Life at Home in January

Some more random happenings in the Phipps' family lately...

The Treehouse! (love those baby legs in tight leggings).



Our baby boy is getting bigger. I love being pregnant in the winter. Some of my favorite outfits are maternity winter clothes.

I've been working really hard on the furniture for the girls' room. I found this set at one of our neighbor's house when they were moving and bought it for a fantastic price. Now I'm painting like a crazy woman.

  And we started fresh with our Letter of the Week activities. So excited to get Lottie writing her letters. 

First week of January

Things are going well around here! We've been going to the park, which has become more difficult with this big belly of mine because I have to lift the girls in and out of the swings...

I love those blue eyes and porcelain skin.

 
 

I've been putting Eloise in the sink a lot more lately during dinner time. She plays with cups and spoons while I wash the dishes. She makes such great company.

On our first Saturday of the year, we took the girls out into the snow to try out our brand new sled!




Eloise stayed in the warm car for a nap while we sledded on the hill in the park.



Another family joined us on the hill and shared their huge inner tube with the girls. It was a great day!

I love this picture of the girls getting ready together for church.

New Year's Resolution

This year, the Phipps' Family has made a resolution to read our scriptures every day. Hazel made a goal (this was her own idea) to learn how to be better at doing chores around the house--hooray! Charlotte wanted to learn how to ride a bike. My goal was to follow my own personal "formula" for happiness (eat well, sleep well, and read the Book of Mormon) and David's goal was to wake up at 6am every morning. Happy New Year!

Christmas Vacation

We had a blast this Christmas with the family. We had everyone in the Phipps' family there except for Mr. Collin, who had to stay in Florida for work. We missed you Collin!

Without the snow, there wasn't a LOT to do outside this Christmas, so we went for lots of walks down to the park in Kevin and Vicki's neighborhood.

We usually pull the little ones in the wagon with lots of blankets since it's quite a climb back up to their house.

We visited Grandma and Grandpa Phipps right before they left for St. George. Grandpa has been doing much better since his surgery for bladder cancer.



Three generations. Soon we'll be able to do four male generations with our boy!

Vicki's Christmas tree is so beautiful! I love that it's covered with ornaments from the grandkids.



Since we couldn't go sledding, we tried ice skating! The little ones kept their shoes on while the bigger kids mastered their blades of glory...it was really fun to watch.

And the sleds were quite handy on the ice as well!

 The little ones tried to stay warm with Gram and Aunt Stacy.


Hazel sure loves her cousin Kate.

I am so excited that I caught this ornery face right after she and Henry got in trouble for goofing off in the restaurant!

He loves his Carhartts. And he looks good in them too.



Papa Kevin is definitely a favorite.



That's one way to pull her around on the ice.
 We did get brave enough to try sledding up higher in the mountains, but it was SO WINDY that Vicki and Stacy stayed in the van with the little kids while these boys and the bigger kids (and me!) braved the cold with the sleds. I was so proud of Hazel. She and Sam would pair up on one sled and FLY down the hill. So cute.

Vicki organized a hay ride for us at a nearby elk farm! 

 
It happens to be the same elk farm where David took me on a sleigh ride six years ago and asked me to marry him!



There's the exact place where he wrapped a small Christmas tree (gone now) in hundreds of lights that lit up (by Collin nearby) as soon as he got down on one knee. Fun memories. Here we are 3 1/2 kids later.



One of my favorite parts of getting all of us together is the GAMES. We bought the kids version of Apples to Apples which was a big hit this year.

On New Year's, we had a great fire works show put on for us by the boys.   Happy New Year! Welcome 2012.

A Lovely Christmas Day

On Christmas Eve night, David and I wrapped the bottom of the stairs with Christmas paper so that the girls had to burst through in order to see their presents. Little did I know, that after I went to bed, David stayed up and set up our new tent!
 

So that's what we saw when we ripped off the paper! We decided to do a "food storage" Christmas this year and buy gifts that helped us to be more prepared. We got a tent, 72 hour kits, and lots of beans and rice and FOOD. The girls got matching sleeping bags with flash lights, which they were pretty excited about.

And we got a few fun items too. Like Kung Fu Panda 1 & 2! See the thrill on his face??

I found a kid's sewing machine for Hazel at a thrift store that I'm hoping to get some use out of over this next year. I bought her a pattern for a doll to go with it.

The girls received their very first sled!


Lottie got her own TAG reader pen with some books. That's been a favorite in our house.

Ellie got a My Little People farm!



The girls had saved up some chore coins to buy gifts for one another. Of course when we went to the store to buy them, they gave some very strong suggestions.

Every year we get each other an ornament that has to do with what we did that year. This year David bought me a pencil for getting two of my articles published. Look at that baby belly poking out!





That afternoon we headed up to Gram and Papa Kevin's for a week with the cousins!Merry merry Christmas!