Christmas 2011

We spent this Christmas in our new house....with boxes and moving mess all around us...it was perfect!

Happy Halloween

I remember carving pumpkins as a kid....my parents would get each of us a pumpkin to carve however we wanted. I am not very artistic, but I would carefully outline what I wanted my pumpkin to look like before I cut it...and every year without fail, my pumpkin's face would end up caving inside...never quite thought the cuts through enough. My kids on the other hand have always had very professional looking pumpkins...not that they have anything to do with it. Thanks to carving patterns and a dad who gets more into carving pumpkins than they do. I help...my job...cleaning out the gooey insides. It's the least I can do:)

Happy Birthday Evan

Evan is 4!!! He has been waiting for his birthday for months. Ever since we got a Wii for Christmas, Evan has been obsessed with Super Mario Brothers.

Megan made him an incredible cake.... I am so glad that she was home for his birthday! I came up with the great idea to wrap Evan new bike in balloons. When it was time to open it, we gave him a needle and he went to town. He also got a new skateboard from Grandma and Bumpa Phipps... and his favorite present was the stuffed dog that Makayla gave him.

I don't know what else to say about this little boy, except that we just love him. He makes us laugh everyday. Even though there are too many wonderful things about Evan to count, here are four of my favorite....

*His curly hair... the other day he looked at me me at said, "Mom, the s love my curly hair."

*How social he is...he manages to embarrass me in public at least a few times a day.

*How sensitive he is

*When he tells me he loves me in his deep little boy voice.

Soccer Mom

I love soccer. I never played, but my brothers did. I loved traveling to different tournaments and watching the games. When Evan was finally old enough to play, I was so excited. (Makayla is still recovering from her one season of softball, so soccer wasn't going to happen) Now here is the thing with Evan, he is very coordinated and strong, but he just lacks that competitive spirit. To him soccer was more like a meet and greet....


"Hi, my name is Evan...I'm four. I like Mario...do you? My sister's name is Makayla, she is seven. I like your cool red jersey."

"Yeah, that's the soccer ball over there, but you can have it if you want...it's your turn. If you want, I can go and get it for you. I can even block my players so you can make a goal. Maybe we can play together sometime?"

Now in his defense, he was one of the youngest players on his team. After a couple of games, he started to get the hang of it.

He even manage to make a couple goals....one of them may have been in his own goal, but who's keeping score anyway:)

One of the funniest things he did all season was that he would just walk off the field when he wanted a drink. The ball would be right by him and he would just walk out of the game. "Its okay coach, I just need some water...I'm losing all my energy."

It's already time to register him again....a seasoned pro. It will be fun to see if he he gets more into it this year. He may not be the competitive, intense soccer players my brothers were, but he is sure entertaining.

Here We Go Again

After watching way too many episodes of House Hunter, Weston and I got some real life experience in buying our first home. After months of searching and then a few more months of waiting for our offer to be accepted, we finally bought our first place. When I looked online at houses, the only picture with this listing was of the view outside. Growing up in this area, I couldn't picture where in Cameron Park that view was from. I got in my car and went for a drive to find the house. When I pulled up, I fell in love not only with the house, but also the setting. The house is in a great neighborhood, but the houses are not too close together. Directly in front of the house is stunning views of the marble valley. Growing up on property, I never liked the feeling of have neighbors directly ontop of us. Looking out my living room window, it is hard to belive that we even have neighbors. It is the best of both worlds! We feel truly blessed to have found this wonderful home to raise our family in. Wes and I have moved so many times since being married that it is great to finally have a house that we will be in for many years to come.

I will add so pictures of the actual house and the rooms that we have got put together soon.

School Pics 2010

I am so lucky to have Amy as a friend. She took these amazing pics of my kids for their 2010 school pictures. They sure beat the Life Touch pictures the school offers! Here are just a few of my favorite ones.

Disneyland

Disneyland really is one of the happiest places on earth....I think my kids had a permante smile on their faces the whole time. We were lucky enough to have my parents and Jarom with us.

We went for five days this time. Two of the days, the boys went scuba diving in San Diego, but my mom and I went all five days with the kids. It was nice not to be rushed or feel like we were missing things.

This is one of my favorite pictures....Makayla and Evan full of energy, and my parents in the back round looking for the nearest bench.

My kids loved the tea cups...it made me sick just to watch the ride. It was great to have Jarom with us. Not only is he super fun Uncle, but it also gave Wes a ride buddy for all the rides I didn't want to go on. Somehow I got Makayls to go on Califorian Screamin' with me...she still hasn't forgivin me. One of my favorite comments from Evan came months later when he was talking with his friend Sam about all the rides they went on. Sam was telling Evan that his favorite ride was Thunder Mountain (the one ride I could not get Evan to go on). Evan, however, told Sam that it was his favoirte ride as well. I turned around and reminded Evan that he didn't go on that ride because he said it looked too scary. Evan got this seriuos look on his face and said, "No mom, I did want to go on it....I was speaking spanish and you just didn't understand me!"

This pretty much sums up the end of everyday....

I think my favorite part of the whole trip was seeing my kids interact with each other. Makayla went on all the Toy Story rides with Evan, and Evan spent a whole day is princess land with her. They are not just siblings, but great friends.

Makayla Turns Seven

I can not believe Makyla is seven...I know Isay that ever year she gets a little older, but this year it really hit me how much she is growing up. As each year passes, it is fun to see all the changes that come with that growth, but there is also a part of me wants to turn back time to when she would toddle around, bouncy blond curls....so cute.

This year for her birthday we had a family party. Her girl scout troop had already planned a trip to Sun Splash, which is a pretty fun way to spend a birthday. I had Wes take Makayla and Evan to the water park so I could get all set up for the party....that is why the kids cheeks are bright red (I wasn't there to oversee the sunscreen application). However, Wes's real lack of judgement was when he let Makayla spray his back with sunscreen. His whole back was fried (I am talking need to go to the doctor's fried) except for a little circle right in the middle of his back...bulls eye. I spent alot of time to make Makayla's presents cute this year, with pretty bows and cute paper. However, her favorite wrap job was the "garbage" unicorn Jarom made...pretty sad when when you can't compete with a present wrapped in trash. I particularly like how he designed it to open....

This year we got her a bike for her birthday. She was pretty excited. She also got an Easy Bake oven from my parents....you know you are getting old when toys start to recycle themselves. One of her favorite things is to watch cake show with Bumpa, so it was a perfect present.

Seven of my favorite things about Makayla

*Her sense of humor...I like to think that she gets her quick from me

*Her desire to do the right thing

*How sweet she is with Evan

*How practical she is...it makes me laugh

*How creative she is

*Her laugh...it is contagious

*That she is everything I could have dreamed my little girl would be

Survival Mode

Where have I been? In survival mode....I found out that if I took two classes this summer I would be able to start dental hygiene school in January...it sounded like a pretty good idea at the time. Anatomy/physiology and nutrition...no big deal...eight weeks...how bad can it be...BAD! I have made it through the first two weeks, I guess there is no turning back now. My house is just clean enough to function, there is just enough laundary done to get by, and enough food to make a PB&J sandwhich. Luckily the kids have been content playing in forts and swimming at grandma's house while I study. What was I thinking?!

Mother's Day

I remember making coupon books at school for the mom for Mother's Day. This year Makayla brought me a cute bag all decorated with a present inside. Once I started opening it, I realized it was a coupon book....it was like I was coming full circle...I couldn't believe I had a kid old enough to make me one. However, the effect quickly wore off once I opened to the first page.....seriously! In Makayla's defense, she did include a coupon that was good for taking the garbage out ten times, and I plan on cashing them all in.

Science Fair

Evan's school put on a science fair for all the parents. He was so excited to show me all the things he had made. It seriously seems like yesterday that I was in that exact same room with Makayla. she would timidly hold my hand and take take me to each station....Evan on the other hand couldn't contain his excitement. I could barely keep up with him as he bounced around the room.

I am so glad that he loves going to school. I can't believe how much he is changing everyday...I wish I could keep him this little chubby cheeked three year old forever....

Easter

When I was younger, my Easter egg hunt experience was completely different then my kids. My Phipps family would get together every year and have a huge egg hunt. "Huge" because I had about thirty cousins on that side of my family. We would be divided up in to age groups and lined up...ready to go. Part of the Phipps egg hunt tradition was that there was a grandma egg. The lucky person that found one got to trade it in for a prize....a good prize. In all my egg hunting years, I never found a grandma egg, the competition was stiff in my age group...

This year my mom and dad decided to start the tradition back up again. Lucky for Makayla and Evan, they had no competition.

We also went to the Hulbert's annual Easter egg hunt...it was so much fun. This year Makayla and Pearl graduated to the big kid hill....time just seems to fly by.

Grandma and Grandpa Larsen also came out for Easter this year. Party. party, party...the kids had so much fun with them.