Soran's 4 birthday party

Soran hadn't had a real birthday with friends and stuff so we decided to do it this year.  It was crazy with 12 kids!  But it was fun.  We went to Classic Skating and they played on the bounce houses and scootered.  

She's 4!

Opening presents

She is a speed demon on this thing

Graduations

Soran's preschool graduation.  Isn't she cute?

Preschool graduation class 2013

Livi's kindergarten graduation

Livi and her lovely teacher--my mom

Lyssa's a teen

Lyssa turned 13 this year.  Crazy.  We did an outside movie party.  First we had cake and treats, played movie trivia games and then watched "Beastly."  

So, there were these weird beetle things in our grass we didn't know about which kept flying around during the movie.  Needless to say, there was a lot of screaming.

Easter in AZ

Easter haul

It's a race!

Boat we rented--cost almost as much as our house

These guys went out early and skied.

Me and Scott

Mmmm--chips

Scott with the little girls.  We tried piling on the 5 youngest girls on this tube and the plan was to go slow, but it was so slow that it took a nose dive and they all wound up in the water.  There were no adults on the tube and we were freaking out between laughing our heads off.

That face is saying "I love my mom"

Jeremy and Christian--these 2 were born on the same day in the same hospital, it's so fun to watch them grow up

Phoenix in the background

Eggs!!  And does this girl ever wear anything besides her swimsuit? 

 We got cookies at La Tolteca and Amber got a watermelon cookie.  It turned her mouth black.  It also made her sick.   

Jeremy, Christian and Tyler

I love Arizona in the spring!  I miss it.  We headed down to Mesa for Easter and Scott's mission reunion.  The weather was great and we rented a boat with the Bowens and went boating for the day.  Then we went to the reunion.  It was good to see his old mission companions and president.  The next day was Easter and we had a hunt and dinner with family.  The next day we took a hike and went to La Tolteca, of course.  Good times!

Amber's 9!

Anna jumping off the swing

Amber getting ready to swing

I chew my nails just like this

The birthday girl

Amber and Anna

Krystina and Alyssa--Krystina hurt her ankle, poor girl

 

For Amber's birthday this year she wanted to go to Lowes Extreme Sports and Arctic Circle.  Between that and the Build-a-Bear she got I think she was pretty spoiled.  

House

Our new dog, Scout

The office

This tree was on the wall when we bought the house.  It's in the girls' room and I love it.

The living room

Bathroom

Dining room 

NEW

Wow, it's been a crazy few months.  Before I start trying to catch up, I have to cry a little that we have no pictures of anything.  Alyssa lost our camera at school and we have a new one but I haven't gotten around to using it much yet.  Anyway, on to the update.
November was good--I think.  I can't remember.  A good Thanksgiving at the church with family again.  December was a whirlwind of getting into our NEW house!!!!!  We have been so blessed to find a great house in a great neighborhood in our price range.  It was a stressful few weeks trying to get everything figured out.  We'd put the offer in July and were waiting.  When things got approved it went really quickly after that.  But the timing worked out perfectly and we signed papers on the 18th of December and moved in December 22nd.  The next day we took off for Phoenix for Grandma Thompson's funeral with the 3 older kids.  It was a good trip.  It was nice to take a break from house stuff and get some sunshine and celebrate a great lady.  The awesome part was they put in brand new carpet while we were gone, so we came home and it looked amazing!  Rushed back for Christmas Eve with both families where the kids got totally spoiled, as usual, and then on to our home for Christmas.  We have spent a lot of time fixing things up and cleaning (it was a short sale), but we love it here.  The ward is big with a lot of kids, a lot of youth and the school is really close and the kids like their teachers.  I will post pics as soon as I can. 
We also got a NEW dog.  Our friends moved to another state and wanted to take their dog but couldn't find a rental that would allow a big dog, so they offered him to us.  He is a great dog.  That being said, Scott and I have never had a dog and so it's been an interesting experience.  But it has been a really good one.  He is already part of the family, hair all over the house and all.
I also got a NEW job.  The kids brought home a newsletter from school saying they were hiring crossing guards, which I did forever ago when Alyssa was one, so I applied.  Now I get to go stand on the corner 3 times a day and freeze to death.  It'll be great when the weather warms up, though. 
NEW callings: I'm the girls camp director, Scott is the High Priest group secretary, Alyssa is the Beehive secretary. 
For Scott's birthday he and I got to escape everything for a weekend and spent some much-needed time alone.  We went to the temple and out for dinner then went swimming and hot-tubbing (mostly that) at the hotel and had a huge breakfast buffet. 
Now we're just trying to get into a routine and settle things down a bit.  We are so blessed and so grateful for all the NEW things in our lives.