January

We got a little bit of snow...well, let me rephrase that...Lehi got a little bit of snow...the winds favored us with all our neighbors snow...so WE had plenty! haha!

 Mario party for James

 I *tried* to give blood. I was there for an hour and a half and they still hadn't stuck me with a needle. It was past time for me to go, at that point...so I left.

 Way to go Rachel!

 Sunrise

 Sunset.

 I started having Hayden play on Starfall.com to practice his letters.

 Visiting Granddaddy, real quick.

 Katie got her first filling! Complete with laughing gas.

 Cousins. Bucket heads.

 Tying yellow ribbons 'round the old "oak" tree with Hayden and Melanie. Hayden wanted to take a picture. I could tell he was aiming the camera too low, so I kept getting lower and lower myself. And so did he. This was the resulting picture.

 Newport Beach! My kids would live on the beach, if they could.

 Riding bikes

 Sleeping in the trailer

 Snacks on the beach

 Playing at the playground

 Even at 60 degrees with no sun and all fog, they could not be kept from playing in the water at the beach!

 Knottsberry Farm!

 Reading homework.

 These two. I love them. They were in the same group trying out for the school play. It was Rachel's first audition, and she was SO nervous. Even though she messed up and had to start the song over, the first thing she said to me afterwards was "I did my best!" with a big smile on her face! I love that! I also love that they came out holding hands, as Maliya tried to comfort and cheer Rachel up. They told me that while they were in there, Maliya would pat Rachel on the back as they passed each other, too. :)

 So strong!

 Haircut!

 Tried to do a family pyramid again! Tried.

 Reading homework.

 Maliya's teacher gives the kids a "cold spelling test" at the beginning of the week. Depending on how well they do, she will give them a list of words to study that is varying difficulty. I guess she didn't do great on the cold test, this particular week, and was supposed to study the easier list, but pushed herself to do the harder list anyway! What can I say? She's awesome.

 Sunday, from a kids' perspective:

 Kids' perspective:

 Meeting my new nephew!

 Meeting my new niece!

 kids' perspective:

 Hayden enjoys playing Zelda with me in the mornings.

 Everyone making good use of my present.

 Rollerblades and Popsicles? Are we sure it's still winter?

Maliya's book report poster, on "The Boxcar Children."

 Maliya had her friend Rian over, and Hayden wanted so badly to be included! He was chasing them around and having a grand time!

 So good to have friends close by!

 Brian took Rachel and Katie on a "double date" to redeem their Book It coupons at Pizza Hut!

 Maliya and Rachel's recent artwork.

 We finally got around to making use of our gingerbread house!