So I'm a little behind..........

Okay, I'm more than a little behind, but I've decided it's a new year and it's time to start keeping track of what we have going on again. It is truly scary how fast time goes, and the kids grow, so I'll try to do better. I guess I'll start with Christmas 2010 and move forward from there.

Well here they all are, ready to go to church in their new Christmas dresses (and suit). For these dresses I let Savannah pick the pattern (since she's getting close to being done with fancy dresses). It was fun and the girls looked adorable. Not pictured are the black high heeled zip up boots requested by Savannah and Paige. They looked adorable!

This year Savannah only wanted American Girl doll stuff. Santa was good to her I guess. It is interesting to me that here is a girl who RARELY played with any toys.... And now at age 8 she loves these American girl dolls? Who would have thought....

On the other hand Paige has ALWAYS loved dolls, and this Christmas was no exception. She has been wanting an American Girl doll for 2 years. Santa finally caved this year, and the doll gets the VIP treatment. As for Paige's smile..... We've decided to live with it. When that goofy smile popped up 2 years ago I thought she'd grow out of it. Two years later here we are....

Oh how Lydia wanted this kitchen (the exact model with the faux granite and stainless steel appliances)- Yes that's right, she was not budging with the model :/ What a fun toy it is and the girls have loved playing with it.

And finally for the little guy..... One of his favorite things in nursery is to drive the little cars on the ramp. So he got this car garage. He loves it and spends a good deal of time playing with it each day.
Christmas 2010 down, and was a great success!

Savvy has her 8th Birthday

Savannah turned 8 on June 29th, and it has been kind of wild around here with all the parties. Between her family party, friend party, and baptism (along with 4th of July) it was a jam packed week. I can't believe I am old enough to have a child who was baptized, but it was a really special experience that we got to share with friends and family.
We had the family party first and as you can see she was excited by all the LOOT! My goodness, she got WAY too much.... She loved it though.


And of course she loves to be the star of the show :)

For her cake she wanted a funfetti cake in the shape of a butterfly. It was fun to make and really tasty.
After her party that evening she came down stairs and said to us "I can't believe I've finally turned 8.... I've been waiting for this day for like 5 years!" It was so sweet.

Her friend party came 2 days later. She invited both boys and girls, and honestly this was the first time that once the kids arrived I was a little nervous that some of our game choices were going be too young for them..... and I wished I had done something a little more "cool"? However they seemed to have a good time. We did the limbo, had a hula hoop contest (won by a 6 year old boy), and broke a pinata. Well Savannah is very social, and seems to make friends easily and she cracked me up at one point in the party when she said "We're ALL rockstars!" Oh dear........


Then Saturday evening (July 3) Savannah was baptized. It was such a special time and we were truly blessed to have so many family members in the area that were able to share this special occasion with us. She was so excited to finally be able to be baptized and officially become a member of the church.



She was emotional in the evening, and so excited to finally have been baptized and receive the holy ghost. It was special for us to see how much it meant to her.

Julee's having a boy!

My older sister Julee is expecting a baby boy. Since Breanna is 12 and a girl I thought she needed a baby shower....... She really didn't want a big shower, so we did more of a lunch with family. I had a great time seeing her and had a fun time celebrating her upcoming baby boy. We'll look forward to the little guy come Halloween time.

10 years!

June 17 we had our 10 year anniversary. Wow it is truly amazing how fast time goes. I just feel really blessed to be married to such a wonderful man. Dan was out of town for our anniversary, but the day after we were able to have a couple days with just the 3 of us (we had to take Mr. Abe, he doesn't sleep through the night just yet). We went to McCall and stayed in a cabin, walked around the lake, ate some yummy food, but mostly just enjoyed the quiet. It was such a treat!
That was then........

This is now.........


This little guy loved having so much attention. He saw this "flower" and really wanted it. I picked it for him and he carried it for 3 hours before I could sneak the stem out of his hand.

Dance Recital 2010

My girls once again had their end of year recital. Dan had to work this year, so we really missed him (especially with Abram and Lydia running wild- Thank goodness for grandparents who live close)but it was fun anyway. The lighting was so bad, but here are a few pictures and video......

Paige didn't seem scared at all and really seemed to know her dance for her age. I loved to watch her. I was able to make her class's costumes for the recital, and that was fun.

Savannah also worked hard this year. She just loves to dance!

Their dad wasn't there to give them their flowers, so he bought some beforehand.

Spring Carnival and Recital

Dan had to go to California this last week and that coincided with the school's spring carnival. Well this is a really important event(right?), and I was not looking forward to attending this chaos alone. Lucky for me, my mom offered to come along and help me with the kids :) The kids had lots of fun....

Savannah impressed with her bean bag toss.

They all loved the bounce house.

I just had to catch these 2 holding hands (I guess they don't fight ALL the time).

Not so much fun for this little guy. Next year he'll get in on more of the action.

And then Saturday Dan made it home just in time for Savannah's Spring Music Festival. At this event students from 6 different teachers were able to perform one piece. And what a great recital it was. I was truly amazed at how talented these small children were. It definitely got Paige excited to start her lessons this summer. At the end of the performance the audience voted and they gave 3 audience choice winners. And first place went to- drum roll please.........................

SAVANNAH JANE MALAN! She was given a certificate and $20!

I think having Grandma and Grandpa Dana there pushed her vote over the edge ;)
And here you have the winning performance......

What progress she has made since last summer.

Lydia's 3rd Birthday

It's hard to believe that another year has passed, but it has indeed and Lydia is now 3. We ended up having our big family party on Sunday, and were lucky to have lots of family in attendance. Lydia once again chose a "Dora" theme- she is the "queen" of all things Dora (according to Paige's best friend). She's lucky to have a glut of Dora hand me downs from 2 sisters who also loved the little girl. My goal by the end of this year is to get her out of Dora pajamas (her choice attire) and more used to dressing in non-Dora clothes. And the guests at the party did not disappoint, she received Dora dolls, dress up crown kit, movie, soccer ball, hopscotch, bubble blower, dress, etc. Lets just say we are fully stocked on Dora gear!
To go with the gear I made her another Dora cake. I've definitely had my problems with the cake decorating in the past, so I was pretty happy with my first piped cake (if that's what you call it).

It definitely has room for improvement, but when Lydia saw it she said "Oh mom, I just love it!" So that was all that mattered and it made the 2 hr 15 min. decorating time worth it.

Here she is giving her sister a kiss. She was so sweet after opening gifts, she gave everyone hugs. I have to say with Lydia there was not a terrible two. She is such a good mild tempered little girl.

There were a few non Dora gifts. This coloring cardboard house was a hit for sure. The kids have had a lot of fun with it for sure. They managed to get a good deal of markers not just on the house, but also on our walls, floors, and all over their bodies. All I can say is thank goodness for washable markers. They are so easy to clean up.

It took a few puffs to get the candles out again, but I imagine by next year she'll have it figured out. It was a great birthday for my sweet little Lydi!