am officially married to a 30 year old. Yikes! His birthday was on Sunday, and since we have 9:00 am church, his breakfast was nothing special, but I like to think the dinner was at least sub-par: Meatloaf, baked potatoes, and zucchini/squash combo. Not bad - except Sof didn't eat any of it. Oh well.

Saturday, Greg found out Boondocks gives you a free bowling game on your birthday, so we packed the girls up and headed on over. Once there, we found out you get a free unlimited pass on your actual birth day, so I now know what we are doing when Sof turns 3! It was so fun to bowl, and Sof had more fun sliding down the little ball ramp than anything else.

Sof wanted to get her Daddy balloons for his birthday (I secretly think she wanted to get them for herself, because she has been carrying the green polka dot one around all week).

Bumpers are the best!

Proof I broke 100.

She has a thing for motorcycles.

I tracked the painter down who painted the fun little place Greg's mom worked in Brigham City. He usually isn't thrilled to get gifts, but he genuinely seemed to like this one. I was thrilled :).

Nothing beats a nap on your birthday. Greg was bored, so fell asleep to a documentary he turned on, since I wouldn't let him wash dishes.

The perfect sized gathering for my introvert husband.

I love birthdays, whether it is mine or not. Greg isn't too keen on them, so I make sure to put extra effort in to make sure he semi-enjoys it. He'll come around sometime.

The End of 2017

We all piled in the car one night and drove down to see the giant gingerbread house at Grand America. I don't know why I love that thing so much, but I do. There's something about giant old hotels that amaze me. Anyway, the trip was short and sweet - perfect outing with little kiddos.

I love getting pictures from Greg when I'm gone of our cute girls. He's the best Daddy.

Sof and Greg were gone for longer than usual one afternoon. Turns out Greg took Sof to McDonald's to play and have lunch. What a fun little date. I'm a firm believer in one-on-one time with our kids, and I'm so glad Greg did that for her. She sure loves him!

I think it's safe to say 2017 was good to us. Our highlights were obviously
1. Buying our first house
2. Loving our Baby Claire

I know it's the cliche, but I'm excited to see what 2018 has in store for us. Life goes on, and there is no other way but up.

Christmas Day

 The kids slept in until 8:00 am Christmas morning, which was awesome! Greg, however, woke up much earlier (he paid for it later). Sof was a little tentative at discovering what Santa had brought her, but once she saw her pile she was super excited. Claire, on the other hand was her usual mellow self, content to lay there and observe.

"My minion!"

For a full week before Christmas, Sof kept asking her Daddy to "Open the fishies." I have since learned she can't be trusted with a secret.

Greg woke up early to prepare scones. He found this recipe online. The scones were really good, but so greasy that I ate 2 and was destroyed for the rest of the day. Poor Greg felt the same way. The following pictures will show how much.

Dead asleep in the middle of the chaos.

Still asleep. Sof has since become obsessed with The Polar Express.

That's my husband everyone. When he came back inside, he said two old guys drove by and both were laughing their heads off. Sometimes his confidence is admirable, other times it's astounding.

Her first snowman! (doing the disco).

The day was made complete by this little beaut turning 3 months old. She weighs 13.8 lbs and is about 23" long.
We absolutely love her!

And because I never took a picture, Greg received a Nintendo classic for Christmas. Claire and I found it for him at Target when she was just 2 weeks old - her first experience with society was driving like a crazy person to Target to get the dang thing before it sold out. We were obviously successful. Greg gave me cute pink booties and a beautiful marble rolling pin. I have yet to use it - it's too pretty.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was on a Sunday this year, and it proved to be a beautiful day. We dressed the two girlies up in their pretty new Christmas Dresses and went to Sacrament meeting ready to hear the beautiful Christmas music. It was a fun day full of family, and I wouldn't have had it any other way.

Nothing screams "Christmas" like a cross-eyed Sofi

This is as good as it gets.

And because we had no way of getting a pic with the whole family, (yes, we could have propped the phone up somewhere) here are fragmented pics.

Christmas Eve was at the Spjute's this year, so once the rolls came out of the oven, we headed on over.

Claire is in high demand whenever Greg's family gets together. There is something adorable about a squishy new baby. Even Jake holds her.

This doesn't happen often, so when Sofi decides to sit on her Grandpa's lap, we document it.

This was such a cute nativity. Read by Zach, Sofi was excited to once again play the role of an angel. I'm glad I finally got to see her as one.

Greg's Dad likes to have the adults and grandkids old enough share their thoughts/testimonies of the past year. The past few years I have dreaded this part of the night, simply because I do not like to be put on the spot like that. But, this year I have felt so blessed that I didn't think it was fair to not share my feelings. Yes, we had some ups and downs, but overall 2017 was good to us. For the week leading up to Christmas, it was fun to reflect on how we have been blessed. Even if we aren't living as righteously as we could be, if we are still trying our best, our Heavenly Father is willing to bless us and answer our prayers; and that's how I have felt this year has been for us. We were discouraged there for awhile, but it is amazing to see how things eventually worked out. Between having a new baby and a new house, we sure have been happy campers the last few months. Life is good.

It was a bit of a late night getting the kids into bed, but I wouldn't let them go to sleep without opening their new Christmas jammies. Sofi is a bit more timid than most kids her age and had to be prompted to rip the presents open.

Ready for Santa to come!