More of Ashlyn's Birthday

We had a little party for Ashlyn the night of her birthday. My family and Matt's family came- Ashlyn didn't know what to do with all that attention! I was so sure she would make a mess with her cupcake, but she only took tiny bites at a time! Actually I think she just ate the frosting and sprinkles, but she would just put a little on her finger each time! My kids don't like to get too messy! Thank you for coming over and celebrating with us- we had a great time!

Swimming with the Blatters

We went swimming with most of Matt's family last night before Ricky, Angie, and Graham go back home to Pennsylvania. We've had a lot of fun spending time with them the past few weeks- we will miss them! We all had a great time swimming!

Ashlyn is One!

Happy Birthday, Ashlyn!

Has it really been a year? Hard to believe- it's gone by so fast. Ashlyn is taking steps- the most she's taken at one time is 4, so I don't really consider her walking YET! But she's getting close!
She still doesn't have any teeth- but I think some are getting ready to come out. We are so blessed to have Ashlyn in our family!

Merry Christmas!

We had a wonderful Christmas this year- it's so much fun to have two little girls to celebrate Christmas with. Rylee was especially fun this year. But she'd been so excited for so long that I think she started to wonder if Santa was really coming or not!

We are blessed to live close to both of our families. We were able to spend time with most of them. We missed being with my sisters, Erin and Lindsay, and Lindsay's family. Rylee said she would rather go to their house in California than have Santa bring her presents! But we had a great time.

Christmas Eve at Oma and Opa's.

Christmas morning and presents from Santa!

Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa Jensen's.

Christmas dinner at Myrt and Grandpa's.
(Great-grandma and Great-grandpa Ludlow)

Blatter Family Christmas Party

Monday was the Blatter Christmas party.
It's always fun to get together and see everybody.

Ashlyn still didn't like Santa, but she loved Grandpa Blatter!

Rylee LOVED "Baby Jesus" and was very protective,
telling everybody else not to touch him!

All eight of the grandchildren.
(Graham being the happiest of all!)

Christmas Dresses

Grandma Jensen gave the girls these dresses for Christmas- very cute! We took some pictures for the Christmas cards in them a few weeks ago, but we thought we'd try a few more.

Counting the Days

Oma gave Rylee and Ashlyn these advent calendars with a chocolate for each day. They both love to eat their chocolate for the day- Ashlyn gets mad if Rylee has one and not her.

Writing Her Name

Rylee wrote her name- she said the letters as she wrote it. I watched her do the E's and was very surprised she could do that! It looks pretty good for the first time!

Ho! Ho! Ho!

So I got this wonderful idea to go see Santa because next Saturday would probably be busy because it was the last Saturday. But so did a lot of other people. We waited in line for about an hour- but Rylee got to play in the play area and Ashlyn took a little nap, so it all worked out. Ashlyn was so good right up until she was put on Santa's lap. But that's to be expected at this age, I think! But Rylee loved it- she couldn't wait for her turn. She had already seen him yesterday in Layton, but she was excited to see him again. She remembered to tell him that she wanted to ride in his sleigh. He asked what else she wanted and she just told him to bring presents. She doesn't care, I guess, as long as she gets something!

Eye Surgery

No pictures for this one- good for everybody- trust me! Long story short- my retina detached out of the blue while at school on Thursday, December 3. I went in for emergency surgery in Salt Lake on Friday, December 4. I had to lay on my side for a week as the gas bubble they put in my eye reattached my retina. I went for a post-op appointment in Salt Lake this morning and everything looks great. I can be normal again. I still can't see out of it because of the gas bubble, but that should go away in a few weeks. It wasn't as bad as the last two times my retina detached. I was face-down for two weeks each time. That was 5 years ago. I guess it wasn't out of the blue. I have pars planitis in my left eye which is inflammation and it can cause the retina to detach. It wasn't trauma or anything. Thanks to everyone who prayed for me and helped me through last week with everything.

Rylee thought she had to go to Salt Lake with me because it was fun when we went with Daddy last time to the doctor. But she didn't like the hospital Salt Lake- she wanted the "other Salt Lake"- the one with the hotel and swimming pool. Despite being disappointed, she was a very good girl as my dad drove Rylee and I to the doctor. She even got to see Santa at the Layton mall. On the way out of the mall, she said she forgot to tell Santa something. She wanted to ask if she could ride on his sleigh! She loved him- it was so cute!

Ashlyn is 11 months old!

She is 11 months old today. It's hard to believe she'll be one next month! She doesn't sit still for two seconds, so it's getting harder to take pictures of her. Pretty soon I won't have any pictures to put on my blog because my kids won't cooperate! I tried to pose her in places where she might sit still for a few shots, but I didn't get many good ones!

Crawling Downstairs

Ashlyn has been trying to crawl down the stairs for the past few days. She gets down a couple and then crawls back up. So yesterday (on Thanksgiving) she wanted to go down, so I thought I'd take a few pictures. And she ended up going down the whole way all by herself! Then Matt said I should have videotaped it, so I got the video camera and she went down again all by herself! It's funny because she goes down two ways- one is on her tummy and the other is hard to explain, but she somehow uses her arm first. It looks like she's going to fall, but she has very good balance- and she's very flexible! Way to go, Ashlyn!

Ashlyn's First Thanksgiving

She spent it talking to all of her friends and family on the phone and pushing Rylee's scooter. She ate a lot at dinner- more than Rylee, that's for sure! Grandpa couldn't feed her fast enough! She's such a good little eater.

Turkey Time

Rylee decorated this turkey at my school last night. We had a Family night and my class just made these turkeys. Rylee was so excited to use glue! Hers looked better than some of the first graders! Ashlyn and Matt came too. Rylee wanted to come to school with me again this morning and my mom said she wanted to go all day. She loves school- that's my girl!

Playdoh

Rylee loves to play with playdoh- I guess all kids do. She gets so excited when she makes something with it. I actually had to help her make the stars. Each time I did, she gave me a high five. So fun!

Tupperware

Ashlyn tried for a while to get this on her head- she does this with hats, necklaces, and clothing (and garments)! She finally got it on her head and crawled around. It was hilarious. I was taking a video or Rylee showing off her playdoh creations and here comes Ashlyn in the background with this on her head crawling as fast as she could go!

Making Beautiful Music Together . . .

. . . in style!

Funny Girls

I don't have much to blog about, but it's been over a week so I better blog. Rylee has been singing her ABC's. It's been a while since we've practiced so I was surprised she remembered. I shouldn't be surprised though- she has the best memory. It snowed on Saturday and she said, "Santa's coming!" She is already so excited for Christmas- she wants a computer. She's told me that many times. She even used the pillow as her keyboard and typed on it! Where do they come up with this stuff?

Ashlyn still doesn't have any teeth. She's been fussy like she's teething for a few months now, but she's got nothing to show for it! She now plays the piano, blows up balloons, and talks on the phone. She's so funny. If she doesn't have a phone, she'll just put her hand to her ear and "talk."

Grandpa Blatter's 80th Birthday Party

We love you, Grandpa! Oma did a wonderful job of decorating for the luau. It was a lot of fun.

Halloween