She was a little bit nervous but the doctor was great and she was able to find some cute frames. It only took 6 days of waiting til they were ready to be picked up and here they are!

 She looks so sweet in glasses. Such a fun change...till soccer season starts anyway.


And moving on...... THIS HAPPENED!
 I don't even know how many inches this was, but my hair was pretty long. It was damaged on the ends and looking pretty thin. I either needed some extensions to fill it in, or chop it off. I'm still unsure how much I like it. I've always colored it a dark, rich brown, so the lightened locks are taking some getting used to.
 You can't see the length completely in this picture, but it was more than halfway down my back.
 I had to include this picture. The sunset was making my hair look red, so Kylie took a picture of it for me. It has some red tones to it, but it's definitely more brown than this picture. But....this is the length. CA-RA-ZY! 

 We forgot to take our traditional baptism picture after the baptism, so this is the day after at church. They welcomed Madison as a new member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and the bishop presented her with a hard cover Book of Mormon which Terrence and I had written our testimonies in.

 Between having her Daddy finally be home, being baptized and having so many visitors (some of which traveled hundreds of miles to be here) just for her.....it was a pretty exciting day.
 We had so much support from our families and are so lucky to have so many of them close. 
 Aunt Trista came from Colorado and brought her two oldest kiddos with her. This is Emily (8) and the little one is Aunt Andrea's daughter Avaree (4) 
Our bishop gave the analogy of baptism being like an old school NINTENDO. When you mess up, you just hit the reset button and start the game over. Madison is so excited to take the sacrament every Sunday now so she can hit her reset button. I think I should invite my bishop to teach our FHE every week. He really knows how to teach principles in a way kids can easily understand them. It feels so weird to have two kids that are old enough to have been baptized. We love our little family and are so grateful to have been blessed with so much....even if having kids this old means we also have a few gray hairs and a few more creases. 

I don't know about you, but I always get feeling a little down after Christmas. I spend all December bustling around and getting our advent calendar items checked off and then BAM! it's over just like that. I'm suddenly thrown off my game and I have two January birthdays to think about. So...when Terrence said that all he wants for his birthday this year was a nice family weekend, it was just what we needed! (especially since he just left for a 3 week long business trip! wah!) The best part of having him travel so much is the "perks" of free hotel rooms and flights from time to time. I use the word "free" loosely since we definitely pay for it by having him gone so much, but it's nice when we get to use them. We decided to head to Zions National Park for the weekend. 


The kids were initially sad that the outdoor pool was closed, but got over it pretty fast. Our hotel room had a couch bed which Daxton promptly claimed for himself, his blue macaw, and his teddy bear named "Moo". Don't worry, he shared with Madison too.

And Kylie wanted to sleep under the desk. No fighting...kids all happy with sleeping arrangements!? SCORE!

Our hotel was right at the entrance to the park, so we headed to the visitor center right after breakfast and it was already 54 degrees!




 We wanted to have time to drive home the long way, so we opted to just do one hike. Daxton was up half the night, so we knew he couldn't handle much hiking. We later learned he was sick. BOO! But I guess for it being the first illness since school started in August, we're pretty lucky. 
 We did the Emerald Pools hike and it was gorgeous! 60 Degrees, sunny, no wind....just perfect! If you've been here in the summer, you'll know how crazy busy it it, but in January....it was so quiet, although still much busier than I anticipated. 
I love how the outdoors transforms my kids. Suddenly they become happy, pleasant little angels. Not that they aren't wonderful all the time, but outside they become much more fun. And the presence of fighting is much more rare!

We spent New Years Eve in Kansas with Terrence's parents. After a two week long trip for the holidays, we headed home on New Years Day and arrived on January 2nd. Terrence had a business trip to Denver on January 4th (Madison's birthday) so we decided to book her a ticket to tag along and keep it a secret. We celebrated her birthday at home on the 3rd with ice cream sundays and a couple presents. I can't believe I didn't take pictures! Then on Sunday the 4th, we all got ready for church and took Terrence to the airport. When we arrived, I got out of the van and gave Madison a hug and told her to have fun. She thought I was lying to her! She couldn't believe it. She was only a year old last time she flew, so she was very excited and nervous about it. 
Terrence was able to get a first class ticket, but gave it up so he could sit with Madison on the flight. They went to Cinzetti's for dinner and then slept at my parents house during their trip. Madison got to spend Monday with her aunt Trista and her cousins, until my Parents picked her up for some birthday spoiling. They went shopping and had some fun one-on-one time before meeting up with Terrence for dinner. 
On Tuesday, she spent the day with Aunt Sarah playing cards and dominoes before flying home that evening. Madison is so excited to be 8! She can't wait to get baptized and go to activity days! She's so excited to get her "Faith in God" award and is determined to get it this year. 
Fun Facts about Madison:
- She loves to play games with anyone. Her favorites are "nerks" and Skip-Bo
- Madison also loves to cuddle and thrives on one-on-one time 
-She LOVES to read and has started checking out books from Kylie's "library".
-Madison LOVES dogs and begs for one almost every day. She wants a little lap dog that she can cuddle with.
- Madison is still such a nurturing person and loves to take on adult-like responsibilities, like babysitting, cooking, cleaning (only on her terms unfortunately)
- She is just like me! Super tender-hearted and sensitive. I just thought everyone was mean to me and I can't handle any kind of conflict or confrontation. Madison is the same way and it can be incredibly frustrating at times! So...I'm sorry about that.   

I can't wait for this little girls big BAPTISM day on February 7th! 

Ok, so I may not be back into the full swing of things but I may start up again. Blogging gives me a little more motivation as a Mom. I used to take pictures because a certain moment seemed "blog worthy", and now I just don't take pictures. I also used to do more "blog worthy" activities and my life is getting a little dull. So...here I am. I'm not making any promises but here is a brief list of what you've missed the past almost 2 years:

• Terrence got a job in Midvale as a railroad engineer/conductor and started school again to finish his degree in Occupational Health and Safety and will graduate in November 2013! WAHOO! Of course I see a masters degree in his future which means he won't technically be "done" yet. 
• I had surgery in October 2011 to remove my coccyx (tip of my tailbone) after Daxton broke it on his way into the world. It was one of the best decisions I've ever made) Sure saved me from a lot of pain! I am also still watching my niece Avaree every day as well as 2 other kids who are 9 & 6 and will soon be watching their newborn baby sister in a month or 2. Am I crazy? YES! But it feels good to contribute financially and still stay home with my own kids. 
• Kylie is in 2nd grade and was baptized in September. She loves reading and is sarcastic and energetic 90% of the time. She  is becoming quite the "tween" and is scaring the life out of us with what's to come. She had surgery in September the remove her adenoids and get tubes in her ears and this is the longest she has gone without an ear or sinus infection or migraine ever! 
• Madison is in kindergarten and LOVES learning. She is my nurturer and is a complete mini-me. She is still a talker to anyone who will listen and is a great helper to have around. Maddi had to have an emergency appendectomy on her first day of school and spent the next 5 1/2 days in the hospital recovering. She is back to her energetic self and celebrated her 6th birthday today!
• Daxton is a whirlwind of energy and TROUBLE! He is curious and is constantly testing the limits. I have nightmares of many ER visits in our future. It is a miracle we've been able to avoid them this long! He is a major Daddy's boy and loves cuddling with Terrence during the day while Terrence sleeps after his graveyard shifts. He loves balls "bu-balls" and trucks and his giant stuffed Teddy Bear. And...unfortunately he is the one child I've had who has serious attachment issues. He cannot live without his blankie and his pacifier. We took it away yesterday and it has been a long hard struggle for everyone involved. I really hope the weaning process doesn't take long! (that will teach me never to wait this long again! It was cake with the girls at 12 months!) 

We are staying busy and it feels like we never have a second to spare. I keep telling myself after Terrence graduates, or isn't working graves, or we're not both serving in presidency callings in church, or when summer comes....things will calm down a bit. The truth is...they never really calm down. There will always be something to take up the extra time but I have learned a lot the past 2 years about being HAPPY and ENJOYING the moment. Those two concepts have completely changed everything!
Here's to wishing I can blog more often. There will be pictures next time....probably....................