Enjoying some chocolate

I gave Liev some chocolate and peanut butter chips for a little snack.

He's definately my child - he seems to love the chocolate!

Those little teeth make it easy to eat yummy stuff now!

Crazy teeth

This is not a great quality picture (taken from my phone) but I think this binky is hilarious. My sister Hayley got it as a baby gift and Liev tried it on for size.

Looks like you grew some teeth overnight buddy!

What could this be?

Anyone guess what the numbers are all about?

Baby #4 is on its way! Wahoo!

Sick again?

Unfortunately the Beutler house was struck with the flu again.

Fortunately this is the kind of snuggling mom gets when that happens.
I'll take it buddy!

Welcome Baby Canyon!

At long last, my sister Hayley had her sweet baby Canyon on January 9, 2012.

She was a couple days past her due date and still a few days away from the day she was to be induced - but decided to take matters into her own hands. She went into labor around midnight and had him at 8:40 am. Not too bad for a first baby! He is so sweet and a handsome addition to the family! Congrats!

Goggles

One thing Rhen can always do is make me smile. She showed up in my doorway looking like this and I couldn't help but laugh out loud. What a character this girl is.

I hope she makes me laugh everyday for the rest of my life - that would be a good thing!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Josh turned 33 this year - wow what a guy! Josh's birthday often gets pushed to the wayside because his birthday is on January 1st and just seems to get lost in the Christmas/New Year's craziness. We did manage to get one picture this year and I am happy about that. Happy Birthday my love! You are the best and we hope you know it!

Christmas in St. George 2011

Santa found us in St. George this year for Christmas! It was Losee Family year and we all gathered in 2 timeshare condos and spent a week of fabulous fun together. Hayley promptly hung up all our stockings so Santa knew just where to find us!

We were on a strict schedule for the week - everyone had a meal, a treat a talent, an activity and many other things to share with the family. We made a schedule so we all knew what day was what.
We got there just in time for Christmas Eve and mom and dad went to work preparing the meal. It was delicious and we had full tummy's to start all the activities.

The nativity was first on the list. Rease was Mary with Nolan as Joseph. They rode into town on the donkey (uncle Garrett.) Uncle Chad, Liev and Wyatt were wisemen. Baby Ranger and Aunt Steph the shepards. Rhen was the angel. Overall a great group reenacting the nativity.

Grammie had lots of gifts prepared for the grandkids and we opened those on Christmas Eve. The babies looked so cute in their beanies.

Matching pjs for all the grandkids.

And a night isn't complete without a horsey ride before bedtime.

The kids were so excited for Christmas day to come that it took a while for sleep to come. But they finally got some sleep and woke up to find that Santa made it all the way to St. George!

Rease and Rhen were very excited about their dress-ups and makeup boxes. And baby Liev was just happy about all the excitement!

Josh and Liev - two handsome boys!

Christmas night is Bingo night and the kids had their bingo game first. (Grammie rigged it so that they all won twice - she had two gifts for each of them. Shh don't tell them until they're older!)

Then it was adult bingo. I have to admit this is one of my favorite things to do as a family. Mom and dad had a ton of gifts/giftcards/money all wrapped up. We play a ton of quick games of Christmas Bingo and then the winner of each games spins a wheel to see whether they get to pick a gift to keep, one that is up for grabs or lose a turn to pick. It turns into a heated battle when gifts are up for grabs and the best gifts are stolen and then restolen. I happened to pick the $100 bill but my gift was up for grabs and it got taken by Justin who ended up with it in the end. It is a great game and we all have so much fun!

Even though we lost the $100 bill, Josh and I ended up with some great gifts and giftcards.

The next day we took a day trip to Zions since we were so close. We stopped on our way to meet up with our friends, the McCarty's, as they were on their way to California.

The day at Zions ended up being a great day. We were all bundled up for our short little hike, but it was warm enough that we didn't freeze.

Josh took the lead with the others close behind.

We got to the top of the trail and were supposed to see a waterfall and some clear pools. It ended up being just a little dribble of water off the rocks, but we got a picture anyway. We had a really fun day in the canyon.

That night was talent show night. Justin and Steph showed off Ranger's reading skills, Josh and I and the kids did a song, Chad and Britt prepared an "elf yourself" video of their family, Hayley and Caleb did some magic tricks and Uncle Garrett

We made our way to Nielsen's Frozen Custard 3 or 4 times during the week.

And the girls snuck away one afternoon at got pedicures. So nice and relaxing!

One night we went to a great restaurant Samarai 21 hibachi grill. We loved the food and the chefs were very entertaining!

One of the activities planned was a bowling day. We were split into teams and had a bowling tournament. It ended up that Justin's team won, but we all had a blast including the kids.

After a great week in St. George, we packed up and headed home. Rease and Rhen were busy watching a movie so we didn't pay much attention to what else they were doing until we looked back and saw this:

Rhen had bitten off the top of a marker and decided to spread it all over her face and hands.

And Rease just went crazy with her makeup.

We had such a fun Christmas this year!

We wish all of you a Happy New Year!

I can do it myself...

Rease is becoming a very independant young lady. She likes to pick out her own clothes and get dressed herself. Once in a while I step in and help her make a decision that looks right but most days this is what we get...

The collared shirt on backwards and tucked in with gray stretch pants hiked up. I can't argue with this one.

Haircuts

I've been really hoping that my girls would decide to get their hair cut for a long time now. It is so hard to take care of with it being so long and straggly and both of them are constantly fighting me when it's time to brush hair in the mornings. But I wanted them to make the decision about their own hair and though I wanted to take the scissors to it while they were sleeping many times, I held on until they both decided they wanted to cut their hair. So just before Christmas they both came to me and said, "we want to get our haircut mommy!" Gladly. Here are our before and afters:

Rhen in all her cuteness. Her hair is thinner than Rease's so wasn't quite as hard to keep up with. The problem with Rhen is that she gets food, syrup, yogurt, suckers or whatever else is around in her hair. So there is always a sticky, yucky mess to comb out. I was happy to get that all under control with a nice haircut.

Plus it was time to even it all up and get it to one length.Rhen chose the stylish pink car to sit in while getting her hair done.

Aww - the wonderful after "do"

Super cute hair girlfriend!

Rease was very excited about getting her hair cut. She obviously had much more to lose than Rhen, but she was ready for it.

Look at that crazy long hair!

When we got to the shop we asked about donating Rease's hair and if she had enough to do it. Turns out you need 10 inches or more and Rease had plenty to spare even after they took the ten inches.

10 inches was just above those cute little braids.

Holding up her hair that she was about to donate. She was very proud that some special girl would get her hair and be able to use it. She thought that was pretty cool.

After. What a change!

With her hair cut I think she looks much older. It is a darling haircut for her!

It was a day of change at our house but it's a nice change! You two girls look so cute with your new haircuts!