Goodbye 2010 & Welcome 2011!

It is hard to believe that 2010 has come and gone! We have been so fortunate and blessed this past year. We are so grateful to our loving Heavenly Father for looking after us and giving us so much to be thankful for. Here is a recap of our are many adventures and happenings from 2010.

Mark:

• landed an awesome job at the beginning of January for a small growing company as a Senior Technician. This job has really proven to be such a great learning experience for him
• called as the 1st Counselor in the Elder's Quorum in the Clearfield Branch
• loved being able to come home and just play with the kids
• called to serve as a Primary teacher for the CTR 5 class in our new ward
• went to a Jazz game and got to sit in the lower bowl (almost court side)

Sabrina

• started a new part-time job as a Ophthalmologist Technician. Worked there for 9 months and then was able to quite part-time work and be a stay-at-home mom
• loving being able to stay home with the kids
• started up jogging again and ran two 5k's in the summer
• called as the 1st Counselor in the Primary Presidency in the Clearfield Branch
• made lots of new friends
• called to serve in the Young Women's for 6 months in our new ward then called to be the 1st Counselor for the Relief Society
• still trying to keep up with our two rambunctious little kids

Vanessa

• learned how to ride a tricycle
• celebrated her 3rd Birthday
• favorite Princess was Ariel and Aurora
• loved wearing her swimming suit all the time during the summer
• loved playing outside and swimming in the summer
• had so much fun taking care of her little brother and teaching him how to get into trouble:)
• went to Disneyland for the first time and loved riding the rides

Owen

• learned how to crawl, walk, run, and climb! Nothing is off limits anymore
• celebrated his 1st birthday
• went to Disneyland for the first time and loved seeing all of the Disney Characters
• cracked his head open by falling off a chair :( No stitches, thankfully)
• adores his big sister and tries so hard to be like her
• starting to talk more and more

Sorensen Family

• packed up our things and finally moved into a house
• enjoyed playing in the backyard, planting a garden, and eating the yummy food it produced
• bought a Toyota Highlander. Became a two car family
• went to Disneyland with all of the Sorensen Family
• celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary
• went to visit friends in Colorado
• had fun spending a few weekends at the condos in East Canyon with family
• had lots of wonderful visits with family and friends

2010 will be remembered as a fun and successful year for our family! We are looking forward to this new 2011 year and all that it holds!

Happy New Year!

New Year's Eve!

We were able to celebrate New Year's at my in-laws house. We ate a yummy dinner of crisp bean burritos and avocado dip and then snacked on smoked cheese and summer sausage. We usually do a chocolate fondue but everyone's sweet tooth was gone from the holidays. We were able to play some games with the kids and celebrate the New Year a few hours early so the kids could go to bed on time (which still didn't happen). Vanessa didn't like the poppers to much but both of the kids had fun blowing horns, toasting, and yelling!

(2011)

On New Year's day my family was able to come up and visit us and stay the night. We were able to play the Wii and some of the games that we got for Christmas. My brothers and sister got the Just Dance 2 game and it is so much fun! What a workout! We loved playing it! Vanessa really liked playing Mario Party with her aunt and uncles too! We also played lots of card games and enjoyed watching a few movies together! It was so nice to be able to see them again. We tried getting together sooner but the weather wasn't cooperating but I am just glad that we got to see them! This holiday season has been so much fun being able to celebrate it with all of the family!

Sibling Fun and Snowman Building!!

Vanessa and Owen just love playing in the bath tub together. Owen got some new Mickey Mouse Club House bath toys so they have a lot of fun in the tub! They are just the cutest little kids ever!!

What a cute little boy!! Owen has to take his bath toys with him when he gets out of the tub and he loves being wrapped up in his hooded towel. He also loves me to play peek-a-boo with it too!They also enjoy putting diapers on their heads. They think it is hilarious and just giggle, giggle, giggle when they put them on.

We were able to go to the Sorensen's home and build a snowman and go sledding. We had so much fun playing in the snow. The first thing Vanessa did when she got her snow clothes on was to flop on the ground and make a snow angel. Then she had fun having Aunt Laura pull her around in the sled. She also helped us roll the snowman and put on the eyes, nose, and golden buttons. While playing out there it brought back so many of my childhood memories of playing in the snow and how much I enjoyed it! I love that I now can make new memories with my own kids and be apart of their lives!

Our snowman turned out so cute that he deserved a kiss from Vanessa!

Christmas with the Thomson's!

Jeff, Michelle, and Aliyah were able to come out for Christmas. We got to spend a day with them before they headed back to Virginia. So we were able to celebrate Christmas with them too! It was so much fun seeing them again. We miss them terribly! Vanessa, Owen, and Aliyah had fun playing together again. It is always fun playing with your cousins!

We had a nice dinner together and enjoyed catching up. After dinner we were able to open up some more presents. Grandpa and Grandma gave Vanessa a doctor kit and Princess Tiana bubble bath. Oh boy does she love playing with that! Aunt Arianne also gave her a play-dough set. All three kids loved playing with it! Owen got a toy Tonka Truck, a shirt, a race car, and a sticker book! I got a cup cake book from Kimberly which I am excited to use and Mark got Indiana Jones Lego II Wii game from Solomon. We also got a special present from the Thomson family! We are going to get another niece in May! Yeah for babies!!! We are super excited to have another niece in the family! Aliyah is going to be such a great sister! We can't wait to meet her!!! Congrats Jeff, Michelle, and Aliyah!!!

It was so much fun being together! We slept over there to make the most of our time with the Thomson's. We had fun talking and playing card games with each other. We were sad to see them go but are thankful that we at least were able to see them this year for Christmas!

Christmas 2010!

Christmas, I would have to say is one of our most favorite holidays! It is more so now because we have two little cuties to share it with! We were able to sleep in until about 7:45 am before the kids woke up. That probably won't be the case next year. Vanessa and Owen came into our room to wait while Dad got the video camera set up on the tripod. We were all anxious! I was telling Vanessa that we get to see if Santa came. She sadly replied, "Mom, Santa did not come." I then asked "Oh, are you sure?" She then said, "I'm positive. He did not knock on my door!" I had to giggle and then explain to her that Santa comes at night when we are sleeping so he can surprise us with gifts!" She still didn't believe me until we walked out and saw all of the presents under the tree. She got even more excited when she saw that Santa's cookies were gone! She told us that "Santa must of really liked my cookies cause they are all gone!" What a cutie!

Mark's family came over and ate breakfast with us before we opened the presents. We had some yummy French Toast and Breakfast Casserole. It is always hard to sit and eat breakfast knowing that the presents still sit under the tree just waiting to be ripped open!

Finally, breakfast was cleaned up and we were able to open the presents! Vanessa was so thrilled that she actually got a Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip doll. After opening them she asked if she could play with them. So we got them out for her. The first thing she did with them was make them kiss and then she sang Danced with You Once Upon a Dream and made the dolls dance with each other. It was so much fun seeing so happy. She also got a Strawberry Shortcake doll, Little Mermaid doll, a Princess Tiana Nightgown, which she adores), baby doll diapers, books, more pajamas, clothes, Disney Fantasia movie, Disney Princess ball, play-dough and lots of goodies!
Owen just loved ripping off the wrapping paper! He got a Little People Farm, an airplane, rumbling dump truck, a race car track, cars, a V-Tech ball, books, Mickey Mouse Club House bath toys, more pajamas, clothes, play-dough and lots of goodies too! He had so much fun playing with his race track the we had to open the last of his presents.
Mark surprised me with a few gifts. I got a storage bag and cases for my beads, the Cricut Design Studio (which I love), a belt, Taylor Swift CD, a sweater, and a new purse! Mark got a new camera, shirts, a belt, Toy Story 3 movie, Mario Galaxy Wii game, and some Legos! Mark's parents surprised us with a new ladder (now we don't have to borrow theirs) and a carbon monoxide detector. My parents gave us some money and we decided to buy some new dishes! We love them! We feel very blessed to be able to celebrate this holiday with our family in our home! It was so much fun having Christmas in a home!
After getting things cleaned up, we headed over to the Sorensen's to play. We had so much fun being together and playing with all of our new toys and gadgets and relaxing. I even was able to finish the book called The Help. It was so good and I highly recommend it! It is sad that Christmas came and went so quickly but it will come again quicker than I think! Thanks to everyone for helping make this Christmas so wonderful! We love you all and are so grateful to have such amazing family!

Christmas Eve!

For Christmas Eve we got to spend the day over at Mark's parents' house. We had lots of fun playing games, relaxing, reading, playing barbies, watching movies, and making cookies for Santa!

Owen and Vanessa really enjoyed making cookies. Owen loves to roll the rolling pin! He made himself a train cookie!

Vanessa made some snowflake cookies. She called the flour "cookie dust" and had a little too much fun sprinkling the cookies with it!

Just like Daddy! Owen loved eating the cookie dough. We had a hard time getting his cookie baked cause he just wanted to eat it.

All of us had so much fun making and frosting our cookies! Santa sure had some good ones to pick from!

Vanessa's cookie once again had a big pile on it! Santa sure loved that one!! We made sure to give him some extra milk

Eating the frosting. Mmmm! The best part!

We got to open our Christmas Eve presents. Owen and Vanessa got some monkey pajamas and Vanessa got her Christmas pillow this year along with Dad and Mom!

Vanessa told me that her monkey pajamas "are just wonderful!"

Our two little monkeys!

Vanessa got a hold of the camera and started taking pictures. Here is her new Christmas pillow along with me!

It was an eventful night with lots of fun activities and also so drama! About a week ago, Owen feel off a chair on to our tile kitchen floor. I knew that it would happen sooner or later due to his never ending climbing! He cracked his head open. Mark was gone and I didn't know if it needed stiches or not. So I called the doctors and told them the details. They said that the best thing would be to glue it together. So Mark's parents came over and we doctored him up! He did not like it one bit! Now back to Christmas Eve. Well our little monkey decided to climb on top of a box and slipped off. He fell and once again hit his head. It cracked his head open again. Just as it was starting to heal. It didn't bleed much so we cleaned it up and glued it together again. I think the trick to getting it to heal is to stop him from hitting his head! Poor little guy.

We headed for home after watching Toy Story 3. When we got home we let Vanessa and Owen go out and sprinkle the Christmas Dust from Santa on our lawn. We didn't want Santa to miss our house! We also set our cookies our for Santa. They sure looked yummy! We were just so excited for Christmas day to finally come!

Carter Family Christmas Party

On December 23 we headed down to the Robert's house to have our annual Carter Family Christmas party! We had a lot of fun seeing the family again. We got to help make a Gingerbread house and our very own Gingerbread Man! Vanessa really got creative with her cookie. She had fun squeezing the red frosting into a big pile on it and then added lots and lots of green sprinkles to finish it off! It looked delicious!

Owen's Gingerbread Man. He wasn't too interested in doing it just eating the candy!

The finished product! All of the grandkids got to do a little part of the Gingerbread house. Vanessa helped me do the roof and the snowman. It turned out super cute and such a fun activity!

Vanessa's Gingerbread ManWe got to exchange our gifts at the end of the night. Vanessa got her very own Hello Kitty Notebook. She was so excited! She loves to write on little sheets of paper and now she can practice writing her name!

Owen got his favorite thing in the whole world...play-dough! He immediately wanted to go and play with it!

The gang! Notice Miss Vanessa was already putting to use her notebook!
Grandpa and Grandma Carter gave us an awesome present this year! All of us will be going to a cabin in Alpine at the end of June and first of July for a week long get-a-way! We are so excited for the family vacation! Thanks Grandpa and Grandma! We love you!
The adults played a white elephant game. It was hilarious! We ended up getting some interesting items! I got a Christmas/Forth of July tray and Mark got a hair product clock!

Mr. Owen playing with his play-dough!

Overall it was so much fun being together with the family. It always is! It helped set the mood for Christmas!