Tuesday, January 1, 2013

MONTANA!!

...Yet more gifts to unwrap!!  Uncle Dick wisely chose electronic musical toys for the girls... which he quickly realized may not have been in his best interest, since we were staying at his house for the week!  He apologized profusely for the sound-making gifts...advised me to maybe take the batteries out when we got home to keep me sane.  Haha!  Oh well, the girls loved their gifts and were so happy!

Bring on the presents!

McKel playing her new electric keyboard

Gramma Carme got Avril this adorable winter hat

There's that smile!

McKel playing with mommy's new gloves from Grammy Carme
Of course, Uncle Dick, the pro tennis player, got Avril a little racket to start practicing young!


Mommy got a new hat too!

We all went to visit Grandma Char, who has been quite ill.  It was so great that she got to see the girls one last time before she went to be with Jesus.  The girls loved seeing all the Christmas decorations at the home.
Shelby, Uncle Dick, Carme, and Grandma Char

4 generations of girls...

This big soldier boy loves his mama!
The road trippers!  This crew all traveled up together from Logan.  We bonded :)

While Shelby and Carme went skiing up at Red Lodge... mommy had to find ways to keep the girls entertained.  The simplest things can be entertaining for little kids... like locking yourself in a dog kennel???




Avril was playing with mommy's phone and wanted to take some pics... turned out not so great, but sweet....

Love this pic... classic Avril and Shelby!
More playing around with the phone camera:



Tried to get Shelby to show us some dance moves... but the music wouldn't cooperate:


Cousin Chad and Emily Jackson brought over their adorable little ones for a play date.  Avril was the perfect hostess and offered doughnuts to Ellie :)

Ellie is enjoying her snack



Chad holding his little mini Chad (baby Isaac)

Ellie has a little owie on her cheek from where Cappy the dog bit her.  Cappy is old and sick and grumpy.  We made sure to keep him away from the kiddos to prevent more bites.

more sweetness...

Aunt Suze took us to lunch at our favorite sandwich shop in town.  Thank you Aunt Suze!!

So great to see you.  LOVE YOU!

Here is a HAPPY girl, playing with the toys under the tree at Grandma Char's home

All the old folks loved watching how cute the girls were playing
Hanging out at Aunt Star's/Uncle Ken's house
Aunt Star made spaghetti and had everyone over for dinner.  McKel tried to cover as much of her face as possible while she ate the spaghetti...
...And finally, the road trip back.  Shelby's friend Jordan let us borrow his truck for the drive, which was wonderful, because it felt much safer than mommy's little car.  The girls were surprisingly well-behaved on the drive.  We had a great time bonding on the long drive.  Special thanks to Shelby for being a great chauffeur.  So glad we got to all spend time together...


...And I LOVE this video of Avril!  She sometimes will make just the funniest faces.  It was cracking me up!