Ashley and Gracie's Parts in the Play

Ashley says: Jesus is our Savior, his love shows us the way.

Gracie says: Jesus wants us to be happy, each and everyday.

Singing at Nativity

Beginning of Nativity Program

The Nativity

Ashley and Gracie's preschool did a nativity play for Christmas. All 21 kids dressed up and learned lines to a poem about Christ's birth. It was very cute and very fun!

Gracie and Ashley were cows. They did a great job memorizing their parts! They were so excited! They did awesome!

Ashley's friend, Aleh, was Mary. I think she's just adorable and a perfect little Mary.

They love preschool! I'm so glad I found a place they love and look forward to everyday! Gracie is a little obsessed with her teacher, Miss Sheryl. It's pretty funny! She's great with them and I'm so grateful for her!

My Two Lovely Ladies

How could you NOT love these two?! Thanks to Andrea for taking such great pictures! We love you!!!

Gracie is 3!!!!!

I can't believe my baby is 3 years old!! She's such a blessing in my life- I don't know what I'd do without that girl! She makes me laugh everyday! Her favorite song is "Fireflies" by Owl City- and she asks me to sing it to her sometimes when she goes to bed. She loves to sing and asks me in the car constantly to sing with her -- even on the songs neither of us know! The other day for preschool I asked her what she wants to be when she grows up and she thought about it for a minute and said, "A MONSTER!"

Gracie was very excited to turn 3 years old! She had a great little birthday party at my Mom's. She opened all her presents in 1.2 seconds!!

Gracie is a little obsessed with Tinkerbell these days! Cute shirt!!


Gracie's faces are the best!! :)

Ashley is always supportive of her sister! Here she is belting out "Happy Birthday."
This little candle took Gracie 3 or 4 tries to blow out.


Happy Birthday Gracie! I love you so much!

Fishing at Strawberry

Well we had our "annual" weekend fishing trip at Strawberry a couple weeks ago. I say "annual" because we haven't done it in 3 or 4 years! But that's what my dad calls it! :)

We roughed it on Friday night at the lodge. We had a fun sleepover! Ashley and Gracie LOVE sleepovers!

We got up and ate a delicious breakfast at the lodge restaurant and then out on the boat! It was soooo cold! Ashley was so excited that Grandpa let her drive the boat!!!

Ashley "caught" the first fish! Grandpa helped her reel it in! We had to throw back a lot of the fish we caught! (You can only keep certain sizes of cut throats and any size of rainbow- and we could only catch cut throats!!)

The dumb people we rented the boat from forgot to give us a net so awesome Matt and Dad had to grab the fish with their hands to bring it into the boat each time! They did an awesome job and didn't lose even one fish! One time a fish leaped out of Matt's hands and landed right on Gracie's feet and started flopping around like crazy. Gracie and Ashley freaked out!!!! You can just see the horror on their faces! Ashley said, "I never want to come fishing again!!"

They also hated that the fish would bleed when we got them on the boat. Once they realized they could sit on the back of the boat and not watch my Dad get the hooks out, they were fine! Ashley was a cute big sister and would say to Gracie, "Just don't look at it."
Gracie is the silliest girl in the world! She loves doing weird things like this -- sitting with Grandma and schmooshing her face all up with her lifejacket!

Mom was brave and caught a fish too!

I have the cutest little brother in the world!

My dad LOVES to fish! He has his cute little fishing vest and 2 sets of glasses to do what he needs to do! Thanks Dad for a fun time!!

We were on the boat for like 10 hours that Saturday. It was a blast! And Ashley and Gracie were soooo good! They kept themselves busy and laughing and just loved it! Every time we'd catch a fish Ashely would say, "Ah man it's a cut throat!!" And Gracie still keeps saying. "We like to catch Rainbow fish."

I was a lucky little fisherwoman that day! Sometimes my line would be in the water for 2 minutes and I'd get a bite! I had to throw several back, but it was so fun! I really don't like to touch fish... or eat fish.... but it's fun to catch them! Is that bad?!

Here's the whole fam (That came anyway - missing Austin, Erika, Lindsay and Brandon :( ) How can it be that we're all looking at the camera and smiling?! It's an Annual Strawberry Fishing Trip miracle!

Andrea FINALLY caught a fish at the end of the day. The poor girl hadn't caught anything in years. Too bad we had to throw it back - but not before a pic!!! Good job, Ange!

See ya next year (or in 3 years), Strawberry!

A Picture is Worth A Thousand Words

Ashley's 1st Sport

I just signed Ash up for a soccer league in our neighborhood. When I first asked her if she wanted to, she said, "But I don't know what that is. But I'll just practice then I'll know!" I love how willing she is to try stuff she knows nothing about! Her frist game is next Saturday. It'll be hilarious, I'm sure!

Fun with Dixie

My parents recently got a new little puppy Doberman (yes - it's doBerman, not doVerman Linz :). They named her Dixie. She's super hyper and we love her! Even though she bites holes through my favorite pair of jeans and bites my knee when I'm trying to play with her. Ashley and Gracie love her too. Gracie's not afraid of her at all! She just gets right in her face! Someday Dixie will teach her a lesson about that, I'm sure!

Let Freedom Ring

We had a great 4th of July weekend! It all started on Friday when we went to the zoo with Andrea, Austin, Erika and my mom. They can't get enough of the zoo! Although it was crowded - we went at the perfect time! All of the animals were playing around - the penguins were swimming, the black bear played in his little pool for a bit, the tiger was growling - it was cool!

For some reason it's tradition for us to get a family picture in front of the giraffes each time we go!

And who can pass up the carousel? Not my little girls!

Here's my own little Dora - always consulting her map :)

On Saturday we went to the Evergreen parade and carnival in SLC. We used to always go there when we were kids. (see Andrea's bloog for some sweet retro picks of that!) The girls had so much fun! Thanks so much to my parents and siblings for making it so fun. I wouldn't have been able to keep my head on straight without them there!









There were a bunch of little games the girls could play and win prizes. They especially loved the bounce house. Too bad it was too expensive ($3 each for only 2 minutes of fun!)

And to top it off they got their faces painted! I only had to wait in line for 30+ minutes, but it was worth it!

After the parade and carnival we went to my Grandma and Grandpa Hansen's house. that night we went to the Sandy City parade (to see my Uncle Clay), concert, and fireworks. It was probably one of the best firework shows I've ever seen! We had such a great day! No wonder it's my favorite holiday! It was the best 4th of July I've had in a very long time! Thanks to Mom and Dad for making it so great!