January 2017

Welcome to 2017!

After Christmas we got the Mazda cleaned and detailed so it would sell a little easier. When I went to pick it up it was so clean it felt like a brand new car! I should have done that years ago.

We listed it and sold it within a few days. Dan took a picture of our big pile of cash:

A Saturday morning in early January waiting for their turn to go up to Snowbird and ski:

That night we had a family movie night and watched Honey I Shrunk the Kids (we watched it at the Brower's house when they were gone, I don't remember why). It was hilarious to watch it with the girls. They thought it was pretty funny and were super in to it:

Olive hates when I do her hair so it's usually just a wild mess, but every once in a while she doesn't put up a fight:

Nicole sent me this picture of Ellie walking home from school on a snowy day with Ellie S. and Naomi Maughn:

On the second weekend of January I went on a girls trip to St. George with Anna, Amy, and Cheryl. We ate good food, got massages (prenatal ones for Cheryl and me!), painted nails, watched a movie, sat in the hot tub, walked around Snow Canyon, and talked non-stop.

While I was gone Dan decided to take all three girls skiing. It was Olive's first time skiing for real and she thought it was the best. He texted me these pictures and I just love them!

 He also sent me this - descending into the inversion:

We drove home Sunday afternoon but not in time for church, so Dan was in charge of getting the girls ready. Olive chose her own outfit and ended up in a hand-me-down dress that was too big, socks over tights, and a weird purse:

The next week Ellie went to her friend Stella's birthday party and got to stay out late, dye her hair, and put on lots of tattoo jewelry:

Olive in a non-unicorn costume:

On a no-school Friday we went to the Midway Ice Castles with Ruby and Ellie. It was bigger than when we had gone a few years ago and more fun. The girls loved going down all the ice slides and exploring everywhere.

That weekend Dan borrowed his parents' Wii and figured out how to get the old original Mario on it. We introduced it to the girls and laughed so hard watching them bounce around while they played - especially Olive!

They asked to play a lot for a week or two and then forgot about it, which I was happy about.

And then it was the end of the month and Olive's birthday! Three years old:

She got to go to the Red Balloon with Lorna that afternoon. One of her favorite toys she picked out was this Gumby and Pokey - which she has never seen or heard of, but loves them. I had the same toys when I was a kid and loved them too!

We had teddy bear cupcakes after dinner that night.

I've always thought age three is the hardest and Olive hasn't disappointed. She's learning the arts of whining and tantrum throwing and negotiating and refusing and dawdling and screaming and hitting. But she can also be absolutely hilarious and so much fun. We just love her big personality!

Alta read a book about two sisters making a Sister's Club and decided to implement the idea at our house, so she and Ellie made a special Sister's Club birthday set-up for Olive. It was adorable:

Happy Birthday to our crazy Olive!