Christmas Day

Advent Calendar

Several years ago, I bought an advent quilt that we have hung on our wall every Christmas season. This year, Olivia was determined that we should actually use it! I found some really great ideas for activities for each day here. The biggest hits were sleeping under the Christmas tree
and a candlelight dinner. We also had two big surprises for the children for Christmas this year, so on some of the days, we gave them clues for the big surprises. Here are the clues, see if you can guess:
Surprise #1: miracle, 6, July 23, big tummy
Surprise #2: magical, January 7, sick tummy
We revealed surprise #1 on Christmas Eve. The girls went all over the house finding clues on a scavenger hunt, then found me (!), wrapped in a bow, with a picture from an early sonogram taped to my belly. Yes! Baby #4 is coming in July! It was really fun to see how excited the girls were, and realize just how much help they are going to be.

Surprise #2 came after all the presents were opened Christmas morning. The girls went around the house finding clues again, but this time the clues were pieces to a puzzle:
We told them we were headed to California in a few weeks to visit Grandpa and Grandma Jones, see Mary Poppins, and go to Disneyland. They were so surprised, and sooo excited.

I think we'll be keeping this advent calendar tradition!

Sunday Best

Just before church we snapped a few quick shots of the Christmas dresses. I had some fabric that I got on clearance a long time ago, and decided to make the girls these dresses out of them. I found a great tutorial for an easy bodice and sleeves on http://www.dana-made-it.com/ and then just added layers for the bottom. They turned out cute, and they're really comfortable, so the girls don't even mind wearing them! :-) And Trenton, even with the hand-me-downs from cousin Ty, still looks pretty dapper too!

First Snow

We got our first real snow of the season on a school morning, of course! The girls came into our bedroom fully dressed and ready to get outside around 7am that morning. We bundled them up and sent them on their way, only to see that Trenton wanted to get out there too. I "invited" Daddy to join them, and they all thoroughly enjoyed their first snow!

School Pictures

Lola Grace, Kindergarten

Olivia Marie, Third Grade

Thanksgiving Visitors

My parents came to visit us for Thanksgiving this year. It was wonderful! It was great to not travel, to have the children sleeping in their own beds, and to just enjoy having my parents visit us in our home. We decided to go out to dinner the night before Thanksgiving to "properly" stretch our stomachs! :-) Livi and Lola wanted to come along, so we got a sitter for Trenton who was already asleep, and headed out. The girls loved their date with the grandparents, and we ate some yummy food. Lola was too cold by the end, and figured out that she could take full advantage of our visitors by being "spoon-fed." This girl knows how to work the system! :-) I think she's also wearing her Grandma's coat...
Thanksgiving Day was great! We tried some new recipes for the mashed potatoes and the turkey itself. I was nervous about trying them out on such an important food day, but Pioneer Woman did not disappoint. :-) After dinner, we went bowling and then came home to four pies...I think Rich ate two and a half all by himself!
Our California Grandpa was not used to the cold here in Idaho, so Lola took care of him all weekend, tucking him in blankets when needed, to be sure his stay here was as comfortable as she could make it. She'd like for them to return as quickly as possible. We all feel the same way!

Kindergarten Thanksgiving

Lola's kindergarten class did a cute program for the parents a few days before Thanksgiving. They sang songs, recited poems, told the parents what they were grateful for, and then served us pumpkin pie...a pie I helped the children make the day before and wouldn't have eaten if somebody paid me! :-) It was fun to see Lola with her friends, and realize she is growing up to be such a beautiful girl. We love her!

Happy Fall

Celebration Park

After two days of no school, we were ready for a day trip on Saturday! We headed to Celebration Park, in Melba, ID. It's the only petroglyph park in the state...that's saying alot, we know.

It was actually a really great park. Olivia and Rich got to hear all about the history of these petroglyphs, while Lola and I chased Trenton around the park. He LOVED climbing on the rocks and just hiking around in the dirt.


The girls got to try their hand at killing a woolly mammoth with an "atl-atl". After that, we headed to the Snake River and hiked along the bank, then crossed the river on a very old footbridge. Our fearless Olivia was actually a little unsure of the old bridge and the rickety wood!




The weather was perfect, and the scenery was really beautiful. We're already planning to head back in the spring!

Happy Halloween

Trenton in character saying "arrr, arrr, arrr!"

Olivia creeping like a spy

Sewing (i.e. Shopping) Weekend

Last Thursday, two of my very favorite people came up to Boise for a girls' weekend. We called it a Sewing weekend, each bringing projects we hoped to finish in the few days we had together, but we also ended up spending an equal amount of time (and a bit more money) shopping! It was so fun to get together with Tanya and Carly again and catch up on our lives. So much has changed since we all met in Ann Arbor. It's fun to be with them because we can so easily pick up where we left off.Not only did the talented Carly help Tanya and I with our sewing, but she helped us pick out new shades of eye makeup at Sephora, and then taught us how to use it too. We needed her help! :-) We had some yummy meals, Carly and Tanya finished some really cute skirts, and I cut up all my fabric scraps to make a quilt and get rid of my stash of fabric. Carly brought up some cute jean fabric too, that I finally sewed into skirt...now I just need some boots to go with it!

Fall Soccer

Olivia played soccer this fall with a team she has played with for the last three years. It has been so fun to see these girls grow up together! Their soccer skills are really improving this fall, and all the parents have noticed how the girls are really thinking about what they are doing with the ball, and how they want the game to go. It's been fun to see all the progress.
Olivia really enjoys the sideline...we can always see her over there cracking jokes and laughing with the other girls. Intensity and focus are not priorities in this game yet! :-)It's also been fun to see the girls support each other and cheer each other on. These are good lessons for life, and I'm glad Livi is learning this at such a young age. Good times!

General Conference

lunch in the Church Office Building between Saturday sessions

In September, Grandpa Osguthorpe was asked to speak in General Conference. We headed down to Salt Lake for General Conference weekend to be able to watch him in the Conference Center. It was an amazing experience. Olivia got to come too, which made it even more exciting for Rich and I. Linda and Uriah Grant, Rich's friends from Toronto, flew in to SLC and joined us for the weekend. My parents were in town for conference as well, and were kind enough to watch Trenton and Lola while we attended the Saturday morning session. It was one of those experiences that is hard to put into words, but one that our family will remember forever. We returned home after the weekend feeling very grateful for our parents, and the examples they have given us of faithfulness, goodness, and love.

Rich and I with Uriah and Linda

Lola and Sarah had a sleepover at Molly's house Friday night. These girls are just too cute!
P.S. You can view Grandpa O's message here: http://broadcast.lds.org/genconf/2009/10/10/GC_2009_10_109_OsguthorpeRT___eng_.mp4

Lola's Birthday

Lola got to celebrate her sixth birthday with some of her cousins and both sets of Grandparents in Provo this year. Her birthday was just a few days after Livi's baptism, so we celebrated at Grandpa and Grandma O's, taking advantage of all the family in town. Lola has come so far in so many ways. We are proud of her determination, and the ways that she is growing and developing into such a sweet girl. She works hard at everything she does, and she always finds a way to have fun! We just love this cutie pie!

Baptism Day Wishes

After the baptism, we headed back to Russ and Mary's for a BBQ with all the family. It was fun to have everyone together and for the girls to feel so loved and supported by everyone on their special day. Emma's only request for the day was to spend it with Olivia. Olivia had the same request, as well as a fly-fishing lesson from Uncle Russ and Aunt Mary. They got their wishes! It was a perfect day for these two sweet girls!

Olivia's Baptism

Our sweet Olivia was baptized with her cousin, Emma, in Utah. Their baptisms were scheduled for the same day, and it was decided that the only thing that could make this day more special would be to have them baptized together!


Grandpa and Grandma Jones came up for Livi's special day, as well as Aunt Jen, Aunt Katie, Uncle Trevor, and Dave and Steph's family.
Grandpa and Grandma O were there, as well as the Baxters and Emma's family too!
Livi was so excited to be baptized, and finished reading the entire Book of Mormon just in time for her baptism day. We are so proud of her for making this decision to be baptized, and for taking her new covenants so seriously. It was such a special day, and one our family will never forget.