Valentine's Day!

So Valentine's Day was fun this year. Avery, Lily and I (Amanda) taped 101 hearts to the walls to tell Brian how much we loved him for a surprise when he got home.  (we got the idea from our friend Erica).  There were hearts everywhere!  (the pictures don't do it justice)

We also made a really nice steak dinner as a family and had a yummy red velvet cake.  Amanda got a cake decorating set for Christmas and finally tried it out.  She learned from good old YouTube how to make a frosting rose.  It turned out pretty good and the cake was yummy (thanks to a box cake mix).

We had sparkling cider and everything.  Avery just had to have a candle on the cake so we sang "Happy Valentines to You," and it was kinda fun.  Then it was a movie after the kids went to bed.  We did go out to a nice dinner the weekend before, but it was fun to celebrate Valentine's Day as a whole family.

Avery also delivered some Valentine's Day cards to some friends in the area.  There has been some great weather lately that it was nice to go for a walk outside.

Move On Over Bode Miller, Cuz' Avery is in town!

We were finally able to take Avery skiing!  He has natural talent at it!  He has been wanted to go ever since the first snow of the season (way back in the first of November), but because of lack of time and lack of snow, we haven't been able to make it up to the ski hill.  Well we finally took him up to a little ski resort (Wolf Mountain) and got a pass on the Magic Carpet.  He was a little nervous to get going too fast the first couple of runs down, but then he became completely fearless!  He knows how to do the "pizza" and even wanted to try to do it without the edgie wedgie (that ties his tips together).
 He can even do "snakes," or turns down the slope a little bit.  He wasn't the greatest at slowing down or stopping, but he could make it down the little run (not very steep) without help.  (It still made mom nervous though).  He never wanted to slow down (he said he just wanted to go faster).  Toward the end of the night, Avery kept asking to go on the "big hill."  I guess the little slope wasn't enough- hopefully next time we go.  We were such proud parents!  It was one of those sweet moments when your children learn something for the first time (we missed him walking his first steps so this makes up for it).
  Here are some sweet videos of Avery in his first day of skiing.

Avery didn't want to leave the ski hill!  Hopefully next time we go we can go on the "big hill." 

A Big Purchase & Some Fun Times!

Well some exciting news for us these last couple of weeks is that we will be buying a house!  We are currently in contract with a house and hopefully will be moving the end of February.  We will post pictures when everything goes through.  It will be in West Point, and actually is just a few miles from where we live now.  We are excited and nervous all at the same time.  It will be so fun and nice to have a place that is OURS.
  Some other fun things that have been happening while we wait for everything to go through on the house are as follows:
This last week we went bowling as a family- just the four of us.  We went this same time last year (right after we moved to Utah) and it is amazing how much the kids have changed!  Avery really didn't like bowling and didn't get into it and Lily was still an infant in a carseat last year.  This year however, Avery LOVED it.  The alley had a kid ramp for him to put his ball down and some really nice small balls to use.  Avery did pretty good for a 3-year old.  Lily even wanted to join in on the fun and helped push the ball down a few times.  Amanda rocked the scoreboard and won (with Brian & Avery coming a close 2nd and 3rd). Its kinda fun to do some activities as just a family.

the balls are bigger than us!

the bowling stud.

this is way too much fun!

the bowling champ (this time anyway)

down the ramp it goes!

If I think hard enough, I'll get a strike!

I am big and tough.

i can do it too!

Here is a picture from church last week.  Lily is wearing one of her aunt Chelsea's dresses that Grandma Downs (Amanda's mom) made her (there is a matching dress Amanda had but its a bigger size).  We were actually able to get her hair to curl a little with enough gel and hairspray (its pretty cute :-)) She is growing up too fast!   Avery too is growing up fast, and as you can see, takes his shoes and socks off the minute we come inside (this picture was taken right after we got home).

pretty in curls and a ruffly dress.

best of buds.

Christmas & December 2011

Well we finally had time to update about Christmas 2011!  Wow, the month of December sure went quickly!  And we can't believe its well into January already!
Well here are a few of our highlights from the last month
*We talked about the nativity with Avery alot this year.  We wrapped a baby doll up and put in a wicker laundry basket.  Avery would carry it around all day and had to have "baby Jesus" lay by his bed every night. We are glad he is starting to understand things a little.  It makes it alot of fun.
*We went to a Community Christmas Sing-Along were school-age kids sang, everyone sang and Santa came.  Avery wouldn't sit on Santa's lap until he saw Lily sit on his lap.

*Brian's brother Mark and his family came to visit from Nebraska (then they are off to sunny Florida).  We went up to Park City to the Olympic Park as well as went to Temple Square to see the Christmas lights.  We had such a blast with them and a bunch of Brian's other siblings.

*We went to Idaho for 10 whole days over the Holidays!  It sure was a great time to spend with the family and find time to just relax and have fun.
*We first spent a couple of days with Amanda's family.  We went swimming, to the movies (Dolphin Tale, a very good family movie) and having Christmas with the Downs family.  We all got Lagoon Season Tickets, so guess what we will be doing all summer?  Avery got his "button car" (a car with a button to push) from Grandpa & Grandma Downs, and was pretty excited about that.

*We got to go on a helicopter ride with Brian's friend Chris who needs to get his flying hours in.   It was awesome!  Avery was really excited to go on it, but once he was in the helicopter, he wasn't so sure about it (he didn't like looking out the window and didn't like the headphones too much).  As soon as we were on the ground though, one would have thought he had a blast by how much he talked about it.  We got to fly by the Rexburg Idaho Temple and Mesa Falls.  Lily fell asleep for the ride. Amanda had white knuckles from gripping the seat while Brian got to "fly" the helicopter (really Chris was doing it all, it just made Amanda nervous)

*Christmas was wonderful as usual.  Avery woke us up that morning (it was about 7ish).  We sure were blessed with lots of things this year.  Lily got Amanda's old dollhouse that she had growing up.  It still looks like it is in good condition doesn't it?  Avery got a remote control car.

Christmas morning at the Turpin house

Amanda made us all pajamas and hats for Christmas Eve

Avery patiently awaiting for Daddy to open his remote control car.

*We were able to go to church for a very nice Christmas musical program and have Sacrament meeting.  It was really nice (except that we ended up in the back and the kids went wild!).  We loved being able to really remember the birth of our Savior on this special Sunday.
*Then we had the rest of the Turpins over the next day where we got to see most of the cousins (a few were away sick).  It sure gets a house loud and crazy really quick with all those grandkids and adults everywhere.  We were able to get a picture of Brian's siblings (it was a hopeless cause to try and round up all the grandkids).
*Other highlights were that we saw the Downs extended family and the Turpin extended family.  Its always fun to see the grown-up cousins.
*We arrived home and all got sick!  We were going to go back to Idaho for New Years, but since we were all sick, we stayed home.  Brian's sister Candace came for New Years Eve for a little fun party.  We had goodies, played Wii (online with the our extended family) and then watched the ball drop at 10:00pm (we were a little lame, but we were all sick).  Then we went to bed!  Wow, we can't believe it 2012!
Well that is our month in a nutshell!