Christmas Letter

Merry Christmas!

Dear friends & family:

After a three-year break from school, David returned to BYU to finish his degree in Business. He’ll graduate next summer and start planning for graduate school (oh boy). On top of school, he's working full-time as a commercial real estate broker for NAI, serving as Elder's Quorum President in our ward, and trying to keep his wife and daughters happy. This fall he ran for a seat in the Ogden City Council and won the primaries out of seven other contestants. Three days before the final election he was disqualified due to a paperwork discrepancy which was
devastating, but we're reaping the benefits of having him home (a little) more often.

I love being a full-time mom of two adorable and challenging little girls. Sometimes I get dressed and shower. I'm serving in the Young Women's program in our ward, participating in a writing group once a month, and training for the ARR Desert Classic Marathon in January which I will have the opportunity of running with my Uncle Derek. My favorite part of the day is "Activity Time" in the morning with Hazel where we practice writing our letters, sing "If You're a Princess and You Know It" and enjoy time together.

Hazel is 2 1/2 and tells us all the time (with puckered lip-glossed lips) that she's a princess and she's getting married. Her favorite color is pink, her best letter is "H," and she figured out recently that she can double her wardrobe by squeezing into her little sister's shirts and dresses. To her, heaven is Grandma’s house.

Charlotte is eleven months and has a temper that can rival her mother's. She can sign, play peek-a-boo, and make a diamond with her little fingers when you sing "Twinkle, Twinkle." She is a fantastic cuddler, has no interest in walking yet, and can hold her own with Hazel.

How lucky we are this Christmas to have a happy home, a full fridge, and a beautiful tree with sparkling lights and home-made ornaments. May you all have a very warm and wonderful Christmas.

David, Janelle, Hazel and Charlotte Phipps

Thanksgiving

While we were visiting my mom in Cedar City, we took Hazel to meet Santa Clause for the first time! You never know what their reactions will be...

Entering to the North Pole...
Hazel sees Santa for the first time. It was illegal I guess to take a picture of Santa with your own camera. I'll have to scan our family pic with him when I get the chance. (yeah, you'll probably never see it; you all know what he looks like)

Charlotte scored a treat from Santa.

My little brother Bradley

Snow White was the only princess available during the time we were there (the others were on a break?). Hazel didn't really buy it; she kept pointing to a Snow White figurine on the tree and saying "This is Snow White."

Thanks Mom, Jay, and Bradley for a great Thanksgiving. Pies, movies, the train game, and a babysitter in the early morning hours--what more could we ask for??

The Ford Saga

For Thanksgiving we drove down to my mom's in Cedar City. The trip was especially exciting because we drove down in our new car! Yep, we are officially a two-car family. I remember seeing David after my mission at the airport during a quick layover in SLC. As he opened the passenger side door of his 1993 Ford Explorer with no inside door handles, battered and stained interior, climbing gear and layers of dirt, I remember thinking, "So, if I marry this boy, will this be our car?"

And after four years of marriage, I can now laugh at that memory because I don't HAVE to sit in that passenger seat anymore (although I have scrubbed & vacuumed it to draw attention away from the staples holding up the lining on the roof and the gorilla glue spill on the back seat). We now have a beautiful white 2002 Ford Explorer that feels BRAND NEW to us. It's beautiful and comfortable and it has a DVD player which makes driving with Hazel much easier and more fun.

So we went to my mom's and to add to our Ford saga, we had a little accident with our new car. For the past year or so, my mom and her husband have tried to convince us to let them buy us a newer used car....and not just any car, but a car that wasn't a Ford "Exploder" as her husband calls it, but one that starts with a C and ends with "heverolet." We kept refusing their generous and considerate offer until the day came along that we could finally afford a newer car (of course we got another Ford). So the night before we left, my mom and Jay were backing up out of the driveway and nailed our front light! Demolished it. We knew they hated Fords but come on. Thank goodness for insurance!

(This isn't our car; just a pic off the internet)

Bear with me

I just couldn't help myself; she's so stinkin' cute and fun. I haven't taken any pics yet of her latest developments, but Charlotte can now take the stairs (only going up), stand up and dance (still holding onto something), and play peek-a-boo, although she covers her ears instead of her eyes. Love her.

Phipps' got talent

We have a future singer on our hands.

Trick or Treat

This year we had three princesses...and a frog prince.

Happy Halloween (I know I'm a month behind. I know.)

Thanks to my mom who made these tutus for all of us.

(Thank you to Camille for editing my family pics. Had to say it Camille, sorry.)

We also had a visit from Dorothy (our niece Danica)
And Bumblebee (our nephew Carson)
Collin & Tiffany

Thanks to Vicki (A.K.A Bat Gram) for the games.

And a tuckered baby princess in the end.

After we put the girls to bed, Kevin and Vicki stayed for a scary movie (1408) and some treats. One of my favorite memories of this night was Vicki asking Hazel if she could trade some of her treats (Ritz PB crackers) for some of Hazel's candy. Hazel fell for it and even picked the crackers as her treat after dinner the next day.
Love my family!