Our Little Angel

Sierra got to participate in her first nativity play last weekend. She was the cutest and proudest little angel that I've ever seen. (And I'm not at all biased!) The adult choir at our church performed a cantata called Joyful and Triumphant in which several children acted out a brief manger scene. She didn't have to say anything, but she got to stand up on stage with several of her friends in a pretty white dress, wings and glitter on her face. It was heaven on earth for her!

Angels in the front row, getting ready for the program to start.

Sierra had her fake smile pasted on her face during the first performance. The second night she actually tried to sing along with the choir.

Our beautiful girl!

Susie's Surprise 30th

I don't understand how it can be possible that we celebrated my little sister's 30th birthday this weekend when I AM STILL ONLY 24!!!! Where have the years gone?

Benjy did a great job of making all the arrangements for a surprise party at my parents' house on Saturday afternoon. We had several Beck and Cook family members as well as some close friends over for cake. Mom made a fabulous ice-cream cake for the occasion. Along with the gifts, we played a fun "Susie trivia" game and watched a great slide show of her life. It was a special day for all of us. We love you Susie!

Mom's tasty ice-cream cake sensation!

Getting a little help with the gift opening.

Watching the PowerPoint show that Benjy and his mom put together.

Elmo Makes Music

Last Friday evening we took the girls to a live Elmo show at the Idaho Center. Ally isn't "into" too many things for any length of time, but Elmo has been her friend for several months. If you remember back to June, she wanted an Elmo themed birthday party. Since then she has slept with her little stuffed Elmo doll almost every night. Funny thing is, she hardly ever watches Sesame Street so she doesn't really know too much about him. I guess she just thinks that he's a cute little character.

Anyway.... the show was pretty fun. It was family night, so we got discounted tickets and had fairly good seats. All the Sesame Street characters were there and the costumes were very VERY realistic. The plot of the show wasn't very compelling to anyone over the age of six, but Sierra and Ally enjoyed themselves. Sierra pulled out all of her white-girl dance moves for several of the musical numbers. Ally picked her nose most of the time, but she did watch the entire show. (Quite an accomplishment for her!) In spite of the begging, we didn't get suckered into the $15 light spinners or the $8 balloons. Although Sierra told me that she positively DID want to get ripped off. It was a night that the girls will be talking about for a while.

Like I said....

F.Y.I.

Here's why you should always shake the pasta sauce BEFORE you loosen the lid. AAARGH!

The sauce was EVERYWHERE!!!

Pictures

I found the camera right where I figured it would be...underneath my seat in the car. Now, isn't that a clever place to hide it?! So here are a few photos from the last week or so. I went a little crazy with the uploading. Sorry.

Happy sisters in matching outfits yet again! I honestly don't purposefully buy matching clothes. Most of what they wear are hand-me-downs. It just happens to work out that way.

Sierra loves to hold Annie and "teach" her how to play with new toys.

Story time with the cousins.

We had to make our own turkey on Wednesday so that Marc could have his own huge supply of left-overs. (I know - I should have given you a better view of the bird.)

This is Ally's method of eating a baked potato....just go for it like an apple! (Don't you love the place mats that Carolyn made for the girls last Thanksgiving?)

The "Kid's Table" at Thanksgiving. Everyone is so grown up now.

And the rest of the Obenchain clan.

Sierra and Ally "taking naps" on Aunt Sue Herrick's chair after the feast!

Making Grandma's famous cinnamon rolls...or cinnamon lumps if you're between the ages of 2 and 4.

A Good, GOOD Day!

Yesterday was just one of those good, good days! It started with spending the morning with Susie and Annie, doing a little Christmas shopping and sharing one of my favorite lunches at Baja Fresh - nachos with chicken and pinto beans. Annie is such a sweet little girl, always full of smiles. She cut her first tooth yesterday and made us all very proud. It was so fun to see three little girl cousins sitting in high-chairs around the table and giggling with each other as they munched on their food. Sierra and Ally love their cousin and it is becoming quite apparent that the feeling is mutual. Annie is almost 7 months old and very aware of the world - such a fun age!

In the afternoon Susie watched the girls while I went to my doctor visit. I was anxious about my blood pressure issues but things are under control for now and no new tests were required. The best part was that I got to hear the baby's heartbeat for the very first time!!! I am already 15 weeks along and have had all the pregnancy symptoms (and then some!), but there is something about hearing that little thumpity-thump that makes it all so real. I waited until I was in the car driving home to tear up with excitement.

And as if all that wasn't enough, I had a wonderful date night with Marc in the evening. My brother works for Channel 7 and often has the chance to get free tickets for various events. This time he scored two tickets to the Jim Brickman concert at the Morrison Center. Chuck works in the evenings and Mom and Dad were busy with a pastor and wives meeting, so the tickets fell into my lap. Just so happens that I LOVE JIM BRICKMAN'S MUSIC!!!! (Romantic piano stuff for those who don't know.) It was a beautiful concert and Jim is actually quite funny. There were lots of laughs about everything from his first piano teacher to the way he flails his arms and left leg while playing his music. Aunt Missy took care of the girls so that Marc and I could enjoy this relaxing evening together. Thanks so much, Chuck and Missy! We had a great time.

There have been lots of other good days in the last week as well...like Thanksgiving and a couple of days at the cabin, but they will have to wait for a post until I retrieve my camera from under the seat in the car. Hopefully I'll have a couple of good snap-shots to download soon.

Still Thankful

I'm at home alone this morning with a very unpleasant stomach bug. But, I'm still thankful! Mostly because of that handsome guy up there. He is always very helpful at home, but especially when I feel sick. (Which seems to be a lot lately.) This morning he got the girls up, dressed, fed and out the door for church...ON TIME! All I had to do was fix their hair. Daddy's fingers are never very good at that sort of thing. There are many days when I wouldn't make it without his help.