The January Indoors

We've been up to a lot of indoor activities lately.  Evelyn went to her friend Evelyn's Birthday party.  We have gone a couple times to the the gymnastics gym, and went to a cousins pine wood rocket derby.  Jane has also taken up climbing and more intensely jumping.  Check out the video of her trying to jump!

Princess Party!  Evelyn couldn't stop talking about how fun it was.  My friend Jamie can touch anything and turn it into complete cuteness.

 Playtime at the gym--it has three playrooms that have all kinds of fun toys.

Sister love

Evelyn's favorite toy.  A rollercoaster car you bring up the front and ride it down towards a mirror into a foam pad.  She loves being able to see herself in the huge mirror with her hair flowing in the wind:)

 Jane loves her cousin Mathew who is 11 years old.  He just looks at her and she starts giggling.

 Love this happy girl.

Evelyn and her fun cousin Eliza.

Just so happens we were all wearing pink jackets!

Evelyn's inventive drum set.  She taped the paper plates together and played some beats;)

The girls cleaning up together.

 Jane loves Evelyn's rides around the house.

Jane's favorite word is "jump" and she definatley lives up to it.  Earlier she purposely got that box out of the pantry behinf her and was jumping off it.  She also climbs up on the table or anything she can get to.

Evelyn's Photoshoot

Sometimes when I check my camera roll on my phone I find A LOT of pictures that Evelyn has taken recently.  She usualy takes pictures when we are in the car. 

Below is a recent series as of lately... 

The box of crayons she is holding I brought back for her from Texas Roadhouse--she must have thought they were picture worthy!  Love the sleeping picture at the end.  I also found this photo strip of Evelyn and I that we took at the movies on our girls night out.

Snow

We finally got snow!  It snowed during the night so when we woke up it was quite the sight!  Evelyn said "Christmas!"  and Jane just kept pointing out the window saying "dat!"  Evelyn and I started out the morning making Birthday cake pancakes.  Once Jane went down for her nap we went out and played for a while.  When Evelyn showed no sign of wanting to come in the house I decided to start shoveling the driveway.  With the garage door open Evelyn thought it would be fun to ride her bike.  I didn't say no because #1 I knew she wouldn't get far and #2 I remember trying the same thing when I was a girl.  After an hour she was ready to go inside for hot chocolate.

Our second day in the snow we drove to my friends house so Evelyn could play with her friend Evelyn.  They are a good pair of friends and it's even more fun that they have the same name.  The bottom picture is of the Evelyn's making snow angels.  The snow was dry so no luck for a snow man but they had fun hiding toys under the snow and telling the other to try and find it.  Jane was confused about the snow or maybe she was confused why she could barely move in her huge snow gear and boots.  She liked being outside in it though.  On our drive home I stopped at walgreens to get some milk so I wouldn't have to go out today.  They do not clear roads in Tri-Cities like they did when we lived in Salt Lake but to be expected since we don't get much snow.  I don't think the roads had ever been cleared when I was out in it.  Evelyn kept saying worried comments in the back seat like "Are we going to make it?"  and encouragment like "good job Mom, you are really going fast now."  I think my highest speed was maybe 30 mph.  Once we made it home in the garage we all cheered!

Daddy's girl

Found this picture on my camera and it brought good memories.  From the day Evelyn was born she has loved her Dad very loyaly.  When she was a baby there was a time when only Daryl could put her to bed.  I love this picture because it reminds me of their bond or maybe it's the memory of this afternoon.

Juice

Last year I got a Vitamix from Daryl for my birthday.  We both like drinking green smoothies for breakfast--they taste a lot better than they look.  I think my friend Andrea Lee was the first person to get me started on green smoothies.  Daryl got a Jack Lelane juicer from my Mom for Christmas.  A juicer is a lot different than a vitamix because it only gets the juice of the fruit and not the pulp like a vitamix does.  Daryl came home with the BIGGEST bag of carrots I had ever seen to try on the juicer.  I thought there was no way we would drink all of it but we did!  I mix half carrot and half pinneapple juice together.  Carrot juice straight is pretty strong.  We also made a couple of other juices.  One that was surprisingly good had beets in it!  I guess we like to drink our vegetables.

Carrots!

Evelyn helping out

Daryl's 30th Birthday

Daryl was surprised this year!  Ryan was in charge of getting Daryl out of the house so the guests could arrive.  The younger cousins were in charge of being the "look-outs" at the window.  When they saw Ryan's truck we turned off the lights and all hid behind the couch.  When Daryl walked in we yelled surprise!  He was really surprised but also was trying to figure out who was in his living room since we forgot to turn the lights back on when we yelled surprise.  He was happy to see that it was his family when we turned the lights back on.  We ate a lot of pizza for dinner and Daryl's Mom made 3 cakes--one for each decade along with 30 candles!  We had a great night.  Thank you all for coming!

The "look-outs"

Daryl and Ashley

That's a lot of candles--it only took one try too!

Daryl opening Evelyn's present.  She got him a shell that she found by the river.

Jane leaned on Ashley's leg for part of the night--so cute.

Week of Surprises

1st surprise:  Daryl had a big surprise planned for our family last weekend.  He gathered us all together and told us to pack our bags for two nights/with swim suit equipped.  Evelyn was thrilled--she got her little bag out and started packing.  She also became a very helpful 4 year old by helping me with anything I asked of her.  We got in the car and drove a couple hours and stopped for dinner.  At dinner he told us we were going to Triple Play which is an indoor water park that also has bowling/rock climbing/miniature golf/laser tag/arcade attached to it.  The hotel we stayed at was also attached to the water park.  It was not a huge water park but big enough for Evelyn and Jane to have a lot of fun.  Evelyn's favorite activity was going down the huge water slides on tubes with Mom and Dad.  She thought it was funny that I screamed going down the slides. 

2nd surprise:  After we got home from our surprise trip, I had planned a surprise 30th Birthday for Daryl along with the help of his family.  Daryl's brother Ryan was in charge of getting Daryl out of our house so all the party guests could arrive.  The younger cousins were the lookout for Ryan's truck once they spotted it we hid behind the couch with the lights turned off.  When Daryl walked in we all yelled surprise!  He was surprised but wondering who was all there in the living room with the lights turned off.  Once we turned the light switch back on he was happy to see all his family.  Daryl's Mom made THREE cakes one for each decade along with 30 candles.  We ate pizza for dinner and had a nice night.  Surprises Surprises.

Evelyn's excited face when she found out we were going to the waterpark

Jane's excited face

Rock climbing

Wave Pool

Jane loved the little water slide

Miniature golf

Eating at Red Robin--Evelyn's favorite yum!

Evelyn and I coming out of the water slide

Baby Reden

We have a few cows that we keep out at Phil Bleazard's home.  They are all pregnant right now and we got to see the first of the babies today.  She is a tiny little thing.  Phil told us that when it's a mommas first baby the calf is a little smaller than average.  Evelyn named her Reden after one of her favorite colors.  

Baby Reden

Evelyn getting hay for the cows

Cowgirl up

We went to Ranch & Home last night.  Right when we walked in Daryl got a phone call and started walking off to talk.  The girls and I were just walking around the store when I got the idea to dress Evelyn up as a cowgirl.  When Daryl came back after his phone call this is what he saw...

Christmas Day

We had a cozy Christmas.  Christmas Eve we went to my Mom's house and ate a delicous dinner, then played minute to win it games with the family.  Christmas morning we got the girls out of bed at 9:00 AM.  Evelyn was thrilled about Christmas the night before but I don't think she has ever woken up early for anything on her own.  Can't wait until she is a teenager!  Evelyn hurried down the stairs to see the Christmas scene.  She loved opening her stocking gifts from Santa.  Jane was just happy to shake her candy cane and eat any candy that had fallen from the stockings.  We then got ready for church and enjoyed a beautifully put together program of musical numbers.  After Sacrament we went to the Kelly homestead and ate dinner, opened presents, and watched a movie.  Wonderful day.

Opening stockings

Jane loving her candy canes

Evelyn got a girls pedicure kit complete with inflatable foot bath ;) from Daryl and I.   She loved her foot massage and her twinkle toes!

Twinkle toes--she kept telling me "more sparkles"

Although Jane might not remember this Christmas I will always remember the happiness
she has brought into our home this year.  I am so grateful to be Jane's mother.

Evelyn's Christmas Program and Ice Skating

Evelyn had quite the crowd for her preschool's Christmas program.  She had her aunt Ashley, Brittany, Kortneigh, and Uncle Bryce, Shayne, and Grandma Harvey and Grandma Kelly.  Evelyn had practiced all her Christmas songs and did a great job singing and saying her part.

Jane, Bryce, Shayne, Kortneigh, Ashley, Evelyn, Brittany, Debbie

Evelyn sliding with her Dad

The next day we went Ice Skating for Nathan's Birthday and then to Granny's Buffet for lunch.  The cousins were so excited they had all you can eat slurpees!  I have to admit I was excited about the slurpees too.  Evelyn was adament about having a gift for her cousin Nathan that was from just her and wrapped by just her.  She found two mini pumpkins from thanksgiving put them in a tupperware container and wrapped it up nicely by herself.  She also wrapped a wood heart she had painted herself for him.  When Nathan picked her present to open she looked as if she was going to burst.  She could barely contain her excitement.  Daryl and I had told Nathan and the others about the presents content so we were all laughing inside about how excited she was for him to open it.  When Nathan said he wanted to give her a hug she jumped off her chair for her hug.  I am just grateful she felt the joy of giving.

Daryl and I...oh hi Shayne

Uncle Bryce sliding Evelyn on the ice

Robert the ELF

Evelyn meeting the Elf for the first time

We had a new visitor this Christmas season.  Evelyn came home to find an Elf sitting in the middle of our wreath.  I told her he just showed up while she was gone and he had left a book under our tree.  The book explained to Evelyn that he was an elf from the north pole and that everyday he watches Evelyn and Jane to make sure they are taking care of each other and being good then at night he reports back to the north pole.  When you wake up in the morning he will be in a different spot.  He has surprised us by being in the refrigerator, hanging from the chandelier, and in the Christmas tree.  He will come everyday until Christmas Eve but he will be back to our house the following Christmas.  His magic will disappear if you touch him so it is very important you don't touch him so he will be able to come back.  We were told to give him a name so Evelyn named him Robert because she said it sounds good with the last name Kelly.  It also happens to be her Grandpa Kelly's name:)  She wasn't too sure about Robert when they first met.

San Fran part three

We had a picnic with all our turkey leftovers at Crissy Field by the Golden Gate bridge.  It was so nice to see a lot of happy families playing outside with each other.  After lunch we walked over to an old military fort that was directly under the bridge and took a tour.

The next day we went surfing in Santa Cruz.  What a memorable day.  When we got there Evelyn told us she would like to go surfing with us too--when she put on that little wet suit she was the cutest surfer girl I had ever seen.  Not only was she cute but she couldn't hide her excitement!  She couldn't wait to jump in that water.  Once we all got in the water with our boards she was telling me how to surf.  This might be one of my favorite memories so far of Evelyn.  When her and Daryl caught a wave she had the sweetest smile.  I'm excited to take her again.  Uncle Ian took pictures and volunteered to watch Jane while we were in the water.  That night we had a fire on the beach and ate hot dogs, chips, smores, and a Jones favorite of roasted starbursts.

Santa Cruz beach

Evelyn and her board

family surf picture (Evelyn and my first time surfing)

loving it

out in the water

Jane wanted to surf too

campfire on the beach