Anna through the years

In celebration of Anna's birthday I wanted to share some photos of Anna as she has grown over the years. Life is really so amazing. How did my tiny little baby get to be so grown up?!

Here is Anna on her blessing day. She is about 5 weeks old in this picture.

Here is Anna at about 18 months.

This picture is the day after Lizzy was born. Anna has just turned two. Adam is there too.

Here is Anna when she is 4 years old. She finally has hair! And a broken arm (thanks to her mother who moved a chair while she was standing on it).

Here is Anna at 5 years old with her cousin Alia.

Another picture of Anna at 5. This is the day of preschool graduation.

Anna at 7. I love that you can see her freckles in this one.

Our beautiful Anna at 7 again. I love the toothless grin.

Here is Anna on her baptism day, 8 years old. She picked the dress out herself.

Here is Anna when she is 9 years old. This was taken on our summer vacation.

Here is Anna still having fun at 10 years old.

This was taken this past Christmas, just one month before her 11th birthday.

Anna's birthday

Our beautiful Anna turned 11 years old on January 25th. She is growing up too fast! Anna is such a wonderful daughter. She is easy to talk to, kind, and a lot of fun. Anna was a fiery toddler and preschooler who got into things and had a little temper. She has definitely mellowed over the years. She still has a stubborn streak, but sometimes I think that is to her advantage. She doesn't let people tell her what to do. She trusts herself and her judgement. She is OK if her choices are different than those around her. She knows what's best for her. She doesn't like being the center of attention or being asked to speak or perform in front of others. She continues to enjoy playing the flute and we were so proud of her for earning a superior rating when playing in front of a judge by herself (big, scary deal for her). She likes to play with her friends one on one. It's easier to keep everyone happy that way. She can be quiet and reserved, but at home she has a very quirky sense of humor. Anna likes who she is and we do too.

Anna had a party last year so this year we didn't have a friend party. We went to dinner at Village Inn (it had to be on her birthday because it was free pie day). A different day we had cake and ice cream and presents.

Adam giving Anna a card he made

Anna is queen of pillows. This was what she really wanted for her birthday. She has quite the set up on her bed. I am not sure how there is room for her to sleep!

Two giant pillows for her birthday. This one is a Tabby Cat Pillow Pet.

All the siblings loving on Anna (OK and Anna's pillow)

Anna doesn't like normal cake so she usually requests a cookie cake. Mmmm!

Anna we love you. You are such a blessing in our lives.

Random January Happenings

This is a post about random things that happened in January for our family (yes, we're still two months behind!). Every four years in Iowa there are several months of presidential politics that seem to consume everything. In years past, we've been fairly active, going to meet a lot of the candidates, participating in polls, and other things (Tammy was even a delegate to the county convention one year).

This year, we felt kind of disenchanted with it all, so we didn't do much. Greg did take the kids to one event (he blogged about it earlier ... with the kids showing up all over the national media). Other than that we didn't do anything, except that we did go to the caucuses.

The caucus here was a lot different than the caucus in Bettendorf. The first time we went there, there were only about 20 people in the room. Here in Waukee, there were hundreds.

Not only that, but a lot of the national media was there as well as some big names. Rick Perry, who hadn't yet dropped out, was there to speak to us.

So was Ann Romney.

And so was Charlie Chaplin.

And even the Krispy Kreme donut makers. It was quite a night!

Actually, I don't think those last two were from the caucus ... just random fun shots during the month. After the caucus, things got much quieter in Iowa and we had a pretty normal month. It was warmer than usual with not a lot of snow, but still winter, still dark all the time. The end of January always brings a bright spot as we celebrate Anna's birthday. We'll write more about that later, but here she is out on a date with Greg wishing for certain birthday presents at the store. She ended up getting the big blue pillow for her birthday and Lizzy got the big green one for her birthday. How was your January?

Christmas number 2

We arrived home very late (or very early, depending on how you look at it) only to awaken the next morning for our second Christmas. Since we flew to Las Vegas we had to pack and travel light. That meant only one present for everyone. The kids were great about it. I actually think we all enjoyed having two smaller Christmases over the whopper doozy big one. Here are a few highlights.

Here are the stockings all hung by the fire.

Our Christmas tree. I love having this hodge podge of ornaments collected over the years, from my childhood and the many new ornaments the kids have made. I really liked our tree this year too. I don't know if we will ever switch over to an artificial tree. I just love the real ones too much. I like that they are unique and different each year.

One of Ben's favorite presents was the doughnut maker he received from his great grandparents. That boy really loves to help in the kitchen.

Lizzy's big gift this year was a guitar. I read a lot about it before I bought it. If it looks small, that's because it is. A half size guitar for a girl who is half the size of a grown up. We went with nylon strings instead of steel because I read it was easier on beginner's fingers (kind of pain to tune all the time though).

As many birthdays and Christmases go, Adam must have some BYU items. Train them up when they are young and they will not depart from it. Go Cougs!

Greg opted for a hand shot of his new scriptures. His others, which he used on his mission, were pretty beat up.

Anna got an awesome alarm clock with several noises, like crickets, rain, and waterfalls. It also has lights and an ipod dock. It wasn't something that see asked for, but I knew she would love it, and she did!

Here is Jacob with his brand new John Deere boots. Sadly these boots have not been as popular as the Buzz and Woody boots he wore out. These awesome boots have only been worn a few times. I guess he doesn't like the stiffness of them. I thought he would love them.

Here are the girls later enjoying practicing together. I wish I could get them to do that everyday! I love having our home filled with music.

We hope you all had as wonderful a Christmas as we did. It was so fun to get away and do something different. It was also great to come home and spend even more time together. We are just in such a great time of our lives. Merry Christmas!

Las Vegas Days 6 and 7

Day 6 in Las Vegas was spent doing a little of this and a little of that. Adam was quite sick again so he spent the whole day on the couch while the rest of us explored the town. In the morning we went to Ethel M's chocolate factory and cactus garden. It was then on to Lake Las Vegas to walk around a pseudo European village. Then the evening we spent on Fremont street. Greg had a conference in Las Vegas in November and had heard it was cool because the whole street is covered and every hour they have a lights and music show on the "ceiling". He wanted to check it out. It was probably the most "Las Vegas-y" thing we did.

Here is Lizzy, Ben, and Anna watching them make chocolate.

The kids (minus Adam) in the cactus garden. They have something like 300 different varieties of cactus. Who knew that many varieties even existed?

A cute shot of Liz in the cactus garden.

Anna and a cool peacock sculpture.

Here are Ben and Greg at Lake Las Vegas.

Strolling at Lake Las Vegas.

Anna and Jake posing at Lake Las Vegas

This is the ceiling on Fremont street during one of the light shows. It kept changing to flow with the music. It's pretty cool, but probably not as impressive as Greg hoped.

There are people all over the place dressed up waiting to take a picture with you (for a fee). When you are in Vegas, how can you resist a photo op with Elvis?

One of the funnest things we did was paid to have some artists do charicatures of Ben, Lizzy, and Anna (Jacob was pretty tired and grouchy). Here is the result. Sorry the pictures aren't great. It is a picture of a picture.

Ben

Lizzy and Anna

Our last day in Vegas was a short one. We just had the morning before catching our flight that afternoon. We had been hoping everyone would be well enough to visit Greg's grandma. Fortunately it worked out and we were able to see her that morning. It was the first time some of the kids had ever met her. It was fun to visit with her and have the kids play the piano for her. Here we are with Greg's Grandma Pace, his mom, and Jim (his mom's husband). Thanks to Greg's Aunt Kaylene for taking the pictures. If these weren't the only pics we had with Greg's grandma, I would probably burn them. I look larger than large. Maybe I will print them just so I can burn them. I think that could be satisfying.

After a quick lunch it was off to the airport and home to Iowa. Here are the kids at the airport on this cool turtle statue. Bye-bye Las Vegas. Thanks for the fun time! Thanks Cherrie and Jim for everything.

Las Vegas-Days 4 and 5

Day 4 in Las Vegas was Christmas Day! Unfortunately, during the night more of the family had gotten the very nasty stomach virus. Fever and all. Most of the kids were still excited so we all got up at 6 and headed down. Then everyone except Jacob and I went back to bed. Most everyone spent the day in bed. I did see Ben and Lizzy occasionally, but it was mostly just the two of us. Since Grandma and Grandpa were also not feeling well, Jake and I didn't even go to church. It was a very mellow Christmas.

Here are the kids heading down to check out the stockings and things.

Jacob very happy with the Scooby-Doo movie he found in his stocking. Too bad we left it at Grandma's when we went home! We only brought one present for each of the kids, and Grandma and Grandpa had a few things for them to open. You know what, I think I enjoyed it a lot more. Less is more, right? Mostly we were just happy to be together.

Lizzy reading the blurb on the back of the book in her stocking.

One of the times Liz and Ben came down, they were looking for something to do. Grandpa found a bag full of beads for them to play with. They used them to make these.

It was a pretty quiet Christmas day. It was nice for everyone to rest and try to get over the stomach bug. What a great day to think of the Savior.

Day 5 in Las Vegas was a fun one for me. One of my old college roommates, Carmen, lives across town in Henderson. We were able to go to lunch and catch up a little bit. Sadly, I did not bring my camera so I do not have a picture of the two of us.

While I was at lunch with Carmen, Greg took the little boys, Ben and Jacob to do their "special" thing. They got to go to the M&M store where they watched a short 4-D movie, got a picture with characters, and bought way too many expensive M&Ms. They are pretty easy to please and just enjoyed being with their dad and feeling special.

Here is Ben and Jake with Yellow M&M.

The day ended with a family dinner. Greg's mom remarried about 5 years ago (Greg's dad has passed away). Jim, her husband, has a lot of children who live in Las Vegas. We met them briefly at their wedding, but this gave us a chance to get to know some of them better. It was really enjoyable. All really great families. It was also good to see Jim interact with his kids and grandkids. It helped us get to know him better, too. We are really glad we got that chance.