Early Christmas

Well, even if I can't believe it myself we live for our Caribbean vacation in two days!!! I guess Santa must have known because last night he made a special stop by our house. :)
The girls woke up this morning to find out that all their presents were here! Needless to say it was a GREAT surprise!

Bright and early, at 7:00 we were opening gifts...

Sam has been wanting an American Girl doll so bad for a while and was so excited to finally get one.

I think Anaïs' favorite present this year was a remote control Little Pony car.

We are so excited for our vacation!!!!!

Classroom Christmas parties.

Here are pictures from the girls' classroom parties. Both parties were on the same morning, Anaïs' first and then Sam's. Both parties were really fun.
In Anaïs' class they got to make Jingle bracelets, snow globes, and play all kinds of games. They also did a book exchange.

In Sam's class, they got to read a Christmas story, decorate cookies, make a craft and eat pizza. They also did a book exchange.

Christmas tea party

Last Sunday, Sam and I went to the Grand America Hotel with friends of ours for an afternoon of tea and Christmas fun. It was so cute and such a special time! Her and her friend Anna loved it and us moms and a great time too!

These guys used to be in the same class last year and are both figure skaters so they share a special friendship.

Here is my beautiful princess:

Another great memory with my girl! I just love being her mom!

Successful dentist visit.

I took the girls to the dentist the other day and they did so well. It was Anaïs' very fist visit. They both did really good!!!
Anaïs went first and had no fear...guess that's what happens when you go through major surgery before you even turn one...

Sam was a really good big sister and showed Anaïs there was nothing to be afraid of.

100% healthy teeth for my two girls. :)

School book fair.

Yesterday, the girls' school at a parent/child lunch during the book fair...pretty smart way to make you buy books! I enjoyed spending time with them picking out books.

It is always fun to see the girls in their school environment.

My little helper

This morning Jeff took Sam to her skating practice. In the meantime, I wanted to set up the Christmas tree...Anaïs wanted to help and did such a good job.
She really enjoyed putting the ornaments on the tree, one by one.

All done!

This year, Santa is coming to our house a few days early because we are going on a Caribbean vacation to St Thomas. We leave December 24th...so excited!!!

Silly bath

The girls had a good time in the tub tonight!

I love seeing how much fun they can have together!

Thanksgiving school party

Today was Sam's classroom Thanksgiving party. Unfortunately, we had to miss Anaïs' because it was yesterday and she was sick and did not go to school.
Sam's party was pretty low key. They made a craft (a Thanksgiving wreath), ate pizza since it was pizza Friday and read a story about Thanksgiving.

When I went to pick up Anaïs in her classroom she showed me a turkey they had made with an apple and marshmallows and wrote on it "I am thankful for Christian"...her boyfriend. LOL

She loves this boy and isn't afraid to say it, here is the cute couple:

They are on a school break now and have a whole week off, which will be nice!

Cute cheerleaders.

Tonight, Sam had her school performance. All the girls in her class had to dress as cheerleaders and the boys as baseball players. It was so cute.
She did great and most importantly has a lot of fun.

Halloween fun.

This year was a great Halloween. It was the first year Anaïs really understood the whole concept. They celebrated Halloween at school and it was so great to be there with them. I was in Anaïs' classroom party but unfortunately could not volunteer in Sam's classroom party as her teachers requested only four parent volunteers and they beat me to it.
Anaïs' classroom party was really cute, they read a Halloween story, decorated pumpkins and cookies and had a couple game stations. They also did a parade and visited all the classrooms.

Of course, the best part was when we visited the second graders, Sam's class. Here is Sam as a pirate very excited to see us. :)

Here is Sam and her very good friend Summer:

Anaïs just loves hanging out with the second graders...

Then in the evening we went down to Salt Lake to go trick or treating with the cousins in Jeff's mom's neighborhood.

Here is Anaïs about to go experience trick or treating for the first time, she got the idea pretty quickly and did a good job at saying "trick or treat".

Fun times! Kind of glad Halloween is over though...