Welcome Back UTAH

The month of December Spence had a busy rotation so he took us and the girls to Utah for a couple weeks to have fun, celebrate, and so i could work at my old job. (thanks Ash for letting me fill in for you while you were on maternity leave)

We were met in Utah with several happy faces! Amanda and her twins came into town just before we left, and the cousins were so excited to all be back together again!

Ms T. is very very attached to Pappy.  She asks for him all the time, so she couldn't stop smiling the whole month we were in Utah.  it breaks my heart that we aren't closer, but i absolutely love that my dad is such a great Pappy and the girls love him so much.  He really loves them, and we all know that my girls are his favorite!

Tenley has really gotten into playing with baby dolls.  She made quick friends with Jason, who is going to school in price, but lives with my sister and four other Samoan's during the summer and holidays.

tenley just sat right next to Jason and had him help her with her dolls.  Every time we saw the Samoan's tenley just  buddy with Jason, he was so cute to play with her. 

It was super special to be in Utah for a couple weeks, and amazing that my sister Amanda was able to fly into town with her twins from south carolina.  the family was together just missing Jason in NY, but i'm sure this summer we will all have to get together again!

November

We knew that for Thanksgiving we would be heading to colder weather so i pulled out our winter clothes and let the girls try on the clothes.  it was hilarious to try and pull all the clothes on the girls, and all we could think about was the movie  'christmas story'. 

the girls had a blast in the puffy clothes and did a great wrestling/hugging match.

Spence was able to take a couple days off work and we headed to cold alamosa colorado for Thanksgiving.

the girls had a great time playing in leaves! i don't think they have ever played in leaves until now, Arizona and Texas don't really have leaves to play in!

They even helped rack up the leaves in a pile so they could run and jump into it!

then it was on to piano lesson's with grandma debbie.

 and of course in true thanksgiving day celebration, a turkey bowl down at the church.  the weather was great so i walked the girls down to watch their dad play...and get some doughnuts and hot cocoa of course.

 these girls had a great time and were able to throw the ball around too.

 however, their favorite part of the day was jumping over all the deer poop.

yes that's right jumping over dear poop, with a chocolate doughnut in hand!

 We also got to read books with grandma sally!

 This year it was just us at the mortensen's house for thanksgiving.  we had a great time and loved all the attention from grandma debbie and grandpa todd.  we had so much fun it's hard to believe we were only there a day and a half as had to leave to make it to Utah for some more fun.

My sister and I

Last night spencer was working late, sometimes i hate it when he isn't  home for dinner, bath or bedtime.  but sometimes it allows me to focus on how special our girls are.  on how much i love them, and how much they love me.  i remember several years ago watching my sister Jo play with her kids, and i felt the love they all had for each other.  at that particular time i was unmarried and i thought to myself, 'i can't wait for the day to feel that much love." and i am lucky enough to now feel how great the love is between a mom and her children.  there is nothing more amazing than hearing a little voice yell, "mom your home." or hearing their feet slap the floor as they chase after you in a fun game of tickle monster.  i knew i always wanted to me a mom, and i am so grateful to be able to experience the many highs and lows mother hood brings.  but the other night as it was just me and the girls reading books for bedtime we read "my sister and I".  (my sister amanda gave it to me several years ago, before i had kids, because it is so sweet and talks about the great bond sisters have together.)  sometime spencer laughs at me because i can tear up at just about anything these days.  and he would have got a good laugh the other night as i read this book to the girls.  but i think most sisters, and moms would tear up when they read this book.

"My sister and i are birds of a feather,

we love one another and being together.

And so you wil find us most every day, just tending the friendship that God sent our way.

We like to draw pictures of horses and cats,

we like to wear costumes with glamous hats.

we like sharing secrets, our dreams, and our plans... and we laugh at our mishaps as only friends can!

We play with our dolls and comb out their hair. we pick up our tools and fix the old chair.

ands we like to go chasing fireflies at night and follow their flight till they fly out of sight.

we like cozy nooks! we like storybooks!

we like to pretend that we're really good cooks. but its eay to spot; great chefs, we are not!

sometimes we'll listen to favorite songs and sing right along and get the words wrong.

or sometimes we'll play with our puppy all day and teach him with treats how to sit and to stay!

and yes, there are times that we part for a while....

but we always make up with our hearts full of smiles.

yes, we're two of a kind, and i know that is why...

we'll be close forever,

My sister and I."

 I'm so grateful to be a mom to two wonderful little sweet spirits.  I'm so grateful that like me, they get to experience the sweet special love of sisterhood.  i'm so glad that these girls will allows have each other.  Just like i have always had my sisters. Because my sister's and i are birds of a feather, just like me and my girls.

Waco ZOO

we headed to the Waco Zoo, wondering what we would see...

the girls had a great time, its definitely a smaller zoo, and some of the animals look a little sad. 

but we had a great time anyway.

they had this slide that went through the otter exhibit, and the girls kept laughing and having so much fun. 

so spence and i sat down on some rockers and let them slide away.

the giraffes were super fun and spence took some really great pictures of them.

Tenley fell in love with the orangutan statue.  she kept hugging it and kissing it.  it was pretty cute and tender. 

we had a great adventure at the zoo.  spence is currently on radiology and its a pretty easy rotation for him so we are enjoying him being home a lot.  i'm getting spoiled with him being around so much, that i am actually really enjoying texas too.  i can't believe i said that, but its not so bad here.

pumpkin carving

 Last week we carved pumpkins and i thought the girls would love playing all the gooey seeds

 and in typical twin A fashion, tenley was horrified of the knive, the seeds, and all the goo. (this is her running away and hiding) while twin B quincy couldn't get enough of everything and really wanted to cut it open.

 once all the cutting was done, and tenley saw that quincy was realy having a great time, she finally joined in on the fun! she liked stirring the seeds (i have a baker in the making)

 love this picture! sometimes the girls really don't like wearing anything, in fact if they had it their way they would be naked all the time, except for their princess high heels. cute bums huh!

 the girls love riding their bikes all over! and since there are no sidewalks in texas, they are riding them all over the back yard and in the house!

and here they are begging their papa for some food! hot wings off the bone, these girls are always hungry. 

 and we enjoyed some hot texas rain! quincy wanted to dance and run through it while tenley was completely content to sit on the side and color with her sidewalk chalk.

 quincy grabbed some buckets and started collecting rain! after awhile she realized it would be even funner if she then dumped all the water on us!

i know there is lots of snow in utah, the girls have no idea what snow is! its still nice and warm here, we are hoping for a cold front that will cool us down to 651