Cute Christmas Dancers

Love this shot!! So intense!

Love her smiles!! 

Time for Mollie and Regan's Christmas dance recital! I know I am totally biased, but they are absolutely beautiful up on that stage :) I even had an audience member tell me that watching Regan dance made tears come to her eyes! They are such cute Christmas dancers!!

Cutting the Tree

 We now call it our Christmas "stick", but we went up on the Grand Mesa (by Powderhorn Ski Resort) to find a tree. Sadly, this tree looked good out in the woods, but when we got it home it was a little scary! It is so sparse!! I could barely get anything on it because I was worried it was going to fall over! :) You live and learn, right? That's right....I'm buying an artificial tree for next year!!

Regan's School Program

Regan had her 1st grade Christmas program. It was fun to watch her sing, dance, and play instruments. She even had a special solo part. She did amazing!! Sure love this girl!

"Toothless"

Only took 2 days...Regan's new nickname is "Toothless"!! She's ready to sing "All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth" for the Whiting Family Christmas Party too! :) Pretty cute smile!!

First Tooth....Finally!

Regan FINALLY lost her first tooth! Both of her front teeth were/are super loose, but she didn't believe us that it was ready to come out. We sat her on the counter just to "look" at it and in 2 seconds flat it was out! Just waiting for her other front tooth to fall out....won't be long!

One "Wild" Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving this year, we did something we haven't done in forever...we went to AZ! It was fun to be with cousins (and my sisters!) The weather was beautiful so we spent most of our time outside. We went swimming/hot tub, played in the yard, and went to the Phx Zoo. It was perfect! ALL the animals were out and we had such a great time!! Never in a million years did I think I would be swimming during Thanksgiving...totally WILD! :)

One Final Recital

I made a big decision: I am no longer going to teach piano/voice. Not forever, but I'm going to take a little break for a while. I've enjoyed it so much! Part of me is super sad, but I know its for the best right now. I had my final recital and all but 2 of my students performed. They did amazing!! I am so proud of them all! I will miss teaching and maybe someday I'll be able to teach again (and maybe I can actually teach my OWN children!)

A Cold Memory

Before we left California we HAD to take the girls to the beach! Problem: it was cold and rainy! :( Not the kind of memory most people have. It was super cold and we only stayed about 30 minutes. I loved their initial reaction to seeing the ocean...they kept saying "it is so big!" Glad we made time to give them that very cold memory!

California Adventure

Mollie soaking wet after Grizzly River Rapids

Riding the ferris wheel (it was like a ride because the girls wanted the "moving" basket! It was so high that I was kinda freaking out!! Scary!

Carli LOVED this roller coaster!! The other girls weren't tall enough to ride it, but Carli couldn't get enough of it. She is a roller coaster junkie!!

Regan thought she was SOSOSO cool...she got to drive her own bumper car! :)

An exhausted Mollie! She was amazing after two very long, tiring days!!

The second day of our CA trip we spent at California Adventure. It was another great day! Hardly any people, which meant no lines again! We didn't see any characters (just Mickey) but went on so many rides! We actually did the entire park and were back at Disneyland by 3:00 in the afternoon. I wish I had a picture of the girls on the Tower of Terror...hilarious! It was a trip they won't ever forget!!

Happiest Place on Earth

The girls literally ran to Sleeping Beauty castle!

Regan's favorite...Rapunzel and Flynn Rider's "smolder" :)

MY favorite part...the CHURROS! Carli is my partner; we ate 3 churros each that first day!

Watching the parade...Mollie's favorite!

I love the look of pure terror on their faces!! (sidenote: the guy in the back was awesome! He came to Disneyland by himself and just laughed at our girls the whole ride!)

Look at those smiles!! We surprised the girls the morning after Halloween and took them to Disneyland!! (It was a great way to keep our minds off of Layla too!) We told them at breakfast (I already had the bags packed), loaded in the truck, and headed to California :) It was so much fun! It was the best time to go; there were no lines and we went on so many rides I thought I was going to be sick!! We counted on the shuttle back to the hotel and we went on 27 rides that day!
Regan loved the princesses (especially Rapunzel), Carli (who is too "cool" for princesses) loved the rides, and Mollie loved the parade (everyone was watching her dance). We did everything we wanted to and more!! They were perfect ages and could go on every ride. They were in a great mood the whole day too. I now understand why they call Disneyland the Happiest Place on Earth!! Can't wait to go again!