Fun with Cousins!

We've been lucky enough to have some cousins in town and we had a blast playing with them!  It was especially fun to spend time with them since they're moving to Japan in February!

A few days after Christmas (once it finally stopped snowing) we went to Grandma Millers to sled down her hill.

 This cute little pink marshmallow was all ready to go!

 So was this cute little Erin.

 Here's an awesome snowman Karen built

 My parents got so much snow!  This is their rock wall on their back patio.  Granted they had shoveled some snow on top of it but that's still a lot!

 Here's Lilly going down the hill.

 Karen enjoyed it too!

 Mabel preferred to play in the snow/sand instead.

My parents live down a really big hill so the big girls got brave enough to sled all the way to the bottom.  They loved it!

"That was awesome!"

Here's another shof of how much snow they got.  They have these tennis balls to cover the rebar on their bridge.  There was seriously about 6 inches on the top of each tennis ball!

The time finally came to say goodbye.  I told them al too make their saddest face.

Then they made happy ones.

Mabel preferred to not be in the picture.

Goodbye cousins!  We will miss you but really want to visit you in Japan sometime!

Doug got really sick after Christmas and spent a lot of time in bed.  For some reason he really wanted to watch all the Star Wars movies again.  The girls got into it too. 

Pretty cute girls with a pretty cute dad.



Christmas!

Let's start with Christmas Eve.  My oldest brother had our family this year and gave Doug this awesome banana chair.  We've been wanting one forever so he was pretty happy.

 The girls also got spoiled with these blankets and pillows from Grandma Miller.  They love them and they're so soft!

Pajama Clause also came and brought the girls matching princess jammies!

My brother gave the girls this pony castle.  They were pretty much in heaven.

Now onto Christmas morning.  Looks like Santa came! 

Stockings.  Notice Mabel's Barbie stocking.  She was pretty happy.

The girls were pretty patient and waited for everyone to have a turn opening their gifts.  Lilly got her beloved art kit,

Sophia got her "American Girl" (thank you Target) doll (even though when she opened it she said "well it's not the one I wanted but I guess it's ok".  She's such a grateful child.  NOT!  Later she told her cousin "this is my American Girl doll.  It cost 100 dollars".   Actually it's from Target and it was a fraction of the price but I guess she couldn't tell the difference!)

 Mabel got a Barbie house and was pretty happy too.

The girls also got some fairy wings.

The aftermath

I just love pictures like this.

Picture on the stairs.  We forgot to take one when they first woke up so Sophia was already out of her jammies.  Oops!

Here she is dressed to match her new doll.

After we opened gifts we went to Doug's brother's house for some yummy treats and more gift exchanges.  Doug's sister had us and gave him this awesome NC hat.  He loves it!

After that we headed to my mom's for more gifts (thanks for everything!) and then to my brother Dylan's for a delicious prime rib dinner.

I had to include a picture of my parents tree this year.  It's different from what they usually get and I loved it!

It even had real pinecones. So fun!

Pre-Christmas Get Away

My brother and his cute family are in town for the holidays (and to say goodbye before they depart to JAPAN!) and he suggested that we take a little trip to southern Utah before they leave.  Doug had to work but the girls and I couldn't pass up a chance to spend time with cousins.  My dad was nice enough to let us ride with him in his truck which the girls were more than thrilled about!  We left on Friday and stopped in Manti to see the temple and grab some donuts at Millers (I wish Sophia's top tooth would fall out already!)  It's driving me nuts!).  We then stopped in Salina for a delicious lunch at the famous Mom's Cafe (it was still as delicious as I remembered!)

We then headed to Ruby's Inn in Bryce Canyon (after a quick drive by of Big Rock Candy Mountain).  The girls immediately headed for the pool and had so much fun!

They had so much fun playing together and I'm glad we went.  Here they are in the room at night coloring in their new book from Grandpa and just spending time together.

This little one wasn't feeling so hot and preferred to stay in bed.

Here's the girls and Grandpa in the morning on the way to breakfast.

After breakfast and another quick swim we headed into the park.  We drove all the way through and stopped at Rainbow Point.  Needless to say it was a little chilly.  I think this cute face (with 3 coats on) says it all.

The view was worth it though!

My girls with Grandpa at Rainbow Point

 Another shot of the gorgeous view.

My brother and his cute family.

Freezing cousins!

 Natural Bridge

 Karen, Sophia and I at Natural Bridge.

2 cute cousins.  I love how Karen is always flashing a peace sign.  She's the best!

After we climbed back in the car this one quickly looked like this.  I think she wasn't feeling quite hot either since she slept for 2 hours! That never happens.  It may have been that she was a little warm and cozy too.

Here's another gorgeous shot of the canyon from Inspiration Point.  I love the snow on the red rocks.

 Cousins and Grandpa again

After we saw all the sights we wanted to see we had a quick snowball fight and then got back in the car and headed home. Overall the girls were pretty good travelers and my dad wins a major patience award for putting up with all of us!  Thanks for the fun trip Grandpa and Stu!

This shot is random but the other day Lilly informed me she needed the camera because she had to take a picture of something.  It really is something.

Finally, these beautiful flowers are from my dad to say congrats on the baby brother. He's so nice and thoughtful.  My parents really are the best! (and my in-laws aren't too bad either).