Sugarplum Fairy 5K

This was such a fun race that I did with a bunch of my friends.  I ran soooo VERY slow - but I ran the whole thing, which was a big accomplishment for me!  I am grateful for such fun friends who motivate and inspire me to reach new goals.  And plus we got to keep the fairy wings - score!  Jill was in heaven...

California Trip over Thanksgiving Break

We came home from Utah for just a week and then hopped in the car and headed to LA to meet my new twin nieces!  They were born in August and this would be my first time to meet them.  They are so adorable!  Cute cute baby girls.  They are very close in age to Ben - only 3 months apart.

While staying at my Grandma's house - we had a family get together and Kenny decided Charlie's haircut needed some help.  Apparently I missed a few spots.... Uncle Kenny to the rescue...

Ben also got lots of special attention from my Uncle Mike and Grandma.  He was fed very well and loved sitting up in the high chair.

Jill also rekindled her friendship with Coco - my Grandma's dog.  Jill is so fond of Coco.  And Coco continues to put up with Jill and all her love. These pictures are kind of shadowy, but so cute to see the two cuddling watching TV together.

We also spent a day at Knott's - the kids loved all of the rides in Camp Snoopy.  Another fun day!

And of course, we had to see the Endeavour!  Very impressive and amazing to see in person.

Randoms from November 2012

In between our trip to Utah and our trip to California for Thanksgiving,  we captured a few other fun moments.  Ben started on solid foods in the high chair.  He is a champion eater (I mean obviously...).  He took to the spoon really well and sure loves his baby food. 

 November was VERY cold here (for Arizona).  We went outside to play and bundled Ben all up!  It was probably like 50 degrees.  Yes. 50 degrees.  I know....

 We walked by Brian and Mindy's house, which happens all the time since it's right down the street.  This particular day though Jill ran up to the door and knocked and looked in the windows - waiting for Aunt Mindy or Uncle Brian to open up.  Such a bummer.  ;(  It was so cute though that she knew this house was where they used to be.

An Historic Day...

On November 10th, 2012 let it be known that we were finally were able to gather up enough hair to do THIS:

big deal around here.  Jill's hair has been coming in slow but it's definitely growin!  She most surely will have brown hair - and I think it might even be thick!  I am excited!! I am reeeeeeally hoping we can do some cute pigtails for her 3rd birthday at the end of June. Please pray with me.  Either way, she is just so beautiful - and I love this little girl so much.  She has such a bright personality and always makes us laugh.  Lately she has been talking up a storm and I am getting better at understanding her.  She says things like: "This is fine, right Mom" (while holding a chocolate she wants to eat).  And she also says "oh darn it" when something falls.  Another favorite of ours is when she tries to get Ben's attention and yells: "Ben, Ben look at me look at me Ben look at me look at me!" over and over and over - until Ben finally looks over to see her standing on her head or something silly.  She WHINES constantly and does things Charlie never did (like color with markers on her face).  She also loves make up and will usually sit next to me in the bathroom while I get ready and beg for me to put make up on her.  I usually give in to a little eye shadow and some lip gloss.  She LOVES lip gloss.  We love her just the way she is and think she adds some much needed spice to our family. 

Final Utah Post! Discovery Gateway & Provo

So this is my LAST post of our Utah trip - it's only taken me an entire month to blog our 1 week vacation - not bad, right? Our last few days in Utah were fun - we spent a day at the Gateway in Salt Lake and took the kids to the Discovery Children's Museum.  It was SO SO cute.  My kids probably could have played there for many more hours.  We have a annual pass to our Children's Museum here in Tucson - but this one is definitely much nicer.  The water play area was a huge hit as well as the construction stuff.  It was fun for us and the kids to spend more time with Grandma and Grandpa too.  We also got the chance to meet up with some friends of ours in Provo for dinner one night - Blake and Kara, and the Eldredges met us for some Wingers (YUM!!).  Being with friends brought back lots of fun BYU memories for us.

And now I can officially say that I am done posting about this vacation!!  Up next: our vacation to California to meet my twin nieces Paige and Brynn!! yay!! ;-)

Cascade Springs

On Monday we did some good ol' family fun. We went to Dairy Keen (the home of the train) in Heber for lunch. I actually ran into some old friends from California that now live there. It was fun chatting with the McEuen's for a few minutes. Such a wonderful family. After that we were off to Cascade Springs for a little Johansen family nature walk.

OK, before you start questioning my mothering skills - let me just say that Jill was BEGGING to do this.  She was all into it.  Dave and her were having a grand ol' time pretending to dunk her in all of the streams. 

And apparently the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.  Fun times.

Uncle Tom & Aunt Sandy's for Dinner

We enjoyed a yummy family dinner at Uncle Toms and Aunt Sandy's house.  Ben was finally able to spend some time with his paternal-paternal great grandmother - Grandma Johansen.  We also snapped a quick 4 generation picture.  It's amazing to think where we all came from, and how quickly families grow!  Also fun to note, Jill is wearing an outfit that I wore as a child. 

Visiting Temple Square

After going to church with Lindsay, we thought we'd take the kids to visit Temple Square for a while before heading to dinner at Dave's Aunt and Uncle's home.  It turned out to be a wonderful Sunday activity.  We enjoyed taking the kids through the visitors center, chatting with some missionaries, looking at gospel art, and visiting the Christis.  I always have an awe-inspiring feeling when I walk into that room.  The kids also loved "reverently" running through the temple grounds and drinking water out of the fountains.  Charlie and Jill especially enjoyed visiting the humanitarian exhibit in the Visitors Center.  They were asking lots of questions about all of the blankets and food and things that were on display to look like the humanitarian aid shipments that our church sends out.  It opened up a nice conversation about helping people in other places who are in need.  At one moment I caught Charlie listening to a video recording of President Monson.  He actually looked like he was listening, it was really cute.  He is growing up!