The Girls

Anne: Her favorite things right now are umbrellas and birthday parties.  These two subjects constitute most her of dialogue throughout the day.  She is either asking to use the umbrella and go outside or asking when Daddy's birthday is.  I think she had a great time at her own birthday party.  She can sing "I Am a Child of God" all on her own and can almost say her own prayers which is awesome.  She also now tells us that she loves us which is just about the best thing in the whole world.  Her little mind is amazing and she shocks me constantly with what she puts together and what she remembers.

Rachel: Is walking more and more and can't wait to run.  That's kind of the problem at the moment because now that she's upright she just wants to run and hasn't quite figured it out yet.  She doesn't mind falling and toppling and actually thinks it's fun.  A daredevil just like her Daddy.  She's also a heck of a climber who the other day at the park, climbed up the jungled gym stairs, crawled over to the slide, turned around backwards and slid down on her belly all by herself.  She's a mover.  Which makes changing diapers a chore.  Every single time without fail that girl cries and tries to get away.  She's also starting to talk more and says "Ba!" for ball, "Mo" for more, "Mama"....for me, and "Da!" for Daddy, dog, and any other animal.  

I love playing with Anne's hair.

There will lots of modeling pictures because she got new clothes for her birthday and just looks super cute in them.  So here is a beautiful yellow top and new jeans from Grandma and Grandpa Russell.

Zac and I celebrated our sixth anniversary which was wonderful.  I let Zac plan it this year and he surprised me with a wonderful dinner at Chef's Table (super fancy, beautiful, and the best soup I've ever had in my life...and I don't even like soup) followed by a stroll around the beautiful Riverwood shops (where we snuck in a few of the stores to catch glimpses of the BYU football game that was going on at the same time :) I am so very blessed to have found Zac and he is a genuinely loving husband.  He's my best friend and I love that I get to share my life with him.

Random I know, but so cute.

We have had to come up with a thousand ways to eat our vast zucchini crop, but I believe this has been the best.  Battered and fried zucchini sticks dipped in ranch. Mmmmmm. Not something we have a lot, but boy does it taste yummy.

New outfit #2.  This one is from me.  I took Anne shopping one night cause I thought it would be a fun girl's night out.  Halfway through I realized who I was and how much I hate shopping.  Anne's not a huge fan either.  I think that's why I get my kid's clothes at Costco.  There's only about six options and they all come in outfits and are not too expensive.  My kind of shopping.  (Oh and she added the skirt to this ensemble on her own).

Rachel loves to do absolutely anything that Anne is doing.

Another new outfit.  I have to say, she is the ONLY person I have ever seen that looks good in "jeggings".  I got them mostly because this girl has no bum and unless they're tight, pants fall right off of her.

She really wanted me to take a picture of her "machine".

Oh these are great.  I think she liked the Spaghetti??

One night Anne found the flashlight and remembered that nine months ago we had built a fort and used the flashlight so she asked to do it again.  Anne grabbed stories to read in it and Rachel tried to pull the sheets down.  Good fun.

This is the ONLY hat that Rachel has ever allowed on, ever.

I don't know what it is, but Anne looooooves our umbrella.  It's been pretty cold and rainy here so she's gotten good use out of it.

 We thought we should post some pictures of Shizzie since it's been a while.  She's gotten so big.  She's a  sweet dog that would not harm and fly but boy is she still a puppy.  She is really good at playing catch (except for the "drop" part of it) and will come when we call her.  She also sits and lays down when we tell her to.  But she and I will be attending obedience school at Petsmart every Saturday so I can teach her not to jump up on people and walk on the leash better.

Rachel is definitely Shizzie's biggest fan.  Rachel goes beserk whenever she sees her and wants to leap out of our arms to pet her.  Anne is still a bit cautious but also loves to pet her and play fetch with her.

Last but certainly not the least of Anne's new outfits is her "Pity purple Tangled dress" as she calls it.  My sister Jennifer and my Mom made her this gorgeous dress up dress which she asks to wear almost every day.  She loves to "pin" (spin) in it and tell us "Like pincess, awww pitty" whenever she wears it.  And yes she looks like a beautiful princess.

Our big walkin and talkin girl.

Giggles.

One night Zac taught her how to play soccer and I wrigged us up a goal out of our pack n' play so we now have another indoor hobby that will help us get through the next six months of winter.