Pieces, pieces and more pieces

I got this idea from a friend. During the holiday break she buys several big puzzles and together with her kids they put them all together. I loved the idea and now that we have a new table and chair set the idea got put into action. I bought a 500 piece puzzle and we got started. Dylan started helping us and then he got bored so it was just me and Braxton. I put the whole outside together and Braxton worked on the middle. Every night after dinner Braxton would come to me and say "Mom, it's time to work on the puzzle." It took us a few nights but we finally finished it. Braxton did a ton of it and was so proud of himself. I LOVE that he and I got to do it together. It was our little project to do together. He is my little buddy and I'm so proud of him.

Getting started.
He would have sat there for hours if we let him.

Working hard

All done!!

2010 in review

Another year has gone by and it's time for the traditional year end wrap up. I won't go into major detail on each picture, just a quick one for my sake. 2010 was a great year filled to the rim with fun things and blessing around every corner.

Christmas time with the gingerbread house.

Yet another run - the "Love Your Body 10k" at Thanksgiving Point. It was a tough one because they messed up on the course which made it a lot longer than just a 10k. Not sure we are going to do it again. any questions on this one? Didn't think so.
Camping with Jasons brother and their family. Super fun times.
My cute little & big peeps. Sure do love them!!
I'm taking a big breath - my 12 year old. Handsome boy and such a good kid. Couldn't ask for better.
The first day of school. Dylan started 6th grade, Braxton started 1st grade and Nati started preschool.
Meeting and chatting with my favorite author. She is so great and makes me laugh each time I see her.
Girls Camp Rocks!! I got to spend a week with my cute girls while Jason was at home with sick kids. Let's hope this year goes better.
Eclipse! No further explanation necessary ;)
Wasatch Back Ragnar. Wow! Hard, great and so worth it.
The hilight of Nati's year was cheer.
Placing in the top 3 of our age groups for the Live wElle 5k. I love that my family runs it with me. I'm hoping I can beat my time this year.
5th Grade Honor Roll. A fun night eating and playing kickball with the best of the best.
Father and son playing baseball. I love that they do this together.
She's a Survivor. The Race for the Cure walk/run in SLC. A fantastic day with my mom.
The boys all geared up to do one of their new favorite things - riding their toys.
A night watching the Jazz game from the box.
Handsome boy with his new glasses. And by the end of 2010 his vision had improved. Yeah!!
I still love this picture. Nati's 4th Birthday party.
Easter 2010. I love them all dressed up.
St. George in the spring. A fun weekend for the entire Carter family.

When did it happen?

When did it happen? When did I get so old? A lot has happened over the last week. Braxton, Natalie & Jason have all been sick - colds, coughs, and just plain not feeling well. I'm not sure why I never get sick when the kids do, but I don't. As strange as it sounds I would love to just be sick with a little cold and have life go on without me. I would LOVE to just stay in bed for a day or two without EVER having to get up to do laundry, dishes, make meals, entertain kids or a hundred countless other things. Oh, and have everyone try to be quiet so I can rest. Let's just say that after 4 days of going solo with sick ones, keeping up with everything and attempting to keep said sick ones kind of quiet is making me a little crazy and making me feel really old. But I have a story to preface all of this which started the "old" feeling.
I love my Young Women girls. They are so sweet and such good girls. I ran into one particular girl and her mom the other day at the store. We chatted for a few minutes and went our separate ways. Later that evening I got a text from this girl. It was extremely sweet and just made my whole day. I replied back with "You made my whole day. My cup runneth over." About a minute later she replied back with "What's a cup runner?" I laughed so hard I had tears streaming down my cheeks. If you aren't laughing right now, you are still young. "My cup runneth over" is a phrase I heard several times when I was growing up. I love it. That being said - I have now learned that I am indeed old and I need to keep up with the times by using appropriate phrases and cliches. So here you are at the end of my story and if I have made you feel old, I apologize. If you don't feel old, enjoy it!! So in answer to my question - When did it happen? - I have yet to figure out. I'll let you know when I do. That is if I remember to figure it out :)

She's gonna be a dancer!

Today was one of those moments when I love having a little girl. Natalie started a dance class this morning. I have been wanting to sign her up for a while now and life just has been too crazy. So we took the plunge amid craziness and signed her up. We went shopping for the dancing essentials on Saturday. It was just like Christmas all over again to her - ok and for me too! She was up well before normal today and the first thing she asked was "I dance today?" When I dropped her off I asked her if I should stay and I was told very firmly that I needed to leave. Her teacher is very sweet and we are so excited for Natalie.

She couldn't be more excited.

Shaking her booty.

Showing off her twirling ability.

My perfect little dancer.

New Years Day in Disneyland

This is Pirates of the Carribean in disguise.
feeding the fish at.... hmmm....SeaWorld.

Just imagine Mickey Mouse instead of a moose.

a fun new attraction at California Adventure??

"Hey, I can shoot too!"

Shouting in the New Year - New York time of course.

Three super cute little girls.

A fun new Uno game that brought yelling, "ohhh"ing, and fun.

2010 ended the best way possible - Jason coming home and being done with the busy season!! Yeah! I survived my first of many busy seasons. I might not have my sanity intact yet but I have hopes of it being restored shortly. Those that know Spanish Fork Canyon will understand my worries of him driving back and forth with wet, icy roads. Within minutes of him getting home we made our way to the Paxton's for a party. We ate yummy food, the kids played games that included singing to the WII (The Eye of the Tiger.... it was great!), and we rang in the New Year along with New York. It was a fun night with friends. Jason wanted to take the kids to Cabela's the next day following a trip to In-N-Out, of course. He made the mistake of telling Nati that it's just like Disneyland. The entire time we were there she kept asking when we would go to Disneyland to which the reply was "This is just as much fun as Disneyland." Poor little girl. I ended up telling her that the Disneyland people called and said that it needs to be warmer for us to go. We spent a few hours there and had a good day just being together. We hope you all had a great New Years Eve and that this new year brings lots of peace and happiness.

Tate Jordan Jensen

In the midst of the Christmas season, the Carter/Jensen families were blessed with a new addition. Tate was born on Wednesday, December 9th. He weighed in at just under 9 pounds. He is just as cute and sweet as can be and we are so happy that he is here and all went well with him getting here. Conratulations to Brady & Randi, oh... and Alexa.