What a Day!!!

We woke up yesterday to a beautiful 8 inches of gorgeous snow! It was as if someone painted the trees, homes and bushes with fluffy white icing overnight. The kids of course couldn't wait to get outside!!! (FYI Joseph was playing at his buddy's house... thus, no photo's of Jo Jo.)

Snow angels!!!

Never too cold to swing!!!

Then, just as the kids got out of their nice warm baths... look who came to visit! The kids were speechless!!! Well, Mahlia was speechless for about 6 seconds then she was FULL of questions! It was such a wonderful surprise!!! Thank you Mr and Mrs Clause!

Then the kids all slept together in Joseph's bed. They had been begging all week, so we gave in! They were totally sacked out for a long winters nap after such a fun filled day! This is what it's all about....

Mahlia's First Dance Showcase'';'

Mahlia started dance 3 months ago and today they invited the parents to come and see what they have been working on. It was so wonderful watching my beautiful girl dance her little heart out. Here is a little peak inside Mahlia's dance class. (don't notice when she slips and falls - it's my bad. I forgot her dance shoes, they were home sitting on the kitchen table! ugh!)



This song is from High School Muscial 2 - one of our very favorite because we love that it reminds us of wonderful St. George, UT. I love that Mahlia is singing with the song if you listen close. :)

This is the end of class and MY FAVORITE of the 3 videos.

Christmas just wouldn't be Christmas with some Alvin and the Chipmunks!

Joseph's First Piano Recital

Just a few short months ago Joseph started taking piano lessons from Morgan, an 18 year old neighbor. He is learning SO fast and memorizes songs so quickly! It's incredible how quickly Joseph learns. Here is his first piano recital, after just 3 months of piano lessons.

Christmas Card 2010

Our Year Timeline Holiday

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Maryland 2010 #2

We started the week off by having a "girls date" to the salon. Mahlia got her fingernails and toenails painted, while Mommy got a manicure and Grandma Aznar got a mani-pedi. Mahlia LOVED it and she was such an angel! Everyone there adored her... of course! ;)

The party scene... Mommy and Daddy getting their groove on. Ü

Joseph could have danced in those lights all night long.... he especially loved when they turned on the laser lights and the fog machine. partaaay!!!

4th of July 2010! Everyone in their red, white and blue!

Jackson at the beach.

The kids just couldn't get enough of Uncle Paul. Bless his patient heart....

Nor could they get enough of Uncle Jake!

At the Wye Mill.

Mahlia helping the captain on our boat tour of Annapolis. (Have you been to Annapolis? If not, you MUST! We are in love with this town.)

Captain of the big boat!

Little captain! (yikes!) Note how red and sweaty everyone is! Did I mention it was over 100 degrees? and in that kind of humidity it was pretty rough!!!

Joseph actually got to turn the boat around next to the US Naval Academy. It was so cool! Way to go Joseph!

Jackson had SO MUCH fun catching frogs! (poor frogs...)

Joseph's Baptism

4 generations.

Words can't express what a wonderful day we had on Saturday. Joseph chose to be baptized as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It was so beautiful and lots of tears were shed as we watched this boy grow and mature right in front of our eyes. With talks given by his Great Grandpa Jackson and Grandpa Nielsen; prayers by his Grandma Nielsen and Grandma Turner and a beautiful musical number by our dear friend Tanya, the feelings in the room were something to always cherish and will never be forgotten.

We had a great party afterwards with lots of food, family and friends. Great Grandma Jackson sent a special gift to Joseph which was a carpenters square which belonged to Joseph's Great-Great Grandpa Burris who used it to build many buildings, furniture pieces and any woodworking project he could get his hands on. The square is over 112 years old. What a beautiful and meaningful gift. I do have pictures and I will post them as soon as I get them.

Thank you to all who were there both in body and spirit for this special day for our son.

sneak peak: Maryland 2010

I am dying to get this post up, since it's been a month since we left for our fabulous trip to Maryland to visit the Aznars. WE LOVE MARYLAND! We had such a wonderful trip and here are some of our highlights: (in random order since blogger is not being kind to me today... :o/

This is Wye Grist Mill. Such a charming little place with SO MUCH HISTORY! We loved that we just kind of happened upon this little gem. So, this mill was dubbed "the breadbasket of the American Revolution". General George Washington sent gold coins to this mill to order flour for his troops at Valley Forge throughout the war. The mill is still in use today. Here are pics of the kids grinding flour and corn in various ways...

Nobody throws a party like the Aznars! DJ, port-a-potty, lights, fog and more lights and lots of food, family and dancing!!!

Mahlia was in HEAVEN!!! She LOVES her Latin blood!

Handsome Aznar men!

John with his Dad, brothers and sons. 3 generations. love it!

This is probably my favorite picture of the whole trip! Mahlia and Jackson sacked out on the hammock. The sun, sand and humidity really wore them out!!!

Random..... back at the mill. Me.

Oh how we LOVED the beach house. The sunsets were amazing! We loved sitting out there every morning and evening and watching the ships come and go. Everything from shipping barges, military ships going in and out of Annapolis and even cruise ships!

John and I in St Michaels, "the town that fooled the British". Another super fun "beachy" kind of town. When the people found out that the British were about to attach their town they hoisted lanterns up on the masts of their ships and up in the tops of the trees so the British over shot the town thinking it was further away then it really was. Only one home was damaged in the raid.

Another sunset picture. I love this one.... I love Mahlia's bun on her head, the tree, the fishing pole out on the pier... so pretty.

This is the whole family in St Michaels. We are SO HOT and SWEATY! The kids had just finished eating giant cherry snowballs! (thus the red lips, cheeks and chins)

again, did I tell you about the sunsets? This was our last night at the beachhouse.

Back at the house in the country with Grandma Aznar. This was Joseph's 8th birthday!!! The kids were out catching frogs ( I think around 30, I didn't want to know....) and took a break for this cute pic!

More to come.... Ü

Snow Day!

A couple weeks ago we woke up one Saturday morning, looked out the window and KNEW we had to cancel everything we had planned that morning, 'cuz we were having a SNOW DAY! So, we got everyone all geared up... And headed outside!

Little Jackson was "perma-grin" the WHOLE time! This was really his first snow day!

Joseph was Mr. Snowball - he is such a tease and couldn't wait to get the perfect "hit" on the least suspecting victim!

We (er.. um, THEY) had to make snow angels!

"Oh yeah! Oh yeah!"

"Once there was a snowman, snowman, snowman....."

Looks pretty good!!!

Then it was time for sledding!!! John borrowed my Dad's tractor (the 4-wheeler is a bit too fast for their first time street sledding) and it was PERFECT!!!

I loved hearing the kids giggle and laugh constantly as John pulled them all around the neighborhood! They had SO MUCH fun!!! They seriously couldn't stop laughing.