a little fresh air

Reno had to go meet with a recruit down in St. George this weekend so we decided to all tag along for weekend away from the freezing cold. It was so nice to let the kids run around outside, ride bikes and even swim in the pool. Thanks for such a fun weekend everyone! We will definitely have to do it again!!

{little} ladies man - Reno had these cute girls wrapped around his finger as he tested their knowledge of animal sounds
On Sunday we went on some hikes up Snow Canyon. Of course Reno and Troy had to make a competition out of everything so here they are showing off their rock-climbing skills:)


These three had so much fun together. Noah was a good sport being the only boy (besides baby Bowdy) surrounded by some pretty cute girls. Afterall, he is a Goeckeritz so I don't think he minded at all:)
We did get a little girl-time - when the guys got home from golfing, I mean "working", we made a trip over to TJMaxx for a little retail therapy.
Sunday night we decorated Valentine cookies while they guys played pool
Unfortunately the cookies were a little crunchy, butt they sure looked cute!! (pun intended, haha!)

5k for a good cause!

For all you runners out there! My sister-in-law is helping put on a 5k to benefit this sweet family. Here is the info. for anyone who would be interested. If you'd like to know more about there story or would like to donate to the cause you can check it out at http://beanbenefit.blogspot.com/

One of our peers is a BYU student trying to finish his undergraduate degree; his name is Josh Bean. Recently, his wife passed away due to a tragic occurrence with cancer. Josh put his education on hold to care for her and his two children. Josh needs our help because he is working hard to finish his degree, care for his two children, and pay off medical and tuition bills.

We are trying to raise money for Josh because he is SO DESERVING of our help. We are raising this money through a 5k benefit run located at The Shops at Riverwoods in memory of his wife, Janeece. This run will occur onSaturday, February 26, 2011, beginning at 8:00am. We are titling this event “Bean Benefit 5k”.

9 months

They always say "9 months up, 9 months down". All I can say is these last 9 months have gone a whole lot faster and have been a whole lot more enjoyable than the 9 months this little one spent inside my tummy. Laney has brought such a light to our family and brightens our day every time she gives us one of her signature smiles. Here are some of her milestones as she has reached the 9 month mark:

*Started crawling!

*Pulls herself up to stand against the furniture

*Started growing more hair (I promise it is starting to grow, unfortunately only in the back)

*Loves to steal her sisters toys

*Tries to eat her sisters toys, and anything else she finds in her path

*Got her first tooth.

a very princess birthday

Princess Marli just turned 3! This was her eating breakfast the morning of her birthday - Cinderella dress? check! Lucky Charms? check! birthday crown? check! What more could you ask for? Since Marli's birthday is the day after Christmas I try to make a special effort to make her birthday special so it doesn't just seem like an afterthought. There was definitely nothing Christmas-y about this day, it indeed was a VERY princess birthday.

We did a little family party at my parent's house with both of our families. The best part of having a birthday this time of year is that all your family is in town! Even Grandpa Mat extended his stay and braved the cold Utah weather to help celebrate Marli's birthday.

This is Macie and Cooper blowing out Marli's candles for her. For some reason, she has never liked to blow out her candles.

If you ever see Marli at my parents house she will most likely be wearing this pink "diamond dress". As soon as she walks in the door it takes her all of about 5 seconds to run downstairs and put on this dress, along with the matching pink slippers of course.

We waited a week after her birthday to have a little friend birthday party. We started by going to Jump On It where I think Marli was in heaven when she realized all of her favorite friends were going to be there too.

I'm pretty sure we could have skipped the trampolines and just put all the kids on carousels and they would have thought it was the best party ever. This dinky little carousel was the hot spot for these little girls.

After Jump On It we came back to our house for a "princess picnic" with pizza, cupcakes and presents. One thing about Marli is she is very easy to shop for. Anything pink, purple, sparkly or princess and she will love it!

This was one happy 3 year old surrounded by her new loot. All I can say is that spending the day with Marli is like hanging out with my best friend. One part of me can't believe she is already three, and yet the other part of me can't believe she is only three because she talks like she's twelve and I can't imagine a day without her in my life. I love her so much!! Reno and I are amazed at how lucky we are to have such a beautiful, funny, smart, silly and happy little girl. Happy birthday Marli! We love You!!

(after) christmas party

This year we had our Christmas party after Christmas so that everyone could be there. Once again it was a great party with yummy food, funny games and some very memorable white elephant gifts. Thank you everyone for coming and making it such a fun night!!

We played some great "Minute to Win It" games that brought some hidden talents. Kylee set a new record for the gingerbread game by getting the cookie from her forehead into her mouth in less than 4 sec...Wow!! It was fun to see how competitive we all were over the silliest things. I think Devin and Jessica win the award for always coming up with the best strategies.

The white elephant exchange was still the highlight of night. I think the hot items this year were the snuggy, the clapper and the 24" t.v. ha!ha! (Nat and Craig just had to figure out how to carry that on the plane with them).

christmas 2010

Christmas was so much fun this year with two little kiddos. Marli was super excited to see what Santa was going to bring, and Laney was just happy to play with the wrapping paper. This year we spent most of Christmas with Reno's family, but we were able to do our own Christmas at our house as well. We invited Reno's parents over to come watch the girls open their presents and told them they usually wake up around 7:30 or 8:00. So at 8:00 that morning we were woken up by a knock at the door... of course the one morning our kids sleep in! So Reno and I got up and hung out with his parents then at around 8:30 we decided to wake the girls up. (Who has to wake up their kids on Christmas morning?) Once we told Marli that Santa had come she jumped right out of bed and gladly woke Laney up as well.
Marli loved the new kitchen Santa brought her. Notice her Cinderella slippers that she is wearing and did not take off all day!
Laney just rolled around on the floor happily playing with whatever was within her reach.

That afternoon we went to dinner at Reno's grandparents house. Such a fun, relaxing day with our families.Laney showing off her muscles - it got a little warm at "G.G. Nore's" so Reno thought Laney would be more comfy just hanging out in her onesy.

We hope you all had a happy holidays!

so sick

Poor Laney started getting sick on our way home from Disneyland. The next few days she got worse and worse. She ended up with two ear infections and a bad eye infection. She still seemed to give us her signature smile even though she felt so crummy.