Christmas

We had the best Christmas! We've been busy eating, visiting family, cooking, playing games, and watching movies. Christmas Eve was spent at my parents house. My mom cooked up a feast! All of our family favorites, yum! That night the kids opened their Christmas PJ's.

Allie & Brock with my parents.

Allie loves the Barbie car and clothes my parents got her and especially the movie, "Barbie and the Three Musketeers!" She been running around the house pretending to be a musketeer and yelling, "en gaurd."

This little toy has kept Brock very entertained. He loves it!

Grandma Julie came early Christmas morning to watch Allie & Brock open their presents. When Allie saw the bike Santa left her she screamed, "I knew it! I knew he would remember!" Grandma Julie gave her a cute doll house and a Cinderella Barbie. Can you tell Allie is into Barbie's?

Brock scored big as well! (On a side note, Our 8-month old Brock is developing like crazy! He can stand by himself and has learned to clap. He took his first step today! I bet he'll be walking in the next 2-3 weeks.)

We spent Christmas day with Grandma Julie and went to visit her family up in Bountiful. We had a wonderful Christmas day!
Opening up Papa & Nana Revell's gift left a perma-grin on Allie's face. This little doll is now named "Allie" cause Allie thinks she looks just like her. So cute!

Other things we did during this holiday season:

-The girls made gingerbread houses. They turned out so cute!

-Played in the snow! Allie made the head all by herself.

This picture cracks me up! It's hard to tell what she is doing but she told me she was "digging a tunnel." She basically gave herself a white wash digging head first, face down in the snow!

-And we've been making lots of trips to our new home. It's coming along and will be done next week (although we close in two weeks)! We can hardly wait!

The North Pole Express!

Yesterday Allie got to open her 1st gift of Christmas...new jammies to wear on the Polar Express!

{She looked so adorable in them!} We dropped of Brock at Grandma Julie's. Allie hated to leave Brock behind. She kept saying, "I think he is going to miss me."

It was so much fun! They served cookies and hot cocoa. We sang Christmas songs, told Christmas jokes, and read a story. The girls cupped their hands around their eyes and looked out the window to see the North Pole. Santa and Mrs. Claus climbed on board and visited with each child. I can only imagine how magical everything seemed to those girls!

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{ Olivia & Allie looking for the North Pole}

{So excited to see Santa!}

{The girls with the Conductor}

{The girls with Mrs. Claus}

{Santa!!}

We had so much fun going with my parents, Rob, Angie & Olivia!

Our First Home!

We are so excited!!!

It's in Saratoga Springs and will be finished January 5th. We'll close on the 13th and hopefully be all moved in that weekend! It's coming together so fast! The stucco and stone will be done in the next two weeks. The dry wall is up and textured and some of the tile has been laid. I can't wait for the extra storage space, the garage, and the backyard for the kiddos to play in! I love the neighborhood...It's so cute!

It's almost 3100 square feet on .23 acres.

I fall more in love with it the more I see it!

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So if you know anyone looking to rent an apartment in Payson, direct them here.

Santa

We went to my parents ward Christmas party last week so the kids could sit on Santa's lap. Allie was extremely hesitant. It took a lot of persuasion but in the end she did fine. She asked Santa for a bike...a Disney princess bike.

Brock on the other hand didn't do so well. The tears came...big tears...and didn't stop until mom held him. Not even GG or Papa could make him feel better. Poor thing was scared to death!

Better Together

Happy Anniversary, babe! Love ya!

We had such a fun Halloween! We saw Aunt Jessi play in her Halloween orchestra concert and then we headed to our ward's Halloween party. Wow, it was amazing! Complete with dinner, a spook alley, tons of games, prizes, and treats.

Allie was a queen...yep, a queen. She skipped the princess stage and went straight for the top. She was beautiful! And Brock was the cutest little dragon.

Brock is on the move now...and has been for the past few weeks. Not only can he crawl now, but he can sit himself up and pull himself up to his knees. It's only a matter of time until he is pulling himself all the way up and walking. The kid is everywhere and can get there fast! Allie is always watching out for him. She'll pick him up and carry him back to the front room if he's ever off on one of his explorations. I love it when she calls him "mister" or "my little one."

Brock had his 6 month check-up 2 weeks ago. He is still tall for his age (87%) but is only a little above average in weight (59%).

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The other day we went to the Living Planet Aquarium for Allie's friend's birthday party. What a cool party!!! Allie had so much fun seeing Elleah, Sophie and all of the animals. Allie attempted several times to pet the sting ray but wasn't quite brave enough. We saw penguins, octopus, sea horses, fish, frogs and snakes. I am so glad we were able to go!

Budget

Do you use a budget?

Do you wish you did?

Do you hate to carry cash around?

Do you wish it was easier to set up?

Do you wish your budget was easier to stick to?

Do you wish it helped you accomplish your goals?

I have found the solution...Neobudget! Check it out! It is simply amazing!

One huge benefit of using Neobudget is that you can check your budget from any computer with internet access....and with your Smartphone. No excuses to not sticking with the budget.

It uses the envelope method. But instead of carrying cash, it just keeps track of the money in your account and allocates it into virtual enevelopes. I've tried the cash envelope method...and it does work, except that usually I'm the one carrying the cash. So if Kyle needs to get something, it would mess up the envelope and I would have to spend time shifting the money around. Now Kyle can use his phone to check how much is in the "Dining" envelope and know how much he can spend eating out. Then he can update the envelope from his phone so I don't overspend.

You can set up one account and use ten envelopes for free or sign up for a monthly membership for $4 a month and get unlimited accounts and unlimited envelopes.
{I'm not selling or making money from this....I just thought I would pass along my new favorite thing.}

I love these!

Going from white to wheat can be hard...but these make it easier. They make the perfect turkey wrap or fajita. Yum.

Mission, Carb Balance, Whole Wheat Tortillas, Fajita Size.

My beautiful kids...

I took these pictures today right outside my apartment.

Don't I have the cutest kids ever!!!

One Year Older...

She's 4! I can hardly believe it!

Allie came up to me days before her birthday in tears. "I don't want to get big! I don't want to grow up!" I couldn't get her to calm down. She was truly sad. Oh how I wanted to say, "I don't want you to either!" She is growing up so darn fast. Since she has an October birthday she doesn't start preschool till next year...and I'm so glad. I'm not ready to let her go!

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The day before her birthday Grandma Julie came with us to get Allie's ears pierced. Allie did so well...not one tear. She absolutely loves them!

She woke up bright and early and opened some presents before Kyle went to work. She got a CD full of Disney songs and Barbi Karaoke System. She was SO excited! She is always singing. One of her favorite games to play is "name that movie," but she'll sing a song from a Disney movie and we have to guess the movie.

Something to Remember:

She loves to script everything. And she loves to tease you. She'll tell you what to say, then what she'll say, then how you should respond.

Example 1: She tells me everyday, "tell dad I didn't clean up my room." Then when dad gets home she'll remind me to tell him. Kyle will ask her if she cleaned her room. She responds, "nope." Then Kyle pretends to get mad and checks her room. When he finds her room clean, he acts surprised (but he isn't of course, because this is a daily game she plays) and tells her good job.

Example 2: When I wrap her up in a towel after taking a bath she'll tell me to say, "wow, this is really heavy laundry. I wish dad were here to help me fold it." Then I'm suppose to set her down and be surprised when she jumps out. She is such a crack up!

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She is:

my big helper. a silly girl. a drama queen. a screenwriter. a tease. a terrific big sister. a friend to any little kid. our alarm clock. a Disney fanatic. a 'party' maker. a book lover. a smarty pants. a negotiator. wrapped around her daddy's finger. a singer. a princess. and our little sunshine.

WE LOVE YOU ALLIE!