Valentine's Day and Snow

Updates on the fam:

Zac got a promotion at work and is a programmer and a senior linux systems administrator which he is excited about. It's a lot more work, but it keeps him busy and learning new things all the time. He also keeps very busy with his Church calling in the Elder's Quorum and loves meeting new people. Watching him really makes me appreciate his tremendous sense of generosity. When he's not busy with those two things he gets to be home with us! He loves playing with the girls and snuggling with Mama :) He also recently got his Ham radio liscence which we are hoping to put to use on our hunting trip this year as well as adding a radio to our emergency preparedness supplies.

I am keeping busy with Mom things, lots of stories, cuddling, playing, cleaning, organizing, and all that fun stuff. I'm trying to take Anne to more social settings so she can work on her shyness so we go to Stake Aerobics every Tuesday, playgroup every Wednesday, and storytime and joyschool on Thursday. So along with Anne I get to socialize as well and am having fun making new friends. I also am part of a book club and we meet every month and discuss what we read. Our last book was "Rebecca" and what a crazy book that was! As part of my Church calling, I keep score every Thursday for stake men's basketball which is.....eventful. Other than that I do a lot of excercising and some sewing.

Anne's new favorite interests are Winnie the Pooh and playing in the snow. We borrowed a winnie the pooh movie from our friends and Anne has been obsessed with it ever since. Luckily I loved winnie the pooh when I was little too, so I enjoy watching it over and over with her. She is also starting to help read stories with me. She fills in the missing rhyming words and points out the letters. She also likes to count to two and holds up two of something and says "two!". She is just as sweet as ever and wants to "help" more and more around the house and with baby.

Rachel is getting so big! My friends all say she's tiny, but she seems big to us :) She is so active these days and has started rolling again! She also scutes forward and to the side. We think she's going to start crawling here in the next couple months. I think her main motivation is wanting to run around with her big sis. She's doing really well with sleeping and loves to give us great big smiles. She's laughed a couple times mainly when we tickle her chin. I think the main thing people comment about her is her eyes. She has such big bright blue eyes that just shine, especially when we're outside. We love our little cutie!

I think this year was my favorite Valentine's Day yet. The day started out making heart cookies for my visiting teachees and buddies with Anne. Very cute to have her help stir and sprinkle...then taste test.
Then we had heart-shaped sandwhiches (I love my big heart shaped cookie cutter :)
Someone commented earlier in the day how it must be fun to have little girls on Valentine's Day because you can dress them up...and yes I agree. My girls were very pink and heart-y.
Zac got off early from work and we all went out for Sushi (which Anne loved again, ate an entire Hawaiin roll by herself). Then we came home and Anne ate a Valentine cupcake she had gotten from a buddy. In the process, she had kicked her highchair back and gotten stuck like this on the table. We thought it was pretty funny :)
Then we exchanged Valentines. Anne got a big monkey helium balloon which she loves to play with.
Rachel got a balloon wand that she humored Mama and held for a second.
(Random cute shot of Rachel, I liked this shirt)
And I got these from my handsome hubby (and also a chocolate carmel apple which was already gone before I could take a picture.) We didn't take a picture of it but Zac got some cookie dough and Reeses...and some kisses ;) from all his girls. What a cool day to show people how much we love them.
An example of Rachel's mobility. I laid her down in her crib for a minute.....
And this is how I found her. Pants off and everything.
Our ever-growing toddler.
Helping Mama make some brownies for FHE.
And of course helping clean the utensils. Just look at that tongue!

One of the sewing projects I have been working on. A nursing cover for my sister-in-law since they just had our new nephew Benson! Congrats guys and sorry you had to see this first on the blog..as soon as we're not sick, we'll come give it to you! It was actually pretty fun to make and not hard at all. My next sewing goal is to make matching Easter dresses for the girls....
We got some snow this last weekend and Zac had a day off work, so we went sledding! Anne loved it! Except Walmart was all sold out of sleds, this was all they had. So tiny, but it worked.
The snow was mostly melted by time we could get out in it, but it worked.

I love this picture. She kept saying "again! again!" when she got to the bottom of the hill.
Playing in the backyard. Rachel joined us for a couple minutes.


Our snowman...the next day.
Best sound in the whole world.

So close!

Yellin'

Playin'

"Treat"

Sledding