Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Birthday Party at Tumblekats!


This birthday party at Tumblekats was a blast!  Evie loved every minute of it.  She invited several friends and they all had the best time.  They spent half the time doing tumbling and the other half the time learning a cute dance that they performed for us at the end.  Evie loves to dance and tumble, and she loves being with her friends, so this was the perfect combination for a perfect day!
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Evie turns 5!


When I asked Evie what she wanted to do for her birthday she said "Go to Jamba Juice!"  So that's what we did.  I didn't know she liked Jamba Juice so much.  Grandpa and Grandma Harris joined us for the celebration.  Evie is growing up so fast and is such a great little girl.  Her personality has really blossomed lately and she has come out of her shell a bunch.  She is so much fun, so loving, so happy and so creative.  She really is a burst of sunshine in our family.  We all adore her!  Happy Birthday Evie!
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Buswell Cousins


Emily planned a really fun Buswell "girl" cousins get together at her home in honor of Grandma Buswell who loved get togethers and spending time with her grand-daughters.  We had a nice lunch and just enjoyed being able to relax and visit.  It was fun to catch up with all of these great ladies.  I really have the best family in the world!  They are all exceptional and are such a great examples to me :)  L to R: Me, Allison, Michelle, Rachel, Camille & Emily.
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The Haka!


Stratton got to learn the Haka Polynesian dance at the Cub Scouts Hawaiian Blue and Gold Banquet.  Brother Hanamaikai picked Stratton to learn it first then all of the other boys joined him.  They had a lot of fun with it.  Stratton has been in Cub Scouts since August and he is loving it!
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Valentine's Day


Stratton made these darling little puppets with popsicle sticks and craft foam.  He made them especially for Evie for Valentine's Day.  Evie couldn't have been more thrilled!  She played with them all day.  What a sweet brother....Happy Valentine's Day!
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Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Jr. High School Musical


Andrew was in the school musical, "Guys & Dolls" this year.  They did a great job.  Andrew was in the "Mission Band"  and had a really cool part where he introduced the dancers....with his deep, booming voice he really commanded the stage!  I loved it!  Being involved in these top notch productions is such a great experience for my kids. 
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Evie Update


This 2011 - 2012 school year has been a great one for Evie.  She is attending Mary's little Lamb preschool and loving it!  She is also enrolled in a tumbling class at Tumblekats and a creative dance class at The Movement Academy...she is quite the little dancer!  She also attends several music classes each week...at least 3, sometimes more!  I love teaching music and having Evie be a part of it with me...it has been a very bonding experience and I love watching her grow and express herself through music.  Evie sings all day long and is such a joyful little girl.  Of course her daddy is puddy in her hands and so are her brothers for that matter....she is the princess at our house...we all absolutely adore her!  I try to remember some of the cute things she says....here are a few as of late...
I was getting ready to do Yoga, when Evie came in the room and exclaimed..."I need to hurry and get my mat so I can do "Yogurt" with you."
I was getting ready for the day and I put a necklace on.  Evie said, "Everyone is going to "Freak out" because your necklace is so pretty."
The other day she said, "You and Daddy are so smart!  You know when I need to go to preschool and when Andrew goes to swimming and Stratton goes to football...you remember everything!"
She has been saying this sweet little prayer at bedtime, it's been the same one for a while now..."Heavenly Father, please bless all of our foods, bless us to love our hearts, and think about Jesus."  So sweet....love our little girl!
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Preschool Sledding Activity


We went sledding with Evie's preschool class.  We took Hyrum Banta with us...they are cute little friends.  They had so much fun!  I was surprised how brave Evie was, she didn't hesitate at all sliding down those slippery slopes.  I'm glad she ended up wearing her snow pants.  Evie will only wear skirts and dresses, so when "pants" were suggested by me to wear in the snow...she wanted nothing to do with it....until we got to the sledding hill and she saw that all of the other little girls were wearing snow PANTS too, she decided it was okay :) 
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The Dance!


Haden and McKenna have been good friends for a long time, so this was a fun first date for Haden.  They went with a big group...all of the cheerleaders and their dates.  They had a blast!  Haden looked so handsome and I thought McKenna looked stunning!  Sometimes I can't believe Haden is 16 and dating.  It doesn't seem like that long ago, Troy asked my to Sweethearts our Senior year in High school.  Crazy!!
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Sweethearts


Haden turned 16 and now it's time to bring on the High school dances.  Haden was asked to Sweethearts by McKenna Watts.  He came home from church to find this on the porch.  On the back of some of the candy hearts were letters to form a message.  Stratton and Evie helped Haden and Kaiden gather and de-code the message.  After all of the hearts had been turned over and the de-coding process began, it was quite clear that some of the letters were missing.  Stratton then admitted that him and Evie and eaten several hearts when they got home from church before Haden even got there...:)  But, it all worked out because there were enough letters to still figure it out...!
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My New Bedroom


I have been wanting to re-decorate my bedroom for quite some time.  I finally found a bed that I love and found the perfect bedding for it.  I painted my old armoire white to match.  I hung the paintings of my Great Grandma Thompson's....that Grandma Buswell had framed for me many years ago...by each side of the bed.  It feels so cozy, I love it!!
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Friday, March 2, 2012

Eastern Caribbean Cruise - January 2012






Our cruise was so much fun!  We met mom and Dad in Florida for an awesome reunion at the Hotel.  The next morning we boarded the ship.  The weather was stormy the first couple of days and the boat was rocking like crazy.  Dad and Mitch suffered a little sea sickness, but when the storms cleared it was smooth sailing from there!  I don't think I have ever eaten so much, laughed so hard, and relaxed so much!  We would sit and talk and laugh for hours.  There was great entertainment on the ship, always something to do, and always something to eat.  We enjoyed all of our ports and had some fun adventures.  Cruising with my family was a total blast!  So happy to have mom and dad back in the USA!

The Bahamas

The Bahamas was our first stop.  It was so nice to see the sun after a stormy start to our trip.  We relaxed on the beach and did a little shopping.  The water was quite cold on this Island, but that didn't stop Troy,who was either diving in the water or snorkling most of the day.  He gets the most out of vacation than anyone I know!  I prefer to stay dry and warm!



 I love this picture of mom and dad

St. Maarten

We started out our day on St. Maarten by trying out a popular beach, it ended up
being super crowded, but we tried to make the best of it until it started raining buckets,
and we ran for shelter.... so much for a beach day!  So we ended up taking a taxi back
to town and shopped in the rain, it was so cold!  But we had fun anyway and explored
the Island.  My favorite part of the day was finding this yummy coconut smoothie
stand, and indulging in some Island food, it was so delicious!!!


 We were lucky that we found shelter during the down pour.  Many people
were standing around the edges of this beach restaurant just trying to stay dry and we were
comfortably seated and enjoyed a delicious meal while the rain kept comin' down...
 Our Cruise ship "Princess Ruby" in the background.



Monday, February 27, 2012

St. Thomas





Our stop in St. Thomas was a lot of fun!  We got to
ride on a Catamaran out to an Island cove and snorkel
with Sea Turtles...it was a super fun excursion on a
very beautiful Island!

Grand Turks



Grand Turks was my favorite Island. The beach was amazing,
great snorkling, hunting for conch shells, laying out in the sun,
it was a very relaxing day :)

Grand Turks was beautiful!!!
Troy started the diving expedition for the conch
shells, and a couple hours later, they had gathered
about 10 of them!
Mom and Dad
Heather and Danny
Anne and Mitch
Me and Troy
Us and our cruise waiters... the meals were always delicious...
I don't think I've ever eaten so much in my life!!!
Dad couldn't resist kissing the ground in AMERICA!

Mom and Dad ready to head home after their mission...Welcome Back!!