Matthew Turns 12!

Who told this little guy that he could grow up?

 And I have a feeling this big guy will still keep growing!

I've had all sorts of feelings run through me as Matt's birthday came and went.

First, he was twelve and old enough to officially babysit for us!  Yay!

Then, Holy Cow?  Our kid is twelve already? How did that happen?

And finally, I kept getting weepy.

Over the weekend, Matthew was ordained to the office of a Deacon and received the priesthood.  

I sat in there with the Deacons' Quorum as Paul and the other great Priesthood leaders put their hands on Matthew's head and gave him the authority to act for God on this earth.

Matt took this all very seriously and I was so proud of him.

Last night we went to the temple do do baptisms for the dead as a ward youth group.

Matt just squeaked in there with his birthday and it was such a wonderful experience!

It will be so fun to watch Matthew continue to grow--he has so much to look forward to and his future is full of possibilities!

Daddy-Daughter Dance

The Activity Day girls planned a Daddy-Daughter night for their activity last month.

It was fun seeing how excited Afton was to go on a date with her dad!

The girls chose a movie-star theme and walked the red carpet with their dads,

then they had a fancy dinner, dancing, games, and a photo booth...

I helped take pictures of the girls and their dads and it was so cute seeing how much these dads and daughters adored each other!

Nora's 4th Birthday!

I figured I should post about her birthday before the month is up!

I can't believe our baby girl is 4!

She is such a sweet, fun, spunky, clever, entertaining addition to our family.

We don't know what we'd do without her.

I took Nora to American Girl Place for lunch and to pick out her very own American Girl Doll

She's been wanting one that looks like her...

Here she is with her new doll, "Nora"

(I mean, what else would you name a doll that looks like you)

Nora (and Nora) loves to pose for pictures

"reading" the menu

Enjoying our fancy lunch together!

I probably had more fun watching Nora-

she wanted to be so grown up and she sat up at the table while we had our "conversation"

But when a fun song came on, she had to get up and dance!

Nora loves her treats, so we had lots of treat that week...

Some yummy Minnie Mouse red velvet cupcakes

which we had on her actual birthday--

 and opened lots of fun presents ...

When Dad got back in town, we had a strawberry cake

(it didn't turn out so well looks-wise, but Nora thought it was great)

and she got birthday money and gift cards to spend on more Minnie Mouse stuff!

Happy Birthday to our Nora!

Goofy's Challenge

The reason for our Disney World trip started back in the summer.

I decided I wanted to do the Goofy's Challenge Race-

run 1/2 marathon on day 1

run a full marathon on day 2

I'm not fast, so I figure I can be impressive by putting in the miles.

I trained all through the fall and early winter.

My longest training run was a full 26 miles the Saturday before Christmas.

I actually went into the race feeling ready and excited!

Disney makes races a lot of fun--lots of music, cheering fans, characters, and great volunteers!

Before I knew it, I was finished with the half-marathon.

I felt really good and actually finished under 2 hours.

The half-marathon Donald Medal

(Disney has the best medals!)

I was finished running and back to the hotel before anyone was awake,

so we got ready and hit the parks until 9 pm

(I would have stayed later, but knew I was getting up at 3 am the next day for the marathon)

There is nothing like running through Cinderella's Castle,

and a nice volunteer took this picture for me!

I felt amazing during the entire race-which is a first for me.

My previous 2 marathons I was ready to stop at mile 20.

(Disney is awesome and actually did have characters from The Haunted Mansion at mile 18 or so and you could lie down and take a picture by a headstone!)

I ran into a guy from New York around mile 22 and we started chatting.

He asked if I was planning to go under four hours and I responded I hoped to be anywhere around there.

Then he looked at my bib and in shock said, "You already ran yesterday?!  You're looking awesome!"

That is totally how I felt!

So I cruised in to the finish line and picked up my Mickey medal and my Goofy medal!

I was so proud of myself and proud of what I had accomplished.

What do you do when you finish Goofy's Challenge?

You go to DisneyWorld, of course!

Paul proudly took a picture of my new hardware...

Catching up....DisneyWorld!

The kids knew that I was training for the DisneyWorld Marathon,

but they didn't know we were taking them along until they opened their last Christmas present.

I can't even describe how much I love Disney--

and getting to combine a fun trip with a race made it even more awesome!

We hit the Magic Kingdom our first day, but I was late getting there since I had to pick up my race packet.  Paul has the first day there photos!

We also had a great time at Epcot (despite Nora's face)

Hollywood Studios was a big hit this year too,

especially since the big kids loved Rock 'n' Roller coaster and we finally convinced Matt to go on the Tower of Terror.  He's got a lot of his mom in him--that one is not our favorite!

Paul discovered a great drink spot behind this truck--they put flavored syrup in your coke for you!

Headed over to the big rides!

We also loved Animal Kingdom.  Everyone except Nora could ride Everest, so she liked to hang out and have an ice cream bar!  Not a bad way to pass the time...

Matt & Afton with Everest in the background...

 One of the best things about going to Disney on this trip was seeing the new part of Fantasyland!

Ariel has a new ride and castle backdrop...

Belle has a new story-time in the Beast's Castle.

We even got to take part in the story...

Nora was Mrs. Potts and Afton was Chip.  I played a scared Maurice, "shaking" behind the tower bars!

It was so cute and the kids each got a picture and bookmark from Belle at the end.

 These girls love the Magic Kingdom almost as much as their mom!

 There was a cute new backdrop for the newest princess, Merida.

She was so cute and the girls loved her!

 And our favorite tradition--lunch at Cinderella's Castle!

You get a yummy meal and the princesses come around to your table-hard to beat that!

We've seen this Sleeping Beauty there before--she is adorable!

 And an afternoon Dole Whip!  Perfect break from the activity.

 We stopped in the final Picture stop to make sure we got all our princesses in-

another fabulous trip to DisneyWorld and we can't wait to go again!

Why I haven't posted nearly as often...

Basically, we've been very busy!

It's amazing how the activities and plans of four kids impose on my free time.

And having a husband who's frequently traveling, or otherwise engaged means I have less time for me too.

But, I like having these blog posts to refer back to what we've been up to as a family...

Back on 12/12/12, Halle lost her 1st tooth...

In January, we went to Disney World (I'll do a whole post on our awesome trip!)

 And Afton has been practicing hard for her first band concert.  

She plays the flute and really enjoys it...

I helped in Halle's class for Valentine's Day

And Matthew is full swing into basketball and winter training for soccer.

His basketball team is 4-1 and doing a great job!

They really play well as a team and they earned a pizza party from the coaches for having every boy score a basket last week.

We have some great coaches and I am so grateful for their good attitudes and examples for my boy!

And Paul and I have been enjoying some relaxing time together in warm sunshine...

It amazes me how quickly time passes when so much is happening.  We've had a lot of fun as a family and we're looking forward to the rest of 2013!

2 Weeks Past Christmas?!

I can't believe how quickly the holiday season went!

We had a wonderful week--

many friends visited for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

our kids were happy and excited

(so excited that they piled in our bed at 5:45 am, so we started nice and early that day)

Paul and I were able to sleep in a little, go for runs together, watch movies, and read by the fireplace.

And my mom and dad came the day after Christmas to play with the kids 

and watch them while Paul and I celebrated our 14th anniversary in the city.

I also got to spend a lot of time in my new kitchen! 

(that is a post for another day)

Most of all, I just felt so much joy and love and happiness.

It was a perfect Christmas--we have so much to be thankful for and I felt those blessings this year.

I helped out at Afton's party (here she is with her cute teacher)

In their nice duds for Christmas Sunday

Waiting for the OK to see if Santa came

Our Lego-maniac is still going strong

Lots of American Girl fun!

Nora loves her Minnie and Mickey and double stroller

Figuring out our big family gift--a trip to DisneyWorld 

(starts this weekend)

 with Grandma and Grandpa Bunting