Chirstmas 2009

Maleina's Favorite Santa gift!
Tyler's favorite Santa gift!



Yes, Maleina is trying to go night night in her new baby crib! Silly girl. We had a wonderful Christmas and had the opportunity to spend the holiday with Maleina's birth mother. Tyler got his PS3 that he asked Santa for and was delighted. After Maleina warmed up she loved her kitchen and plays with it for hours on end. Mark got me a new vest and an ipod. Mark received 3 new PS3 games, cologne, and blue ray movies. Santa was very good to us this year and we had a great holiday with our family.

Maleina's First Haircut!

Fruit snacks were the saving grace!
First cut!
Again, juice a great incentive!
Thanks Aunt Shae!

December Fun

Tyler's first gingerbread house with help from mom, Aunt Mik and Uncle Joey!
First snowman of the winter season!

Maleina got a hold of a toothpick that I used to color the frosting red! Yummy!

Annual Christmas Letter

Dear Family and Friends,

Merry Christmas!
Another year has flown by and 2010 is nearly upon us. We had a couple of fun vacations this past summer. As a family we went up to Bear Lake with Mark's family. It was a lot of fun to spend time with each other and let the kids interact with their cousins.

Shauna and the kids went down to Marysvale (near Richfield) with her family. They went four wheeling everyday for a few hours. The kids loved going on the four wheelers.
Tyler is in 1st grade and loves it. His favorite subject is Math (Shauna's delighted). He also enjoys playing soccer and just started playing basketball this fall. He is a great older brother to Maleina and is a big help to Shauna.

Maleina is a very active 22 months old. She is determined to accomplish tasks alone. She loves playing with her dolls and getting "pretty" with mom's make-up. She is also quite dramatic. She loves playing tag with Tyler and giggles the whole time.

Mark keeps busy with "honey do" projects around the house. Shauna keeps busy teaching music lessons to 20 students and chasing after the children at home.

We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Love,
Mark, Shauna, Tyler, and Maleina

Mmm...Delicious!

So on December 11 my sister and her fiance came over and we completed the last of the chocolates. With the leftover chocolate I scraped it into a bowl and the next thing I knew, Maleina had the spoon and was eating out of the bowl. She enjoyed it very much as you can see from the pictures.

Mmmmm.....Chocolates!!!

For the last three years I have been practicing hand dipping chocolates. My Aunt Valine and Linda taught a class for all the neices and nephews to learn how dip. They have been dipping chocolates for as long as I can remember and they are awesome! So I am now trying to perfect the dipping. I must say I'm getting a little better with practice and I'm trying a lot of different fillings this year.

On Friday, my sister came over and we dipped cherry chocolates and peanut butter balls. Then on Sunday I dipped blueberry, raspberry, and mint fondant, almond toffee, and made a few almond clusters. This up coming Friday my sister and her fiance are coming over and we are going to dip caramels, mint truffles, turtles, and peanut clusters. Yummy!!!

Santa Claus

Taking the children to see Santa Claus has been quite a treat. Tyler loves going and Maleina kept saying Santa, Santa. So Tyler gets up first and asks for a PS2 and Mario Bros for Wii. Finally it's Maleina's turn and before Mark even takes her up to sit on his lap she was screaming. So for 10 seconds I tortured her just for a picture that resembles the one from last year.....LOL!

What a wonderful season it has been so far. I hope that you all have a Merry Christmas!

Love,
Shauna