The end of 2011

I know I know, it's shocking to actually see something new on here.

Well, I started these posts months ago, but didn't finish them, and since I'm determined to keep up on this blog I decided to finally finish and post them. Even though nobody cares what happened to us WAY back in 2011. But since I use this blog mostly for journaling, here they are.

OCTOBER IN AN ACORN!

October is one of my favorite Months of the year!!! It is so full of sights and sounds and smells that just get me so excited.
One of the SIGHTS we saw was a Utah Utes football game. I love to go to at least one game with Brandon, and it's even better when they win. I love to bundle up in my red attire and cheer on the best team! Go Utes!

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One thing that I've done for the past 3 years is take the kids to Pack's Pumpkin Patch, to pick out pumpkins. I always take them on one of the UEA days and we spend some time picking out Pumpkins and the kids run through a kid's haymaze they have, then we go get lunch. It's been such a fun tradition, I don't know what's going to happen when I eventually plant my own pumpkins...?

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After our fun Pumpkin Patch outing, the next day we drove down to St. George with some friends and neighbors, The Hellewell's for a UEA weekend of fun! Of course, it's all fun and games until someone breaks the cap off of their front tooth! And not just someone, ME!

Yes, I'm a dork and totally broke the cap off of my front tooth (it's actually called a 'composite', but I've had them on my two front teeth since I was like 10). Anyway, I had to go the whole weekend looking like this...

Sorry about the nose shot-SCARY!

We actually went down to St. George to see The Little Mermaid at Tuachan. It was such a fun show, and really cool the way they did the special effects and everything. The stage had actual water running on it, raining on it from above, and the characters moved around on those Healy shoes. It was really cool. We had such a blast, and the weather was nice and the theater was awesome!

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Okay, so of course, October cannot come without a little fun halloween decor right? Well, last year I filled bottles, old jars and pretty much anything I could find with scary apothecary items, such as Witches' Wart, Toadstools and Love Potion #9. It was so much fun I HAD to do it again, and I added a few more items to the display, such as a Hocus Pocus Spell book, a very lifelike skull and a few other little things. Have I mentioned that I LOVE Halloween?

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This year for Halloween Brandon and I were Han Solo and Princess Leia. We couldn't talk the kids into being Star Wars characters with us, but they were cute too. Natalie was Clawdeen Wolf, one of the Monster High Dolls characters, and Sam was SpiderMan, complete with muscles and all!

CRAZY NOVEMBER!

November was quite a busy month. Between me spending countless hours with Alice in Wonderland, Natalie being IN Alice in Wonderland, me being in Guitar lessons (have I mentioned that I started taking Guitar lessons?), getting my front teeth replaced with veneers, seeing the midnight showing of Breaking Dawn, Dash almost dying then going into surgery to have a stuffed animal removed from his intestines, Celebrating Thanksgiving AND a Piano Recital, it was certainly a crazy month, but we had a little time to stop and be thankful for all that we have!

All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth!

IT'S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR!

OUR DECEMBER

Well December seemed like it came so fast, and that wasn't the only thing that was fast. On December 1st, Davis and Weber Counties were met with record high winds, some of which reached over 100 miles an hour. Our Neighborhood was hit pretty hard, but luckily no one was hurt. The schools were closed and we lost power for a day, so the kids and I decided to go down to my parents house to stay the night. Our fence ceases to exist now, which stinks, and our yard looks like a junk yard, but things could've been worst. It was amazing to see the people in our neighborhood and Ward giving so much service to each other.

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For our 11th Anniversary this year, Brandon and I had a really fun night together. First we went to Tucci's for Dinner (our favorite Anniversary spot), then we went and saw the Nutcracker Ballet at Capitol theater. We fancied ourselves up and had a REAL date night. It was a blast!

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I'm and AUNTIE again! Well actually a TIA~which is Aunt in spanish. My newest niece Isabel Marie was born on Dec 18th at 6:01 am. She was born at 4 lbs 8 oz, and 17 inches long. Yes! She came early. My sister in law was only 33 weeks and 5 days along. Talk about a scare, but from day one Isabel was a fighter. She was in the NICU for almost 2 weeks spending her first Christmas there, but she was eating and breathing on her own for the majority of that time. She's such a cute little peanut and I'm so excited to have another niece to spoil!

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Sam had his winter sing at Challenger and it was so cute. The kids had little scarves on and sang fun wintery songs. But the best part was Santa Clause...well not for Sam it wasn't. He heard Santa coming and ran and hid under the legs of some random lady. She was cute and let him stay there, until I came over to find him. I thought he'd be okay with the big jolly guy this year, but I guess I was wrong. Oh well, it was cute!

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Our Christmas this year was an emotional one, and a little bitter sweet also.
We woke up bright and early to open gifts, the kids were so cute, and in awe of everything and of course, spoiled like they always are. Then we got ready and went to church. There was such a wonderful spirit at church. The choir sang songs and a few ward members were invited to come up and bear their testimonies, including a few members who have had pretty sad hardships throughout the year. It was a wonderful way to spend our Christmas morning.
When we came home, we changed and got ready to go to my parents house, but before we left I got a phone call from my Oma telling me that my great-grandmother had passed away that morning. It was a little hard to take in that she had passed away on Christmas, but also such a blessing since she'd been waiting to go.

When we got to my parents house Dominic and Sam were there with Scarlett. Mark, Kelly and the kids were there and Grandma and Grandpa Mattena and cousin Chris. The kids were so excited to see what they got at Oma and Papa's and as soon as they could, they were tearing through presents. Scarlet was so cute, she didn't much care about the presents, she just wanted to climb all over the boxes.

After Oma and Papa's we went to Grandma and Grandpa Harden's for a little bit, then back to our house where we met Grammy and Papa Dave and opened more presents, and ate some dinner, then we went to the hospital to visit Josh, Kenzie, and Isabel.

It was certainly a memorable Christmas and one that wont soon be forgotten!

Whew! I hope that tided you over for now. Look for our next installment of blog posts in about another 6 months!

September in a nut shell

One thing I love about September is that we go up to Snowbird every year for a family reunion. We have a condo and we eat and visit and then go to the Oktoberfest. It's the crazy German side of my family, but I love them tons!

For the past couple of years we have taken a family picture at the same spot. This year we thought we'd be a little BOLD in our wardrobe. What do U think?

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It always seems like I'm waiting around for my Birthday, but this year it came so fast.
We went to Dinner at Tucci's with my parents, my grandma and Dominic, Samantha and BB Scarlett. It was yummy, and lots of fun. We love Tucci's because it's really never busy and the staff and owners are amazingly friendly (watch for Tucci's to come up in December -it's our Anniversary spot too).

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I decided that I was going to help produce yet another Farmington City Jr. play again. Auditions were in September and the play is Alice In wonderland Jr. The play is a fun kind of upbeat version of Alice, we have a ton of kids, but it's so fun to be a part of it all again.Of course I've been crazy busy with it, but it's a blast. Natalie got the part of one of the Flowers-Violet. She has a few lines and she is ecstatic. She also sings The Golden Afternoon song.

Natalie is the far left flower.

Adventurous August 2011

After the tragic accident that took the life of a young man in our ward and neighborhood on July 30, life seemed to go at an incredibly slow rate at the beginning of August. But then, amidst the sorrow for our friends and neighbors, we were able to celebrate on August 11, when our friends Sarah and Stu Reeder were blessed with their first baby. A little girl that they named Hannah. She is so stinkin' adorable and such a blessing to Sarah and Stu.

More celebrating was to be had that same weekend when my oldest and dearest friend Mandy went through the Temple with her husband Scott. Then the next weekend they took their children, Sydney and Max, to the Temple to be sealed as a family for Eternity. Mandy and I have shared so many of life's milestones together, and what an amazing feeling it was to be with her as she embarked on another one. Congrats Donavan Family! Love you Mandy!

It's crazy how you wait all school year for summer to come and then in a blink of an eye it's over and "back to school."
I'm speaking for the kids of course, and YES, it was KIDS going to school in our house this year.

Samuel is finally in Preschool and loves it! For a kid who is so full of life and energy and curiosity, school is the perfect place for his little mind and body to be-even if it's only for 2 1/2 hours twice a week.

Natalie on the other hand has NOT been excited about school this year. The pic below shows how she was on the first day of school. I bought her brand new shoes for school and "somehow" when she put them on, on the first day of school, they didn't fit right. Talk about drama over a pair of shoes. Then it was all downhill from there on out...and that's almost how it's been everyday since. I'm not sure what's going on with her, and why she's being so grumpy about school this year, but I hope it passes soon.

As if sending the kids to school wasn't crazy enough, we decided to go on a little weekend getaway with our neighbors (the Marshalls, Goffs, Zeiglers, & Biesingers) down to the Utah Shakespearean Festival the weekend of the first week of school. Ahhhh! Well, for Brandon and I, it wasn't much of a weekend, more like a day trip because he had to be back to fly out to Vegas for work. It was a bit a of a whirlwind but we had fun anyway. We drove down Friday the 19th and had tickets to see Noises Off! It was a hysterical play about what goes on while in the production stages of putting on, and during a show. That night we drove down to St. George and stayed in the Zeigler's parent's house. It was such a beautiful house, complete with swimming pool, and Saturday morning, while the guys went Golfing, us ladies stayed behind and lounged in the pool (I promised I wouldn't blog those pics ladies-so I didn't)! After the guys got back and swam for a bit, we all got ready, ate lunch and headed back up to Cedar to see A Mid-Summer Night's Dream-one of my favorite Shakespeare plays! After that we all went to dinner at Lupita's Mexican Restaurant, which had an amazing salsa bar and even better Chimichangas. Mmmmm I want one right now. Anyway, after dinner Brandon and I headed back for home (I told you it was a quick trip).

The singing, dancing and acting camp that Natalie attended over the summer had two performances on August 23rd and 26th. The first one was at Bountiful Music on a tiny little stage that the kids barely fit on. It was very hot in the room and the music kept skipping every time the kids danced. The one on the 26th was at Cherry Hill and it was on a cute little outdoor stage. The kids performed their show and their solo songs that they'd worked so hard on over the summer, and Jessie Clark Funk (their teacher) performed some songs also. It was a beautiful night and a great little performance by the kids. Natalie had such a blast over the summer doing the things she loves best. Acting, Singing and Dancing! Not sure where she gets that from... ;)

On August 27th me and the kiddos went to the Federal Heights Rehab & Nursing Center for an Alzheimer's Fundraiser. Our Neighbor Pete is the Executive Director of the facility and we went in support of him, and of course, the cause. There was much fun to be had, including bounce houses, a "boxing ring," booths with lots of fun things to buy, carnival food, and Natalie's favorite-a rock wall. She and I took a turn climbing the wall. I was able to get to the top (in bare feel of all things) and Natalie made it up about half way. She kept freaking herself out and repelling down. It was a lot of fun, and a great day to spend time with our neighbors, Pete, Ashli and their son Boston. All for a good cause!

It was a pretty exciting end of August for Sam. He got to finally play soccer, and to our surprise...is really good at it. He dribbles the ball well and is kind of pushy (at 3 years old we still have to tell him to be nice, but one day that aggression will be good for him on the field). His team name was THUNDER and they were really cute boys. He had such a blast playing, and we really liked Tuesdays because it meant Sam slept really well that night. I'm hoping to find an indoor soccer league to put him in for the long winter months. That would be a win win for everyone!


Ahhhh, well that was a look at our Adventurous August...one of these days I'll blog within a reasonable amount of time, and maybe avoid this month-by-month blogging thing....then again maybe not!

OUR JULY!

Well apparently I'm blogging by months now, since that's about how long it takes to upload my pictures, make digital pages and get them on here! So without further ado, here is a look at what happened during the month of July.

Natalie has spent this summer in the Ivy Performance Academy. It's a summer program for kids to help them learn skills in vocal technique, acting, basic dance and performance. They have been practicing a small play and even got to go to a studio and record their voices with the minus tracks that they'll be singing in their show! The classes are taught by Jessie Clark Funk (who happens to be a favorite at our house) and she is so cute with the kids. She even got the kids to walk in the Farmington Festival Days Parade this year!

After the parade we went over to our friends (the Biesingers) house for a Luau and to watch the Farmington City fireworks. It was a fun night with ymmy food, volleyball, homemade Ice Cream and s'mores! I didn't get pics of the Luau, because we were having so much fun...so you'll just have to take my word for it that it was a blast.

Our cute little German friend Tini was in town during July and for Mom and Dad's Anniversary we went to...Yes you guessed it, Bucca Di Beppo. It's become our tradition when the Germans are in town and/or for Mom and Dad's Anniversary-sometimes they happen to coincide.

On July 30th we were invited to our neighbors daughter Lily's Birthday Party, which was up at Pineview Reservior. We had so much fun playing in the water, eating yummy food and having a great time with our friends and neighbors.

The night we had gotten home from Pineview was a very surreal night for our Ward and Neighborhood. We had found out that 7 of the youth in our Ward had been in a very serious accident, and one of them had past away. His name was Gabe Hanson and he was 15 years old. He was such a cute kid, who was so funny and full of life. His family is amazing and such great examples to me. Gabe's older brother Cooper was my trek brother when I went to trek as an "adult child" 2 years ago, and his little sister Daisy is in my primary class. They also have 3 other boys too.

Gabe was well know for being a goofball and always wore these pink Vans shoes. At his viewing and funeral SO many people had on pink. Vans, Converse, church shoes. Girls had on pink shirts and dresses, guys had on pink ties. They were even giving away pink wrist bands to all who attended the services. It was such an outpouring of love and support to the Hanson family, and to Gabe!
Two of the other youth in the car, were taken to the hospital and one of them is still recovering from her injuries. The other four have emotional injuries, but all of these kids have become so close since going through this tragedy together. It has been amazing to see all of the youth in our Ward come together and take care of one another. My heart is still aching for the Hanson family and their loss and my thoughts and prayers are constantly with them.

Ear Piercing and an Infomercial

I was just thinking that I posted this on Facebook but I didn't post it on here...oops!

While at the Mall (Fashion Place-which I haven't been to in ages) we were walking around and went into Claire's (or whatever it's called now) and Natalie said, "I want to get my ears pierced." Just like that. So we picked out a pair of earrings (do you KNOW how much they charge for those things?) and she got 'em done. She kind of freaked out right before the girl did the first ear, and cried a tiny bit when it was all done, but then as she looked in the mirror, she was all smiles. It was a pretty big deal for her, and me, since she's kind of a chicken when it comes to things.

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Oh, while I'm talking about this it reminds me that the whole reason I went to the mall was because my neighbor Ashli had saw some "Feeling Cheeky" mini cheek tints by Benefit on Good Things Utah and wanted to get some, so we went all the way down to Sephora for this stuff, and I'm not kidding you...I LOVE IT!

There are 3 "mini" bottles in this set ($15). Two of them are the cheek tints, and one is a highlight cream. The posie tint is a pink cheek tint that gives your cheekies a nice sun-kissed look, and the bene tint is a darker rose tint that gives you color without looking like a clown. The high beam is creamy and you use it at the top of your cheek bones and brow bones and it gives you that fresh glow and brightens up your eyes.

Wow, I sound like an infomercial and really I'm not telling you to go out and get this set...because I have used them almost everyday this month and I'm feeling like mine are getting used really fast because they are in such little bottles (like a very small bottle of nail polish), but I am saying that I've found a whole new love for cheek tints and will definitely be in search of more.

Okay, now that I've babbled on about that...

I'll go!

4th of July!

Every 4th of July our neighborhood does a BBQ at the end of our street, and of course, this year was no exception. A few neighbors wheeled out their grills and we cooked up some yummy BBQ, while loading our plates with side dishes and desserts! It was a nice time to just be with friends, and neighbors. Since this year the aerial fireworks were permitted (crazy), we had a pretty great firework show right above our heads!

Even though it's stinkin' hot outside and we've actually had a bit of humidity, I still love the summer! I love parades, sticky popsicles, night time walks with the kids and dogs, luaus, pool parties, summer rainstorms, fireworks, BBQed hamburgers . . . and just basking in the sun (with sunscreen on of course)!

It's the time of year that takes forever to arrive, and yet it flies by so fast, if you don't take a moment to enjoy it, you might miss it! So stop reading this and go outside and jump on your trampoline with the sprinklers on-if you don't have a tramp, well then just run in the sprinklers!!!

July 2, 2011

My friend Mandy's daughter Sydney was baptized on July 2, and Natalie and I drove up to Logan to say hello and celebrate Sydney's special day.

Mandy and I have known each other our whole lives, and Natalie and Sydney only really met each other in May, but you'd think they've known each other for their whole lives too with the way they've became little buddies.

I wish we lived a tiny bit closer so we could see each other more often, but Natalie and Sydney email each other and are planning a "hang out" day before they have to go back to school!

It's crazy that it's been well over 20 years since Mandy and I were Sydney and Natalie's age, causing mischief and mayhem almost everywhere we went! Where does that time go?