Aunt Cambrie and Uncle Bryce's Wedding

One of the best parts of Aunt Cambrie marrying Uncle Bryce (besides making him an official member of the family of course) was that the girls got to meet their King cousins.  Eletta hung out with the girls quite a bit.

At their reception the day before the wedding there was LOTS of dancing!  Pretty much the cousins turned the unused half of the gym into their own dance party, open to anyone who wanted to join but mostly just for them.  They were especially adorable in their matching dresses.  They were the honorary bridesmaids. 

The day after the wedding we had our 2nd annual Valentine's Day Fondue Fest with G & G Roueche as well as Aunt Jenny and her friend.

Provo City Center Temple Open House

One of the fun things that we did during the wedding week was go to the Provo City Center Temple Open House.  It was perfect timing because the girls were pretty disappointed about not being able to go into the temple for Cambrie and Bryce's wedding, but they got to see first hand what the temple sealing rooms looked like so that was fun for them.  We tried to focus on how we felt at the temple but all I could get out of them was that they felt happy and wanted to hang out with cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents.  All in all, probably what the Celestial Kingdom will be like. 

A Texan Snowman

Cute Leona, January 2016

Since January Leona has been obsessed with this dress.  She wants to wear it all the time.  And isn't it obvious why?

This photo cracks me up.  It was taken after I told Leona that we needed to go pick up Eliza from school.  Although she had been loitering by the garage door at that announcement she bolted to the living room and lay face down and was motionless.  She maintained this position while I put her coat on her, went and got my phone, and took this photo.  Ultimately playing dead did not save her a trip in the car, but it did make me laugh.

This is just one example of Leona's awesome bedhead.  

For Christmas Leona got a cape of her very own from Grandma Cole.  Grandma also made and sent several super hero masks.  Leona loves them all.

This was taken mid-stomach bug but I just think it is such a beautiful photo of Leona.  She is such a sweet little girl who just wants to cuddle when she doesn't feel well, run laps when she's feeling good, and giggle about the jokes and silly things her sisters do.

Christmas 2015

Christmas Eve the girls opened coordinating penguin jammies.  Everybody was thrilled about that.  It looks like Leona also was gifted with a wig but no, that is her actual hair.

The next morning everybody was excited to wake up, except Leona who could not figure out why her beauty rest was being disturbed.  

Then she caught the vision and was thrilled.

This photo captures how Leona spent Christmas morning, asking for candy to be opened so she could eat it as fast as a toddler can chew.  She took down all of the candy in her stocking in one morning and then had to be watched because she tried to snatch other peoples' candies.

 The star of the show as far as Leona was concerned though was the dog that she got for Christmas.  When you pet its back it barks or pants.  It was unclear for most of the day whether she thought it was real or knew that it was just a toy.  No matter which it was her love for that dog was obvious.

For Christmas we had a few visitors: Grandpa and Grandma Roueche, Aunt Cambrie, and soon to be Uncle Bryce as he and Cambrie had gotten engaged two days before Christmas.  We had a great time with everybody.  We went to see the lights on Temple Square one night, braving the frigid temperatures to do so.  The lights were beautiful and we were glad that we went.

Sister Sitting

Leona brought Clara a book to read to her.  Clara agreed to read it.  Then Leona sat on her lap, because clearly that is the only appropriate way to enjoy a book.  It was hilarious.  It has happened many times.

Caldwells come to Utah

Oh man, talk about the most fun ever had! It was a Caldwell cousin invasion and it was awesome! We had the Caldwells to ourselves for a couple days of their trip to visit their Caldwell family members in Midway, Utah.  There were cousin slumber parties as Lily and June slept in Eliza and Clara's room (Grant and Ollie bunked with their parents).  We made crafts, went sledding, played games, and had so much fun. Sledding was probably the most fun.  At first Eliza and Clara (and mom and dad let's be honest) were a little nervous to go down the hill.  Leona was not.  In her typical throw-catuion-to-the-wind way Leona tried to hop on a sled right away.  It had snowed a ton the day before but the hill at Rock Canyon Park was pretty packed down by the time we got there and that hill was FAST!  She went down a couple times with both dad and mom but then was ready to call it quits.  Leona always seemed eager to get on the sled but it was hard to tell whether she enjoyed the actual run.

Leona loved having Ollie and the rest of the cousins running around the house with her.  She totally thought that she was one of the big kids and that Ollie, 3 months her junior, was a baby.  It was ridiculous.  Also when we went to Midway to go ice skating Leona happily stayed behind at the house with Auntie Mel and Ollie while the rest of us went skating.  She had so much fun stealthily going through Uncle Scott's old house and playing with all of the cousins' toys.  

Christmas Prep

This year we had Thanksgiving at Great Grandpa and Grandma Roueche's house.  We were nervous at first that we wouldn't be able to make it because it was snowing so hard and they live up the mountain a little way, but in the end the snow took a break that was long enough to let us get there and back home, for which we were grateful.  The girls had lots of fun playing with the "cousins". (Collin's cousins' kids, so second cousins technically I think.)  The bonus of the day was that Aunt Cambrie came back to our house afterward and then stayed to help decorate the tree with us.  There was lots of enthusiasm and Christmas music playing.  We had a great time.  Leona could not get over how awesome it was to have a tree in our house with toys all over it.  She actually did a lot better than I had expected with not undecorating the tree all the time.

Everybody was thrilled to see their favorite Christmas decoration- the Little People Nativity- come out of storage.  Once that came out decorating the tree was not a priority.

First Snow of 2015

Poor Leona.  Trapped in a fat suit! She was desperate to go out in the snow but she HATED the snow gear.  When I put it on her it was like she lost control of her limbs.  She would flop down and lay on the floor inside or just sit wherever she was put outside but she wouldn't move on her own steam.

I call this photo, "Angry Baby Gorilla in Snow".

Refusing to stand next to or associate with the other girls and/or snowman.

We finally found Leona's outdoor happy place, sharing my coat.  She was perfectly content to sit on the porch with me as long as she was out of the fat suit and in my coat.  Good thing it's enormous!

Random photos from November 2015

In November we braved the cold to go watch a BYU Women's Soccer game.  Everybody got a little cranky because they couldn't run around, BUT then we discovered there was free hot chocolate and the evening was saved.  BYU won, for the record.

Leona, protecting her identity while she does super things.

Since we've been here we have caught soooo many sicknesses, including 2 stomach bugs.  This was a photo from one of them.  The girls each had their own setup: puke bowl, saltine goldfish, and water bottles.  They are watching a show in what is known around here as a "cozy spot".  When you are sick you get a cozy spot.  What it not shown is that there are blankets all around the chair in case the puke bowl isn't grabbed in time.

Homecoming Parade

Leona is watching the parade with rapt attention. Why you ask? because every float or group that passed hand delivered candy to her.  Seriously, this kid is too cute for her own good.  People stopped their dancing or whatever they were doing in the parade to walk over and put candy in Leona's hot little hands.  Consequently, she loved the parad.

Family Photos

My favorite one of Leona!

Trying to make a break for it.  Too many pictures!