Back to Blogging in 2011

So I thought that I would start blogging regularly the last time I blogged. However, I was still behind and didn't ever get completely "caught up." So when I finish this entry I will be caught up and hopefully will begin adding to the blog more regularly. Life has slowly been looking brighter and brighter and I feel to rejoice in all the good things in it. So I couldn't just skip the first part of the year, but had to do another overview of the beginning of this year. So here goes, hope you enjoy the brief summary of our year so far.
Our year began with snow! Yes this is the only snowfall we had this year, but we all loved it. It happened on January 3rd which was supposed to be the kids' first day back to school after the Christmas holiday. They got a day off and really enjoyed it.

The snowman.

I just love this picture of my girls.

Don and I went to San Diego for the weekend and stayed on Coronado Island.
We had a blast being together.

Our room at the Marriott.

Holding parrots at Seaport Village.

Sunset at the beach.

Morgan turned 8!
So we had a party!

We ate.

Sierra did face painting.

The kids made silly hats.

And had a lot of fun.

Morgan opened all the gifts from her friends at the party, but had to wait until her actual birthday on Sunday to open her family gifts. She loved getting her own set of scriptures.

Morgan with all her loot.
Then Caden had his birthday and turned 10!

Caden's loot!

Sierra got a camera for Christmas and loves taking pictures and experimenting.
I thought this was a pretty cool picture.

These 3 choreographed and performed a dance to the Lady Gaga song,
"Just Dance". It was very entertaining.

Connor looking cool!

I got my room painted and new bedding.
I just need to get stuff up on the wall now--still!

I really like the color. It makes the room so calming, and I NEED that!

In March, Caden was a palace guard in the school's production of "Aladdin".
He had a lot of fun, but said he's not sure if he'll do drama next year.
He says it depends on what play they do.

I went to work a catering event with a friend the night of April 2nd.
When I got home, the kids had cleaned the house and decorated my room for my birthday.
It was really sweet of them, and I was really surprised.
What more could a mother ask for?

In May, Sierra got to go to the Temple for the first time.
She was so excited and I was grateful I got to go with her.
She got to do the work for some of my ancestors which made the trip really special.

Sierra's pet rat Coco died in May. She was SO sad.
Then she convinced us that she need a new pet.
So we welcomed a couple of guinea pigs to our family.

Here is Sierra with Cleo.

And Caden with his pet, Ella.

Sierra and her friends being really silly!

Sierra got to go on a school field trip to Medieval Times.
She had a really good time,
and was named the "Queen of Love and Beauty" by her knight.

Then Carson was a weed in the kindergarten play,
"How Does Your Garden Grow".
He loves being COOL.

Pinewood Derby time!
Don and Caden made that really cool car.
Caden calls it his Harry Potter car.
On the side of the car is the Deathly Hallows sign.

The tradition of doing the mother/son cake decorating is a big hit at our house.
We had a lot of fun decorating this race track cake together.

At the derby they had all the fixings for the little guys and gals to make edible cars.

Here's a look at my future pinewood derby-ists.

Then on June 4th, Morgan was baptized.
She was so excited and happy about it.
It was a very good day for us.

Here is Morgan with her best friend Hayzlee who was also baptized that day.

Our happy family.

Carson made this funny hat for the Kindergarten hat parade.
It was really fun to make with him.
The pom poms and eyeballs were his ideas.

We think this is the best hat we've made for this parade.
For Father's Day we went up to Grandma and Grandpa's house.
There we had lasagne for dinner and then made ice cream with a crank machine.
It was a lot of fun to MAKE, but much more fun to EAT!

I love this picture of Caden. He looks so happy!

And this is my favorite photo from that day.
What could be more precious than a child's hug?

This year, we don't have any big plans for summer, but we are taking time to do a few fun activities. One of those we went to the public library for one of their free activities--Tie Dying!

Each of the kids tie-dyed their own T-Shirt.

As you can see, it was a fun thing for everyone.

Here they are with their friends and their T-Shirts.

Playing at the park.

One afternoon, we went to the pet store to look around.
And the owner allowed the kids to sit on the floor and hold the pythons.
They thought that was pretty cool.

Connor kept trying to convince me that we needed one of them for a pet.

I'm not opposed to snakes, but they cost $150 each.
We left them at the store. :)

A trip to Laguna Beach on July 2nd was really fun.
Connor kept calling it "Lagunia Beach" and keeps asking to go again.
The kids had a blast digging for sand crabs.

"the BIG one"

All of us at the beach.

July 8th, Sierra turned 13!
Wow! I can't believe she has grown so much.
She is a beautiful young lady and we are glad she is a part of our family.

We had fun playing "Pin the Tail on the Donkey".

Yes, even I played! But the spinning made me dizzy.

Sierra enjoyed all her gifts which included the bright orange soccer ball,
a curling iron, colored fondant, and fondant shape cutters.

With her new cake decorating materials she made this wonderful beach themed cake.

And those, my friends and family, are the highlights of the first 6 1/2 months of the year 2011. Hope you are all having a wonderful year...