Daddy Daughter Dance

Tonight was the annual Daddy/Daughter Dance at Peyton's Elementary School. She was so excited to go and picked out what her and her dad would wear. She just had to wear her Baptism dress and Ryan had to wear the tie she gave him as a welcome home present. The had a great time dancing and then went out for ice cream. I am so glad the Peyton and Ryan had a fun time.

Hailey was sad that she was not old enough to go to the dance and decided she would keep herself happy taking pictures with my camera. Here are a few images she captured from the night.

Boy I love my daughters. Life is never boring with them around.

Thank Goodness Daddy's Home!

Ryan finally returned home from his trip and I am so glad (and I think everyone else around me is too!). It is so nice to have someone to help me with the kids especially when I am about to lose my temper. Today has been so nice for me. I got to go to the gym this morning (which I haven't been able to do for a while since Alexis has been sick) and now he has Peyton and Hailey with him at the tie warehouse so I can have some time to myself while Alexis sleeps. I haven't done anything too exciting with my time but the peace and quiet has been much needed. I'm so glad that I have such a wonderful husband and him being gone reminded me of that. I guess absence does make the heart grow fonder.

First Games

Today Peyton had her very first volleyball game. When I signed her up for volleyball she was not very happy with me but I thought it would be good to give her a taste of a sport that I love to play. Well she loves playing and she can't wait for her next game. She even asks me to practice with her in the backyard. I am so glad she is enjoying herself and I enjoy watching her learn and get better. Hailey had her very first soccer game today. She has been begging to play soccer for years since she always had to watch Peyton play. Well she was finally old enough to join a team and is enjoying every minute of it (except for the grey and black uniforms because she says they are boy colors). During the game she was running around after the ball but hadn't kicked it yet. During one of their breaks my dad told Hailey that if she kicked the ball he would give her ten cents. Well that was enough motivation for her to kick it 3 times. Boy was she excited. I guess money motivates her. I love my little girls and I am so proud that they are willing to try new things.

Christmas Break

Over Christmas break the girls had a great time playing outside with their cousins. They played at the park for hours. They were wild horses and came up with lots of fun things to do.
They also had a great time going up to Flagstaff and playing in the snow. Ryan was so great to take them and they were so excited to go. Thanks Christin and Andy for having such wonderful kids that my kids love to play with.

I Will Survive

Ryan left today for a 17 day trip to Dubai for school. He was so excited to go. I was not so excited for him to leave me. Being a single parent is no fun, especially when you have a baby who just can't get over a cough and runny nose and keeps waking herself up in the middle of the night. I am hoping my oldest 2 will be on their best behavior at all times (it's good to have really high goals, right?). So I will be ringing in the New Year by myself sleeping like a log (hopefully). I will survive (or at least that is what I keep telling myself).

Merry Christmas!

We had a great Christmas and here are pictures from everything we did. I decided to do the 24 days of Christmas with the girls and I bought this cute stocking countdown to put clues to what we would be doing every day. The girls had a blast and couldn't wait to get up every morning and find out what we would be doing. My mother-in-law made these cute dresses for the girls.

Peyton decided it would be fun to put Alexis in the diaper box and push her around the house. Alexis enjoyed the fast ride.

We celebrated Christmas Eve a week early with Ryan's family and the kids loved playing the present game with their cousins. The each loved what they ended up with.

The kids also put on the nativity. Hailey and Alexis were angels and Peyton was the star.

My sister Becky had a beautiful baby girl named Julia on Sunday, December 20th. She was definitely the best present we got.

On Christmas Eve my whole family went to my cousin Nicole's house. We were able to take a quick family picture with my Mita (grandmother). We ate great food and enjoyed each other's company.

We also put on the nativity. Peyton was Mary, Alexis was baby Jesus, and Hailey was an angel. We had 2 Marys, 2 Josephs, and 2 baby Jesus.

On Christmas morning we went to my parent's house to open our Christmas gifts. The girls couldn't wait to see what they got.

Here we are with some of my siblings.

The girls got just what they wanted, a leapster for Hailey and a DSI for Peyton.

Alexis mainly loved eating the wrapping paper or anything else she could get her hands on.

Ryan's favorite gift was the nerf gun the girls got him.

He also had a great time playing Blokus with my family.

We had such a great Christmas and we feel so blessed to be able to spend so much time with our families. We can't wait to see what the new year will bring.

Busy December

We have had a very busy December so far so I haven't been very good about posting. So here are the things that we have done. At the beginning of December Ryan's dad took most of the grand kids to Disneyland for 2 days. We had a great time being with family and riding the rides. Thanks Dad for the trip.

Here are some of the kids jumping on Grandpa's hotel bed before we went to Disneyland the first day.

We had a Cardon Cousin party at my sister Christin's house where we made home made gingerbread houses and ate dinner. The kids had a blast and enjoyed eating the candy too.

My mom was nice enough to help Peyton with hers.

I got to help Hailey make her house.

My wonderful sister-in-law Ashley was nice enough to take us out and do a photo shoot for our Christmas cards. She did such a great job and the kids cooperated for the most part. My mother-in-law bought these dresses for the girls for Christmas. I just love them.

Alexis didn't want to smile for her pictures but she did like to stick her tongue out.

Thanks Ashley for taking such wonderful pictures.