Hill Airforce Airplane Museum

We’ve been driving past this place for years on our way up to Cache Valley, always saying that "someday" we’ll have to come see the airplanes. We finally made it there with Tracy and Walt. It was a fun outing!

Raising Little Mothers

Millie’s motherly instinct kicked in around 8:30 one night and she was determined to stay up until all her babies were well tucked in bed (much to my dismay!). She was very determined, so I decided to just appreciate the cute moment and be grateful that she wants to be a mother.

Thanks for finally going to sleep, girls!

Hair Drama with Grace

In case you haven’t noticed, lately Grace doesn’t let us do anything with her hair except for straightening with a small curl up on the bottom that I sneak in there. On occasion, she decides a clip would be nice, but then it comes out within minutes.

Well, one day I was feeling brave and I just started doing curls. When she discovered it, she was sad and wanted the curls out. I bribed her with a candy if she let me curl it all. She reluctantly agreed, but then as soon as she got her candy, she was determined to get it straight again. So while I had a chance, I tried to take a picture. She was NOT happy about that. A few seconds after the pictures were taken, she and Millie discovered that water can straighten curls. How sad! A mom with girls, and I’m already unable to use my creativity and skills to do their hair! I just keep reminding myself that "this is a stage!"

Bowling

We’ve been looking forward to this for a very long time!

Gracie wanted the orange ball (her very favorite color!), and luckily it was her size

The girls love the candy machines as much or more than the bowling

Claire was in heaven with all these balls

And here’s the dance for hitting pins down

Christmas Letter 2010

We finally got our "act together" this year and sent out a family Christmas card and letter. We actually only sent it to mission friends who we don't have internet contact with. We had good intentions of emailing it out to the rest of our friends, but things got busy...and it just didn't happen! So for the record, here's what we said...


We hope this letter finds you well. Here’s a little family update:

Paul is still working for the Church, but has moved to the Family History department, where he has really enjoyed the change and the challenges that have come along with learning new skills. More than anything else, Paul loves taking care of his girls. In the evening, he turns into “Prince Charming” to dance with the princesses, & then becomes “the dragon” to captures them. In the end, “daddy” returns to tell them exciting bedtime stories.

Jen is grateful to be a stay-at-home mom and a full-time teacher to her little ones. She fills up her days playing, coloring, changing diapers, doing playdough, teaching joyschool, painting nails, reading children’s books, teaching sisters how to play nice and share, driving to and from preschool, teaching violin, napping, and teaching the girls to clean up after themselves! Even though her girls are a great source of joy during the day, she loves her own time at night when the girls are all asleep.

Millie (4) is our ballerina princess. She loves to “make” her own hair, paint her own nails, & choose her own outfits. She insists on wearing skirts or dresses everyday. And most of her drawings are of herself, as a princess. One day, she said, “I am the most beautifulest of all the lives!” Still, Millie is learning to be beautiful within as well. She is a big helper with baby Claire and a fun friend for Grace. And she often whispers sweetly in our ears, “I love you and I always will.”

Gracie (3) loves to color, do puzzles, dress-up like a princess to dance, and read. Even though she is a picky eater, she loves to cook. The other day, she was stirring dinner and saying, “yuck!” all the while. Gracie is such a “daddy’s girl.” Whenever he leaves, she sadly says, “Oh, Daddy, I will sure miss you!” She loves to pray, and is willing to say every family prayer we have. She likes to remind us that we are still learning. The other day when mommy got upset, Gracie said, “When you are older, you will be nicer.” She keeps us laughing each day!

Claire (1) is a happy girl! She loves to play “doggie,” roll a ball, & help unload the dishwasher. We know when she really likes her food, because she says, “um” with every bite; and the food she dislikes goes right off the edge and onto the floor. In church, she keeps the people sitting behind us distracted, smiling, talking, and picking up her toys. Claire has brightened up our days in 2010.

Like you, we know that all of our blessings come from God, our Heavenly Father. He helps us through our trials and challenges and has given us the hope of salvation through the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ. He is our joy this Christmas season and always.

Holiday Happenings

We made a big effort to create and continue with Christmas traditions. It ended up being a wonderful Christmas Season for us. Here are some of the things we did.

Christmas Decorations
I loved getting Millie and Gracie's help with decorating this year. It was very apparent that they are girls. They were thrilled as they pulled each decoration out of the box. First they decorated the tree with all the ornaments right in the middle...



Then, without instructions, they quickly unpacked the rest of the decorations and found a place for everything to fit on our sofa table. They were very pleased with the end result...


And Claire "helped" with anything within her reach!


Christmas Crafts
One wintry day we needed a fun craft. So we made clay for a volcano. But Grace was a little worried about the volcano, so we decided to make clay ornaments instead. We loved the entire process! Once they were baked, we painted them and then turned them into ornaments. These little women love to create!



Building "Frosty"
We avoid going out into the cold most of the winter long. However, it doesn't quite feel like Christmas until the girls have been out making a snowman with their Daddy. Here's a very wide Frosty that is a little "vertically challenged" thanks to the powdery snow.





Christmas Caroling
Millie's preschool took a "service field trip" to an assisted living center to sing carols, and then to the Bountiful food bank to donate their extra change for needy families. I was VERY impressed at the childrens' ability to learn so many songs and perform so well.

The highlight for us was at the end. Grace was sad the entire time because she had to sit in the audience with me instead of performing with Millie. She isn't in the preschool, but it's hard for her to understand why she can't do some things that Millie is doing. So when the performance was nearing an end, and they were about to sing a song that Grace knew, I told her to go ahead and join Millie to sing. She hesitated at first, but then she went up and held Millie's hand and started to sing. Millie was sweet with her and Gracie's face just beamed with pride! She sang so well, and felt so big! I'm so glad I captured that moment on video!



Candy Houses
We LOVE candy! And the only thing better than a lot of candy, is playing with it, and then having an excuse to display it for days and snitch from it often!

Daddy let the girls place every single candy on this train by themselves. It took a long time, but paid off!


By the time we made candy houses at Grandma and Grandpa Yorgason's, these girls were old pros! They had help getting started, but after awhile, they took over and finished it nicely on their own.



It turned out so cute! I know I'm biased, but if I had been the judge, this one would have won!


Thatcher Family Christmas Party
When Katie married Cody, we had no idea the perks of having a cowboy in the family. Here's just one of them. We started out our family party in Millville, where we rode in a horse-drawn covered wagon through the snowy streets. We bundled up warm and sang Christmas carols together. The cold weather and falling snow made for a perfect ride!






Christmas Eve
We had our fair share of goodies this month, including a lot of hot chocolate. Every time we made it, these girls were thrilled! A simple treat that is so much fun! So we decided that a perfect New Year's Eve would be a simple evening with some friends, goodies, hot chocolate, and the nativity. We had Robert & Lynn, James McCall, and Marianna & Madelyn Mestas over for a short evening. We played carols with our chimes, the girls sang and then told the nativity story with props.


Christmas Day
We had a relaxing morning (for the record, we got to sleep in until after 7:00), opening presents the "Higbee style" (which means that we enjoy each present before going on to the next one). Then we headed to be with the Yorgason cousins for the day. We had so much fun that we forgot to take pictures! But here are some pics of the girls and their presents...

Millie's favorite gifts came from our sweet neighbors: the umbrella, barbies, and lipstick!


All Grace asked Santa for was a ring-pop. She ended up getting about 8 of them! And even after getting all her other gifts, when asked what she got for Christmas, she always replied in a very content voice, "a ring-pop!" She also loves her puzzles, coloring book & crayons, and dolls.


Claire is very happy with her mixing pot from Grandma & Grandpa Yorgason! It keeps her busy each day! She also received a pink stroller from Santa, which she surprised us and started to walk and push it.


And Claire's present to Mommy...her first pony tails!
And a fun discovery...Claire actually fits into her pink stroller, so now it's a toy for everyone! Hang on tight, Claire!

Here's Carolyn Lindsey, our dear ward friend who is often mistaken as Jen's mom. She is like a grandma to our girls, helping out each Sunday in church. She gave the girls a fun necklace kit, a coloring book, and this little riding car for Claire. We felt spoiled by her, as well as our other friends and family (Robert & Lynn, Shauna & Klaus, Karol & Havier, Grandparents, etc.). I wish we had been better at getting pictures with each one of them!




New Year's Eve
We got lucky and had Dave & Holly's family here over New Year's. The kids were up extra late (around 9:00) and then the real party began! We talked and played Phase 10 until way too late! In the morning, Dave was the "Nascht Kaegel" (the nest egg in German, or the last one asleep New Year's morning) so he got awoken by pots and pans. We had a fun day with them and were joined by Josh, Elena, & baby Eila. Again, the real measure of fun: too much fun to stop and take pictures! Here's all we have...





New Year's Resolution: Take more pictures! Take better pictures! Take them on important days when we are doing fun things! Just stop and take pictures! (sigh, smile)

"O Come Let Us Adore Him"

According to Millie, that includes everyone!

Happy Birthday "Laire Laire"!

Claire turned one this month! We had a fun little birthday party with her, where she got to eat her first big dose of sugar in a cupcake (albeit a small one), played “doggie” hide-and-seek, & played “roll the ball.”

As I stood starring at the toys in the toy aisle at Wal-mart, I couldn’t find one thing that I thought Claire would just love more than what we already have. So she got a new outfit, and then the girls filled present bags with toys from their rooms to “give” her. She seemed pleased! It doesn't get easier than the first birthday!

Here’s a little about Claire to summarize what she is like at age one:

Claire is a happy girl! She loves to play “doggie,” roll a ball, & unload the dishwasher. She is the best cleaning child in the house right now. She loves to pick up things and put them in something. Of course, she is the best at making messes though too! We know when she really likes her food, because she says, “um” with every bite; and the food she dislikes goes right off the edge of her highchair and onto the floor. She won't eat pancakes & syrup, but she likes olives, avocados, & black beans.

She is starting to say words, like “mamamamama,” “dadadadada,” “boon” (balloon), "ah" (hot), although most of the time her communication is more like a grunt for "hi" and a big giant shake of the entire body for no. And she loves to click her tongue until she can get us to join in on the clicking. In church, she keeps the people sitting behind us very busy, smiling, talking, and picking up her toys.

Claire is still crawling, but on her birthday she finally decided she liked her walking toy, so hopefully she will get excited about walking one of these days. She has just learned to push herself on a little bike. And she loves going up and down the stairs. On the day she learned this new skill, Daddy let her do it over and over again about 30 times. She was exhausted that night!

Claire has a peaceful soul. She is easy to love because she is content, patient, cuddly, and adorable. She reciprocates love and humor. She soaks up any attention or love she gets, but she is also willing to sit and wait for your attention, if she needs to. She loves to be held, and is especially happy when Daddy walks in the door. It doesn't matter what she is doing, when he comes home, she wants HIM, and she gets very sad if she doesn't get picked up, hugged, and some good one-on-one attention from her daddy.

Claire has brightened up our days in 2010. We can't imagine life without her, and we are so blessed to have her in our family!