Thanksgiving 08

This year we were planning to stay home for Thanksgiving, but last minute we decided to go to Vegas to see my family. Partly because we knew we would miss being with our family for the holiday, but I think it was mostly because we all knew that if I had to cook the whole dinner by myself it would be a pretty big let down!
Anyways, we are so glad we went because it was a really fun trip. The weather was great and the company was better. Dean's parents drove down from St. George on Friday to spend the day with us, and we were happy to be able to see them.
The girls stayed busy cooking, playing and painting. On the way home we drove through Lake Havasu City where they have the London Bridge and of course the lake. The kids were all excited to stop and play in the sand a little...except for Carson, he wasn't a big fan of the cold sand. The best part was that the kids were awesome in the car! Thanks to Grandpa and the rest of our family for making it such a fun time, we are so grateful for family and especially for the love they give to our kids.

Autumn on the London Bridge stairs

Lanie painting her jewelry box

Pumpkin pie

Sadly, we burned half the chocolate, but Lanie didn't seem to mind

The London Bridge

with Baby C

Carson protesting the mud

First Lost tooth

Tonight we experienced two 'firsts'- Lanie lost her first tooth, and then she asked if she could "please go to bed" for the first time.

Lanie tripped about six months ago (and every other day since she has learned to walk) and hit her two front teeth on the side of our couch. One of them went crooked but then got firm, and the other just stayed really loose and finally tonight with a little help from Dad it came out. Lanie has been anxiously awaiting this day and is so excited to see what the tooth fairy will bring. What does the tooth fairy bring these days?

Diane's Wedding

So obviously we have some catch up to do, but that is going to have to wait. I wanted to post some pics of my sister, Diane's wedding. She got married in Mesa last weekend and they are now on their way to Mexico! Diane was beautiful, of course, and the wedding was so wonderful. We loved having our family all here and miss them already!

Lanie carrying a bouquet

Erica and Autumn


Me and Carson

Kisses from the girls!

Ashley and Lanie

Our family

Dad and Diane

Baby 'C'

Diane and David

Diane and I

My boys

Bergstrom siblings

Lanie danced the night away when she wasn't at the Chocolate fountain begging for more...she was happy for the opportunity to show off her talent. Those of you who have seen Barbie's 12 Dancing Princesses movie may recognize a few of her moves! (does anyone know how to turn the movies right side up?)

Happy Birthday Lanie

This week was Lanie's 5th birthday. Crazy.

My Mom was in town for two days and it was fun to celebrate it with her. Saturday we had a little birthday party for her at our house with a few friends. She had a lot of fun. We are glad there are so many good kids here for our girls to play with.

Making her wish
Can't forget Baby C!

"It doesn't hurt to try athlon"

That is what was written on the girl's shirt who was running in front of me...I don't know if I was in total agreement though! A few weeks ago I did the Anthem Sprint Triathlon with some friends from our ward. It was a reverse order triathlon, so we started with the run, bike, then swim. We had a lot of fun, despite the 105 degree temps. Dean was there with the kids and they were all such troopers- and great cheerleaders! Our bike ride was 3 loops of a 4 mile course, and it was fun to see them with their sign yelling and cheering everytime I went by. The swim was in a pool which was kind of hard because it got so crowded- not like swimming all by my lonesome at the gym pool... nothing like getting kicked in the face a few times at the end of a race. Thanks to my ipod and camelback for getting me through the rough spots!

Meadowview ward girls: ready to run!

My cute cheerleaders!

Finished!

Painting the kitchen

Last Monday we painted our kitchen. We picked out a color that we thought was a light sage green...wrong. More like pea green. Actually I don't hate the color, but it doesn't go great with our cabinets and counters, so I was kind of bummed. Too bad, because there is no way we are repainting it for quite awhile. Dean and I both dread painting, which is why we will have been here almost a year and still have more than half the house to finish. Hopefully it grows on us, but until then...

Sedona

We can't take the Heat! I have tried to be strong this summer, but I needed a break from the Phoenix temperatures. So Labor Day weekend we headed up to Sedona to remind ourselves what 70 degrees feels like...wonderful!

We had a lot of fun camping with the kids and some friends from our ward, the Jones and the Jennings. Besides the cool weather, the next best thing was the s'mores...okay, maybe they were tied. I love s'mores, and apparently my kids love them just as much. Saturday we did a beautiful hike in Oak Creek canyon the followed a little river. The kids loved every time we had to cross it, even when they did fall in (which was often). One thing I love about camping is that I am always excited to get out and do it, and at the end I am always just as excited to get back home to a hot shower and warm bed!

A New Bergstrom Record

Last month we met my family up at Lake Powell for a few days. We are always excited for our summer trip there, and the kids love playing together on the beach. Steven is in Iraq right now, but Cami flew out with their kids for the week. Dean had to work, but Diane and I went up with the kids. Thanks Dad for such a fun time!

One of the highlights of the trip was getting the kids up on skiis! Steven has held the record for the last 25 years as the youngest one in the family to double ski (5 years old), but Autumn broke that record. She was the first and youngest of the grandkids to get up (3 yrs. old)! I couldn't believe she was brave enough to do it, but she got up on her first try. The other kids were nervous, but after seeing Autumn they were all anxious for their turns...what a dare devil!

Lanie skiing:

Starting Kindergarten...sort of

Today was Lanie's first day at R. Elementary. She doesn't turn 5 until September so she misses the cut off for kindergarten. But R. Elem is a school for home schooled kids where they go 1-2 days per week to get all the extra curricular stuff like computers, music, P.E., as well as some reading and math. Their cut off isn't until December, so Lanie was able to start that. One of her friends, Becca, is in her class. Becca's Mom does homeschool her kids and raves about R. Elem, so we thought we'd give it a try. Lanie was so excited. Next year she will do kindergarten again through our elementary school. No way I could homeschool my kids- I'm sure I would totally mess them up! :)

I feel dumb because I know she will still be home with me most days, but it was still so hard to leave her there! She of course had no problem, she was so excited to be with her friend and her new teacher, and especially to have her own lunch box full of wonderful food! We spent a lot of time discussing and deciding what would go in that lunch box.

I can't wait until 3:30!

Visitors!

Last week my good friends from Albuquerque, Kathy and Maria, came to visit. I was so excited, it was so fun to see them, I've missed you guys so! We did a lot of swimming, and a trip to IKEA and of course the Cheesecake Factory. Kathy's family is moving to Washington, D.C. next month, so our next reunion will have to be there.
Lanie and Autumn had a blast with Rachel, Kate, Josh, Jake, and Sam. They were in playgroups together when we were in Albuquerque, so it was a great reunion for them, and they were so sad to have their friends leave.

Dean's Fishing Trip

Dean just got back from a 5 day fishing trip in the San Juan islands. He was invited to go with his boss and 3 other guys from work. They had a great time. We were pretty lonesome without him, but I am glad he had such a good trip...and he promised to paint our kitchen for me this month in return! Not a bad deal.



Crab for dinner... Dean brought an ice chest full of frozen fish home
to enjoy!

Dean sat up front with the pilot as they flew out to the island where the boat was.

While Dean was gone, I painted the girl's playroom. I can't wait to decorate it...even though I admit I am lacking in creativity skills, I think their room is going to be really fun to do and turn out pretty cute. How can you go wrong when you have IKEA?