Too much to catch up...

Have you ever felt like you've let your life run away without you? That's how I'm feeling about this blog...so much going on...not enough extra time to keep up. So instead of feeling guilty, I'm going to just sum it all up in one nice, long entry! So for all my family members out there...here's the highlights from December till now!





Holiday Parade...Downtown Boise. This year Kylie's team participated in the holiday parade. It was actually decent weather this year! Kylie had a great time feeling like a queen of sorts on her big float.



Rah! Rah! Go Dance Unlimited!

Kylie and one of her teammates.

Brinley and Tasha endured the cold with a nice cup of hot chocolate. Ahhh...wintertime!

Winter Dance recital '08. This is Kylie's ballet dance. She was one of the party girls in their performance of the 2nd act of the Nutcracker!

Look out! This could be the one and only mother/daughter recital performance ever! Yes, I did dance in the recital this December with my adult hip/hop class! I even wore fake eyelashes so that I could "relate" with Kylie about how horrible they are to wear! As for the dancing...well let's just say that it was a rude awakening that I am not 18 anymore. It's been 13 years since I performed on a stage. As I was waiting in the wings ready to go on stage...I was wondering what possessed me to ever do it in the first place! Anyway, I went out and gave it my all and showed Kylie that even moms can shake their "thang" sometimes!




Natasha had her first ever piano recital! She did such a good job...so confident and calm! This is her STELLAR piano teacher.


One of my favorite memories of the holidays...the Larsen rendition of the Christmas story. Brinley was Mary, Shane was Joseph/Wise man/shepherd, Kylie was angel/wise man, Aimee was a shepherd and a wise man, Leann was a donkey (my favorite addition), and the innkeeper, and Natasha was the narrator, an angel and the pianist. Brinley's doll named "Angel" played baby Jesus.









Oh...and Lady was the "black sheep." Nice touch huh?


This is Mary with Baby Jesus after we experienced the live birth...baby Jesus actually came out of her dress!

3 Wise men...don't you love the costumes? The kids gathered those themselves and did a FABULOUS job!

Natasha's program included intermittent Christmas carols. She played them herself too! It was so great!

My 3 Christmas Angels!

Natasha age 10

Kylie - age 8

Brinley age 4

Trip to Island Park with the Hills! Soooooooooooo fun! We spent the weekend in a cozy cabin with the fire ablaze. We played games, played guitar hero, went snowmobiling, sledding, and enjoyed time with friends!

The girls LOVED the snowmobiles.

Brinley and Natasha in their "city." The kids all went out in the waist high snow and created a city. They had a Wendy's, a home decor store, a bank, a cookie shop, a Wal Mart, and a plate store! Whoa! The creativity! They played out there for HOURS!

Isn't this beautiful......ahhhh! I want to go back!

Kylie and Hailey...playin' in the snow!

Brinley - the day we went sledding. The snow was so light and powdery that the sledding was marginal. It was so "dry" that you couldn't even make a snowball with it. There was just sooooooooooooo much of it!

Kylie's baptism! What a great day. Kylie was BEAMING from ear to ear! It was a special day and she is a very special girl. We are lucky to have her in our family and to have her as such a great example! Her excitement about the gospel is contagious!

Kylie - the proud owner of her own set of scriptures! Here she is the Sunday after her baptism when she went up to the pulpit where the bishop shared all kinds of great things about her. She got to sit up there for all of Sacrament meeting! She was even reverent the entire time! Wow! She must be growing up!

Lapscrapping...what the heck?

Some of you have been asking, "Lapscrapping? What the heck is that and how do you do it with 8 other women." For those of you with wild imaginations...let me explain! :)

Lapscrapping involves: a laptop, digital pictures, Photoshop software, lots of free downloads, friends, food, chic flicks, soft, comfy couches, & no distractions (ie: kids).

We sit on the couches with our laptops going and create Family Albums that are printed in hardbound, leather books of joy. Who knew genealogy and family history could be so fun huh?


These "spreads" are created from scratch...the same as you would do with traditional scrapbooking (paper, glue, pictures, etc.). The best part about it...well...there are so many best parts about it! NO MESS! NO SET-UP/TAKE DOWN. Almost all the papers, embellishments, etc. that I've used have been FREE. Yup...free. Who doesn't love that? The possibilities with digital scrapbooking are endless...endless. And the cost? For a HUGE 12x15 leather bound book, it cost me less than $2.00 per page. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT????????



These layouts are "first drafts." Before I print them I'm sure I'll tweak them and then tweak them some more. But that's part of the fun.


There is a learning curve using the software...but once you get going you realize how limitless the possibilities are. The best part is sharing what we've learned with each other. And of course...MUCH THANKS to those amazing women who got us started and continue to educate us...Janel and Letia. Tear...tear...we wouldn't be where we are today without you ladies!

This last trip we all tried to come prepared to share one new technique we had learned. I think I learned more lifesaving tips (ie: clipping mask...) in one weekend than I have learned in the last 6 months! And that was thanks to one of our "newbies" Kim! Love it!

So, though I'm still an "armature," I'm having tons of fun as I go. And Shane's just happy because our bedroom closet isn't full of stamps, papers, ink pads, embellishments, etc. He LOVES the books as do our kids...so back to work. Gotta get 2008 done!