The Talent Show

So Kaydra came home from school about two weeks ago and announced that her school is having a talent show. She wanted to perform for the show. It happened to be a night that Len and I were both home so we signed her up. She practiced and practiced the piece that she would play. I encouraged her to memorize it. She wasn't sure about that but I knew that she had played it so much that she probably had it memorized and didn't know it. She played it for her teacher this week in lessons and her teacher said, "You should try it without the book" and to her surprise -- she had it memorized! She did very well and we are very proud of her. It takes a lot of courage to play in front of a gym full of people. She told my mom that her hands were shaking. You couldn't tell though - she did great! See for yourself.

More Birthday Fun

For those that didn't get enough of Miranda eating cake I thought I would post a few videos. She is SO CUTE! I love that little girl!




I took Miranda to the doctor yesterday for her year check-up and shots. For some reason I thought she was only getting one shot but she got FOUR! Poor baby. She is doing pretty well with them though. For the record she was 19lbs 15oz (30%) and 31 inches long (95%). Yes, she is a skinny bean pole! The doctor says everything looks great and he'll see her at 15 mos. I feel so blessed to have happy healthy children. I definately do not take this for granted.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIRANDA!

Yes, it's true! My little baby is one year old today! I can't believe how fast the past year has gone. I totally remember bloggin about the day she was born. This weekend for the President's Day holiday we went to Heber City, Utah and stayed at Jana's parents cabin/house. It was so much fun. They have a beautiful log house with TONS of snow. The kids played and played. We had such a good time there.

On Friday we drove and got to the cabin and got there about 7:30 p.m. or so. Dinner was already prepared by my parents and others that arrived earlier that evening. Saturday we woke up and played in the snow after breakfast. Mom and Dad rented four snowmobiles and so there was lots of riding. Dan built a cool sledding hill that included a tunnel and a "drop" off a rock wall. The kids had a great time walking up and sledding down.

On Sunday we celebrated Miranda's birthday. Here are all the pretty decorations thanks to Jana :)I am ready ... Where is everyone?

We had a yummy steak dinner and then opened presents. We sang Happy Birthday and let Miranda have her first taste of chocolate cake! To no one's surprise, she loved it. If nothing else, that girl loves food. She was totally double fisting it by the end and she would have finished the entire cake if I would have let her. I know that it ended up lob-sided but it still turned out pretty cute. I never claim to be a professional cake maker! It was fun to celebrate with many family members and I am thankful that they were there. Miranda had no clue what was going on but she made no objections and seemed to enjoy the attention.

I love this picture with the reflection in the fridge!Are they seriously going to let me eat this?

Hurry before they change their minds!

On Monday we packed up and went home. It was a great vacation.

Of note, however, is that Miranda did not sleep very well the first night we were there. She didn't go to sleep until about midnight and she was up again at 3:00 a.m. She didn't fall back to sleep until 5:30 in the morning and then she was up and ready to go at 7:00. We were all very tired the first day but a nap later in the morning seemed to do the trick and the next night she slept from 7:30 p.m. until 7:00 a.m. Much better for us all. She was very happy to see our house when we got home yesterday. Even though she can't talk, we could all tell that she was happy to be back home in her own room.

Thank you so much to the Blickenstaffs, we couldn't have asked for better hosts. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Cute giveaway!

I couldn't resist - I think these are so cute. You can win one if you go here. I think it would look cute on Mandy!

Busy little Bees

We have been busy working around the house lately. I have been put on call so much at work. The hospital here is REALLY slow right now and so I have actually only worked two shifts this entire year! I am supposed to work once per week. Some time off is appreciated but this is starting to really stink! I would like to make a little money at least! Hopefully it will pick up soon or I may have to look for a new job. In the mean time, we have been updating our bathroom. It needed it so bad. Len took up the carpet and it was SO GROSS! We painted the room a more neutral color (Kanyon helped!) and painted all the trim. Then we layed tile and put up a new shower door (the old one should be decontaminated!) and new baseboards. The shower door was a little more complicated than I thought it would be but Len was not intimidated and got it done! It was also Len's first time installing trim. He borrowed a saw from a guy at work. It took a little trial and error but he did a GREAT job. I am always amazed at the things he is able to do. I finished painting the new baseboards today so the bathroom is now finished! It looks SO much better -- what do you think?

BEFORE

(I almost forgot to take "Before" pics. Sorry about the paiting tape in all the pictures - and the big mess - embarassing!)

WHILE WE WERE WORKING - isn't he cute?

After

I love my new bathroom! I also took the wallpaper cutouts off Kanyon's wall and repainted his room. It's the same color but it looks so much cleaner and no torn wallpaper! He wants the bear, moose, and trees back on the wall - we'll see. It took forever to take them all down so I don't know if I want to put them back up!

Leonard also fixed the garage door today - YEAH! We thought we were going to have to get a new one but my smart husband figured out a way to fix it. It is working great and only cost about 10 dollars to fix instead of a 700 dollar replacement!

On a completely different and more interesting note to some of you ;) I french braided Miranda's hair today! It looked so cute I couldn't resist taking pictures. Today marks the first day her hair was french braided - If that isn't blog worthy - I don't know what is!

We were also happy to have Michelle come and visit us for the weekend. Len went snowboarding with the scouts in Montana and Michelle's sister had her baby so she came and stayed with me and kept me company. I was so happy to have her here. We even managed to fit in a cute craft making hair accessories for our girls. Miranda wore hers to church yesterday with a cute dress but I forgot to take a picture. I will have to recreate it sometime! Thanks, Michelle for the much needed company!