2011 Summary

Man, I have not blogged at all in 2011! Impressive, but not in a good way. Seeing that my last post was pretty much a year ago exactly, is so sad. Last December I decided to go back to school and the majority of my free time has gone to reading textbooks (snooze).....an exciting adventure, none-the-less. For the sake of keeping some record in one post, I will give a run down of what we have been up to!
Starting today and working my way backward....
I finished my last final tonight, so I thought I'd get started again.

I finally got my camera out to take pictures of my sweet kids in front of the Christmas tree (before the ornaments shift anymore- courtesy of little hands). This first picture I owe to Pinterest- We got our house with a double sided fireplace, which we love, but it has our floor tile surrounding it (which we're not fans of). One day we will wrap the entire wall in rock work, but for now my wonderful and crafty hubby built a simple and beautiful mantel in about 2 hours. Stained and hung (impressive, right?). The simple chalk board above was and idea I saw on Pinterest and I got it for under ten bucks - (thank you hobby lobby- I love you so!) I had so many sparkly Christmas decorations, it added the perfect simplicity to the stockings and bay leaf garland.



After 10 Christmases of real trees, I gave up and bought a pre-lit Christmas tree! I love real, but couldn't get my trees to survive from the day after Thanksgiving to Christmas day (they ended up looking like they were about to spontaneously combust).

Here are my three little cutie pies/stinkers!

I got to take Mia to Disney on Ice and it was such a fun little date with my friend Ashlee and her daughter, who's Mia's age.

My Little Mac Buddy turned the BIG 3!!! He had a donut "cake" since he loves them so much. He is such a busy little guy- he is hilarious too! Right now he is really into Batman/Superman and monster jam trucks. I was dreading potty training him so I waited til after Disney World and he was so easy! He only had a few accidents, I'm amazed at how well he has done!!


Here is my sweet little monkey boy, Sloaney!


Here are Mia and Mac all hopped up on sugar, after a busy night of trick or treating!




My Mia Girl turned 5! She got her first "friend" party and it was a blast!




My parents took us to Disneyworld and we had the best time ever! It was one jam packed week of crazy fun! We are trying to make plans to go back- ASAP! (well, once the boys are a little bigger) It was truly the trip of a lifetime.1


I turned 30! It seems old, but I DO have 3 kids and have been married 9 years, I guess it's not that hard to believe. I'm thinkin' my 30's are gonna be even better....


My sweet Grandma passed away. I will miss her, but I'm happy she get's to be with her sweetheart, finally. I'm so glad I got to see her quite a bit over the last year. She was an amazing woman and someone I could always turn to.

My dear friend, Holly and her wonderful boys came and stayed a few days with us! We had such a blast! We got to spend some quality time together, but it just wasn't enough.

Holly asked me if I wanted to do a half marathon with her and the Stephenson Family, in memory of her husband/my friend growing up, Trevor. I'm so glad that I did! I went from anti-runner to finisher (not fast- that's for sure). I enjoy making time to get in a 5 mile run, enough to drop an arm and a leg on a new jogger (early Christmas present).


Jeff's friend from college/high school got married to a really cool person! So happy for these guys!!!

This picture is such a good summary for where our life was at Easter time. A little out of control, but fun!

Stationery card

Classically Yours Christmas Card

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A White Christmas

We had a mellow Christmas at home and we really enjoyed watching the kids open presents. They were so facinated by each new present, it was a lot of fun! The favorite presents were: Mia's Jessie Doll (from Toy Story) and a dolphin pillow pet. Those were the 2 things she asked Santa for for Christmas, so when she got them she knew he listened! Mac loved his little Lightning McQueen and 2 other pullback cars and his police car- he lived in that thing for a month.

Sloaney loved all of the other kids' toys and his little weebles!

We are loving where we live! The view could not be better and we have the nicest neighbors/ward!




We went to see my Grandma Ruby up in Rexburg, she just moved into an Assisted Living home. She is so great and has been one of the most active grandmas I know! I admire her so much and the many ways she has served and lives her life.

Mac is 2....very 2!

Mac is now 2 and you would definitely know that if you spent 5 seconds with him. This boy is on the go from the moment he wakes up until bedtime. He is obsessed with any toy car (he sleeps with 3-5 of them), the movie, "Cars", driving in the car, driving pass other cars, saying the word CARS and even daddy's truck ;). He does not stop, and will only pause if he's strapped to his car seat or high chair. I'm a little confused as to how I got such a high energy kid!? Haha! He is such a little goober and we love him like crazy! He is always making us laugh and is seriously, so funny. Good thing his face is so cute, it saves his little hiney (Literally)! He adores his big sis and will cling to her if he's scared when the babysitter comes and he just loves his baby brother and always shares his food with him and gives his head kisses/licks (gross, I know). Having such busy little boy makes me want to build a toddler size hamster wheel to use up some of that energy....did I say that out loud?


He was so funny when he ate his cupcake, he picked it up started sucking the frosting and in a few minutes he had sucked the entire cupcake through the top without removing his lips once! Such talent!

Fall

New Pictures!

I finally wiped the dust off of my Nikon and took some pictures of the kids. Mia is my cheesy little poser and always has a smile for the camera. Mac, on the other hand, is hard to capture (think "wild goose chase"). I did get a couple of his cute little face though!




Sloan was napping while the I took the other pictures, but here he is in his chair with his typical face- a sweet little smile! This little guy is such a sweet little chill baby. We love, love, love him so much! Half of the time I don't know when he really wakes up because he will hang out in his crib (with out making a peep) forever. He doesn't mind the carseat anymore so life is GOOD!


We went to the neighborhood park and they finally got a toddler swing. This is what these two LIVE for!


And here is Sloaney just hanging out.