BEST CHRISTMAS PRESENT

After they opened all their presents and had played for a little bit...we had one last surprise present for them to open.  It was a book and a letter telling them that we were moving back to ARIZONA.  A spot in the residency program was vacant and had been offered to Jake so we would be moving back to Arizona in January.  Texas had been a struggle for all of us and we were very excited to be able to go HOME.  They got to video chat with Grandpa and Grandma and tell them the good news that afternoon.  It was hard to keep the secret for the few days that we knew but worth it to see their excitement.  

Christmas Fun

Christmas is seriously my FAVORITE.  I can't wait to get the tree up and watch all the movies, drive around and look at lights and decorations, drink hot chocolate and just enjoy the magic of the season.

decorating the tree

 playing with Santa while decorating...she liked this Santa for a short time until it started laughing and then it freaked her out and she would cry when we turned it on

 Jovie made her appearance the day after Thanksgiving bringing her North Pole Breakfast and a little gift.

 Of course, she hung above the table to see their reactions

sitting on Santa's lap...Sariah jumped right up there to make sure he knew what she wanted

 Kenzli on the other hand, would not even take the candy out of his hand for fear of him touching her

Christmas dresses

 watching the cookies bake to leave for Santa

 opening Christmas jammies

 huggin'

 Sisters with their glowing Santa necklace

 sleeping together on Christmas Eve

CHRISTMAS MORNING

checking out what Santa brought

 playin' with new toys

playin'

 so happy with her new leappad 

Kenzli spent the afternoon playing her leappad

 while Sariah played on the new Wii

It snowed...so the girls got to play in it for a bit...although the were not huge fans

happy smiles at the end of the day....

We hope you had a great Christmas too!!!

Halloween 2012

Halloween was really fun this year.  There was a party at the school a couple days before Halloween.  The girls had a blast trick or treating around to all the different teachers and doing all the activities to earn extra candy.  In order to wear your costume to school on Halloween, it had to be a character from a book and you had to bring the book.  Sariah is really into American girl dolls so she dressed up as the American Girl of the year, McKenna and took her book about her being a gymnast.  They came home with so much candy that we did not really even need to go out on Halloween (but we did)!

Sariah as McKenna and Kenzli is Sleeping Beauty

 The girls with Sariah's teacher, Ms. Sanderson

We also carved a simple pumpkin just before Halloween.  It was hard to find a night when Jake was home to help so it was done last minute and late at night, therefore quickly.  But the girls had fun and that is all that mattered.

The girls are so happy when Jake is home to spend time with!!!

 So CUTE

 Happy Family

I don't actually have any pictures of Halloween day/night.  We went over to a friend's neighborhood and went trick or treating with them.  It was fun but an insanely busy neighborhood.  After awhile, we went home and ate chili with cornbread and passed out candy to the few trick or treat-ers that came to our house.  Overall, it was lots of fun...holidays always are!

Kenzli's First Day of School

Kenzli started PALS on October 25th.  It is a preschool that is for those kids with a speech delay.  She was super excited to get to go to the same school as Sariah.  She goes two days a week for 2 hours each time.  She got to have her own special first day of school breakfast.  After breakfast, she put on her uniform and walked around the house with her backpack...she was so ready to go.

 When it was time to finally go, she could not be more excited!!!

 Here she is with her teachers...she was so excited to hang up her backpack and have fun.

I'm a BIG girl now!

Okay...I'll admit it...I SERIOUSLY put off potty training Kenzli.  I originally said I would potty train once we moved.  Then, we moved and I put it off until Sariah started school.  Finally after Sariah had been in school for about a month, I finally just did it.  She was NOT as easy as Sariah but still did an awesome job.

I used the same method that I used with Sariah.  We started out the morning potty training her doll, Patty. 

 Once Patty had learned how to go potty, we threw her a party for being such a big girl.

 Then, Kenzli gets her brand new panties and gets to start wearing them.

 Once Sariah got home from school, they hung out in the bathroom waiting for Kenzli to figure it out.  Kenzli played my phone and ate sonic ice while Sariah danced and sang.  It was pretty fun!!!

We had Kenzli's big girl party the next day.  She was pretty excited.  She got her certificate for becoming potty trained and got to open a couple presents.

 One of her presents was a pretend makeup set.  She had lots of fun putting makeup on Sariah...

 Sariah wants so sure about it...

 She also put eye shadow and lipstick on Daddy.

Park Time

The girls love any time that they get to spend with their dad.  He has such a crazy, busy schedule that he really tries to create memories with them.  So we all headed to the park to fly a kite...it is the simple things that create the best memories.

I know that I am completely biased but my girls are seriously such beautiful little girls.  I love their personalities and the joy they bring into my home.  I just wish time would slow down so that they would be my little girls longer.