It's me!

So, I figured out how to use the self timer on my camera now. It's a good thing, because I was starting to get worried that my kids weren't going to know what I used to look like when I get older. Anyway, here are the pictures. I wanted you to see Claire's new bangs too. I feel a sense of pride everytime I see them. I did that! Well, enjoy the pictures. It's kind of a 'death by pink' day over here. :)

Funny Man Bryce

So...you're probably wondering what on earth is going on here. :) We got our new camera!! And of course, as soon as the girls were in bed I had to bust out the camera and try to figure out the cool tricks it can do. I discovered a really fun setting where if you hold down the button, it'll take multiple pictures back to back. Bryce was sitting next to me in bed, so he was the perfect person to test it out on. I turned over to him and started shooting, and he really got into the photo shoot! He just pulled these faces out of no-where. :D I don't think many of you have seen this side of Bryce before. Well, let me tell you, he's just full of it! One of the many reasons I love him...his photographic face. He's a natural on camera. ;)

We're still alive!!

Hello everyone! Yes, it has been forever since I've posted. I'm sorry, but my camera is all funky. Despite Bryce having fixed it (yet again), this time I can't upload the pictures I take onto the computer. I'm hoping Bryce'll come home from work long enough to take a look at it and help me out some time this week. :) And no, I'm not exagerating about how much he's gone. Last night he came home at 4:30 am and slept for one hour before having to get up and go back to the hospital. Other than a very busy husband, things are going well for us. Claire has started her new ballet class---so cute! I also got brave (or judging by my previous experience with bangs you could say "foolhardy") and cut Claire some bangs. I think it turned out very well. Hopefully you can see them yourselves some time soon. Hope all of you are doing well also!

Christmas in Las Vegas!

Yes, we're still alive. Sorry it's taken me a while to get back up and running. Here's our Christmas vacation in a nutshell:
We had a lot of fun in Las Vegas for Christmas this year. We went over to Bryce's Grandparent's house for the big Christmas Eve celebration. We had delicious prime rib for dinner and then the Trumans rounded up all of the cousins and dressed them up in authentic clothing from the nativity story while Uncle Tom read the nativity story. :) It was very cute. We then played chimes and at first couldn't figure out why all of the chimes were so terribly out of tune with the songs we were playing. Turns out, we were singing the songs completely in the wrong key! :D We then played a game Grandma Cynthia had set up, memory. She put a lot of work into preparing it and it was a lot of fun. The next morning all of the family showed up at the Leavitt's house in their Christmas pajamas from Grandma Cynthia and Grandpa Duke, and we opened more presents. We topped off our vacation by eating at Cafe Rio several times. Yummy! All in all, this was a wonderful Christmas. Hope you all had a great Christmas as well!

Snow Ball Fight!

Non-Crappy Starring You! eCards on JibJab

Snow day!

What fun! Today we got about 6 inches of snow as well as freezing rain. It snowed a good part of the day. It was funny, we got all bundled up at 7:30 am because the girls simply could not wait to go play in the snow. I carried the girls down our back stairs and went to get the snow shovel to start working on our driveway. I hadn't been working longer than 2 minutes and cleared more than 4 feet of our driveway (which is at least 30 feet long) before I heard Cady crying. I looked over at her and she hadn't moved from where I set her down. She was all done with the cold snow and ready to go back inside! Needless to say, Bryce ended up shoveling the driveway all by himself. Even though it was very cold (and windy) outside, the snow was really exciting. Claire went outside 4 different times, she couldn't get enough! This afternoon we had hot chocolate and cinnamon rolls and listened to the Carpenter's Christmas Album while we watched the snow. Life is good. :)

Ready for snow!


My short effort at shoveling our driveway.
What a man! Bryce hard at work.
Having fun in the backyard.
Claire looking out our front window, watching the snow.

Claire playing with the umbrella outside. :) Don't know where she got the idea, but she was having fun with it.

Cady's Birthday

Cady turned 2 on November 25. It was a nice day, we celebrated by making a brownie cake and eating it with ice cream. :) We'll have a party next year.
Birthday girl!
Making the cake...licking the batter!
Eating the cake.

She's got the moves!

We went to a Christmas concert in the mall given by the "Teddy Bear Band." This was a really cute event, and Claire was loving it. This is a clip of her dancing. What can I say, she got her moves from her dad. :D

30 things I'm thankful for!

Okay, so I have just discovered that I was tagged (a week ago) by Tara to do a 30 things I'm thankful for. Sorry about the delay, but here goes!

1. Bryce. He is such a strength to me and works tirelessly. He is always up (and usually gone) while I'm still sleeping, comes home late and still helps with the girls and stays up at night with me.
2. My house. I can't even tell you how wonderful it is to no longer be in an apartment and have my own space. I can sing without worrying about my neighbors hearing me, practice piano whenever I want, and not feel like I need to explain to my neighbors that I really am a good mom even though my children are constantly crying. :D Privacy is great!
3. Being a stay at home mom. I am a free woman! I spend my days either cleaning (it's okay), cooking (I like that more), or playing with my girls and doing fun things with them. I honestly think I enjoy the story times and trips to the library more than they do. After apartment managing, I really appreciate the freedom I have to structure my days as I wish to.
4. Blogging. It's such a wonderful way to keep in touch and involved in my friends and families lives since we're so far away!
5. My free long distance. I love knowing I can call anyone at anytime.
6.Rochester. This is a great little place for families. On any day there are at least 3 things I can do to get out with my girls.
7. My ward. There are lots of families with husbands at the Mayo clinic, so there's a great support group of wives for me to connect with and little friends for Claire and Cady.
8. The library. I go there at least twice a week for books, movies, and music. Libraries just excite me. Anything you possibly wish to learn or read about is there for the taking, and free too!
9. Good music. Music makes me happy, it can perk up my mood in seconds.
10. Sleep. Sleep keeps me functioning and happy. I can always tell when I don't get enough sleep...I get weepy! Not pretty. :)
11. Cooking. I get a great sense of satisfaction from cooking a good meal. I'd never cooked before when Bryce and I got married, but I knew I wanted to make good meals for my family. Now, after 5 years of cooking almost every night (that's about 1,825 dinners), I'm starting to get some tried and true recipes. It's wonderful having all of those cooking experiences start to pay off!
12. My extended family (meaning parents, grandparents and siblings). Even though we are so far away from both our families, I love knowing that we have loving, supportive, and involved parents and siblings. My favorite times are when we're with family. I loved Portland, and I love Rochester, but my joy is never complete because we are not living near family. I eagerly await the day when that changes!

***Okay, so this is taking way longer than I had expected, and my girls are starting to get annoyed with me being on the computer, I'll just sum things up short and sweet from here on out.***

13. Facebook. I love re-connecting with my old friends!
14. My friends. It's great being able to pick their brains and see and copy what neat things they do with their children and families.
15. Tivo. Hmm, not sure about spelling, but since getting it I've felt so liberated from watching TV! I actually watch less TV now since I don't feel the pressure of watching it now or missing it forever.
16. Bedtime for the girls. I love having that extra 2 hours a day to myself!
17. Having 2 cars!
18. The dollar store.
19. My bedrobe. It's so nice and warm to put on when I get up in the middle of the night to settle down a crying child.
20. Swiper. That little puppy is so cute!
21. My camera. I have visions of making tons of cute scrapbooks for my children and to document our family history with.
22. Airplanes.
23. Eating macaroni and cheese (velveeta shells in particular) on a cold day.
24. A front sitting room without a TV or computer in it. Makes it so much easier to read my church stuff and visit with people without wasting time on media instead.
25. Nail polish. I really enjoy painting my girls and my own toenails (and Ronnow's too!). :D
26. That Bryce is no longer ward organist. It sure is nice to having him sit with me and the girls during sacrament meeting (when he makes it to church, that is).
27. That my girls like to cook with me. It is so much fun for us to make cookies together, a real fun bonding thing.
28. Hot baths and a good book.
29. Salt and Vinegar Chips.
30. My beautiful little girls!

I now tag Jill Bartholomew, Amy Schnegelberger & Buffy.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello all! Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Sorry I haven't posted pictures in a while. I was convinced for about a week that my camera wasn't working anymore. This is funny, and a great example of why Bryce is so good for me. My camera started acting weird one morning and then totally died on me while I was trying to take pictures. I had charged the battery on it the day before and assumed we had simply dropped it one too many times. I was excited because I've been wanting a newer camera anyway. I started looking at after Thanksgiving sales in the papers, and selected the new camera I was going to buy. I told Bryce of our upcoming purchase, and he recommended trying to recharge the camera batteries before I went out and bought another camera. I thought that was a silly idea since I had just barely charged it, but I humored him. Surprise surprise, there was absolutely nothing wrong with our camera other than the batteries were low (I must've left it on). Once again, Bryce saves the day (and our checking account)! :D Needless to say, more pictures will be arriving shortly.