Christmas!

This year it was my families turn for Christmas. We wanted to drive down the day before Christmas Eve, but that didn't work out. Steve missed a final because the professor changed the day, time, and place last minute through email (and not even his personal email.. his school email that nobody even checks!) Anyway, we found out that the professor was going to be on campus Christmas Eve and he was going to let Steve take the test that day. So we stayed and waited almost half the day and never heard back from the professor. So we just decided to go. On the way down we got hit with a BAD blizzard! But Steve is an amazing driver so we got through it without even slipping once! We got down and we had a really nice Christmas dinner, and then started playing a game of Star Wars Monopoly... which lasted forever. We stayed up till 3 in the morning playing it and didn't even finish. We put it on hold so that Santa could come and bring us our gifts! Steve was the last one to wake up... we had to drag him out of bed!

We all had fun opening our presents. Steve and I got a digital photo frame! We got something else too, but after a family discussion we decided not to tell very many people about it. We also got a ton of clothes, but most of them we "opened" before Christmas... or rather never really wrapped! Lilly got a bouncy chair from Grandma Resa, and a floor matt, but we opened those a while ago too, but she opened a sweater and boots, and some other little toys! Thanks Grandma!

From Kelsey and Kevin (Steve's Sister and her husband) gave Lilly a booster chair! Lilly is sitting up but not on her own, so she can't use it just yet, but I'm so excited to use it in a little bit! We also got Narnia (the first one) which is good cause we just bought the second one from red box... ouch huh. So anyway, it was a great Christmas! After breakfast, we continued our monopoly game. Max killed both of us, because we both we stinkin rich and the game wasn't going anywhere, we decided that we would be able to add "cities and settlements" endlesslly, and since he was richer than me, I went down 10 times faster. Afterwards he made this "documentary" of it.

First Daddy-Daughter Dance!

One night right before bed, Daddy decided that it was time for Lilly's first Daddy-Daughter dance. It was really sweet! And the song choice was of course something that we would choose, but I'm sure no one else would! Enjoy!

CDA Christmas Performance

Ok... Here we go! So Christmas Break officially began when the Creative Dance Academy had their christmas show. Normally the Christmas show consists of only the dancers with their own choreography. The teachers don't have to do choreography... they can if they want, but the show is basically giving the students a chance to choreograph and perform on their own. Last year I did some dances, but this year I decided to opt out because I didn't have enough time to prepare for them, and things were crazy with Lilly and everything, so I decided to take the easy way out. Well, A week and a half before the show Andee (owner of CDA) asked me to do dances for ALL of my classes... uhhhhhhhh seriously?? Apparently there wasn't enough students to make a whole show. So... I had two thursdays and one tuesday to do dances. That's pretty much ridiculous! So I decided to do the big long 6 minute waltz of the flowers from the Nutcracker and just give each one of my classes a piece of the dance. Which means that there was about 20 girls in this one dance. It was pretty crazy. In class all the girls had the dance down by the end of the first practice, and they could even do it with out me assisting them at all. But when we got on stage, it was like nothing had ever happened... girls were missing their cues... going at the wrong times... completely forgetting what was coming next.. it was a mess, so I pulled all the girls into the studio next to the stage and practiced a few times. When it came time for the performance, I had never seen them do so well! It was great!! I was very proud that they were able to pull it off, but it was still VERY frustrating because it could have been so much better. I love teaching at that studio, but I have never had enough time to actually prepare something! Every spring they do these recitals, but they are always themed, and I'm always the last one to know about the theme, so by the time I hear about it, all the good choices are already gone, and I have to make up something weird in like a month (if I'm lucky). Like last year the theme was "elements of the earth." There are only 4... which were taken... so I had to make up stuff... Lightning, Snow... and I had almost 3 classes to prepare. See, the thing that really bothers me isn't the fact that I don't have time to create anything really cool, it the parents... I mean, they spend all this money on lessons for their children, and I feel like they are a little bit jipped! And not only on the dances... but like, the costumes... All these parents, last minute, had to go out and buy a leotard! I just don't think that it's fair to ask that of the parents.. So this next semester I'm going to start early, and I"m not going to wait for Andee to tell me the theme or anything... I'm going to find costumes before the semester starts, and send notes home to all the parents, so that they can plan on them, and start to do the dance in a couple of weeks... and I dont really care if it doesn't go along with the theme... I should know the theme already! (Funny story... I was talking about this with my oldest student, and she knows the theme already... HOW COME I DON'T!!!) Anyway, Like I said, I'm taking matters into my own hands this semester, because these girls and their parents deserve to get what they are paying for!!

Half of Fifty!

(Excuse my voice on thie video... it's kind of loud, and not really nice to listen to!)

Yesterday was Steve's birthday! His Birthday wasn't just one day though.. we kind of celebrated it all weekend! Friday night our little family went out to dinner at Fridays and they came and sang to him... a little embarrasing because it was just the 3 of us! But we got free ice cream so it was totally worth it! Then on Saturday we went up to Steve's Aunts house to go to a bridal shower, and then we got to hang out with a bunch of family/friends. We ate at Rumbi's and then went to a show at Comedy Sports, where we got to see even more friends! It was a pretty good show! Then we went to another friends house for hot chocolate! So that was pretty fun! Then yesterday we had Steve's brother and his wife over for homemade pizza and cake! I was the master decorator of the cake, and didn't quite figure out soon enough that one black gel tube wasn't enough to write a complete "Happy Birthday Steve." I got to about "Happy Bir" and then realized that at best I could get Happy Birth... which would still make sense.. but I squeezed and stole from other letters, and made the last part super small, but I got the full "Happy Birthday" Then I decided that I would write Steve in candles. Of course, I ran out of candles to do the entire Steve, so I settled for Stev.... which is totally acceptable because I call him Stev all the time!! Not only that, but that put all the candles on one side which made it look like the cake was on fire! Anyway, it was fun, but more importantly, I wanted to celebrate Steve! 25 years ago, he was brought into this world, and has done so many wonderful things, and contributed so much to this world. This world is a happier place because of Steve. Steve... Lilly and I love you so much!! Your the best husband and Daddy ever! Happy Birthday!

The Most Adorable Baby Pictures EVER

My dancer Emily from Creative Dance Academy came to dance with a basket full of props last night and since she is the only one who showed up for her class, she decided we weren't going to dance, but we were going to take pictures of Lilly! I'm so impressed with the quality and artistry of these pictures! They are amazing! I was NOT expecting these... they are like... pro! And Emily is only 15! Anyway... Thanks Emily!! Enjoy!

She is wrapped up like a candy cane!

I think she looks like a flying fairy here...

Big Week!

It's been a crazy week... there has been a lot that has happened! I'll start with last weekend. My awesome studio Front and Center Dance Academy threw me and Lilly a baby shower!

It was SO much fun! I always love hanging out with my little dancers! They are so goofy! I love it! It was fun goofing off with them! We played that game where you eat the baby food and you have to guess what you were actually eating. I won that game! I had 3 out of 5 right, and the two that I missed were like, chicken and rice, and ham & pineapple & rice... no one could get those right!

We also played the game where they melted different candy bars or different types of chocolate in diapers and you have to smell them to try to figure out what kind of chocolate it is! The studio owner's daughter (who is 2 years old) was thouroughly disgusted that we were all sticking our faces in diapers... cause she knows what is in those things!!

I got many wonderful outfits for my daughter to grow into... I'm so excited to put her in them! I can't wait till she gets bigger! I think my favorite gift had to be the hair things though... I was so tired of trying to glue bows to her head... they never stuck! They would always fall off and even though she would be dressed head to toe in pink people would mistake her for a boy...just because she didn't have a bow! Anyway... Thanks FCDA!

So right after the baby shower we left for St. George. My Sister-in-law Heather had her baby baby boy and we wanted to visit and pick up Grandma so that she could make her flight home. While we were there we got to go visit Lilly's Great Grandma... which was really cool!

It really weirded me out to see how little Will was! And it was even weirder because Lilly was so much smaller than him when she was born! I can't believe how much she has grown!

Anyway, Will is awesome! He's so mellow! He sleeps all the time and hardly ever cries! Heather is doing an amazing job.. and I'm actually really jealous that she's recovered so quickly! I was still in pain for like 2 weeks after Lilly was born.

So then we made it back to up Orem, and had a couple of days to catch up. Then we were hit with the devastating news about my best friend Alicia's daughter Gabrielle Nicole. For more on that, read my previous post. FCDA had their performance on Friday which turned out amazing! Good job dancers! I'm proud of you! I wish I would have gotten more pictures... but I was too busy watching your amazing dances! Right after the performance we left yet again for St. George for Brie's funeral. Grandma Resa (my mom) was happy that we got to go back and visit some more since we didn't get to see her very much last weekend. We also got to visit Brandon and Heather again. I thought that Will might have woken up by now... but no! He was still as chill as ever. The only difference was that he looks a lot more like Brandon now!

Finally, we attended the funeral. I'm glad Steve and I got to go to the viewing to see their beautiful girl. It was a very special service. It was very short and sweet. We sang "I am a Child of God." Alicia and Matt were heartbroken of course, but they were also very much at peace with everything. Alicia said she really feels as if Brie was never meant to stay on earth. We went to eat at Chuck-a-rama afterwards and it was nice to be able to talk with Matt and Alicia about their future plans, the delivery, and a bunch of other things. I really missed my friend! Anyway... then we got back home. I finally get to slow down and take a break... yeah right!!

Baby Brie November 11, 2008 - November 13, 2008

One of my best friends, Alicia Nicole Mack, now Alicia Dils was pregnant, due in February 2009. Her and her husband Matt were moving to Richmond Virginia when Alicia went into labor. Her little baby girl was born on November 11, 2008 somewhere in Texas. They named her Gabrielle Nicole, after her mommy! She was 14 weeks early...

Baby Brie passed away last night at about 2:30 am due to internal bleeding. Alicia told me that the doctors knew she wouldn't make it, so they got to hold her before she passed.

Baby Brie must have been a very special spirit, so much so that it was only neccesary for her to come to earth and obtain a body, and then return home to our Heavenly Father. Alicia and Matt were the special couple to bring her here for her few short days. They loved her so much. Alicia told me she never left her daugher's side. She was ecstatic that the doctors allowed her to touch her enough to change a diaper, or to lift her while they put a heating pad under the baby. She was grateful for every second she had with her daughter. In her words, "She was just too perfect for earth."

Lillian is down for a nap right now, but I can't help but go in and stare at her every 5 minutes. I know that many people have different beliefs, however, I am overwhelmed with my testimony of eternal families. Alicia will see their beautiful girl in the world to come, and they will be a happy family. As for now, baby Brie is with her Father in Heaven, looking down at her parents.

Blessing

Lillian was blessed on November 2nd, 2008. Daddy gave her a beautiful blessing. We were so privelaged to have so many family and friends attend! I wish we would have taken more pictures of all the people that were there!


We were so happy that my Aunt Terry was there! We haven't seen Aunt Terry for a long time and it was so fun to have her out here! She got to meet Steve, Lilly, all of my sister Sarah's kids, and catch up with the rest of us, since we've all grown up! It's funny, everytime I see one of my mom's sisters, it weirds me out how much they look alike!!

Steve's parents were also there, but like I said, we didn't get hardly as many pictures as we should have! But we were so happy that Grandma and Grandpa Stott were able to be here!

Lilly looked gorgeous!! I loved her dress! She looked adorable! We tried to get her to sleep before the blessing so it would be quiet during the blessing... however Lilly had another agenda! She was perfectly happy and wide awake right up until the blessing.... which she screamed through the entire time!! After the blessing was over, she quieted right down and then quickly fell asleep! She's a booger sometimes!! But we love her!

After the blessing we all headed over to Steves Aunts house for lunch, where Jolene cooked like a maniac! We had so much food!! It was delicious though!

Lilly really did look adorable that day. We didn't take a whole lot of pictures, but she had professional pictures taken in her blessing dress, so when I get them I will post those so everyone can really see how adorable she is!