And We Danced Anyway

2012

2012-01-06T11:35:00.000-08:00

I can't believe we're already here at 2012. I seriously have no idea where the last month went. I know that I had a good time and lots of fun in December but looking back it all seems like a blur. I love the holidays but am excited to slow things down a little and get back to normal (at least, as close to normal as we can get). I haven't sat down and made any official "resolutions" but as always I am thinking of ways to better myself and my cute little family. I felt last year was a year of organization for me. I feel as if finally I have things working in an orderly fashion that in past years I was unable to achieve. I start up school again next week so lets hope that I can keep my order together for the next few months because I expect this semester to be harder than the last. I guess if anything I resolve to do more this year. I want to laugh more, travel more, read more, blog more, help more, listen more, and spend time with family and friends more. I want to challenge and stretch myself every day because I know that when I do put myself out there, I always feel so much happiness. There is always something out there new to learn or try. I know myself, the busier I am, the happier I am. So lets get going with 2012!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Oh Santa!

2011-12-30T16:04:00.000-08:00

December was a month full of fun. I had such a great time celebrating the holidays with family and friends. This year we did a few new things, we made an advent calendar and I put a note in each day that told the girls what fun thing we were going to do that day. The girls were very excited every morning to pull out the paper for the day and see what Christmas activity we were going to do. I'm definitely going to have to do this again. Some of the things listed were - make a Christmas craft, watch a Christmas movie, go see the lights, buy presents for Toys for Tots, make a Christmas treat, have a cookie party and invite the neighbors, and a lot of other fun things. It kept us busy and we had so much fun doing it. The other thing new this year was we were visited by an elf. Same idea as the Elf on the Shelf, but it wasn't exactly THAT elf. Anyway, he was always making mischief for us as he was watching to see if we all were being nice. We also had a few family Christmas parties which always are great. I love spending time with family because of their unconditional love and ability to make me laugh. I love he holiday season!

We saw the lights at Thanksgiving Point. My girls are such good friends.

I like seeing all the lights from our warm car.

The elf (our kids named him Howie) came and made some trouble.

He was roasting marshmallows one morning.

He must have been trying to get himself some cocoa.

Bryan and baby Kayson.

We saw Santa in the morning . . .

. . . and we saw Santa later that day.

We had a great day full of family parties.

Elf was being silly again.

And he was playing games at night.

The girls got their new PJ's on Christmas eve.

Christmas morning was so much fun.

Dan wanted this GIANT Reese's PB cup, don't ask me why.

They girls LOVED what they got for each other so after they opened their gifts to each other they got up and started hugging, it was too cute.

The girls in the mess of Christmas.

At my parents house on Christmas day we had an ugly sweater contest. Dan and I had so much fun making our ugly sweaters. We all voted and I even had prizes for the winners.

All the ugly sweaters.

I got ZERO votes. Everyone said mine was too cute to win. I guess I'll have to try to make it uglier next year.

Dan came in third place. His tree even had lights on it!

Kwinton came in second place. He looks silly.

Meg was the winner. She also had lights on her sweater and they were blinking, it was great!

Dan tried on Kwinton's shirt.

I got a pineapple slicer!! I was so excited!

This shirt is so true.

Emma got a Justin Bieber watch.

We all pitched in and got my mom a kindle fire. She was so excited.

I hope everyone had a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!

2011-12-01T19:21:00.000-08:00

Go me!!

2011 Reading Challenge

Angie has

completed her goal of reading 50 books in 2011!

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50 of 50 (100%)

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Thankful

2011-11-29T18:37:00.001-08:00

November is a month that helps us remember to be thankful. I know that I have so much to be thankful for. I'm thankful for my great little family and for a husband who works hard for us. I'm thankful that Dan puts up with me, even when I throw his pillows across the room at night and laugh hysterically for the hundredth time. I'm thankful for my Emma who makes me smile with her silly jokes she repeats from tv, and her creativity. I'm thankful for Hannah Bo who keeps me on my toes and gives the best cuddles. I'm thankful for my parents who have worked hard and still to this day take care of their kids. I'm thankful for my brother and sister (and my adopted sister/cousin/friend) who are not only siblings, but friends and always find a way to make me laugh until I hurt. I'm thankful for my extended family (both here and gone) who love me for who I am and always make me smile. I'm thankful that Dan has a great job that he loves and that he can provide for us while I take care of our girls and finish up my schooling. I'm thankful for our new home and for the wonderful neighborhood that we moved in to that has welcomed us and for all our new friends we've met here. I'm thankful for our health, this is sometimes easy to take for granted. I'm thankful for my friends who, no matter how long it's been, always make me smile and always have a listening ear and great stories to tell. I'm thankful for my freedom, that I can choose what I want to do and when I want to do it, and for those who fight for freedom and have lost their lives doing so. I'm thankful for my church and my calling and for all the joy and peace they bring to my life. I'm thankful for time, love, forgiveness, faith, and so many other wonderful thinks we have.

I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving!

Fall Has Arrived

2011-11-01T21:03:00.000-07:00

Welcome to November, can you believe that we are here again already. Life continues to fly by, but we're having a lot of fun along the way.

Daniel spent the most part of October in St George and Coeur d'Alene so he wasn't around for all of these festivities. We miss him a lot. The good thing is that it's looking like (knock on wood) that he should be sticking around for the rest of the year. Just enough time for me to get sick of him. Haha. Just kidding, you know I love you Daniel!!

I'd say we got pretty lucky with the weather this October, it's been fairly nice and warm for the most part. Now lets just hope that it doesn't mean snow until May again. I don't think I can take it another year.

Let's jump right in to October . . .

Jarom turned four. He is such a silly little guy. Check out his cool miss matched socks. He does silly things like that on purpose.

He's going through that lip-sucking phase that I swear all kids go through so he has a big sore under his lips. My girls both went through it. I remember with Emma we had to stick a band aid on her bottom lip to finally help her stop.

Squinkys are all the rage

There wasn't an empty seat in the house at this event.

I put Sam on the fridge and he started crying, right after I took his picture.

Jeffy didn't mind it so much.

Happy Birthday Jarom! (with his best friend Cole)

The we all decided to crash Nikki's trunk or treat one night at her church.

We love torturing the babies.

Then it was Enoch's turn to have a birthday. He turned seven. He wanted to have an eyeball party, sounds like a boy thing to me. The kids had a fun time playing all the eyeball games.

The birthday boy!

See this bug, I pulled it out of Cole's ear that day. He came up to me slapping the side of his head telling me that his ear was bugging him so I took a peek inside and didn't see anything so I sent him on his way. He came back again a few minutes later and said it was still bugging him so I took another peek inside his ear and again saw nothing so I asked him if it was ringing. He said he didn't know and headed off again. A minute later he was back again complaining about his ear. I asked him again "is it ringing like this riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggggg?". He said "it's not ringing, it's FLAPPING". Flapping??? That was a strange answer. I once again took a peek into his ear and this time saw this bug crawling up from the depths of his ear. I momentarily freaked out but then sprung into action and used my fingernail to pull the thing out. EWWWW It was still alive when I pulled it out. After I got he out he just wandered away as if nothing happened but I may just be scarred for life.

One day we headed out to a pumpkin patch to get our pumpkins for carving.

On Halloween I was able to help in both of the girls classes for their parties. That is one of my favorite things about not working, being able to help in their classes.

At the school Halloween parade

On Halloween Dan was still out of town so I decided to head over to the Franc's so I had someone to take my girls trick or treating with. They are so nice to always let me crash in on what they are doing when I am without a husband.

Their costumes were cute and funny.

This was my costume this year (I recycled it from about five years ago). I look like a normal inflatable cow, don't I??

But no!, I am a giant inflatable cow that walks on his front legs. It was a lot of fun walking around with this thing on. Children and adults both don't know what to make of it. At one point during the night Nikki decided to go cow tipping. Not cool!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

(Kwinton J is crying in this picture, not barfing like it looks like)

(After I posted this I saw that it was my 300th post. Yay! Happy 300th post to me!!!)

September

2011-10-12T08:18:00.000-07:00

I honestly can't believe that September has already come and gone. Seriously, where did it go. Things are a little hectic over here in the Hastings household, but I need to do an update, so here we go. Please forgive me if I start making no sense or if I accidentally post a picture upside down or something, for today I am a little tired. 7 AM yoga class followed by "teaching" art in Emma's class (I say "teaching" and not teaching because I really have no idea what I'm doing, I just know Emma begged my to volunteer and I'm a sucker), plus my CIS class, plus harvesting my garden, plus Emma needing her Halloween costume by TOMORROW! (I yelled it like Emma did), plus Dan being gone for the most part until November, makes for a crazy day. Anyway, I'm not complaining, I'd always rather be busy than have nothing to do I just want to forewarn you that I'm not all here mentally. So it should be like any other day. :)

Ok, now on to September, that month I mentioned in the last paragraph before I started rambling. On Labor Day we decided to use our CityPasses to go the the Thanksgiving Gardens. It was such a cool place, but instead of yapping about it, I'll show you . . .

Gabe tried to jump in pond

The kids climbed stuff

We floated boats down the creek

Kwinton and Dan got a little too close

They played in the sand

Sammy played a tune . . .

. . . while the kids danced on stage . . .

while the adults ~~took a rest~~ watched

Then they hopped on some logs

and Kwinton almost fell of

Then we made them take a group picture (always impossible)

Hannah in the rose garden

Proof that I do exist

Jeffy sat up high on the rocks

and then we needed a rest.

The first week of September Hannah started kindergarten. She was so excited to finally start school. She goes in the afternoon (even though I really wanted mornings) and all day long she is asking me if it's time for school. She loves it!! She even told me that for her next birthday party she wanted to have a "School" party. Yes, she loves school that much. I told her that I wanted to take a picture of her on her first day of school and she told me that she had a few poses she wanted to do so I need to take a picture of them all. She is too cute!

I can't believe my baby is growing up so fast

The next weekend we decided to use our City Passes again to go to the Tracy Aviary. Before we went in the kids wanted to ride on one of the rides at Liberty Park so we said ok. Somehow me and Nikki got coaxed into going on too. Bad idea. Spinning rides make me sick.

We do not look happy

Cali and Emma thought is was great

Then it was on to the bird show

We also made it out to the fair.

Last month we made good use of our City Passes and also went up to Snowbird to ride the tram. We were going to to the Alpine slide too, but it was raining so they shut it down. Being up there really made me feel that fall was coming soon.

I couldn't resist

On our way up the tram, it slowly got colder and colder.

Emma was terrified on the way up. You can see her here next to my mom. She wouldn't turn around for Dan's picture because she was crying.

Almost there

It was VERY cold up there. I got out of the tram for about 1 minute then went back inside.

Dan never gets cold so he took some pictures of the view.

Nikki freezing in the tram car

September 30th my sweet Emma celebrated her 9th birthday. She wanted to have a movie star party, so I did my best to make that happen. I can't believe how fast kids grow. It was such a fun party.

Nana Hastings came to celebrate with us

Getting autographs

Dance party

Now on to October!! (even though it's almost half way over already)

The Happenings of August

2011-09-01T17:10:00.000-07:00

Well folks, September is here. Fall is speeding this way. I always miss summer but am grateful for the fall. Fall means long pants, boots, scarfs and hoodies. Not to mention the holidays, decorating, parties and food. Sounds good to me. August was a busy month getting ready for school and enjoying the last few weeks of summer vacation.

Early in the month we went boating with a few of our neighbors. We are so grateful for the neighborhood we moved into. There are so many great families and friends for our kids to play with. We went down to Yuba lake overnight and had such a great time. The girls had so much fun playing in the sand and jumping of the little pier.

The kids playing in the water

Every year for the past 4 or so years my parents and I have bought tickets to the Parade of Homes. I enjoy seeing all the new homes. I'd like to think that I get a lot of new ideas when I go through the homes but I would be kidding myself. I've lived in my house for about a year and a half now and my walls are still pretty bare. I don't know why, but I can't seem to get anything put up on the walls around here. I don't know if it's that I don't want to pay too much for something that's just going to hang on my walls or the whole commitment part of it. If I hang something up it's permanent, right?? I should probably give Nate a call or something to get things rolling around here. Haha. Anyway, Emma was our photographer during our Parade of Home visits and here is some of what she saw.

I had her take a picture of this because I want tile in my kitchen.

August was a month of many birthdays. My mom, Nikki, Meg, Cole and Kwinton J all celebrated their birthdays in August. (And that's just on my side of the family) We went to Red Robin on my sisters birthday, which was also my nephew Cole's birthday, and they brought him out a GIANT piece of ice cream cake. He was so excited! He was nice enough to share with all the kids.

Look how happy he was!

At first Kwinton didn't want cake

Then he tried some and love it!

I am saving this pic to blackmail Cali later in life

Everyone got a taste

Then I had a root canal . . . on a tooth that I already had a root canal on years ago. It got infected. Grr!!! Although I really do love my new dentist, I still hate the dentist.

A few weekends ago we took our City Passes and went up to This Is The Place park. We chose just the right day because they were doing civil war activities and the kids had so much fun. We made sure to get up there as soon as it opened so that it wasn't too hot for everyone and it made for a really fun day. We still have a few activities left to do on our City Passes. I think it was the perfect gift from my parents.

Have you ever seen kids with such focus. They really thought it was interesting.

Pulling wool

Sam trying to go live with the goats.

The shot a cannon and the kids thought it was so loud.

Gabe made an awesome soldier

They they made their own sacks.

Then it was time for snow cones.

One night we got together with my dads family. We had a lot of fun chatting and hanging out.

My dad, his brother Greg, and his three sisters, Marsha, Cindy and Mitzi.

Then I started my school. I know, it's sad, I'm 31 years old and never got around to finishing my associates degree that I started just after high school ended. I've gone here and there throughout the years and really thought I would finish just before I got pregnant with Hannah. But then I did get pregnant and haven't been back until now. When I went into the counselor I expected him to tell me that my credits were too old and they wouldn't count but he told me they still did and I was so close to being done that I could take classes part time (while Hannah is in kindergarten) this Fall and Spring semester and be done. Sounded good to me. I don't have much to do while Hannah is going half day anyway and then when she goes full time next year I'll work full or part time. Anyway, needless to say I'm the oldest person in all my classes at SLCC. I'm so old, haha.

Next, Emma started her 3rd grade year. She looks so big in this picture. I can't believe how beautiful and smart my little girl is getting. I love you Emma!!!

We had a family reunion for Dan's family at the park a few weekends ago. I forgot my camera but we had a lot of fun playing in the water and playing kickball. Hannah had so much fun playing with her little cousin Sidney that was born the same month as her. They are so cute together. I stole this picture, that my sister in law Kathy took, off of Facebook.

Before I leave you I want to tell you about my garden. Why?? Because I am so proud of it. No, it's nothing big or grand, but I planted it and things are actually growing!! I'm so excited, can you tell?

My garden!! Don't mind the patch of dead yellow stuff, that was spinach. Apparently it grows really fast and if you don't pick it immediately it dies. We learned this the hard way.

My green beans did really well. I've got about six bags already frozen and they're still growing like crazy.

My bell peppers are just getting started but I can see a lot of them coming.

I've got a lot of carrots that should soon be ready to pick.

The green onions are doing good too. I picked a couple the other day to use in the dinner I was cooking and they were excellent!

My tomatoes are just getting started too. Soon we will have too many to know what to do with.

This sad looking plant is my pumpkin. It may look really sad but I'm so proud of it because it is a survivor. My pumpkins were first planted on the side of my house and not in my garden because I figured they would take up a lot of room. They were growing really good until one day the guy that came to check the water meter STEPPED ALL OVER THEM. I was very angry and sad. I did notice that after, although all the other pumpkin plants died, this little one was still trying to hold on so I decided that I would give it a better chance and life and dug it up and re-planted it in the back garden with the rest of the veggies. I honestly thought it would just end up dying too but look at it!! It really wants to live. We'll see if we have any pumpkins by Halloween, that is my hope.

So there you have it. That is what has been happening around here. I hope everyone out there is doing good.

My Girls

2011-08-01T21:39:00.000-07:00

24th Of July At The Cabin 2011!

2011-07-28T16:44:00.000-07:00

This post took me forever to finish. My photo uploader has been really crappy lately. It says it's uploading photos then just tries FOREVER and doesn't do anything. Has this been happening to anyone else? Grrr!! Anyway, on to the post . . .

If it's hot here in the valley the best way to spend the weekend is up at the cabin. It's more quiet and much cooler. The 24th of July weekend is a big weekend up at the cabin. One of our cabin neighbors hosts a horseshoe tournament which means a lot of people and fun. Since Dan is in Washington DC right now the girls and I decided to head up to the cabin a little bit earlier in the week to get some extra relaxation in. So first thing Thursday morning we were on our way. We had a nice quiet first night with just the Franc's.

Emma sings us a tune

Hannah enjoys Emma's show

Emma puts on an awesome gummy worm moustache. Hannah was laughing hysterically, it was so cute!

The next day we spent a lot of time lounging and trying to build a place for the kids to play in the creek. The water was running a bit fast so we couldn't build our usual water park so we dammed up a little kid play area.

My mom took over as the fire starter after my grandma passed away. She is really good at it.

The kids hanging in the cabin

Emma spent a lot of the day in this box. Don't ask me why??

Emma splashes in the pool.

Payton has a bigger splash.

Kyla and Cole hang out in the dirty pool.

Kwinton J didn't want to be in here.

The creek was still running a bit fast so we built this play area for the kids.

Testing the waters.

The finished Product!

Saturday was the big day for the parade, games and horseshoe tournament. This is such a fun day for all!!!

We get more kids every year.

Cali getting ready for the parade to start.

Meg, Amber, and Amy chatting before the parade.

Two cool dudes.

Are we ready to go?

Off we go!!!

Thanks for the candy Payton!

Emma zoomed by.

These kids were walking . . . slowly.

What a cute bunch on the 4 wheeler.

Wasn't that a quick parade? Just the way we like it. :)

Grandpa is always ready for a parade!

The boys didn't want to watch the parade so they started some horseshoes instead.

They made it back!

Kwinton J gets ready to dig in the sawdust for prizes and candy!

Amber explains the rules.

Sam and Jeffy went first.

Then it was Cole, Landrie, Jarom and Kyla's turn.

Next came Enoch, Payton, Hannah and Cali.

Emma, Sierra and Gabe waiting for their turn.

GO!

While no one was looking Jeffy found some leftover food. He was in heaven!

Now they all get to go!

Watch out for flying saw dust.

We played a game with wet sponges. The kids screamed because the water was so cold.

Hannah did not enjoy this game.

Then Chris started a water fight.

BFF!

Braxton and I tried really hard to win the horseshoe tournament this year but we failed. Maybe next year. The winners were Rod and Lori!!!!

I had such a great time at the cabin hanging with my family. I look forward to this weekend every year. Now let's hope that Dan can make it next year. I missed him a lot.

Welcome To Summer!!!!

2011-07-05T17:14:00.000-07:00

Yay!!!!!! We finally made it to summer. The temperatures are getting hotter, the days are getting longer, and we're finding lots to do over here. I just love this time of year. We have so many fun things that we get to do. We are enjoying the great weather and spending time with family and friends. With that said, let's jump into it.

Last weekend we headed out to Willard Bay. We don't usually go to many lakes but we had a free weekend and weren't sure what to do so this was the plan. I had been there once before with the singles ward a long time ago but hadn't been back since. I think we will have to make it an annual tradition because we all had so much fun.

Nikki trying to prevent sunburn

Kids digging in the sand

Watch Out!

Emma and Dan swimming

Samuel

Off they go

Kwinton liked to eat the sand

Nerds!

The awesome girls

Dan floating

Sweet Cali

We decided to bury the kids

They sure were messy when they got out of the sand

Samuel floating out to sea

Of coarse Enoch finds a stick

Papa tending to one of the kids

Looking for shells before we leave

Then we went to the Taylorsville Dayzz fireworks, it was a great day!

We spent a little time at the cabin this past 4th of July weekend. It was so nice up there.

Then we came down to see fireworks at nana and papa Taylor's house.

Playing a little Red Light Green Light

What a silly bunch!

On the 4th of July we headed over to Dan's parents for a BBQ and some water fun!

The girls blew some bubbles

We had a BBQ and homemade Root Beer

The girls by some pretty flowers

Emma and her uncle Jared

Kallie and Hannah

Emma dumps water on Hannah's head

Andrew and Dan

Rabid Hannah

The boys being boys

Me and the girls warming up after swimming

And of coarse they had to jump out of the tree

And there you have it! I can't wait to see what July has in store for us!!!!! I hope everyone is having a great summer!!

Mid June Update

2011-06-22T19:51:00.000-07:00

On this here first day of summer I decided it was the perfect time for an update seeing as from this time through August it's going to get quite busy. Last time you heard from me I had just gotten home from fabulous New York City. Aaaahhh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Oh sorry, I was just remembering how great it was for a moment but now I'm back on track. The past month has been been slowly getting busier and busier. We are very much enjoying this wonderful change in the weather and looking forward to Emma finishing up her school. But enough of me jabbering about it, let me show you some of it.

Hannah graduated Pre-School. She is such a smart little girl and she is very much ready to go on to kindergarten. They went to Jungle Jim's for their graduation party.

This is her friend Makenna

This is her teacher Mrs Stephanie, she was such a good teacher

The graduating class

I went on a field trip with Emma where she got to spray the fire hose.

Then we went to Emma's field day. When we drove up to the school and saw all the fun things going on Hannah got so excited. Can you tell?

Snow cones

Twister

Running through the sprinklers

Emma and Hannah were good teammates for the relay

Sack race

Oops, those long legs did her in

Someone put this girl on the Volleyball team

Hannah tried hard but I just don't think she'll ever have the height

Hannah waiting patiently in line for her turn on the water slide

Hannah finally gets her turn on the slide . . . and she runs down instead of sliding

Last Saturday we went to the zoo for Samuel's birthday. We all used our CityPasses. We are getting a lot of use out of them.

The girls (and Gabe who snuck into my picture)

The boys

Our Posse

You can't go to the zoo and not visit the lion drinking fountain

Be careful Jarom or you might fall in with the monkeys

Kwinton J had a great time

The Routsons joined us too

The kids examining the monkey

All of our little monkeys by the gorilla

Then we headed over to my moms for cake and ice cream

Happy Birthday Sam, he turned 2!

And finally, Emma had a program at her school. She did such a great job with all the dances.

And that is all for now.

New York City!

2011-05-19T13:55:00.000-07:00

We had a great time visiting New York City last week. Dan was sent there for work and my parents and I decided to join him for a few days. This was the first time any of us had been to New York. Enjoy all the pictures.

Times Square

View from Rockefeller Bldg

Trump Tower

Central Park

Tribute to John Lennon

The Hello Deli from the Late Show

Museum of Natural History

View from the bottom of a large dinosaur (that's his head way up there)

It wouldn't be New York without the Naked Cowboy

"Ouch" - At Planet Hollywood

I was so excited to see Carlo's Bakery even though I can't eat cake

Empire State Bldg

Grand Central Station

Inside

St Patrick's Cathedral - It was amazing!

Rockefeller Center

Inside the Museum of Natural History

I took this great picture of Dan . . .

. . . and he took this blurry picture of me

Yikes! I'd hate to see this coming at me.

He's thinking "we came all this way to see a giant rock?"

Look deep into our eyes - By this time on the second day our feet were killing us. If you look close enough you can see it

It's hard to see in this picture but there is a giant whale hanging from the ceiling. This museum was so awesome! It was four levels and had EVERYTHING.

This was at the Toys R Us in Times Square

This was the play we went to see. It was so funny, we all loved it!!

More Times Square when it got busy

On the last day we went to see the Statue of Liberty and it was raining like crazy

There she is!

This picture frightens me

Ellis Island

The famous bull - we couldn't get close to it because there were so many people

On the Brooklyn Bridge

View of the Manhattan Bride from the Brooklyn Bridge

I'd hate to be parked on the top of this strange thing

9/11 Memorial

Rebuilding at Ground Zero

We had a great time in New York but I was glad to come home and see my little girls.

Happy Birthday Hannah Bo

2011-05-05T15:03:00.000-07:00

My little Hannah is such a sweet and spicy little thing. When she grows up she will one day take on the world. As a five year old, however, let just say she keeps her mom on her toes. She is such a sweetheart most of the time. I love to take her shopping with me for clothes because she gushes over everything I put on. "That is so cute!" "You look great!" It really makes mommy feel awesome. She like to give hugs and kisses and she is always willing to share anything she has. Then there are the times when she likes to push it. "Hannah, go clean up your room" - "I'm not going to clean my room and if I do then you have to give me fruit snacks first". Grr! And discipline doesn't work with her either, she just looks at me like 'what's the worst you can do?'. Like I said, she will do big things when she gets bigger. Let's just hope that mommy remains sane until then.

Anyway, about a week ago she started limping. I assumed that she hurt herself jumping on the neighbors tramp so I didn't worry about it too much because it started to get better. Her birthday was this past Monday so last Sunday we had some ice cream cones at my moms house and when we went home that night she said her leg was sore again so we gave her some medicine and she went to bed. About midnight she woke up screaming that her knee was burning. It was the opposite knee that had been hurting her for the past few days so we were really confused. She just kept crying so decided that something was strange so we took her into the ER. (thank you Nikki for taking our call at midnight and letting Emma come over) So we got to the ER and began the waiting and testing. They took blood, checked for strep, and took multiple x-rays and five hours later we still didn't have an answer. The best he could do was say she possible injured herself or maybe arthritis. Needless to say we were both very tired (she stayed awake the whole time) and I was a little bit frustrated. She felt better the next few days and when we went to see her Dr a few days later for her five year checkup he told us he thinks either it was growing pains or a reaction to a virus she may have had. Still not really a definite answer but I was comforted a bit feeling that the had figured out a lot of things that it was not. If that makes any sense. She has been doing pretty well since them she still is a bit sore and overly moody at times and I just can't wait to see her at 100% again. I love my little Hannah Bo and am grateful for all the joy she brings to our family. Happy Birthday Hannah!!

Ice cream party at my moms

In the hospital, she was so brave when they put the IV in

After we finally woke up after being in the ER all night Nikki came over and gave her some gifts on her birthday

The kids came over and my mom brought them some cupcakes

The next day when she was finally feeling better I took her to the mall and let her pick out whatever she wants at Claire's. She sure does love pink.

Then we got treats at Mrs Fields (Emma still has the glue on her head from the cyst removal)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HANNAH!!!

April

2011-05-05T12:20:00.000-07:00

April seemed to fly by. We have been growing anxious to get outside and play, but April was full of showers. We did had a lot of fun celebrating. Dan was gone a few weeks in April but we found some time to get out with the girls. Here's what has been going on over here.

Sierra turned 8!

Emma had a small cyst removed from her forehead. She did really good.

Dan made a treat with the girls

The girls saw the creepy Easter bunny

My girls were silly (as always)

Dan played us some tunes

On the Saturday before Easter we had an egg hunt in our circle. The kids had so much fun with their friends. We had a fun BBQ after at one of the neighbors houses. I'm so glad we moved to such a great circle!

Daddy and his girls

Mommy and her girls

Look at all the cute kids in our circle

Off they go!

After we went over to my parents to have another hunt.

We also celebrated Gabe's birthday, he turned 8 too.

Then came Easter. The girls had a lot of fun finding eggs and eating too much candy.

The cute dresses they picked out

Then Emma had one permanent teeth removed because she happened to have an extra one

She wasn't too happy

Then last weekend we went to Gabe's baptism. He looked so handsome that day. I'm very proud of him!

So there was April. We have a lot to look forward to in May including Sierra's baptism, a trip to New York (yay!) and Memorial Day. I can't wait to be outside soaking in the sun.

March

2011-03-25T13:51:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd post an update of all the ongoings of March. I can't believe how fast these past few months have flow by. Now if only the weather would realize it was actually spring and maybe warm up a bit, now that would be nice.
This coming May me, Daniel and my parents are going to New York. I'm so excited and nervous at the same time. Daniel is being sent to New Jersey (just across the Hudson from New York) for a few weeks so I thought I should go visit him (how often do you get to go to New York with a free hotel) and we asked if my parents wanted to come along too because I know that they've always wanted to visit New York too. Nikki has been nice enough to volunteer to take my girls for the time we are gone. Thank you Nikki!! I can't wait to post all the fun we have on that trip.
Anyway, back to March.
Cali turned 6, she was the animal keeper at her birthday party.

Opening presents. Apparently Sam didn't care.

She loved the puppy we got her.

Jarom was tormenting Gabe by putting his shirt on his head.

We had cupcakes.

Yum!

And by we I meant everyone but me. :(

What a fun party Cali!

Our second adventure with our City Passes was to the Lion House. We were quite the crowd taking up a whole room ourselves. Emma said that it was her favorite place to eat and she wanted to back every day. I'm sure it had something to do with the GIANT piece of chocolate cake she had.

Cole and Kwinton the elder

Dan and Jarom

Emma and Sierra (see that giant piece of cake in front of her)

Samuel, Meg and Chris

Nikki, Gabe and weird Enoch

Hannah and Cali

Dad, Kwinton the younger and Mom

I love to see the temple. :)

I took a silly piture of Kwinton Jeffery

Chris got another year older. He turned 33, he is soooooooo old.

He leads the choris in "Happy Birthday"

Ok, now I am ready for April.

:)

Thanksgiving Point Dinosaur Museum

2011-02-27T10:34:00.000-08:00

This past Christmas my mom and dad gave us all City Passes. They allow us to do a bunch of stuff around Salt Lake for FREE. Yesterday we decided to go to the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point. The kids had a lot of fun running around looking at everything and playing with everything. After we were done we headed next door for some ice cream cones. We are looking forward to doing a lot of fun things with our City Passes!

The kids watching something awesome

Me and Cole are scared of the fish above us

Silly girls

And silly boys

Group pic

Papa and the kids in the cave

Nana and Jarom

The dinosaur was ready to eat us

Jarom and Cole are buddies

Silly Hannah

Me and one of my girls

Dan supervises the digging

More digging

Emma looks like she is disgusted with something

We weighed all the kids

Gabe and his mama Nikki

Baby Kwinton had fun

They are riding on a dinosaur but with all those kids you can't see it

The giant turtle ate Gabe and he died

They are all so scared of this shark!

And ice cream after!!! What a fun day!!!!

Super Bowl 2011

2011-02-15T20:23:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago we celebrated the Super Bowl. Dan happened to be in St George that weekend so he missed all the fun. I wish he could have been there with us. We decided this year that we would root for Green Bay. We had all the kids make up some shirts and had a lot of great food including a nacho bar, brawts, and Amber's yummy funeral potatoes.

All the silly kids

Emma

Payton

Kyla

Cali

Jarom

Sierra

Enoch

Gabe

Hannah

Kwinton J (he's not wearing his shirt because he didn't feel well, he was in the hospital with RSV earlier this day)

Cole

Samuel

And there you have it!

Funny Hannah

2011-02-04T12:49:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I don't know what to blog about when I feel like nothing overly exciting is going on. Dan is currently in St George for the next few weeks so that means extra mommy and girls time, and we are also getting ready to have a fun party for the Super Bowl this coming weekend. We are rooting for Green Bay (because, no one REALLY wants to root for the Steelers) so the party will be full of cheese and fun. I'll get some pictures of that up afterwards. Not much else is going on right now so I guess I'll just let you hear about a few of the funny things Hannah has said lately.

Me: Hannah, we really need to clean moms car.

Hannah: Why?

Me: Because it's filthily and that is embarrassing to me.

Hannah: It's ok mommy, everyone already knows your car is filthy.

and . . .

Hannah: Mom I had the weirdest dream last night!

Me: You did

Hannah: Yes it was back back baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack in the 70's!

So there you have it! My girls are always making me laugh over here.

Oh, and on a side note, I've been doing a bit of microblogging of the day to day stuff on Tumblr. You can find my page HERE if you are bored. HAHA!

Happy Christmas!

2010-12-29T20:04:00.000-08:00

We had a great time this Christmas. We spend a lot of fun times with family and friends. The only bad part is that our poor little Hannah spent four days straight being sick. She was even so sick on Christmas morning that she really didn't care at all for her presents. It was really sad to see. I'm very glad that she has finally gotten better and she is her silly smiling self again.

On Christmas eve we went to visit Dan's family at his sister's house. Little Hannah was pretty sick that morning so we weren't sure if we would make it or not, but she started feeling better so we were glad to be able to make it.

Someone squashed the cupcakes in the car on the way to their house. I won't say who it was, but I will say that me and cupcakes don't get along.

Emma and Hannah took my camera for a while and took some silly pictures

Hannah told me to pose with her bear and close my eyes. She then accidentally put her little finger over the flash and made me look all red. Too cute!

Hannah had to chase Emma to get her picture

Little Andrew was being cute

Then we acted out the nativity. Hannah was an angel.

Emma was a shepard

I think Dan was a wiseman. He was trying to look ridiculous in this pic.

The we opened presents. We were all excited with what we got.

Hannah and Sydnee playing with their playdoh

When we got home they got to open their Christmas jammies

Then they each got to open one thing they got for each other. The both got the other one a singamajig.

On Christmas day Hannah was still pretty sick. The picture with the stuffed animals was about the happiest she got opening presents. The rest of the time she stayed on my lap as I opened her presents for her. After presents we headed down to my moms for breakfast and presents.

One of the things I got Dan for Christmas was I finally changed my name. Yep, after 9+ years for marriage you can officially call me Mrs Angela Taylor Hastings. (I never had a middle name so now Taylor is my new official middle name) Or you can still call me Angie, I probably wouldn't answer to Angela anyway.

Hannah tried to be happy

Over the river and through the woods

My two cute girls. They got a couple of tutu's for Christmas and they never want to take them off.

Hannah got this makeup kit. She LOVES it!

madness

more madness

you get the picture

Hannah got a jacket from nana and papa

So did Emma

Kwinton was making a quilt for Nikki. He's not quite finished yet. (obviously)

Hannah got Let's Dance for Kids for Christmas. We all had fun playing.

Samuel loved his bouncing horse

Kwinton J must have been naughty

More dancing.

I hope everyone else had a great Christmas too!!! Now we get ready to party for New Years!

Happy Birthday To Me!!!!

2010-12-23T21:08:00.000-08:00

Last night was my birthday and you know what??? I wanted to go ROLLERSKATING!! I don't know why but when I let my family know that I want to do these silly things they amuse me and say ok. When we first arrived at the rink I experienced one of the most hilarious things I've ever witnessed in my life. So we get there and get all of us including the eleven kids all laced up in our skates and headed out for our first lap. WELL, none of these kids had ever skated before and so we head out and the comedy begins. We had kids falling and crying everywhere and parents trying to hold kids up and also falling everywhere. It was hysterical!! The kids would fall and try and get up and fall again and cry and fall and cry and fall. I know I may sound like a meanie to laugh at all the falling and crying but honestly I couldn't breathe I was laughing so hard. It look everyone a good ten minutes to make it around that first lap. After that we had a few of the littler kids that didn't ever go back on the rink, they just skated on the carpet and the bigger ones just kept trying and trying. By the end of the night most of them could at least stay up against the wall. We had such a great time, I honestly don't think I've been rollerskating since the old Fun Dome days. Trust me, that was a long time ago. Hope you enjoy the pics!

Gabe durring his first lap (not so happy)

Cole hated it too

Gabe after he got the hang of it (much better)

Hannah spent most the time on the carpet

Nikki

Meg

Chris R

Chris T, Sam and big Kwinton

Cali and Nikki (check out Nikki's awesome socks)

My awesome mom and dad

Dan, Emma and Dad

Amber, Amy and Nikki

Too many kids to count. Where did they all come from????

Week In Review

2010-12-12T21:03:00.000-08:00

This last week has been a busy one over here at the Hastings household. It's the time of year for being busy and I love it. I'm sure Dan is wondering if we can slow down a bit, but I figure that he can relax while he is at work. HAHA

Monday we went and got ourselves a tree. We always do a real tree so wait a little longer to go and get it so that it won't be too dead by Christmas. We found our perfect tree at Harmons, much cheaper than going to one of the lots you find in parking lots.

Anyway, on the way home we drove by this GIANT snowman. It was so awesome that I had to take a picture.

Now the decorating begins . . .

All done!

It looks so festive without the flash

Then they started to get silly

The finished tree in all it's glory. Please note our $4 Kmart star at the top of the tree. We bought it the first year we were married and still haven't gotten anything better. I keep telling myself every year that I'll go and get something better but never end up doing it. Oh well, I love our ghetto star!

Then on Wednesday we went with my family downtown to see Temple square and all the lights. It was the perfect night to go down. It wasn't too cold at all and the weather wasn't stormy.

In the visitors center

Me and my honey (he was going as Clark Kent that night)

Sammy and Cali getting a ride

Our first attempt at a kids group photo (not so good)

The silly Franc's

The next attempt at a kids group photo (a little better)

Yesterday we headed up to the mountains and had our annual Wilson Christmas party at Sheila's house. She is so nice to let us all come up to have a get together. We did some sledding, had a visit with Santa, ate a lot of good food, and had great company. I love hanging out with family.

Playing in the snow

Dan took this picture. I bet he deserved getting hit with that sled.

There wasn't too much snow up there so our sled rides didn't go so well

Emma going on a short sled ride

Here comes Santa

Aren't we a cute bunch!!

Harry Potter Party!!!

2010-11-21T11:22:00.000-08:00

You might not be aware of this but last Thursday was a holiday. It was HARRY POTTER PARTY DAY. This holiday always occurs the day before a new Harry Potter movie comes out. Ok, well at least around here it is. We threw the party at my house this year and it turned out great. Dan was once again out of town so he missed out on all the fun. They always seem to send him away during Harry Potter week. He is in the Slytherin house in case you were wondering. Thanks to everyone who came. Enjoy the pictures of all the fun.

The Great Hall

This was the forest

Chris wanted to be a death eater so he made himself a shirt

We watched the first Harry Potter

Balloon game in the forest

The Horcruxes

Ravenclaw House

Griffindor House

Slytherin House

Hufflepuff House

Group Picture

Silly Group Picture

Baptism Day!!!

2010-11-08T16:23:00.000-08:00

Last weekend my little Emma was baptized. I'm so proud to be her mommy! Thank you to everyone who came to share this special day with us.

My Favorite Things

2010-11-08T14:51:00.000-08:00

What can I say, I LOVE Brandon Flowers!!

Fall Pictures With The Kids

2010-11-02T15:03:00.000-07:00

The kids love when the leaves fall off the trees in my parents back yard. Us parents love it too because the kids spend all day outside playing in them. Of coarse, I couldn't get them all to look at smile at the same time. But I try.

Cole's face in this picture kills me. I think he is trying to smile. haha

Halloween Fun!!

2010-11-02T14:52:00.000-07:00

We had a fun time this Halloween. We went trunk or treating at my ward on Friday and we went to a few houses (in the rain) at my moms on Saturday. I love Halloween!!

A group picture before the trunk or treat

Emma army girl

Waiting at the school parade

A beautiful angel

Kwinton monster

My silly dad

Kwinton and his football

At our trunk or treat we one of the neighbors had a cute little train. The kids loved it.

I was a magical wizard (I also got called a troll and gnome)

The wizard holding Cole

Clyde (my dad is hilarious)

Silly kids

More kids

. . .

Meg and Sam

Nikki jumped out of the 80's

We were all wet after trick or treating on Saturday

Happy Birthday Enoch

2010-11-02T14:20:00.000-07:00

Last week we celebrated Enoch's 6th birthday. These kids are all getting too big. We had a fun time at the Taylor house partying.

Meg made another awesome cake (don't ask, I couldn't get it to turn the right way)

Update!

2010-10-21T20:35:00.000-07:00

No, I have not abandoned my blog. I am merely playing defense at the moment. Or not, who knows what that means, not me, I just know it's time for an update. I'm sure there is someone out there somewhere just dying inside wondering WHAT IN THE WORLD IS GOING ON WITH ANGIE!! Fear not, one person, I am here. Well, why don't we start off with some pictures. This blog needs pictures, otherwise it is just you (one person) reading the ramblings of a crazy person that has poor spelling and bad grammar. Here we go . . .

In the recent months we got our backyard finished. We were very glad that my cousin Justin was able to come over and do such a great job for us.

Us, a few days after we moved into Monticello (the name I gave our new house. I think every house deserves a proper name) before the front yard was even put in. (Thanks Meg, I stole this off your blog)

Before (obviously)

After!!! I only have one picture after, but I put up more before pics so you can see the whole yard and than imagine it all after.

Then, Cole (Nikki's second to youngest) turned 3!!

He got jousting sticks

The madness that is nana and papa's house

He loves his Angie!

We sang him Happy Birthday. And yes, that is Nikki three days after she just had baby Kwinton.

We took a little trip down to Delta and celebrated Dans grandpa's 89th birthday!

My beautiful girls

Dan the piano man

Cool cake

Dan showing the girls how to shoot some hoops

Hannah Dancing

Floyda - I mean Emma playing some ball. She is going to be a giant so basketball just might be her thing.

Me and BooBoo

I'm sure Emma was being naughty so I had to punish her. :) I told ya she is giant.

Grandpa and Grandma Losee

Singing 'Grandpa, tell me about the good old days' to grandpa

Then, my mommy had a birthday - And also me and Dan celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary. Yep, it's been that long.

Happy Birthday Mom!!

We sang her Happy Birthday too, but I will spare you this time.

One day, me and Nikki went to lunch with all these silly kids.

THEN, Meg had a birthday.

She hates when we call her Megan. (hehe)

I only took one picture of Meg on her birthday and I caught her off guard and it is horribly unflattering so I will not embarrass her and put it up. Instead I will show you the kids drinking their rootbeer floats and the babies, because, who doesn't love babies.

Samuel

Kwinton J (J is for Jeffery, not Jr)

One day I woke up and there was hail on my lawn.

Emma won the Principals Pride award at school

]

I had lunch with her and Gabe and this silly kid

We also made it to the Fair!

I love that Hannah's hat fell over her eyes

We also went bowling with nana and papa Taylor

A few weeks ago we celebrated Emma's 8th birthday!!

I asked her if she wanted to go to the circus for her birthday, she said "Mom, can't you just take me to Build a Bear?" Sounded good to me, she just saved me lots of money.

This is how we make the kids stay back while the birthday kid is opening presents, we make a line and tell them not to pass it. That way they all don't rush the birthday kid and we can get pictures without all of their little heads in the way.

An awesome drawing book from her nana and papa Hastings

Don't ask me exactly what these are but she LOVED them.

Seriously, she just had a baby a month ago and she's riding around on Chris' back.

Here is our cake. Let me explain. I tried to make the cake first off and it really didn't go so well. I bought a giant cupcake mold and the outside was burnt while the inside was runny. Anyways, so last minute (the day of the party) I had to go to Harmons and get a new cake of the shelf. All they had was this Dora cake and of coarse Dora is too baby for Emma ( :) ) so we re-did the cake to make Dora stand on her head and Boots tackling Diego. She liked it much better this way.

We really should teach them to sing like the Von Trapps

The overflow table

Baby Samuel love cake too!

Don't ask me what is up with Chris' face. I guess pictures make him sad.

On Emma's actual birthday (we had her party a few days earlier) Hanson came to town. I once again dragged my sister downtown to the Depot with me to see them. There was only a few scuffles (seriously, those Hanson fans can be out of control sometimes) but we made it through the night. I can't help it, I love Hanson.

Waiting in line

I'm so glad Nikki will come with me!

A Rocket to the Moon (opening band)

Taylor (because you care about their names)

Zac

Isaac

I found a dead bunny on my back lawn. Looked like it had been ran over. Weird.

Baby Kwinton Jeffery was blessed.

What a cute family!

I found a few random pictures on my camera that I didn't take . . .

. . .I wonder who did . . .

Emma did this . . . ouch!

And I did this . . .

And finally, because I'm sure you are getting sick of me by now even though at the beginning of the post you were missing me oh so much. Last weekend we celebrated Jarom's (Chris' second to youngest son) 3rd birthday.

At first he was sad because he didn't want to leave the video game he was playing to come open presents.

Once he started he realized it was a lot of fun.

Samuel kept coming over to me with my camera and making this silly smile so that I would take his picture.

Then he decided to take a swing in Kwinton J's baby swing.

Meg made an awesome cake, as always!

Happy Birthday Jarom!

Now wasn't that fun!

Welcome to the World Baby Kwinton

2010-08-10T21:18:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning I was lying in bed when I got a text. It was about 7:30 so I was still trying to roll myself out of bed at that point. This text was from Nikki and it said "PANDA WATCH, PANDA WATCH, PANDA WATCH!!" To anyone else this may have mean nothing but I knew it meant something more, we were having a baby! The last few weeks we knew that Nikki was getting close to having this baby and he was a little bit small so we knew that he could be coming at any time so one day my brother declared the baby watch "PANDA WATCH" after the movie Anchorman. Anyway, Nikki let me know that she was having contractions all through the night so she was heading in to the hospital. After a few hours of waiting and wondering if they would admit her I finally got the call that we were having this baby. I headed up around noon to start the waiting game. At that point she was only dilated to a 5. So then me, my mom, Kwinton and Nikki waited and waited and waited and waited. Finally around 5 me, my mom and Kwinton decided to head across the street to get some diner while Nikki to a little nap and at that time they started the patoicn. When we got back an hour or so later she had only gotten to a 6 so we thought that it would be a very long night. Meg and my dad showed up at this point. About 15 min later Nikki told the nurse that she was feeling a lot of pressure so the nurse decided to check her again. In 15 min she went from a 6 to a 10, we were going to have a baby!! Around 6:30 baby Kwinton joined the world. He was 6 lb 1 oz and 17 1/2 in. He came out angry I guess because he screamed and screamed. I'm so glad that Nikki and Kwinton let me be there for all the births of their children. It's such an amazing thing to be able to be there for. And on a side note, she had this baby on Aug 8, the day before her birthday Aug 9. Aug 9 is also the birthday of her son that just turned 3 named Cole.

Nikki walking around trying to get things moving

Almost time

Here he is screaming

Screaming again

Much better

Aunt Angie

Cali loved her new little brother

Cole wasn't so sure

Kwinton Jeffrey Franc