First Gymnastics "meet"

I've mentioned that we've started gymnastics around here a few times. And it really has been the VERY best thing for her! She was already a monkey on everything, but now she that is getting instruction on how to tumble properly, there is really no stopping her! In a very short period of time (like 4 months) she is doing cartwheels like a pro! (and don't be surprised if you see her doing them just about anywhere!) When she gets the urge to cartwheel, it must be done!

So throughout the class, the kids were preparing for their "routines", just like at a real meet. I couldn't believe that kids this young could really remember a "routine" but sure enough they did. They each did a bar, beam and floor routine. She's been a bit timid with the bars, so when the other girls were doing their routines, she got a bit intimidated since she's never been confident enough to transfer to the high bar. But by the time all the girls did theirs, she was ready to do hers. So proud of her for not giving up and doing the best she could do!

So after the tears at the bars, her teachers decided to let her go first on the beam (which is by far her favorite apparatus....which TERRIFIES her dad!) My favorite part was her dismount!

The floor routine was great! They started with a backwards roll, then went into a straddle roll, then into a cartwheel, then a "tabletop" (which is like a back bend), then they "galloped" over to do a handstand, then they each put their arms up when the finished! So cute!!





It took me awhile to find a gym that I really loved! I love that this is a "non-competitive" gym. They get "medals" at the end of the "meet" but there are no points or rankings. Which I felt was the best way to get the basic tumbling skills down! Plus there is plenty of time for "competition" if she decides to pursue this! But right now, it is the best thing for her! And I love seeing her excel! She was even invited to a special class that will help push her and help her confidence!

My baby is FIVE!

Even though this happened a few weeks ago, I'm just getting around to posting about her birthday and party! She was MUCH more aware of her approaching birthday, and as soon as we were finished with Christmas, she wanted to know if the next day was her birthday! It was a TOUGH 3 weeks to wait! (I guess that's the payback I can give her for making me wait 3 weeks for her to FINALLY arrive!)

She'd been talking about having an "Ariel" birthday all year long, so I thought I had the plan all ready to go. But then she threw me for a loop, when she told me she wanted to do "Princess Tiana" from the new movie "Princess and the Frog". I did a quick internet search, and found that I would need to order the party supplies, since none of the local stores carried them yet. I showed her a few "princess and the frog" cake ideas, but since most of them were "frog" cakes and NOT "Princess Tiana", she just wasn't buying what I was trying to sell. So off we went to the bakery hoping to find an option there. Sure enough we found a bakery that would do a lovely airbrushed cake with a "Princess Tiana" on the top! Score! (And it made it SO much easier for me!)


She even helped me plan the party games. We had lots of "frog" games to choose from, and it was tough incorporating the "princess" side of it into it, but with Nikelle's help, we found lots of fun games to play! And this was the first year that she participated and didn't throw a fit when she didn't win, or get to go first, etc...etc. (What a relief!)





When it was finally time to open her gifts, she was more than ready....in fact, she was ready before we were, and had one package almost unwrapped before I had turned around!! She's definitley figured out how to unwrap!





And here is a quick review of the past year of her!



There are days that I am just plain exhausted, and she wears me out, but I am so grateful she is a part of my life! Just wouldn't be the same without her!

Introducing baby {H}

It was my great privilege to photograph this adorable angel! He was absolutely PERFECT! He grunted and squeaked when we would reposition him, but then he settled right in, and slept, until the next time we had to move him.

So here is a quick peek for you Amber!

















Thanks for allowing me to come over and play with your little guy! See...all the stress was totally worth it! He's absolutely beautiful!

Christmas 2009

While I know I might be a BIT slow getting around to Christmas, my goal this year was to FINISH my Christmas pictures before I was dealing with birthday pictures! Over the past 5 years, I've seriously neglected my Christmas photos, which is silly cause it's the ONE day I take the most pictures! I think I just get overwhelmed with SO many to choose from, I just don't even know where to start!

But I was determined to DO something with my pictures this year, instead of load them onto the computer and look at them! So I've been busy scrappin all my fun memories from this past Christmas! So even though I know it might be past Christmas, and you may not be interested, I just wanted to share! (And Mom, I know you NEVER care how late I post the pictures!)

Here are the kids waiting to come downstairs. I actually had to go down and wake up Donvan. Nikelle was up and her light was on, when I first heard Carissa peeping! Guess I know which kid was the MOST excited for Christmas!


And here was Carissa discovering EXACTLY what she had asked Santa for!


Carissa had the whole unwrapping thing ALL figured out this year!


This one is a two-pager just showing all of her loot! (I don't think I have enough storage for all her stuff yet, and she has her birthday this week!)



And while I can see that it looks like Carissa was the only one opening anything, the big kids did have a few to open. But how exciting can new socks be?? They did get some CD's and DVD's they wanted. And I will be scrapping theirs later this week. I was mainly trying to get Carissa's Christmas done before the party! But here is a sampling of a few "lovely" gifts that they received. (NOT approved by me of course) I'm including the journaling....cause it really does deserve some explanation!


I’m not sure why my sweet husband struggles every year. I’m sure it has something to do with the way he was raised. But that is a story for another day! I beg him to not try to shop for the kids, and to take them with him when they shop for me, but somehow, he always sneaks in a few “questionable” “gifts”. Last year, it was food items he gave to the kids. This year I told him he was NOT allowed to give any gifts of food. Apparently, I should have specified, that ALL gifts needed to be cleared with me first!

As the annual opening of presents was winding down, there were two remaining packages from him, and I had NO idea what they contained. The kids looked at me with questioning looks, and I could tell from the outside, that they were indeed larger than a bottle of BBQ or fry sauce, and truly looked like picture frames, so encouraged them to be “brave”. Donavan was the first to unveil his. His face was one of utter confusion. And Andrew just stood there (once again) with his mischievous smile plastered on his face! On the top of the “poster” are the words, “Defense National Stockpile Center”. Then we hear a “What the HECK????” Before he would explain, Nikelle had to open hers up, which revealed a framed picture of former president George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. Sooooo, the story is that one of his clients was moving locations, and as they were cleaning out, they decided to NOT take these two pictures (treasures), and leave them behind AS GARBAGE! Being the “green” person that he is, he decided to bring them home and pass them off as “cool” presents. After all, the poster from the Stockpile Center, was SIGNED by the ADMINISTRATOR!!! (Ya, I’m serious, he really thought they would be “cool” gifts!) So the kids both politely declined displaying them in their rooms and invited him (maybe not so politely) to hang them in his office!

Maybe next year, he can follow my advice and NOT shop or SALVAGE any “gifts” at all!

And after all the whoop-la, and the mess is tidied (like it can ever be "clean"!) Carissa danced the day away in her new "Princess and the Frog" dress!



Now I just hope that I survive the BIG birthday!!! She was telling me for months that she just wanted to be four "forever" (Isn't that the Qeew-tist??) but now she is actually REALLY excited to turn 5!

Christmas Eve

One of my very favorite Christmas tradition is getting together with my sister on Christmas Eve. A few years ago, her sister-in-law made costumes to dress up for the nativity (something I should do to...but it's nice to have hers handy!) So we've been getting together for the past few years.




We usually have a simple dinner, and then it's time to pass out the outfits. We've been trying to convince the little ones to be Mary and Joseph for a few years now, but Carissa was never willing. This year she wanted to be a sheep again, and with some coaxing (for the magician Camille) she agreed to be Mary! So naturally Nathan was Joseph! Josh was less than enthusiastic about being the "donkey", but as far as speaking parts go, that one is the easiest! Last year we had the "3 wise guys" and this year it was the "3 cute girls" (unfortunately, no picture of the 3 of us!) Nikelle had to "girlify" her outfit with a cute flower and a big sparkly heart necklace! It was really cute! Donavan was a tough shepherd, and because this was the first time we've done it at my house, we had to scramble for the "gifts" to give to the christ child. Nikelle came up with a teapot, a play spice bottle, and a bottle of hand sanitizer!

Then after we read the Christmas story, we sing a few songs, and then we exchange gifts. I'm so grateful that I have some family here (even if it's only ONE sibling) we really enjoy getting together (which isn't often enough) and the kids all have a great time together! This is a tradition we did as kids as well, so it's been really fun to see them grow up doing this as well. What great memories! Hope everyone had a great Christmas!

The annual Christmas Letter

Now that Christmas is less than a week away, the letters have been mailed, the cookies are baking, the presents are getting wrapped, and I hope most of the shopping is FINISHED! (I still have groceries to buy for our dinner) But as we get closer and closer to Christmas, I wanted to be able to share our letter with everyone that I may not have a physical address for, and also to save a bit of postage and paper! So here is our Christmas letter for 2009! We hope you all have a wonderful Holiday season! (Thanks to Teresa for the AWESOME photos!!)



After I posted this, I realize that you probably can't read the text, so here it is!

This year, I decided to let the “big kids” contribute to the annual Christmas letter in their own words! Please enjoy their cute little words of wisdom!

Yo homies it’s Andrew and I graduated. This year I was in a movie so if you are San Diego, go check out the Mormon Battalion Film at the visitor’s center. Still doing the acting on the side while I work for the Feds (the only safe job currently under the wonderful Obama regime). We’re going green, we’re all wearing green shirts to save the planet. The kids are growing older and Salina and I are getting younger as we went to Disneyland alone for our anniversary which we did after we got sealed in the Temple. That was a wonderful moment to have the kids with us and the girls all looking beautiful. Carissa even behaved for the first time at an event. Well enough about me, the boy (soon to be man) wants to spew some philosophy.

Let me pilot these Yuletide greetings into a more seasonal light. This is Donavan. I’m a Taurus. I enjoy music and quality time with friends. I am preparing to graduate high school and am excited to start college. I plan on earning my Associate Degree of Arts, with emphasis in Musical Performance. The only really cool thing that has happened to me this year, besides the temple sealing, was my car accident. I was turning left at a yellow light when I got hit by a Ford Mustang going about 75 mph. It seems as if I’m living on borrowed time here, so I try and help whoever I come in contact with. I believe Christmastime is the best time to serve others. Remember the true meaning of this season. After all, you never know who you can affect.

Hey dudes its Nikelle. I’m now in the 10th grade. I still love acting but now I love volleyball and every girl’s favorite, make up! I am a total girl and love to do my make up and hair and go shopping!! I love to go on photo shoots with my mom, and practice being a model, and we are both getting pretty good!! I especially love to hang out with my friends, and enjoy doing things like mountain biking in the thick mud in the fields by my house! Hope you have an amazingly awesome Holiday and a rocking New Year!

You can see that I live with some real clowns, and they keep my life interesting! Carissa is almost 5 (in January) and she keeps things really interesting and dramatic around here! (As if having teenagers doesn’t!) She has begun a gymnastics class, and she is doing FANTASTIC! She is working on perfecting her cartwheel, and handstands! Her forward roll, she has down-pat, so she is working on straddle-rolls and backwards rolls! She is also in preschool 2 days a week, and she is learning how to write, and enjoys writing letters on EVERY piece of paper she finds around the house!

As for me, it always seems that life pretty much remains the same, but this year has found a few new changes and new hobbies! I continue to do the digital scrapbooking, and love every minute of it! I’ve started to get a serious about photography, and have been trying to learn as much as possible! And the biggest change is that I am the new beehive advisor, working with the 12-14 year old girls at church. I’m looking forward to the new year, and the opportunity to have many more changes. (Please refer back to D’s paragraph regarding college…yikes!!)

We hope this letter finds you all well, and enjoying a wonderful holiday season! We think of you often and wish we could see you all more often! Love to you all!

A whole bunch of cuteness!

I had the opportunity to take this adorable families pictures. With 5 kiddos, I expected a lively bunch, but they were SO well behaved and absolutely knew how to work the camera! And it was a good thing too, since it was FREEZING when we shot these, so we finished in record time! Thanks guys!! Looking forward to doing it again! (Or I just may borrow your kids for some modeling!)

Hope you enjoy them! I have NO idea how you're going to pick a favorite, since I can't even do it!