Goodman Girls Night!

~Sadly I didn't take a picture of our Girls Night, but here are a couple pics of the night. Me, Rachel, Susan, and Annie met up at Grandma's and went to see The Fault in our Stars while the boys (excluding Mike because he was sadly in Casper) kindly watched our kids. Lincoln and Sequoia got to have a sleepover at Uncle Stevey's while Ty and Grandpa took care of Auri. I was impressed when I found her asleep when we got back. It was a fun little moment for us girls to get to share together:)

~And this was later that night at home... Auri is hilarious when it's time for bed.

Christmas Morning 2014

We got to celebrate Christmas just the 4 of us. We were sure missing Daddy. But he was able to Skype with us while we opened presents and played, so it was as if he was with us. We love you Daddy! Thanks for working so hard to give a wonderful Christmas Day. 

They each got a Frozen doll!

She loves talking to her Daddy so much. He's a great babysitter! ;)

Santa took some bites of his yummy rice krispie treats and drank all his milk!

Big Hero SEVEN!!

Happy Birthday Lincoln! We were going to be out of town during the Christmas break, so we had Lincoln's party a bit early. Seriously, easiest birthday party yet! And since he only invited a handful of friends, it was actually a cheaper party! We went to see Big Hero 6. They were all amazing. I had a bunch of looks from people saying "you are brave with all those kids" looks, but I would trade all these cute kids for one Aurora at the movies any day! (She stayed home with a babysitter, I would not have survived.)

Lincoln's friends: Logan, Brecken, Ty, Quoia, and Damon. Ty got Lincoln an awesome MARS robot he loved. I took them out for 50 cent ice cream cones, then dropped them off on the way home. It was a perfect day. I'm loving my seven year old boy!!

Our Little Rudolph

~I love it when these three are holding still and being good. I know they are watching a movie and it's destroying their brain cells, but I'll take what I can get! (And yes, Auri is nakey again.)

~Awe, me and my garage. I wish I would have taken a picture of the garage a couple hours after this one, because it went straight back to this within the week. My wonderful friend Kaymi came over in the wee hours of the night and helped me clean out my garage. 

~I was able to go see Sequoia sing at school today. She was so darling was Rudolph. I love that girl!! Lincoln was too far away to get a good picture, but he was cute singing with his class too:)

~Aurora LOVES Mickey and Minnie. She is collecting all the Clubhouse dolls. Her little smile is to die for.

Loves to be Nakey

I scored this awesome playhouse at a yard sale for $30. I was still so sad to hand that much over, but it was well worth it. It fits perfectly on our little cement block of a backyard. I found Sequoia and Auri outside one chilly night. I know I should have brought Auri in asap because she only had a diaper on, but she was so darn cute out there reading books with her sister. It's moments like these that make parenthood worth it.

And then it's moments like these that being a parent makes you want to hank every single strand of your own hair out. She found the box of hot cocoa. And as you can see, she didn't want to be caught so early.

TOFW Before We Say Goodbye to Daddy

A friend of mine asked me to go to a mortuary here in town and take a picture of this statue. I'm glad I did because it is beautiful. I love the thought of it.

This girl cracks me up! I'm up and down with this munchkin but she's worth it.

Ah... Time Out for Women. I've been wanting to go to this for almost 4 years. It was just as I expected and better. Me, Susan and Annie went together. We were so happy the entire time! We drove down early enough to go drop a couple things off in at the Vegas store and go to my beloved Deseret Industries by our store. I scored big time! Four tall matching barstools for $20 ($5 each!). I was so dang excited!! They are in good condition and I am giddy to get started working on making them beautiful.

We checked into our hotel and rested for a bit. Actually laying down and resting. So strange to be able to do that as a mother! We got ourselves all dolled up and went to the Friday night program. It really was so uplifting! It was like general conference for women. I felt excited and encouraged to go home and take care of my babies better and be a better wife. I really needed to be there. And what better to there with my mother and sister in law. 

We went back the next morning for some more spiritual enlightenment. I'm not going to lie, one of my favorite parts about it was getting to browse and shop at their little store of awesome things they had. Shopping with no kids. Awesome. Actually that's where Susan bought our Christmas present for us, a beautiful gray stone and gold nativity set. I love it very much. 

After it was over, we drove to Olive Garden to shove our faces with some delicious food. I was starving! Then we drove home. It was a memorable weekend and I'm so happy I was able to share it with my family. We are already planning to go again at the end of the year here in St George! 

While I was at TOFW, I got the text. Mike was officially leaving on Sunday (the next day!) for Casper, WY. Mike Debban called a couple weeks ago and said they were desperate to have him back, even temporary, and to make an offer. The call couldn't have come at a better time for many reasons. So we negotiated back and forth and finally came to a good deal. He will be a Field Engineer again for six months.

So while I was gone, he told me he was leaving in one day. Here we go again. Single mom, this time with a crazy little two year old. Bring it on! I'm really going to be needing a "time out" again!

This is how Aurora feels about her precious Daddy leaving...

 

By some kind of magic, Daddy let Lincoln take some family pictures of us. It was our last day as a family together for a while. We're sure going to miss him!

This is my little daughter I usually get throughout the day... isn't she a gem? ;)

Dang I love these stinkin cuties!!

I can hardly keep clothes on this little cutie pie.