star of the week

Her turn finally came! Claire was the star of the week in her first grade class. She was quite pleased when she came home a week ago with the letter informing me that she was going to be the star of the class. We spent the weekend getting prepared, answering questions, writing letters and gathering pictures. Every day when I picked her up and asked, "how was your day?", her answer was always the same, "It was great!!". Each day she got to share something with the class. The cumulative point came on Friday when she got to bring some of her favorite things and a treat to share with the class. Among the favorites was her violin and snicker doodle cookies. She got to be the star of her class for a week but in our home, she is a star everyday!

Hello Blog It's been a long time!

According to my blog, life ended in the fall of 2009. I can't believe how fast time is going! It's almost scary. Life really did not end for us, in fact I think sometimes that we are too busy. Perhaps that is my excuse for not finding the time to write about our happenings; however, the biggest reason lies with the fact that I have never been consistent at journaling. I have recommitted myself to this blog and hope to capture most of 2011. Thanks in part, to a little probing from my grandma, I have started back.

Here are some of the highlights ( that I can remember) from 2010

1. Birthdays: Brayden's 14th, Shelby's 11th, Claire's 6th, & Spencer's 2nd.
2. Trip to one of our favorite places, Newport Beach, where we played in the sand, rode the waves at the beach, took in an Angels game and spent the day at Knotts Berry Farm.
3. Another great Women's Conference in Provo.
4. I climbed to the peak of Mt. Charleston
5. 4th of July in Prescott
6. First Halloween spent in Utah at grandma's house. (We got hailed on!)
7. Brayden completed his Eagle Scout project. (collected items for the Ronald McDonald House)
8. Shelby made the cheer team and got to go cheer camp in July
9. Claire started taking violin lessons
10. Spencer got to go to nursery and loves it!
11. Another wonderful Christmas season spent with family and friends.

Halloween 2009

It's going to be Christmas soon and we've been busy. I must post a few Halloween pics before it seems too late.



Our little witch with her cousins Mulan (Delaney) and Nemo (Avery)






Our little lion cub





The Countness of Darkness. Makeup job courtesy of her Aunt Lori.







Jack Sparrow's pirate sidekick (Braxton), Elphada (Jaden), and Tinkerbell (Kayelyn) visiting at the ward trunk or treat.

These are some of the cute faces of our family's Halloween

One!

One birthday party
One birthday cake
One special boy
One great year
"One"-derful You!

Just gotta dance

So much to blog about, so little time to do it. for now here's a cute video of Spencer. Claire was given this birthday card from her little friend Brooke several months ago. It has a cute tune and has become Spencer's favorite toy. Even though the start and stop of it all can be a bit annoying, I love the way he moves to it and if you listen carefully, you can even hear him hum the beat. It makes me smile!

Not as planned.

School starts back on Monday and I have to report to Jury duty. I was so hoping that My number would not be called. No such luck. Kerry gets to play stay at home dad while I hang out at the courthouse. It's times like these that I realize how much I enjoy being a stay at home mom and taking care of my kids. Now if only I could remember that when they drive me crazy!

This is what happens...

when you have two older sisters! Who knows what torture lies ahead for this poor boy.