Our Very Best: 2011

Saturday, December 24, 2011

"Fun"draising!

Last year was by far the best Christmas ever as I truly experienced the joy of giving! I will be forever changed by my experiences in South Africa and giving Christmas to the beautiful children at Aurora Primary School was by far my favorite expeirence! We could not have done it without the generosity of our friends and family and Miss Bailee's fashion show fundraiser!

I had been wanting to do something for the kids at Aurora again this year but I wasn't sure what to do and doing anything alone seemed like a daunting task. So when Hannah, Bailee's mother, called in November and offered to do the fashion show again, I was thrilled that I could help raise money for a cause near and dear to my heart while Hannah and her family did all the planning! It really takes Hannah's laid back personality, giant support system, talent and creativity to successfully complete a task of this magnitude. I literally just had to show up (oh and bake a little) and everything was planned and ready to go! Thirty-eight girls from Hannah's family and neighborhood participated in the fashion show. Thanks to an abundance of hair dressers in Hannah's family, each girls hair and makeup was done for them (thanks mom for stepping in to help glitter-fy the girls). Hannah laid out a plethora of accessories (including what I referred to do as Hannah's homemade fascinators) and clothes for the girls to choose from. And many of the girls came dressed and ready to strut their stuff. The beauty of having so many girls in the fashion show is the audience was made up of their families which made for a good sized crowd of people to donate! Bailee MC'd the show again and her quick wit and darling personality provided plenty of entertainment (although, calling me up to speak without warning may have caused her to lose this job for next year :) Before the girls came out to work the cat walk, Hannah's husband played the video of pictures from Aurora's Christmas party last year! Although, I have seen the video a million times I tear up every time (Oh how I love those beautiful faces)! After the video finished the fashion show started and the girls were absolutely darling! I'm not sure how Hannah managed to find that many gorgeous little girls but they were absolutely perfect! They had such a good time and I truly can't think of a more fun way to raise money! Most of the donations came from people buying the baked goods, pizza, and hot chocolate but everyone was overly generous with their payment! I know for a fact some people put in the big bucks and did not buy 100 cinnamon rolls! The proceeds raised from the fashion show totaled almost $1000.00!!! It was a very successful evening and as usual I am blown away by everyone's generosity.

Anna Banana is ready to go!

Being a model is exhausting!

Mayzie & Bailee

Before I left Hannah's house that night she was already brainstorming ideas to make next years fashion show even better. I will no longer be in school, so I will have much more time to help and I promise to do a better job of advertising to my support system! This night would not have been possible without Hannah and her family! She has a very helpful and patient husband (the only guy I know who could handle 38 little girls running around his home), darling children who advertised and planned and recruited models, amazing parents who baked and decorated and donated, and incredible siblings that provided all their time and talents! Hannah has one of those families that make everything fun and it is because of them that everything ran so efficiently and was so well done! All in all it was an amazing event and I am so excited that we are able to share our resources with the incredible children at Aurora.

Aurora Christmas Party 2010

Friday, December 16, 2011

Winter Sing

Aiden and Anna participated in their school's Winter Sing last night. I probably wouldn't have included an entry of a typical annual school concert, except that Anna was so darn excited I just had to write about it! She has been counting down the big event for a week with daily reminders and demanded that I buy her something new and fancy, preferably in velvet and fur! You would have thought she had a solo debut! The day of the concert she wanted me to curl her hair and as she got dressed she told me that her classmates weren't even going to recognize her! On the way to the concert Aiden wanted to stop and get something to eat but Anna was so concerned about getting there on time she begged us not to stop. The concert was at Westwood Highschool (strange feeling to be back in that auditorium) and while it is larger than an elementary school gym it was still not big enough for an entire schools family! I was grateful Anna wanted to get there extra early so we were able to get a decent seat. Overall, it was a great concert. The music teacher is really good and I loved all the songs. The concert was very organized and really efficient for so many kids! And while I could hardly see Anna among the other 90 kids in her grade, she looked pretty darn fancy up there on that stage!

It is very fun having Aunt Kristina teach at Franklin because then she has to be at all the events!

Anna was sooo happy to see her dad! She was afraid he wouldn't make it. But he made it back from Tucson just in time!

Friday, December 9, 2011

Elf Mischief

I am a bit behind with the Elf on the Shelf phenomenon, but he has finally arrived at the Bevier household. Thank goodness for the creative people on the world wide web, and particularly for Pinterest, as I don't have to put a lot of thought into the Elf shenanigans because there are a million great ideas out there! As fun as this is the kids are into it a little too much as they have been waking up at 5:45 every morning to see what the Elf is up to and to check the advent calender! I have to set my alarm on my phone at night to remind me to keep up with the Elf and calender because that would be a very sad morning if mommy forgot! Growing up I loved my mom's angel advent calender and couldn't wait to see what surprise awaited each day...everything from a piece of candy to a note that promised a toy or activity! I have maintained that tradition in this home, but because Aiden is so nosy I have to put the following days candy or note in the night before or else Aiden peeks and reads them all :( He totally gets that from me! So here's what our Elf has been up to this far...

So Thankful

Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays. . . I mean what could be better than a holiday created for one big feast! And, of course, I love the idea of a day dedicated to gratitude! First thing in the morning Aiden suggested we all go around and say what we are thankful for:

I said: "I am grateful for a daddy that works so hard for us and is willing to do whatever he has to do to provide for his family. And I am especially grateful that he is home right now!".

Trent said: "I am grateful that Aiden and Anna were so good for their mom while I was away (he obviously wasn't a witness to the past months of chaos) and for mom handling all the responsibilities at the home front while I have been away!".

Anna said: "I am grateful for mom and dad and that dad could come home".

Aiden said: "I am grateful for the scriptures and the church" (wow...nothing better than lessons about priorities from your children).

Holidays in AZ are always very very busy (which is why sometimes we like to move very far away). As whiny as this sounds I tend to get a bit anxious about the big holidays because there are so many houses we need to go to! I know, I know, some people have no one to spend their holidays with and me having too many is not really a reason to complain! I always try to be fair but it's hard and of course we love to see everyone so we tend to stretch ourselves out a little thin. This year worked out perfectly. I was able to spend time with my mom's side of the family the night before Thanksgiving at El Charo! It was great to see Phil and Wendy, and my famous adorable cousin Madison as I haven't see them forever! I sat with all the kids (and Madison) and laughed the entire time! I have a very cute and funny family! I was bummed to not have Thanksgiving at Sandy's the following day, but El Charo is better than turkey anyway, so it was a perfect way to celebrate!

Thanksgiving day we had dinner at Dan's and Marina's houses so needless to say we ate a lot!!!! It was a bittersweet dinner at Grandpa Dan's as Granny was very missed! There was defiantly the feeling that someone very special was missing, but leave it to Maddy to remind us all that Granny is always with us in our heart! Dan made an incredible dinner (as usual) and I love being apart of their traditional dinner than includes spaetzels and gravy instead of potatoes!

After stuffing ourselves at Grandpa Dan's we headed to Papa Andy's and Grammie Marina's! Everyone was too full to eat, but I couldn't pass up the sweet potatoes and rolls! Then of course I tried to save room for dessert! After dinner it was so fun to sit around with the family and joke around and laugh. Aiden really wanted to play a game, and while he couldn't convince anyone but Grammie Sunshine to play an official board game he did start an impromptu game of "would you rather"...always interesting especially when the questions are made up! As I sat there looking around at our siblings and nieces and nephews I had that feeling of I better have a couple more kids or our house at the holidays might be very boring! It was a wonderful day, and as always I am very thankful for our family!

Thanksgiving at El Charo (thanks Lindsey for letting me steal your photos!)