Derek has a hard time keeping his eyes open for pictures

For the last few years Derek brings home a rose for each of his girls on Valentine's. I LOVE IT! I love seeing their eyes light up when he walks in the door with the flowers and individually gives it to them and tells them he loves them. Derek is such a great daddy and he is so good to show his love to his girls. I hope that this tradition continues and that the girls will know how boys/men should treat ladies.

P.S. Mommy got some roses too!

Love is in the Air

The traditional Heart Boxes from Mommy and Daddy. Full of love and goodies!

We took this picture and text it to Daddy since he goes to work so early. We are going to have heart ravioli, french bread, salad and then some cheesecake for dessert.

Show love everyday, not just on Valentine's!

Beautiful Skies

I do love Nevada skies. We have a lot of clear sunny skies, we get some fabulous clouds and the girls and I love to decide what they look like. I have really come to love the night sky too. Because we have so many clear skies we get to see the stars almost every night and of course the beautiful sunsets. Heavenly Father has given us such a wonderful, beautiful earth.

Bryanna's gift from Santa

For Christmas Bryanna wanted horse riding lessons from Santa. She got a promise note saying she would get one and so we worked on setting it up. A local rancher hosts horse camps pretty regularly and she had one open last week before the kids went back to school. Bryanna was more than excited to go. It was a four hour camp so I knew I wouldn't get to stay and take all the pictures I wanted but I did get a few. The kids started out cleaning the stalls. Bryanna was an excellent raker of "apples" and she looked pretty cute in her cowgirl hat and boots! She told us after they cleaned they got to groom the horses and then ride for a long time. She rode on her own and learned a Posting Trot. It was a great day for her and I'm happy that she had that experience. Of course she wants to do it again and thinks we should buy a horse in the near future!

Bryanna next to Rudy the horse. We liked him because he has the same name as Grandpa Kirk.

New Year's Eve

We are not hard party people but we partied it up Marlatt 5 style. I made a bunch of yummy snacks and we played games and let the kids watch the ball drop from 2011 (oops!) on youtube because we didn't want them to stay up until midnight. At about 9:30 Bryanna and I went outside to bang pots and pans (tradition in my family) and then it was bedtime. I was so sure I was going to stay up until midnight but Derek fell asleep early and I was pretty bored so I just decided to go to bed at 11:30..We woke up to a New Year and 9am church. We are looking forward to what 2012 has to offer and are grateful for all our many blessings.

Christmas 2011

We had a great Christmas this year. We have made a tradition of going out to eat on Christmas Eve and thanks to some Christmas money from family we got to go to Red's 395 Grill for RIBS! The girls love RIBS. We came home to open gifts from in-laws and then we attempted at acting out the Nativity. At about 8:30 we got a knock at the door and someone or I should say Christmas Angels left a generous gift on our doorstep. I don't feel like we deserve it but I know they were working through our Heavenly Father because only HE knows us and knows our needs, sometimes before we do. We are extrememly grateful to whomever that was and we plan on paying if forward in 2012.

Our sad little Nativity..Maggie was the donkey, Gracie was Mary, I was Joseph, Bryanna was the Shepherd and Abby was a wise-man, Derek was the narrator. It was our first time doing this and it was a little pathetic but the meaning was there right?

All the girls with our new jammies! A Christmas Eve tradition.

Christmas Morning!

Santa brought Abby a Barbie Scooter

Bryanna gets a Horse Riding Lesson!

Santa knew Gracie wanted an Easy Bake Oven this year.Derek made the doll beds and I made them quilts/pillows and matching jammies. It was a lot of work, but the girls absolutely LOVE it all!

We had a nice quiet Christmas with just the 5 of us (plus Maggie) and to top it off we got to go to church Christmas morning and sing in the choir and hear the wonderful messages of Christ on this special day.

We are so grateful to a loving Heavenly Father who knows us and who loves us so much he gave us His Son Jesus Christ to live and die for us, so that someday we can live with Him again. That is the greatest gift of all.

Santa Train

We live close to the Nevada Railroad Museum and every year they host the Santa Train ride. They run the steam train and 3 vintage train cars. Santa visits each train car while the train is going. He passes out candy canes and a "ho ho ho." It's a fun tradition we've been doing for a few years now.

Afterwards we got hot chocolate and I tortered the girls by taking their yearly pictures there.

Three of the cutest girls I know

When I posted this picture I thought it was a little creepy..like Santa is peeping in our window. Actually he stands on the side of the train cars to wave goodbye to everyone. And a cup of hot cocoa makes everything better. Looking forward to next year!