Cutest Dolls Ever

This past year I have had the amazing opportunity to get to know a woman by the name of Jenny Bracken. Jenny is a talented doll maker that lives in Southern Utah. I had seen her darling heart dolls on several Friends Facebook pages and fell in love with them. The heart dolls have the little scars along the chest of the dolls and I wanted to have her make one that looked like my nephew Bronson and got in touch with her to make a special doll for him while he was going through all his heart surgeries at Primary Children's.  Jenny has also makes custom dolls that look like their owners for any type of occasion. After she made Bronson's doll, I decided to surprise Karmindy with a ballerina doll for Valentines Day last year. Jenny made Karmindy a beautiful ballerina doll that looks just like her and has her name embroidered on its foot! Karmindy has cherished that doll and sleeps with it every night. 

One day while I was searching on Pinterest, I came across the cutest picture of a cute little handmade doll and tagged Jenny in the picture and messaged her and told her she should make some dolls like the one I had seen in the picture since she is so talented. Jenny responded and said she would love to make a doll like that one day. After I sent it, I didn't think of it again, until I got a message over Facebook from Jenny saying she had made Karmindy a doll. I was flattered. The doll ended up looking like the doll of the picture that I had shared with Jenny months earlier. Jenny mailed Karmindy the doll that she made several days later. We were so excited to receive the doll in the mail. Karmindy was especially excited to have another dolly that looked like her ballerina doll. Karmindy fell in love with her new doll and named her, "Dot." Dot for all the cute red polka dots on her scarf.

I am so grateful for the sweet friendship that Jenny and I have developed over Facebook. I still haven't met Jenny but have felt like I have known her for years. I am so grateful for all the many special and kind people that have come into my life...what a blessing they have been to me and I have appreciated their example of kindness and love.

Best Friends & Sunday Wear.

Before Church this morning, I had to get a picture of Kaleb and Karmindy in their Christmas Sunday Clothes. They looked so cute in their new duds. I truly love how close these two kids are. They truly are best friends. I am so proud of these two little ones and I am so proud to call them mine.

Midway Family Getaway!

For one of our Family Gifts to the kids, we surprised them with a little Stay-cation up in Midway, Utah the day after Christmas. Midway is located up by Park City. 

 We love getting away as a family and some of our most memorable vacations we have taken have been Stay-Cations. A month prior to going to Midway, I had found a great deal on Groupon.com for a Family getaway for four. The deal included a two night stay at the Zermatt Inn in Midway and it included passes to swim in the Homestead Crater (a geothermal spring hidden within a 55 foot tall beehive-shaped limestone rock). 

  The Crater formed when melting snow on the Wasatch Mountains seeped deep within the earth. Two miles below the surface, the earth’s interior heated the water. As it percolated upward, it picked up minerals, which were then deposited on the surface -- eventually forming the volcano-shaped limestone deposit called The Homestead Crater.

 So On Thursday we headed up to Midway for our Getaway. We arrived in Midway around 5, got checked in and then headed to dinner. After dinner we went back to the room to play games and watch movies.

On Friday Morning, we woke up and after a big breakfast in the cafe at the Inn, we took the kids to Solider Hollow to tube down their big snow hills. None of us had ever been to Solider Hollow before,  but I had heard how fun it was from some friends who take their kids every year and wanted to give it a try. 

We had a blast tubing with the kids. Karmindy was too small to ride down the hills by herself so she went down with either Mark and I. I don't think she left her tube the entire time we were there (2 hours). She had either Mark or I pull her around. Silly Girl. Besides sledding down the hills, the kids loved being pulled up the hill by the big tow ropes. It was nice to not have to walk back after sledding down the hills each time.

We had a blast tubing with each other and enjoying each other's company!

After sledding we went back to our room, got dressed in our Swimming Suits and headed to the Homestead Crater, which was located across the street from where we were lodging. The crater was like nothing I had ever seen.When you walk through, you head through a cave like space which opens up into the crater. The crater was very warm and the air inside the crater was very humid. After getting life jackets on, we made our way to the Crater to swim. It was a really neat place to swim. It was tinier than I thought it would be but was fun. It kind of had an eery feeling inside because it was so small and hot. The kids had fun swimming and so did I. Although, it did take Kaleb some time to warm up to being inside such a tiny area. There were quite a few people swimming while we were there and it made the small space even smaller. I don't like small, tight spaces too so I was a little nervous. It was a really neat experience to go inside the crater and swim. There were also divers while we were there that would dive down to the bottom of the crater. It was interesting to hear about the history of the crater. Apparently, Miners back in the 1800's would go and swim in the crater to relax their sore muscles. Also, divers have fond many cool antiques, guns and other interesting artifacts in the bottom of the crater. 

I am so glad we were able to take the kids up to Midway and enjoy some of the amazing scenery and fun activities that Utah has to offer. I love living in such an amazing area/State that has so much fun history to learn about.

We can't wait to go back next year and go tubing as a family and maybe swim again in the Crater.

Christmas Is Here...

 Our Christmas and Christmas Eve were delightful. On Christmas Eve, we spent the day as a family. It was a low key day as I spent the day cooking and getting ready for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Dinner. The kids played outside in the snow and made a darling snowman. They called him Olaf.

 After making their snowman and playing the snow, the kids came in and enjoyed warm cocoa with marshmallows. We spent the majority of the day watching Christmas movies and being together.

We have a tradition on Christmas Eve were the kids get to open up one present from Mark and I. We always get the kids new jammies to wear to bed. The kids looked so festive in their new jammies and they seemed to like them. The kids also get to open up a present from each other. I love this tradition because the kids take great care in shopping for each other. It is so cute to see how thoughtful they are towards one another!

After P.J.'s it was time to read the Christmas Story about Jesus' birth from Luke 2 in the Bible. We also read some other fun Christmas Stories. After stories were read, the kids laid out cookies and milk for Santa and a carrot for Rudolf and off to bed they went.

 In the morning, I was able to capture this photo before the kids woke up. Santa Came!! We were very spoiled! I think his sleigh may have tipped over in our living room!

Christmas Morning we spent unwrapping gifts and trying out the new toys.

The kids got incredibly spoiled from Santa, Grandparents and mom and dad!

. Karmindy asked for a cupcake maker, a Lalaloopsy doll, and some clothes for her stuffed bear. Santa also surprised Karmindy with her very own vanity and some make up! Karmindy has loved her vanity and it is so fun to watch her sit at it and primp and put makeup on!

Kaleb also got spoiled. He had several requests for Christmas. His big request from Santa was an air soft gun. Santa spoiled Kaleb and got him an Air Soft Gun Kit complete with 4 guns, bb's, goggles and posters of zombies to shoot at with 3 friends. Kaleb was so excited! He also got Legos, and several Wii games.

We had a really nice Christmas this year. We love staying home each year and spending time as a family and remembering the true meaning of Christmas-Jesus Christ's Birth!

Merry Christmas!

Getting in the Christmas Spirit...

Christmas time is here and we have already been making the most out of the Christmas Season. Our Elf Jingles showed up again this year. We found him sitting on the kitchen table one morning with Donuts, Rice Krispie Treats and a Holiday Chain he had made for the kids.We were so happy to see that he found his way back to our home! Over the past few days, Jingles has been up to quite a few mischievous antics. Luckily he hasn't been too naughty.

The Christmas Cards are already rolling in and I love seeing how friends families near and far are Growing! It makes me so happy when we get Christmas Cards from old and new friends!

 We have also broken out all the Christmas Movies we can and have been slowly watching them. We introduced the kids to "HOME ALONE" this year and they thoroughly enjoyed it. We have had that movie playing on repeat since we watched it as a family for FHE.

We also enjoyed making some WHOVILLE TREES together!

I have also gotten a good start on making the kids friends gifts- Reindeer Root Beer's. I think they turned out cute!

I have also been up to a little Christmas crafting and made a cute vinyl art frame to help remind us what the true meaning of Christmas is....The birth of our brother and Savior Jesus Christ.

It's shaping up to be a wonderful Christmas Season!!

Christmas Dance Recital

 Karmindy had her first dance recital this week. She looked darling in her costume and she was so excited to perform the two dance numbers that she has been working so hard on with her little dance class. For her tap class they did a dance to: "Santa is coming in a Boogie Woogie Train." For her ballet number, she performed a number to the song, "That's what I want for Christmas!" Karmindy did an excellent job performing and it was so fun to see her progression since starting in September. She has really improved! Karmindy has also been fortunate to have her friend, Madison Jackman in her class this year. They are the cutest little friends!

 Congrats Sissy, we love you and are so proud of your accomplishments in Dance this year!