Twelve Years Old?!

Turning 12 is a pretty big deal in our family.  It is when you leave the primary and become part of the youth program at our church.  Kylie turned 12 in January and we had a week full of celebrations.  She is a beautiful girl and I am so proud of the way she lives her life.  She is a good example to those around her and still enjoys being around her family.  She is smart and tries her best at everything she does.  She can get hyper, just like her mom at that age, and it is fun to watch.  It drives her dad crazy, but I love it.  I am looking forward to the challenge that the teen years bring and am extremely determined to make them the best years of Kylie's life.  

Here she is on her first Sunday in Young Womens

This is her best friend, Cierra.  She has been coming to church with us.

Kylie's birthday month started with making invitations to her very own cooking party.

This was her idea.  We have a chef in our ward who was willing to help, so we went out 

and found cute things to make her invitations.

On the morning of her birthday, we had presents and donuts (of course).

She wasn't feeling that great and had had a sort throat off and on for a week or so.

We were hoping she would feel better in time for her birthday party that weekend.

That night we went out to Farrell's for dinner and ice cream (one of Kylie's favorite things).

She still looks great, even not feeling that well.  :(

The servers came and sang Happy Birthday to her and ended up doing 

one of her favorite songs, The Cup Song.  She loved it.  But I think she loved her 

ice cream even more.

My cute kids.

That night after Farrells, we ended up taking her to Kaiser across the street, just to make

sure she didn't have strep throat or anything.  The doctor said it looked like just a virus, but took a culture just in case.  The next day, we got a call that she did have strep throat.  That was Thursday, and her party was scheduled for Friday night.  We started the antibiotics immediately.  She wasn't perfect, but was definitely ready to party by Friday night.

Watching Chef Fry do his thing...

The girls getting in on the cooking action...

That night they made homemade fettuccini alfredo pasta (Kylie's favorite), salad with homemade raspberry vinaigrette dressing, garlic bread, and had sparkling cider to drink.

After dinner we played the chocolate game.  I think this is going to be a birthday party tradition.  

It is hilarious to watch the girls work so hard just to eat some chocolate.  Kylie is the most serious of all.  She almost died waiting to roll doubles on the dice so that she could try and eat some.

At the end of the night, we sang Happy Birthday and ate ice cream cake.

We love this beautiful girl.

And...one last celebration for her birthday.  Parents night out with Kylie only.  We spent an evening at Disneyland with just her and had a great time.

Kylie and I were both a little nervous to get on the California Screamin 

roller coaster, but we had a blast.

Dance League Convention Scholarship

Every now and then at Kylie's studio, they will bring in a guest choreographer to come and teach a class.  Jason Mehre works for Hollywood Dance Experience and also choreographs for some big name stars like Rianna.  Kylie has taken class from him before and he is a lot of fun.  The class this time at Kane was a jazz class on a random Tuesday night.  I was able to be there and watch and I could tell that she was loving it.  Her face was in performance mode and she learned the choreography very quickly.  At the end of the class, a couple of kids from each age level were chosen to receive a scholarship for an upcoming convention where Jason would be teaching.  When he called out Kylie's name, she was ecstatic.  So cute.  I think that sometimes she feels overlooked at the studio, and so this was a huge confidence builder.  It totally made her night.  

Jason and Kylie at the HDE Convention a couple of months later.

All of the girls in Kylie's age group that took class from Jason that night.

Happy 6th Birthday Cameron and Happy New Year!

Cameron is lucky every year to have such a fun birthday...New Year's Eve!  We always celebrate during the day and then party all night!  :)  He woke up that morning to presents and donuts...a Ferguson birthday tradition.

 He was excited to open up a new watch that he asked for, a book, and a magazine subscription for ZooBooks, a magazine all about animals.  Made for Cameron, seriously.  Love this picture of him eating his donut.  So so yummy.

Watching college football with Daddy and Chad.

Six years old is not a birthday party year at our house, and so Cameron got to pick one friend to take anywhere (reasonable) that he wanted to go.  He picked Sky Zone Trampoline Park.  We picked up his friend Sawyer and Kylie and Chad came along too.  They had a great time being their typical crazy selves.

 Flips and Tricks!

After working so hard at Sky Zone, we had to go out for ice cream afterwards.  These boys are too cute together.  They met in preschool a couple of years ago and only see each other every now and then.  But they always pick back up where they left off before.  Hopefully they will be friends for a long time.

 Birthday cake at the end of the night...getting ready to try and stay up for New Year's Eve!

But...only two kids made it until midnight! :)

Happy New Year from the Ferguson Family!