2010 at an end

Year in review: 2010

Highlights of each month:

January: Morgan & I went to New York to celebrate her 13th birthday.
February: We took the kids on a cruise to the Mexican Riviera.
March: Logan was baptized
April: We went to the Mall of America with the kids, in Minnesota
May: Morgan's surgery, baseball and lacrosse.
June: Girls camp, potty training. :)
July: 4th of July activities, and lots of family time.
August: We went to Jackson Hole, and started school.
September: Volunteering at school, and Camden begins preschool
October: Matt took the boys to Legoland.
November: Dillon has surgery for kidney reflux
December: Morgan's play, Christmas, and a big birthday for Matt

Morgan's Party

For Morgan's birthday this year, she decided she wanted to have a party with friends in Salt Lake. We left around 1:00 and played Laser Tag, with Ashley, Elora, Hailee, Olivia, and Morgan. Afterwards we went to The Cheesecake Factory for dinner. After dinner we went to the mall and shopped. Actually, the girls had more fun being stalked by a group of boys, than actually shopping. It was probably the highlight of their evening, when the cute 16 year old talked with them and admitted he had been following them around. :) After shopping, we went to the Little America, to stay the night. The girls had really wanted to have popcorn, and had brought tons of microwave popcorn from home. However, with no microwave, they decided they NEEDED popcorn, so we left yet again at 10:30 to buy popcorn from a nearby movie theatre. Once we got back to the hotel, they sprayed all of their smelly sprays, applied lotion, and laughed and giggled. A LOT. I think it was after 1:30 when they finally settled down. What a fun party for Morgan though. She would rather spend time with her friends, than just about anything else, so this was the perfect fun night for her. They are a good group of girls. Now, if I can only make it until 1:00 again tonight.

For some reason they were obsessed with buying pillow pets???

Happy 14th birthday Morgan

My beautiful daughter is 14. FOURTEEN! Wow- it's hard to believe she's been around that long, and yet I hardly remember a time without her. Fourteen years ago my dreams of becoming a mom came true. The most beautiful girl ever born was placed in my arms. She has made me so happy. I am proud of her values, her self confidence, and her growing testimony. I love her witty sense of humor, and her acceptance of others. I love how she sings in the shower, and is a great friend to others.


She is beautiful and kind and loving. I love hanging out with her, and talking and laughing with her. Happy Birthday my favorite 14 year old daughter! :)

Matt's Big 4-0

Today is my sweethearts birthday. I have been teasing him for the last 120 days or so. He has been receiving emails from me counting down the days until he is old. It's all in good fun, since I am 48 short weeks behind him. :) I wanted to list 40 things I love about Matt. I could list a lot more, but I will save those for when he's REALLY old. :)

1. thoughtful
2. generous
3. funny
4. ambitious
5. sweet
6. hard working
7. great dad
8. worthy priesthood holder
9. smart
10. kind
11. considerate
12. good at giving gifts
13. honest
14. trustworthy
15. spiritual
16. knowledgeable
17. not a picky eater
18. never talks bad about anyone
19. family oriented
20. gives great massages
21. helpful
22. strong
23. courteous
24. fun
25. good listener
26. creative
27. adventurous
28. flexible
29. not a baby when he's sick
30. tenderhearted
31. genuine
32. friendly
33. inclusive of everyone
34. clean
35. witty
36. humble
37. great teacher
38. gentle
39. non judgemental
40. perfect husband!


Not one of these qualities is embellished or made up. He is such a good man. I love him so much and am so grateful every day for him. Happy 40th Matt!

Matt's birthday "party"

Matt REALLY didn't want a birthday party. Believe me...I called venues, and caterers, etc. He begged me not to. So I told him we wouldn't have a party. However, I couldn't deny FAMILY members for coming over to our house to have dessert, right? We celebrated the night before his birthday, so we could go out to a family dinner on his actual birthday. We had lots of family over, and lots of treats. Cake, ice cream, cookies, and various candies in jars. The kids were in sugar heaven. My kids really wanted to decorate and make a big deal about it. So for our "get together"....it's not a party remember.... we decorated the yard a little. Morgan spray painted the snow, and we hung our signs. I am sure Matt was not real pleased with the attention he got, but he appeased us and was a good sport about it. Love you Matt!

Christmas

I probably say it every year, but it's hard to believe that Christmas has already come and gone. It takes so long to prepare for the big day, and within such a short period of time, it's over. It seemed to be a much more laid back and relaxed Christmas this year.

On Christmas Eve, we went to the kids rooms, to make sure they were getting into bed and Dillon was crying. Matt asked what was wrong and he said he was singing "O Holy Night" to himself, and he had the most overwhelming feeling of the spirit that he's had, since the day he was baptized. He said after that, the presents just didn't seem as important to him, so he wasn't as excited for Christmas morning. It was so cute to see his sincerity, and something that brought a lot of peace and happiness to my heart.

Camden had a rough night. Not because of excitement, but a nauseous stomach. He seemed fine going to bed, but woke up in the night and threw up right on Morgan. She had wanted to sleep in Camden's room, so she could walk down with him in the morning. It didn't turn out so well for her, so we all had a lack of sleep that night.

The morning came, and the excitement had returned. They were sad to see our Elf, "Elfie" to leave, but excited to see that Santa had come.



Favorite gifts included a Kindle for Morgan, the AT-OT Lego Dropship for Dillon and Logan, and for Camden his tool bench.


We also got 2 new family members. A black guinea pig named Midnight, and a tan/white guinea pig name to be announced. (Possibly Cinnamon.) The kids were thrilled to have a pet, and Mom is trying to get over the fact that she has two rodents living in the house.

All in all it was a great Christmas!

Too many activities!

Things have been absolutely crazy lately. I know Christmas usually seems to be full of lots of different activities, and stress, however, I have been REALLY feeling it this year. I hate feeling like that! WIth the play, boys basketball practices, singing performances, Christmas parties, getting ready for Christmas and two birthdays, young womens, which has been extra busy this year, etc. I have been stressed out by some family members situations, too. I am so thankful for my sweet husband! He really is the best. I was so stressed out, and my house was a mess. I do not function well in a messy house. I get ornery and I hadn't had a chance to clean it up. Matt saw that I was stressed and first of all gave me a blessing- which I didn't think I needed, but it was the best thing I could have done. Then, he took some time off his busy work week to stay home and clean the house. I really don't deserve him. I have felt so much better since then, and have resolved to not get so crazy next year! (Remind me next year of that, please!)

Preschool

Camden loves Julianna, and he loves preschool, too. Look at the cute little reindeer :

With the sun shining in their eyes!)

Misc.

Just a little bit on what we've been up to lately. I was in charge of the combined young men's/young women's activity. We played "Where's Waldo" in the mall. We had different ward members dress up in disguises and the groups had to find the "Waldo's" and receive tickets in order to turn those in or a prize at the end. They loved this activity! It was nice to have the mall a little busier, because it made it a little more difficult to find ward members. I had made cake pops and put them in bags with some other treats and a quote for each person. It was kind of time consuming to make that many cake pops, but it was fun, too.

Morgan has also had several concerts this month as well. She was chosen for a solo in a couple of them, and did wonderful. I know I probably am a little biased....but I think she has a beautiful voice. I love her confidence and listening to her sing. It sure is a great way to celebrate this season, listening to choirs sing Christmas music. After the concerts, tradition has become to go to Yogotogo. For some reason, I end up taking a ton of teenagers there, and get to hang out while the rest of the Kaysville Junior High packs in for frozen yogurt and socializing. They really are a great bunch of kids though- so I won't complain!

Polar Express

Our ward had a Christmas party of the primary age children. They went all out, and the kids had a great time! The theme was the Polar Express. Of course, the kids wore their PJ's! They had a trolley (Polar Express) pick them up on the corner. (Each group had an assigned time and corner to meet.)
They had a conductor punching tickets, and when we arrived at the North Pole (Church) the kids were greeted by Santa's helpers. They were led into a room where Mrs. Claus read them a story.
Afterwards, they ate a sugar filled breakfast, then got to meet Santa, where he gave them a bell.

Afterwards, they had crafts, coloring and candy canes. The trolley then took them back to their assigned stop. It was darling, very organized, and well planned. The kids had tons of fun!

Guys and Dolls

Morgan was in her schools production of Guys and Dolls. She worked so hard at this, and I am so proud of her! It was extremely time consuming, but she loved every minute of it. She was in the mission band, a waitress, and a flamingo dancer. She was in tons of scenes, and had every line of that play memorized. She was born to act. When she tried out, she tried out for the lead. She was one of the only 8th graders who got a call back. They gave the part to someone else. However, the director ran into her and told her that she cast the other girl, since she was in 9th grade. She said she really had wanted to give it to her, and that she had better try out next year for the play. Of course that made her day!
Anyway, the play was a success and she was sad when the whole thing came to an end. The week was a long one, every night Monday-Saturday she was practicing, or performing until 10:00 p.m. She did great! The whole production went very well, and it was hard to believe it was a Junior High play. Now she wants to find an acting company to get her fill of acting, until the next school play. Great job Morgan!!

Busy

I have not had a minute to sit down lately, let alone write in my blog. So to catch up the first part of December: Morgan has play practice every day but Sunday. Dillon and Logan's basketball practices have started. We've had parties, sickness, doctor appointments, Christmas shopping, homework projects, and birthday planning. I will catch up on blogging when we get a minute to breathe around here! :)