March

 Happy birthday, Relief Society!  So weird Alyssa is old enough to come with me.  I keep forgetting to invite her to activities.  But so glad she came!

 Happy birthday Amber!  My little mini-me turned 14 so I picked her up from school early and took her to The Chocolate.  It was so yummy!  

 Took my activity day girls to Girls Summit.  It was great to see all the possibilities all these amazing young ladies have!  Love being with them.

 This kid.  He studied for about 2 seconds and then I took him to the DMV.  He took 10 minutes on his test and then came and sat down next to me.  I asked if he passed.  He said he didn't think so.  Then they handed him his permit.  He was like, so did I pass?  And I was like, yeah, or they wouldn't have given it to you.  And he was like, I didn't know any of the answers.  Eye roll.  He said he just figured out it wasn't ever A or D, and rotated between C and B.  He makes me crazy!  I also went to the high school in May to pick him up early from school to take him out for a soda for his birthday, but when I got there he was stuffing.  Needless to say, he missed out on the soda.

 Malala take 2.

 Amber in The King and I.  She loves drama so much.

 Livi and Soso played soccer this season.  Livi had a great time, and Soren chatted it up with all her teammates and managed to play a little as well.

Hiking with the Henlines

February--I mean CALIFORNIA!

For Alyssa's senior trip we decided to go to California for some sunshine and rollercoasters (both things she loves).  Scott had a work trip to Phoenix at beginning of February so we headed down there to pick him up first.  We had a great time seeing the Bowens again and visiting with the O'Connors.  Then we had a chance to go see my grandpa, who I haven't seen for years.  So grateful we took the time to do that, as he passed away a couple months later.  

At an escape room with the Bowens.  It was a fun time, and we were able to find the antidote before the queen poisoned us all!

Isn't he the cutest?

 Scott living it up with his work.  He gets the best food on work trips.

 FINALLY we made it to California.  We had a large, if somewhat strange smelling, apartment off Sunset in the middle of Hollywood.  You could see the Hollywood sign from the bedroom window.  We started the trip at Six Flags.  It broke us into the roller coasters.  I was pretty sick by the end of the day.  But it was a gorgeous day and we had fun seeing all the super hero stuff.

 The next day we went to Universal Studios and Harry Potter land.  This is one of the 70ish cars they used in the movie.  Pretty cool!  We tried butter beer, pumpkin juice, and a bunch of the candies.  Alyssa got a wand and we practiced our magic around town.

 Lunch in the Kung Fu Panda courtyard.  It was so beautiful!  There were cherry trees in blossom all over and hanging lanterns for the chinese new year.

 It was Valentines week so Scott took me to a seafood place that was so yummy!  We had a giant bag of seafood that we ate with our hands.  Butter and spice running down our chins.  What's more romantic than that?

 Me and Brad Pitt.  He's kind of into me.  But I already have my man.

 We went to the wax museum and then went on a tour of the stars.  They drove us by movie star homes, which isn't really our thing, but it was a gorgeous drive with the top down and we got to see a lot of LA.  

 Justin Bieber's garbage can

 The last park we hit was Knott's Berry.  It was such a nice day and we loved being outside.  I didn't know Knotts Berry was famous for their fried chicken, so we bought a meal and oh my gosh!  It was so good.  We also got a boysenberry pie.  We took it to the beach and ate it.

 Christian was not cooperating in posing.  So I got him with these girls.  I was trying to get him to do something naughty but he wouldn't. 

 We went to some tide pools and it was awesome!  There were so many sea urchins and a sea slug!  It was huge.  We made Alivia pick it up and put it on the rock so we could look at it.  No one else was brave enough to touch it.  It was really neat!

 China town.  We were there for the new year so there was a parade and tons of people.  Then we went to the beach again, but by the time we made it through traffic it was getting cold.  So we just sat and enjoyed the sunshine.

Took Lyssa out for dinner since it was her senior trip.  She picked a hot pot place and it was good.  She loves Asian food!

December

 SOOO many girls.  We've had a lot of girls this month.  Amber has been working on her movie for STEM and then we had the sister missionaries and friends over.  I love it!  So much giggling.  But poor Christian.

 My handsome cello player.  He's not as excited about orchestra cause all his cool friends transferred out, but he still loves to play.  

 This girl just found out she got a full ride scholarship to SUU.  Woo-hoo!  Celebrated with ice cream.

 The little girls were in our ward nativity.  It was really neat, actually.  They did a shadow one.  They are the shepherds on the left.

 Gingerbread houses this year with the cousins.  Scott was working a ton this month, and since they gave him such a big bonus at work how could I complain?  So we had the Pagnanis over to decorate.

 Livi at her orchestra concert.  She plays the violin very well.  

 My little boy.

 Christmas movie with the Thompsons.  Gator always gets us tickets to the latest Star Wars/comic book movie.  This year Granmda took the girls shopping before so they were very festive.  Afterwards we went and had Chinese.

 Chrsitmas was on Sunday this year so we had a relaxing day at home.  We had our usual Christmas feast--Dad and I made crab legs, filet mignon and something yummy for dessert.  

 My beautiful girl who is growing up too fast.  Lyssa did her makeup and she got braces!

Temple Square with the Henlines.  I put out a jar and we all put our spare change in it.  The church had vending machines where you could buy goats or chickens.  We didn't earn enough to get goats but we had enough for chickens.  But they were closed when we got there so we donated to Wendi to get chickens in Haiti.  More bang for the buck anyway!

This girl and her hats.  One day I will find it adorable.  But for now it drives me nuts when the puts it on every time we go out.

NVP won an award for one of the best employers.  We were invited to dinner and an awards ceremony.  Made me feel bad for how hard people work to survive in their small towns.  It was an interesting evening.