For Sale... SOLD!

It's official! Our house sold under 2 weeks! Crazy! We need to be out by July 15th! Yikes! That's coming WAY too fast! The fifth person to see our house, the first person the day of our open house, made the offer we wanted. It's very exciting! Now... where to go... dun dun dun... We are looking as fast as we can. Unfortunately, not everyone is as accommodating as we were to sell their house. After looking and looking, I know why our house sold so fast. It was updated, upgraded, and CLEAN! It was a standard sale, which was a plus too. If only finding a house would be so simple. I thought "house hunting" was supposed to be the FUN part. So far, it's only depressing. :)

Back in the Game?

Well, I'm so far behind, and we are experiencing a few difficulties with our past pics. I found a way around it, while we fix the gliche. :)

Since, I know I'll never "catch" up, I'll just start fresh from now... LOL









Here are a few pics from our Easter in So Cal. It was rainy and wet. Horrible hair day! Our "spring" dresses were cold (Yes, CA cold... 60∘) and they had to find sweaters. But, it was fun, none-the-less! One of our favorite traditions, is a scavenger hunt to find the baskets. When I wake up, I hide the baskets from the Easter Bunny. Julia and Liam got a picture scavenger hunt, but this year I made a "word" one for Malia and Kirra. One of my favorites were: This is where you get your ABC's and Hannah Montana loves to shake her stuff here. They had fun trying to figure out the clues. Any guesses where those might be?... Maybe next year, I can go even trickier! :)

Road Trip

I had to post all the signs and states we went through. It was an amazing trip! We traveled through 9 states (only got to wave to Iowa and Ohio across the river), over 2500 miles, about 40 hours of driving and our kids were still happy. We have GREAT travelers! Thank goodness! We rented a van when we got to Indiana. It's the only time you will ever see us driving a mini van. LOL The kids were thrilled when they were told it had a DVD player. I'm not a fan of TV in the car, and I'll never own one, but for this much driving, we were glad we had it. We limited them to 1-2 shows a trip. The longest driving day was 10 hours. Not too bad. The shows even entertained Liam until he fell asleep. I love road trips, and I'm so glad I married someone who loves them too! We love driving, sleeping in the passenger side, and eating fast food. ha ha Great times! We had the best 26 days of vacation ever! Thank you to our family who made it possible! We flew home from Indiana and the kids were so sad. But, thank goodness they had an airplane to occupy their thoughts. :) Some slept, some read, some colored, and Liam got to watch a movie on the IPod. But, you must ALWAYS remember to read the airplane safety instructions! And what a better way to pass time in between flights, than running on the moving walkway! On our way home!

Last Stop... Indiana

Our last stop was IN again, for 7 more days, and then we had to head home. We squeezed all we could in such a short time. We hiked, swam, made about 20 PB&Js everyday, saw the movie Up, had ice cream at the Chocolate Moose (my choice. BEST shakes ever!), had Mama Bears pizza quite a few times (too die for!), went to the Farmer's Market (at least the others did with Kirra. I was sleeping in. ha ha) and I think Tracey made about 5 batches of popcorn every night! And we're not talking microwave. It was in a pot with oil. So yummy! The kids had movie night upstairs while the adults had movie night downstairs every night! We had a barbeque on my parents "land" (as we like to call it). They have 20 acres there that backs up to Hoosier National Forest. It is so peaceful there! And the kids can run free! The kids took turns pushing each other on the tire swing, even I got a turn! (Kirra can be quite strong) The kids got to fish for the first time, but unfortunately they didn't catch anything. My parents have a pond on the property with catfish and bass, but nothing was biting. Darn. :) Stew found his new inner peace by mowing the lawn. I think he mowed it at least 5 times. (there is quite a lot to mow, especially after months of not being mowed) It truly is a heavenly place to be! It was a great ending to a very fun trip.

Stop #4... North Carolina

Since we never get to see Stew's brother and family much, we decided to stop over in Clemmons, NC. The kids were so excited to see their cousins. We don't get to see them very often, since we are on opposite sides of the continent. The girls took to each other like neighbors. I was nervous they would be shy around us, but nope! We were welcomed at the car with big hugs! We had a blast! We hiked Pilot Mountain, went to a small amusement park and panned for gems, and spent 4th of July swimming and eating great food and watching fireworks over a river. It was great. Poor Liam was truly odd man out. Their girls are about our kids ages. Alexa 11, Kirra 10, Olivia 8, Malia 7, Maya 6, Julia 5, McKenna 2, Liam 1 1/2. It was quite the line up of girls! We figured out that for one month a year, their ages will go in order (counting the other 2 cousins) from 12 down to 5 plus 2 2 yr. olds. Fun! (I'm always figuring out numbers and patterns. It's a sickness. ha ha) Everyone got along perfectly, so calm, peaceful, and no fighting, except when Liam had to prove his manliness and push little McKenna around. He was amazed how she would cry every time he hit her. Strange reaction. LOL One of my favorite shots, is McKenna driving the yellow car, because Liam, who is infatuated with everything cars, is screaming in the background... TURN! TURN! ha ha ha He's a very verbal kid. It was a great trip, and lucky for us, we just missed the "humidity wave." Yeah! Beautiful everything!

Stop #3... Georgia

After leaving Indiana, we drove 10 hours to Michelle and Dallin's. I tried to cut down the pictures, but there were too many I wanted to save. So, skim through the ones you like. I couldn't decide. You have no idea how many I did delete. LOL Well, their house was very small, so Stew and I were "forced" to stay at the mansion. Michelle is a landscape designer for the Glenridge Mansion in Sandy Springs, Georgia. Very cool history there. It is being used for the new series on CW "The Vampire Diaries". They use the mansion for the house of one of the vampire brothers. (It had it's pilot on 9/10) It is huge! (the mansion that is) The picture of the bed, I posted, is the bed we slept in. I felt very little in such a huge bed! It was so fun! As soon as Michelle showed up with a dog, Liam and her were best friends. And then she let him drive the polaris. Heaven for this little boy! She took him for walks many times! Anywhere Anika was (the dog) Liam was! Some quick updates in GA: We saw Stone Mountain laser show. Awesome! Totally recommended to do at least once. We took the MARTA to Atlanta and saw the CNN building, the real hummer from Desert Storms, and the Olympic Rings fountain. We toured the grounds for the mansion, we walked the labyrinth, and played with the life size chess game. While touring, Julia tried to go into a door, and Kirra screamed... SNAKE! There was a huge rat snake (completely harmless) inches from her leg rising up to strike her in defense. Julia ran away and was unaffected. Malia was more traumatised than anyone. ha ha We got to see Dallin play on his basketball team, and Michelle play at her softball game (double header). We had church in Michelle's ward and went to their Sunbeams class. We just had fun being anywhere with Michelle and Dallin! It was beautiful there!

Stop #2... Nauvoo

Stew and the kids have never been to Nauvoo, so we had to make a stop there. It was wonderful. A little less "spiritual" as I had envisioned it. But what do you expect with this group and we were out numbered by kids. :) But we had a great time. The kids loved the cultural center where they got to make candles, ropes, bake bread, make a rug, wool, and a favorite, pretend to be a pioneer with real pioneer stuff. All the girls (except Shailey, the pre-teen) got pioneer bonnets. They were in heaven. True pioneers now. They loved playing tag in the field that over looked the Mississippi River. I think they've seen Little House on the Prairie too much. ha ha Greyson was content in his own world playing his new harmonica. Stew's favorite place was the gun shop. Such a boy thing. ha ha My favorite part was when we got to see a piece of family history. Stew's family was a part of Nauvoo. We went to the geneology center and they were able to pull up a map with the location they lived. The first few pictures are at the south west corner of their land. So just behind us would have been their home. It is now privately owned, so we couldn't go any farther. But it was such a cool experience to tell the kids... that's where your ancestors lived! We all felt a huge connection there. We spent 2 days in Nauvoo and on the way back home to Bloomington, we went through Carthage to see the jail. Very peaceful experience. Such a wonderful trip! Stew was once again a trooper with all the "wives". ha ha

Summer Time. First Stop... Lincoln's Home

When school got out, we were ready to party! We had a huge summer planned for an East coast vacation. My sister, Tracey and my parents, were VERY generous and helped us all get to Indiana for a much needed vacation! Stew was able to come this time and we were ready to leave reality behind and just vacation! We flew in to Indiana on a Friday, and the airport arrivals began. We were first to arrive, followed by Lisa on Saturday. Trisha, her kids, and my mom came at 3 am Sunday morning. Tracey and kids arrived Sunday evening with Glenn on a separate plane about 30 min. behind. That makes up everyone in our group until my dad arrived on July 5th. Our Springfield group consisted of 5 wives, 9 kids, only 1 stroller this time, and one husband. Stew was a TRUE trooper to handle so many women and children ALONE! (Glenn had to stay in Indiana to work) Michelle couldn't make the trip up, so we planned to make a trip down to see her. (that post to follow) Springfield was better than it was the last time I visited, 17 years earlier. :) It was like stepping back in time. The kids seemed to love the history too. The favored stop was at the train station where Lincoln gave his final speech before heading to Washington D.C. to accept his presidency.

Not for the Faint Hearted!

I posted the "after" picture first, to warn you with weak stomachs, these next few pics are a little graphic. Julia is a very brave girl. Many times she'll be bleeding and we'll say... what happened? She'll laugh and say... I don't know. :) She always has some new bruise that she can't explain. Well, this time I saw it in action and it was a little more dramatic. She was riding on her daddy's skateboard on the patio, on her belly. She went a little too fast and crashed into the sliding glass door TRACK! It was bleeding bad! She did cry over this one. Her tooth was loose and the bleeding wouldn't stop for over a few hours. The next day I took her to the dentist and they X-rayed it. Just as I thought, she had cut clean through the root and her tooth was hanging by the gums only. They are letting the tooth heal naturally and monitoring it. Thank goodness it is only a baby tooth. In the X-ray, you can see root, space, and then tooth. Crazy and very cool! They said it should fall out naturally and the big tooth inside looks good and unaffected. She lost her tooth last week (since these posts are very far behind). She looks so cute with her missing tooth! Now to make her a pillow. :) These pictures were actually taken 2 days after the accident and it looked a MILLION times better than day one! I meant to take a picture the day of, but life got in the way. :) The teeth on the sides of the broken one, have gone black from the bruising. But, luckily very lightly. Now getting a normal picture of her is very tricky. She usually has her tongue hanging out. She makes us laugh! She's very brave and loves to show off her teeth. The blister healed within 10 days! Amazing how the body can heal!

Preschool Graduation

This was a fun day! The kids were so excited! We had a little show to showoff the things they learned. They sang the ABC's forwards and backwards, the days of the week, months of the year, the flag salute and a few others that were favorites of mine from my childhood. They were all so cute! I'm excited to do preschool again! Out of the 9 kids, only 3 are not going to kindergarten, and I'm lucky to get them again. I love teaching preschool! We made graduation hats out of construction paper and yarn. I had taken their picture with Stew's graduation robe the week before, so their parents could have a picture with a gown. It was very huge and funny! ;)

Dance Time

May 2009: It was a crazy month in May. I had a wedding and a funeral on the same day. The dance recital and my piano recital combined. And my preschool "graduation". The month went by very fast! Thank goodness. The recital had some glitches, thanks to the school. (ha ha) But it was very successful! The costumes were amazing! Kirra was in a tap class and a cheer class and a combo class for the opening and closing numbers. She had to memorize 6 different dances and 4 cheers. I don't know how she did it! Malia had 3 dances, and Julia had 4 (her class got to big and it split. She kept some of her old ones and added new ones). Kirra's: LaBamba (purple skirt), Beat it (pink hat), Dancing in the Moonlight (pirates), and the tiger ears was cheer dancing to Eye of the Tiger. I didn't have pictures for 2 of the dances. Malia's: Pineapple Princess (grass skirt), All Shook Up (pink and black tutu), and Sukiyaki (kimono). Julia's: Lion Sleeps Tonight (safari hat), Danke Schoen (flowers in her hair), Black and White by Michael Jackson (zebra prints) and Conga (pink/blue/green very bright colors). They were AWESOME! We were so proud. Kirra, Malia, my dad, Greyson, and Katie and Jacqueline (my cousins) all performed for piano. I had 28 piano students performing. It was very full! Great job everyone, including Trisha who is the BEST dance teacher EVER!! Stew was in charge of taking pictures, as I was behind the scenes shuffling kids on stage, moving the piano back and forth, and open and closing the curtains (which is a WHOLE other story!). But, in his defense, he was dealing with Liam, so that is why some of the shots are a little blurry. Wiggly kid! :)

Easter Time

I love Easter! I don't know if it's because my birthday is so close, or the candy, or all the colors! I always loved the Easter cartoons, because they always had tons of colored eggs! I love color! We dye 5 dozen eggs every year. Each child gets to decorate about a dozen each. My family had a tradition growing up to use ALL colors of crayons, not just the wax one that comes in the box. Something I introduced to Stew. It makes it more fun and the designs are endless. We always run out of eggs before our ideas. :) You can't tell very much from the picture, but each egg is decorated differently. From a football to grapes to just a zig zag design. My kids love it just as much as I do. Stew even gets to put his artistic ability to play. Our church started at 9am, so we did our traditional egg hunt after church. But, Liam spotted one on his way out the door (the one with him on his belly). After church he only wanted the candy! (must take after me) The girls wore their dresses from Michelle and Dallin's wedding. We just added a little sweater and some new shoes. Ta-Da! New outfit!

Our Princess turns 7!

Our little Malia turned 7 in March! Disneyland's theme this year is all about the birthdays! If you go ON your birthDAY, you get in free. We have passes, so she got a gift card in the amount of the entrance fee... $59!! So, of course we had to celebrate her birthday at Disneyland. The happiest place on Earth! The girls had the day off from school, but Stew had to work. So, it was just me and the 4 kids. It was a blast. A lot of people looked at me, like I was crazy to be alone with the kids. But, they are very good kids and I didn't even worry. I didn't even need "Mommy's Little Helper" for Liam. (I don't even own one, he's that good!) Malia is our princess through and through! Her favorite color is pink. Her favorite princess is I Know You (a.k.a. Princess Aurora. She's called her this since she was 2 and singing along with the song!) She loves to dance and looks forward to the dance recital every year where she can perform! She loves loves LOVES ballet and wants to be one when she grows up. We've thought of putting her in professional ballet classes, but she loves her Aunt Trisha's class so much, she doesn't want to quit! We love our Malia and we're so glad she's a part of our family!

Green Valley Cabin

We took the kids up to a friend's cabin just outside of Big Bear. It was awesome! The first day was warm and they had a blast playing in the snow, taking a hike to the lake, skipping rocks and creating a sled path. Sunday it snowed all day. The last snow storm of the season! And it hit hard! You can see on the rails from day one to the next. And it only snowed more and more throughout the day. There was a huge window that the kids just watched everything from. Beautiful! We saw tons of birds and squirrels. They even got to see a raccoon 5 feet from their faces (through the glass, obviously). One night we heard mountain lions just outside our cabin. Stew and I were a little freaked out. :) Liam loved being outside, but not so much the cold. He mostly wandered on the porch. Malia was freezing! She chose to stay inside. But Kirra and Julia were die hards! We usually had to them to come in and and get warm. The sled path we made was the best! This cabin was stocked with everything we needed! Thank you to Danny Todd who hooked us up!

Mission Time

March 2009: I have been excited for this day since Kirra started school. I have always loved the missions. The history, the culture, and especially the look. I would build my house to be a true mission style, if I could. (not the cookie cutter tract homes that "say" mission style) Finally the day is here. I remember how fun it was for my own mission. We choose one that was close to home, since we started on it late. (We had just finished her science project the week before. Bad planning from the school. Sheesh!) She chose Mission San Gabriel, about 30 min. from home. She loved it! There were so many more pictures we took, because everything was so cool! She even got to ring the bell. Here are a few highlights. It was fun to see all the other 4th graders there doing the same thing as us. :) And, yes, Malia is wearing gloves. She is so much more fancy than I ever thought my children would be. And we love her more for it!

Tagged!

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I was tagged by my sister, Tracey. I was to take my 6th folder and the 6th picture. This is what I came up with. Now, this is on the laptop, so my pictures on the main computer will be different. As you know, Stew being an art teacher, I get some cool stuff. Here is from an art lesson on snowflakes and their patterns. There were some beautiful snowflakes. I'm sure I'm totally wrong on the lesson, and Stew will correct me, but this is what I think it is. :)

I now tag... Korie, Emily N., Emily W., Anne Marie, and Stephanie. I had others to tag too, but Tracey already got to them. hee hee Enjoy!

Random Pictures for January

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Here are some random pics for January. Liam got some crayons for the tub, for Christmas. Some how, the girls seem to be using them more. LOL They are such silly girls! Malia was made student of the month, this time, for January. She had no idea. The teacher kept it a surprise. Should I be worried that Malia asked me to take her picture with Eddie? And, Liam is just too fun to dress! This was the day after his shave. Also, he asks for his shoes on now! He still loves them off, but he knows when he gets his shoes on, we go outside. He's very smart! Enjoy.

Time for Another Trim!

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Liam could not have been more excited to be working with the tools! Stew couldn't handle his "mullet" any longer. He has a nice curl to his hair, so you couldn't tell, but sometimes it would hang just nicely to get this great mullet look! He's so cute! Stew cut off about 3 inches! His last shave was 10 months ago. His hair grows fast like the rest of us!

Our Cuddle Boy

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Liam LOVES to cuddle! My sister, Michelle and her husband, Dallin gave him this doggie for his birthday. He LOVES it! He sleeps with it every night and nap time! Thank you Aunt Michelle and Uncle Dallin! Recently I found Liam standing on the rocking chair in his room trying to get some toys out of his bed. When he saw me coming, he climbed down. He is a great climber. We are in trouble! When he does have his cuddle moments, they usually last only a few minutes. (He cuddles his Daddy the most!) Also, we like to get them reading the Better Homes and Gardens while they're young. Don't worry Liam, you'll be mowing the lawn soon. :)

Party Party 2009

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We love New Year's Eve! We always bust out games and movies! This was Malia's first time staying awake! About 11:00, we lost Stew and Julia. But Stew always wakes up just in time! We watched almost 3 full shows. (Our new Christmas ones) We played about 5 different games. Our favorite being Jenga. Before going to bed, Liam and Stew played a little one-on-one. Liam loves slam dunkin' it! We made some candy to eat while waiting and then busted out the good ol' Martinelli's to ring in the New Year! Happy New Year everybody!

I'm Just Fixin' This

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I LOVE having a boy! He is always trying to fix things. I was putting together the girls new kitchen set for Christmas, when I got a little helper. Everywhere I put my screwdriver, he had his there too. And he even made sound effects. Who teaches them this stuff?! He was so excited I let him have a screwdriver. He doesn't like his "toy" one too much. But, Oh, watch out when you get the "real" stuff out! Same with cell phones or even remotes without batteries. How does he know?!

I'm a Hyper-Hypo

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Stew got a new helmet for Christmas to use snowboarding. It has speakers and he can hook up his IPhone. Now he has no excuse to miss my calls. LOL Scott also got a new hat. Love the tip, Scott. :) All I could think about, every time I saw Stew, was the SNL skit with Mike Meyers and Nicole Kidman. A favorite!! I kept saying to him..."you want some chocolate?" Hilarious! He loves his new hat. He also got a new hat similar to Scott's. I told him, now all we need to do, is to move to Scotland. It just fits him!

Christmas at the Van Buskirk's

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After we opened presents at home, we went over to Stew's parents for our Christmas dinner. I wonder if I'll ever have to be the hostess on this day. :) The kids had a blast playing with their cousins. They always play dress up. The best was when you asked Noah to pose, he always "jumped" into it. Looked like a true rapper. LOL Funny thing is most of these clothes are actual ones we used to wear. ha ha ha. Julia and Liam are always playing together! Julia is such a wonderful big sister. He's going to be sad and lonely next year, when she goes to kindergarten. Malia got new skates and could not wait to try them on. My cousin, Shelly, had taken her skating a few weeks before, and that's all she wanted for Christmas. She's pretty good too. Then Julia saw an opportunity to sneak them on. She never wants to be left behind what her sisters are doing.

Christmas Morning

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Here are our Christmas morning pics. The kids had a very blessed Christmas. We have a tradition of new pajamas on Christmas Eve (those pics are on my mom's camera) and we read the Christmas story. Then on Christmas morning, you can always count on a few certain gifts. We always give the girls a new game each and movies! Our favorite family time is playing games and watching a show. Stew sets up a projector on our huge wall and we watch a show. It's just like going to the theater! We got (I think) 13 new DVDs. We don't have cable, so this is our family thing. :) It was a very nice Christmas morning. And I have to brag... we never start before 9am! They are excellent sleepers! We set up a barrier that they know not to pass and they have to wait until everyone is awake. One by one, they come trickling into our bed, until we have to drag our tired bodies into happy faces. I shouldn't complain, I'm glad they're not 6am kids!!

Beautiful Girls

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After putting Liam down for a nap, we took pics of the girls just being silly. Most of these were candid. I hate to be prejudice, but they are BEAUTIFUL girls!

Christmas Sunday

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Here we are in our Christmas Sunday bests! We were practical with the girls outfits. Usable all year. :) The best was the touch of red. They LOVED their purses from Grammie too! They got crazy taking pictures. To get Julia to smile "normal" is quite the task. I swear she was a KISS fan before she was born. LOL Liam did pretty good with pics, considering all he wanted was his bed. Nap time! It was a very relaxing Sunday. I actually got to sit with the family. Usually on Christmas Sunday, I'm playing the organ, playing for the choir, or even giving a talk. It's been YEARS since I sat with them on Christmas Sunday. It was wonderful! We actually had our Christmas program the week before, because this particular Sunday was special speakers, so I had played the piano the week before. Hence the "free" Sunday. :)

Ward Christmas Party

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The girls were so excited to see Santa. Being in the primary presidency, I helped with the program. It was CRAZY! We do NOT have a small ward. With over 100 kids, it's chaos! Then add a Santa. And he was NOT very fast. I guess he was being a "true" Santa. He was very patient. The best was when his beard and wig started to fall off! LOL I was standing right there helping, and he turned to me and said, "I might need some help." It was hilarious, and yet, the kids never questioned that. Kirra said, "I know he's just a helper." Love the innocence! Kirra was an angel, Malia and Julia were in the chorus, and Greyson got to be a wiseman. They were all so cute!

I forgot to mention how the evening went:
*arrive for a nice ham dinner, but get asked to play some music for Santa to arrive. Then find out there is no music. Feeling obligated, I rush home and get my books. (we would sing a capella next time)
*Get back to eat the yummy ham dinner, but then be told it's too late, Santa's coming now.
*play the piano for Santa. Kids get in line, like wild animals.
*Want to eat what's left of the cold ham dinner, only to see the mob on Santa. NO ONE is stopping the kids. So, I (being bossy enough) get the kids to line up orderly and stand BACK.
*Line goes smoothly and LONG.
*No dinner is left.
*Primary Program time. Chorister not there, so I get to fill in.
*Parents won't SHUT UP enough to hear the kids! After some heavy talking in the mic, they finally listen. Kids sing wonderfully.
*Clean up the program mess.
*Stop at the McDonald's for a quick happy meal on the way home. LOL

Random Pictures for December

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Here are a few pics of Julia and Liam. Julia makes us laugh EVERYday! If you have daughters, this is a normal sight. Coloring while watching TV, while wearing a princess dress, ballet shoes, and a ski hat. I LOVE her! Also, she gets herself dressed for dance (which can be very interesting), but this day I couldn't resist her! She begged to wear the scarf I was wearing. It was too cute on her, so how could I say no. :) She was so festive in her class all ready for Christmas! The pics of Liam, he is wearing an outfit the Ostlund's gave him for his birthday. They actually gave it to him in June (Tracey's so on the ball!) and I was so excited that it fit him! My little boy! Thank you Ostlund's!

Preschool Christmas Party

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We had the best party ever! The kids all brought a wrapped book for a book exchange. The letter for the week was C, so they all brought Cookies to share. It was a rainy day, so we had hot Cocoa too! I love these kids! And, some how, Julia's hair never got fixed! What kind of mom sends their kid to preschool without brushed hair? Slacker Mom!

And the Award Goes to...

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I love these group shots trying to find your kid. Where's Waldo? LOL The same week, Kirra and Malia got awards. They both were 100% attendance. What? That's crazy. So, my kids must have been the ones getting your kids sick. LOL They both got the reading awards, math awards, and the principal's award. I was very proud to see them! They love school! Kirra had a very difficult teacher last year, but we are in love with her teacher this year! And she LOVES Kirra! Malia's teacher has 4 boys, and Malia is such our Girly Girl, I was worried. But, she adores Malia! Thank you for WONDERFUL teachers!

Christmas at the Mission Inn

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We took the kids to the Mission Inn to see the lights. We took them up to Alta Loma to see the lights, but it was raining, and we didn't get any good pics. The girls loved the Mission Inn. Very crowded, of course, but worth the trip. The lights were beautiful, but my favorite ALWAYS, is the architecture of the building! I love the mission style. :) I could live there! My favorite pics are Liam pushing his BIG sister in the stroller. He wanted to walk everywhere. He HATES shoes, so he is barefoot. We're working on that boy. LOL They girls favorite part was Cinderella's carriage going around. They begged to take a ride. Someday. :) Great family trip!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

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Here are some pics of us getting ready for Christmas! I think my favorite part is the lights! My favorite are the rainbow colored lights! I love taking pics with the lights glowing. Liam had a blast playing with the lights. He actually was never a problem with the tree and decorations. He did have his favorites though. He loved the bulbs and brought them to me frequently. :) The girls decorated the tree ALL by themselves. I only did the lights. It was very fun to watch them climb the stools and fill in the blank spots. They did an awesome job. They also made some Christmas pictures to hang up. They are so festive! We also had a friend join us.... a caterpillar came out of our tree. Yes, we are one of the few left still buying their tree. It's a favorite tradition of ours. Kirra found the caterpillar on the ground. They were so amazed by it. It's hard that they don't have the "nature" I had growing up. They've never held a baby chickie! The caterpillar, I think, was dying. It only lasted a week. Kirra named it and even made a "house" for it out of a shoe box. Pictures on the walls, a pillow and everything. Funny thing, it actually slept on the pillow more than anywhere else. Kirra loved her temporary pet.

Piano Recital

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I have 2 recitals a year, this one being my Christmas one. It was so huge, I was VERY fortunate that they let me have it at the church building. I had 26 students perform, which meant with families, OVER 80 showed up! It was very emotional for me, to see what I'm doing in such a grand mass. It was the best recital yet! I was very proud of them ALL! I was very excited for Malia to perform in her very first recital. She did awesome! This was Kirra's 6th (I think). I also had my cousin, Katie, and my dad perform too. Greyson (my nephew) couldn't make it this time, but he would have rocked! It's fun to have my family so involved! I could not have been more proud! Thank you to my parents for putting up with me while learning. I'm so glad they made me stick with it and didn't listen to my complaining for 7 years! They obviously knew what they were doing. :)