Top 10 of '10

Sorry for the FB redundancy, but I have to post these pictures here. 

Goal for 2011:  take more pictures of my family.

Back them up, print them out, scrap them, blog them, fb them.

We'll see.

So how many FHE's did we have like this in a circle on the floor?  Pretend the house is immaculate.

 On our way to visit Grandpa & Grandma Levie,

we showed the kids the Hoover Darn...

I remember being very bored with the Darn,

but realized it's because I grew up driving over it

every time we went out of town. 

My kids loved it!

 How many times did I find the kids playing like this, lining things up, assigning names & roles to inanimate objects & bonding like crazy in our UNfinished basement, which I never even took note of.  Until my wonderful Dad finished it for us.  Now the picture looks so funny!

 I do not have to explain how much Diaper Independence can mean to a parent.  This is one of the best highlights of the year. 

Way to go, H&K!!

And the bravery of my UNedited post of this picture, when I was so puffy I had to cut my rings off, is astounding. 

But I cannot leave out this event. 

And now I look different.  I need to get that on camera, too. 

We'll see.

Jeff is a hero for taking the kids to Moab without me.  He let me sleep & bond with Connor for 4 days right after he was born... and the trip would not have been possible without the ever amazing Keri, who went with them.  Thank you so much, Jeff & Keri!!!

My awesome Dad turned 60.  Kimmy made the greatest cake with a gun on it (complete with silver barrel - did we really eat that?!?  It was amazing, Poely!), indicative of his favorite pastime/hobby. 

 I love you, Dad!

Sweet Morgan was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the true church of God restored to the earth as it was in ancient times.  I'm so happy he's worthy to have the companionship of the Holy Ghost, to comfort & guide him in his life. 

This is my online journal for our family, so let me be sappy.

Miranda was already T-or-T-ing with her friends by the time we took this picture of the Ninja, Hiccup, princess ballerinas & Astrid. 

It was the coolest Halloween night so far!

All 7 of them together, waiting to see what Santa brought downstairs... through the chimney; the little 3 inch vent thing behind the gas fireplace.  One of the best memories was Carlie joining our secret club.

Happy 2011!  It's already flying by!

The end of the first decade of the century/ millennium

Hiccup & Toothless!!



The drifts in the front yard are impressive.



Miranda & Carlie throw a party with their friends













And we close out the decade with some good snow play:







Goodbye, 2010!  Thanks for the good times, and the baby!!

Not a creature was stirring; well, maybe a gecko

We have the annual Westfield Christmas Sing







Miranda performs in her Christmas concert



Grandma & Grandpa come over early before they leave on vacation to give everyone their gifts.  =)









The kids go out and build a snowfort:



Lucy is going to stay with us while G&G are out of town.  =)



The gifts gather & collect up here for safe keeping

Everyone's had their bath

(and here you're to pretend it's not laundry day

and they all have their coolest pj's on for Cmas Eve pics)

And we put the presents under the family tree








We read the Christmas story by the tree
with Cmas music playing in the background.

And Christmas morning!

New pj's & robes, waiting for the moment of release!

Just a couple highlights:

Waiting for the penny to drop.

This was wrapped, just like all the other presents...

2 crested geckos.

As soon as they realized, Derek yelled,

"WE GOT LIZARDS!!!" with his lisp.

They have been so fun, living on my bathroom counter

& playing with Jeff & me each night.

Now to trust the boys with these little cuties.

Carlie had an HP Christmas.
While wearing her time turner necklace
& Gryffindor scarf & hat
and sitting on her Marauder's Map pillow
by her D.A. bag & wand,
she discovered her Firebolt.

Oh, and the coolest thing happened on Christmas Eve: Carlie's world turned upside down. Yep. We had put all the kids down, and Miranda was down helping to fill stockings. I decided on one of my trips upstairs to stop in her room and ask her what she was thinking... just in case. Finally, after talking for a while, she asked me The Question. "Do you really want to know?" I asked. "No. .... Okay, tell me." After going back & forth like that for a while, I told her that the Secret of Santa was that you get to create magic for kids by being Santa. And that in our family, if you keep the Secret, you get to help be Santa. She was smiling, but you could hear her mind whirling around and tumbling & crashing, so I brought her by the hand downstairs, where she witnessed Jeff assembling with his tool box, and Miranda stuffing stockings. I said, "Guys, someone's joined our club," and they ran up and hugged her. She was such a fun part of our Christmas Eve, calling out realizations: "You mean back when...." "But that tracking system online!" "I watched so many movies to convince myself!" etc. It was so cute. Then we had them get in bed, so they could still have surprises. Miranda said Car had some tears when they were in their room. Of course; she just hurdled a painful milestone. But I wouldn't have had Christmas Eve any other way.
I hope your Christmas was warm, worshipful, safe, and fun. I can't wait to read & see!

Thanks November

November is always so awesome.  We have 2 birthdays, Thanksgiving, and we get to start preparing for Christmas.  It's pretty amazing.















Taking a picture of Connor in front of our Welcome Home sign before we recycle it.  We left it up for 5 months!

Breakfast in Sleepout: