Christmas at the Talley House!!

Well, We had a wonderful Christmas with some great family time. Don's dad was able to come be with us as well as my sister, Amber from Ohio. My mom also was over a lot from the Colorado Springs area! We had a great time. The little ones were so excited and very aware of everything going on from Jesus' birthday cake, to Santa's sleigh. They were interested in everything. We had a lot of fun watching them this year!

It was hard to choose....so there are a lot of pics!!

Don in his new USC hat.....I personally think OSU is better....but we just agree to disagree!!


Taylor being cute.


The girls playing with their new treasures!!!

Tired at the end of a busy day....don't believe them....they are both faking ;)

Getting ready for our traditional Christmas Smorges Board!! (my mom has a lot of sweedish traditions that we still continue today). The boys were the first to the table.

More people getting ready to eat!....what is Maddie doing....she is a funny character for sure!

New Christmas pj's.

Me and my sister Amber!!

The girls posing with their crazy Auntie Amber.

Maddie, Crissie, Taylor and Auntie Amber!

Taylor's Program.....

Was great!!! She did a great job. We were able to video her performance and was wonderful. She was so proud of it!! She and her classmates worked really hard.

Sisters!!!



Daddy with the snowman that Taylor made us!!


Taylor with her favorite teachers!! Amazing women!!




Miss Sandi and Taylor.

Taylor and 3 of her friends.

Does your christmas picture time turn out like this??

First of all Merry Christmas!!! I hope you all are having a safe and wonderful holiday season. We are having a nice quiet holiday here in Colorado with my mom, Don's dad and my sister is flying in tomorrow.


Every year we "try" and get a Christmas picture taken of the family for our Christmas cards....last year we never got a good picture so we didn't get a card out. This year...we were game to try again. Our picture time always consits of setting the camera on a ladder and me running back and forth trying to get in the picture in time. So, we end up with a million pictures that are not just right or someone isn't looking and all that and then hopefully one picture turns out good. So here is a look into the Talley Photo Session :) ENJOY!!

Test shot #1....Taylor was the only one ready :)

Don is squinting and so is Taylor!!

Maddie...this one was almost good...what is that smile??

Maybe we should just try the two girls....too bad there is noone to hold them still then!!

Put your feet together Maddie....we weren't ready DON!!

OK...now this is a game...and they are getting tired of this!!

Maddie looks interested...in anything but this picture thing!

I don't like anyone's face in this one!




OK....So this was no joke....the very last picture we took...and this was the one we used....Merry Christmas from our family to yours....say cheese and don't move!!

Ballet Recital

Tis the Season for programs :) Well, Don and I knew that at some point we would be going to preschool ballet programs and christmas programs and that time is upon us. Last Thursday the girls had their Ballet Recital!!! We had no idea what to expect. Neither did the girls!! They loved getting ready and getting glitter on their face and in their hair:) Their tutu's we very cute.

The performance you ask....well first the 3 and 4 year olds came out (that is our group).....it was going pretty good....both Taylor and Maddie were doing the moves they wanted to (the twirling seemed to be the favorite move). When they were done of course everyone started clapping and all the girls smiled and stood there sheepishly and then walked out the stage door. Well, Maddie was at the end of the line and when everyone left out the door she didn't see them so she just stood there smiling. Well, the parents and grandparents started giggling and saying "oh how cute!!"and Maddie had no idea what was going on. Then she looked beside her and Taylor was gone...so she looked at the crowd and then sprinted off the stage door:) It was great!!

It was a lot of fun...see pics below:) We have another performance on Wednesday...Taylor is in her preschool Christmas program playing the angel. It will be great!

Our little ballerina!!

Daddy's little girl!!

Our beautiful little girl....no baby anymore!

Cuteness!!

3 and 4 yr old girls and Miss Lindsey!

Mommy and Maddie!!

To Grandma's House we go.....

Well, I want to wish a belated Happy Birthday to my hubby. Don turned ummmmmmmmm.....older;) on Thursday of last week. The girls and I celebrated with Don at my mom's house on Tuesday. Taylor and Maddie LOVE to go over to Grandma's house and eat things mommy doesn't let them....and play with her kitty's of course!! The cats are funny...Cinder hides the WHOLE time...we don't even see her, but Buffy actually let the girls pet her this time. They are still talking about it! It was a nice low key birthday party! we all had fun.

On Don's actual birthday we had dinner with some YFC friends! That was great. Here are some pics from my mom's house.

This is a pic of them "helping" to make Daddy's birthday cake!!

So this picture is funny....my mom gave them some marshmellows.....Maddie picked up the whole pile and put them in her mouth...so then Taylor did the same thing. They were laughing so hard...Maddie had to keep pushing them back in her mouth!!



Maddie finding Buffy....buffy was ok with it until Maddie tried to show Buffy her "bear"....then buffy ran away;)


The girls were being so good. The found Buffy....and they were being quiet and gentle.....it was great!

HAPPY BE-LATED THANKSGIVING....

We hope you and your family are having a wonderful thanksgiving weekend. We are having a nice relaxing time enjoying the holdiay. We are thankful for so many things in our lives and it is always nice to have a day set aside to remember those things. We actually had our thanksgiving meal yesterday.....it was delicious!!! My mom came over for the day and helped us get our meal ready!!

So, that means today is decorating day!! (which makes the kiddos very happy!!!). We did get a little snow this weekend....just a couple inches or so...not a blizzard which is nice. The girls LOVE going out in the snow. We hope you guys are enjoying your weekend as much as we are. Here are some pics from the past few days.

Taylor helping Grandma get the BIG turkey ready!!! She took this job....very seriously....it was great!

Daddy enjoying some time off and playing a game with his girls!

Is there anything better than......

Than Ohio State BEATING Michigan at the big house??!!! I don't think so and these little ones don't either. We had a two year old birthday party today DURING the game.....so i didn't get to go to the OSU-MI party till the very end, but the kids were a big hit when they walked in in their team outfits. And when asked who they were rooting for....they said "Go Buckeyes":) That was much delight to the of all the buckeye fans!!! And when Maddie was presented with the choice of blue and yellow jelly beans or red or white jelly beans.....she thought about it with her finger on her chin and then said "i only like red"! Such delight:)

Go Buckeyes!!

Pluggin Along..

No blogging...no real "news" i guess. Things have been pretty routine around here lately. Don did have a follow up doctors appointment with his cardiologist who has now given Don a report that his heart is healthy and functioning well. This was a good report and brings much relief to us as we move forward with some more testing. Our next step in this process is Don visiting the pulmonary specialist next Wednesday.

The girls are doing good....keeping Mommy busy and insane;) hey, they are 3 and 4...this is my year to be insane!!!! We are about to enter the world of programs and performances with our girls......Taylor will be having a Christmas program for school ....the report from Taylor is that she is the "ANGEL". HA...i had a good laugh with that one. The next performance coming up is both girls performing a Christmas Ballet. This should be interesting...with Maddie being the youngest one....the ages of the ballet girls is 3-6 so it should be entertaining. I do think that it will be weird to see them up there on the stage...although with the outgoing personalities of the Talley children....we know this will be the first of MANY performances.....hopefully we will get them on tape;)

I haven't been taking too many pics lately, but here are some from tonight before Ballet practice and some from our pumpkin carving night. So Enjoy. :) AND "YES, DON IS WONDERING A LOT LATELY WHAT HIS LIFE HAS COME TO....GOING TO BALLET, BIRTHDAY PARTIES AND PLAYING LOTS OF DRESS UP:)." I always tell him "its good for you!!"

Look how "innocent" she looks.....ha!

AWWW....this one is cute.

At one point, YES...Maddie's head was in the pumpkin looking for seeds:)...i was laughing too hard to get it on camera though.