We
made it through another year and this one seemed to fly especially fast. Why?
Let’s say it all together: Time flies
when you are having fun!
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| @ the zoo |
We had fun times in our van listening to “The FoxSong” and looking for “cheese car!” (Yellow
cars) All on the way to the very successful Stewart Family Reunion we were in
charge of; Bear Lake for a "fun"tabulous Thanksgiving with Josh’s family; to and
from 3 different schools (preschool/elementary school/middle school); the Hogle
Zoo; swimming pools; visiting family and friends; picking up my niece to
babysit (she loves that fox song); and other various, fun activities around the
Utah Basin .
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| The view from our cabin at Bear Lake |
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| While at the cabin, I put all the girls hair in rag curls and painted their nails with turkeys and snowmen. |
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| Family Sk8ing Trip karaoke included! |
All
five kids had fun times taking turns playing on the iPad and our phones their
favorite game, MineCraft. They really
bond over that game, so I don’t mind it too much as long as they spend plenty
of time doing other things like chores...
We also bonded this year playing games, singing together, reading at
night and putting a new effort into having Family Home Evening even though Josh
can’t usually join us because of his work schedule.
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| Easter |
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| In and Out Lunch with the cousins! |
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| Herriman Beach aka Blackridge Reservoir |
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| Mustache Monday at Chick-fil-A |
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| Having fun using the zoo membership my sister, Jessica gave me for my birthday! |
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| All wet at the zoo! |
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| @ the Pumpkin Patch |
We had a fun time with our pets this year enjoying as
much as we could the last days with our beloved kitties. They had to find new homes because we
realized Tyler had developed quite an allergy to them. We still miss them a lot, but Tyler is more
comfortable at home now and that makes it worth the sadness. We still had fun with Danielle’s bun-bun,
Izzy, our fish and had 3 reptiles join our family- two lizards and one Russian
Tortoise. I think next year’s fun
should be a tortoise and hare race. :)
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| One of the last days with our black cat, Kiya. |
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| One of our last days with our cat, Maia. |
Samuel
(5), our youngest, has been fun for all of us this year! When we have fun, he
has fun; joining in with his laughter whenever we laugh. He also makes our lives fun when he takes it upon himself
to entertain whomever is around with a loud, funny sound or pointing out
something that amuses him. Now that he
is a bit older I am more likely to take him out in public and he is quite the
little people person! He loves flirting
and making friends with cute girls of any age, has no problem striking up
conversations with random people and basically has a neighborhood girlfriend. He seeks connections with people he doesn’t
know and also those in his family; relishing any attention and communication he
can get out of us. He is a true
youngest child in that aspect. Love the
one on one time I get with him and miss him when he is at preschool. Every day he says he “hates” preschool and
church even though he willing walks into both with a confidence and purpose of
which many adults would be jealous and walks out of both with a smile. He
learned how to pedal his bike with training wheels. He thought he was the coolest kid when he got to
play Tee-ball this year for the first time with his cousin, Luke. He has fun playing with and talking about his
favorite “huper seros” Batman, Spiderman, Superman and Captain America. He has grown up so much lately and I love
the stuff that comes out of his mouth. My most recent favorite was right after
the Christmas tree was up and decorated he said, “Where’s the presents?” Then
looked around and said, “Mommy, YOU put them under there!” Nice try Mr. Bossypants.
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| Samuel's Art |
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| Samuel misses his cousin when we aren't watching her at our house. |
Samuel's 5th birthday cake!
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| Baseball Brothers |
I
really enjoy having two boys next to each other in the family. It does have its
own challenges, but Benjamin, (7)
our active, bright and smiley boy is such a nice brother and that helps so
much! He was even given quite an appropriate nickname by his mixed martial arts
teacher. He calls him, Tae yang, which
means sun. That’s exactly Benjamin. With his highly competitive nature, energy, flexibility
and coordination he is tearing it up in the Little Dragons program and has quickly
progressed to green stripe. At the
beginning of next year he will graduate from Little Dragons and move right into
the official MMA classes as an orange belt.
He has so much fun in his mixed martial arts classes. He also got to play baseball with his cousin,
Matthew, this year. He was even singled
out by the coach to pitch a couple of innings.
We have fun watching the athleticism in Benjamin. He is doing well with all- day school in
first grade; even winning honorable mention for his Alex the Lion drawing he
entered into the school Reflections contest.
This past year the Pokémon bug moved from Tyler to Benjamin and I now take
Benjamin to play the game at the local Pokémon league at Game Haven. He also has so much fun with his friends and
asks me practically every day if he can play with one of his many buddies.
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| Benjamin shows off his flexibility at Little Dragons. |
One
of his many buddies sometimes ends up being one of his siblings like his sister,
Cassidy (8). J In Cassidy’s case the quote, “The more things
change, the more things stay the same.” is a comfort to me. While she gets ever taller, smarter and more
grown- up looking, Cassidy is so sweetly sensitive and ever still the
entertainer. Having so much fun singing
whenever/where ever she resulting in being asked to sing in public. J
Her classmates chose her to sing in her school talent show and she sang in the
school choir this year. She rarely shows fear in front of a crowd, so she stood
out in the musical theatre group she was part of this year and this fall she
auditioned and was cast in Anne of Green Gables the musical as Minnie May. She has so much fun doing shows! I’m not
gonna lie I had fun curling her hair and applying makeup just for performance
nights. We also put her in some voice
lessons to help refine her obvious talent.
She has fun at school and really enjoys her teacher. (All of my kids
have great teachers this year!) Instead
of her usual music composition entry in the school reflection contest, Cassidy
entered 3D model and still won honorable mention! She was baptized into the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints almost a year ago in January. It was one of the few times this year Grandpa
and Grandma Stewart were able to drive up from Arizona to visit and stay with
us. It is endearing to me to peek in on
her at bed time and see her reading on her own.
Cassidy's Baptism Day
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| Samuel and Cassidy hanging out |
Reflections 3D winning entry and school talent show number "Call Me Maybe".
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| Dressed as an orphan for musical theatre class number "Little People" and sorry, but I loved this cat costume so much and her expressions, I couldn't pick just one... |
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| Tyler loves animals so much. |
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| A great day at school! |
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| Pinewood derby 3rd place! |
Tyler
(11-year old scout) is another of my readers and his 5th grade
experience has been completely opposite of 4th grade. Thank.
Goodness. He is doing well and being
responsible in school and gets along with other students. He has grown up so
much in 2013. He cares about his
appearance, scent and reputation. He
prefers touting longer hair lately which in my opinion adds to his preteen
look. This year has been more fun with
Tyler because I choose to let it be more fun; looking for ways to connect with
him and laugh with him. He is much
easier to reason with and because of this we can talk about the behavioral
choices he is making for the bad and good resulting in a happier boy, mommy and
family. Another pivotal, fun activity
that has matured Tyler this year was his enrollment in the Mixed Martial Arts
program I mentioned earlier with Benjamin’s summary. Just since February, Tyler has already
progressed to a green belt and now gets to learn weapons training. He has developed good form, strength, focus
and has fun with the games (namely dodge ball) there. We can’t believe how much stronger and more
athletic he is compared to last year!
Needless to say it has increased his self-esteem immensely. Do I sound like an advertisement? Yes, I
have already written a review for the MMA studio. Putting Ben and Tyler in this MMA studio has
been one of the best things we have ever done. When he isn’t at school or MMA
he fills his time with various science fiction or fantasy movies (Hobbit,
LOTR), TV shows (Dr. Who, StarTrek Voyager), computer games (StarCraft) and
riding his bike or scooter all around the neighborhood to see friends and
explore. He also loves playing strategy
games namely Chess and Stratego and is pretty dang good; thinking multiple
moves ahead to win. We have so much fun
with this clever, oldest boy of ours!
Stillwater Lodge Lodgings
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| Playing around with a display at Desert Star. |
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| On Top of the Rock with the Empire State Building as our view. |
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| I was honored to speak at my niece, Zoe's baptism. |
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| Justina, the Bride, and I. |
That Muse concert was seriously one of the best
nights of 2013. I love Muse…anyway… I am
going strong as a vocalist in a Utah 80s tribute band called, Channel Z. In 2013 we did 29 gigs and won the Daybreak
Battle of the Bands. It was a great year for Channel Z. I have also sung for a couple of acoustic
gigs. Really enjoy stretching myself
musically in new ways. I helped build
some set pieces for the musical the girls did and between that and MMA I had a
pretty busy fall. I got to take a fun, overnight trip to Vegas
with my friend, Keri, to see the wedding of our band leader and I got to help
with another friend’s wedding too as matron of honor. I had a lot of friends
get married this year. 2013 was the year
of LooOOoove! I also had many, many fun
times because I got to perform with the West Jordan Instant Musical Players
again this year! Yeah, we make up
musicals on the spot with suggestions from the audience. I am grateful to the helpers in my life,
especially my sister Jessica, so I can have such fun times! I get to babysit her daughters to pay her
back a little bit. I love having them
around and I love that my kids get to have them around. They are sweet, sweet girls. I feel grateful for my church calling
teaching Relief Society once a month and I love substituting in the primary
occasionally. It’s just right. I am so grateful for my children and husband
who make life worth living and give me ultimate fulfillment.
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| Trying out this acoustic thing @Terra Mia in Orem. |
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| I have too much fun painting my nails. |
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| Channel Z Band Family Photo |
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| Vegas Trip! |
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| Made a few cakes this year... |
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| Cassidy and Daddy |
Then there is the man of the family, Josh. He works two jobs right now (Verizon Tech
Support and FedEx Express), so that I can stay home, raise our children and
take care of the business of making a home.
He teaches the church’s Elders Quorum once a month. We lost his grandpa Dalton this past
year. We miss him and his new wife Betty
who moved from Utah to Washington after his passing. He has had fun picking basketball back up and
enjoys finding new and old music to introduce the children too. In fact, he was
one of the prime suspects in getting the children hooked on “The Fox
Song.” I don’t know how he finds the
time or energy to help out around here and play games with the kids, but he
does. Family, immediate and extended, is important to him and I am grateful he
enjoys being around my family too. He
got us on a feasible budget this year and makes sure we stick to the plan he
laid out. In 2014 he starts a new
schedule at work (4 days of 10 hours with Fri, Sat, and Sunday off) that will
shake things up a bit and maybe next year’s annual letter will be different.
Who knows? That’s the exciting thing
about a new year!
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| He dressed up as a Strong Man for Halloween this year. |
Having fun with the kids on Father's Day.
I, for one, look forward to seeing what 2014
bring. More spontaneous snuggles, hugs
and I love yous from my children. No
doubt I will be blown away again by how much they will grow next year, many
more fun times and undoubtedly we will receive more blessings from our Heavenly
Father than we can count. To our family
and friends, near and far, we wish you many fun times, happiness and
blessings! Thank you for being in our
lives. Merry Christmas and Happy New
Year!
Josh,
Amy, Danielle, Tyler, Cassidy, Benjamin, and Samuel Dalton
Samuel
(5), our youngest, has been fun for all of us this year! When we have fun, he
has fun; joining in with his laughter whenever we laugh. He also makes our lives fun when he takes it upon himself
to entertain whomever is around with a loud, funny sound or pointing out
something that amuses him. Now that he
is a bit older I am more likely to take him out in public and he is quite the
little people person! He loves flirting
and making friends with cute girls of any age, has no problem striking up
conversations with random people and basically has a neighborhood girlfriend. He seeks connections with people he doesn’t
know and also those in his family; relishing any attention and communication he
can get out of us. He is a true
youngest child in that aspect. Love the
one on one time I get with him and miss him when he is at preschool. Every day he says he “hates” preschool and
church even though he willing walks into both with a confidence and purpose of
which many adults would be jealous and walks out of both with a smile. He
learned how to pedal his bike with training wheels. He thought he was the coolest kid when he got to
play Tee-ball this year for the first time with his cousin, Luke. He has fun playing with and talking about his
favorite “huper seros” Batman, Spiderman, Superman and Captain America. He has grown up so much lately and I love
the stuff that comes out of his mouth. My most recent favorite was right after
the Christmas tree was up and decorated he said, “Where’s the presents?” Then
looked around and said, “Mommy, YOU put them under there!” Nice try Mr. Bossypants.
I
really enjoy having two boys next to each other in the family. It does have its
own challenges, but Benjamin, (7)
our active, bright and smiley boy is such a nice brother and that helps so
much! He was even given quite an appropriate nickname by his mixed martial arts
teacher. He calls him, Tae yang, which
means sun. That’s exactly Benjamin. With his highly competitive nature, energy, flexibility
and coordination he is tearing it up in the Little Dragons program and has quickly
progressed to green stripe. At the
beginning of next year he will graduate from Little Dragons and move right into
the official MMA classes as an orange belt.
He has so much fun in his mixed martial arts classes. He also got to play baseball with his cousin,
Matthew, this year. He was even singled
out by the coach to pitch a couple of innings.
We have fun watching the athleticism in Benjamin. He is doing well with all- day school in
first grade; even winning honorable mention for his Alex the Lion drawing he
entered into the school Reflections contest.
This past year the Pokémon bug moved from Tyler to Benjamin and I now take
Benjamin to play the game at the local Pokémon league at Game Haven. He also has so much fun with his friends and
asks me practically every day if he can play with one of his many buddies.
One
of his many buddies sometimes ends up being one of his siblings like his sister,
Cassidy (8). J In Cassidy’s case the quote, “The more things
change, the more things stay the same.” is a comfort to me. While she gets ever taller, smarter and more
grown- up looking, Cassidy is so sweetly sensitive and ever still the
entertainer. Having so much fun singing
whenever/where ever she resulting in being asked to sing in public. J
Her classmates chose her to sing in her school talent show and she sang in the
school choir this year. She rarely shows fear in front of a crowd, so she stood
out in the musical theatre group she was part of this year and this fall she
auditioned and was cast in Anne of Green Gables the musical as Minnie May. She has so much fun doing shows! I’m not
gonna lie I had fun curling her hair and applying makeup just for performance
nights. We also put her in some voice
lessons to help refine her obvious talent.
She has fun at school and really enjoys her teacher. (All of my kids
have great teachers this year!) Instead
of her usual music composition entry in the school reflection contest, Cassidy
entered 3D model and still won honorable mention! She was baptized into the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints almost a year ago in January. It was one of the few times this year Grandpa
and Grandma Stewart were able to drive up from Arizona to visit and stay with
us. It is endearing to me to peek in on
her at bed time and see her reading on her own. 
