Train Park

This weekend we went to the McCormick Ranch Railroad Park to see their Christmas lights. They put lights all over the engine at the front, and the train ride had big light and Christmas displays. We had to wait in line over an hour, but I think it was worth it! It was opening night so they had Elmo, Buzz Lightyear, Cookie Monster, Clifford, and some other characters walking around that Molly liked to wave at but wouldn't go anywhere near, even the beloved Elmo.


Claire liked to pass the time spent in line playing peek-a-boo with her hood.

I'm Such a Sucker for Matching Dresses!

Sorry to post basically the exact same picture, but Claire looked better in one and Molly better in the other, so I thought I'd better post them both!

Christmas Pictures

In October my aunt Karen came down for a visit and she is an excellent photographer. I've been wanting to get away from our traditional Target Portrait Studio Christmas picture, so I asked her if she wouldn't mind doing pictures for us. It definitely wasn't easy getting good pictures, especially of the kids, but I think she did an amazing job!

Snow in Fountain Hills

Last night we went out to Fountain Hills for the town's Christmas celebration on the Avenue of the Fountains. They have the whole street lit up and decorated, Santa rides in on a fire truck, and they bring in a few truckloads of snow for the kids to play in. Since Molly won't have anything to do with Santa (she won't even look at him if we're passing by) the snow was definitely the highlight. Unfortunately I didn't realize how cold it was going to be so we were all terribly underdressed, but besides that it was a lot of fun.

Molly wasn't quite sure what to do with the snow, but once I told her she could throw snowballs at me she really found her purpose.

It's Been Too Long...

It's been almost two years since our poor dirt bikes have gotten any use. Between being pregnant, refusing to ride in the summer heat, and having to tend to the babies I was pregnant with, it's pretty trick to find time to ride (not too mention finding a babysitter who has several hours on a Saturday to spare). It was finally the perfect storm on Saturday and we were actually able to get out. I'm pretty slow on my bike these days (visions of tending to two small children with a broken arm kept creeping in my head) but it's still just as much fun. Luckily the company I keep doesn't mind it too much; my dad and Chris would stop and wait for me every so often to make sure I haven't crashed.

We asked Molly if she wanted a dirt bike and she said "Yes, but not yet."

It's Beginning to Look Alot Like Christmas

I wanted to put up the Christmas decorations when the Halloween came down, but Chris is very anti Christmas decor until Thanksgiving is over; I think he might have actually used the word "trashy." If Christmas decorations up before Thanksgiving are wrong, I don't want to be right! We finally compromised and put the decorations up the Monday before Thanksgiving.





I have a pretty rough group of decorations, but my favorite things are the vintage ornaments I bought off Ebay a couple of years ago. Thanks to a little inspiration from Martha Stewart, I think they they dress the windows nicely!

Thanksgiving

Molly got to do a little bit of helping at this year's annual Wednesday Night Pie Bake.



Molly and Claire looking beautiful Thanksgiving day.


My cousins from Utah were here and the girls loved them!


Molly found yet another person with a DS she could follow around.

Sketch of Molly

My sister Jessie is quite an artist and she did this pencil sketch of Molly the other day. Isn't it beautiful?

Girl on the Move

Every day Claire surprises me with more things she can do. A couple of days ago I was at Sarah's house and she had crawled up onto the coffee table shelf.

Dress-up Box

Poor Claire. Between Molly and I, we couldn't help ourselves!



Molly's outfit is very high-fashion, but not very functional. She had to tone it down a little to become a real cheerleader.

Best Friends

Sorry for any of you that are readers of the Clark blog, but these pictures were too funny not to steal and post on my own blog.

Max has his own personal kitchen cupboard for his toys. It also happens to be a favorite hang-out for these two.


Sarah's backyard is awesome. Molly and Max like to play restaurant through this opening in the house. One of them will say "What do you want to order?" The other place their order, and they'll be handed a plate full of grass. Notice they're using china plates; nothing but the best for these two!


The samurai swords were a little tricky at first, but once they were told that the swords were only for shooing flies, they took their responsibility very seriously. I'm pretty sure they haven't hit each other again after that. And I know it's silly that Molly is wearing a trench coat when it's clearly not cold enough outside for one, but I really love it so we're trying to get as much use out of it as possible.

Next-Generation Sun Devil Fan

Chris took Molly to her first ASU football game yesterday, and from what I've heard, they had an awesome time. They didn't watch too much football, but Molly was crazy about climbing on the bleachers! They also got some popcorn (for the record, Chris has never gotten me any concession food before), watched Sparky do push-ups (which Molly tried to demonstrate for me-hilarious), watched the "feather hats" (the band?), and they tried to see the cheerleaders but they "ran away"-I think that means they were on the opposite side so Molly couldn't see them. Chris wanted to leave a little early to beat traffic, and from what I understand it took a little convincing for Molly to be okay with leaving.

My original plans for Molly's hair was to do sponge curlers then put it in a curly pony (remember those days from cheer Sarah and Jessie?) but her hair looked so cute once I took it out of the curlers that I didn't have the heart to put it back in a pony. And isn't her bow awesome? I asked Sarah to make it as large and obnoxious as she could, and she really delivered! The pictures really don't do it justice.

Claire Scooting

Beautiful Disaster

Last night when I came home from my Girls Night Out with my mom and sisters the kitchen was a disaster. The strange thing is, the disaster was made up of mixing bowls, flour, pans, the hand mixer, and various other baking items. I stared at the mess trying to figure out what happened, because surely Chris hadn't been baking. What a ridiculous thought! But then after a more thorough kitchen scan I found the proof: beautiful chocolate chip cookies that had been baked to perfection. For some of you with husbands that cook more than scrambled eggs or the occasional box of Macaroni and Cheese this might not be such a shocking sight. But for me it was straight from the Bizarro World. I went upstairs to talk to Chris, and sure enough he had made them, with a little help from Molly. The really funny part is that the cookies were so far superior to my own, both in looks and taste. I have been making chocolate chip cookies for years, with frequency, and they never come out very well. Suddenly Chris decides on a whim to try his hand at baking, which he has never done before to my knowledge, and he turns out cookies that could be submitted for competition! Oh well, I suppose he can teach me a thing or two, or better yet when he has a hankering for a sweet in the evening he can sweat in the kitchen over a batch of cookies instead of me...

Halloween Festivities

This year for Halloween Molly dressed up as Mulan and Claire was a mermaid - aka Clairiel.







To kick off the festivities, we went to my parent's ward Halloween party.



She loved the cake walk.


Or at least she loved the outcome of the cakewalk.


They had a cotton candy machine that Molly was nervous about at first, but once she got a lick of it she was sold.


I was too.


The next leg of the festivities was carving a pumpkin.


Molly loved him!


Finally, we went trick-or-treating in Fountain Hills with Max. They were definitely some of the best-looking kids there!