Avatar

We went to the I-Max theater last weekend with some friends and saw the movie Avatar. It was so fun! We went to a great little chinese restaurant downtown called Ma Jongs and enjoyed spicy food and fortune cookies. My friend kept telling us we had to go into their bathroom... so we took a trip to the bathroom and laughed so hard! If you have a chance to go with your date, take a trip to the bathroom!

We snuck some illegal pics with my phone after the movie. Some of us are in character and runway ready.

Our dancer

There is someone in this family who is always dancing. Dancing down the hall, skipping across the parking lot, twirling around the table... and I hope it never stops. She is a joy and I am already sad for her to go to kindergarten next year. What will I do without her?

I love this little face!

Blue and Gold

Mr. T got to participate in the Blue and Gold dinner for Boy Scouts last week. He and his dad had to make a cake for the dinner & they did such a great job! They made a hamburger cake and decorated it all by themselves. I loved it! If you would like to see how to make it, then head over to my food blog here and check it out!

He also was awarded two beads on his way to his Wolf patch. He loves scouts!

Birthday in Reno

We were able to go to Reno last weekend for my niece's rockin' 5th birthday party. She decided she wanted a Michael Jackson party... my kind of party! So, my sister made a dancing room (complete with strobe light), pin the glove on M.J. and even had a black and white cake! The kids had a blast being together and we were so glad to be there to celebrate with her. Look at how cute she is!



That night, Pete and I headed out to the Silver Legacy to see my band Collective Soul in concert. I was so excited! I saw them twice last year and was really looking forward to the night. We walked down the stairs of the casino and saw a big poster with their picture on it and...CANCELLED. What a bummer. I was so disappointed. The concert got rescheduled for March, so I guess I have something to look forward to.

My 2010 word of the year

My friend Raimi had a really fun post a couple of weeks ago. She decided to pick a word that she could focus on for the year. A word that would mean something and would help inspire you all through the year. I love that idea!

Ever since I read her post I have been trying to think hard about what would be the "right" word for me this year. And every time I try, the same story keeps coming back to me. It is a true story my mom sent me a while ago & I would like to share ...

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the

violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about

45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated

that thousands of people went through the station, most of them on their way to

work.

Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was a musician

playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried

up to meet his schedule.

A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw

the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk.

A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but

the man looked at his watch and started to walk a gain. Clearly he was late

for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along,

hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally

the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all

the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents,

without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for awhile.

About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace.

He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one

noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best

musicians in the world. He p layed one of the most intricate pieces ever

written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.

Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a

theater in Boston and the seats average $100.00 each.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station

was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about

perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a

commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty?

Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected

context?

One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians

in the world playing some of the best music ever written, how many other

things are we missing?

My word for 2010 is Listen. I don't want to miss anything.

When you actually listen, you are doing more than just hearing. You are paying attention, noticing and then acting on what you hear. You are making an effort and are ready to hear. Sometimes, when you really listen, you can hear more than what is being said. I want to Listen this year.

I want to listen to my husband. I want to listen to my children. I want to listen to my family and friends. I want to listen to good music, uplifting messages and stories, the situations of others, nature...& so much more.

I want to slow down and Listen to the world around me.

I don't want to miss the beautiful music.

Holidays

We had a wonderful Christmas at home and with family! My sister & brother were both here with their families so it was extra special. The kids love to be with their cousins!

We spent Christmas Eve with extended family at my parents house and had great food and company. Then we came home for Santa to come and I guess the kids were all good this year because he brought some fun stuff!

We had a little Christmas here at home and then headed back to my parents to spend time with family and play with all the toys! We are so grateful to be able to spend time with family.

Our New Year's are always really low-key and easy! This year was a little extra special because we got to spend it with Eric, Nikki & Liv - something we haven't gotten to do before. We spent the night eating and playing Yahtzee (I still can't believe I got 3 yahtzees!) The kiddos even managed to stay awake to toast in the New Year with our yummy apple-pomegranite Martinelli's! Although one of them fell asleep at 11:55 & I woke them up a little cranky... can you tell who it is? Yeah, and the last picture is how I found her about one minute after Eric & Nikki left!

I hope 2010 is full of family, friends, food and fun memories.

Hello!

Hello friends! I have been wanting to do this update for a long time. It seems like the further I get behind, the harder it is to start again! I will try really hard to keep up to date from now on. After all, I do have a lot to say!

I have attempted to put together some of the major events of the last 5 months. Get ready...this is going to be a long post.

Mr. T started taking piano this fall and he loves it. He has the BEST teacher and she makes it very fun for him. He loves being able to learn a song and then play it faster and faster. He had his very first Christmas recital and did such a great job! He had all his songs memorized and played them perfectly. It was fun to watch him & see how much he likes applause!

Miss S had the opportunity to travel with her dance group to Disneyland and dance down mainstreet in the "Dance the Magic" holiday parade. It was an amazing experience and is something she will always remember. It wasn't without drama though! After practicing for almost 3 months (and I won't say how much it cost), it almost didn't happen. Her parade happened to fall on one of the rainiest day in Southern California in the last 10 years. It literally poured all day long. I mean all day.

She left in the early afternoon for backstage practice and we waited to hear if they would be allowed to dance in the rain. As the afternoon went on, we learned that the first parade of the day was cancelled. She was supposed to be part of the introduction to the second parade, and as time got closer they cancelled that parade also. But they were still going to let the girls dance if the weather improved. We waited and waited. I was getting text messages every other minute with news... "on hold", "starting in 10 minutes" and then the last one said "they are just going to walk and wave." Just then we looked down the street, saw them coming & they were dancing! It was one of the happiest moments. The street was lined with families of all the dance groups (no one else would wait in the rain!) and there were not many dry eyes. It was as if the skies parted and all our prayers were heard because it didn't rain at all until the girls were done. It really was magical.

We got to spend a couple of days at Disneyland with our friends the Kirkpatricks & we loved it! The kids had a wonderful time together and enjoyed every minute. We are glad to have spent this vacation and made some great memories with them!

Some highlights were...

*Seeing the Christmas decorations

*Miss H getting to go on all the big rides. Her favorites were Tower of Terror and Space mountain! She is so fun!

*Seeing the "real" Santa

*Watching Miss S. dance down mainstreet & surviving the rain

*Getting our matching Vans

*Mr. T making his own remote control car at RideMakerz

*Caramel apples, beignets, churros, gumbo...

We took one day and had fun driving around LA. We went to the American Girl store - a must from some members of the family. We saw the Princess and the frog movie, which was a big hit! We also went to the Chinese theatre, walked along the "Stars" and met some interesting characters. Then we went to Cheesecake factory in Beverly Hills. Great day!

Miss S got to perform in two local parades to prepare for the Disneyland parade. She danced in the Downtown parade and also a night parade. It was so fun to watch her. She did an amazing job and looked super cute in her costume. She loved sharing this experience with one of her best friends!

I love a guy in uniform, especially this one. Mr. T was so happy to earn his Bobcat and is enjoying scouts a lot. He is happily working towards his next badge! And you might have guessed my new calling...don't I look great in yellow?

We had Indiana Jones, Belle and a scary bride at our house for Halloween. They were sure cute! Miss H really got into it this year, running from house to house. They all loved spending the night with their cousin Olivia!

Do you recognize the "scary bride" dress in this picture? It was my very fancy, Jessica Mcclintock 8th grade graduation dress! Yes, that is me, braces and all. I think I have seen that hairstyle again lately... retro 1990.

We had to take a trip to our favorite pumpkin patch. They had some nice big pumpkins this year! It is fun to see the kids take pictures in the same places for the last 6 years, they sure have grown!

Mr. T turned 8 this year and was preparing to be baptized in our church. These are some of the pictures we took for his big day. Isn't he handsome!
He was baptized and confirmed a member of our church a couple of days after his 8th birthday We had family fly in from Utah to spend the weekend with us and be there for the baptism, which was a lot of fun. It was a special day for him and we are so grateful to all those who shared it with him! We are also very proud of him and the important decision he made to be baptized. He is an amazing son, brother and friend. He is sweet, thoughtful, smart, funny and very unselfish. We love him so much.

We had a new addition to our family! My sister had her third little girl and we all fell immediately in love. Can you blame us? She is so beautiful.

One of the highlights of the year was when I got to meet "my band", Collective Soul. I can't even explain how excited I was. Pete and I went to San Francisco to see them play at the Regency ballroom, a beautiful and intimate venue. We got to go backstage right before the concert and meet the guys. They were really cool and talked to us for a couple minutes until they were whisked away by the band manager. Then we got to go upstairs and stood front row for the concert. These pictures show how close we were, no zooming used! I even got a guitar pick thrown at me from Will - he saw me, threw it all the way across the stage and it hit me in the head! I loved every second. They put on the best concert ever. I am excited because I get to see them again in a couple weeks! Yes, I'm a little obsessed. Go listen to their music and see how great they are!

Miss S had another great soccer season with her team! She has been on this team for 5 years and has played with some of the girls for 6 years now. They are so cute together. They work so well and genuinely like each other. Not to mention that they are really good. They always end up winners! I love the bottom picture, it perfectly illustrates how they feel about each other!

The kids looked so cute and were very excited on the first day of school. I can't believe they are starting 2nd and 5th grade! They have awesome teachers and are looking forward to an amazing year.

Miss H started her second year of pre-school at Miss Cathy's. She was so excited to get back and see all of her friends and be in class again. She loves her teacher & thinks learning is so fun. We are so glad she gets to go to such a great school.

It was time for Miss H to get a haircut...I put it off as long as I could! I loved her ringlets. They were amazing and I knew that when I cut her hair they would be gone. But she needed it, so I cut her hair (and cried as I did it). The ringlets are gone, but there is still a little curl at the bottom. I have to admit that her hair looks much better and she immediately looked older!

In July we went to Kauai with all of my family for two weeks. It was heaven. We had the most incredible time and find ourselves wanting to go back almost daily. We loved the island and found a lot of favorite spots. We feel so grateful to be able to spend time with our family in such a remarkable place. We can't wait to go with them again!

Some of our favorite things from this trip were...

* Finding "secret beach"

* Shaved ice!

* Pete & the guys scuba diving

* Going on the helicopter ride

* Watching the giant turtles at Queens bath

* Going up to Waimea canyon

* Exploring the island

* Spending time with family!

Miss H decided to be daring and get her ears pierced while in Kauai. I thought she was kidding at first, but she wasn't! So we found a store and she picked out some cute pink jewels. Luckily they did both ears at once because she was shocked. She was very brave though and didn't cry! I love the middle picture - it shows her right after the piercing and she is trying so hard to control herself! She looks so cute.