when i started this blog i said i was not going to be a super blogger but i guess that has been forgotten because i am being hounded, i mean encouraged, to post more! thank you because i know i need to.

the girls are doing really good and we are just enjoying the great weather around here. excited for thanksgiving and good food and planning a trip to ny after christmas. i think they girls will love christmas this year, well all the lights anyways.

my other big feat is that i cooked every night last week. ok, for those of you who know me well you know i don't cook so that is a big deal for me. i know not really a big deal but for me it is. but i guess it wasn't a whole week because i did go out to eat one night when eric and greg were working late. jamie and i and the girls went to get bbq. but i did make homemade spaghetti sauce and meatballs that day so that counts still, right? it took long enough so it better! and of course we ate out friday and saturday. that counts as a week for me.

feeding the ducks with kylie and savannah. ky ky and nanna is what they call them but mostly just ky ky. i think that rolls off the tongue easier so both of them get called ky ky. poor nanna.

stealing some of the ducks food. they definitely eat more than they throw. if jamie and i weren't there too i don't think the ducks would really get fed!

livy saying cheese. not a great pic but i needed one of her in here too! she turns the tv on and off by herself now. she pulls her little car over and stands on it to reach the power button. she also saw where i put some christmas presents and i caved and gave her one early because she was pounding on the closet door crying for her piano, my piano my piano. just a junky keyboard but she loves pianos right now. she would pretend everything was her piano. it has some buttons that play beats on it so she pushes them and dances/bounces to it. but has a small problem sharing! she is getting better and rachel is quick to remind her to share. she crosses her arms and says, no, share.

i do. that i rachels favorite statement these days. she wants to do everything herself. i do, i turn and i carry you are the most popular phrases. it is really cute to hear how much they are learning and speaking.

they are getting so big. they pushed their own shopping carts at the food store the other night. they have child size real carts here. for those in ny, i haven't seen them there but maybe they have them now. anyway, it was a disaster because rachel gets distracted by any box that has a bear or dora or anything on it so she lets her cart go flying and livy will not let me help guide her cart. if i touch it she has to stop and push my hand off and then start again. but it was fun. livy crashed into a soda cooler going into the checkout line. it was seriously hysterical. the cashier couldn't stop laughing.

livy sitting on her potty. we are not going to start potty training for a while but we bought these when we went to ikea that other day and the girls love them. they have sat on them a few times without diapers but they didn't go.

they like using them for other things too, as you can see. and they like to carry them all over the house with them. lovely. at least they haven't used them yet so i don't have to worry about them making a mess. rachel was scared of it the first night and then the second time she did it with livy. livy loves it.

this is what happens when i don't give livy what she wants. or don't let her carry her potty around or in this particular case she wanted the camera. she throws herself on the floor no matter where she is. lovely.

rachel saw a picture of my grandpa fred on the fridge and immediately started calling him pop pop. then she wanted to hold the picture and was just smiling. it was so cute because she has never me my grandpa. he passed away before she was born. well, i should say she never met him here, on earth. he must have been her buddy up there in heaven before she came. this is her kissing her pop pop picture.

grandpa fred. both of my grandpas passed away before the girls were born. maybe grandpa george was livys buddy. we miss them both a lot. i really wish they could have met them. i am so happy to have both of my grandmas still. love you guys!

ny

we had so much fun in ny with everyone. my brother richie and his wife erin and josh and katie are living in apartments at my parents house so we got to see lots of family this trip and had so much fun. they loved playing with everyone. sad i dont have a picture of rachel with danny but she was his best buddy. she would feed him and say "hi danny" non stop when he was around. she always wanted to be with him when he was home. it was so sweet. and livy i scared of him. the pictures are out of order but you get the idea.

play time with aunt hannah. lots of that going on. hannah skipped three days of school while we were there and they had so much fun with their auntie! they ask for her everyday here at home.

tea time with grandma. grandma had tons of new toys to keep us entertained. we loved it there!

pop pop! it was great having so many helping hands there. we got to see my dad almost everyday for lunch and meet up to do something fun. we rode the carousel and train in a mall about 20 times one day. they loved it.

bff. too cute.

they had fun trick or treating with the older kids on the block for a few houses. they we walked home very slowly.

hannah, livy and rach were all dorothy. they were adorable. and here is livy in her most common form this trip. thanks to auntie becky for the awesome costumes! she sewed them herself! we will be calling for next years too!

clapping for m&ms.

at the farm feeding the animals. they liked it most of the time. rachel got scared of a few animals and livy liked it only if she could do it by herself. that is how it goes with everything now a days.

livy doing it on her own. she would not let anyone help her pull the wagon. she would remove your hand and tell you no. she is "strong-willed and independent." i believe that is the term i was told to use instead "brat or punk."

we had a great time. thanks so much for everyones help. we love you and miss you all! cant wait to see you soon. mom thanks for letting me sleep in! it was a great treat! and a big thanks to alan and brenda who conquered a flight from ny to tx with a wiggly baby on their laps! they were in ny to see their friend run the marathon so i flew back the same time as them but couldn't get the same flight so they had livy and i had rach. thank goodness is all i can say. one was enough for me for that night.

vegas

well we did it. our first trip away from the girls was a success thanks to josh and katie. i was worried about them but ok after i the first morning and heard that they didn't cry when they woke up without us there. they were good for them and had tons of fun. thanks so much josh and katie! you guys rule! and we owe you now! josh and katie thought that they would be the favorites in ny but unfortunately for them when we went to ny the week after vegas livy and rach were scared of them. they thought that i would go away again. sorry guys.

we had a great time just the two of us. lots of eating and relaxing. and i finally got into the twilight books. bad because now at home i just want to read instead of do everything i need to be doing!

we got to see my friend julie who lives in vegas. we were roommate at byu forever ago. she is a wonderful teacher and primary president and busy mom to adorable son noah. it was so great to see you julie! thanks for dinner!

eric at the bellagio. his favorite hotel. although that is not where we stayed. to expensive for us. we stayed at the mandalay bay and it was great. just a pain because it was a the end of the strip so we had a lot of walking. luckily they have a tram that helps just a bit.

and the best part of our trip was in and out burger. eric served his mission in vegas and loves, i mean loves, in and out. it was the first place we went once we got off the plane and we ate there at least 4 times i think. so happy he could enjoy his favorite meal again!