DeCeMbEr BiRthDaY PaRtiEs!!!

One of Dacie's "besties" Lillie Ipson turned 4 in December

and

she had the cutest PRINCESS BIRTHDAY PARTY

Cute Lillie hand-delivered her invites on a pillow with a crown.
SOOO Dacie was pretty excited to DRESS UP and VISIT THE KINGDOM

I had fun curling her hair and doing an "up-do"

All Ready...Present in hand!

It was at a golf course in Camp Verde where the kids ran free with their hand-made swords, cardboard castle,

and had cupcakes, chips, veggies and soda.

AND since Lillie's mom is one of my besties, it was fun hanging out all afternoon chatting away with friends!

Always a good season to CELEBRATE!

DeCeMBeR's WoRk PaRtY

The evening of Sterling's Baptism was Dan's work Party for

NORTHERN ARIZONA REHAB AND FITNESS
we are always a bit spoiled by these Christmas parties...we get to wine and dine at some of the finest and nicest places around.
I have seen the local CowBoy Experiences as well, from these parties!
This year we went to a local Ranch-
M Diamond
&
went on trail rides, took a hay ride to the most beautiful spot, and were treated to a Bar-B- Q CowBOy StYlE.
With a real life hall of fame cowboy singer to serenade us with his guitar all night.
We did not make it to the horse back rides because of the baptism...
BUT we certainly did NOT miss out on beauty or YUM!

It was a PERFECT ENDING to a PERFECT DAY!

HAPPY TRAILS TO YOU!!!!!

Sterling's Baptism

Our December started out on the right foot

and with the right spirit for the season

as Sterling chose to be baptized

& stake baptisms were scheduled for

Saturday December 4th

We were glad that Dan was able to baptize and confirm him

Sterling is our little peacemaker and mature spirit. He sets high standards for himself.

He was ready.
We made some star sugar cookies with the number 8 for everyone who came
&
had a little sub sandwich lunch for everyone in town before the baptism
Our entire little family was able to be there
(we rarely ALL make it to one place at the same time)!

Grandma and Grandpa Sorensen came up for it

and The Higleys and Amberlyn were representing the Hutchings

We LOVE our Sterling and are grateful for his example and righteousness.

Sterling has a sweet friend Brynley Taylor that shares his exact same birth day.

So it was kind of fun to be baptized at the same time and day as her.

On top of that Riley Bliss (one of his best buds and on his soccer team) turned 8 a few days after him!

So Sterling was able to be baptized with him as well!

Look at our sweet little missionary buddies

We are so grateful so much family and friends were able to attend this special event and with us as Sterling became a member of the

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

It will be a day we never forget!

A Mom's HaPpY HeaRT!

The car was packed and we were ready to try and beat a bad blizzard on our way to Utah for T-Day

BUT...

before we did that I got a text from Sterling's teacher and a message from Colton's that it was important for us to be at the assembly at school that morning

So we bundled up the happy babies and headed over to the school

Where Colton received the student of the month award for his class

AND STERLING.....

got the "LITTLE COYOTE" award for the entire school!!!

his teacher wrote up a little address for the principal to say and it described our sweet Sterling PERFECTLY!

It talked about how he helped those students with disabilities in his class voluntarily, how he sets high standards for himself to achieve and works at them and gets them, and how he is a quiet leader and example.

It made my heart so happy to know that my children were being recognized for their good attributes.

Sometimes the "squeaky wheel gets the oil", but sometimes it is nice to give the non-squeaky wheels the oil too!! at least I know that, even though at home they can be less then Little Coyote or Student of the Month caliber, that 'outside' they can be upstanding citizens and examples....

I can sleep a little bit better at night!

VeTeRaNs DaY CoNcErT

For Veterans Day,

Colton's Grade (and the one above) put on a concert for local veterans, and the students families.

IT WAS GREAT!

and so well done

(this speaking part landed Colton a front page picture in the local newspaper!)

There was hardly a dry eye at the end.
It made me proud to be an American, and so very very grateful for those who have provided me with my Freedom!

It is Good to have these REMINDERS!

THANK YOU VETERANS!

SoCCeR is OvER!!!

This Fall we had 2 Soccer players!!

Sterling and RYLAND--

we also had some soccer coaches in our family

Dan was head coach and Amberlyn was his assistant for Ryland's team the

STINGRAYS

(RY is the red head number 6)

Although I said I would never have 2 on separate teams again for soccer-(as they travel a bit between Cottonwood, Camp Verde, Cornville, and Sedona..it can make for allot of arranging)

Realistically with a family of 5 that will not be possible

&

with one of Sterling's favorite friends on his team and Dan and Amberlyn with the other-

WE MADE IT!

The Saturday before Thanksgiving was the closing day of soccer season

&

A BUSY ONE AT THAT

(so busy that I got our schedules mixed up and missed Sterling's final game time)

We had trophies and parties, with games in Camp Verde and Sedona. Party in Cornville.

There was allot of driving and watching

BUT it was fun to get out each week!

However we are grateful for our Saturdays back before entering basketball season in a few weeks.

Ry did score this season, and is quite the quick athlete.

Aunt Amberlyn scoring COOL Aunt points as the assistant on the sidelines!

Our end of season awards ceremony/picnic

IN THE CRAZY WIND!

GO STINGRAYS!!!!!