Nutcracker Fun!

At the dance studio where Lizzy and Rachel take ballet, they did a little holiday Nutcracker show!  The girls had a lot of fun, and the dances were so cute!

The funny thing about this picture - my mom's name is Susan, and her fiancee is John!

Ward Christmas Party

This year at our ward Christmas party, my family came and shared in the fun!

Here's grandpa ready to eat dinner!

My sister, Angela, and I played a violin and viola duet together!

Lizzy was so cute singing with the primary - she thought it was too loud!  The leader told them to sing loud so Santa could hear them, and then Santa came out!  Lizzy told Santa what she wanted for Christmas, but Rachel was too scared to do it.  Later, Rachel was upset that Santa wouldn't know what she wanted, since she hadn't asked him for anything, so we wrote him a letter and sent it to the North Pole!

FIVE years old!

My first baby Lizzy is five years old now!  I can hardly believe it!  A real "kid" age - no longer a toddler!  She had a super fun birthday weekend.  Her birthday was Sunday, and Saturday she had her piano recital, so we just had her family birthday party then, since her grandparents were coming up for the recital anyway. 

Here's her Rapunzel birthday cake - with layers like a wedding cake, just as she requested!

She's excited to open her presents!

A cute dog that walks, barks, and pants from Grandma and Grandpa Gale - Lizzy loves it!  Rachel is not so sure.

On Monday we gave her a Chuck-E-Cheese birthday party for her friends and cousins!  She had a blast!

Lizzy with Chuck-E-Cheese

Lizzy and all her friends and cousins with Chuck-E-Cheese.  Rachel and cousins Emeree, Dominique, and Chloe were too scared to go up there, so they're not in the picture!

Finally, Lizzy got to go in the "ticket blaster" and get tickets to cash in for a prize.  She ended up with 650 tickets out of the blaster!  She was a little scared to go in, but was brave and did it anyway!

First Piano Recital!

Lizzy and Rachel had their first piano recital today!  They've been taking Suzuki piano lessons; Lizzy for 8 months, and Rachel for 3 months.  They were so cute!

The girls all dressed up for their big debut!

Waiting to play!

First Snow Day!

The girls were thrilled to wake up this morning to see the yard full of snow for the first time this season!  They immediately put on their snow gear and went out to play!

I don't know why, but kids in their snow gear always look so cute to me!