Olivia turns 10!

It's an exciting year in our household.  We got our first teenager in October and now in November, Olivia entered double digits and turned 10.  She is growing up so fast and we love her darling little personality.

For her birthday breakfast she wanted cinnamon rolls.  So Tim and I set to work together to get them done fast (since we didn't know until we were just going to throw something together.) 

Enjoying breakfast!

 After breakfast!

 Opening Presents!

 Alexa sitting on McKenna's lap!

 Maya made her this cute necklace.

 Livie wanted a new bag for her piano books.  I found this fabric one day and decided it would make a great bag.  I forgot to get it put away before she came home from school.  She walked in and saw it and said, "Mom, if you have any more of this fabric left after you are done making whatever you are making with it, will you make me a piano bag?"  I was thrilled to know she loved the fabric.  Little did she know she was getting ALL the fabric.

 Traditional Birthday door shot!

           Livie also got the game Boggle so we spent the day (and some of the night) palying.

 Olivia chose to go to Olive Garden for her birthday dinner.  I forgot to bring the camera so no pictures.  But we had a great time.  When we came home we at her birthday cake which was a pumpkin roll that she requested.  It was so yummy and fun to make.

Happy Birthday my sweet Olivia.

Aunt Melinda

If you haven't noticed, I'm on a blogging marathon.  Life has been so busy and it's just going to get busier.  Every chance I get I've been uploading pics. 

The week after our 5K my Aunt Melinda came out (mostly to see my mom, I know but I like to think she wanted to see me the most.)  She is my moms little sister and is 19 years younger with no siblings in between. The two of them pretty much grew up in separate households.  When Melinda was 10 my grandmother passed away and so she was even raised by a different mother and step siblings.  The thing that amazes me about both of these women (my mom and melinda) is that when they were younger they were the only ones in their homes that went to church.  Their parents didn't go but they just had these testimonies that they knew where they should be.  I have a special place in my heart for Melinda.  When I was probably about 5 she came to live with us and we shared a room.  I thought it was the greatest thing in the world but now as I look back I don't know how much a grown woman can really enjoy sharing a room with a 5 year old.  I remember little experiences with her like taking dance or her cutting and perming my hair while she was in beauty school.  After she married my Uncle Randy and they started having children I would babysit for them.  They lived about 1/2 hour away so we had long drives to and from their house.  I loved sitting in the car and just chatting all the way there and back.  I don't remember a holiday without her and her family - Easter, Thanksgiving, Birthdays and Christmas (the best white elephant gift exchange I've ever experienced.)  After Tim and I got married they moved to Colorado and now our visits have become so few and far between.  While she was here we spent all our time visiting.  Everyone went to sleep and we were up until about 2am talking.  It was so fun for me.  I loved being able to share my family with her.  Since we were having so much fun we almost forgot to take pictures.  Here we are:

Me, Mom, and Melinda





It took a couple of tries but we finally got a few pictures with the girls, grandma and their Great Aunt Melinda.



  

Thanks Melinda for coming to visit.  We had a great time.  Come again anytime.

Go Far 5K

 Livie and I signed up to run a 5K that they do through school.  Her classmates and her trained for a few months once a week.  The race was Saturday, Nov. 6th.  It was freezing out.  I think it was in the low 30's.

Here we are before the race.

 Livie with her darling friend.

Here's the finish line.  Tim wasn't able to get any pics of us crossing it.  There were 1500 people running and you can only imagine how many grandparents and parents were there to see their kids running.  And you know how those parents can get when they want to see their kids.  YIKERS!  Glad I was running.

 The girls and Tim were troopers to wait for us.  It was so cold and at least we were running to keep warm.  They just had to sit and wait.  Poor Tim had to deal with cold and tired (did I mention it was early in the morning) girls.

Maya

                                                 McKenna

                Alexa - Does she look happy to be here, or what?

 After the Race. 

Livie did so good.  I was so proud of her.  She was cold and getting tired but we finished.  She said she liked it and would like to do it again probably some day.  Lucky me.  Maybe I'll have a new running partner soon.

Halloween

 Once again, we had a trunk or treat at church.  Tim was in charge as that has been his calling up until now.  (We just have to make it through the Christmas Party and then he's done.  Then I will be stress free - I know it's not my calling but boy is it sure stressfull for me.  Tim handles it so well though.)

Here are the girls all dressed up.

McKenna was Jesse from Toy Story

Livie was Little Red Riding Hood

(both costumes were recycled from years before - LOVE IT!)

 Good thing Maya wanted to be a dancer because for what I had to pay for it, she was definitely wearing it again. 

 Tim in his usual costume with Jesse and Little Red Riding Hood

 Alexa had so much fun dressing up like she was from the 80's for the talent show that she wanted to be an 80's girl for Halloween.  So easy since half her wardrobe looks like it came from then.  We just made sure to do her bangs nice and big.  Boy did it bring back memories.  She couldn't believe that we used to wear our hair like that.

 Since Halloween was on Sunday, we opted just to stay in after church and have our own little party.  We watched Halloweentown that was on the Disney channel and made Halloween food.

Here's our snake like calzone.

We also made yummy bat wings.  They were made with lots of garlic.

                                                   The mold dip was great with the wings.  

It was a fun night to spend with the girls and nice not to have to get up every few minutes to answer the door.  We did miss our awesome neighbors but there's always next year.

Birthday's, Family and Fun!

Back in October we celebrated my birthday.  I don't have many pictures but I did manage to get one of the cake.  It doesn't look as good as it tastes.  I decided for my birthday I wanted to stay home and cook.  I didn't want to have to go anywhere so I made sure not to schedule anything and I spent the day at home.  It was so nice.  (I still haven't figure out why we are called "stay at home" moms - I am RARELY at home.)  I had never made Lasagna and have always wanted to try but my dear husband doesn't like italian so I have never put forth the effort since I figured it wouldn't be a big hit in our house.  So for my birthday I treated myself to Lasagna.  I invited our friend's, the Black's over and we had a great time.  Tim decided it was the best lasagna he had ever had.  Good thing I picked the recipe that was called "World's Best Lasagna".  I also made a pumpkin pound cake (see below).  I have learned that you can't have a gathering without a pound cake.  My poor pan is so old that it just won't let the cakes pop out like they used to.  It tasted so yummy.

A few days later my brother, Bart and his wife, Marie came to visit all of us out here in NC.  They had quite a trip driving between my parents, Maren's and our house.  We all wanted our turn so it made for a busy experience for them.  We tried to make it a relaxing for them when they came.  We were having such a good time that I forgot to take pictures.  Here we are in the car driving to Reynolda Village where we took a picnic lunch and sat out on the lawn and ate.  My girls really loved getting to know Bart and Marie. 

Our next stop was Old Salem.  We LOVE that place.  All the old buildings and history.  The weather was PERFECT and we enjoyed walking up and down the street telling them all that we knew about the place (which wasn't much but we tried.)

Here are the girls and Bart and Marie in front of the Salem Tavern.  It's famous because George Washington stayed here once.  Inside is a letter written by George Washington thanking them for his stay there. 

Uncle Bart sat down to play the piano for a while.  When I walked by I saw this:

We rushed home only to clean up and head out to take them back to visit with Maren and Andrew.  Since it was my mom's birthday we all enjoyed a dinner out at P.F. Chang's.  We had so much talking and visiting together.  I'm sure the waitress was ready for us to leave. 

After dinner we had a "tailgate" birthday party.  Since my birthday was a few days before, I recieved some gifts also.  Here are the birthday girls opening presents.

Here I am super excited about my gift from Maren.  It was a Dave Ramsey wallet with envelopes and everything inside.  It's the best thing ever.  I have been enjoying it so much.

Thanks for the fun times everyone.  We had a great time with you, Bart and Marie, I wish you could have stayed longer.

Talent Show

Back in September Tim was in charge of our Ward Talent Show.  He was a little worried about how many acts he would have and so I "volunteered" to help out.  Alexa and I played a duet.  I don't EVER play in public and so this was quite a stretch for me.

We also convinced my dad to come and play.  (Actually I don't think it takes much convincing - he loves to perform.)  He is the one with the real talent so it's great to have him participate.  Him and my mom drove up from Goldsboro where they are serving their mission for the year.  Alexa and grandpa played a duet also.

Alexa and the girls in her class did a little skit.  It was pretty funny.  Who knew we had such a ham in the family?

Grandpa played two more songs which somehow I didn't record.  But believe me, they were great.

Thanks Grandpa for coming and sharing your talent with everyone.

Living with McKenna

I found a few pictures of McKenna that I thought I'd post.  She is so fun to have around.  She makes us laugh while she discovers the life around her.

 The balance board was out one day and so I found McKenna doing wii fit (the TV wasn't on, she has just seen me do it I guess.

 We went in to check on the girls and this is how we found her.

 Posing for the camera

 "Taking a Nap"

 Helping take care of the lawn

Jumping off the diving board.  This girl HAD to have the goggles and the tea pot everytime she jumped.

While at the pool this summer McKenna decided to teach herself how to dive.  I don't know about you but I don't think I've ever seen a three year old dive before.  At least none of my other kids did.

When I got home. . .

I found this lovely slug in this jar in the kitchen.  It had stung Maya and they all wanted me to see it  If you look closely it looks like it has the face of a dog. 

The Second Highlight of our Trip

While we were in DC we got to take a special trip up to see my nephew, Brenden.  He was serving less than an hour away from where we were.  He is so darling.  We have something special we share - we both have dimples.  Well, actually I only have one.  We were able to go to church with him and spend a few minutes after visiting until we had to hit the road.

Here is Brenden with his companion.

Grandma & Brenden

Brenden and Me

Maren & Brenden (poor guy, we were a little picture happy.)

It was so great to see him.  I just hope that his parents will come pick him up when he's done and come visit us down here in NC.  (Hint!  Hint!)

All in all it was a great trip for the 3 of us.  We had a great time.  Can't wait to do it again soon.  And thanks to the husbands for holding down the forts while we were gone.