Derek 2010

Derek had a great 2010. He got to go to some chess tournaments with Larry and even won a trophy for second place! This picture is from last January- he got another 3rd place medal this winter. Anyway, he seems to still like chess. Another thing that Derek likes is the Sunday Comics. His favorites are: Baby Blues, Family Circus, and Garfield- among others. He and Miranda fight over it on Sunday mornings.

Derek also likes Cassie. He's been a great big brother to her and she really likes it when he talks to her in baby language.

Derek started second grade this year and I think he mostly likes school. He and his teacher had to come to an agreement about when he could read his books, so now things run smoothly. He gets his own math assignments as well. His favorite lunch is 1/2 a ham and cheese sandwich, wheat thins, and a dried fruit strip. He likes going to computer lab the best.

Derek's LOVE of Legos continues. Here is a model of a Harry Potter set that he wanted to send into the Lego magazine people. He and Spencer really enjoy putting together a new set. This summer they were WAY into making stop-animation movies and videos with their Legos. It kept them occupied, but then they broke our camera, so that was the end of that. Derek had some great singing and impromtu musicals on those videos.

In the fall, Derek played soccer again. Peter was his coach. I think that soccer is Derek's favorite sport. He loves being with his friend, Kyler, and cheering him on. Actually, I think Derek's favorite sport would be a cross between soccer and debate because he loves arguing with the other players and coaches.

Look at these awesome moves from Derek! Let's just say that he got a little agressive at times...

It's a good thing that Derek and Spencer are together in the birth order. They play together quite a bit...and fight...over things like calculators.

A momentous event happened in early December. The DEATH STAR ARRIVED! After saving up for a year and a half, pooling allowances and doing extra chores most days, they finally saved up enough money to buy the Death Star! It was very peaceful in our house for several days as they put it all together.

Derek turned 8 in December and was able to start CubScouts! He really enjoys his Den Meetings. In his first Den meeting, they went on a tour of the library and he got a form to get his own library card. That got the ball rolling, and a couple weeks later, I let Derek and Miranda get their own cards. He loves to look online at his account, reserve books, and check out as many books as he wants!! He likes books about Legos, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Fablehaven, and Harry Potter. Oh- and Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

For his party this year, we did a Harry Potter thing. Here's a picture of some of the potions and the Golden Snitch cupcakes.

This is the dragon egg carry.

Derek does some strange and unexplainable things. He makes this weird face and says stuff like ,"FA FA!" all the time. I guess it's all part of being an 8 year old boy...

Here is Derek's Christmas stash! He was VERY excited Christmas morning...

So, to summarize- Derek is awesome and kind of weird too! This video is of one of his sillier moments...

Miranda 2010

DUDE! Miranda is rad! (At least, that's what she would say- especially the DUDE part...) Miranda really is an awesome girl and you will know why- if you already don't know- after you read this blog about her! Miranda is now 9 1/2 and loving life. She enjoys going to chess with Larry and the boys in the morning. I think she likes chess some and really likes interacting with everyone else there and helping other people- like her cousin, Eden, even more. Miranda has a very fun, social, talkative nature, which enables her to get along with just about anyone- boy or girl, younger or older.

In March, Miranda did a play called, "It's a Jungle Out There". She wanted to try out acting. She did really well, but she said that she'd rather do a sculpture class the next time she gets to pick a class.

Miranda had a fun birthday with family this year, and is already planning the guest list to her next birthday in April that she gets to do with friends. She LOVES to plan ahead and look forward to holidays, celebrations, and vacations. She always wants to know what's coming up so she can get excited about it.

Miranda LOVES to read! She likes mystery series- like the Nancy Drew Notebooks and Boxcar Children, books about animals and being a vet, cookbooks, and craft books. It's a good thing that I let her have her own library card a couple months ago. Now she can check out as many books as she wants when we go on Tuesdays. (I think she got about 30 this last time... it makes for a quiet afternoon and evening with her in her room reading through her stacks). Miranda is really awesome in helping out with Lindsey and Kara. She reads stories to them every night before Larry tucks them into bed. We love it!

Miranda was able to go fishing a few times last year with her friend and our kids. I think she enjoys EATING the fish more than catching- only if it's SALMON, though. And don't get her started on talking about salmon...she's obsessed!

Miranda has been a real help since Cassie's birth. She can carry her around for me and help entertain her for short periods of time. She is a tremendously wonderful sister and a great example to her siblings- in most ways ;). She is always willing to lend a hand, especially with making dinner- she loves to cook, and cleaning up for special events.

This is a picture of Miranda on a ropes course with her friend, Ryan. (Notice the one flip-flop). She is so adventurous and is really wonderful about trying new things.

Miranda started 4th grade this year, and is doing well. She likes her two BFF's in her class. They write books together (one's an author, one's an illustrator, and one's editor). They even made pins to wear that say BFF on them. She is such a hard worker. She is working with a friend, and tutor on spelling and math to help with her dyslexia. She has also been doing piano since school started. It is hard for her to read music and play with the right hands/fingers, but she is very determined and willing to keep working. Miranda rocks!

Miranda played soccer again this fall- although I think she liked goofing around more than defending the goal.

In October, we went to Wolf Lodge (an indoor waterpark/hotel). Miranda loved going on the slides and running about freely with friends.

Miranda was so excited for Christmas this year. She earned a lot of extra money to buy gifts for almost everyone. I think her highlight of the holidays was shopping with grandma to buy all the gifts for everyone. Miranda got some things she really wanted- like a desk, a filing box, a 10 year supply of Twix (which lasted about 3 weeks), and some things she didn't know she wanted, but loves- like her giant purple pillow and her nightstand and lamp- for all those reading sessions.

DUDE! Miranda is awesome!!

Michelle 2010

Okay, so I guess I'm a real behind-the-scenes mom because these are about the only pictures of myself that I could even find for this whole year! I realize that most of what I do is unseen by those around me. All the cooking, cleaning, child-rearing, and most of my hobbies take place in my house or yard. But, maybe I'll share some of those with you, so that you know I'm not just sitting around all day.
To start off, I spent the first 6 months of the year with a gradually expanding belly. It was a nice pregnancy with an easy birth. Cassie was born July 5. It wasn't much of a transition at all. I just had a little less time to do stuff during the day because of nursing. Cassie is an awesome sleeper and very content baby, so life went on without too much trouble.

This summer I canned more things and more in quantity than I ever have before. I grew and canned pickled beets, and picked blueberries and raspberries to freeze. I picked strawberries for jam and freezer jam. I picked pears and peaches to can as well. Oh, and I picked some apples to make apple pie filling. I also did a couple batches of tomatoes from my garden (unfortunatly, our growing season was shorter than normal). The picture below is of us picking peaches- I'm the legs on the right. I LOVE picking fruit, but Kara's throwing of the peaches made it stressful instead of really enjoyable. Lindsey was really skilled at picking the ripest peaches.

This was my favorite year so far for gardening. With our house addition the year before, my garden got about 15 feet shorter, so we moved the whole thing out about 7 more feet to make more space. I grew peas, snap peas, beets, tomatoes, peppers, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, tomatoes, pumpkin, summer squash, cucumbers, onions, green beans, cilantro, red potatoes, yukon gold potatoes, and radishes. For some reason my lettuce, spinach, and carrots refused to grow this year- even after replanting a couple times. Anyway, I loved spending as much time as possible in the garden. I'm planning on growing most of the same things this coming year.

I was SO ready when Fall came! I began teaching preschool for Lindsey again this year. In this photo the kids are kneading their bread. I've enjoyed teaching, but I'm looking forward to a year break next year.
With the Fall, I also started teaching Miranda, Derek, and Spencer piano. In the last 3 months, Derek is back and a book series beyond what he previously was, and Miranda and Spencer started from scratch. Miranda is beginning her second series of books, and Spencer is getting close to finishing his second series. They have a 15 minute lesson Mon-Sat (usually). Peter also started teaching me guitar, so I've been working on that right after piano lessons. I now know about 12-15 cords and the different strums. I also got a guitar of my very own for Christmas, so that's been really neat to play.

Other than those things, I'm mostly just trying to keep the wheels turning in our family- keeping up on the laundry, dishes, meals, schoolwork, and teaching the Beehives. Life is busy, but awesome!

Larry 2010

This is what Larry's been up to during 2010. First of all, chess coaching was new and exciting last year. I think they had between 12-30 kids coming twice a week. Larry especially enjoyed being with MIranda, Derek, and Spencer, and getting to know the other kids and parents at school. In April, they had a chess party at the school. This is from a beach trip in May. I keep telling Larry that he is a kid-magnet, because pretty soon a couple other boys joined our family in building the sand castle. It seems like everywhere we go, kids flock to him.

Larry also tried out coaching T-ball.

Of course, Larry did the annual Starlight Parade Run. This year they picked a fun theme. Lindsey had some facepainting done beforehand, so she was the swimming cat.

In July, Larry became a father- the sixth time around. Cassie was born July 5. He took it in stride and barely missed any work (maybe 1 day?)

Larry helped with Shawn Lindsay's campaign as much as his time allowed. This is from the 4th of July parade (I was home extremely pregnant).

Cassandra's blessing day in August.

Summer trip to Utah. Larry drove some of the cousins around the yard.

In late August, Larry did the Hood to Coast run for the first time. A lot of the team were family and some friends. He enjoyed the adventure-the running part wasn't hard for him.

Larry pushed for the annual father/daughter campout again, which is nice, since we now have 4 daughters. I'm so glad he organizes these things- and I think friends are too, because there is always a good turnout.

In the fall, Larry coached Lindsey's soccer team. They were the Cougars.

Larry's birthday happened to be on the day of the waterpolo banquet to honor the coaches and players from the 2010 team. I made some awesome waterpolo cupcakes. My surprise was foiled, however, when it was cancelled til the following Monday because of snow! (After 3 hours of work I was pretty devastated- so I made sure to get a picture). We shared some with team-member families close by. Larry turned 36 this year! It seems like he should be acting old, but he isn't. I think he's in great shape and I've only seen a few grey hairs...

Larry is just completely amazing as a husband, friend, and father. I think that the more you know Larry, the more you realize how willing he is to sacrifice to help other people. He is a tremendous example to me. He is always looking long-term in how he treats other people and teaches our children. He is a wonderful coach and really had impacted so many people through all the things he does!

I can't wait to see what Larry does in 2011!