Picture Thief

Jordan got away from the counter after lunch without me noticing (you'll notice the pb&j on her face) and this is what I found her doing.  Lately she loves to take the picture of Grandpa and Grandma Smathers down off the shelf and talk to them!  I'm glad I finally got a picture of it!  Good thing we're headed to Wyoming for Christmas...I think she misses them!

Our Little Dancer

Taylor has been doing a dance class at the rec center since September and they had their recital this week.  She loves dancing around and will be really disappointed when she finally figures out that class is over!!  Here she is with her teacher.  Here is a link to the video if you want to see their dance.

Tay's Recital

Crazy Girls!

I was busy doing laundry the other day and returned to my room to see the girls dancing on my bed... with interesting attire!!

 Jordan has decided that she needs to paint too when Taylor does!!  I need to buy more than one paintbrush!

 We found a couple of ski helmets on clearance this summer and decided to pick them up for the little bit of snowmobiling that we do with the girls.  When I found a good deal on goggles, I decided to go for it.  This way their faces are almost completely covered.  Well, you can tell who is excited about it and who is not!!

 Happy as a clam!

SNOW!!!

It started snowing fairly early Friday morning and Taylor begged ALL day to go outside and play in the snow.  Well, most of the day it was just wet and yucky, but about 4 pm there was enough snow on the ground that I figured we wouldn't just be soaking wet and miserable, so I gave in and we geared up!!

Well, let's just say that it took me like 10 minutes to get Jordan to even step foot out of the sled and she wasn't very happy about it.

She finally cheered up a little bit and was quite content to watch me pull Taylor around on the snowmobile while sitting in the sled eating snow!!

Saturday we figured that we should get out and enjoy the snow!  The Tuckers were awesome enough to come with us, which totally made Taylor's day!

Rob and Morgan had a hard time getting Malia and Randy on their way!

Katie and Masie!

Jordan, again a little leery of the snow, enjoying sitting in the sled.

McKenzie finally convinced Jordan to go for a ride!

I had to try out the snowmobile!  It's a pretty good little ride.

Jordan finally warming up.

Taylor and Malia loved riding together.  I was amazed that they didn't crash and burn.

Rob enjoying the snow!!

It's hard to sit up in the sled!

Katie planking!

Queen of the mountain.

Rob and Randy took like 10 minutes to roll this snowball up the hill so that they could send it flying down the hill...check out the video.

What a dud!!

Halloween...Plus a couple cute pictures!

Ok....so only half of the pictures are Halloween, but I had to include these others!!  So, if you want to see Halloween pics, you'll have to suffer through 3 other pictures!

My Sister-in-Law, Paige, had a conference down here in Provo, so the girls and I got to spend the day with Aspen.  It looks like it was a beautiful day, but don't be deceived, it is cold and just about to start snowing!  I bundled Aspen up and so Jordie had to wear her snow suit too!

The other day, Taylor REALLY wanted me to paint her fingernails!  Well, I was being a lazy mom and didn't really feel like or have the patience to paint her nails....so her amazing Dad took care of both girls!! 

You can tell that Taylor was ready to celebrate Halloween...she was dressed before breakfast which doesn't always happen!!  Here they are with their new princess cups that Aunt Jenna sent them for Halloween.

Taylor decided months ago that she wanted to be Snow White for Halloween and for a while she insisted that Jordie should be a witch.  Well, with a little persuasion, I convinced Tay that Jordan should be a dwarf to go with her costume.  Here is Jordan enjoying her beard application!

We decided that Jordie was Grumpy after this picture!!  They both had a blast all day long and are still enjoying the candy!!

Catch Up

We have actually been fairly busy!  You wouldn't guess it because I haven't blogged in forever.  My friend Katie is a little more with it than me!!  We've done a lot with her and her family and so I'm going to link you to her blog where you can see what we were up to!!  :)  I love being a lazy blogger!

BYU Homecoming

Fall Break

Thanks KT!!

First and Probably Last Cruise!!

Rob's sister called and wanted to take the girls off our hands for a while, so we took advantage of that and went on a 4 day cruise to the Bahamas.  I didn't do a very good job at taking pictures!!  I didn't get a single one on the boat or on the cruise lines' private island.  I did get a few pictures during our snorkeling excursion and our trip to the Atlantis aquarium.

We went out on a sail boat in order to get to the snorkeling reef.  Here's Rob looking really excited!! 

 These next pictures come from our trip to the Atlantis aquarium.  We had to take a ferry across the harbor to get there.  It started great...

until the ferry started smoking!!  Don't worry we didn't sink, and they just had the people sitting on the motor stand up!!  Great safety standards!!

 Here we are in Titan's throne at Atlantis.  This aquarium is the one of the biggest in the world and was pretty cool to see.

All in all, we had a great time.  I got to take a nap everyday when we got back to the boat, didn't have to cook a thing, and could be fairly lazy...if you can be lazy with my husband!!  The only reason that it may be our last cruise is that Rob doesn't like being tied down to someone else's schedule...that boy needs freedom to go and do what he pleases!! :)

Dance

I signed Taylor up for a dance class offered at the rec center months ago and it finally started this last week.  Taylor was sooooooooooo excited to go, but was a little hesitant to go into the class.  Before class she told me that she didn't want me to stay and watch, but that story changed quickly when we got there.  Unfortunately, the room that they have the class in is not big enough for spectators so I can't stay and watch. I tried bribing her with ice cream and everything else under the sun, but I finally had to gently push her into the room as the teacher shut the door!  I watched through the window for a few minutes and within a couple she had forgotten all about me!!  This is the best picture that I got, pathetic I know, but here is Tay's first day of dance!

Oh and the first thing out of her mouth when Jordie and I came to get her..."Are we going to get ice cream??"  So of course we got ice cream cones and as you can see, Jordan thoroughly enjoyed hers!

Baby Jorgensen #3

Well, it's official, baby Jorgensen #3 is a BOY!!  He looks healthy and is measuring to come exactly on time, February 2, 2013!!

He wasn't very cooperative, so this is the best picture we got!!

Kite Flying - Canning - and Bunk Beds

 Rob found a kite at Smith's for $1 and had to get it for Taylor.  The other night there was a little wind and so Rob and Taylor set out to do some kite flying!  Taylor REALLY wanted to make the kite fly, but Dad was having too much fun trying to make it fly.  In the end, they got a couple of good flights and then gave up.  Taylor still asks when she'll get to fly her kite next.

 Rob's parents have a pear tree and this is our second year harvesting those pears and making pear sauce.  We have just about mastered the process...which you can tell is quite the production.  I had to take a picture of everything that is going on!  Pears on the counter ready to be steamed, pears on the stove steaming in the black pot, the saucers attached to the counter, trash ready for the skins and cores, oh and the already sauced pears in the silver pot that was on top of the griddle which keeps it warm!

 I have to include this pic of Jordie.  This was on our way to Wyoming last week.  This girl doesn't need anything but a diaper to keep her happy.

 We broke down and bought the girls bunk beds!  Taylor is in 7th heaven in her "loft" and Jordan is still getting used to the bottom bunk.  Taylor has to stick her head over the side and reassure Jordan that she is there each night before Jordan will settle down and go to sleep!!  In the daylight, though, you can see that Jordan loves their new "jungle gym."

Half Dome 2012

About a year ago, my Uncle Tod told Rob and I about his trip to Yosemite National Park and his climb of Half Dome.  Rob and I had been to Yosemite with the family a couple of years ago and had seen Half Dome off looming in the distance and thought it would be fun to actually conquer the mountain.  When Tod let us know that he was putting a group together for this summer we eagerly threw our names in the hat.

Here's the group!!  It included my uncle Tod, his 3 sons, Drew, Ben, and Calvin,Tod's niece Angie, my uncle Wayne, and his kids, Josh and Chloe, and then 3 of Tod's friends, Sandy, Brandon, and Lou.  We had 2 guides for a total of 15 in our group.  We headed out about 7:30 on Thursday morning.

This is the first fall that we came to, Vernal Falls.  Take note of the stairs...yes that's the trail...up and up and more up...almost the never-ending stairmaster!

A little break while taking in Vernal Falls.

 Here is the base of the next fall, Nevada Falls.  

More stairs...up...up...up

Here's Rob, with the gorgeous view, at the top of Nevada falls.  After climbing close to 2,000 vertical feet we had lunch! :)

After lunch it was only about 45 more minutes of hiking until we came to this glorious swimming hole!!  We camped for the night at a camp site right next to this swimming hold called Little Yosemite Valley.  We got to the campground between 1 and 2, and so we had the afternoon to relax and swim before getting ready for our 3 am wake up call!

We were up and eating about 3 am and on the trail by 4 am.  We hiked all morning in the dark and reached the sub-dome of Half Dome just in time for this glorious sunrise!!  I must admit that I rarely am awake for the sunrise but the view was totally worth the early rise!!

Here we are on top of the sub-dome...we're about to get a peak at the cables that you scale in order to reach the top of Half Dome.  You'll notice we're still happy...I got REALLY nervous once I saw the cables.

Here they are!!  I wish the picture did them justice!!  The last 400 ft...after having climbed about 3,000 vertical feet that morning, is a steep climb up holding on to 2 steel cables for balance while your feet cling to little 2 x 4's that are placed in about 10 ft increments.     

Here we are, still happy before the climb!!

Here's Tod on the cables.  It gives you a little more perspective of the steepness of the route.

Rob, who is deathly afraid of heights, wasn't too excited about me standing out on a ledge that has a drop off just below it that is thousands of feet high!!

Here's the whole group at the top!!  

The descent down the cables may have been a little more nervous than the assent.  Rob wasn't very happy when he saw that I had taken a picture in the middle of the cables!

The perfect day to be out enjoying Yosemite!!

Here's part of the group after the 5,000 ft descent!!  I honestly think the descent was harder on the body than going up!!

Here is a beautiful view of Half Dome from Olmstead Point.  Rob and I pulled over to get one last look on our way out of the park.  What an amazing adventure and definitely one to put on the check list!