Lawrence Hall of Science

Saturday we went to UC Berkeley's Lawrence Hall of Science where they have lots of hands on displays for kids. It was fun... but I think we had the most fun playing on the life size whale and the huge double helix...haha.

Sorority!

Welcome to the Potter Sorority! Yup... we are having another girl! I had my ultrasound this past week but unfortunately John was unable to attend. So the technician printed out a picture showing that it was a girl, wrote "It's a girl" on it, and sealed it in an envelope at my request without my knowing the gender. John got home early that night (8p...sad when that's early) so we were able to open the envelope together as a family to find out that we were adding another girl to our ranks. Mia was soooo excited. She wanted a girl :) But really she is just excited at the thought that she'll be getting a bunk bed when she turns 5 since we'll have 3 girls in that bedroom. Hooray for sisters!

Hooray for Christmas

A few days before Christmas Mia was very concerned that she hadn't talked to Santa yet (we'd been home sick for a few weeks as the fever and cough got passed around). So we headed to the local mall for Mia could tell Santa what she wanted. When we got there and got in line... I realized that everyone else in line was dressed in their Christmas best for the picture. The thought hadn't even crossed my mind about the picture....we were just concerned about Mia getting to see Santa. After an hour in line... she finally got to talk to him. And we got a picture

too.

.

Mia LOVES crafts. Without preschool for 2 weeks we were doing our own Christmas crafts everyday. This tree was a favorite of mine. She painted it and glued on the ornaments.

Christmas Eve John had the day off which was great. We doorbell ditched goodies on our neighbors doorsteps in the morning which Mia LOVED doing and has decided that its something we need to do more often. We had dinner at my Grandma Pimentel's which is what I did all growing up.

After dinner we had our usual program of reading the Christmas story from the scriptures and doing Christmas music with the chimes. Mia was following the music and doing the chimes all on her own by the end of the night. It was so fun to see!

Here we all are with my Grandma. We sure love having her close by!

All of us at Grandmas

What is it about daughters in matching dresses that can make a mom so happy?!?!? I had no idea that I'd like it so much!

Christmas morning Mia sure had a blast. And Santa was pleased to have found a princess scooter and furnished dollhouse on craigslist a few weeks earlier at REALLY good prices. Hooray for craigslist!

Norah learned quickly how to open presents and loved ripping any wrapping paper she could get her hands on. Christmas is so much better with kids! We had a blast!

Our Christmas Card :)

Potter's Top 10 of 2010

(in no particular order)

1. Weddings – If we had to pick a theme for this past year, it would have to be weddings! Both of Lisa’s younger sisters got married within 3 weeks of each other this summer! Since Lisa’s parents are still on their mission in Germany, she got to help with the wedding planning which was a blast. Not only was it great to see Lisa’s sisters so happy, but it was also great to see Lisa’s mom and brother Mike who were able to fly out from Germany for both of the weddings.
2. Hawaii – Since Cari got married in Hawaii, we had no choice but to attend J We loved the beaches, snorkeling, hiking in the rainforest, going to the Polynesian Cultural Center and just being with family (grandparents were even able to come!).
3. Running a Bed and Breakfast – 2010 was the year of company! Over the course of the year we had family living with us for about 6 months. John’s sister Julia, and brother David, as well as Lisa’s sister Megan all lived with us for extended periods of time even overlapping at times. It was a blast!
4. Twain Harte & Yosemite – We had a wonderful vacation with John’s Mom, sister Kristina, and brother David. Loved playing at the lake and hiking around Yosemite.
5. Cousins came to play – We had cousins drive out from Utah to play for a week. We had Aunt Katie and Aunt Julie with their kids… Between us all we had 7 kids ages 4 and under running around. It was fantastic! We hit the beach, the zoo, and played lots while the moms got to catch up. It was great!
6. Mia starting preschool – Mia started preschool and loves it! Lisa loves that she gets to participate twice a month (it’s a co-op) and that she gets 2 hours, 3 days a week to run errands and clean house with only one child.
7. Norah walking and talking – Norah is nearly 15 months old and just started walking and talking. Every animal she sees she calls a dog and says, “woof woof.”
8. John’s 2 year anniversary at Orrick – October marked John’s 2 years of working at Orrick. We didn’t think we’d last this long with the crazy hours he keeps, but we have… Hooray!
9. Lisa expecting baby #3 – Lisa is in her second trimester and is feeling good. Baby Potter #3 will be making an appearance mid-May. We are super excited and find out the gender in January.
10. NYC trip – John was traveling to NYC for a deal quite frequently there for a while (5 trips in 6 weeks) so one of those trips Lisa dropped the kids off at her Aunt Brenda’s house and joined him for a few days. We hit up some of our favorite NYC spots, but unfortunately weren’t there long enough to do everything we wanted to do, like visit all of our friends.

Some Catch Up

I'm a bit slow in posting Halloween... I have a good excuse though (see previous post :)) Mia and I had fun making her Tinkerbell costume this year. Below she is at her preschool Halloween party.

Mia drew the face on the pumpkin and then helped me carve it out... Below is the end result that she was quite pleased with.

Norah had to have her turn in the chicken costume. I don't know why I love this costume so much... but I do. It's one all our kids will have to have a picture in...haha.

Mia turned 4 years old a couple weeks ago! Hard to believe! We decided to have a family birthday party this year and go bowling (the rain canceled our mini golf) and then go out for ice cream. I think we'll institute a family rule.... friend parties every other year because they are so much work! And family parties are just fun fun fun!

Grandpa Dave was in town and got to party with us with was fun!

Mia loved her birthday ice cream on a cone! That's always the dessert of choice!