End of Year Wrap-Up

Wow! I have been slacking on my blogging! Partly due to my stupid Adobe Flashreader not working. It has been a VERY busy couple of months. It's hard to believe the holidays have already come and gone! This year has flown. I know I say that every year, but I swear time is going by faster and faster. I'm just going to do a post since there is so much to catch up on.

Halloween was wonderful! Stella was Cleopatara. I was about her age too. Funny. Tristan was a cop. He's a little obsessed with cops and still wears the costume around the house. I helped in both classes for their parties and it was so much fun! The weather was perfect. Dinner with friends was perfect. One of my favorite holidays!

My mom turned 60 this year! We planned a surprise 50's party since she was born in 1951. Music, food, decorations themed soda shop. She was really surprised! It was a total success and so much fun! I'm so lucky to have the BEST mom! She is one of my best friends and someone I rely on and look up to still. Maybe more now than when I was younger.

Thanksgiving. Food. Yummmmm. Love, love, love Thanksgiving! It's kind of the kick-off to the holiday season. We hosted at our house this year. Shaun & Family were able to spend the actual Thanksgiving day with us this year. In the past it's always been Friday - which is a great excuse to have 2 Thanksgiving dinners, but we were glad they could be up earlier! We all ate way too much.

Bill and I celebrated out 12th anniversary on December 1st! We didn't do anything too exciting. Bill's parents took the kids so we were able to for the first time in a very long time able to do to dinner AND a movie! I'm so lucky to have such a wonderful husband. He truly is my best friend, biggest supporter, and partner in life. I'm very blessed.

Stella had 3 - yes, 3 dance recitals on the same day. One with Jennifer's class and 2with mine & Miss Natalies. I am so proud of her! She was so pretty and did such a fantastic job! I love moments like this as a mother. These are the bigger moments, and I do cherish the small moments just as much...

My Grandpa Robbins passed away the week of Christmas. I saw him the week before he died. He had been in a care center for about a year and a half and has quickly deteriorated since then. He was bed-ridden for a long time and in the end couldn't eat or drink. He was so frail and had suffered too long. We weren't very close, but he's my grandpa and I still loved him. I didn't want to see him suffer and felt bad it lasted as long as it did. I feel bad for my dad and aunt who I know will miss them tremendously.
The funeral was nice. It was small. It was cold. It was just a graveside service. Many of my grandpa's loved ones came to pay their respects. My dad and someone who helped take care of my grandpa spoke. They said many beautiful things. The girls sang "A Child's Prayer" which was beautiful as well. Funerals are always a somber thing, but they make you gain perspective of what's important and I find peace that he is now with my grandma, Aunt Betty & Uncle Don again.

Christmas was amazing! Christmas Eve we went out to my parents for dinner. Shaun & Mistee were up, but left so they could be home Christmas Eve. We all got pj's and my mom made really cute covered pillows for each of the kids. The kids were so excited that night. They are at such a fun age! As we were driving home they kept looking out the window for signs of Santa's sleigh and yelling at us to drive faster so we get home before he gets there! Things are just things, but those are the memories I want to last.

Family Pictures

Last weekend we had our family portraits taken. FINALLY!! I have been wanting these forever! I was nervous because last time we had our pictures done I absolutely loved how they turned out. I worried I wouldn't like new ones as much. Well, let me just say I don't know what I was worried about! The kids were (fairly) good and we got some great ones of them and a several family pictures to choose from. I am so happy with how they turned out and can't wait to get some printed up!

First we went to this little walkway that was covered in these gorgeous red leaves.

Next we went to this apple orchard in someones backyard. No apples left but still such a fun place to get pictures done. I love how they look!

A special huge thank you to Peggy for sharing your talents with me and my family! We are thrilled!

9/11

I'm still catching up from September and now we're half way into October - well, almost. This is just a short blurb on the ten year anniversary of 9/11. I remember that day all too well as I'm sure any adult in America does. I was driving to work when I heard about it and at work when I saw the towers fall. Watching the footage still seems surreal of how many people died. It breaks my heart to hear the last calls to loved ones. I can only imagine the fear and hopelessness everyone in the twin towers and the planes must have felt. At the same time I feel immensely proud of our country. I feel so lucky and sometimes wonder why I get to live her with the freedom's I sometimes take for granted and others are starving or faced with war around them every day. It almost doesn't seem fair. It was moving to read the tags attached to each flag. And whether or not they had anything written about them other than their names I was sad for them and their families who they are not with now. At least not physically. Thank goodness for the gospel!

Back to School

This cute girl started 2nd Grade! She is in Mrs. Ramirez's class. She was so excited the first week that she would come home so ornery. When I asked her why she was so grumpy she said it's because she didn't want to leave school. This is something she did NOT get from me!

First day at her desk. Look at her getting all set up. I wish I could be a fly on the wall and see her throughout her day!

Pre-School orientation with Ms. Amy. Stella had Ms. Amy for both years of pre-school and we loved her! I'm glad T got to be in her class this year.

First day of Pre-K. I can't believe he's only got one year left before he starts Kindergarten! Tristan loves pre-school and is always so happy when I pick him up. We even hear him singing silly songs he learns. I love it! It makes me feel good to know my kids love their teacher, class, and look forward to school. Don't you just want to squish his cheeks here! I do.

The Help

I don't normally blog about movies even though I absolutly LOVE movies. However, I am adding this movie to my top 10 all time favorite movies. It is funny, moving, inspiring, anything you could want in a movie. Almost all of my favorites are based on history or true stories. This movie reminded me of just how thankful I am that my children do not have to deal with the challenges that black people had to face not too long ago. I know there will be people who will think and say ignorant things, but I know because of the passion and courage so many others had our challenges are much smaller. I can't wait to see it again!

New Adventures

About a month ago we bought a boat! We had been talking about it for a couple of months. Bill obsessively checked out KSL every day for probably 3 weeks straight until he found our boat. We got a great deal and have enjoyed taking it out! We took a little first trip to Deer Creek to make sure everything ran good. Then our first big trip was Yuba with Shaun, Mistee & kids. That was a lot of fun! We had to boat all our camping gear to our campsite, which was some extra work, but so much nicer than the other campsites. The water was nice and it was just so great to catch up with each other! It's been too long since our last trip together. Aside from our huge wind storm that blew our tent down it was a really fun weekend!

Our next big trip was to Jordanelle with the Eichelbergers. I think Melissa was as excited as the kids! Our kids have so much fun together it makes experiences like this so worthwhile. The lake was pretty dang busy, but it was really pretty. The weather was great and Bart was the first person so far to get up on the wake board! We will definitely have many more trips like this in the future!

This summer seemed to come and go so fast! I wasn't ready for school to start already! I tried to cram some extra summer fun into their last week off. We went to the Bee's game with Emily, Cole and Dylan. I probably watched 2 minutes of the actual game. It's a fun change of scenery. The kids even got to go on the sweet train ride. We also did father/daughter & mother/son dates. Stella and Bill went swimming while T and I went to the nickelcade. I don't think I've really been on a date with T! I'm alone with him most of the time, but it was a lot of fun to sit down and eat and talk with him. As well as go somewhere that was something he would enjoy. I love my dates with the kiddos! It makes parenting feel so rewarding. And it's great to see their personalities away from each other. Goodbye summer! Hello holidays? Oh, no.

This Summer Thus Far...

This summer has been really nice so far! The weather seems a little cooler than most summer's which I love. I hate the heat! We haven't done too much. We've only been camping once, with the exception of girls camp for me! Hopefully we can get in a few more trips before school starts next month!

Stella's last day of school! She's officially big!

Fairview Rodeo for the 4th of July. Feelin' the American Pride!

Sweet neighborhood fireworks! (Can't complain. We didn't pay for them! And the kids loved it!)

Tristan is now riding his big boy bike!

Lots of trips to our local library. Keeps our summer educational and gives us something to do each week.

A little nature walk at Strawberry.

A pretty overlook of Strawberry on one of our evening drives.

Tristan's big catch. He thought it was a whale, but it was this big umbrella! He was pretty proud. And it was the only thing we caught that afternoon.

This was a rainbow/sunset I saw leaving the library last week. It was so bright and pretty. Luckily I had my camera with me so I could capture the view. It only lasted a few minutes, but it was amazing! God is great!