What we've been doing this month...

This is just a sneak peak, a clue you could say, of what we have been up to lately. If you can't tell by the picture what we are doing, I'm sorry, you'll have to wait and see. If you can, good for you! I'll give details soon... very soon!

New Year's at the Lake

Each New Year's Eve we switch being with the Diederich's and the Henrie's. This year was the Diederich's turn. Whenever we ring in the new year with the Diederich's we do it at the Lake. Of course, Steve loves this and I have to admit it is good to leave my holiday chaos and clutter at home and relax for a few days. We usually spend New Year's Eve eating delicious food and playing some fun games. This year was no different. The game of choice was Rock Band. Even Reagan got in on the action!

We let Reagan stay up until midnight with all of the cousins.

(How do you make a 2 year old go to bed in the next room when she can hear everyone else outside her door playing and having fun?)

She did so great! She was obviously tired by the end of the night, but she wasn't nearly as onery as I expected. Here she is playing and dancing with the cousins...

Although Crew slept through most of the festivities on New Year's Eve, he seemed to know when the big moment was about to hit and woke up with a fury. So at ten to twelve I was in trying to calm him down and get him back to sleep. That seemed impossible knowing the ruckus that was about to explode so I gave in and let him come out and enjoy the fun for a bit. Here is his cute tired face ringing in the New Year

Every day the cousins would wake up, eat breakfast, put on their snow clothes, and head outside to ride the snowmobiles and sled.

Every day I would try to get Reagan to join her cousins and every day she refused. "It's too cold" she would tell me. On the second day I convinced her to put on her clothes and at least go outside on the 4 wheeler. She had a good time but it was cold and she didn't last long.

On the third day Aunt Heidi convinced Reagan to give it one more try. So we got her all bundled up and sent her outside with Aunt Heidi (I had to stay inside with the little guy). I realized that Reagan had been out for quite awhile and figured she must be having a good time. The next thing I knew Heidi was coming in to grab her camera. She said Summer, her cousin, had convinced her to ride on the sled behind the snowmobile with her and now Reagan wouldn't get off. And that was the case for two days straight.

Reagan wanted to be outside every minute riding on the sled behind the snowmobile. She is always so afraid to try new things, then she ends up loving them. My timid child. Unfortunately the other cousins were a bit frustrated because when Reagan was on the sled they had to go pretty slow. We had a very sad girl when her turn was done.

Over all it was a great week at the Lake. It is fun to watch the kids grow up and be able to participate in more and more things. It makes everything a little more fun! Thanks Diederich's for making it such a great week!

Crew's First Hair Cut

While we were in Bear Lake over New Year's Crew got his first hair cut! It has been so shaggy for so long, but I've just never had it done and I'm so glad I finally did! Crew's aunt Heidi did the honors and I had her chop it! It is very short now and so cute.

This is right after we took the apron off... isn't he handsome???

Christmas Pretties

Every year my mom has gotten Reagan her Christmas dress for the holidays. This year was no different. She even got an outfit for Crew. We got out to the stores a little late this year so I was worried we weren't going to find anything, but I was way wrong! There were still a ton of choices, and everything was on sale! I think we are going to hold off again next year we had such luck this year! Here are the kids in their cute outfits...

Crew is so handsome! I could take pictures all day. He always coopoerates and loves the camera! Isn't he a stud?!?

Christmas Day

Christmas day was so much fun! Steve and I woke up before the kids and got ready, well in our pajama's still, but ready. Steve got the hot cho ready and turned on the Christmas music while I put on make up and did my hair. We got the kids up and went down stairs to see the tree and presents laid out. Reagan is starting to understand the whole concept of Santa Clause and presents so it was great to watch her open her presents and deliver all the others to their intended recipients. She did this with total excitement and no matter what was in the package, she gave the appropriate surprised response. It was great! We opened our gifts at home, packed up the car with the gifts for Grammy, Papa, and Sky and headed to Grammy & Papa Henrie's to spend the rest of the day.

We were spoiled with a wonderful breakfast and too many gifts. It was such a great morning and everyone enjoyed being together. We have the tradition at our house to open one gift at a time so everyone can see what you got and you can thank the person who gave it to you. I love this tradition. The only down side is that it takes a bit of time to get all of the gifts open. Reagan didn't go down for her nap until 2:00 which is very late for her. But considering all of the excitement and the late nap, she was so great. As you can see, she got princess dresses and jewelry along with a princess tent. (The princesses haven't warn off yet.) Crew enjoyed the wrapping paper and I think he would have been pleased as punch if that was all he received. But we did get him a basketball hoop with balls. He loves it! It has been fun to get some boy toys around the house and not just princess things!

It was another great Christmas at the Diederich house. Thank you to all of our family for helping make it so much fun!