Yep, Still Here

Sorry I've been slacking. Updating our blog has become one of those 'I've been meaning to do that' projects that never seem to get done. Well, the time has come! I'll just touch briefly on what has been going on for the last 4 months:

Rachel's 4th birthday. She requested a princess castle cake with princesses on it. So we made the princesses out of melting chocolate and the cake had edible glitter on it. What more could a 4 year old want?

We spent Christmas Eve with my parents where we decorated cookies, Grandma's Christmas Tree, lit luminarias and had a wonderful Christmas Family Home Evening. The best part? Christmas morning was at our own home and the kids slept in. Perfect. :)

Decorating cookies.

Jacob loved helping decorate our christmas tree.

We spent New Years at Michael's brother's house where we spent tons of time and had lots of fun with the Simpson side of our family. It was the first time in a long time we had all been together and the cousins absolutely adored each other. Plus we were there for baby Hailey's blessing.

Emma liked the fondue we had for girl's night while the boys went to a BYU basketball game. Come to think of it, I loved the fondue too!

Marja was kind enough to dig out their sleds for us to use. Yes, that's my baby on that sled. Looks like she's having a good time, huh! Jacob and Rachel loved it too and were good at going by themselves.

Rachel got some mixing "tools" for Christmas and we broke them in making banana bread. She used every spoon, whisk and spatula to stir that batter.

Winters really are warm here! We spend a lot of time outside. And thank you Emma, for sitting in that water and getting wet and muddy. Love you too!

We had our good friends, the Sullivans, come visit too. My photo won't upload but you can check out Carol's blog here. We had such a fun visit going to the science museum and doing other fun things. Plus, they saved us when we took Emma to an all night visit at the ER! (don't worry, not a big problem and it's solved now.)Emma still talks about Ellie and Jack and asks where they went. It's hard for good friends to leave!

We recently took a trip to Disneyland to visit my aunt and uncle who got us in for free for our two day visit. Not only did we not have to buy tickets, but my aunt personally knows every princess and fairy at Disneyland and we got first class treatment! We have never been to Disneyland (as a family) and it truly was a magical place.

Emma was star struck. seeing Pluto, Goofy, and Mickey Mouse were about the coolest things she could ever imagine. The best part for Emma though was riding the train and the carousel. She still says "RIDE THE HORSE!" whenever we talk about Disneyland.

Jacob and Rachel LOVED seeing Chip and Dale. We love their cartoons and how silly they are. Jacob didn't care for the characters much but he enjoyed seeing these two.

Rachel, on the other hand, LOVED meeting all of the princesses. She got a few awesome moments with Cinderella, her favorite, and also met the other ones. Most princesses got hugs and twirls and curtseys. She also loved meeting the fairies. Her favorite part though? Riding the Thunder Mtn. Railroad roller coaster. :) That's so Rachel!
Jacob loved the monorail the best, especially since we sat up front with the driver but he also loved the roller coasters too. It was a really fun visit and we look forward to doing it again!