Happy Birthday baby Jayne!!!

Our baby girl turned two the week before Christmas! I can't believe it! I guess she really isn't a baby anymore, but she is still my baby. I remember the day she was born, like it was yesterday. We were shocked, scared, overwhelmed...I wish I could go back and tell myself then that it was going to be ok. I wish I could have seen then a glimpse of how we feel now. But I guess it was all a part of the process of healing and understanding and growing. We had to go through the pain to really appreciate the joy. We have grown, we have been stretched and our definition of beauty and perfection has been broadened and redefined. Life is definitely more beautiful--47 chromosomes and all! Jayne is ours...and she is perfect! Happy Birthday to our sweet little Jayne!

My favorite things about Jayne...
-Her ability to brighten up anyone's day just by smiling at them
-The way she scoots over and pats anyone that is sad or crying to try and make them feel better
-Her sweet hugs and kisses
-The way she says "Mmmm" when she is eating something yummy
-How much she LOVES her small pink silky and soft blanket and rubs it on her face
-How much she loves her baby dolls, purses, and phones
-How she loves the piano and music. She will scream in the car until I put on "Belle" and when the song is over, she claps.
-Her sweet, yet spunky personality--she knows what she wants and she will let you know too!

TEA PARTY
We had a little impromptu tea party for Jayne and a few little friends to celebrate her special day. Jayne is already "all girl" and loves purses, necklaces, babies and princesses so of course, it was a princess party.

Ila, Jayne and Roxy

Little Princesses Roxy, Ila, Mia and Jayne

Jayne is all hugs and cuddles with us but she didn't want anything to do with Roxy when she tried to give her a hug. She lights up when we talk about her little friends and even tries to say their names but then gets all shy when she sees them. It is pretty funny!

Jayne absolutely loved her new phone, necklace and purse from Mia!

FAMILY PARTY

We had some family over to our house for dinner to celebrate Jayne's big day. (Glenn, Tami, Don, Diane, Don)

If the camera comes out, Jayne knows how to "cheese!" It is pretty cute!

Clapping after we sang "Happy Birthday" to her. Jayne LOVES music and singing!

She is a natural mama and knew just what to do with the new baby that Don and I got her

Elle was so excited to help Jayne open her presents and even made a sign in the background that said "Beware and watch out! This is the queen's chair!" My Elle Belle loves a party she is the best big sister to Jayne! She used every last cent of her own money that she has saved since August to buy a birthday and Christmas present for Jayne and a Christmas present for Easton. I am so proud of her.

Easton was so excited for Jayne's party. He insisted on dressing up for it and came upstairs with his church clothes on so he would look his best. He couldn't wait to give Jayne the princess jewelry he got her with his own money. How did I get such sweet kids?

Grandma Irene brought Jayne some cute books

Grandma Diane and Grandpa Don got her this adorable book and stuffed elephant to go with it

The favorite gift of the night though was from Uncle Ken, who didn't even get to stay long enough to see her open her gifts. She LOVES this little piano and played it all night.

And of course--birthday cake!

Christmas Programs and Recitals

Easton's preschool puts on an adorable Christmas program! It is the cutest things seeing all the kids singing their hearts out! I love the little actions they do to go with the songs too. Easton's class danced with candy canes in one part. It was pretty cute! You really can't leave without being in the Christmas spirit.

At the end, all the kids got to put Rudolph noses on their dads or grandpas and then the men sang "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer to the kids. It was pretty sweet!

Elle had a piano recital and did great! We are really proud of how well she is doing! She chose to play "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" and the theme for "Star Wars," of course!

Elle also got to dance at the Festival of Trees this year. She was so excited because she loves to perform! It was a short performance but she loved every second of it!

Hogle Zoo and Busy December Fun

I wanted to do something fun with the kids while they were out of school so we planned to go to "This is the Place Park" because I heard they had a whole Christmas village and reindeer to see. My friends Tanna and Jill thought it sounded fun too so we tried to find a time when we could all go during the busy Christmas season and finally found a day. We drove all the way up there and... they were closed!!! It was open 6pm to 10pm and I thought it was 10am to 6pm. Oops! Why isn't anything open in the day in the winter time? It was a really cold day but we were already all bundled so we went across the street to the zoo. It was like a ghost town--totally empty! I only saw one other family there the whole time, so our kids were able to run free and we didn't have to worry about losing them in a sea of kids. It was great! Even though a lot of the exhibits were closed, they loved being with friends and seeing the animals that were there. The best surprise of all was the tigers! I have never seen five at one time, all wide awake staring at us. It's true--the animals are a lot more active in the winter. You just have to hurry through because it is freezing!

All the kids growling like tigers! (Mia, Ava, Drake, Ila, Easton, Elle, Jayne)

Easton and his buddy, Drake

The tigers were amazing!

Easton and Elle warming up by the fire

Dinner out with Fletchers to Cheesecake Factory

Easton's adorable Nativity picture he colored in Preschool

Jayne loved this Santa and would point to it all the time and say her version of "Santa"

Dinner at Biaggis and White elephant gift exchange with Knights and Hanks

Gingerbread Cookies

There's nothing quite like making and decorating cookies with my kids--flour everywhere, half the cookie still stuck in the cookie cutter, sneaking little pieces of dough when they think I don't see, the sound of candy and sprinkles rolling on the floor and sticky fingers and faces covered in frosting. These are the moments I never want to forget! I love my cookie-making kids!

Easton mixing up the dough and trying to decide which cookie cutters he wants to use

Rolling out the dough (That's flour on my nose, from Easton.)

Elle carefully decorating a cookie

Me and the kids with our favorite cookie that we decorated

How cute are these cookies? Elle and E are both so creative! The cookies didn't last long though-- they were yummy!

Jayne was napping while me made them but she loved eating them and definitely knows the sign for "cookie."

Lights at Temple Square

We went to see the Lights at Temple Square with Judd & Heather and their kids. We don't get together as much as we would like to so it was fun to be with them. The lights were SO pretty and we got to see the nativity. Luckily it wasn't too cold of a night but we still got hot chocolate and cookies at Deseret Book after.

Hanks Family

Hadlie and Elle

Bronco and Easton

Jayne looked so cute all bundled up!

Playing in the snow

Judd and Don with Maverick and Jayne

Heather and Summer