Christmas.

This was one of the favorite presents this year. We played Incredibles' all day long =)

Elizabeth wondering what is going on!!!!

Not that you can see them without really looking, but I made two bright green bags for the girls to take their scriptures to church in. (one is on the far left of this picture next to Amanda's Cinderella doll) You can also see their quiet book on the far right ( another of my hand made creations....Mom I don't know how you did it =))

This is how everything looked when the girls came out Christmas morning. We have carried on the tradition of getting together to pray and give thanks before we go out and see what Santa has left for us.
I surprised Katrina and Amanda by finishing their dolls. They knew I was making one for Elizabeth but I told them that I would make them one after Christmas was over. I stayed up until 1-2 in the morning for the entire week before Christmas to get them done. Then I hid them among the gifts and it was a good 10-15 minutes before they noticed that they were there. They were pretty excited.
3 dolls in one week was a quite a feet but only Elizabeth got the cradle. There are just not enough hours in the day. Christmas was great! We missed being with family but had a wonderful time on our own.

Christmas Eve

There will be several posts over the next few days to catch up with everything , but I thought I would start with these of Christmas Eve. We had subs for dinner and then we made cookies for Santa before taking a bath and then opening presents. The girls loved the fur real animals they got and especially liked the Ariel and Cinderella pajamas and slippers and they pranced around as we read the nativity story and sang carols. Mom and Dad were up till after midnight finishing dolls and getting everything set out but I will post pictures of that later.
Here are dad and Trina...Notice how all the girls seam to want to do is eat the frosting =)
Here we are again digging into the frosting .......
Mom to the rescue... cookies are getting done at last!!!

See what a little bit of focus can accomplish! Merry Christmas Santa

This was funny

Tonight Steve went to put the girls in the bathtub and noticed it wasn't draining very well so he pulled out the "plug" to clean it off. He said "look at all this Crap" to himself as he was cleaning it. Then Katrina says "Dad whats crap?"I was in the other room listening and started to laugh wondering how he would explain it. He told her "crap was yucky stuff that we don't like" . I thought it was a pretty good answer until she said "oh you mean like Zucchini" I love kids!!!

Ugh!

I have been looking everywhere for a bag of stuff we bought over at Ensign Book on Saturday. We spent 85.00 on movies and gifts and it was on the counter Sunday. So I spent all day Monday looking for it, I look everywhere and realize that it must have fallen into the recycle can next to the counter. Unfortunately the garbage was picked up early Monday morning and my stuff is gone =( It was a setback but one that can be taken in stride right? Well Tuesday I go to mail two more packages and I cant find my phone and wallet. No big deal I do that all the time, until I realize that my wallet and phone were in the bag that got lost. Oh No!!! We called to see if the recycling center possibly found it but with no luck. They said it was probably smashed to smithereens and in the landfill because everything is automated. So here we go I now have to cancel all my credit and debit cards, get a new drivers license and a new Costco card. Just what I need this time of year is to spend my time on the phone and in lines WAITING. At least no one found them and used them =) I also found out that I am eligible for a new free phone Jan 30th. So don't try to call me on my cell phone until then!

Carmel Popcorn

Well just like I had hoped things have settled down around here. The packages and cards are all in the mail. I finally finished the quiet books, I don't think the dolls are going to be done. Lucky for me they were extras not the main event. I am still going to try to make 1 for Lizzy but not all 3 and with everyone being sick I am not even sure that one will get done. *sigh* But alas everything is wrapped and ready =) The best part is we stayed in our budget and the saving we had done throughout the year was enough (no credit cards this year =)). Anyway things are going well and I can concentrate on baking for the neighbors now. I think I will do popcorn balls since that is what I am craving. Here is the recipe for everyone who has lost it and is now craving it because of me.

2 cups Brown Sugar
1 cup Karo Syrup
1 cube of butter
1 can sweetened condensed milk
Bring to a boil for 3 minutes (soft ball for those of you who know what that means) pour over a big bowl of popcorn. I usually have 1 big Tupperware bowl and a large salad bowl. This makes a lot and it is sooo good.

Hustle and Bustle

How is it that you can plan all year for Christmas and now that it is only 2 weeks away feel like you are not going to be able to get it all done? Wow it has been a busy couple of weeks and we are enjoying every minute of it. On Saturday we took the girls to see Santa at the mall, Katrina was a little chatterbox as usual asking about the elves and Rudolph. She told Santa that she only wanted 1 thing for Christmas which I think shocked him a little. Amanda was so excited to see him until she was sitting next to him and then she just stared. She was able to squeak out that she wanted a Cinderella doll for Christmas, but then she was once again silent =) That's my Amanda =)
I thought I had finished all my holiday shopping when I realized that we still had friends and neighbors that we should do something for. Any cute (but inexpensive ideas)? As for me I think things will settle down by this weekend after everything is finally in the mail including my Christmas cards which are usually done and in the mail by now.
Next week Amanda is going to be in a play at preschool she is so excited for us to come and see, I hope she doesn't freeze when she realizes that all the other parents are there as well. I will have to start prepping her now I guess.
Well I guess that is it I will try to post again before the end of the month with some fun Christmas pictures. Love you all and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Happy Baby

This morning while I was getting ready I could hear my girls (all 3) just laughing and playing. It sounded so cute and I went to get the camera so I could capture this joyful moment. When I walked in Elizabeth was standing at the doll house playing with the dolls right beside Katrina and Amanda. I tried to capture it but she saw me and started crawling to me as fast as she could. This is the picture I got while she was cruising my way.
I finally got one of her standing. She stands up to everything and walks as far as it will take her. She is my little shadow and crawls right along with me everywhere I go, including the laundry and the bathroom. Here she was beaming as she scooted to the end of the dryer and came a charging my way.

Thought you would enjoy seeing how big she is getting!!!

Halloween

just wanted to post a couple of pictures from Halloween. The first is with the next door neighbors Brook and Katrina were Ariel's Hunter was a transformer and of course Amanda was Cinderella. My costume was found and put together 5 minutes before we walked out the door, and Steve was supposed to be a hill billie but the kids just called him the fat daddy. =) Elizabeth went to bed early so we don't have any pictures of her in her costume but I guess we have many years to get that done.

Katrina's Birthday

Well Monday was Katrina's Birthday so we pulled her out of school for the day and Steve took the day off and we went to Disneyland. We had a ball! We started out on the princess walk where they were able to meet Sleeping Beauty, Bell and Mulon, it was really cool because they only let one group in at a time so there is no one else around while you talk to the princesses. While we were waiting in line we found out that you can get a button from city hall that says Happy Birthday and then they write in her name and age. (not that she wasn't telling everyone it was her birthday and how old she was ) Any way we got her the tag and then everycast member we met would wish her a happy birthday. At first she was so amazed that they knew and when she asked them how they knew they would tell her it was the magic of Disneyland and that Mickey Mouse had told them. She was told happy birthday over the speaker system in the Nemo submarine ride and she was extatic. Then the local artist drew her a picture of Ariel. (he gets 500 a pop for his Paintings) and another cast member had her call goofy and he sang her happy birthday. By the end of the day she had figured out that it was the button that was pinned on her jacket. So when she took off the jacket she made sure to hold it so you could still see the pin. She got to meet Ariel which I am sure you can guess was one of the highlights. the other highlight was riding Thunder Mountain Railroad for the first time... she loved it. All in all it was a fun and amazing day.
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Looks like their in love!!!

I just had to post a couple of pictures from the wedding. I would have posted one of each couple but there wasn't one of me and Steve. I guess between the bathroom and the throwing up we were to busy to sit and pose for a picture. Hope you enjoy these.

Amanda

So here are the pictures I promised. First we have Friday morning after breakfast in bed and opening presents.... She got a cinderella doll from Grandma Borrowman that Katrina quickly stole and a Nap quilt from Grandma Lang which if you look in the mirror is on her bed and has been since she got it.







Next is her at her Birthday Party everyone dressed up as princesses and she was Cinderella!











here she is blowing out her candles on the b-day cake or at least trying to. We all had to help her after several failed attempts











This is her first day of Preschool. She was so excited she kept doing this everytime we mentioned school.

This was the day before her b-day we took treats to preschool and suprised her with balloons. The teacher and student teachers made her this crown which she wore for several days after

Amanda

I am uploading pictures to the computer so I can share some cute ones from Amandas B-day party and from her first day of Preschool.

Amanda had her first day of Preschool last Tuesday and absolutley loved it. She has been asking every day since Katrina started Kindergarten and was so excited to go to school that she had a hard time sleeping the night before. It was so much different for me to take her to school than it was for me to take Katrina. Although Amanda loves it, she is very shy and quiet and did not want to interact with the teacher and student teachers. She just wanted to be left alone so she could play house with the dollies and other toys. It was fun to hear all about her day when I came back....she gave me a play by play of everthing that she did including what she liked and did not like about her snack and lunch =)

Amanda also had her first birthday party on Friday. She dressed up like Cinderella and all her friends came as little princesses. They had a tea party and went on a scavenger hunt to find all the goodies for their bags, they danced and played put the shoe on Cinderella. Even with all the superb activities =) the favorite was cake and ice cream. One of the little girls blew out the candles for Amanda so we had to relight them and then help her blow them out because she couldn't seem to do it.

All in all it has been a really good week.

Oh did I mention I love having a couple of hours with Katrina and Amanda in school it gives me about an hour with Elizabeth and about 2 hours for just me while she is napping. Ahhh life is good.

Lets think pink!

So with everything in our life girly why not the blog? Steve never looks at this so he will never know the difference, right? Life here is good as I prepare for a marathon of birthdays and birthday parties in a couple of weeks. We will start with Amanda who's birthday is next Friday....that means cupcakes or treats for her preschool class on Thursday a birthday party of Friday a birthday party for her friend on Saturday. Then I have a week to get things in order for Katrina...lucky for me she doesn't want a party this year.....she JUST wants to go to Disneyland and have dinner with Ariel. sheesh. Lucky for us we have passes and so it is really just a matter of dinner and I am sure that will not cost as much as a party =) I still need to check out her schools policy for birthdays....some schools here only allow for treats that are prepackaged from the store, because you know we all want to poison our children and their friends. After we finish with Katrina's we have Steve's on Friday. It seems like we weren't the only ones who have lots of birthdays this time of year....so far this month Katrina and Amanda have been invited to 12 b-day parties from kids in the ward. I need to start my birthday budget now for next year =) so I can keep up. Lots of love to you all.

Random

I was so good at this when I first started blogging, but at least this time it was not a full month between updates. Elizabeth is growing up so fast and is quickly learned that when her sisters are playing in their rooms that it is a fun place to be. They love the reactions that they get from her and are the first ones to greet her in the morning.

These pictures are a frequent sight in the mornings as they race to get her when she wakes up while I am in the shower. ( maybe they wake her up who knows!)

The other night we went to the drive in and saw the game plan it was a fun family outing and the girls loved it. In fact I think we could see just about any movie as long as they got their popcorn and treats.


Here is a random picture of Amanda as she played at her friend Vivians house.

Busy Busy Busy!

So just a little update from the Lang's. This month has just flown by as I have discovered my creative side =) I have several projects underway and it is looking more and more like my girls are going to mostly have homade items for Christmas this year. I am nearing completion on several quiet books and I can't wait to use them. I am hoping it will help me when I am taking care of the girls while Steve is on the stand. It has been amazing how well behaved they have been considering that they really could milk the situation. The Lord truly blesses those that serve him.

I just completed some scripture bags for Katrina and Amanda and am now starting (and am very nervous about) Dolls for each of them for Christmas. The pattern says that the faces have to be embroidered so I guess I will learn =) Life is wonderful and busy as we go about our day to day routine. I will try to post some pictures soon. Love you all.

What a day!

So today is just another blah day at the Lang household. I just finished packaging 50 lbs of meat for the freezer (there is a really good sale every 6-8 months where I stock up on Chicken and ground beef) and am not really feeling very motivated to do much right now. I am working with the girls on being more obedient and responsible by giving them jobs that earn them tickets. The tickets buy everything from games and TV to treats. Well today has been a bad day for them and I have taken every single ticket from both and it is not even 3 o'clock. Right now they are in there rooms for quiet time............................................I was just in the middle of this when Katrina informed me that Amanda colored all over the wall. I went to check and it was everywhere. Thank goodness it was a washable marker and it all came right off. Needless to say she just lost her marker and crayon privileges for the week ( this is not the first occurrence) Oh the joys of being the mom =) It makes me very grateful that I am not a single parent. Because help will be here in just 89 minutes but who is counting?

Party Time!

The whole family was invited to a party for one of Katrina's friends. Here are a few wind blown pictures

First day of School

Well this may be a week late in coming but here goes. Katrina was so excited to start school last Monday and woke the entire household up at just after 6 A.M. She had picked out her outfit the night before so when she woke us up she was already dressed shoes and all and wanted to go to school right then =) We told her that it would be a couple of hours and she needed to get her hair done, eat breakfast and do her chores before we could go. Needless to say we were All (including the baby) to go by 7:30 and so we went and took some picture outside of the school and in her classroom. She had a really good first
day and found out that her best friends Brook and Trenton were in her class too. You all know what a talker she is and it got her in trouble quite a bit this first week as she was moved to 3 different tables before she learned to not talk when the teacher was talking. The second day she got to ride the bus home and loved it. Of course dad and I were following the bus the whole way. She feels so grown up and is eager to learn. (her words) I love you, my teacher is Mrs. Lawhead and she is nice. I like my new school and I am in kindergarten because I am big. I get to ride the bus and mommy will always be there
to get me when I get off....

Well it has been a crazy month indeed. Since my last post my Grandma Goodwin passed away. We went to St George to be with family and to attend the funeral. I was once again impressed by the wonderful example that my grandmother has been throughout her life, and found myself wanting to emulate that in my life as well. She was an incredible woman and she is missed by all of us whom she has left behind. I love you Grandma!

Allison also spent the month with us and it seems that each year the summer gets shorter and shorter. Alas this was no exception and the month just flew by. How we miss having her here, and look forward to every moment she gets to spend with us. We would love it if she lived closer and we could see her every other weekend like a lot of children from divorced homes, but we will take what we can get and cherish every moment of that time!

Katrina starts kindergarten tomorrow and I know that I am more nervous than she is and I am making myself sick with worry about how she will do and if she will like her teacher, school, and class. I worry if I have made the right choice in letting her start school this year even though she is still 4 and is it the right school for her. Keep me in your prayers tomorrow so that I can let go =).

I will write more later

Just Chillin

How cute is this. I came out to check on the girls and found them deep in conversation, so much so that they didn't even notice me taking the picture. I love to see the friendship and love that exists between Ali and her sisters even though she is not here all of the time. As soon as the camera flashed they noticed I was there but that didn't stop them they just went right on talking the only thing that changed was that they quickly stopped so they could take turns pushing Amanda who had come to join them. I love that they all get along so well.

First Meal

Just a really cute picture from one very happy baby as she ate her first solid meal.

More Lake Powell Pictures

This trip was amazing and we loved the time we were able to spend as a family. Grandma was constantly surrounded by the little ones who adore her.

Amanda was content to stay in the shade of the easy ups and just play in the sand, so needless to say this is where I spent a majority of my time as well. Elizabeth just wanted to eat non stop (probably due to the 114 degree temperatures) Ali and Katrina were little fish and it was nearly impossible to get them out of the water long enough to put on more sunscreen, but they did it and we are proud to report that the only ones who got burned were Steve and I.

It was really fun for me to have the time to just sit and watch my daughters interact with not only each other but their cousins as well. These are the times we will treasure forever and will create the bonds and friendships with the cousins for our children that I cherish from growing up around so many of my cousins.

Lake Powell

The Highlight of this trip would have to have been the tube! Ali and Katrina LOVED it. The pictures that were taken while they were on the tube didn't turn out so we recreated it for memory sake. The first time the girls went out all three of them went with dad. Tyson went really slow and by the time Amanda got off they were ready for some real action. Steve, Ali and Katrina went out and they picked up more speed and bounced around. Once they got off then the real fun began as the adults were being bounced, flipped and thrown from the tube. Ali was the bravest and went out with Uncle Nick and Aunt Megan. She was pleased to return and report that although Nick and Megan were flipped from the tube twice while she was on that she had only fallen off once, after that she went out whenever anyone would let her tag along.

4TH of July

As I stated in my last post Grandma Grandpa, Steve, Ali and Katrina started the day by walking to a free breakfast. Needless to say it was not all it was cracked up to be so Grandpa treated everyone to some extra breakfast at McDonald's, then they picked up some extras for our barbecue later that afternoon before they walked the mile home. Ali learned that if you look longingly at something grandpa Lang will buy it for you and if he doesn't see you looking at it just ask; at least that is what they told me when they got home and showed off the cupcakes he had purchased at their request. We had a fun barbecue with most of the Lang family and then went to see the new Disney movie (I have no idea how it is spelled) =) After the movie we went to Grandma and Grandpa Borrowmans house and the kids played while the adults loaded the boats for our early departure to the lake the next morning. We got done just in time to head back to our other grandparents house and watch the fireworks that Uncle Randy had provided. All in all it was a great day.

Swimming

Well no pictures yet because we are having problems with our camera again! But yesterday we went swimming with Summer and her kids and the girls had a blast. Ali is a little fish and the fear we saw in her last year has been replaced with confidence =) She is so proud of herself so those of you who will be swimming with us this month be sure to take note and ask her to show you her stuff. Katrina who has never had a fear of the water,which instilled a fear in me, but yesterday she finally learned how to pull her head up and breath while she is swimming. Yeah! Still she needs lots of supervision and practice but is trying hard to keep up with her big sister. Amanda Who is my big baby when it comes to the water, (she wouldn't even get in the water until this year) is found a love of the water and loves to jump from the side of the pool and have mom or dad pull her up from UNDER the water. The baby is content to just do whatever and is so easy to have around, yesterday she had her first meal (squash) and ate just like a pro and finished nearly the whole container on her first try. After swimming we came home and got ready for the evening and went to meet aunt Jessica's boyfriend or soon to be fiance. We had a nice time and the girls always love playing in grandma Borrowmans amazing toy room. In fact we are lucky enough to have two grandmas that have dedicated rooms full of toys just for the grand kids.
Today is also a full day and Steve, Ali and Katrina went out for a free 4Th of July breakfast and should be home soon. I will update you tomorrow on Today's activities but we should have lots and lots of fun. We hope you do too.
Well that is enough for one day, hopefully we get this camera thing sorted out and I can post some cute pictures as we have a very full week ahead of us.

Friends

Here is a picture of Katrina and some of her friends, they love getting together and during the summer we are getting together once a week to watch a movie. Our friends have a projector so we all bring pillows blankets and chairs and watch a movie outside. It is a lot of fun and we enjoy the cool nights and the friendships we are able to foster with everyone.

Getting into the cupcakes

Amanda has figured out the stool and uses it to her advantage all the time now. In this picture we had made and decorated cupcakes for an afternoon activity and we still had a couple left that we were going to decorate for our afternoon treat the next day. After feeding, and putting the baby down I came into the kitchen to find this munchkin up on the counter enjoying herself as she ate a few bites out of each of the remaining cupcakes. Maybe I should have got upset but it was so cute that I just grabbed the camera instead and took a picture of my adorable daughter. I guess that we had just had so much fun that she didn't want it to end......right =)