Betty Ford

Peyton's 5th grade class at school has been studying the Presidents of the United States. Each student had to choose a President to do a report on and Peyton picked Gerald Ford. On Wednesday the kids had to dress up like their President or their President's wife and give a speech about the President. Peyton chose to dress up like Betty Ford and performed her speech several times to the parents who walked by. She did such a great job and I was really proud of her.

Alexis insisted on getting dressed up too so she chose to be Snow White. Everyone thought she looked adorable.
Good job Peyton!

Happy Valentine's Day

We had another great Valentine's Day this year and it started off with a yummy breakfast. Usually I make pink heart shaped biscuits but the girls really wanted pancakes this year so I made those.

The girls love waking up to a little gift and a delicious breakfast. This year I gave them heart shaped boxes I found at the dollar store and put a little candy in it.
That night we had our candlelight dinner. I made roast with potatoes, carrots, and gravy. We also had sparkling cider. For dessert I made chocolate covered strawberries which Alexis loved. She ate 5 of them and would have eaten more if she could have. It was a great Valentine's and I am so grateful to have 3 beautiful girls with one more on the way as my Valentine's. I'm also so grateful to have my wonderful husband who spoils me all the time as my Valentine.

A Visit From Ryan's Family

Ryan's brother Tyler and his family came to visit us from Minnesota last week. Tyler is not only Ryan's brother but his best friend so he was looking forward to this visit for months. We don't get to see them very often so we like to take advantage of every minute we can be with them. We weren't sure they were going to come until the last minute because Tyler's wife, AnnaMarie, is pregnant with twin boys and was 32 weeks along. But her doctor checked everything out and gave her the okay to come. Here is Ryan with Tyler.

The day they arrived we had a big family party at Bounce U to celebrate our nephew Jaxon's birthday. Ryan's brother Scott and his family also came in town for the weekend to celebrate so all of Ryan's family was there except for his parents who are still in China. Here are some of the cousins waiting for the party to start.
Everyone had so much fun. Peyton loved being able to spend time with her cousins Makenna and Aurora. Here she is going down the big slide with Makenna.
Hailey was lucky enough to get Aunt Erin to slide down with her.
Alexis loved every minute of the party. Just look at that big smile.
I am pretty sure Ryan and his siblings had more fun than the kids did. They raced each other up and down the slides and had boxing matches. I think the workers were shocked that adults could act that way (it is not shocking to those of us who know the Ferrell children!). Even his 2 pregnant sisters raced each other and slid down on their belly's to try to win (luckily they aren't too far along so it didn't harm their babies!).

On Sunday we had the whole family over for a Super Bowl party and enjoyed eating and watching the game while the kids played. The rest of the week was spent just relaxing and enjoying the beautiful weather. AnnaMarie made fresh squeezed lemonade with the girls a few times while she was here (we have a huge lemon tree outside that was in desperate need of a trim and a good picking, thanks Tyler for doing it).
Alexis enjoyed playing with Katie and Jane and the girls especially loved sitting together and playing the iPad when we would let them.
We also spent lots of time playing outside and going to the park. Since they live in Minnesota they thought it felt like summer since it was in the 70s every day they were here.
The last day before they left Ryan and Tyler decided to live out a dream of theirs, to deep fry a turkey. I wasn't too excited about the idea (maybe that is a little understatement) but they went ahead and did it. In the end it turned out great and tasted great too. And they were so happy and pleased with themselves.
I am so glad we could spend a week with Tyler and AnnaMarie and we can't wait to see them again in July for our big Ferrell Family Reunion.

Daddy Daughter Dance

The girls school had their annual Parent Student Dance or as we like to call it the Daddy Daughter Dance tonight. When Lexi heard me talking about it with Ryan she insisted that she get to go too so we bought her a ticket. She was probably the most excited to go but the other girls were a little excited too. They had a great time dancing and Lexi got to do the Hokey Pokey and was singing it all night until we put her to bed.

Here they are right before the dance. I love that they want to get dressed up for it and do their hair down (which is not how I usually let them wear it). Don't they look great. I hope Ryan doesn't get sick of these dances because he has a lot more of them in the future.

Tea Party

The girls have been wanting to have a tea party for a couple of months now and it never worked out. So today we finally were able to have one. They invited their cousins Kate and Summer and they invited Grandma Cardon. They chose all of the decorations, food, and activities and worked on it for days. Here is what the room looked like before it started.

Hailey made chocolate chip cookies and a sign that said "Welcome" on it. Peyton made the cake and decorated it with a play tea set. She also made the place cards, napkin rings, a coaster, a poster saying "Tea Party"on it, and hung balloons from the ceiling. I made cinnamon muffins, sandwiches, and fruit. Alexis made pink lemonade.
Here are the lovely ladies about to start the party. They all came dressed up and were ready to have fun.
After they ate their food Summer decided to have a photo shoot outside. She loves taking pictures and the girls were excited to be the models. Here is Alexis loving being included with the big girls.
Peyton and Kate skipping to go out front.
Kate in the tree.
Hailey in the tree.
Peyton in the tree.
Grandma even got in on the action. Kate wanted her to wear her hat.
4 silly cousins.
Summer, the photographer posing for a picture.
All the cute girls in the tree.
The final activity of the party was coloring tea pots that Peyton had printed off. Each tea pot was different and they had the name of the person on it.

I'm so glad we were finally able to have the party because it was a lot of fun. I'm grateful for Summer who at the age of 14 played along really well and made it fun for her sister and younger cousins. She is such a good sport.

Christmas Break

We had a fantastic Christmas break this year. My whole family was in town and we really enjoyed spending every day together doing lots of fun stuff. I did the 24 days of Christmas with the girls again this year and they loved it once again. Here they are decorating their gingerbread houses.

We had our Ferrell family Christmas party about a week before Christmas this year. We had a great time eating, exchanging gifts, playing bells and singing, and putting on the nativity.
At our ward party Santa came to visit and Lexi wasn't too excited to sit on his lap but she did.
While my family was in town we did lots of fun things. We had a caramel apple making party, a gingerbread house party, trips to the park, we played at Bounce U, attended an adoption party for my cousin Kari, went swimming at a hotel, had Christmas Eve at my cousin Nicole's house, blessed my new nephew Braeden, had many family dinners, and hung out at night. I wish I had taken pictures of these things but I didn't. Hopefully at some point in time my brother Andrew will send us some of the pictures he took and then I will fill in with a few pictures.

Here are pictures of our Christmas morning. Alexis loved opening her gifts.

Hailey loved her brand new bike without training wheels.
Peyton loved her new Razor scooter she had been asking for.
Here is a picture of some of my family before church on Christmas morning.
After all of my family left back to Utah Ryan took the girls to Flagstaff to spend a few days in the snow. There wasn't much snow but they made the most of it and enjoyed an hour of sledding. Here is the best picture Ryan took. I guess he didn't realize the girls were squinting from the sun. Oh well, at least he took a picture.
The girls had a great time enjoying their time off from school and loved spending time with their family.

Peyton's Orchestra Concert and Hailey's Dance Recital

Peyton had her first Orchestra concert in December. This is her first time ever playing an instrument and she chose the viola. She practiced really hard and did a great job. She loves playing and has just recently started taking private lessons once a week so she can improve even more.

Hailey had a dance recital in December and did a dance to "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer". She looked adorable and did a great job. She really enjoys dance and can't wait for her next recital.