1 Year

One year ago on December 12th we welcomed miss Kiari Bel to our little family.
She honestly looked part hispanic, part asian.
We of course fell in love with her immediately!



Big brother Ethan was thrilled.
Kiari has been an absolute joy to have in our home and definitely keeps us on our toes. She is all girl... with some accompanying drama and high maintenance-ness.

Take a look at that hair!! Once it was all black now she's a blondie!


Sadly she was content to use the fork instead of her hands so she didn't get nearly as messy as I would have hoped.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIARI BEL!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

Of Kings and Queens

BYU-Idaho has a student art show every fall semester which allows students to submit pieces of art in various categories. Not all pieces submitted are featured in the show but the amazingly talented mother of me had three pieces featured this year and her first place winning piece was an assemblage that she created out of old farm equipment parts. These pictures do it absolutely NO justice whatsoever and I'm sad that I don't yet have a good picture of the table because it's incredible. So yes, it is a chess set made entirely of farm equipment parts that my mom found in the very well organized "collection" yard belonging to a gentlemen in Idaho Falls. She also made the board. The table top is an enormous saw blade that, by the way is no longer made, and the table stand is made of these huuuge cogs and gears. The set as a whole is just incredible I'm so proud of her.




Trent, the kids, and I went to the awards reception for the student art show and here's Kiari just being cute.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TRENT!!

The Love of my Life turned 28 today!!!
He had a great day too!

We Love you Trent!!

Love, Charisa, Ethan, and Kiari

A little something about Me

Yesterday while my boys were napping Kiari and I went on a bit of a walk. I let her take the lead and we wandering the alley behind our little house. We ran into my dad on his way home from campus and then ran into my mom on her way to campus. Kiari and I walked with her to her sculpting class which is in the Kirkham. Dance classes also meet in the Kirkham. So before leaving the building I stopped outside the glass double doors of the main dance studio to let Kiari watch the dance class. She loved it. She was only a few months old when she was with me at a dance recital on campus and she absolutely loved watching the dancers in their costumes, with the lights, and everything else. Watching here that night and again yesterday made me anxious for her first little dance class. And even more anxious to see if/how much she enjoys it.

Watching this class made me miss it. A lot. Some of you know, many of you may not know that for 8 years I was a dancer. I wasn't the best by any means but I was good. My second year at BYU-Idaho I was in a dance class and we were given extra credit for auditioning for what was then called Contemporary Dance Theatre. Extra credit and an excuse to dance for 5 hours straight?! Sign me up!
We learned a short routine then performed it for the instructors who then made a cut. Remember I was there for extra credit. So imagine my surprise when they called my name. I panicked. I wasn't supposed to make a cut, I was just there enjoying the opportunity to dance! That's when I did something that I'd never done before. I quit. I knew in my heart that if I kept dancing I would make the CDT company... which would mean changing my major... no more theatre productions... going on tour... all huge changes for me.
I walked up to Brother Bone (husband to one of the dance instructors) and before I even opened my mouth he said, "don't tell me you're coming up here to tell me that you're quiting. You didn't get this far because I know you." It had been years since I had really trained as a dancer so that was the excuse that I gave him, that I needed time to become a dancer again. Seriously?!?!?!?
I stayed and watched for awhile longer. Then walked home. My family was sitting together and when one my parents asked, "how did it go?" I just broke down and cried. Never in my life had I quit like that. I vowed to never do it again.

Now anytime I attend any kind of dance production I feel absolutely overwhelmed emotionally and I can't help but desperately want to be up on the stage with the other dancers.

As Kiari and I walked home yesterday I thought back to the night of the audition 9 years ago. (Which was held in the same studio the dance class was being held.) Would I really have made the company? How would things be different had I changed my major? Would I have really had to chance my major or just tweek it somewhat? And the list of "what if's" goes on.

I love my life. I love and am grateful for all that I've done and accomplished up to this point and I'm very excited about the many possibilities the future holds for my little family and I. But yesterday, for just a short while, I ached inside wanting to be a dancer again.

Just For Jacob

WE LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU!!!

Applesauce and Noodles

Happy Halloween!!

We pretty much celebrated our Halloween on the 30th.
Trent didn't have to go to class so he was able to go with me and the kids to trick or treat at the Melaleuca call center. Last year he somewhat willingly allowed me to dress him up and parade him around to various places but this year he did it all on his own. :)
Cutest fairy ever.


Super Why! to the Rescue!!


Trick or treating at the call center is a lot of fun, they really go all out decorating inside with tons of stops for treats. The last stop is in the Melaleuca store where there are a couple of chairs. Ethan evidently felt the next step of the day was to take a seat and dig in!!


Later that night was our ward party. Here's Kiari with Emma, a super cute pink monster!!

Mr. and Mrs. Clean with the kiddos!! (you can't see it very well, but he's even got the earring.)


Doing my best to get a pic of the kids. I actually really like this one.


Bedtime anyone?

We had a really great time at the ward party, our activities committee did a really great job! The food was fun and super yummy, the games were a blast, and the face painter was a big hit (way to go mom!)!!
Hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween!!!!

Fall Leaves

Our home teachers came by tonight to help rake the enormous amount of leaves in the yard and the kids, or course, joined in.






Trent and the home teachers cranked out the leaf raking in no time!
Thanks again guys!!

She likes to eat our Toes

Ok... so there's really just a very subtle difference between these two pictures but I just couldn't decide.... so here they are!

Funfetti!!

Found a fun cake mix at the store the other day and Ethan had a fun time helping me make it. Would have been even more fun if I had had powdered sugar to make frosting.... but it was still pretty fun to eat.

The Weekenders

My younger brother Jacob was moving out to DC last week so the plan was that he and my dad would drive out together and then my dad would catch a plane back to SLC on Monday and ride a shuttle back to the Burg. Shuttle? That's just silly. So I decided to make a weekend out of it, set some appointments, some longer overdue get togethers and such, then pick up my dad Monday night and bring him home. So Friday evening the kiddos and I made our way to Utah.

Friday night we stayed with my dad's cousin Elaine and her family (so tooootally cool, I love them!)


Then Saturday we got together with one of my favorite people Kjersti Parkes had lunch and then toured the Conference Center! I had never ever toured the Conference Center! It was so cool, I had a blast! So thanks Kjersti and friends (I would attempt to spell his name but I would totally slaughter it)!!









Kjersti and I literally spent the whole day together, it was such a blast. We made stops at Sam's Club, Deseret Book, Babies R Us, a fun Halloween store, and a pretty ghetto fabulous Wal-Mart. The best part of it all though was getting to drive around and just talk. I love you Kjersti!!! Thanks for such a great day!!!



After dropping Kjersti off at her place we made our way to my sister-in-law's house in Draper. Cheri and Tony have three girls ages 3, 2, and almost 1 (the youngest is 4 days older than Kiari). Her two oldest girls were pretty excited about the fact that my little Kiari was able to walk around with them and insisted on helping her.... much to the eventual frustration of Kiari. :)



The kids and I had so much fun staying with them..... Ethan loved playing with his cousins and I loved the late night visits with Cheri.
Church on Sunday followed by a great dinner and home made chocolate cake.
WE LOVE YOU GUYS THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SUCH A GREAT TIME!!


Monday afternoon we had a playdate with a high school friend of mine and her little girl. We were joined by another high school friend of mine and it was so great to catch up.
There was going to be a training meeting at Thanksgiving Point that night but it ended up being canceled so the kids and I got some ice cream and wandered Thanksgiving Point until it was time to pick up my dad at the airport.




We had my dad by about 8 in the pm and made it home just after midnight.
The only downside to the weekend was that Trent got sick while we were gone and is still on the mend.
Great trip but good to be home.