Corey's 9th birthday

For Corey's 9th birthday in December we took his best friend Matt to lunch and Mid-Air Adventures for the afternoon. Ashlyn had been for a birthday party a few weeks before and she couldn't wait to go back. Mid-Air Adventures has zip lines, giant swings, slides, rope bridges, a climbing wall and a toddler area. The boys ran and swung until they were exhausted and Ashlyn even got Claire to go with her. By the end of our session, Claire even went on a swing by herself! The employees were all cheering her on when she finally did it!

Corey is the sweetest boy I know. He is eager to learn and to make new friends and is {{almost always}} kind to his older and younger sisters. He often gives random compliments and hugs and it always brightens my day. Corey is creative and inventive and can figure out almost anything electronic, if given time. He loves to draw, build LEGOs, swim, play basketball and soccer, help me cook, play video and board games and as of this year, he loves to READ! Corey has grown in stature and maturity so much this year and I am so proud of the progress he's making in school and with friends. His 2nd grade teacher said Corey "always looks out for the underdog" and seeks out those who need a friend. I feel so blessed to have Corey in our family!

 

 

Corey earns his Wolf...

In December, Corey earned his Wolf for Boy Scouts and was promoted to a Bear. It was my favorite Pack Meeting ever! Corey loved the ceremony where he earned his golden arrow and got his "war paint" with his best friend, Matt. I know so little about Boy Scouts (being the oldest of 5 girls and 1 brother!) so I'm glad Dan's been able to be the Wolf leader! 

After the ceremony, we split into groups and had a contest to see who could build the tallest tower with a bag of marshmallows and a box of toothpicks! I'm not even sure who won because when the timer blew, all the towers slowly "melted!" I'm grateful for Boy Scouts and for all Corey's learning through the experience...

Thanksgiving in Arizona: 2011

We do the impossible each holiday season and that is that we travel for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. It makes for a fast and frantic November and December, but I wouldn't have it any other way. We love seeing our families and they are, after all, what it's all about!

It was our year to be in Arizona for Thanksgiving this year and I felt like we really enlarged our family circle this year. My brother-in-law David brought his adorable, sweet and endearing fiancé, Kelsey, whom I'd never met. Dan met her last Christmas when he and Ken made a quick trip to Arizona. David & Kelsey announced their engagement on our first night there and I am so happy for them! 

I was so happy to meet Dan's nephew's wife and boys as well. Mykle is amazing and I was so glad they could bring their family from Wyoming to be with us for Thanksgiving.

I admit, I was a little sad the first few days we were in Arizona and I couldn't sleep. I think all the memories of having to uproot our family and start all over in Colorado came rushing back and it made me nostalgic for our 3 amazing years there in Gilbert. It just feels like so much of our life has been decided by circumstances that are out of our control. Anyway, I digress...

On Monday we had a GNO and went out to dinner and then saw "Breaking Dawn: Part 1," which I really liked. David saw a guy movie so he couldn't make fun to Edward, aka "Twinkles," the whole time!

We celebrated my niece Riley's birthday (a few weeks late) and my father-in-law's birthday (a few weeks early) one night and Claire cuddled up with Holly and Derrick the whole night...

Sunday we showed up at our ward in Gilbert without telling anyone first. It had been 2 1/2 years since we had been there and it was so much fun to see so many good friends again. My kids were thrilled to see their friends again too and no one could believe how much Claire had changed. Later that week, we met some of these friends at a park to play. These girls have been through so much with our family and I owe each one of them so much for good memories, for helping my family and for being there for us.

Ashlyn had a great time with her friends and the weather was heavenly!!! Look how GREEN everything was in late November!

It was fun to see the progress of the Gilbert, Arizona temple! It is being built just a mile from our old house there, which will be amazing for my friends that are still there!

Dan, Ashlyn and Corey went on an early morning hike with Hunter and Lance, grandpa, Chris, David and Kelsey. It looks beautiful and I wish Claire and I could've been there. I'm grateful they took some amazing pictures!

The day before Thanksgiving, I had the extraordinary honor of taking David & Kelsey's engagement pictures and of photographing Kari & Chris's family and my in-laws. We took them at the beautiful home of a friend of my mother-in-law. It was fun to photograph people I love and that obviously love each other so much!

On Thanksgiving morning, Dan and Ashlyn ran 2 miles in the Mesa Turkey Trot. Allen, Holly, Gavin, David and Kelsey all ran the 10 K. Corey, Claire and I went to take pictures and to cheer them on! 

There were 2 albino turkeys at the start line that Claire and Corey wanted to see up close and personal...

Here's a picture of us after we gorged ourselves on Thanksgiving dinner at Kari's home I only had my cell phone, so the pictures aren't the best...

The kiddos...

Looking back at my pictures, you'd think all we did was eat! We ate at our favorite restaurant in Gilbert, Oregano's, which to this day, still makes my favorite pizza of all time!

We also made a trip to our favorite Bahama Buck's for some snow cones with ice cream..... SO delish!

I loved our time in Arizona with Dan's family! I hope it's not another 2 1/2 years until we get to go visit again!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun...

 On Tuesday, November 1st, I went to see Cyndi Lauper in concert in Denver. My friend Aly loves her, so Rikke and I were along for the ride. I like some of her older songs, but I'd never heard any of her new stuff.  

I seriously love these girls and it's been really fun getting to know them. Aly's from England and Rikke's from Denmark and their husbands both work with Dan. We went out for dinner first at Rock Bottom. When we got to the concert, I realized I'd left my ID in my car from my 5:30 AM Zumba class that morning, so the doorman marked my hands with 2 big, black X's so I couldn't get any alcohol! We were laughing so hard and joked that they should've just written "Mormon" on my forehead! Oh, the irony! 

It was a really fun night! We were pleasantly surprised how good Cyndi was in concert. She can seriously sing and it was a nice, smaller venue. It was a great way to spend a Tuesday night! When we came out of the concert, it had snowed about 4-5 inches and it was still coming down...