Easter 2010

Easter Egg dying is definitely a tradition in our family. We do it every year and the kids love it -- even if the adults aren't so fond of it (or at least the messes that it makes)!

This is the first year that Jaxson has been able to do it mostly by himself. I enjoyed just being a supervisor and not having to get my hands dirty.

Poor Nate wasn't feeling good but he forced himself to dye all of his eggs.

After all the eggs were dyed we went across the street and hid them at the school. Here are all the kids in the backyard waiting patiently (ha ha!) for the hunt.

As usual the Easter Bunny was very kind to my kids. The boys got new church clothes and Haley got a church Hymn Book for the piano. Since Easter was on General Conference Sunday they didn't get to wear their new clothes until the following week and of course I haven't taken any pictures. But I will say that they are handsome boys!

The Big Day!

The day has finally arrived! The braces are going on! It has been a long road getting to this point and she is ready to move forward. They are only putting the bottoms ones on and I'm not sure what the plan is for the top ones but at least we are getting started! She's actually a little excited about it. I'm sure she'll feel different when her teeth are so sore that she can't eat anything.

After pictures coming soon!

Foot Warmers!

I walked into the kitchen and saw Jaxson sitting on the stove and I asked him what he was doing and he said "I'm just warming my feet, mom". I had just cooked a pizza in the oven which made the stove top warm and I guess he had cold feet. Whatever works right?

Haley

I have been noticing a lot of changes in Haley's looks lately. Part of that is her teeth. She has an expander in her mouth right now that is widening her jaw and as a result she has a fairly large gap between her two front teeth. But it's more than just her teeth, her face is changing, maturing I guess you could say. Sometimes I find myself just staring at her because I can't believe that my baby girl is growing up, turning into a woman. Well, I didn't realize how much she has changed in the last year until I saw a picture hanging on the wall at my mom's. At first I thought it was a picture from a few years ago but when I took it down and checked the back it was just last year. I was amazed at the difference. Take a look.

This was last year - 8th grade fall picture.

This picture was taken last week on Christmas.

Can you believe that's the same girl!

She really is growing up too fast and I think the fact that she is my only daughter makes me want to keep her younger even longer. Knowing that she could be out of my house going to college somewhere in just 4 short years makes me really sad. I can't even imagine her not being here. Hopefully she will blow off that whole BYU idea and stay local.

On a different note, her braces will be going on in two weeks. Unfortunately, they are only putting the bottom ones on for now so she will have to live with that gap for a little while longer. Poor girl has suffered from non-stop teasing from her friends and family about it. Thankfully she's a good sport and plays right along with it. She is proud that she can stick a straw between them.

Christmas 2009

This year was a little different because Larry had to work on Christmas. He left Christmas Eve morning and was gone for 4 days. We let the kids open one gift before he left and I did take pictures but I can't find them anywhere (I must have deleted them). We were all so sad to say goodbye and I don't think it's ever been harder for him to leave.

Christmas Eve night we put out our luminaries. For as long as I can remember (at least 20 years) this neighborhood has done luminaries on Christmas Eve. The Youth in the Wards distribute them to all the houses earlier in the week and then each house puts them out and lights them on Christmas Eve night. It is so neat to drive through the neighborhood and see it all lit up.


Then we decided that since dad was gone we would go stay the night at Grandmas house and leave a note for Santa under the tree and tell him where to find us. Well, it was a great idea but it made mom's job a bit harder. I had to run home 3 times to get things (gifts, stockings) that I forgot (good thing we just live around the corner) and when my kids woke up at 5 am I had to get up and keep them quiet until grandma and the cousins woke up closer to 7. I think next year we'll stay home! But, of course, Santa was very good to everyone.

Nate & Jake got Nintendo DS's, Madden 1o for the Wii, Cardinals Jersey's, remote control helicopters and a Red Ryder BB Gun (hope they don't shoot their eye out)!

Haley got boots, a purse, and stuff for her room.

Jaxson got a guitar, a dinosaur adventureland, legos, puzzles, and a stuffed Clifford dog.

After we were done opening Santa's gifts we headed over to Grandpa Willie and Grandma Darlene's house to open gifts and eat Darlene's traditional YUMMY Christmas breakfast. The kids were all anxious for their gifts but they patiently waited while Grandpa passed them out.

Then when it was grandpa's turn to open his gifts he let the grandkids help.

Then it was back to grandma Patti's house to open her gifts. I was tired of taking pictures at this point so I've got nothing.

We then had a few hours until dinner at my sisters so we hung out at home and the kids played with their gifts. I love what Christmas does to your house. It looks like a tornado came through here.

And poor Jaxson was exhausted. I had a hard time waking him up for dinner. Crazy kid won't ever sleep somewhere normal!

It was another great Christmas but we missed dad terribly and hopefully he'll never have to miss another Christmas again (in our dreams)!

Orchestra Concerts

We attended two orchestra concerts last week. The first was Nate's. He started playing the Cello this year and really likes it. This was his very first concert and he did great.

Then over to Haley's. I never get good concert pictures (too dark and too far away) so here is her professional one. I'm so glad she has continued to play (with a little prodding from me) through Jr. High. She is getting really good and has started playing outside of school. She played a special number for Young Women in Excellence and played with the ward choir for the Christmas program.

Meagan's Baby Shower

My baby sister is having her first baby and we threw her a baby shower. We did a Dr. Suess theme and it turned out so cute. I take no credit for the decorations, it was all Jill's doing. All I did was donate a few books and bring the blue easter grass (for water) and the Swedish Fish.

I did make this sign. It's the first wood project I've done in years. I had to dust off the saw and dig out the old paints for it.

Some of these pink puffs were edible. They were red velvet cake pops. Very Yummy!

I loved the green deviled eggs, they were tasty!

All the sisters went in and gave her this rocker.

My step-mom, Darlene, made this super cute diaper cake.

And here's the most important part of the shower, the mom-to-be!

All my sisters that were at the shower. It's missing a few of us. There are so many of us I don't think we'll ever get one of everyone.