Playing Catch-Up!!

 In December, the Dick family was signed up to clean the church.  This was a cute picture we took right before we went into the church to get started :) Golly, I have cute kids!!

 As you can imagine, the kids were a lot of help...

 I had my 29th birthday in December and it was wonderful!!  The family and I decided to go to DC and see the Christmas lights and Nativity collection they have there.  And of course make a much needed trip to Cafe Rio...oh how I miss living close to one!!

 Aaaaaaahhhhhhhh Cafe Rio....... heaven in a burrito!!

 Jane wanted her picture taken in front of the pink tree :) What a cutie!

 The DC temple is truly beautiful!!

 Here are Ryan and Beckham looking at the many unique and beautiful nativities from all over the world.

 More at the visitors center...

 I absolutely love going to the temple.  It was the perfect activity for my Bday.  Whether it is to go to the temple or to the visitor's center, I always get the same wonderful feeling of peace when I am there.  I am so grateful that the gospel is a part of my and my family's life!!

 These are the amazing flowers, Ryan surprised me with on the morning of my birthday.  What a sweet hubby I have!!

 

 I had so much fun going to the outlets to get some much needed clothes for church with my birthday money!!  Ryan was as usual extra sweet and took the kids for a treat so I could look in peace for a bit.  I think they had a good time...:)

Now on to the good stuff. Christmas Eve was so fun, filled with our usual traditions!! Beckham loved his super hero jammies he got from our Elf on the Shelf as a goodbye present.

It wouldn't be Christmas Eve without our wonderful shepherd's dinner!!

This is the perfect time to remember the Savior's birth and the true meaning of Christmas amongst all the talk of presents and Santa Claus!!

Jane and Beckham of course scattered our reindeer food all around our yard to help attract Santa's reindeer to our house.

Christmas Day was so fun and exciting.  Our kids came rumbling into our room at 6:15 am.  We figured we might as well just get the party started right then.  Stockings were first!!

Jane got a lot of Merida items for Christmas, including a Merida blanket.  She loves Merida, so she was a happy camper!!

I made the kids these pictures of the temple to have in each of their rooms :)

Beckham's Grandma Jean made him an awesome spider man blanket which he thought was super cool!!

Grammy made Jane a beautiful bedskirt!!  She thinks she has the most amazing princess bed in the world now!

Santa brought our kids new bikes this year and they were thrilled and couldn't wait to go for a ride.  Luckily it wasn't too cold :)

We were all tuckered out after all of this excitement, but it was another wonderful Holiday season for the books!!

Happy New Year!!! 2013 is going to be great!!

"Merry Christmas to all..."

I refuse to believe that Christmas is a mere six days away...already!!! How the time flies... We have been busy having all sorts of Christmas time fun!! Jane had her school Christmas program and it was just as darling as last year. I really love Jane's little school- they do such a fabulous job!!  Jane sang Hanukkah songs with actions, Santa songs with jingle bells and Santa hats and Silent Night with dimmed lights and candles!!  Her class also stood together and recited a poem.

 We were so proud of our sweet daughter and how she is growing to be such a beautiful, talented and vivacious little lady!!

 We also had our Ward Christmas party which was wonderful.  Jane was so excited to be an angel in the Nativity play that was put on. 

 Aren't these the most adorable little angels you have ever seen?!! I know each of these little cuties super well from working in the Primary and just love them!!

 This is what Beckham did during the show... boy, he really takes after his daddy! :)

 Here are all the kids during the final number.

 Ryan even got roped into singing one number in the show cause some of the other men weren't able to make it.  I laughed and I laughed!! He did such a great job even though he hated every second of it-hehe!!

It is always nice to recognize our blessings this time of year and I am overwhelmed with how blessed I have been!!  I love my life! I have the most amazing family (that includes ALL of my family :). And I will always be grateful for the gospel in my life and for my savior, especially at this time of year. Sometimes I wonder how I could ever live in this world without my faith.  I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

Best Thanksgiving Ever and Holiday Fun!!

 Things have been busy around these parts getting ready for Christmas and all!! However, we had a chance to go to a Med Group Children's Christmas Party the other night!!  It turned out to be a lot of fun and I was able to meet many of Ryan's co-workers!!  But most of all, it was a blast for the kids!! Here they are playing a huge connect four game...

 They also got to decorate Christmas ornaments!!

 Jane was THRILLED to see Santa and she just gave him a big hug and chatted his ear off about who knows what.  The girl really know how to work it, I guess...but it was pretty darling.  Santa gave her some small Mermaids and they have been quite the hit ever since.

 A few weeks ago we were able to go to New York and spend Thanksgiving with Bryan and Wendy, Matthew and Courtney, all the kids and my dad, who made the quick trip out here just for Thanksgiving!!  It was the greatest Thanksgiving ever!  It has been soooo nice and comforting to have family relatively close. And it seriously hurts my heart to know that it won't be that way for much longer.  But that fact made this Thanksgiving extra special for me!! Know one noticed, but I secretly teared up several times thinking about all the wonderful times we have been able to spend together on the east coast and all the amazing memories we have made!!  I will definately miss this and remember this as being a very special time in my life!  Here are all the sweet cousins!!

 This picture was just too cute not include!!  Jack is really sporting a great Bryan crusty right there :)

 Here we all are enjoying the amazing dinner and Bryan and Wendy worked tirelessly to prepare!!  It was truly delicious!!

 In keeping with tradition, Ryan took a nice long Thanksgiving nap-haha!

 All the kids LOVED having grandpa there.  It was such a special treat having him there.

 This is my favorite picture of the day!!  What a beautiful family this is.  And we cannot ignore that AMAZING turkey that Bryan made.  I was very impressed!!

So, as usual, life is good and I feel so amazingly blessed!!!  Thanks to Bryan and Wendy for making this the BEST Thanksgiving ever!

Beckham's Big Debut!!!

 Beckham recently had his 3rd birthday!!! I CANNOT believe my baby boy is 3...I think that officially means I need to stop calling him my "baby boy" :(   I am so proud of this little guy.  He is a very curious and determined boy with one of the biggest hearts I have ever seen!! I whipped up a cars birthday for him with what little time I had and it actually turned out to be a lot of fun!!

 He was so excited to open up his presents.

 But first, we played some games like pin the cars in Radiator Springs :)

 He decorated and played with our punch balloons!! Beckham was so excited to have is best buddies, Jonas and Lindon, there!

 Then finally, Beckham got to open presents.  He LOVED his Spiderman sweatshirt and watch!!
 And he read his super hero book over and over again...

Then, we had pizza and lightning McQueen cupcakes!!

Yum!!  Even though he is a bog boy now...at least he still eats like a one year old :)

Beckham, also had his very first school program!!!   It was so cute and all the boys did so good singing Thanksgiving and Halloween songs. 

Beckham was a little upset at not getting to play the instrument that he wanted...but he still did great and I was super proud of him!!  What a lucky mama I am!! I just wish I could slow down the clock a bit and have my kids this fun age for a long long time :)

Jane's Halloween Parade and Dance Recital!!!

 Jane is certainly growing up and has been keeping very busy!!! At school on Halloween, she was in a Halloween parade with the all her school friends!! 

 Here is Jane with her wonderful teacher, Mrs. Lolly!!

 Jane started dance in the summer time and LOVES it!!  We were so excited when we finally got to see all her hard work come to life in her dance recital!!  Jane looked so beautiful and it made me so sad to see how big she is getting :(

 Here she is, sitting with her class waiting to perform!!

 Jane doing a little ballet:)

 And now she is tap dancing....so to speak :)

 Here are all the wonderful performers and their sweet teacher!

Our little princess is growing up way too fast- but we are super proud of her:)  I have video of her dancing which is a MUST SEE.  I will post it as soon as I can figure out how :-/

Hurricane Sandy!!!

 We have lived in Dover not quite a year and a half now...and we have now experienced "superstorm" Sandy, Hurricane Irene and an earthquake that shook my house.  Life on the East coast is nothing but exciting.... When I heard that yet another Hurricane was heading straight for us, I was less then thrilled.  Because, I know exactly how physically and emotionally tiring preparing for a hurricane can be.  And this time Ryan was going to be gone!!

Unenthusiastically, Ryan and I got to work packing up all the things we love from our house and packing them into the car for the inevitable evacuation order.  Scrapbooks, pictures, keepsakes, irreplaceable items and necessities were gathered while everything else we tried to put up as high as possible.  Ryan worked all day to help me prepare, then left early the next morning- one day before the hurricane was scheduled to hit.

 To everyone's surprise, we never received an evacuation order...even though the homes across the street from us did?!!!  So, we were stuck with no choice but to stick it out.  Luckily, I have a sweet friend, Kelsey, who lives across the street. And her husband was gone as well.  Since she was required to evacuate, she and her three kids decided to come stay with us through the storm.  There was plenty of flooding in the field behind us. This picture was taken before the storm even hit us...

 We did glow in the dark art, decorated Halloween cupcakes, watched movies, Kelsey did Jane's hair and nails (She was in heaven) and did lots and lots of playing.  We spent over two whole days without leaving the house. 

 And quite a mess was left in the wake of all this fun...However, we were very blessed to have power the whole time and no indoor flooding at all!! 

This hurricane was so different than the last one, but we were equally as blessed this time around.  I am so grateful for the power of prayer and the protection I know we received!!