Clar's birthday was November 7th. It was on a Sunday and Hunter fell asleep on the way home from church and we left to go to Clar's parent's house for dinner right after he woke up so we didn't get to really celebrate his birthday as a family until we got home so when he did finally get to open his presents everyone was super tired but we had a good time!

My birthday was on December 2nd and when I came downstairs for the day I found a nice surprise waiting for me on the table!

That night was Nena's dance recital and some of my family went to that and afterwards everyone came over and we had some yummy skookies and just hung out for a little while!

Nena did good at her dance recital and loved her costume!! It was fun to watch a bunch of 3 year olds dance, they all had their moments when they were actually doing the dance but I think most of the time they were all just doing their own thing. It was pretty entertaining!

And another happening that is going on in our family is that we are going to have another baby!! We are thrilled to welcome another little girl into our family sometime right at the first of March which we can't believe is less than 3 months away!! Nena is excited to have someone else to dress up besides Hunter and I think Hunter will appreciate not having to wear dress ups either (or maybe Clar will appreciate it more because I think Hunter actually likes it)!! This is our most recent ultrasound but it was taken over a month ago so I guess we don't have a real recent picture of our growing baby.

Halloween

We had a fun Halloween!! We had our ward party the week before Halloween and then the night before we went to both my parent's and Clar's parent's ward Halloween Trunk or Treats. On Halloween night we put the kids in their costumes and sat on the front porch to pass out candy to those who came trick or treating. Nena was Belle and Hunter was Scooby Doo. The kids loved being able to wear their costumes so much and loved all the fun parties!!

The jack-o-lanterns

Our ward Halloween Party was at our house this year in our backyard. It was nice to just be able to walk outside and to not have to drive anywhere and the activities committe brought everything and set it all up and a ton of people stayed after the party to help clean up so it was nice we didn't really have to do anything! Probably the only reason I remembered my camera and actually took pictures was because it was at our house so I just ran inside and got it. I always forget to bring it whenever I go anywhere so I can never take pictures.

Hunter at one of the booths at our ward Halloween Party. You had to throw a ball through some holes that were cut out from a board that were shaped like pumpkins. This was his favorite place to be he was there throwing the balls around all night!!

At Nena's favorite booth you had to spray water at some candles that were lit and try to get the flame to go out. This was the one she wanted to be at almost the whole night!

Clar and the kids (This is the best picture I got they did not want to cooperate.)

Hunter loves his big sister!!
Sitting on the porch waiting for trick or treaters
Throwing rocks
Princess Belle posing for the camera
This is the best picture we got of Hunter wearing the head part of his costume. He would not leave it on at all!
We had a Happy Halloween and look forward to all the other holidays that are coming up soon!! I cannot believe it is already almost the end of another year!!

Nena started a dance class!! It is a ballet class that is taught by a lady in our ward. She loves it and has so much fun dancing with all the other girls in the class!! She has a recital in December and we are so excited for it!! Hunter and I go to her practices to watch her and he always tries to run away from me and go dance with the girls!! He already loves to dance too it's so fun!!

1st Day of Class

Practicing with the bar. (I took a ton of pictures at the studio but it is so dark in there that none of the pictures turn out. This is the only decent one I've got.)

Showing off at Home

Celebrations!!!

At the end of June and the beginning of July we had a lot of celebrations!! First, Hunter turned one year old on June 23rd! Second, Clar graduated with his MBA from the University of Phoenix on June 26th! And third, Nena turned three years old on July 9th! We had a graduation party at our house after the ceremony for Clar and his brother who also graduated and decided that since our kids birthdays were both right around the graduation we would just have some cakes for them and celebrate their birthdays that day too since all the family was already there! We had a bunch of fun water things outside for the kids to play with like pools and slip and slides and water balloons and water guns and sprinklers! It was a lot of fun and I wish I would have taken more pictures but I was too busy and only ended up taking pictures of the birthday cakes. The cakes turned out really good though I made Nena a Belle cake because she loves princesses and Clar made Hunter a construction cake full of trucks and dirt!!!

The graduation ceremony

This is the best close up picture that I got during the whole thing.



Our family



Us with Clar's brother and his wife



Clar and his brother


We are so proud of Clar for graduating and for accomplishing this big goal and for sticking with it even though it wasn't always easy!!!

The kids and their cakes



Nena



Hunter



Playing in the pool



We gave Hunter some cake and he got so messy we had to clean him with the hose



Hunter's birthday!!

It looked like so much fun that Nena joined in

And so did daddy

He did pretty well at opening presents but Nena was so excitied that she ended up doing most of the unwrapping


Nena got a bunch of princess things for her birthday!

And we even made another princess cake!

We can't believe how fast the kids are growing up!! It has all gone by way too fast and although it is sad to see them grow, it is also fun to watch as they enter each new stage in life!

DISNEYLAND!!!

A few weeks ago we took a trip to Disneyland!! It was so much fun and we are so glad went!! We wanted to go before Nena turns 3 so we wouldn't have to pay for her because we weren't sure what she would be able to do and how she would do there. She was so good and she could ride almost every ride in Disneyland and so could Hunter!! Nena loved seeing all the characters especially the princesses! She saw almost all of them three times and got three different pictures with most of them! We also went to see the Newport Beach Temple and went to the Newport Beach. The Temple was beautiful with so many pretty flowers around it Nena just walked around and smelled them all! She loves flowers so she was in heaven!! It was the first time the kids have been to the beach and they loved it even though the water was cold!! It was a lot of fun and a very nice vacation!!