Front and Center

Afton's cute little face was front and center on SigningTime.com for a couple months again. I didn't even know it until I went to purchase a gift for someone and recognized her adorable face. It's gone now, but she is still featured on BabySigningTime.com.

Beauty

While we were hanging out at the geography bee waiting for the results of the preliminary round there was this big window so I thought I would play with my camera. I wanted Abby to be my model and thought she would jump at the chance. She was not thrilled, but I did get this great shot. I can't believe how grown-up she is and how beautiful my little baby has become.

That was it, though... one shot and she was done. 

After that I got:

The pouty lip (Cassidy does this in almost every picture, in fact, most people that age do. Cassidy tells us this is to eliminate the double chin. I think I'd rather have a double chin than look like that in every picture!)

She also practiced her future facebook profile picture pose.

And here we have the: "Seriously, Mom. Don't take another picture!"

Oh well, at least I got the one.

State Geography Bee

You may remember a while back when Max won the school geography bee. Well, he studied hard and we all went to support him at the State Geography Bee. He did great. There were 100 scholars from all over the state, who were then divided into groups of 20 where they would each answer 10 questions. The top 10 scores overall would proceed to the final round. Max did not make t to the finals, but he did great. These questions were really hard and I'd be sure he wouldn't know it and then he did!! The kids there were amazing. In Max's room there was a boy who won state 2 years ago and went to Nationals and the little brother of the boy who won state last year. Some of these kids/families are really into this stuff. We were really proud of Max and he represented his school very well. He is already looking forward to do it again next year.

The pre-bee orientation and pep talk. 

A LOT of people... a little overwhelming.

Getting ready to begin in his room.

Quick pic during a break. We weren't allowed to take pictures while they were actually doing the bee. They are also very strict about any extra noise, eye contact, etc.

A big hug from his little sister... she was so proud of him!

Afterwards we went and enjoyed a celebratory lunch at the Deli (our fave) with some good friends who also had a son competing. It was a really good day.

The Littlest Ballerina

In February I jumped on Afton's sudden interest in dance and signed her up for a class at a local studio. She did great! From the very first day she has loved it and has done very well. Her teeny tiny size (and lack of hair) is misleading and the first day her teacher came and told me how impressed she was with her verbal skills and ability to follow directions and stay with the class. She is actually the same age as most of them... she just looks so much younger. In late March the teacher, Miss Anne (who Afton adores) let us all sit in one day so we could take pictures. I took so many it was hard to narrow it down, but here are a few that stood out to me.

They start class with warming up. She has these activities memorized and will often play "dance class" with me at home... following the exact outline of her classes and using the same phrases her teacher does.

Then they move to the ballet barre, which Afton obvioulsy loves. She pays a lot of attention to detail and is very careful about making sure her feet are in just the right position. I love watching her find first position!

Next, they do across the floor exercises: ballet walks, battement (kicks), chasse, galloping, etc.

The next part is probably Afton's favorite. They play "freeze dance"... this is where the teacher turns on some music and will let them free dance and when the music turns off they all freeze. Afton strikes this pose every time she freezes... eyes to the side, hands up, so cute!

During the game they each get a chance to dance with the princess wand. She loves this and is especially creative when she gets to be the princess.

Then they work on a little routine. During February and March they learned a dance to the song "Baby Face" (video at the end of this post). She LOVED this!! She would sing it at home and dance her little heart out. Even after they moved on to another routine she would ask to do this one... she even refused to do the other one for a couple weeks (much to my frustration!)

Here is a spliced video of Baby Face. It takes her a minute to get with the program. My favorite things about this movie: her giggle when they are skipping around the room, her finding first position after the boogie, and the look of joy on her face at the end of the dance. Just try not to smile!

Spring has Sprung?

This photo was taken March 26, 2009.

Afton played forever in the snow and loved every minute of it. 

She danced and ran and ate it and threw it.

I'm glad someone enjoyed it.

Others of us weren't as happy about the lingering winter. 

Some of us were ready for some sunshine.

More fun with Nana

While my mom was still in town we went over to the Thanksgiving Point Farm with my brothers kids to visit the animals and see if there were any spring newborns. The kids had a lot of fun running around and feeding the animals, playing in the houses, and spending time with cousins and Nana. Here are some highlights:

My mom with 6 out of 10 grandchildren.

(L to R: Ana, Abby, JJ, Max, Afton and Cole)

Max posing in the window of one of the little houses.

Of course Abby has to as well...

And whatever Abby does, Afton does!

Then we rode the ponies. Abby loves all animals 

and is a regular little horsewoman...

Afton, clearly, was not as excited to ride the ponies. This was back on March 21st and I still haven't been able to get her on a pony!

She felt much better after her sweet big brother took her to feed the little newborn goats.

Just look at that smile.

Ana LOVED the pony ride. She was giggling out loud and even rode it twice.

Ditto for JJ. 

(Max was too cool to ride this time around).

Afton was not afraid to pet a big gross cow.

And they all loved feeding the animals and being tickled by their big fat tongues.

How sweet are these 2? Cousins are the best!

Happy Birthday, Mom!!

My mom's visit just happened to coincide with her birthday, which was awesome because we don't usually get to spend it with her. I called all the local relatives and we planned a big, fancy dinner at The Harvest Restaurant at Thanksgiving Point. Seriously one of the best nights ever. We had a blast. The food and service were great and we laughed and laughed. It was exhausting. Reminded me why I love my family so much!! Everyone brought lovely gifts for my mom, we sang to her, she got to blow out a candle and we even went around the table and told our favorite things about her. It was so fun to honor someone who does so much for all of us and spoil her for the night. I think she enjoyed it too!

Later in the evening we got a little silly with the camera. 

This is my Uncle Joel... he used to be a mime so he can make his face do the craziest things:

Self Portrait:

Cassidy, my brother Joel and I practicing our best facebook/myspace profile poses:

My very attractive husband:

Okay, funny story: While getting ready for the evening, Cassidy came into my room to ask if her outfit looked okay and we were wearing the exact same thing... literally! So, I changed. When we arrived at the restaurant my cute cousin, Katlin, and I were wearing the same thing! Of course, she looked much trendier than I did!

The whole group outside after dinner (minus Eric, who had to hurry back to work). 

What a great family!!

PS. If any of you want any of these pictures just right click on it and you can save it to your computer.

Night at the Museum

In late March my mom came to visit and so we decided to head over to the dinosaur museum and enjoy the after noon.

Abby took detailed notes of all the exhibits

and wrote it all down in her journal, 

as any good future scientist would do.

My mom did an excellent job listening to my kids go on and on about different things.

It was nice to hear "Nana! Nana!" instead of "Mom! Mom!" all afternoon.

She also did a great job following Afton wherever she lead her. 

And I enjoyed the break from that job.

Traditional picture in front of the dinosaur leg... this time with Nana.

Afton loved all the interactive/hands on exhibits and would have played for hours if we would have let her.

Total concentration on her little project in the sand.

Cute Abby had this group of boys working with her and doing whatever she told them too.

When we first got to the museum Afton was a little afraid of all the bigger exhibits, but about half way through our visit she started acting like a dinosaur and roaring... totally unprovoked!

Another picture tradition... we take one of these everytime we are there.

Eventually Afton started trying to crawl in to all the exhibits. She may have even been successful a couple times and I may have had to jump in and grab her. Shhh... don't tell anyone.

Abby really does love all things science and she takes her digging for bones very seriously.

Afton, on the other hand, played in the sand as though she were relaxing on the beach!!

Night Sledding

Some of our friends invited us to their cabin up at Sundance to enjoy some night sledding and a really delicious dinner. We had a lot of fun visiting, the kids had a blast and the food was to die for... seriously.

Who can resist this? I just love Afton's pink snow suit with the white snow. She pretty much just wanted to eat the snow... we had to watch her close because most of it wasn't very clean.

Max found this little hill and taught her how to slide down it on her bottom. She loved it and did it over and over and over.

I love this picture... I think the little ball on Abby's scarf sticking out  below her coat is so funny... I kept calling her cotton tail all night.

On one of her earlier runs of the night she had a little accident. She was riding with one of the other kids and they wiped out at the bottom and the other kids landed on top of Abby's head, and she landed face down in the very icey snow. Like any dutiful scrapbooker, I took pictures instead of running to her aid.

This is where she got mad that I was taking pictures instead of helping her.

This is where she got sad and felt truly abandoned in her pain... also where I started feeling like a bad mom.

After we got her all patched up and feeling better, we bundled her back up and got her back out there. I was really proud of her because if that had happened to me when I was a little girl I would have gone sledding again... and not just that night... EVER! But, she wouldn't get back on the sled. Instead she adopted Afton's method of sledding down on her butt. It worked well and was the perfect speed for her.

Max had the most fun of all (except for the 20 minutes he had to sit out as punishment for pushing Abby's sled down the hill and causing the aforementioned accident).

He was really flying down those hills and seriously making me nervous.

It got so I couldn't watch him after a little while.

It was a great night and fun to be with each other and friends. We look forward to hanging out again next winter (hint hint).

Draper Temple Open House

Last January we went with my side of the family to visit the Draper Temple Open House. It was fun to be together and to share something so sacred with all of our children. My kids had been to the Newport Beach Open House but they were only 4 and 7 so I don't think they remember much. It is a beautiful temple and one of the most amazing Celestial Rooms I have ever seen. This is also the first temple that Max has been able to attend the dedication for. I took him while Chris stayed home with the younger kids. It was great to experience it with my oldest child. Just last week we had the opportunity to attend the Open House for the newest Temple in Utah, the Oquirrh Mountain Temple (no pictures). It was mostly the same crown and another special experience. I love the exterior of this Temple... so beautiful. The inside was very simple and elegant. I am excited that Abby will have the opportunity to attend the dedication this time. Afterwards we all went to Red Robin together and had a blast. I am grateful to live in a time when we are blessed to have Temples all over and to live in a place where I have such easy access. I hope I can take advantage of this blessing and take every opportunity I can to attend the temple. 

Draper Temple

Oquirrh Mountain Temple

Note to all of my non-LDS (Mormon) friends: If you live in an area where they are building a temple, be sure to visit the open house. It can last anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, it's free, and it's a great opportunity to learn more about the church. A lot of people think our temples are mysterious or secret... really they are just sacred to us. That is why you can only enter if you have a temple recommend issued by your church leader. Anyway, it's a chance to learn more about our temples and our beliefs... and I promise they will not baptize you on your way out (unless you would like them too ;D )