Happy Happy Birthday Daddy Dear

Well, we didn't have the usual family together celebration, but we still all love Tyler and wanted him to know what a great dad and husband he is. Finally a UofU tie for his collection from the girls. And a neat wi-fi digital picture frame that we can update online or via e-mail so that dad will always have our latest pictures while he his deploied.
Happy 30th Tyler!!!

Niki Walking

Niki started walking in earnest just in time for Dad to be there for some of her first steps. She's also a crazy monkey and climbs up the ladder to the top. She even got onto the bed once just before she fell off, all the way to the ground. That was the end of getting to use the ladder as a toy.

Daddy Day!!!

We missed dad so much! It was so fun to have a day with just him. Thanks for giving us the break from your work trainings dad! We love you!

Skiing With Dad at Solitude's Link and Magic Carpet


Swimming With Dad at the Bountiful Rec Center

Children's Exhibit at Church History Museum

One of the benefits of staying in Utah is all of the neat church stuff that there is to do. After an hour and a half, we still had to drag the kids out of the children's exhibit. It's free and fun for all ages. If you're in the area and have some time, you really need to check it out!!!

Swimming Time

We needed a break from the house. Everyone else here is on a cruise so we decided to have a vacation of our own. We wore our matching tie-dye shirts and went to the pool. It was so much fun to be in the water again. Lily's favorite part was standing in the little pool and the slides and swimming in the big pool with the noodle. Niki liked the fountains. I just liked seeing the girls have fun.

Niki's Newest Monkey Skills

Niki is learning like crazy! She's starting to try words like: Huh?, uh-oh, book, grrrr, hello (on the phone), and her already perfected cool. Mostly they just sound like odd grunts or vowel sounds, but she's consistent with them and uses them appropriatly. Funny.

She's also got some new tricks, like walking with her stroller or from one person to another. Or climbing the bunk bed ladder. Or putting on her own necklaces (I was very proud of that one). She's such a climbing monkey it scares me sometimes. Just after I took the picture of her climbing the ladder, she fell off. After she recovered from crying she just got back up and tried climbing again. Typical crazy Niki.

Snow, Snow, Snow

We love to play in the snow! Thanks for lending us your yard grandma Sharp

Sledding

With all of the new snow we were aching to take the girls out for a real sledding experience. The Ballings, Wests, Stevens, Sharps united for one excelent day of tub riding.

Texas Road House

Snowmobiling and Pizza Hut

Presents at Dad's

Temple Square Lights

CHRISTMAS

PRESENTS
enough said

Lily asked Santa for a vaccum this year. And not just any vaccum, it really works. It's just like one she played with at a friend's house. We were happy to let her have it since it would really help with the chores. She was so excited and happy when she finally got it. She had been talking about it for weeks. The funniest part about it is that she really hates our big vaccum. She runs and hides everytime I get it out. I think she loves her vaccum because it's quiet enough for her to handle. What a funny girl.

Niki would have been happy just playing with the wrapping paper, but she did get excited about her fuzzy gloves. They are the same fabric as her lovey and she was just thrilled.

Lily's first ski trip

On the day before Christmas Eve we had our annual Balling Family ski trip. It snowed all night and looked to be a perfect ski day. We started with aspirations of going to Alta, but after waiting for an hour in traffic before we even reached the canyon, we decided to go up immigration canyon instead. We made a ski run out of the usual tubbing hill and had a great day.

Lily had a great time and really loved going fast on the skis. We had to carry her the entire way because she's not strong enough to maneuver yet, but by the end of the day she was standing up. What a fun day.

On our way to Utah...

We packed up enough for two months and headed to Utah. Both girls were quite excited about the trip. Niki even practiced her new standing tricks as we waited at the airport.