Santa Claus

The trip to visit Santa Claus this year was filled with a lot more joy then the previous two years. Maleina was finally excited to sit on his lap and didn't scream. She told Santa she wanted a pink doll house then sat on his lap and said nothing. But hey, at least she wasn't screaming. Thanks to commercials Maleina's list is continually being added upon. Anything 'girlie' that comes across the TV she will say she wants for Christmas.

Tyler asked Santa for Von Nebula Bionicle which through me for a loop. He told me that he wanted Lego Atlantis sets. Sneaky sneaky young man!!! He was quite chatty with Santa and was enthralled with what Santa had to say! So I expect he will have good behavior for the next couple of weeks!

Tyler's Baptism

Today, November 27, 2010, Tyler was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I am so proud of him for making this decision. He is such a wonderful example to me.

We held a special baptism because we had most of our family members up for Thanksgiving. Mark's brother Joe and his daughter Cami were the only ones unable to attend. Tyler is so lucky to have such a strong family of cheerleaders to help him stay strong in the gospel. I am thankful for the closeness of the family and have enjoy having them be willing to spend their day with Tyler.

Happy Birthday Tyler!!!

Tyler had his 8th birthday today (Nov. 11). I can hardly believe that my little boy is growing up so quickly. He had a few friends over for a Harry Potter themed birthday party. They played a version of Quidditch, decorated wands (pretzels covered in caramel and chocolate), and had a candy bag of galleons, every flavor jelly beans, licorice wands, and a few other candies. To top off the party they had cupcakes with Butter Beer (cream soda)! Overall the kids seemed to have a great time, with Quidditch being the highlight of the games.

For his birthday cake I attempted to make the Hogwarts castle. I had a great time learning and the camera is kind and hiding a lot of the mistakes I made.

I am so thankful to Heavenly Father for blessing me with Tyler. He is a joy to have in our family. Tyler is such a loving brother to Maleina and strives to be a good example to her daily. He is a wonderful son and I love him so much!

Halloween 2010

"Mom, I want to go trick-or-treating with Conner this year instead of you or dad," said Tyler (almost 8). I felt like I hit a brick wall. Gone are the days of hanging out with us on Halloween. Thank heavens for Maleina still thinking it's fun to go with Mark and me.

We had a great time celebrating Halloween. During the day I took the kids downtown to trick or treat at the Merchants participating. Grandma, Justin, Emily, and Braxton came with us. The kids had a lot of fun until it started to rain on us. I also took them to the grocery store to trick or treat. They had a haunted house through there back storage area. Maleina refused to go in because she afraid of the dark. So Tyler and I went in. Just as we were leaving a guy hiding in a coffin popped out and scared Tyler. He screamed so loud! Then for the evening, our ward had a trunk or treat that showed the dedication of our ward members being willing to go in the pouring rain!

Afterwards, Maleina and I went home and Mark chaperoned Tyler and Conner while they went trick-or-treating door to door in Conner's neighborhood. Tyler had a blast and thought it was awesome to go with his friend. Mark was content following them in his truck with heated seats.

Tyler's 3rd Piano Recital

Tyler played in his third piano recital on October 21. It was a Halloween recital so he was able to dress up for this recital. He dressed up as Iron man.

All my students did great. I am so proud of all the time and effort they dedicate to learning their instruments.

American West Heritage Center

On Wednesday, Tyler's class had a field trip the the American West Heritage Center. I was one of the lucky mom's that got to chaperon the kids. We started the field trip in the year 2010 and traveled back in time to the year 1917. It was a blast watching them milk a cow, husk corn, and play an old version of baseball. The volunteers that work there did a great job getting the kids involved.

Fall Break

For fall break this year I took the kids to Ephraim, UT where my sister, Mikaela lives with her husband, Joe. We went swimming and walked around the Snow College Campus. Mikaela bought a haunted house kit and the she had the kids help her build it. We stayed in Ephraim until Friday morning and then traveled on down to Las Vegas to see Chris and Shae. It was a short vacation but was a lot of fun. Tyler pushed me into Chris' pool and ended up starting a trend and everyone got into the pool.

Wagon Fun!

The kids were playing together the other day. Tyler was pulling Maleina in the red wagon for a bit. Then she decided to be like Tyler and had to pull a wagon of her own. Thanks to my Grandma Jensen, we have a little wagon I use for decoration on the porch that is just Maleina's size. They had a blast chasing each other! So fun to watch.

Sprinkler Fun

After running errands yesterday (Sept. 16), I decided the grass needed to be watered. So I turned on the sprinklers. Next thing I knew Maleina was having a blast running through them. This is her first time going to through them at our house. Usually they run during the night so she loved it! Thank heavens it was pretty warm outside!

First Day of 2nd Grade

Tyler started 2nd grade this year. He loves going to school and looks forward to learning new things. His teacher this year has celebrates a holiday everyday and Tyler gets excited to find out what holiday it is each day. Tyler's favorite part is that there is never any homework! (Not mine though.) I do make up for it however with making him read and do math flashcards everyday. Such a mean mom I am!!!! Actually I have to say I am taking after my mom. I remember telling her that I would never make my kids do that. Now I have to eat my words. LOL!!!

Summer Time

The summer is coming to a rapid close. I realized that I took all my pictures this summer with my cell phone and I don't have a media card to download them. So unfortunately I don't have any pictures from our many swimming trips that we took this year.

Tyler was quite brave and started jumping of the diving boards this year. He started off small then quickly went to the high dive, then a platform that is 13 feet high. I am so excited for him and accomplishing that great feet!

Maleina is growing more independent by the day I swear. She continually surprises me with what she can do by herself. If only we could get the potty training down then life would be easier!

I hope everyone has had a wonderful summer and good luck this up coming year!!!

The power of advertising! Maleina got a new pair of shoes the other day. I never said what brand they were I just showed her that they lit up. She was so excited! Next thing I know she is showing Tyler her new "sketchers". Wow! I couldn't believe that she knew the brand. Now she goes around the house asking me, "Where Sketcher's mommy???"




Apparently Maleina couldn't wait for me to cut the watermelon!!!!




Maleina is quite an observant little girl. She was hungry and was trying to get an egg to have for breakfast and dropped it on the floor while I was styling my hair. I came in to check on her and found her cleaning up her mess!

A couple of days ago we had the opportunity to go and see a new baby that one of our really good friend, Carmen, recently had. She has so much hair and the kids loved seeing a new baby. Maleina kept trying to get Carmen to open the lotion. I thought it was because Maliena wanted to put some on herself. So Carmen gave Maleina a dab of lotion on her hand. Maleina came over to the new baby, whom I was holding, took off her sock and proceeded to put lotion on her feet. One of these days Maleina is going to be such a helpful big sister!

Tyler loves holding new babies and sometimes wishes Maleina was that small again so he can hold her on the couch. He is such a good big brother to Maleina and loves to read stories to her and play games.

Tyler's class had a program at school. It was a lot of fun to see and the kids did such a good job singing their songs and saying their parts. Well Done!!!!!!

10 Years and Counting!

Happy Anniversary to my wonderful husband! Ten years has gone by so fast it is crazy. We have had our ups and downs but you have managed to make me laugh everyday (not an easy task I know). I am so blessed to have you for my eternal companion you are an inspiration to me. You are a great husband and father. I love you with all my heart! Love Shauna.

Viva Las Vegas!!!!!!!!!!

Last Tuesday I went with the kids to Las Vegas to visit my sister-in-law, Shae, and her daughter Lucy while my brother went to Texas for his job. We had a blast. Shae was very gracious in taking us shopping to all the outlets, twice on some of them!

Since this was Maleina's and Tyler's first trip to Las Vegas we did the tourist thing. Tyler had a blast looking at all the elaborate decor that Vegas provides down the strip. The size of the buildings, lights, shows, and of course his favorite....M&M World. He had hopes of riding the New York New York roller coaster but was too short and ended up being thankful because I neglected (on purpose) to tell him it goes upside down. I love roller coaster and maybe next time I will ride it.

Mark flew down on Friday morning to join us in our vacation. We missed him while we were separated and I was glad that he was willing to fly down and join us for the last two days in Vegas. It was sooooo much fun.

The kids were troopers in the car and very rarely complained about how much longer we would be driving.

We had a lot of fun spending time with Shae and Lucy and can hardly wait to go back down there to visit them in July. We did get to spend a night with Chris on Saturday and had an enjoyable dinner at Archie's a Thai restaurant. Then we went to Yogurt Land for dessert the best frozen yogurt ever!!!!

Thank you Chris and Shae for your hospitality! We had a fantastic time!



Tyler and Maleina swimming in the very cold water. Unfortunately the pool heater was not working when we visited but Tyler was dedicated to swimming anyways.



Tyler, Maleina, and Lucy



Dad and Tyler touching the Manta Rays at the Shark Reef in Mandalay Bay.



Tyler's first car........LOL



M&M guys!

Broken Elbow

So a month after the anniversary of Maleina's first broken arm she did it again today. She was riding on a bouncy horse at Grandma and Grandpa's giggling and having a blast then she fell off. The fun ended and the screaming began. A trip to Instacare and a broken elbow to top off our night. Wouldn't you know it, she breaks her elbow 2 days before we take off for a vacation to Las Vegas. Bummer! She is quite the little trooper. Hang in there Maleina. Love, Mom.

Easter

As a family we had a delightful Easter Sunday. The kids enjoyed and Easter egg hunt around the house (since it had snowed a few days before). The got a bunch of sand toys and some clothes. Overall we had a great day with the family.

Tyler's First Recital

Tyler had his very first piano recital last night (03/25). He did great! It was so fun to watch him perform and see how proud he was that he completed his song! He was so nervous but overcame his fear and was awesome! I love watching my students perform but nothing compares to watching my own child perform. I am going to have to invest in a video camera now. I have always thought they were not worth it but now I am beginning to be converted, the video feed on my camera is just not up to par. Enjoy the video and I apologize for my shaky hands.

Argh Me Hearties!!!

So for activity days on Friday we are having a Daddy/Daughter dinner for the girls. I made this 3-D pirate cake from an idea I found on the internet. Everything is learning experience but as a whole I think it turned out pretty good. Hopefully the girls like it. I had a lot of fun designing it decorating it. Now I have to go and clean up the mess..................

Just For Fun!

The best part of the cake!!!


I thought that it would be fun to make a character cake for my birthday. I decided to attempt a barbie cake so that when Maleina wants one, I have had practice on my cake first. I learned a couple of things to help me the next time I make a barbie cake. So I am glad that I did it even though it is a little juvenile. But can you tell who the princess is?????
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There is a similar photo that was taken at Christmas time. Maleina likes to paint with food coloring. I thought I had it out of her way, but apparently I didn't. LOL!
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This is Tyler's new bed to go with his transformer room! He loves it! I like that fact that he can't hide anything under his bed anymore....LOL! Tyler does a great job at keeping his room cleaner now. The first night he slept in the bed I didn't get any sleep at all because I was so afraid that he would roll off the bed or wake up and smack his head on the ceiling, neither of which happened, but I am a worrier.

Tyler's new room!

Well, we finally finished the room that started all this redecorating. Tyler loves his new Transformer room and was delighted when we finally got it finished. To see his face made all the difficulty worth it. He now has a room fit for his age and then he told me, "Mom, when are you going to get rid of my 'Cars' blanket?" All in good time but that is then next step I suppose. LOL!

Happy Birthday Maleina!

Maleina had a wonderful birthday. She loved her Minnie Mouse cake that I made and was none too happy when I wouldn't let her dig in as soon as it was done. The super bowl landed on her birthday this year also, so we had a double party at our house with both families. It was a super day and I didn't have to watch the game at all, I was able to visit with family and be a hostess.

We had a surprise visit from Maleina's birth mother and her family. It was nice to see them and watch their interaction with Maleina. They gave her some clothes and she had to model them immediately which was super cute. One of the outfits twirls and Maleina loved spinning around and watching it poof out. Her birth mother gave her nail polish and Maleina had to have her nails done also. She received a My Little Pony and movie from her birth grandparents and has watched it countless times since. I loved having them come over to see Maleina.

Maleina is a lucky girl to have so many people around her that love her. My family has been so blessed and we look forward to many more gatherings like this.