Being the Only Child

I HAD to take a picture of Emily here because she actually had a bow in her hair. Of course right after I took the picture, she pulled it out!

Emily being cute playing with her toys.

Emily LOVES her grandparents. She cuddled right up to them when they came to visit. She cried when they had to go home.

The other day I walked in on her changing her baby's diaper...

I'd say she did a pretty good job!

Yesterday we had some friends over for FHE, pie, and of course to celebrate St. Paddy's Day! Here we are with the Dances and the Yis.

What a fun group! 

Emily loved having another baby to play with and show her toys to. I haven't seen her that excited in a long time!

This picture just makes me laugh... I LOVE that face!

Today Emily insisted on wearing every bib we own. Where did we get her? At least she's cute!

As Requested... Pictures of our Home

This is what our house looks like right when you drive up to it. We have a really nice and long drive way with a covering. Although we aren't thrilled about living in a salmon colored house, the inside is pretty great!

Right when you walk into our home we have a nice big entry way which is currently empty. I actually like the big empty open space and Greg LOVES the fan!

If you go through those doors you come into our family room. It is also a really nice large room and we even have a fire place (which is really important with this very cold winter we're having...j/k) There is also a door to the backyard which I couldn't fit into the picture. Some day we'll get nicer couches.

If you go back into the entry way, and walk to the left, you will enter our dining room. This is one of our favorite parts of the house. Not just because we eat in this room, but also because we can actually fit guests in our dining room!

Another HUGE selling point in buying this house was the enormous kitchen. I love cooking here. I have so much space and did I mention that we have a dishwasher?? Pretty cool.

If you go back to the entry way and go down the hall, take a left and you'll find our hallway bathroom. TONS of counter space and I love taking showers in this bathroom. Just trust me on this one...

If you go across the hall you will run into our office/study. Obviously this one is still under construction. This is the perfect room for visitors to have when they come visit or for me to have my Preschool in. It's a really nice room.

Right next to the office is Emily's room. It originally was tile, but a couple of weeks ago Greg put the carpet in. Doesn't it look great? Emily loves her room now!

Across the hall from Emily's room is our bedroom. This room was originally tile too, but Greg put carpet in here. We still haven't hung up pictures yet, but we're getting there. Our dresser is on the other side of the room, fyi.

Sorry, I couldn't get a very good picture of the master bathroom, but here it is. No mats yet, but we're getting there. Although being a homeowner is a lot more work, we really like living here. It's a good fit for us. Now that you know we have TONS of room, you can buy that plane ticket to come see us!

Happy Days

Typical Emily: sucking her two fingers and carrying around her blanket and pillow. It's pretty cute. I'll be sad when she grows out of this really cute stage.

She loves Greg SO MUCH! She cuddles with him way more than me. I guess he IS pretty good at cuddling...

On Monday, January 27 Greg has his Master's Music Composition Recital. After two and a half years of really hard work, he did it! His concert was so wonderful and I was so proud of him. I was touched by all of the people who came to support him on his big day!

His parents and brother Eric were awesome to come down from Salt Lake to see it. It was a very happy night, even though Emily was really sick...

The Yis came too, but mixed up the time and showed up right as the concert was finishing. We were happy they made the effort to come.

Then... I didn't take pictures until Valentine's Day, which turned out being the best one yet! Greg is always so cute and thoughtful on Valentine's Day. He put white chocolate candies all over our bed (since I don't eat chocolate).

Then I found even more white chocolates on the dining room table with notes and flowers. Aren't those roses beautiful?? Greg's job at the floral supply warehouse really comes in handy. You might say, he's got connections.

Since Greg is a Brickoven Pizza alumni, he has mastered heart shaped pizzas. This one was particularly good. Doesn't it look like it could be on a bill board?!?!

Our yummy Valentine's Day feast: heart shaped pizza, bread sticks, salad, grape juice, and red velvet blizzards for dessert. 

Then to end off the perfect day, we got keys to our new house. We are officially homeowners!!

Here we are in our family room. You may be wondering why we have a fireplace if we live in Las Vegas, well... I was wondering the same thing! Come visit, it's in the 70's here!

Life with Emily

Emily NEVER eats all of the food on her tray. This picture is proof that she ate it all once.

Emily loves playing with her toy kitchen. She is really cute to watch. Especially when she tries to talk on her cell phone.

Emily is obsessed with shoes. She loves to take a pair off and put a new pair on. Here she is trying on her Ecuadorian shoes (thanks Whitney and Adam!) 

Today I noticed that it was abnormally quiet. I went to go check on her and found this! She managed to throw every item of clothing that she owns on the floor. At least she has a cute hat on!

In most pictures you see of Emily she has two fingers in her mouth... this picture is no exception. Here we are with some of Greg's family in St. George. In photo: Blake, Rachel, Dad Burr, Greg , Mom Burr, Emily, and me. 

Sorry Emily, you're not in this picture. A few weeks ago I got together with some buddies from church and we had a ladies' night. I never knew I was so good at basketball (j/k)!

My cousin Adam and his wife Aubry were in Vegas at a convention a few days ago. We were so happy they came to visit us while in town. We had a great time, even though Emily looks pretty grumpy.

A Christmas to Remember

All year long we had been planning and looking forward to going to Utah for Christmas. We were going to spend it with Greg's family. With our crazy lives, the trip was going to be something so special and meaningful to us. However, about three days before Christmas, our plans changed...

Greg's boss asked him to work until noon on Christmas Eve AND the day after Christmas. If we went to Utah we would practically miss Christmas Eve (because we would arrive in the late evening) and then we would have to leave to come home on Christmas afternoon. That would mean spending less than 24 hours in Utah and driving 6 hours or more on Christmas day. On top of that our car was having trouble. So, we decided it would probably be best for us to just stay home for Christmas.

We were really bummed about it all at first. I couldn't even listen to the songs 'I'll Be Home For Christmas' or 'White Christmas' (since it doesn't snow here). But then we decided to make it a special Christmas with just the three of us. So...

We made sugar cookies.

Here's the one I am most proud of (and of course it says Mom on it).

Then we started baking other treats: chocolate covered pretzels, caramels and peanut butter cups. Don't you wish you lived by us and could taste some of those yummy goodies??

We went to the mall to see the Christmas tree display and say hi to Santa!

Yeah, Emily is definitely a daddy's girl...look at that smile!

Then we went home and had a Christmas Eve feast of ham, potato casserole, green bean casserole, raspberry jello, rolls, sparkling apple cider, and cheesecake for dessert! We were stuffed!!

After dinner Greg read us Luke 2 and Emily insisted on sitting in her stroller...

Then Greg played his violin and we sang Christmas songs... well, he played and I sang!

Emily wasn't really into the singing...

At least she is cute though!!

We finished off the evening looking at Christmas lights and watching 'Meet Me In St. Louis'. I was so excited to watch it with Greg because he had never seen it before, but he fell asleep like an hour into it!

The next day we got up around 6:30 and Santa had come. Emily loved her gifts. She was so happy and entertained ALL day!

Gotta love coloring books... they're cheap and provide hours of entertainment!

It turned out to be a great Christmas. Greg said it was even better than last year. It is always a great Christmas when you get to share it with those you love.