It's Great To Be Eight!

William has been so excited to turn eight. In fact, he has been planning his birthday party with friends for years. First we were going to have a Star Wars Party, but that was quickly eclipsed by the outdoor Sports Party. Well, his birthday approached, the weather began being unpredictable, and I have been feeling tired as of late, so the party turned into a minimal planning but super fun Pizza, Movie, and Ice Cream Sundaes Party! It was quite an experience taking William and his 4 best buds to the opening night of The Lorax. Despite the craziness I think it was a success!


Two days later we celebrated his actual birthday as a family!

This past saturday (March 17, 2012) William was baptized by his father. It was a very special day, one I (and hopefully William : ) will never forget. Two of his friends gave the prayers, Grandma Freeman gave the talk on baptism, Grandma Packer gave the talk on the Holy Ghost, Papagator and Bompa were the witnesses, and he was confirmed by Dan with his uncle Matt, great grandfather Freeman, both his grandfathers, the bishop, Bryce Wadell, Cameron Richins, and Brandon Neal standing in the circle. The sweetest part of the baptism was the special musical number by William and Cicialy. They sang "Love is Spoken Here" and it was precious. I am so proud of William and the decision he made to be baptized. Our friend Christa who is an amazing photographer brought her camara and took some pictures for us!

A Time For Giving Thanks

I have never had to cook a Thanksgiving meal! Don't get me wrong, I have contributed to many a feast, but this year was the first time in my entire marriage that I was confronted with the possibility of having to put on a Thanksgiving meal all by myself. We no longer live near Dan's family and with my parent's having moved to Scotland it seemed inevitable that I might actually have to cook a turkey. Luckily, our friends invited us over instead, and I was spared for one more year. I did make the rolls, pumpkin pie, apple pie, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and a veggie tray though.

Cicialy's Kindergarten Thanksgiving play was precious. She was a little pilgrim girl and memorized her part perfectly. I am still not sure why her teacher put black spots all over thier faces. They kind of look they have small pox or something!

10 Years

On November 16, 2011 Dan and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary. We decided to leave the kids with some friends and take a three day trip to New Orleans. We stayed at a great bed and breakfast in the garden district, ate amazing food, toured art galleries in the French Quarter, rode the trolley out to Audobon Park, shopped Magazine Street (thanks Dan!), and because I love Dan so much we spent a few hours at the National WWII museum.

What We've Been Up To

We've been busy! I love being busy! Weston started preschool twice a week (the only downside is that every 5th week it is my turn to teach). Cicialy turned 6, got a new bike, and learned how to ride without training wheels. I am shuttling William, Cicialy, and other neighborhood kids to and from the elementary school frequently. Since the weather has finally cooled down a tad we are biking, and I love it! Cicialy started taking soccer and is really quite good for a beginner. She has scored several goals but is even better at assisting other players in getting goals. Whenever her best friend Kara makes a goal she runs over to her to give her a hug. It is so sweet. William is loving Kung Fu. I have starting running with friends 3 mornings a week after dropping the big kids off at school and doing toning/cardio videos together the other 2 days. I never thought I would say this but I am actually enjoying running! My Stake encouraged the sisters at the General Relief Society Broadcast to read the Book of Mormon by the end of the year. They passed out a schedule that included scriptures to mark each day, relevant quotes, and thought questions. I am really enjoying this as well. Below are some random pictures from the last few months.

Hogwarts Invasion

I have spent the last year reading the Harry Potter series to the kids from start to finish, so for Halloween all the kids wanted to be characters from Harry Potter. William was Harry (which was great since that was his costume last year), Cicialy was Hermoine, and Weston (in his own words) was Draco "Moufboy". They looked great, especially thanks to the homemade wands whittled and carved by Dan. I was a little sad that Cicialy wasn't something a little more spectacular (I pushed for Sacajawea with William and Weston being the explorers Lois and Clark) but realized I needed to set my own feelings aside and let her make the choice. The kids had a great holiday!!

First Day of School

School has been in session for three weeks now. Cicialy is loving kindergarten! She has the best teacher, and two of her very best friends are in her class as well. William also has an amazing teacher. I am excited for the growth both kids will experience this school year. Cicialy will keep busy with hip hop, jazz, ballet and soccer while William has started martial arts. Here are a few pictures from thier first day of school.

The Wedding We Had All Been Waiting For

The main reason for going to Utah this summer was for Andrew and Tawni's wedding. We were so excited when they finally got engaged on Christmas Eve! Tawni loves bright colors and so she had all the boys in bright colored ties (our family's color was orange) and all the girls in pillow case design dresses that her mother made. The kids loved dressing up and feeling like a special part of the day. The night before the wedding we had a fun BBQ in the Packer's back yard! Here are some pictures from the two day extravaganza.