Beautiful Baby

This picture of Lyla was too cute; I had to post it. I know it's blurry, but to get her to hold still is near impossible.

My Little Ponies

I had to take the traditional picture of baby's first ponies. I love the little things! I have to wrap the elastic around each pony about five times and they stick straight up.

My Little Snow Angel

We have had tons of snow this year. Milee loves to go out and trudge through the powder. I must say she is an expert at making snow angels.

Rockin' New Year's Eve

We hosted quite the New Year's Eve party this year. We had tons of food and played games until midnight. Some of Colby's colleagues are competing in their own version of The Biggest Loser, and got their fix of junk food at the party. Colby and I were introduced to two fun new games called Celebrity and Doctor Lucky. Most of the kids even stayed up until the next year. Milee, as seen above, did not. I checked on her often, but about four minutes to midnight she finally gave in to sleep.

To Grandmother's House We Go

Our Christmas Day fun was not over yet. We headed to Layton to my parent's house where the girls were again lavished with gifts. Grandma and Grandpa gave the older girls sleepover bags, jammies, and bathrobes.
Lyla hopes everyday will be Christmas Day. She is stunned by all the festivities.

Hooray for Christmas Day!

Santa brought everything on Milee's list: Baby Alive, a diaper bag with changing pad and front carrier, and "Mary Poppins." Milee's inner mom came out right away. We immediately had to fill a bottle to feed Baby Alive and wait for her to "pee," so we could change her diaper
Lyla with paper.
The girls dug in right away. They needed no instructions or direction. Milee is an old pro at Christmas morning, and Lyla caught on fast.

Christmas Eve Extravaganza

Christmas Eve was so fun this year. We decided to start a new tradition, which we stole from the Pounders-Thank You! We went to breakfast at Angie's and a movie, "The Chipmunks." Afterward, we headed out to Hyrum in the snowstorm. We made it safely and enjoyed the rest of the day and evening. The girls made a haul, as usual. Colby got a Shop Vac, which I think I was more excited about. We got a great surprise from Colby's brother Ryan and wife Teresa-a new baby due in August! We are excited for Lyla to have a cousin on the Anderson side close to her age.

Lyla, again, with the paper.

Festive Fashions

I love buying new Christmas formals for the fam. The girls looked so cute for church. I love having two girls to dress a little matchy, but not too matchy, matchy.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

My mom borrowed some costumes so we could perform the nativity. We should all move to Hollywood. We have such diverse actors and actresses in my family. Each of the young girls wanted to be Mary, so we got to see the play three times. Here is Milee as Mary, but she also played the angel and a wisegirl.

We aren't sure if the wiseman in the middle is really a man.

Lyla didn't get to participate in the show, so she entertained herself with the wrapping paper. I don't mean to reiterate the fact that everyone says you could just give babies wrapping paper for Christmas and they would be perfectly happy, but isn't it the truth?

Santa's Surprise

My sister Kari and I decided to take over the Niederhauser family Christmas party this year. Let me tell you, we should be official party planners. We took this regularly drab party and blew the roof off. We invited Santa to come, but didn't tell any of the kids. They were so excited when they heard his jingle bells coming down the hall. I wish I had had a camera to capture the look on Milee's face. The best part of having Santa come was that he brought a special gift for everyone. Milee loves her pink baseball mitt that lights up when you catch the ball. Obviously Lyla was more impressed with the candy cane than her present. She is a treat addict like her mother. I got a new shirt and Colby snuggled into his slippers.

Bye, Bye Birdie

In December Colby was invited to join my dad and brother-in-law, Scott on a hunt at Sportsman's Paradise. The hunt lasted all day. They spent the morning hunting the flats along the river and the ponds. After the morning hunt they went back to the house where they were fed a trout lunch. Colby said it was the best trout he has had in a long time. After lunch they went to the skeet range, where a contest was held to see who could hit the most clay pigeons. Colby was doing really well until Scott told him that the winner got a hundred dollars. Because of nerves, he missed the next three. At the end of the rounds he ended up tying with another gentleman. It came down to a shoot off. After a few very nerve-racking minutes, he came out on top. Colby said it felt pretty good to beat 12 other two-handed guys.

After the skeet contest, they went out for the afternoon European hunt. Basically you stand in a line and the birds fly over your head and you sling as much lead at the poor birds as you can. The funny thing about this hunt is that they call it a gentleman's hunt (more like a slaughter hunt). During the European hunt, one of the pheasants that was killed came down on one of the vehicals and left a pretty nice dent. A few minutes later another pheasant was shot and it came down on Dad's truck. Colby says that hanging out with the Scott's hunting or fishing is always a good time.