Online Christmas Card

We've never been ones to send out Christmas cards because 1) #cheap (I am... not Robert hahaha) and 2) we figured no one would really want a card from us.  But we figured we'd better start sending some out now that we're not as close to family and friends.  For now, we'll just do our Christmas card online.

Another reason why I don't like doing these things is because I can never think of things we've done throughout the year, but Robert reminded me of a few things.

The biggest thing that has happened to our little family this year was moving to Albuquerque, New Mexico.  It was quite the adjustment moving away from family and friends to a place where we knew no one, but we're getting used to life here in New Mexico.

Robert: Robert graduated this past spring and landed a job with Precoa, where he helps people in funeral pre-planning.  He has really gotten into cycling in the past year, and just recently has been into grilling and smoking meats.

Brandi: Brandi has just been taking care of two girls that keep her busy.  For the past five years of being able to hide behind a piano for her calling at church, she has finally been shoved out of her comfort zone to teach the Beehives in Young Women's.  It was a real struggle at first, but things have slowly gotten better.

Myla: Myla started joy school and has had a lot of fun learning, socializing (sometimes), and crafting.  Myla has a sweet tooth, and without fail she has to have her "bajert" (dessert) every time after dinner.  She loves to paint and create things with Play-Doh (although it's not mom's favorite thing to clean up).  Her favorite song as of late has been "I'll Make a Man Out of You" from Mulan, and she knows pretty much every word.

Aria: Aria has grown up so fast! She has 10 teeth and is walking all over the place. She isn't really saying much besides a few words such as "bubbles", "meow" and "baa".  She is obsessed with dogs, and any time she sees one she sticks her tongue out and pants like a dog.  Aria is also the family vulture.  Any time someone has food, she hovers (or whines) until she gets a bite.  She also likes to get into things she isn't supposed to, but she is so sweet and loves to cuddle.

Aria's 1st Birthday

As I was looking through these photos, I just couldn't believe how much she has grown in just a year!  It feels like she was just a tiny bundle not that long ago.

The story behind the following pictures: I told Myla I had to take Aria's birthday pictures, and she said, "I didn't take my birthday pictures on my birthday!"  So she grabbed her quilt and wanted to sit on a chair like Aria and take pictures with her.  Also, I told myself I'd never be the mom to have my children wear matching clothes, but Myla has been in a matching phase where she wants to wear either what I'm wearing or what Aria is wearing.  So here they are in matching outfits.

Do they look like sisters? Hahahaha.  Look how white Myla is.

Laughing because "Aria's face is so big!" I guess she hasn't seen her face next to Aria's.

And of course she had to take a picture with the umbrella, and who knows why.

Visit to Utah and First Balloon Fiesta

This post is mostly a bunch of pictures from the past two weekends, and because I haven't posted anything for quite a while.

Utah Visit

We got to go back to Utah the first week of October because Robert went to BYU for recruiting for his job, so we decided to make it a family trip.

One place we went to while in Utah was Gardener Village and we got to see all of the witch decorations.  Myla was all about taking pictures with the witches.

This was right before Aria grabbed the llama's ear.  He was not too happy about that.  Oops.

Awkward poses all around.

We also got to go to Jaker's Pumpkin Patch.

Pretty sure my mom (top right corner) was having more fun in the corn than Aria.

Aria did not love the corn at first.  She did wake up in the middle of her nap too, which adds to her unhappiness.

Apparently when you're supposed to make silly faces when you do these things.

My friend pointed out how the horse perfectly frames that family... 

Myla was the maze leader.  She lead us straight back out the entrance.

And then a couple of pictures of Aria with my dad, just because I don't really have any pictures of him with the girls.  He also was doing some magic tricks for Myla, and she loved it!

International Balloon Fiesta
We got to experience the famous International Balloon Fiesta here in Albuquerque, and it was actually pretty fun.  We didn't do any of the balloon chasing that add to the experience, but it was cool to see hundreds of balloons up in the sky every morning.  We went to Glowdeo Thursday night at the park, which is where the special shapes balloons are tethered to the ground and they shoot out flames every once in a while, which creates the glow affect.  The kids can go around to each basket and collect cards, so Myla got a few cards.  Later in the evening they had a little laser show, along with fireworks.  Aria was mesmerized with the fireworks!

The balloons starting to get blown up

Kinda dark, but that's supposed to be Spider Pig.

We then went to Mass Ascension Saturday morning with Robert's family, and that was a sight to behold!  The pictures don't even do it justice.

We also celebrated Aria's birthday a little early while Robert's family was in town, and what's a fall birthday without pumpkin pie as the birthday cake?