special night

Our school's Father/Daughter Dance was this weekend. Ellie's first.. Austen's last... and the ONLY one where they would all be together.

Poor Corey definitely missed out! He had to teach a statistics class that night, which left my two princesses without a date.... Thank goodness that Papa was available to step in! (He leaves for India today!) Austen actually has attended several of these dances with her Papa, and was thrilled to be able to continue the tradition.

They came home BURSTING with excitement about how AWESOME it was. They had a wonderful time and Ellie told me that she can't WAIT until next year. I wish I could have seen them twirling and giggling, but moms are not allowed! It's strictly daughters, dads, and papas, of course.

family

One of the unexpected advantages of living by my parents is that everyone come to visit Fresno! We love this, because we absolutely love seeing our family, and I love that my kids ADORE their cousins! They get SO excited when they hear that someone is coming...

This past weekend, we were able to see all the cousins on my side... they just couldn't get enough of each other... it was a quick visit, but we had a great time just enjoying being together. A little family GUITAR HERO WORLD TOUR was one of the highlights!!! :)

Piano Recital

I had my piano recital this weekend. This is my group of talented students. I really love teaching all of them... they are awesome! :) Fresno Piano is so great to let us use their gorgeous recital hall. Austen and Noah did a fantastic job, and it was Ellie's first recital! (she was adorable) I just LOVE the feeling when it's all over with... it's such a high! (notice how HAPPY everyone looks!!!) Enjoy!

Weekend at the cabin...

We spent the weekend in Shaver Lake with the gang... we've been going up twice a year since 2005! We all LOVE it and the kids LIVE for it... they have already started to ask when the next trip is. What do you expect when the weekend is filled with good friends, good food, non-stop giggling, games, movies, guitar hero worldtour, and, of course, SNOW! We spent 2 days playing in it.. It went way too fast, and we can't wait for the next time!

SUNBEAM

Our little Aidan is officially a SUNBEAM! He went to his first activity on Saturday, and his first time in Primary was today... he was a little wary... he LOVED nursery and isn't quite sure he wants to leave. It's also during naptime, so lots of luck to the Sunbeam teachers this year! He told me after church that he liked Primary, but that he would probably cry next week when it was time to go. I bet he won't. It is a little strange to be ALL DONE with nursery... I've got all four kids in primary for the next 5 months...
















I couldn't resist posting this picture... Ellie apparently lost her pillow and found Noah to be a good substitute. Don't they look so sweet??

Utah!

We loaded up the car after Christmas and headed to Utah for our nephew's wedding. The week was packed with tons of fun... a family Christmas party, snowboarding for 2 days for Corey, a cousin sleepover, bowling, Temple Square, the Planetarium and a YUMMY lunch with the Ekins, a crazy fun New Year's Eve party at the Calls, lunch with Grandma Ekins, shopping and a manicure, HSM 3 at the dollar movie, and of course, the wedding, the luncheon, and the super fun reception. We never stopped, are exhausted, but SO glad we went and spent the week with family. It doesn't get better than that! We miss everyone already. THANKS! Can't wait until our next trip!

CONGRATULATIONS BJ AND CRYSTAL!

Merry Christmas

Christmas was perfect!




























Nana made us a festive dinner to celebrate our "Christmas Eve" together. All the foods were Danish and Delicious! Then we started Christmas week going to the snow... it was beautiful and the kids were in heaven... a little "White Christmas" in California.





























The next day we got together with friends from BHS... and their kids! It's a blast to see them all play together... they're all adorable, of course.





























And Christmas Eve and Christmas Day we spent all day together. We were so glad Nana and Papa could join the festivities. We ate, saw Christmas lights, delivered goodies, watched movies, played games, listened to Christmas music NONSTOP, opened presents, played with toys, read the Christmas Story, and enjoyed the magic of the day. The excitement and anticipation is truly contagious, and I am grateful to my children for passing this along to all of us.






























Merry Christmas to all...

Weekend of fun....

The fun continues... we hosted our 3rd annual Christmas Party (we had 50 friends over... so much fun!) The Callaways also joined us for the weekend to play. We went to the Nutcracker Matinee on Saturday (Nana's fun treat for the girls), and had a "Christmas Eve" complete with the Christmas Story acted out last night. The cousins are playing non-stop, and Britt and I are sitting with our Macbooks scrapping and blogging as fast as we can. We are headed up to the snow tomorrow... I love Christmas!!!!! (the HUGE tub of freshly baked sugar cookies in the kitchen is definitely contributing to that festive feeling, too!!)

All I Want For Christmas...

ok. I really don't have time to sit and scrapbook, but I just couldn't help myself! We've had SO much fun and taken SO many cute pictures! You can click on these pages to see all the details... especially the missing teeth! :) It's been a busy week, and the next two are even crazier, but it's all good.... we're busy making memories! We hope that everyone enjoys the month! It's going way too fast....

It's December...

I love this time of year with all the fun traditions. The school programs are a highlight for me... it's so fun to watch the kids perform the songs they've been singing around the house for weeks. Noah and Ellie did a great job and were quite adorable, I must say.

Our Elementary School does a "Mother & Son" dance every December... it's a busy month, but this is a "can't miss" event. Noah and I have a blast every year. I always promise during one dance to copy WHATEVER he does, and let me say that it gets a little CRAZY. (yes, I had to slide across the cafeteria floor and then "shoot" with my finger as just ONE of the delightful moves he came up with... trust me, he's very creative!) There are quite a few gals in the ward with sons, and so we met for dinner, and also caught up to some at the dance. This made it even better... more is always merrier!! :)

Really, how long is Noah going to want to go and boogie with his mom? I hope that it lasts a long time, because I loved every minute of it!