Beware pedestrians... Annie has her learners permit! YIKES!!

Annie turned 15 on April 11th and in our lovely state of Utah that means they need to pass a written test at the DMV and they get their permit!! (You also have to show them your birth certificate, Social Security Card (so have that ready before their bday or your in deep doodoo - but that's a story for another time...) and 2 items for proof of residence (like a couple utility bills will do it). Seems like a way too easy way to be able to drive, especially for those parents that won't let their kid behind the wheel without this little piece of paper!

Well, for Easter we headed to Thermopolis to spend the holiday with Harvey and Geneva (those pics to come as soon as I can get them off my phone) and Grandpa Harvey actually let Annie drive his mustang! She was in HEAVEN! And doesn't she just rock the hot rod convertible look???

On the way home I jumped in back and read a bit (without even getting 1 second of motion sickness which is a HUGE accomplishment for me! Must have been the fact that I was nevous as could be worrying about Annie driving) and Darrell rode shot gun while Annie drove for just over 2 full hours!! She also rocks the "I'm driving a Ford Flex look!" too!!

Mommy/Daughter Date...

Annie's cupcake

Last month Dippidee put a status on their facebook page about a Mommy/Daughter night they were having April 1st. Knowing how creative Shawna is and how much Annie wants to be a baker and cupcake maker I thought it would be fun to go and get some decorating tips as well as eat yummy yummy desserts! We were not disapointed! I'm also glad my girls are not too old to have a date night with their Mommy!

Face Painting

Shawna's on top and mine on bottom. Yes we each made our own fondant flowers!

Disney on Ice with the Kinyon Family!

I get on my blog a lot to get to everyone else's blog, see what they're doing and what's going on in their lives but honestly, I'm terrible about updating my blog! So far we've had a pretty fun and exciting new year but not a ton to blog about.

We did go to Disney on Ice with my family, it was a lot of fun seeing the little kids get excited! I loved that when Mickey and Minnie skated out everyone was shouting MICKEY MICKEY, except Duncan who calls Mickey HOT DOG! He was just a shouting and pointing at hot dog and was so excited! I guess it's because he watches Mickey Mouse Fun House and there's a hot dog song on there. I just thought it was HILARIOUS! I also loved that Mya kept turning around (we sat 1 row behind them) and was trying to tell me all about the show but I couldn't hear her sweet little voice over all the commotion! It was fun bribing her to come sit with me and Dia (her name for Darrell) with popcorn so she could chat away about all that was going on in between bites of popcorn. I loved seeing Lo in her pretty princess dress and wearing her pretty sparkle light up crown (souvenier from the show!) and Brock with his cool light up glasses! Overall we really had a great time! Here's some pics...

Brock and Grandma showing off some cool flashy glasses!

The girls hanging out waiting for the show to start, I could NOT get Mya to look at the camera or smile, but she was excited! Below is Lo wearing her flashy sparkly crown! Annie and Mya got one too!

Duncan and Brock wearing their glasses!

My favorite picture for a couple of reasons... Kiersti and Becky! What the heck are they doing here???

I'm so grateful that my family is close, that we can get together and have a bunch of fun and that we rarely get on each others nerves! I'm grateful for the wonderful examples my brother and sister are and their great spouses!! I'm blessed to have the parents I do and if anything was missing on our family outing to Disney on Ice it was my dad! Whenever we do things and he isn't around it's noticed! We missed you Dad! Thanks for taking us all Mom! I love you family!!

A January Getaway...

We all needed it and I'm so glad we were able to get away! It's hard to believe it was a couple weeks ago that we were in sunny Las Vegas. I've never thought of taking the girls to Vegas, I mean really, what is there to do for a couple teens??? Turns out quite a bit!

We stayed in a beautiful Hilton Grand Vacation hotel on the strip, it's fairly new and the suite we were in was just beautiful, but best of all, NO CASINO!!! When leaving the hotel you didn't have to pass through that yucky smoke smell! You didn't leave feeling like you'd just stepped out of an ash tray!

PLUS, because it wasn't so convenient to walk down to the casino and gamble we didn't lose any money gambling! Instead we spent a fantastic 3 days just enjoying eachothers company! Walking and sight seeing and shopping and just hanging out! We reconnected as a family away from the stress of everyday life and that is exactly what we all needed! I can't wait to go again! It really was so much fun!!

One of our favorite things was hanging out in front of Bellagio watching the fountain show go off every 15 minutes, it was so nice hanging out and enjoying eachothers company in the warm night air! Unfortunately the only camera we had was Darrell's phone and he hasn't emailed them to me yet!

Here's some pics of the highlights...

The girls watching the roller coaster at New York New York!

Me and Darrell enjoying the Rainforest Cafe

Darrell NOT working ;)

The M&M Store!

The girls posing outside the Rainforest Cafe

(It doesn't seem to matter how old we get, we LOVE eating there!)

And the Coke store, where the Polar Bear really

liked Shawna!

We had so much fun! Can't wait for our next WARM adventure!

New Year, Making Changes...

Well, I can't believe it's another New Year! I guess now that I'm older time just flies right by! A few things I'm actually looking forward to changing in the New Year...

Budget...

Since it will be our 20th Anniversary this year I'm planning to budget so we can get out of debt but mostly so we can afford to take ourselves and the girls to

Hawaii...

Where we can spend some time showing them where we lived and visiting our favorite beach spots with our new

Healthy Bodies...

Ok, same old bodies but I'm so happy Darrell and the girls got me an elliptical so I can really work out at home and lose this baby weight I've been packing around for 13+ years now (can I still claim it as baby fat if my baby is a teenager???) and I'm making meal plans with healthy food so those of us who aren't going to exercise will still lose weight and be healthy with our diets!

But mostly I'm not doing an actual resolution list since it seems most resolutions end up being broken, instead I'm making a few changes and the best part is that I'm ready! Bring it on!

What changes will you make in the New Year???

Christmas

Three Wise Men

Three wise men knowing not who you are

Ride across the desert following only a star.

Three wise men in honor of your birth

Ride across the desert chanting, "Peace on Earth".

Three wise men, wise by God's own hands

Ride across the desert traveling from distant lands.

Listen baby Jesus, sacred gift from Heaven handed down to Earth

Three wise men ride tonight to see your Holy mirth.

During this time of year we want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! May the spirit reside in your home all year round and may you always remember the reason for the season!

November Fun!!!

I can't believe it's been MONTHS since I posted last! Life gets so busy and we get caught up in our day to day that time slips by without me realizing it! We've had so much fun the past few weeks, here's some of what we've been doing...

Gladys came to town and the Byers boys (minus David cause he's in Calif) went to dinner, ADULTS ONLY! We don't get togther often enough, but when we do it's so much fun! I love having Gladys come and stay, she's such a strong beautiful woman and 1 of my best friends! I'm so blessed to have her in my life and she's raised her boys to be such wonderful men! I love my sisters-in-law and I'm thankful that we all get along and have fun when we get together!

My family (the girls anyway) like doing crafts together, we've made stocking holders and hula hoop teepee tents and all kinds of stuff in between. Becky found this darling snowman that we really wanted to do and luckily Grandpa Tom cut the wood quicker than we ever expected! We got together today, had the big kids bbsit the littles, ordered pizza and painted our little guts out but the end result is fabulous! I'm thankful for the wonderful Grandparents I've been blessed with, my very beautiful loving mom, my fantastic sister (who is the absolute best friend ever!) and I'm thankful that my brother found a wonderful woman to add to our family and that Kiersti fits right in! I love you all so much!

And this last picture is of our first really big snow storm of the year! It's snowed before but melted right away, today though we got this...

In 2 hours! Darrell and I left at 5pm, it was cold and a little misty but not really anything you could call rain, at 7pm we came home to this! I am so excited for the holidays! I love the end of October/1st of November until the 1st week of the New Year! It's my favorite time of year!! I hope everyone has a fantastic Thanksgiving and Christmas! Hopefully I'll be posting again soon, but if not we'll be living life to it's fullest in the meantime!