The world through their eyes

I had to write and record the memory of tonight. I put Sage to bed and she said her prayers as she does almost every night. Lately she has enjoyed saying 2 or 3 different prayers. Here is what she said during Prayer #1: "Dear Heavenly Father, I'm thankful for this day. I'm thankful for Jesus and Heavenly Father. I'm thankful for the American flag. I'm thankful for the flowers, and for Ariel and Cinderella, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen." Prayer #2: "Dear Heavenly Father, I'm thankful for this day. I'm thankful for my purple dress and for Sydney's white dress, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen." (we had just picked out their dresses for church tomorrow, hence the gratitude for the dresses) These moments melt my heart. It's so adorable that she comes up with her own things to be grateful for in her prayers. It's SO sweet. Since I became a mom, I have really enjoyed seeing the world through my girls' eyes. I often think about how often Jesus tells us in the scriptures to become as a little child. Children have an incredible amount of Christlike qualities. My children help me stop and see the beauty of life. I must say I have a whole new love for the moon. I have never stopped to really look at it before becoming a mom. Sage can spot it wherever it is and she comments on what shape it is. Sage can spot an American flag anywhere and that has made me notice how many flags are everywhere. That has led me to realize how much patriotism we have in our country. Sage can also spot an airplane anywhere in the sky. I now really enjoy watching the airplanes. Sydney of course follows in her sister's footsteps by noticing these things. They also always comment on the stars. I've also come to appreciate even more sunsets. I started thinking of how a lot of what they notice requires looking up. I think that is one of the childlike qualities Christ wants us to emulate. As adults I think we too often look down or get so caught up in the busyness of our lives to look up and appreciate beauty and nature and all the things around us. I know Heavenly Father wants us to look up towards Him for guidance and answers. The girls also notice animals. We see a lot in our yard and I've enjoyed observing them too. Flowers are another big one. Sage picks flowers all the time and she always has an extra flower to give to her sister. As a mother I've been humbled by Sage and Sydney's purity and sincerity. I can honestly say that being a mother has made me a better person and it's because of my girls. It's because of their example and effect on me. I'm so grateful for every single comment they make and for every single priceless moment. I have two daughters with such unique and adorable personalities and I don't know how I made it in this world 28 years without them. :-)

Christmas and New Years

Christmas was nice and relaxing for us. We didn't travel Christmas weekend so it was nice to be home. I went a little overboard on gifts. The girls would've been fine with less than half of what I got. Their big gift from us was an indoor/outdoor trampoline. They love it. John's mom got them a really nice wooden easel and Sage loves painting on it and writing on the chalkboard. For New Year's we went to Kansas to my sister Stephanie's house. My parents and Steven, Katy (his fiance), Melanie, and Alex drove up. We had a great trip. Sage and Sydney loved playing with their cousins.


We had a Christmas ornament made with this adorable picture.


We made this gingerbread house on Christmas Eve. It turned out cuter than we thought it would. The girls enjoyed eating M&M's more than anything else.


Here we are right after church. These were their Christmas dresses. I wish I would've taken more pictures of them wearing it but we were in a rush for naps.


Here are all the Prince grandchildren: Mason, Hannah, Zoe, Sage and Sydney.


Here is Nini and Pops boasting with pride with their breathtaking grandchildren. Thanks to Stephanie's entertainment abilities we got some good smiles from the kids.

December Family Photo Shoot 2011

We did a family photo shoot in early December for our Christmas cards. The photo shoot spanned 2 days. The two pictures of the girls with the river in the background was taken in Natick, MA and that is the Charles River. We weren't happy with the way our family pictures turned out that day so the next day we decided to try it again after church. We went to church not knowing where we'd go to take the pictures after and I asked a few friends if they knew of a place. My friend Cathryn told me about an Inn only a few miles away called the Wayside Inn. It's the oldest operating inn in the country. We checked it out and it was beautiful. The pictures turned out great despite less than ideal lighting. John had the camera on his tripod and he did an awesome job editing the pictures. We were really happy with the way they turned out.

October-November 2011 Highlights

Wow, I kind of fell of the grid for a while but here I am again updating my blog.
Here are some highlights from October and November 2011.


In August 2011 I set a goal to do a half marathon in October. I did a half marathon in the fall of 2009 and I had a long way to go to be able to do that distance again. I ran in the Cape Cod Half Marathon on October 29th. It was a beautiful run, most of it along the ocean. It was a huge accomplishment for me and knowing that my adorable girls were waiting for me at the finish line made me push myself harder. Here we are right after the finish. Right after we took this picture Sage insisted on wearing my medal and wore it the rest of the morning.


Trick or treating with the girls was one of the biggest highlights of the entire year for me. We actually went trick or treating on 2 different days. We had a huge snow storm so Halloween was "cancelled" around here so our town and the neighboring town had trick or treating later on different days. John had to work on the first trick or treating night so it was just me and the girls. It was SO much fun for me to see Sage enjoy herself so much. At the first house they gave her a tootsie pop and she insisted on eating it right away. When I told her we'd have it later she freaked out so I gave it to her. By the 6th or 7th house she started to figure this whole thing out and she said, "I want to go to another house!" I could just see her mind at work: the more houses we go to the more candy I get in my pumpkin! :-) I created a candy monster. She wanted to eat it all as fast as possible so I had to hide the pumpkin after we got home. It was such a memorable night. One of the best things about halloween is it's an excuse to show off our cute kids to the neighbors. I loved all the compliments! I can't wait till next year.


When I saw these shirts at the store I had to get them. They also glow in the dark. This was taken of them on Halloween.


Here are Sage and Sydney with 3 of their cousins. Left to right is Lilly, Sage, Emma, Jack, and Sydney. Lilly and Jack are siblings. Emma and Sage are only 6 weeks apart. There are 2 more young cousins that weren't there, Abbey and Sam. This picture was taken at John's parents house in early November.


My Dad flew up to Boston and completely surprised me in November. He's a big fan of surprises. We had a great time with "Pops". A big highlight was going to Newport, Rhode Island to the International Tennis Hall of Fame Museum. It was awesome. This picture was taken as our whale watching boat left Boston Harbor. It was a LONG 3 hour (turned into 4 1/2 hour) tour. The girls cried a lot and Sage smashed her finger in a door. It was cool to see the whales, but we could not wait to get off that boat!

Sage Singing

I knew long ago when Sage was a baby that she would be a singer. She has an ability to learn and memorize lyrics and melodies very quickly. She knows a ton of primary songs and lately she has been really into a few disney movies. She knows all the music from Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King. Her latest obsession has been Cinderella. Here is a recording of Sage singing parts of two songs from Cinderella. We were in the car when she sang this. You can hear Sydney in the background singing a little. I must warn you that what you are about to hear might just be the most adorable thing you have ever heard.

Family time at the Boston Temple

John was able to get Saturday of last weekend off and we needed some family time. We decided to take the girls to the temple. Sage knows all the words to the song "I Love to See the Temple" and when she sees our wedding picture in our room she says, I want to go to the temple! I can't describe the happiness I felt as I watched and listened to Sage's reaction to the temple. She's at an age where she really understands and takes things in. As soon as we stepped out of the car she looked at the temple for a while and then turned to me and said, "It's really big Mama." I said yes it is. She kept asking to go inside. She had the best time walking around the grounds. She tried to pick many flowers and we had to stop her. Sydney also had a grand time. Sage treated the concrete wall as a balance beam which was adorable. She also said "This is where Mommy and Daddy got married". We didn't tell her we got married in a different temple. I said, "Sage, are you gonna get married in the temple someday too?" She said, "Yeah, to a handsome prince like Daddy." That melted my heart. It was one of those moments I hope I never forget. There is nothing sweeter than my 2 year old daughter saying she wants to marry a handsome prince like Daddy in the temple. We felt like the best parents that day. I'll never forget it. I feel so grateful to live so close to a temple now. We used to drive 4 hours and now it's only 30 minutes away. A few minutes after we left, Sage said in the car, "Where did my temple go Mama? I want to see it one more time!" SO SWEET!


Here is Sage walking on the "balance beam"


Our sweet Sydney


This picture reminds me of something you'd see in the Ensign.


Our first family picture in front of the temple.

Afternoon at the beach

We finally made it to the beach as a family. It took all summer to do it but better late than never. We went to a beach in Hingham, MA with John's brother Ed and his wife Lynn. It's only 5 minutes from their house so they go a lot. Sage had a blast there. The water was so cold so the kids only got their feet wet. John and Ed actually swam a little. Sage enjoyed putting rocks in her bucket. We had a great time. We've never lived so close to the ocean so it's exciting for us to be able to go.

Sage with her cousin Sam
Sage in deep thought

How cute are these swimsuits?