Why Christmas Trees Aren't Perfect

Because after literally traipsing over the river and through the woods, any half-decent tree was starting to look fabulous. All the early snowfall this year meant the road by which we usually travel to cut our trees down was unplowed, therefore compromising our ability to make it to our regular spot. The place we ended up was not ideal for tree-cutting. Here's Teag sizing up potential Christmas trees:

Just kidding. I think the Forest Service would have something to say about that. Oh, did I mention that I was carrying 25 pounds of baby on my back as we waded through thigh-high (at least on me) snow?

Needless to say, it was quite the adventure. This year the older girls didn't follow us, and hung back with the cousins around a portable fire. Probably for the best, as we may have lost Dany entirely in one of the deeper drifts :)

By the end of the day, Rory was completely tuckered out. I've never seen her fall asleep in her car seat before.

The older girls had a great time, except for being a little chilly, but their favorite part came a few nights later, when we decorated.

I love this, it's one of my favorite holiday traditions, from start to finish. That includes waking up long before the roosters to get the tree permit up in Heber, hiking through the snow (or mud, depending on the year) to find that perfect tree, and then watching how excited the kids get to hang the ornaments. A perfect way to welcome the holidays!

Fall Leaves

Every year, as is tradition, we rake up a huge pile of leaves in our front yard for the girls to jump in. We leave it there for a week or so, much to the chagrin of many of our older lady neighbors, but our kids have such a great time, we risk their alienation :)

This year, Dany had her little friend Evey over to enjoy the fun.

They had a great time, and spent over an hour playing all sorts of games in the pile. For her part, Rory seemed to have a love-hate relationship with the leaves.

This is one of my favorite parts of fall. I love to watch the sheer joy they have in throwing the leaves up in the air, and just burying themselves so nothing but their faces show. Hurray for Fall!

Halloween

Little late on the Halloween post, I suppose, but better late than never. This year, we had a Unipeg (half unicorn, half Pegasus; Maisie came up with it herself.), a witch and an M&M.

Rory's first real Halloween didn't go quite as well as planned, as she didn't get much of a nap that day. Instead, she cuddled up with her little green counterpart.

Yep, still sucking that thumb. The other girls had a great time, despite the downpour that began pretty much the moment we started thinking about Trick-or-Treating. Of course. Still, we had a great time wandering the neighborhood with all the cousins.

Maisie was also very excited about the costume parade at school, and even wrote down the time so we'd be sure to not forget. We saw her for all of five seconds, but I know she liked having us there.

Yeah, we're not sure what's up with the costume either. And just for fun, here's a picture of Rory in the monkey costume our other two have worn. We went with the M&M because it was new, but the monkey costume may be one of my favorite ever. So cute.

New Family Pics!

Now that Rory has been part of our family for over a year, we figured it was about time that she looked like it. So we commissioned a friend of ours to take some family pictures, as well as some of the girls. Here's the end result!

Check out the face on her! You'd think we just told her we were going to sell her to a band of gypsies or something. The second one was slightly better.

Here's the third choice: which one is your favorite?

The best part though is the pictures we got of the girls. When our kids turn a year, we take them to get pictures done at a studio. Due to our hectic summer, that didn't happen with Rory, so we made up for it at this photo shoot.

As you can see, we got slightly more personality from her on the individual shots, but couldn't buy a smile if our lives depended on it. Personality wasn't lacking, however, with our other two.

Such funny ducks. But I think my absolute favorite is this one:

I love the color, I love the set up, and most of all I love how much the girls seem just like themselves. Maisie, focused and holding a perfect smile, Dany wiggly and only just looking at the camera, and Rory bright-eyed and about to shoot forward out of the frame. That's my girls!