Our Happy Family!!!

Mortenson Family Events of 2011:

We had lots of fun in January playing with all of our Christmas toys!

In April, Capri turned four and had a Princess Party!! She loves all the princesses!!! She dressed up as Sleeping Beauty- which was one of her favorite at the time. Ariel was, too. All her princess friends came and had a magical time. Mommy made her little 3 layer pink fondant cake and Ariel sat on top!

The same month, she had surgery to remove a branchial cyst on her neck. (She had to be hospitalized overnight in December because it was infected. It happened right after she danced in her Christmas Dance Recital. (She did great by the way!) The surgeons were amazing and we felt like she was in the best care. She is such a sweet little girl and was so brave!! Her grandma, papa, aunts, cousins, and friends came to visit her in the hospital and at home. She is sure loved!

In the spring, summer, and fall we always have lots of sports going on!! Soccer!! Capri made 8 goals in her best game. Her Dad is the coach. Tyson always dominates and made 3 in his best game!! Soccer sure changes when you play on a bigger field! (His high is 10 on the smaller field). Soccer is Tyson's favorite sport!

Football was great, too! Tyson was the youngest player, but made a few great touchdowns over the season! Way to go Tyson!! He is super athletic. We are glad he could play with such a good team. Basketball was fun, too. Tyson's little nickname is: Jimmer. That's what the "old man" basketball team calls Jared. Like father, like son. Jared was very faithful in going when they played! Kyden had been busy practicing with his older brother and sister. Tyson played baseball and did fantastic! In his first year of wrestling, he won a gold medal! Capri started gymnastics and loved it even more than dance!!! She is a natural. She loves to do cartwheels everywhere all day long! Kyden would imitate her and (almost) do sommersaults and splits. I just ran around all year chasing Kyden and driving the kids to all of their activities!

This summer we found out we were expecting!!! Yay!!! A little girl!! We have a nice pattern going on: boy, girl, boy, girl. But... we had decided she would be our last! Four is a good number.

Although 5 is my favorite number...

We went to Texas to see our good friends, Andy and Heidi and their three girls: Emmi, Elyse, and Miriam. What a fun time!! Heidi is the best hostess ever!!!!!! Honest. And she cooks so good. I felt like a queen! Jared and Andy went to the BYU game...fun but a loss. The kids had so much fun playing! They are such a wonderful family.

For the 4th of July, its become a tradition, to have family come to our house and go to the parade. Then have a big slumber party, let cousins stay up way late and play, then get up early and go to a community breakfast! SO much fun! Then for the 24th, I take the kids and go to my Mom's city parade! We saw a camel! They like to "swim" in the hot tub (that's not so hot) and have fun with Grandma and her dogs. They love to go visit Grandma!

Tyson started 1st grade and decided to break his arm the first week of school on the monkey bars. (Buckle fracture). He didn't even cry until they did the x-ray! He got a blue cast...then about 3 months later, he decided to break his other arm on the swivel bars. This time, he got a green cast. We decided to ban him from all monkey bars! He is a monkey and in fact, still loves Curious George!

Capri does preschool at home. Kyden, too. Capri has learned to read small sight words and Kyden just pretends to read. They are both little singers! Capri has such a beautiful voice! It is so much fun to hear them both sing all day long.

Tyson turned 7 this year in October and had a Captain America party with about 20 boys! At our house! UGH. It was nice, though, so we had it outside! Perfect! Aunt Madeleine and her girls Macy and Makayla came, too, and were a lot of help! The boys had fun balancing dice on a popsicle stick and trying to get Oreo's into their mouths without hands..."Minute to Win It" games. The boys laughed a lot. Good times.

Halloween was fun because it was Kyden's first year to go trick-or-treating. Saddle up cowboy! Capri was Strawberry Shortcake and sooo berry sweet. Tyson was Captain America!!

November was Kyden's 2nd Birthday!!! He loves Pooh Bear, so we celebrated with a Pooh Bear theme at Grandma and Papa's house. Pooh Bear, Kyden's stuffed animal is his best little friend- besides his family of course. He takes him everywhere with him.

Jared and I celebrated our B-day's, of course, but he had me convinced that I was older than I actually was. Funny for him.

December was fun because Tyson didn't have school at all, so we had a lot of time to play! And nest. Christmas was great, despite my labor pains. We thought we might end up with a Christmas baby!! She waited until the next day! What a beautiful baby GIRL!!! We love her soooo much! It was a great (natural) delivery and everything went well. Our little princess's name is Calyssa.

We had a great year in 2011. I'm sure I left out a lot, but it is the "kids stuff" and "family stuff" that makes our lives fun and meaningful. Our lives together may be simple, but so happy.