Friends and Family

We ended January and kicked off February with Kristine's friends having a girl party at our house... hmmm sound familiar? LOL Story of my life ;) And going to a quaint little play with Ramsey's preschool.

And of course Beth's bachelorette party (part 2) took me into San Francisco for another 'dance' class... The shoes say it all ;)

January

So we made it home and hit the ground running... but would anyone expect anything less??? I started teaching both history classes at the college and the Spanish class at the private school. Plus I wrapped up another graduate course I was working on and handled some business with my clients (for LifeStyle). The kids still all had their activities and of course we contend with church and obligatory family events. And well, I like to play... so play we must. In all it made January a good-kind-of-crazy, always-busy-with four-kids, maybe-a-little-stressful and every-and always-joyous four weeks.

Me getting ready for Kristine's party...

Aunt Nell came too!

Jen, Mom, Dad & Isabella

Kenneth, Shirley & Assyia

We did do Kristine's family party once we got home! And everyone came... Happy Birthday Love.

Week After

The week after Christmas, the children piled into the car and we drove all the way to Utah - long drive and in three snow storms... and over a pass they were trying to close. But, alas we made it and got to see our most cherished friends.

In truth it was a painful week... by far the most difficult we have had in the last year or so. But we made it through and we were well loved by friends. -A testament once again to the amazing generosity of Our Heavenly Father.


While there we did have Kristine's birthday celebration; we went to the Indian Oven (of course!), Starbucks and shopping at the mall... Kristine wasn't quite 100% yet but she hung in there and enjoyed her time with her friends.

As the girl's were still recovering from food poisoning and the little ones were with their Dad, we celebrated New Year's with the Robison's - but the girls took it easy. I went to an amazing Aggies games and then came back and we all did fireworks (and enjoyed great friends and food). It was lovely.

We also got to see the Muggelston's and the new baby while up in Utah! We have missed our friends.

These photos are with the Forget's.

And when it was time to return home, it was Wayne who came to our rescue! Grandpa Nysetvold drove all through the night with me so that I wasn't alone on the road again... He is the best!

Christmas

AHHHHHH!!!!! HE CAME - HE CAME. Santa came!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And boy did he bring a lot of presents. Christmas morning was complete with jubilation, laughter and merrymaking - all of the best gifts at Christmas. And of course we had to read from the scriptures (the story of the birth of Our Savior), then do the Advent Wreath and have a scrumptious breakfast (Mom's homemade turnovers). THEN and only then did we get to open presents.

And the wee ones got new Razors. Watch out - here they come.

Santa brought the Mom, Rebekah and Kristine tickets to Wicked!!!! Yeah!!!!!!

We enjoyed a delicious lunch at Grandma's house and opened more presents! This was getting a bit out of hand!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

Then we ran home and laid out food and drinks to welcome the family! Another party at our house!!! How we are filled with joy and gratitude to be home and share this wonderful season with our loved ones... (And the kids of course liked the Laser Tag part!)

Tis the Season

Christmas time was splendid and magical this year... we were together and surrounded by family. And as is custom, we did ginger bread houses, toured neighborhoods of Christmas lights, went caroling, made presents, went to a live Nativity and so on... And on Christmas Eve we had all of our usual holiday traditions: the kids acted out the Nativity, we had a nice family dinner with Grandpa and Grandma, Jen and family, and the missionaries and finally when all was quiet again and we were ready to wait for Santa, each child opened up their one Christmas Eve present (pajamas of course!). It was lovely.

A TEENAGER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As Rebekah turns 13 next week, I carefully planned a surprise birthday extravaganza for her. She had no idea. Her cousins showed up this afternoon, to Rebekah's surprise. I explained to Rebekah, Kristine, Naya and Nyssa that we were going to embark on a birthday adventure in honor of Rebekah's coming of age... as a teenager.

First we headed over to the nail salon where all four girls had manicures. Then we made our way over to a local second hand shop. The girls were instructed to each find one blue item to wear, in honor of Rebekah's birthday (blue is her favorite color). They rummaged around, tried some things on and had a great time. Then it was off to dinner - Indian food of course. At dinner, Rebekah opened her birthday presents. She was very happy.

After everyone had eaten more than their fill it was time for the next activity... a scavenger hunt. We went to Target, yes on black Friday - with the crowds and commotion. The girls wore their blue accessories and were split into two teams. Each team was given a list of 13 things Rebekah would like... and the first team to fill their cart and make it back to the meeting spot would be the winner!

These girls ran, yelled, rode up and down the escalator, almost ran people over, laughed and tossed things into their carts. They had an absolute blast. Rebekah and Nyssa finished first by only a minute or so. And Aunt Jen and I were exhausted!

It was time for ice cream at the Hagen Daz in the mall then upstairs to the movie theater where the girls watched Twilight! Then we all went back to our house where the girls watched a scary movie and had a sleep over. It was a successful and enjoyable 13th birthday celebration.


My beautiful daughter, my sweet baby is almost 13. Where have the years gone? She is the miracle in my life - the tender mercy that God sent to me so that even when nothing makes sense, or the burden is too great to carry, I go on - I strive to be better and to do more than just survive... I am her Mother, the greatest role I have ever had... and for this I am the woman I should be - standing for what is right, holding to the principle, believing in truth and firmly rooted in faith... I would give my life for her. Happy Birthday my sweet Rebekah.