So somehow the past month has just passed us by. May be it's been more like the last 2 or 3. I really can't believe that it is November. The girls all planned on being witches but with all the parties we went to...4 in total! They decided to change costumes for each new occasion. Lyndie even wore the clown costume I wore as a little girl to the soccer game on Halloween day. Halloween night she insisted on wearing a pull-up which she really doesn't need, and hasn't worn since last february, and I told her only babies wear them and so she went and put on her pajamas and said she was going as "pajama girl" she wore her cowboy boots with her pajamas, unfortunately I didn't get a photo of that one but by the time we went trick-or-treating she changed back into the piglet costume.
Our last few months have been filled with school....Lainey now stays for lunch, they just started this week, and constantly wants to have a friend over to play! Malia goes to school two days a week, she loves it but always shed a few fake tears and a don't leave me...it's just a control thing! Her class just hatched eggs and they now have 11 baby chicks in their classroom. Lyndie and I go to a mommy and me class twice a week although with her very runny nose and cough she has battled the last few weeks we've missed several days. She was very excited to go to her school today.
The 2 big girls are playing soccer. This week is their last game. Lainey is really into it and we think could turn out to be a really good player. She loves to get the ball and unfortunately often takes out her own teammates to take the ball down the field. Malia is a bit more timid on the field but keeps on running and smiling. The last few weeks she has really improved and almost made a goal this last week! Malia did learn to ride her bike last week. It's still a work in progress but she is coming along.
Lyndie keeps us laughing with the things she says. The other day while we were driving she says to me, "I don't like boys, cause they pee outside." Then the next day she says, "Boys have licorice bums. They pee outside. Hannah doesn't have a licorice bum" And then she proceeds to go through all the little girls she knows and says that they don't have licorice bums. I have no idea where she came up with "licorice bum" concept.
Our house is finally under real construction! The outside shell went up in less than a week. It was amazing to see it happen! I keep thinking if we didn't have to give part of it up for a garage I could have one of those big houses like in UTAH. But I am really grateful for the space that will be ours and especially my new bathtub...Justin knows how I love to read and soak and got me this sweet tub!
We've taken a few trips to Disneyland in the last few months...got to use those passes while we have them. Luckily none of them have been repeats of the trip in August when Lainey had a febrile seizure as we were leaving and she and I had to leave in an ambulance....that was one expensive trip...we're still paying for it, the joys of being self-employed.
It's finally starting to feel a bit like fall, although we did go to the outdoor pool just last week. The nights and mornings are chilly now and the girls frequently ask for hot chocolate.
I have stayed up way too late...we're still all adjusting to the time change. The waking hour is now before 6am at our house. Aahhhhh! And NO, no one takes naps!
We then headed to my nephew's baptism up north and came home via San Francisco, where we stayed with a friend of mine. I love the fact that only time I can get all my family to look in the same direction is when a total stranger takes the photo. It works every time!
So my youngest sister decided we ought to have an anniversary party for our parents, it was a total last minute thing and it was so FUN. They were absolutely surprised about the whole thing! And my whole family was there...Chelsea and her family surprised all of us and drove down for the big party! Happy 36th to the BEST parents around!
Lainey and Malia started karate a few weeks ago we got a REALLY good deal on lessons at a YW camp fundraiser and they have loved their classes. They can go up to 3 times a week and the smiles on their faces is so worth it! I love that Malia now bows when she steps off the rug in our living room and says "yes mam" to me. Lyndie likes to sit on the side and try to do whatever they are doing...she and I are taking a swimming class together through her school and today she amazed me by swimming about 7 feet under water...I can't wait for our summer pool days to start again!
In honor of Dr Seuss we celebrated with Green Eggs and Ham...we had the missionaries for dinner that night so they got to join in on our birthday celebration!
Strawberry season is here again! This stand is less than 1/2 a mile from our house and they have the BEST berries you have ever eaten.
We've celebrated 2 birthdays in the last month...it's so hard to believe that our baby is 3 now. We went to Disneyland on her birthday...it was the last day of our passes and her last time to get in free! Lainey opted for a wacky olympics party which we celebrated at the park with her friends and cousins. And to think she is now 6...as my mother in law put it she's a third of the way to 18, I told her I didn't want to think about that!
Usually we welcome the RAIN, but please Mr. Weatherman could you hold it back a few hours? We (well not me, but my dear husband and dad) just finished with the last of the concrete and it really needs time to set a bit more! In the last two months we have had countless amounts of cement poured down the side of our house and now finally in our driveway and up to our front door. It is so beautiful!
This is my dear friend Katie aka Harmony who came to spend the day with us on Valentine's with her family from Idaho. Beautiful weather and guests from out of town meant we had to make a trip to the beach. Katie and I met at Academy for Girls and then worked together to create a camp for girls called Retreat for Girls, which she and her husband now run. This year they had partnered with Deseret Book. 
The next best thing to spending the day with Katie and Jeremy was watching our kids become friends. I hate the fact that we live hundreds of miles away from one another.
This was our yummy Valentine's Breakfast...Daddy's homemade pancakes with real whip cream and the most delicious strawberries around! The stand around the corner from our house just opened and it is so tempting to stop everytime I drive by.
Our 2010 Valentine's photo...has it really been 9 years?
Lyndie getting ready for her upcoming birthday...yes the pinata is bigger than her, and NO it is not completely filled with candy. She had so much fun trying to decide which one to pick out.
Olivia Owl from preschool helped Malia put her handprint in the sidewalk....we kept forgetting to put the girls handprints in the concrete.
I think this one has been watching too many old movies with me. We love to watch old movies together, recently we watched a bunch of the ones with the underwater ballet in them. She got all dressed like this when we went to the pool this last week.
Don't these look amazing? They were, Justin made them from scratch for my birthday. He decided it was just as easy to make two as it was to make one... I am so LUCKY, and so are my hips!
Mud pigs...I think Malia looks like she's ready to become a future dancer at the Polynesian Cultural Center.
The littlest driver
So glad to no longer have to see this when I drive up to our house!
This is how you sled without snow...
We took the girls to Disneyland before Christmas. Check out the snow on the castle.
We were able to spend Christmas with Justin's mom, it was the first time she has been here for Christmas. One of the highlights was the fact that we got to talk to his brother who is on a mission in Argentina. The girls loved playing with Grandma Aleen and we were sad to see her leave.
The girls are all growing up way too fast. Malia had learned to ride a bike on her own, Lainey mastered her Heelys skate shoes she got for Christmas, and the other night when we couldn't find Lyndie at the church she was finally found in the chapel where she was "praticing my testimony". 
This is what you miss when you don't have children who wake you up before 5am in the morning. We are going for our 2nd morning of early rising and I am afraid I am going to hit a wall about 3pm today...we'll be turning on a movie. We even tried taking Sunday naps/book time in your room yesterday..it didn't work! And at 6:30pm they were still going strong, we finally reverted to the strap them in the car so they can't move and they go to sleep method! Too bad I still had to go to a Presidency meeting at 8pm. Luckily the SUNRISE out my kitchen window made it worth it.