2011 is here!

Wow, I can't believe it's 2011!!! The year started out pretty busy with getting primary classes figured out and getting the kids back into the routine of school.

We celebrated Elaina's birthday on Jan. 3rd. She wanted to make her own cake and decorated it so cute! She didn't do any school work that day...she has the nicest teacher ;) !!! (There are some benefits of homeschooling!)

John was really upset that it wasn't HIS birthday and would not except the fact that he wasn't getting any presents.

We did sing to him and that satisfied him for a moment!

Elaina went shopping for her birthday present with Grandma and had a great time!

Here are some things about our 11 year old Elaina...

-favorite color: hot pink/black and white or zebra prints

-favorite hobbies: play the piano, riding the ripstick, playing the wii, knitting scarves and hats

-favorite food: Hawaiian haystacks and soup in homemade bread bowls

-favorite subject in school: math

Elaina is such a joy to have in our family! I love to spend time with her and have really enjoyed homeschooling her this year! She is a really good babysitter and is always willing to watch the kids for me and loves to go babysitting other kids!

Travis loves to make things out of legos. He was really proud of this creation that he made!

He is really enjoying reading right now and is in the middle of "The Guardians of Ga'hoole" series. He loves to play tether ball at recess but lately has been playing football with other kids at school. He loves being in 3rd grade and his teacher Miss Ekegren!

Suzanna is such a fun girl! She is a really good friend and everyone loves to be around her and play with her. The girls love to play "really people", barbies and play school. Suzanna can't wait until she turns 8 this year! The primary had our "Baptism preview" last Sunday to get the kids excited about getting baptized this year and help them learn more about the importance of getting baptized. Suzanna got to recite the 4th article of faith in front of everyone and she did such a great job! I love Suzanna's giggle and how contagious it is!!!

Makenna is enjoying kindergarten so much this year! She is doing so well and loves to learn new sight words and loves to draw and color and tape and staple and glue....I have to ban her from things some days because she would use up our whole supply of things if I didn't! She really loves to play with friends and has lots of fun with John in the morning before kindergarten. We had her off of milk and eggs for a whole year because she had a tummy ache and was losing a lot of weight but the last couple of months we introduced them back into her diet. She has been pretty good but last night she had a pretty bad stomach ache so we may need to take her off of something again.

John is.....well, John! He really keeps things interesting and very lively around here. He loves to play with the kids and is really sad when they have to go to school. He had tubes put in his ears in December and since then his speech has really improved!

He loves to watch shows, especially "Cat in the Hat" on PBS and any movie with a dragon or dinosaur in it. He is really picky about what he eats and usually asks for "cereal and milk".

In primary this year our theme is "I know the scriptures are true"! I just love that theme...we are encouraging the kids to read the scriptures daily. Our kids love to read the scriptures and have been reading them on their own each night before bed. I'm so grateful for the scriptures and I know that when we read from them everyday and keep the commandments we are truely blessed!

Bikes, bikes and more bikes

Wow, we finally got everyone a bike and they are loving it! Now we just need to keep up on the flat tires!!!!

This is one of John's favorite things to do.....

The 3rd of July!

We had a great 4th of July celebration this year! It started the 3rd (Elaina's half birthday, she would want me to add that!) with our "first annual Farris race!" Hopefully this will be a yearly event, everyone loved it. We, of course, trained for weeks, maybe months, to get ready for it (ok, not really!). Anyway, it was held out in Kuna at the high school and started with the pledge of allegiance.....

and some much needed stretching (nice Jake!).....

First was the cousin race (Grumpy started off with some advice).......

And then they were off (all 13 of them, with a few little ones watching on the side)....

Anna was so fast and took 1st place!

John didn't want to be in the race but loved talking to his new cousin!

Here is Jake getting ready for the brother race. All 6 brothers and 2 brother-in-laws were there to compete. Jake did awesome coming in 3rd place (not bad for an old guy!).

We also had an adult relay race and a cousin relay race! It felt good to run but even better to watch! My favorite parts of the race were watching Suzanna in the relay part.....she was running so fast and at the same time pulling up her pants that can NEVER stay on her waist! Also, when I looked out at Blake across the football field I thought he was wearing white tights with his lovely tight spandex shorts, but Amber informed me that it was just his white legs, oops!

It was amazing that EVERYONE was there! If my math is right we had Grammy and Grumpy....15 aunts and uncles......21 cousins (with 1 on the way!). We are so lucky to have a great family!

The Snake River Stampede!

We went to the Snake River Stampede with some of Jake's family. It was really fun for the kids! They all love to dress up as cowboys and cowgirls!

We are so glad our cousins are our best buds!!! The kids all loved the girls on the horses with lights! Very good show!

Fun Run!

Our Stake put on a fun run this summer. We started the 5k (3 miles) at the high school and went through our subdivision and then back to the high school for games. Travis was so proud that he was one of the first to finish, while the rest of us were second to the last! But at least we can say we did it and had a great time! Everyone recieved a medal at the finish line and a much needed popsicle!

Back at the high school they had an obstacle coarse bounce house....
hula hoops....

sack races....


and an obstacle coarse.

It was a very nice stake activity and we finally got to go on the green and purple turf at the high school, the kids loved that!!!

Travis' baptism day

Travis was baptized today!

We started out the day with the kids and I going over to the church to set up for the dinner after the baptism. We set up tables and chairs and some decorations. We had table cloths on each table and a photo book with some of our favorite pictures of Travis in them. We then had to go home for some cooking for the dinner!

Travis was baptized by his dad at the Paramount Stake Center on Ustick Road. Travis and Jake went early to get ready at the Stake Center and then I came later with the other kids. There was a nice program in the sacrament room and then each ward took turns going to the baptismal font to watch the baptism.

Our ward had 2 baptisms, Travis and Breyden Morrill. Breyden was baptized first and then Travis. When Travis was baptized Grandpa Martin and Duncan Farris were the witnesses and then lots of Uncles and Grandpa Martin were in the circle when Travis recieved the Holy Ghost. It was very nice and I'm glad so many of our family were there.

After the baptism we went to our church building for dinner with our families. We had yummy food....baked potatoes, ham, corn, rolls, lots of salads, cookies and chocolate cake. Everyone had a good time and the kids went into the second half of the gym and played games.

Travis' birthday was just yesterday and so we all sang "Happy Birthday" to him.

After the "party" everyone was so helpful to clean up everything! It was a beautiful fall day and I hope Travis remembers the good feelings he had today.