Christmas 2010

It was a crazy Christmas this year! We moved into our new house on December 18th. The days leading up to Christmas were filled with packing, moving, and unpacking. I tried to tell our kids that our present this year was our new house! But they still got a few presents under the tree.

They got new pajamas on Christmas Eve.

Here are some of my favorite shots from Christmas morning:




Here are the rest!

Fun with hair

Recently, I've discovered the world of "hair blogging". People do fun, cute hairstyles on their girls, and then post step by step instructions on how to do them. I've got two cute girls with fairly long hair (and I love to do hair!). Here are some of the cute styles that I've done.

The spider web. Emma was supposed to wear black to school (they wear different colors when they learn about them). It was near Halloween and I thought it was the perfect time to try out this style. It took a while, but she liked all the comments she got.



Hearts! I can't wait to try something like this for Valentines day. So cute (and really easy).



A fun updo - it turned out so pretty and elegant.

Here's something simple I did on Rachel. She prefers the very simple and more grown up styles. Right now she catches the bus at 6:59, so if I get a chance to do her hair, it's usually Sunday.


Here's Emma in some Curlformers. I love these curlers! So easy and it forms a really nice spiral curl. Here's the after.

Some of the blogs that I get ideas from are:

www.cutegirlshairstyles.com
www.princesshairstyles.com
www.babesinhairland.com
www.girlydohairstyles.com
Have fun!

New House

I'm sure that most you know by now that we have moved into a new house. Here are some of our favorite pictures of it (when we walked through it). I'll have to post some more when we are fully moved in!

Here's the front. We really fell in love with this neighborhood and the location of the house - lots of trees, lots of privacy, and it's at the back of a cul-de-sac.

Here's the view from the back.

Here is more of the back yard.

Kitchen

Dining

Windows in great room.
We can't wait to get all settled and put our stamp on it!

Caramel Apples

We love the fun apples from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. When we were invited to a Halloween party and asked to bring a treat, we thought we would try our hand at making some. Let's just say I appreciate the beautiful apples in store window a lot more now. It's harder than it looks! We melted the little caramel squares, but next time I think we will try and make our own caramel. I think the store bought caramels are too soft - a lot of the caramel and toppings slid down the apples. We actually sanded all the apples to begin with so the caramel would stick better. Aaron was the mastermind behind most of them and he did a great job! They were pretty yummy as well.




Even though some of them didn't turn out exactly liked we planned, I think they were a hit!

Halloween pictures

We had a fun Halloween this year. Because it was on a Sunday, we got to participate in a fun Church party and do a "trunk or treat" around the parking lot. We had a little Alice in Wonderland (classic style).

A policeman

A medieval "lady" (not a princess...)

And a Satyr (half goat/half man) - specifically Grover from the Percy Jackson series

The kids had a lot of fun playing games and getting some candy. It was a fun celebration!

Josh's Birthday and Baptism

Our sweet little Josh turned 8 this year. He has been wanting a skateboard since Christmas eve (when he told me that's what he wanted for Christmas). He was very excited when he found out that was what was in the big box.



He's gotten pretty good at it! I'll have to take some pictures of him cruising around the back patio. Even though he wants to ride it to school, I'm not ready for that yet :)

He wanted a Spongebob cake - which was pretty easy because he went and found one of his toys to put on top.



A couple of weeks later he got to get baptized by his Father. I did bring the camera but when I started to take pictures I realized that the battery was still at home in the charger. The cell phone had to do....

Josh and Aaron


The kids


Josh and his Grandparents


The whole family


We are so proud of Josh for making the choice to be baptized!

First Day of School

The first day of school comes around early here! David and Josh started on August 4, Emma on August 5th (kindergarten always starts one day later), and Rachel started a few weeks later. She is going to a Charter school and they have a slightly different schedule. The kids were all ready and excited to start school.

Josh was excited to start 2nd grade and have his same teacher that he had in 1st grade.


David is ready for 5th grade.


I had to embarrass them by taking their pictures at school.




I can't believe Emma is really 5 and starting kindergarten! She still seems like my baby.


Here's Emma and her second cousin who are both starting school this year.


Here is Emma and her new teacher, Mrs. Pharris. I don't know what that look on her face is - she really is excited and happy to be starting!


We decided to try out a charter school this year for the 7th grade. Rachel gets to wear uniforms this year, which we are both excited about. No more trying to figure out what to put on each morning! Some of the kids don't like it, but I'm glad that Rachel does.


The kids are all doing well and loving school.

Summer Fun

We had a great summer this year. We started out the summer with Amanda and the kids taking a trip to Utah to see Amanda's family. We had a lot of fun visiting with family and going to Lagoon for some amusement park excitement. I think I must have forgotten my camera because sadly, I have no pictures.

Later on that month, we went down to New Mexico for the annual 24th of July celebration. The kids had fun at the parade.





And made sure to gather up lots of candy.


Ran in the foot races and played lots of games.



We sure had a nice time being with family this summer!