'Tis the Season!

If you look below, I have posted numerous posts! I had SO much to catch up on and seriously, I think this is the first evening since Thanksgiving since I've had some time to sit and blog. I was one of the ladies in charge of our Relief Society Christmas dinner and later that week it was our turn to host the Bassett Family Christmas Party, which included 30 people! It was a blast and I think it turned out well.
I was excited for the next week because I thought I would have all this time but...I was busy mailing gifts and cards, making the neighbor gifts, doing babysitting co-op and taking Addy, Brynn and their cousin Bella to Chuck E. Cheese! At least I got a great date with Todd on Friday! I LOVE Tepanyaki, seriously the best food.
Last night I was able to attend The Nutcracker with my mother-in-law, her sister and my sister-in-law. Todd's little cousins were in the production and they were amazing! It was beautiful and I felt all Christmasy!
I am so very grateful for this time of year. Even with all the craziness I have been able to read some meaningful stories which helped me remember the true meaning of Christmas. I am grateful for the Savior and his birth. I appreciate his love for me.
I am sad that I won't be with my side of the family this holiday season but I am happy I'll be with my own little family. They bring me so much joy. Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas Traditions

Since this is the first Christmas in our home we are solidifying our traditions. I always had a fake tree growing up but Todd is all about the real trees and now I am too. I love the smell! Although, we are hoping to buy a fake tree when they go on sale after Christmas so we can have a classy real tree upstairs and a fake family tree downstairs by the fireplace. Anyway, I love taking the girls to pick out our tree. They think it is the best thing ever! It's all about the Christmas magic.


This year we got our elf. Also known as "The Elf on a Shelf" We named him Zippy. If you don't know about this, ya gotta look it up cause it's cute! Even Brynn loves finding Zippy and get all excited when she sees him. I didn't take a picture of our other elf tradition but we have a calendar with pockets and the candy elf comes every night and leaves a piece of candy. The girls have to switch off days and it's funny because Brynn gets SO mad when it's not her day. Addy is great with sharing though, so that makes it easier. This candy elf tradition is one from when I grew up!

Christmas Lights

Last Monday night we went to Thanksgiving Point to look at the Christmas Lights. The line was long but I am so glad it was...we had the best time in the car. We put the girls in front with us and we sang Christmas carols, danced, laughed and had a perfect evening. The girls were dazzled by the lights and Brynn jumped up and down the whole time, screaming with delight. We couldn't get any good pictures in the car, but at least it captures the memory for us!

Let it Snow!

The snow started falling (last week, the week before?) and it hasn't stopped! Addy loves playing in the snow and wants to build castles and things. Her imagination has really come alive and is constantly amazing me. Brynn doesn't care for the snow. She takes off her mittens, falls to the ground and then cries because her hands are cold. What is a mother to do?

Best Friends!

Just because I love them!

St. George

We went down to St. George a few weeks ago for our niece's baptism. It was a fun weekend and the girls did great. We stayed in a hotel and of course the pool was the main highlight. Brynn did great in the water and loved having the floaters on. On the way home we took our time, which was a nice change. Todd had been wanting to stop and find some hot springs at some random exit he heard about long ago so we went to look for them. 45 minutes later we never did find them but it was fun to be a little adventurous.

Dance Recital

Addy had her first Christmas dance recital. It was absolutely adorable! (of course we think that because we are her parents:) The girls were able to show us all the ballet positions they have learned so far this year and then they did a Christmas dance in their tap shoes. Addy loved having her dad and grandma at her dance studio. We were so proud of her and how well she did.

So Many Things!

Thanksgiving Day was perfect! Todd went with all the boys shooting early Thursday morning while I prepared a few dishes to bring to dinner. Us girls watched the Macy's Parade while Todd was gone. I was surprised at how much Addy enjoyed the parade and she really loved the Rockettes! Soon after Todd returned we went over to his parent's house to feast! It turned out great and all the food was yummy. It was nice to have some of Todd's aunts and uncles there too and be able to visit with them. Thanksgiving Day was so pleasant and relaxing. I have so much to be thankful for this year! I'll spare you the list and write the details in my journal:)

Since this is our first Christmas in our home we are so excited to decorate! Todd put up the lights outside last week. Addy was a great helper and every minute she'd call up to Todd "Dad, you okay? Be careful!"

The girls could play in water all day if I let them. Between the bath tub and the sink they pretty much do play in water all day. Here they are playing. I love Brynn's smile!

I taught preschool last week. The letters with K and L with the main theme being "kitchen." We also got to go Kneaders Bakery on Thursday to take a tour and try some of their good eats!

Here is the preschool group taking the tour learning how they make the desserts! Such a great group of kids! Lucky me!

Eating french toast!

On the day we learned about the kitchen the kids got to cook! Here they are with their bags making homemade ice cream. It was a hit!

Here they are making monster toast!

Disney on Ice!

This year we attended Disney PRINCESS on Ice! This was a whole different experience from last year's Disney on Ice. Addy, Grandma Bassett and I picked up cousin Sage and rode up to Salt Lake. The whole ride we had the girls singing all the songs from the Hannah Montana movie and High School Musical! LOL, it was a hoot! Addy and Sage have become good friends as of late so she was ecstatic to have Sage with her all evening.

We parked at the Gateway and had a quick dinner at McDonald's and headed to the big show. It was a cold winter's night but the girls did great walking to the arena. We met up with cousin Jane who was there with her mom and they posed for princess photos. Such cute girls!
Both Sage and Addy did great during the show and half way through we had to switch seats so they could sit next to each other. Only a few minutes after getting back in the car they were both asleep. The excitement was just too much. Girl's Night Out are getting to be so fun!

Sage, Addy and Jane

It is has been very wintery this past week in Utah. I'm so sad. Last week we took bike rides every day to the park to take advantage of the nice weather before it turned cold. The cold doesn't seem to bother Brynn at all so hopefully we'll have lots and lots of play time in the snow!

The Ponytail!

She did it folks! Addy's hair is long enough for a ponytail! We have been working on this for over three years. I will mention that a few hours later it pretty much all fell out...but at this moment she may as well have been Rapunzel. What a cute little girl!

Halloween

Trick or Treating was fun this year. Brynn only lasted through one house because she got so fixed on wanting to eat the candy she got at the first house she didn't realize she could have gotten more. I was okay with that actually. Addy made it through two streets but then wanted to come home and hand out candy. I was really surprised she didn't last longer considering her love for treats but I definitely wasn't going to make her trick or treat if she didn't want to.

The girls never got a nap that day so I stayed home and put Brynn to bed while Todd took Addy to Grandma and Grandpa Bassett's for their neighborhood's annual taquito/hot dog grill out. They had a good time there and Addy even convinced the grandparents to let her spend the night. When we picked her up the next morning she had lost her bag of candy somewhere the night before. It was perfect, I haven't had to say "no" to any candy because there is none!

I don't love Halloween (though having children is making me come around to it more) and neither does Todd, therefore I was shocked when Halloween afternoon he got busy making a costume. This is what he came up with. I always wonder what he'd look like with hair but I don't feel that a mullet is the way to go. Addy hated the redneck teeth, they scared her.

Girl Day!

After reading my friend Ang's blog about their trip to the zoo I knew I needed to take the girls! We use to go to the zoo all the time when we lived at the "U" because it was literally one minute away, but since we've moved, we haven't gone in forever. Last Friday morning I woke up, checked the weather and saw that Friday was the best day of weather for the next week, so we dropped everything and headed to the zoo. It was a fun girl day!
Brynn loved all the animals of course and babbled and babbled the whole day. The best part was when she fed the turkeys a chicken nugget before I could stop her! I thought they were going to bite off her hand but luckily they only went for the food. I was worried some worker was going to scold us for feeding the animals.
Addy did great too! She spent much of the time talking about the animals and what letter of the alphabet they start with. She walked the whole time and never complained. The it was a perfect fall day and it wasn't crowded at all. We loved it!

Brynn with the turkeys

Is this baby elephant not the cutest thing?

After we returned from the zoo we went to pick out our pumpkins.

We haven't carved them yet, only dug out the guts and cooked the seeds...yummy!

More pictures once they're carved.

Finally...

It has been forever since I have blogged and I kept telling myself I was done blogging because I was trying to prioritize my time. The last couple of weeks I have individually heard from my mother and my sisters who have all told me they keep checking my blog for updates! Life has become much busier for me these last couple of months but last week I finished my at-home job so now I feel as though I have more time. I joined a dinner co-op and a babysitting co-op, which I love. I also teach Addy's preschool class one week, every five weeks. It all keeps me busy. I have also learned how to can these last few months. I canned peaches, apple pie filling and chicken. Now that I am able to can meat...my food storage will never be the same...and I love it!

Todd left his job in August and has been working at home since. I thought I would see him all the time since he'd just be in the basement but he is busy morning 'til night. I am grateful to him for how hard he works and so excited for him and the coming months and the opportunities that have/are coming his way. The only hard thing with him working at home is sometimes the girls really want to see him and knock relentlessly on the office door until he answers...but that's just cute, right?

Brynn is funny as ever. She is a little joker and a sweetheart. She understands so much of what I say now. If I tell her to do something, she does it. If I ask her who or where something is, she points to it. I can't believe how fast she is growing. She is pretty relaxed and has loves to go outside and play. She especially loves slides and found out how fun it is to go on her tummy! She also loves shoes. She wants her shoes on the minute she wakes up! Of course she loves to put on any of our shoes, too.

Addy is busy, busy. She goes to dance (ballet and tap) on Mondays and then to preschool on Tuesday and Thursdays. We went from nothing ever scheduled to something going almost every day. She has matured so much the last couple of months. For the most part, she behaves so well and is so easy to take places now. I'm really proud of her and what a great sister she has become.

Here are some pictures from the last few weeks.

On Labor Day we went to the lake for one last summer day.

Brynn and Grandpa with Lady dog!

I went with Addy to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point

for one of her preschool field trips. It was so fun because

we had never been there before!

Addy with her preschool friends.

One of the little girls would not be in the picture.
Addy is really into climbing and flipping and swinging on bars.

I thought this was a very attractive photo!


We went down to St. George for the marathon.
I finished...that's all that matters:)

I thought it would be such a cute picture.

Brynn had other ideas!

These two girls are such buddies! I love watching

them become such good friends. Seriously, it makes my heart smile.

Addy is such a sweetie! She has grown up so much in the last few months.

The annual Bassett Halloween Party was on Saturday. Addy was

The Little Mermaid. She didn't want a full red wig, just this clip-in

of red hair. Looks like a mullet, but at least the fake hair had pretty

jewels in it!

Addy in costume, without the fake hair.

Finally old enough to participate in the donut eating contest!

Brynn dressed as a monster playing with her cousin Dallin.

The girls playing in the fun house.