Mom made it through tax season,
again! Carson and Morgan (and Memi) were
extremely patient with me as I worked long hours January thru April. It was a good thing that we live with Memi
and Papa. Memi was and is a lifesaver
when it comes to my kids. I couldn’t do
it without her and the kids sure adore her.
January – Carson was recognized at her school assembly during
Character Counts spotlight. She received
an award for Responsibility. She was
very excited.
February – Carson and Morgan were involved in a children’s choir
during the 2010-2011 school year along with cousins Abby and Sam. They performed at a concert in February. They loved singing and performing!
March – We took a little trip to Salt Lake City on our one
weekend off during tax season. It was
nice to get away and have fun with the kids.
April – Memi hosted a princess party for the girls! Max and Morgan did not want to be left out so
they were servants who served the food.
So much fun!
May – Carson graduated from Kindergarten! Both kids performed in their final Choir
concert.
We travelled to Illinois for
the first time since moving here in 2009.
It was great to see all of our family and friends. The kids spent time with their Dad, Jordan,
Rylee and Cameron. Morgan spent quite a
bit of time out there. Bryan was out
here for a couple of weeks prior to our trip out there and Morgan went back
with him. He loved spending the time
with his Dad.
While we were in Illinois, we
attended the annual Memorial Day Breakfast at the Vreeland’s and scheduled a Girl’s trip (Rylee, Carson
& me) to Chicago to visit the American Girl store, get manicures and just
have fun (except for when I got lost!) We
stayed with the Drowns’ Family. It was
so good to see everyone - I feel like my heart resides in two places – Idaho
and Illinois. Can’t wait to go back
for another visit! Especially since I
wasn’t able to visit everyone – there really needs to be more hours in the day!
Our house in Illinois sold in
less than a week after it went on the market.
We were truly blessed to sell it so quickly.
June- we had a great time in Island Park at my Aunt & Uncle’s cabin. We have our annual office retreat there on
Thursday & Friday morning and then our VanOrden families join us for an
extra day and night of fun! Melissa and
Shay came up with their family as well.
It was a lot of fun and the kids look forward to it every year.
August – Back to school for my two kiddos! Carson started first grade with Mrs. Jackson and Morgan started preschool with Miss Amy and Miss Rhonda. Both love their classes. I finally got me a DSLR camera! I have taken so many pictures and need to start sitting down to edit them. Still looking for the time on that one!
September – Carson celebrated her 7th birthday. She had a friend party where we took
pictures, had manicures and scrapbooked!
October – We went to Roosevelt, Utah to visit our good friends, the
Madsons! It was awesome to see Scott,
Dana, Baylee, Peyton and Millie. We had
a great time.Morgan celebrated his 5th birthday. He was so excited to have a friend party as well.
November – The kids spent Thanksgiving with their Dad so I spent it
with my family. We had Melissa &
Shay AND Matt & Shireen join us for the day. We ate and ate some great food. We also played “Do You Love Your Neighbor?”
for quite a while. All the kids were
pretty pleased.
December – this month seems to have flown by faster than I would
like. We spent the first weekend in
Logan with our good friends the Nobles watching them perform in “Scrooge”. Our 2nd weekend we were in Salt
Lake visiting my cousin Stacie and her family.
We attended her daughter’s ballet performance in “The Nutcracker”
ballet. We spent Saturday night at
Temple Square seeing the beautiful lights with my Mom and Dad, Shireen &
girls, and Merritt, Mandee & kids.
It was so crowded but worth the trip.
Update - We met with Dr Wallace Baker (an awesome referral from
our good friend Tia Morrell) in Idaho Falls who was able to prescribe some
medicine for Carson’s headaches FINALLY.
She has suffered with migraine headaches also known as Cyclic Vomiting
Syndrome since she was four years old.
Each episode now lasts three days.
We have always been told she is too young for medication; however, now
that she is seven she is on a preventative daily medication as well as
something to treat the onset of the headache.
We are hoping and praying this will give her some relief.
We look forward to Christmas
every year, we love reconnecting with family and friends. It is also a special time for our family as
we reflect on the true meaning of Christmas – to think of our Savior, his
example and influence on our daily lives.
Today is December 23, 2011 and
as I finally have a moment to sit down and address our Christmas cards, please
know our friendship means so much to me – I think of you often. I just feel like there is not enough time in
the day to accomplish all that I have on my task list – however, just knowing
we are friends is a big comfort to me.
So if you don’t hear from me as often as I would like, know that I
always have a special place in my heart for you!
Happy 2011 and here is to a
fabulous 2012!
