2nd Annual Tour de Donut!

To kick off Steel Days in American Fork, they held the 2nd Annual Tour de Donut. A 21 mile bicycle race made up of three 7-mile loops. For every donut you eat, after each loop, 3 minutes is taken off of your time. Andres competed, but didn't eat donuts. I got some pretty good pics of people stuffing themselves with donuts! The winner of the race had a time of 00:00:00! He ate twenty-something donuts. I think I would be seriously ill trying to eat one donut and then ride a bike that hard! Everyone looked like they were having a great time! Andres is in the orange and grey shirt.

KRISTEN'S BALD-FACE HORNET'S NEST!!

We had a unique opportunity to see a cross section of a hornet's nest at the home of a fellow homeschooler (Kristen). When they left for a vacation, the nest was only about the size of a baseball. When they returned home, it had grown to this size! That is a quarter taped to the window to give it some perspective.As you can see, the hornets are building the nest right on the window, so it is possible to see what is going on inside! You can see the larvae at towards the top of the nest wriggling around.

If you look closely at the top of the nest in this picture, you can see some white dots. Those are the larvae. You can also see the different colors in the nest. If you were able to see Kristen's wooden fence, you can see exactly the same colors! These hornets chew off pieces of wood, make a pulp, and add it to the nest. We could actually see the workers adding on more pulp to the nest, and others tending to the larvae inside! This was so AMAZING!

Thank you, Kristen, for sharing this with us!

I'm not a very good blogger!

I really don't know why I haven't posted in such a long time. I have no good excuses! And, a lot has happened since February!

Erica sold a ton of Girl Scout Cookies with her troop!(thanks Tyler and Amanda!)
Natalie had her 8th birthday and got baptized!
Daniel went to the air show at Hill Air Force Base and had a blast!
Jason and Kinsey are continuing to drive me insane!
Anyway...
Here are pictures of Natty's baptism and birthday.

Daniel ditched to start the fire for the barbecue!

My nephew "Glick" absolutely loves Kinsey!

Super cute puppy dog cupcakes for Natty's birthday!

Natty's new bike!

The ever important Webkinz!

Congratulations to Natty! You are such a great girl!

We Crashed!

No, not a car accident...our computer. Actually it was my husband's work computer. His job allows him to bring his laptop home and they also allow him to use the internet at home. So, we were taking advantage of the situation, and had no internet hooked up at home. But, all of the computers crashed! So I have been out of a computer for a few weeks and it was driving me crazy! How attached we become to our "technology"!! It hasn't even been that long that we didn't have any of it. No email, no internet, no cell phone, no texting! I certainly was not able to text friends during English class! And the internet was still pretty new when I was in high school.
I'm not saying that I want to go back to the way things were before this technology was available! I just wonder what some of our grandparents saw our parents suddenly not being able to live without, and had some of the same thoughts. Things like using a washer and dryer, dishwasher, car, television, etc. Things I grew up with and took for granted. I don't know what it was like without all of these things. (well, we did grow up without an automatic diswasher. Mom and the kids were the "dishwasher". Mom just got one for the first time just about a year ago!) I really wonder how we would all react if we were suddenly without the technology. Would we know that we CAN just walk a couple of blocks to our neighbors house and visit? Do we know that we CAN pick up a newspaper and read what is going on in the city, state, nation, world? Do we know that we CAN pick up a pen, get a sheet of paper, and write a letter to a friend? We can even send photos with the letter! Would we know how to use the library? How many of our jobs would be gone without computers? I know I would have to do a lot more planning and would have to buy a lot more books to be able to homeschool my children properly. Would we walk or ride a bike to the grocery store if we were not able to drive a vehicle?

Sorry, I really just wanted to let everyone know why I haven't posted for a month again, and just keep rambling on...I'll quit ranting now and be more positive next time!

Birthday Fun For Kinsey and Erica!!

On Sunday, we had a party for two of my three princesses. Kinsey turned ONE on Monday, and Erica ELEVEN on Tuesday! They grow up so dang fast! We had a fun party for them and I had a great time visiting with everyone. Thank you all for coming and for the gifts for the girls! You're awsome!

Little Kinsey in one of her many cute outfits she got.

This is the best picture I got of the two girls together.

And this is the best one I have of Erica opening gifts. (I wasn't taking the pics!)

Erica just after blowing out the candles. I think she is making sure they're all out!

Kinsey AFTER I gave her the cupcake.

The Happy Birthday Cupcakes. We had fun making cupcakes this time!

Kinsey BEFORE I gave her the cupcake. She was pretty ticked that I wouldn't give her a cupcake with a burning candle!

On Tuesday, Erica had dance class, and her teacher had a little party for her. She had a great time with her dance friends! Here is a picture of the butterfly cupcakes we made for that day...

Tub Time!!

I don't care who you are, every mom has to take pictures of all of their kids in the tub. Jason and Kinsey love to be in the tub, and would probably stay there all day long if they had any say in it! Last night they were being so cute and pulling off some great poses. I couldn't resist!

Kinsey and her china doll face

Jason pulling his mischievous face.

The two little rascals together. What did I say, pretty cute poses right?

I love my kids and am getting sad that the two youngest are growing up too fast! Little Kinsey is going to be ONE on Monday!!! And Erica's going to turn ELEVEN on Tuesday. We're having a party on Sunday for them, and Erica can hardly wait! Treasure each and every moment you have with your kids because all too soon they will be grown and gone and we will miss so much all of the fingerprints all over everything! (I won't miss laundry though!!)

I'm Back..Mejor tarde que nunca!

Sr. Estrano (Mr Strange) would say that to me nearly every day in Spanish class. Translation:Better late than never! I wish I could say that I have been gone on vacation to some beautiful warm place but, I have just been lazy! I still want to post some cute pictures of the kids.

The first three are of Nattie when she performed at Provo Towne Center with her dance group. They really did a great job and are working hard learning more dances for their spring performance at the Covey Center for the Arts in Provo. Erica is now taking from the same girl, and they are both having a blast. Their teacher is amazing! She is in our ward and teaches for a really good deal. Most amazing to me is the fact that she just turned 14! The girls respond to her really well and end up giving great performances! Erica is going to have the chance to do a SOLO! I would have been terrified!!! I am very happy to have two beautiful, good girls!

She's on the right

Here are some of our Christmas pics. This is Christmas Eve in pj's from Grandma Lenna. They are so cute!

We had a surprise guest show up to our house just before Christmas. I got a phone call and didn't answer it because it wasn't even a real number. The caller id said something like 14368. When I get phone calls from out of state, they are most usually phone solicitors, and don't answer. If it is someone I know he/she will leave a message right? Well this "person" left a message something like this,

"I hope I have reached Miss Annalee. This is Ginger Snap with Santa's Helpers of America. One of our helpers is scheduled to make a delivery today from 3-5 P.M. We hope you will be home."

Well, I didn't know what to think. I let my husband listen to the message and his response was that he will be ready with his guns. I got on the Internet to search "Santa's Helpers of America" and "Ginger Snap" and all I got were not very nice photos of girls in Santa suits that barely covered their koochies! Now I was really worried!!! Just after 3:00 the phone rings again and the same number shows up so, I answer it. Here is how the conversation went:

Ginger: (in a very high and too sweet voice) "Hi, is this Miss Annalee?"

Miss Annalee: (hesitantly) "Yes."

Ginger:"This is Ginger Snap with Santa's Helpers of America. Did you get my message from earlier this morning?"

Miss Annalee: (again hesitantly) "Yes I did."

Ginger: (again with the syrupy voice) "Has our helper been by yet?"

Miss Annalee: "No, but it is just after 3:00 here."

Ginger: "Okay. Well, you can expect him to be there sometime before 5:00. Do you have any questions?"

Miss Annalee: "Just that I'm a bit surprised and don't know who is behind this."

Ginger: "We have your family on the "good list" this year and wanted to visit with you. Also, don't plan on dinner. That has been taken care of for you."

Miss Annalee: (Still hesitant)"Okay, we'll be waiting. Thanks."

And here are pictures of who showed up just before five:

Yep, the fat man himself! He even has a real beard! He had each of the kids sit on his lap, but he already knew what each of them wanted! He also brought us some pizza, cookie dough, and some money! It was a pretty good surprise!

We had a great Christmas season visiting with friends and family we haven't seen in a while. Every year though, I get depressed just after Christmas and it lasts through January. I think it is just coming off of the stress of "getting Christmas" and the sugar high. (I eat way too many sweets from Halloween through Christmas.) Then January is just too cold, snowy and dark!! With some of the warmer days we have been having lately, I'm starting to come out of it now. Am I the only one that goes through this, or are there some of you that experience this same type of depression? While I'm going through it, I always think I am the only one on the earth that is depressed and lazy. I guess that's how self pity works. The Adversary definitely wants us to feel that we are not worth anything. I hate that he can get to me like that!!! Oh well, I'm feeling great and you can just go bug someone else!!