Catching Up... kind of

For weeks I've been telling myself 'when I get more time, I'll post that picture and tell about that'. With my schedule as of late, all of the thats just keep piling up because I'm always forcing people to cooperate with me for lots of picture taking. Farewell my Sunday and Monday night slumbers, I've got to get these pictures and memories recorded.

Last Sunday (the 30th), Kiri, Aaron, Adalyn and Jacob were in town. We've missed them these last few months and it was fun to see them again and get caught up on the things Adalyn is learning that are well beyond her years. Sunday night at my mom's was quite the party. Thank goodness Kiri lives in Utah so she had an extra coat for Clara to borrow. We're just not used to having to wear coats just yet.Roller coaster rides (not sure if Jack won't smile because he's having too much fun or if he's sad he was the only boy around)My parent's neighbor across the street has a beautiful home and property. He puts plenty of lights up for Christmas and plays his Christmas music over an outdoor speaker. I'm pretty sure it gets louder every year but I absolutely LOVE leaving my parent's at night during this time of year to hear it. It's awesome. Clara and Lucy enjoyed dancing to the music. Clara also got her first teeter-totter ride. And I promise she's not flipping the camera off. She has something in her hand, but notice the tree behind her. That's cool. Another thing that regularly happens on Sunday evenings are visits to Dr. Lily. She checks out the little ones and wraps up arms, legs and sometimes even heads. They love it. A little later, Amy came over. Of course I wouldn't feel complete without attempting a cousin picture. Not too shabby... getting six two year old toddlers to look at the camera. At one point, angel Clara appeared. Oh Kiri, when are you going to move back to Arizona? You know you want to so you don't have to live without us anymore. :) Now it's confession time. Well, I've already confessed to this, so perhaps a reminder: I AM NOT INTO DOGS. Never have been. They stink, they're loud, they tear things up, they are big. I just get grossed out. Until Lady Bug came along. This is Daniel's dog and she's the cutest little Daschund puppy. For the last two Sundays, I've let her sleep in my lap as we've visited. Yup, I like this dog so much I even took pictures with it. Clara likes her too... only a little too much at times.Fast forward... the night Clara stayed at my mom's, I took some pictures of her first spend the night with Grandma. She just walked out the door and turned to wave and say goodbye. Angela asked me if it made me sad that she didn't even care she was leaving. It doesn't. It actually makes me feel good and it puts me at ease knowing she's having lots of fun and gets to be with someone that loves her dearly. While Jason was gone, we put up the tree. I thought this was going to be the year that he helped me put it up. And then he went out of town. I guess he gets clean up duty. Clara helped me put ornaments on and loved it. However, she's been having a very difficult time leaving the candy canes alone. If I'm not nearby, she'll steal one (or two) and then try to hide it behind her back. If I try to get it from her, she'll lean/lay with her hands behind her back so I can't grab it without moving her. Little {cute} turkey.Clara loved talking to Jason while he was gone. She'd hold the phone and walk around the house, babbling non-stop. Thursday night Angela came over to bake cookies. I had written on this bag for something that I didn't use. Every time I'd get a cookie to eat, I'd laugh about what the bag said. Saturday afternoon was lovely. The weather was beautiful and I sat on my back porch for at least an hour reading while Clara kept herself entertained. She had a wipe and would soak up water with it, then "clean" anything she could find (the little plastic table, the cement, the window, her arm pits (don't ask), etc.). Obviously her wipe was brown with dirt and the water wasn't clean, but she had fun. And I enjoyed many things that make me happy all at once: watching Clara entertain herself in our awesome backyard, being outside in basically perfect weather and reading a good book. Yup, it was warm enough in December for her to play outside in her undies. Have I mentioned that scrawny little girls in undies and shoes are completely darling?