Update on Life

I found some pictures on my camera that I had not posted to my blog.

These were the only pictures I got from our Thanksgving weekend. It was a great weekend. Wade's parents came in town. We ate and shopped the weekend away. Here are the girls loving being outside while their dad and Papa put up the Christmas lights.

At our Ward Christmas party Santa came to visit. Caitlyn was really good and sat on his lap. She told him she wanted Tinkerbell, the movie. Elsa was a little more cautious. She just wanted the candy cane.
Here is Caitlyn before her dance recital. She doesn't know how to just hold still and smile for the camera. She is more interested in seeing herself after the picture is taken. She definately our little princess.
Here she is patiently waiting for her dance to start.

Here she is dancing away to a doodlebop song. Here is Elsa in her Christmas Dress. Caitlyn has the same one but she changed while I was taking a nap so I didn't get a picture of her in it. I will snap one of her next time she wears it.

Christmas Dance Recital

Last night was Caitlyn's Christmas Dance Recital. She was so excited for her dance recital. She did a great job. Below are the links to watch her dances.

Here is her Tap Dance
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5229042095922996553

Here is her Jazz dance
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2671311083285271156

Happy Halloween!

This year for Halloween we had two nights of Celebration. Thursday was our Trunk or Treat and Friday we had a get together at my Brother's house.
The trunk or Treat was fun. Only Caitlyn and I went to that because Elsa was sick with the stomach flu on Tuesday and then decided to throw up again right before we were leaving so Wade stayed home with her. This year it wasn't really trunk or treating, they just had us go around to the rooms to get the candy. Caitlyn had a good time and got some good candy.
Friday I was gone all day for a stake young women activity so Wade watched the girls and cooked his chili for the Annual Barlow family Chili Cook-off. I got home right before we had to leave so I got the girls ready and we left. As always we had a lot of fun at Tyler and Sarah's. My mom , Tyler, Jared, and Wade chili. Unfortunately Tyler's chili won. They were all good though. After that is was time to go trick or treating. I think there were like 20 kids at the party. We divided in two groups so the big kids could run from house to house. Caitlyn was a lot of fun this year. She could say trick or treat and it was so cute. She was also way excited to be with her cousin Brock. They were holding hands as we walked from house to house. Elsa enjoyed the stroller ride but towards the end Wade took her out to go up to the doors. By the end of the night I was exhausted because I had been up at 5 that morning. I went to bed and then awoke at 2:30 a.m. feeling sick. Yes, I had caught the stomach flu that Elsa had. Luckily it was about an 8 hour bug for me. I just slept most of the day. I am feeling better now but that is why this post is late. I am just hoping Cailtyn and Wade don't get it. Elsa has been lingering longer than I want it to. Anyway below are the pictures from the weekend.

This year Caitlyn was Belle. She wears this dress all the time but when you asked her what she wanted to be for Halloween she said Belle.

Here is my cute Bee, Elsa

Here is a group picture of all the kids at the party. It was a lot of kids!
Aren't these so cute?! My brother Jared always makes creative things. They are double stuffed oreos with pretzel legs and then dipped in chocolate. They tasted really good too.

Pictures on the Camera

When I went to download the Halloween Pictures I found a few other pcitures on the camera that were cute so I had to share. We are in the phase with Elsa where she wants to do everything her big sister Caitlyn does. One morning Caitlyn brought in an apron to put on her so she could cook in her kitchen. Well, Elsa was right behind her with an apron for her. They went into Caitlyn's room and cooked some Mac and Cheese. They are so cute together. I always have 2 helpers in my kitchen ready to help at any time. Caitlyn is now setting the table. She can be tired or throwing a fit and I say okay it is time to set the table, and her face lights up and she is ready to help. I hope it lasts forever. If only she could wash all my dishes!
Wade ran in a 5K Last weekend so we went to support him. I only snapped a couple of pictures but it was fun. It was at the Southern highlands Fall Festival. They had Bounce houses and all kinds of vendors giving out free food.

Well and Sick Check-up

Today was Elsa's 15 month Well check-up. Time has gone by so fast. Here are her stats:
Weight: 23 lbs 12 oz 53 %
Height: 31 Inched 69%
Head: 19 Inches 96%
I took Caitlyn with me today becuase she started to get a cold on Monday. I decided since I was already going to be at the Dr's office I might as well have Caitlyn checked out as well. He said it was just a cold. She had a little fluid in her ear but it should clear up on its own. It was a pretty good trip considering I had both kids with me.


Last week was the week of the parks. We are at the park Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. I only remembered my Camera on Friday so here some pictures from that. My girls would stay in the swing the whole time if I would let them. We are tying to teach Caitlyn how to pump her legs so we don't have to push her.


Here are the girls enjoying some popcorm as we watched the Boston Red Sox win Monday night.

Girl's Weekend

I know that it is Thursday and almost time for the next weekend but I am writing about last weekend. I forgot my camera so I was waiting for pictures and then the time to sit down and blog about it. This last weekend I went on a trip with my girlfriends that I grew up with. There were a few a missing but it was still fun. We have really known each other since elementary school, some we met in Jr High and High school but it is like we have known them just as long. I feel truly blessed to still stay in contact with them and that I had a great support system growing up. It is amazing we are all still friends because sometimes we were not very nice to each other. I think that makes are relationships great today because there isn't really much that we can say or do to make us mad at each other.
The weekend was great and a nice break from the day to day life of wife and mother. My awesome husband (with some help from my sister-in-law Sarah on Friday) watched the kids for me in the middle of tax season so I could go. When we stopped and ate in Cedar I was like oh my gosh I get to actually eat my food when it is hot, I don't have to cut anybody's food up or feed them. It was so weird. We stayed at my Friend Jacque's Cabin in Panguitch, Utah. It was so pretty and the weather was awesome. We stayed up way to late got up way to early but ate really good food and played fun games. We also went to the RS broadcast that was so good. My throat was pretty sore when we got home because we talked so much but it was worth it. We try to do one every year and they are so worth it. I was glad to be back home but can't wait until next year. Here are the pictures from the weekend.

Tagged

So my friend Liz Tagged me and I was in the right mood when I read it so I decided to do it.

What was I doing 10 years ago?
1. Going to high School
2. Working at K-mart
3. Singing in the choir at High school
4. Hanging out with Friends
5. Taking Dance

What is on my TO-DO list today? Since it is almost dinner time my To-Do list is basically done but here is what was on it today. I am a pretty simple person when it comes to what I have planned for a day and don't plan a lot. I don't want to get too overwhelmed!!

1. Go Visit Teaching
2. Go the Grocery Store
3. Make Lunch
4. Make Dinner
5. Catch up on my DVR'd shows from Last night and this Morning

What are my favorite snacks? I am not a huge snacker, I would rather it a good meal that I didn't have to cook or clean up but here are my favorites.
1. Potato Chips almost any kind I am not picky
2. Chocolate
3. Oreos dipped in 2% milk
4. Chips Ahoy Cookies (the original ones) dipped in 2% milk
5. Ice Cream

What would I do if I were a millionaire? I have to agree with Liz on this one for the most part.
1. Pay my tithing and taxes
2. Pay off debt (cars, house, school, etc.)
3. Set aside a chunk for the kids
4. Share it with my family
5. Invest, invest, invest

Where have I lived? Probably not five places either so I will improvise with Streets too
1.Cartegena St
2.Wallaby Ln
3. Apartments on Silverado Ranch
4. My In-Laws
5. My house today!

What jobs have I had? I haven't had five only 3 outside of the home
1. K-Mart
2. Bigelow Management
3. A construction/Development company


People that MUST complete their own tag! YAY!
Anybody who wants to do it and needs something to blog about.

Forts

Didn't you just love building forts when you were a kid. We built them all the time with Pillows blankets anything that would work. Caitlyn has a new love of them. She tries to make a "house" out of anything, the laundry basket , chairs or just plays under the table. Elsa always joins in with the fun as well. Yesterday I helped Caitlyn make a small house in her room yesterday. Today she brought the couch and blanket down so I decided to make her a bigger one. It has been great and cheap entertainment for the day. I really think I will be buying her a pop-up tent, a little less of a mess and it won't fall down as much.

Caitlyn's First Haircut

I had Caitlyn's hair cut today. For a long time I didn't really know what to do with her hair and everybody just said let it grow. That's what I've done for the last 3 1/2 years. Last week I was looking at though and thinking that I need to do something. It just looks scraggly sometimes. She has curly hair and so if I don't put Mousse in by the end of the day it doesn't look good. It was short on the sides and long in the back. It is also pretty fine and so it doesn't hold a curl and I didn't know if she has the right hair to grow it long. I decided that I needed to cut all one length. So today was the day. I had my friend Shelly do it. I am really happy with it. It will be an adjustment because I can't really do ponytails but it will be fine. The curl in it looks a lot better too. Here are some pictures from the cut. I think she didn't really know what was going on. She just sat really still in the chair. I talked to her about it to prepare her so she wouldn't freak out. Now it will grow out and be even so I am excited.

Here are a couple of pictures that were on my camera. It doesn't rain a lot in Vegas so we had to take advantage of the rain we received this one afternoon.

Elsa is so dang cute and silly. She was standing on the chair playing the piano.

First Day of Dance

Today Caitlyn started Dance. She will be taking Tap and Jazz from Lori Day. It was kind of crazy for me to take her there because it was only 8 years ago (but feels like 2) that I was taking dance from Lori. I am not sure who was more excited her or me. I was totally excited because I loved Dance and I am excited to Lori every week. For ten years of my life I saw her weekly and she is just awesome. I knew Caitlyn was excited too though because ever since we have had her dance outfit and shoes she has been asking me when she gets to go to Dance. Well, today was the day. She did awesome. She did everything she was asked too. She would get distracted sometimes because she loves to watch everybody but she kept up. It was also so fun because my friend Alexis (I know crazy that she has the same name as me, she is really the only person I have met that is around my age with the same name.) that I grew up dancing with has her daughter Jocelyn in the same class. It was fun to catch up with her. She was actually Caitlyn's baby nurse when I delivered Caitlyn. It was just fun and Caitlyn loved it. At the end of the class Lori gave them suckers but before they could get one she had to do a dance step she learned. When she was called she went up there and did heel step. I was a proud mom. Here are the pictures from the day. I actually remembered my camera.

Go Utes!

Yes, it is that time of year again. College Football season has started. I am not quite sure how I feel about it. I really don't enjoy watching it but it does give me a good reason to buy cute new clothes for the girls and Wade doesn't usually object because it is supporting his favorite team. If you are familiar with University of Utah you know their colors are red white and black and no my camera is not broken the girls are in Pink. Isn't is so cute? I liked the pink outfits better than the red white and black ones they had. I want to find me a pink shirt as well. My kids have always had Utah clothes to wear since they were a baby. As some of you may recall Caityn's Birth announcement featured her in a Utah Onesie as we introduced the newest University of Utah Fan. That really is the excitement for me is dressing my kids all cute. I am a fan because I want a happy husband so I do want Utah to win. Wade grew up cheering for the Utes so it is in his blood. Wade loves watching sports and I am slowly being converted. You would think growing up with 4 brothers that I would love it but I have always been a girlie girl.
We had a Ward party last night and the girls wore their outfits and people were giving us a hard time it was pretty funny. It seems like in Las Vegas there are more BYU fans than Utah fans. I watched the last 15 minutes of the game yesterday(that is how I like to watch sports, right before it is over. That is really all that matters. A team can be ahead the entire game and lose it in the last 5 minutes). Caitlyn and I went shopping while Elsa slept (she actually did sleep amongst all the cheering and shouting Wade does at the TV) and Wade watched the game. Maybe as my kids get older and if they get it into I might start to enjoy it more but for now it just is it not really my thing but I will continue to dress my kids cute for the games.

I'm Back

I know that I am not the best at blogging regularly but I do kind of have an excuse. I was on vacation in Utah for 2 1/2 weeks. I have been back a week but you know how it is when you get back in town so I am finally sitting down to post about the trip.
The First weekend I was up there was the Matenson Family Reunion (My mom's side of the family) in Park City, UT. This reunion is over the whole weekend and I think it is fun that way because I have time to see and talk to everybody. My mom has 7 Sisters so I have a lot of family to catch up with. I drove up Thursday by myself with the two kids. Wade had to stay home and work. I don't know how sad he was about that, he thinks this reunion is too much socialization. Anyway I caravaned with my SIL Sarah (her husband stayed home also) so that helped when we stopped. The trip wasn't too bad I just had 2 of everything so if the kids dropped something I just handed them another one. Besides after an 18 hour drive to Oregon this was a short drive to them. The reunion was pretty relaxing. We had time to do whatever during the day and at night we would all come together. The first night we had Karaoke and Dancing and the next night was our annual Auction to raise money for the next year. My aunts were disappointed Wade wasn't there. He's not very conservative with money at this auction when he wants something for his girls and he likes to bid the prices up for fun. I managed to come away with some princess stuff for Caitlyn. Sunday we went to Church and had our final get together. They decided we are only going to do the reunion every other year which makes me sad. It was a good time and I can't wait for the next one. Here are some pictures from the reunion.

Me making lunch for the kids. There were seven kids and 4 adults in our Condo.

My brother and I doing the MacarenaBrock and Caitlyn enjoying some Ice Cream.The Auction ( My Mom, cousin Jessica and Niece Mackenzie)

Since we had another reunion in 2 weeks and I really didn't want to drive by myself witht he kids again I decided to just stay in Utah. So the next part of my trip was hanging out at my in-laws and visiting friends. I was able to go to lunch with my friends that live up in Utah and that was fun to see them. It is crazy how you grow up with them seeing them everyday and then we all grow up and get married and I only see them a couple times a year. When you get back together though it was like you have never been apart. I am horrible at remembering my camera so I didn't get any pictures with them but I love going and seeing them it is always a good time. Also, while I was on this trip I read Breaking Dawn. I am not obsessed with these books but they have been pretty good. I thought Breaking Dawn could have been like 400 pages long. Overall it was pretty good. It ended how it should have.

While I was up there my in-laws came to Vegas for a wedding so I went and stayed out at Wade's Sisters house. She has kids the same age as mine. That was fun to hang out there and let the kids play with their cousins they don't see very often. Wade came up towards the end of the last weekend I was there. We went to the Zoo. I can't say I love the Zoo but the kids do so I went for them. The sacrifices we make for our children. I am just not an animal lover. We rode the carousel and the Train and I think that was the highlight for the kids. The next day Wade went golfing so We took the kids and heading downtown to the I am a Child of God Exhibit in the Church History Museum. That was fun until Caitlyn had a meltdown so we had to leave early. The next day was the Christiansen Family Reunion. That reunion is on a Saturday for 4 hours. That was fun to see all of Wade's extended family. They rented a blow-up slide and the kids loved that. Overall the trip was fun but also stressful because we were still in the process of potty training and Caitlyn did not want to poop on the potty. It just added an extra stress on top of being up there so long without Wade. I am happy to report that since we got home she has been going just fine. I don't know what has changed but I am glad it has. Here are pictures from the rest of the Utah Trip.