The Hartpence Family

Fall Update

2009-11-02T13:33:00.000-08:00

This is our fall update. Apparently I only update once a season :) so here's the blog-vomit (per Eric) for this season. We've had Dean's birthday...this pic was his reaction to getting a buzz lightyear. Then Alena's birthday. We've also had two trips to disneyland, and a family outing to the pumpkin patch. Hurray for fall!

This final pic was of our South American dinner featuring cuisine from Colombia, Venezuela, & Uruguay. Thanks for a fun time Leavitt family!

Summertime fun!

2009-08-24T10:22:00.000-07:00

We are happy that Aunt Rachel, Cristian and Reese are visiting!

Baby Reese

Adriana

Dean at Dino Mtn. He LOVED it!!

Adri at Santee Lakes park with Alyssa Petty

Dean in Turtle shell at Wild Animal Park

Alena as a turtle too! These were fun to play in!

Fun Pics from This Year

2009-08-16T19:06:00.000-07:00

Rieck Family at Carolyn's Wedding

(photo by Toni Rowley)

Our Cute Family at Carolyn's Wedding

(photo by Toni Rowley)

Toothless girl!

Swimming in St. George with Paris Lamb, George Lamb, Dean, cousin Corbin, Erma Lamb, Alena, & cousin Dallyn!

Playing with play-dough

My Cute Kids!

Dean at the Zoo's snake exhibit

Dean at the park

Dean at the zoo as a giraffe

Alena as a giraffe!

And finally, Adri as a giraffe

Kids at Sea World by Manatee exhibit

Alena and Dean at Pet Show at Sea World

It's About Time!

2009-06-28T18:49:00.000-07:00

Some more Easter Eggstravaganze Pics

Happy 1st Birthday Adriana!

Dean at Father's and Sons' Campout

Alena at the Zoo

Dean at Zoo

Adri wearing toy goggles

Adri chillin' in the pool

Alena Dean & Adri at Jamma and Papa's Pool

Dean at the Dr.'s Office

Dean (2nd left) at Preschool

The following are of the house we will soon be moving into

BEFORE and AFTER pics:

Before Kitchen with lovely plastic wood metal-trimmed burnt counter tops

Close-up of counter corner

Counter ripped out reveals some NASTY black MOLD

Old Leaky Kitchen Faucet

AFTER Kitchen Tile

BEAUTIFUL new Counter top, sink, faucet and tiled floor.

View on our trip home from St. George

We went to St. George and Salt Lake City Utah for my sister Carolyn's wedding to Jason Baumgartner. It was such a beautiful wedding and fun reception in Salt Lake. Then we had a fun time playing with our cousins Dallyn and Corbin the whole week afterwards, and helped with the reception in St. George. One more week hanging out in the pool with Daddy, Grandma Carmen, and Grandpa completed our vacation in Utah! More pics to be posted someday....

Spring Break & Easter

2009-04-30T12:23:00.000-07:00

Alena had an agenda for her spring break. She wrote down her list and this is what it said: The zoo, Sea World, have a house easter egg hunt, stuffed animal day. We did all of those things. Her first day off of school, (monday) we went to the zoo all day long. The next day we went to Sea World. Then the next day we stayed at home and I took out all the stuffed animals we have stored in the garage and the whole house exploded with stuffed animals. We had a fun day of decorating and cutting out paper rabbits and eggs at home, too. Then one of the days Ricky and Troy invited Alena and Dean over to dye easter eggs with Hayden.

Aren't they beautiful?
Atta boy Hayden!

They took a walk over to a nearby park and played with Hayden and Grant (a friend) and then went back to Ricky and Troy's to dye easter eggs. They were surprised when the egss they dyed came up with their names on them already! Then it was time to watch a movie. They had a blast. Thanks Ricky and Troy! On Saturday we went to the Easter Eggstravaganza as you have seen pics from the previous post. For Easter Sunday it was over to Mike and Brianna's house for dinner and another easter egg hunt! The photos you see below is our futile attempt at getting some of the grandkids together for a picture at one time. We had to keep putting them back at the top because the bottom kids would just slide off. Until we got smart and put Alena there. All in all I think Alena really enjoyed her spring break!

EGG-stravaganza

2009-04-17T09:10:00.000-07:00

We went to the EGG-Stravaganza at the lakes with Ricky and Troy! It was a LOT of fun. They had rides for the kids, a petting zoo, (big hit!) craft booths, and easter egg hunts. As you can tell by the first picture Dean was NOT into the bunny ears. Thanks Ricky and Troy for coming with us!

Mohawk Baby

2009-03-27T08:00:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not, her hair grows more than my other two kids' hair grew.

Too bad it's only concentrated in the middle of her head!

Playing around

2009-03-21T15:53:00.001-07:00

I think Dean might be a little afraid of heights!

Oh baby

2009-02-05T20:32:00.000-08:00

Growing up sooo fast! She is crawling around everywhere and getting into everything!

More cousin photos!

2009-02-05T08:10:00.000-08:00

At grandma's house Dallyn and Corbin came over for a little bit while their mom Carolyn taught some dance classes. From L to R: Dallyn, Alena, Corbin, and Dean. We had a four course meal that night because we started dinner so late. It started with quesadillas, then some meatballs, then the noodles! We are so high class that we don't even use the china more than once; we just throw it away. :) Later that night Dean and Alena got to have a sleepover at their house, even though it was a school night for them!

Here we are with Presli after our lunch date at Olive Garden. Isn't she soo cute??! They all are so adorable. What cute kids!!

Cell phone pics

2009-02-03T09:45:00.000-08:00

Since I don't know how to download photos from our new camera yet, here are some pics from my cell phone. We had a beautiful rainy yet sunny day last week and I couldn't resist just pulling over and catching a photo.

Our trip to St. George was wooonnnderful! We had a lot of fun at Grandma and Grandpa Rieck's house, and visiting with friends. We had a great time at Aunt Adrienne's house with George, Paris, and Erma. One afternoon we went out to lunch at Olive Garden with Aunt Carolyn, cousin Corbin, Aunt Kalli and cousin Presli. On Saturday night Aunt Cindy and Uncle Scott came over with Layla & Isaiah and stayed until midnight just visiting with us! It was so fun because we never get to do that. The photos below are: Corbin holding Adriana at Olive Garden (with Presli looking on wishing she could hold her!) ((she did get to hold her a little then didn't want to stop!)), then Alena and Dean at Grandma's store in St. George, Dean being a Dean Burrito here at home, and Adriana swinging at Jamma's house.

New Baby Girl!

2009-02-02T09:24:00.000-08:00

Our newest cousin, Emma Marie!

Born Jan. 30th 6 lbs. 15 oz.

We love you and are praying for you!

Get healthy soon!! We can't wait to meet you! She sure looks like her dad. Look at all that hair!!

KC Knoop Photography

2009-01-01T21:09:00.000-08:00

Thank you so much Knoops for our pictures. We love them and they turned out so wonderful! What a great talent you have. If you would like to visit their website click on this.

CHRISTMAS!

2008-12-25T20:03:00.000-08:00

Yeah! Santa made it to our house! He brought Dean Handy Manny Tools, Adriana some crawly thing, and Alena a "swim to me" puppy! Mom and dad got the kids clothes, underwear, and a couple games. Then we went to Jamma's for breakfast (french toast--YUM!) and opened some presents there, too! Jamma kept asking the kids what they wanted; Alena wanted some Littlest Pet Shop stuffed animals, and all Dean kept asking for was a whistle. You should have seen his cute little face. Oh, well, here in the photo you can kinda see him. He was so excited to get it! Every time he blew it he got this huge grin on his face! Aunt Marla gave us the most awesome gift. She is so amazingly creative and I guess all that study there at that art school did some good because look at what she gave us!

Christmas Eve

2008-12-24T19:42:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve has finally arrived! Daddy helped Alena and Dean make some sugar cookies. They got to make some cool Christmas shapes and then iced the cookies and decorated them beautifully for Santa Claus. Alena wrote a note to Santa to let him know that these cookies were for him. It says: For Santa. PS. Love Alena and Dean and Mommy, Dad, Adriana. I think it's a Christmas Tree that she drew by Santa. So after we made cookies it was time to open a present, take a bath and put on our new pajamas! We are so excited and hope that Santa comes soon!

STAR Award

2008-12-19T21:31:00.000-08:00

Alena received a 'STAR' award! She was the very first one called from Mrs. Marino's first grade class. And of course, we were there to cheer her on. This time. This time, you ask? Yeah. Back in October, she was selected for the same award, and we had received the notice, and well, horrible parents that we are.....we forgot!!! It was supposed to be at 8:45 a.m. on a Friday. It's not like we were doing anything much. We just totally completely spaced it! Poor Alena was completely devastated and cried hysterically. Fortunately, one of her friends' mom took some photos and let Alena stay with them for the cookies and punch they serve afterwards. Us lame parents didn't even realize we had forgotten until we went to pick Alena up from school. We felt SO bad. We bought her a bouquet of flowers and I went into her class early and begged her forgiveness. Then she got to have a sleep-over at Grandma's house. And she lost a tooth that day. (I couldn't blog about the blunder because it was way to close to the traumatic event for me still) So we talked to Alena's teacher, Mrs. Marino, and she said that she could give Alena the award come December when they give out the Star Awards again. (THANK YOU MRS. MARINO!!) So we had to make a BIG deal out of it this time and make sure we were actually there to see her get the well deserved award. By the way, yes, those are pajamas she is wearing. It was pajama day in Mrs. Marino's class. They earned a party and got to have hot chocolate that day, too.

Little GQ Man

2008-12-16T11:37:00.000-08:00

What a stinkin' cute kid. Whether on the go or staying at home playing with cars my little man Dean knows how to strike a pose.

TEETH!

2008-12-11T10:36:00.000-08:00

Adriana is only seven months old and has--drum roll please--EIGHT teeth now! We had a bad night last night while that eighth tooth was coming in. It's really crazy seeing so many teeth on such a little baby. (I call her my little Renesme for all you Twilight fans!) She has four on the top and FOUR on the bottom now.

St. George for Thanksgiving

2008-12-11T09:53:00.001-08:00

Here are some pics from our trip for Thanksgiving. We hit a LOT of traffic on the way out, and we all got colds just in time for our trip, but otherwise it was fun!

While we were in St. George we saw the snow on the mountains and decided to drive to Pine Valley to see the snow. On the way there we got lost (well, we weren't told about the turn-off) and got almost to Enterprise which added an extra half-hour to our trip. So we traveled about an hour and a half to get there only to stay outside for a maximum of five minutes! The park was closed off for the winter. In the pictures their smiles are strained because it was SO SO cold--freezing! We don't know how our Alaska Massey cousins can handle it. It was probably like their summer time....We're really spoiled down here with the nice weather we get!

We got to see some of our cousins, Dallyn & Corbin, while we were there and the kids had a blast playing with them. We have so much to be grateful for and it was a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Growing and growing!

2008-11-25T08:22:00.000-08:00

I stood her up against my legs in front of the mirror the other day and thought it looked so funny to see this tiny person standing there. I can't believe how much she has grown and how quickly the time has flown by. She is already six months old! Well, six and a half months old, that is. She is very demanding of everyone's attention and is certain to let you know when things are not going her own way. I took something away from her last night and she screamed so hard she turned bright red and held her breath. (Just like Aunt Rachel!) She must have gotten the memo that she's number three and would have to fight for what she wants! When everything is going her way, she's still very friendly and smiles all the time, much to everyone's delight. She is reaching for everything she shouldn't have with her right hand, mostly, unlike BOTH of my other kids. (I know, it's weird that they're both left-handed, huh?) She has SIX teeth already--four on the top and two on the bottom. (ouch!) She also loves to roll all over on the floor and is constantly making noises like 'ba ba ba' and yelling just to hear herself. Or screaming to get picked up. She is definitely a momma's girl, but is doing better with dad while mom does piano lessons in the afternoons.

She has now graduated to the kid's room in her own crib but she doesn't sleep through the night yet. We're working on that one. She has started solid foods now. How come they call 'em solids when they are anything but that? They should call 'em gooeys or slimys or something. We were worried that she might be allergic to rice (like Dean was) but thank heavens, she's not.

The two kids just up from their naps. I may be willing to concede that they are a little less photogenic at this time of the day. But they are still really cute kids and we love 'em!

Flashback Friday:BALDY

2008-11-14T11:03:00.000-08:00

I forget what my kids look like bald after they've FINALLY grown hair! Okay, so his head is buzzed, but it was pretty thin anyways. The only THIN thing on him :) The first pic at the top is with my best friend Adrienne's kid, Paris. They are about the same age. The cheerios pictures was taken at Lake Don Pedro, summer of 2006. The last photo is our trip home from the lake.

Flashback Friday: Alena age 2

2008-11-07T07:51:00.000-08:00

I LOVE the cute little piggy tails! I think I was just so exited that she finally got HAIR! The last is a picture at Santee Lakes. L to R: Allie Winters, Jordan Schwendinger, Alena, Hannah Price

It was hard then too

2008-10-29T09:44:00.000-07:00

To stand up for what you believe in...thanks Karen and Rach for showing me this pic! Love it!

ALENA Lost Her 1st Tooth

2008-10-26T09:47:00.000-07:00

So, Alena has been playing with a LOOSE tooth now for about a week. She will wiggle it, bite on it, and play with it with her tongue. Every now and then she would let us touch it to see if it was ready to pull out. Well upon examining the tooth for her, Christine noticed the big tooth growing up from behind. You know what that means... The tooth MUST come out. Here is a picture of a close examination of Alena's mouth, showing the new tooth protruding from behind.

I promised Alena I would not pull her tooth out unless she asked. I did not want her to fear me for the rest of her life if I asked to see her teeth. However, Christine did not make this promise. Last week, Christine was wiggling Alena's tooth. Alena was telling her when she could wiggle it by signing Yes and No. As she began to feel a bit of pain, she would vigorously sign No. When she said Yes again, preparing herself for more pain, ran her tongue against her tooth and realized it was not there. Mom had pulled it out!!! She was ecstatic!!! She ran through the house Happy as Can Be telling every one she had lost HER FIRST TOOTH.
Isn't She cute!? She put her tooth in an envelope and put it under her pillow. When she woke up in the morning, the Tooth Fairy brought her one dollar. Now she is working on the tooth next to the one she lost. That big tooth coming up is making the others loose as well. Hopefully for Alena, she will grow up quickly so those big teeth will fit in her mouth.

Busy!

2008-10-25T19:01:00.001-07:00

I can't remember when we have been this busy during one week! Monday I taught four piano lessons right when Larry got off work. Then Larry left to go to school and was there until nine-thirty. Tuesday I taught two piano lessons, and Larry worked later, then went straight to a meeting with the bishopric and high priest group leader from seven? until nine-thirty again! On Wednesday, I taught five piano lessons, Larry was home by three-thirty, and then he had to do Elders' Quorum visits until nine-thirty. Thursday, I didn't teach piano lessons, but I gave a piano recital! I dropped the kids off at Papa and Jamma's and Larry met me at the church to decorate...I wanted it to be festive for the Halloween season. I will be posting photos from that sometime later on. I have fourteen students, and they all played wonderfully. I even played a piece, which was fun. It went well. Friday was Larry's day off which is always fun but very busy; we got to stand on the corner of Fletcher and Baltimore for an hour and a half holding Proposition 8 signs. I thought it was a positive experience overall. I mean, I had people giving me thumbs up, smiling, honking and waiving way more often than I got flipped off (3 times) and yelled at. It was fun. So there's the explanation as to why I haven't posted for while. (Sorry!) Hopefully I will be much better at it this next week.

Poor Baby!

2008-10-15T13:49:00.000-07:00

Poor, poor Adriana. Poor, poor mommy! Adriana spent this weekend with ear infections in BOTH ears! Not fun. Not much fun at all. It all started with Alena. She decided to get a fever week before last and I had to pick her up from school two days in a row, with the nurse telling me not to send her back to school until she didn't have a fever for 24 hours. Which meant she skipped Thursday and Friday. Then Dean decided to get sick as well, and he had a slight fever for a day or so, and a mild cough. Of course, Adriana just wouldn't be left out, but she had to add her own set of problems by infecting her little ears. Neither Alena nor Dean have ever had ear infections, so boy was I in for a shock when I saw what Adriana's poor little ears were doing! It was like she sneezed in her ears! I had no idea that ear infections could DO that! Gross!! Five days and a hundred q-tips and a whole bunch of kleenex later and we are still sweeping out goop from her ears, but she is doing just fine now. One may actually forget to appreciate night-time sleeping once the baby learns to sleep through the night. But I have been reminded to be grateful with the two nights that I missed while dealing with an ear-achy baby!

Flashback Friday: Alena's First Day of School

2008-10-10T00:00:00.000-07:00

September 4, 2008

Alena had no fears concerning the first day of the 1st Grade. She was spiffed up in her new outfit ready to take on the world. Now you know 1st Grade is much harder than Kindergarten, so she prepared herself for this challenge by Swimming, Watching Movies, Playing with Dean, and doing some homework. She had a great first day and loves every minute of school.

DEAN'S REACTION!

Upon arising early, getting dressed and putting on his shoes Dean was excited to go out somewhere fun with Mom, Alena, and Adriana. Until he found out that is play buddy was not going to be with him that day. She had to go to School. He was REALLY SAD when he found out he would be playing alone all day long. As Sad as he was you can imagine how EXCITED he was when she came home that day. He has since adjusted a little better but still looks forward every day when we can go pick up 'Nena.'

I LOVE my Mom and Dad

2008-10-06T21:16:00.000-07:00

This is my mom and dad. They are THE coolest, neatest, parents anyone could ever ask for. The only people who come close to being as cool as they are, are Larry's folks.

My mom Carmen Maria Muniz Rieck was born in Rivera, Uruguay. Yeah, I'm half-Uruguayan. My mother has always had to be the 'tough' one in our family, but I am so thankful for everything she taught me. My favorite thing growing up has to be the sound of her laughter filling the air. I remember her laughter, while she and my dad were up playing cards late one night when we were staying with my grandparents in Arizona.

One of the best times I have ever had with her was when she came to visit me for a week this year before I gave birth to Adriana. I have never had her all to myself like that and was completely spoiled by her company. All we did that week was go out to eat and play sudoku! But it was one of the most relaxing, rejuvenating times of my life! She has always been there for me, too. For every one of my kids' births she has come to hold my hand and take care of us. I only hope one day I will be as good a mom as she. My mom has a beautiful accent, which after thirty-two? years she has not lost. But growing up I could never hear it. She just sounded like my mom. It wasn't until after my mission, not hearing her voice often, that I could hear it.

My mom worked while we were going to school in a clothing department store as the cosmetics consultant. With the fashion savvy she learned there, she always taught me to be presentable. (I am still striving to live up to her standards) While working one day, she was approached by the wife of a movie producer, and was asked to appear in the movie "On Our Own." She worked for Sears for a number of years and currently owns her own dance clothing store called "Dance Magic."

My dad, Carl Lamar Rieck has always been really easy-going. My dad works for a country radio station KONY in St. George, Utah. He's on every morning from five 'till eight (6-9 in Utah) . Click on the "Listen" button on the KONY website and you can hear him on the radio. He loves his job as a radio station dj! He has been working in radio since he was 19! Always the jokester, I remember many a time driving around in the car and suddenly hearing the window locks and door locks engage. All of us kids would immediately go into a 'save your breath' mode because we knew what would inevitably happen! Yeah, use your imagination. In spite of the permanent sense of smell damage and lung-affecting punishments we would receive as children, we all grew up healthy and strong. But like my mom, my dad has always been there for me. Sometimes when I am upset or emotional (of course, hardly ever) it is his voice that will calm me down; I swear he actually lowers my blood pressure.

I love to brag about my dad. He was a police officer in Flagstaff, AZ, and can tell hillarious stories of his adventures as a cop. He is currently a radio-station dj, AND he can fly helicopters. No kidding. We have loved going to St. George and getting to go for a ride in his helicopter. He's the greatest.

So, in honor of my THIRTY-FIRST birthday, I am proud to say that I was raised by the BEST parents in the whole world~I love you mom and dad!!!

Flashback Friday: Dean's B-day

2008-10-03T00:00:00.000-07:00

I love this thing I have seen on other blogs: Flashback Friday. I think I will start doing that as a way to make up for the posts that were on our old blog, and to show some cute old photos. These are pics from Dean's Third Birthday, Aug. 30th. We went to Beef 'N' Bun, and when we got home he opened his presents. He is a huge Disney/Pixar "Cars" fan and so that's what he got for his birthday. I think at last count he had about seventy-five. No kidding. Uncle Jared would be the one to blame for this out-of-control collection. But I guess we can't say anything because Larry and I find that we can't leave Target or Walmart without checking the toy aisle for any Cars that Dean may not have. He is so cute when he plays with them. He pulls out the play mat and will play all day long with his cars, lining them up, driving them around, putting them on his little racetrack and watching them go, it's the cutest thing. When Jamma took him shopping for his birthday present, she was surprised to find out that he also knows exactly which cars he has, too. And he can name them all as well!Dean is such a smart little kid, and a really sweet kid too! We never have to remind him to say thank you. (We're still working on the 'please' part of it) But he is truly a joy to have in the house. When he is feeling shy he always tells me "I want to hold you" and he absolutely adores his sister. Adores torturing and teasing her, that is. He misses her terribly all day long while she's at school and when she gets home he just has to have her attention. He also loves music. Whenever he hears the Rascal Flatts sing "Life is a Highway" he totally flips out and grabs this little plastic guitar he has and pretends to play it while rockin' out. Lately, he has also been grabbing his guitar to play with me while I am playing the piano. If he can't find his guitar then he grabs a hairbrush! Sometimes he will sit at the piano and sing, just pretending and not really playing anything but hey, it's a start, right? Someday we will begin regular piano lessons with both the kids. It will be great.

Dean opening presents,

having fun at Beef 'N' Bun,

and enjoying an icecream cone

'Tis the SEASON

2008-09-30T12:00:00.000-07:00

The time has FINALLY come. Our months and months of waiting (because of the writer's strike earlier this year, and then the end of the regular series season) are finally over! We were so excited to watch the first episode of season 2 of Chuck. But Larry has school on Monday nights, so I ever so nicely and generously offered to tape the show for him. And no, I didn't use DVR. I did it the old-fashioned way, with a VHS tape. And I didn't even watch it! I waited for Larry to get home from school so that we could both watch it together. I know, I know, perhaps it was an unnecessary sacrifice, but what can I say? I love my husband. It's a darn good thing his professor let them out early, because I was reconsidering my decision! It was definitely worth the wait. So maybe we're a little obsessed. Or a lot obsessed. But we LOVE the NBC series "Chuck." If you're not already a fan, I suggest you find out more about it. It is so funny and, so far, has not gotten too 'skanky' like what happened with the Smallville series on the WB. Larry's other tv favorites include any reality-tv based stuff: Survivor, The Biggest Loser, Dancing with the Stars, America's Got Talent, and Deal or No Deal (Which I cannot STAND--Open the freakin' cases already!) I am fond of ER, CSI Las Vegas & New York, and Ghost Whisperer. Wow. I just realized that listing all those tv shows makes it sound like that's all we do. Actually, we watch these shows on a hit-and-miss basis. I swear we don't just watch tv all the time! These are just the ones we'll stop on when we do happen to be watching.

Seems Like Only Yesterday

2008-09-24T11:22:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe that Adriana is already four months old! And TEETHING! Those last four months of my pregnancy didn't go by this fast. How come it decides to fly by once we have these precious little darlings in our arms?

Jamma Time

2008-09-19T15:56:00.000-07:00

On his day off there isn't anything Larry would rather do than go to Jamma's house and swim. It's so nice that Jamma and Papa have a swimming pool for us to come and play in. The kids are great in the pool. Alena can swim really well and is working on learning the different strokes. She rules the pool. She is getting really fast and could probably beat mommy in a race. Dean is going to be a Michael Phelps. He is such a little fish. He can almost do the free-style. There's only one minor detail: he doesn't know how to lift his head and take a breath. So maybe he's more of a David Blaine kinda guy.

Larry is such a great, fun dad. His favorite thing to do is THROW the kids around. They love it, too. Well, after the fact. As you can see from the photos, he gets them pretty high up in the air. A little too high for mom's comfort, but it's okay. I tried to get more pictures in rapid succession but my camera is old and too slow. Or I don't know how to work it correctly! These are not all in the same throw. I had Larry throw them until they wouldn't do it anymore! I am not a great photographer, so these were the best I could get.

We have a routine at Jamma's, and after we're all dressed comes playing outside at Jamma's Park. Then it's time to come inside for a little r&r and read some books. Usually as we're leaving, Jamma busts out the fruit snacks, which are such a great reward after working so hard at playing. Thanks for having such a fun place to come to; we LOVE you Papa & Jamma!

Adriana says it's time to go!

Mary Alena Hartpence

2008-09-17T12:54:00.000-07:00

This is Mary Alena Hartpence. She goes by Alena, Nena, or Bena, dena, fena, bo-bena, choo-chena, etc. Her favorite things to do include: swimming, riding bikes or playing outside with her brother, reading books, holding her baby sister Adriana, and watching movies. Her favorite movies include "Stardust" & "Barbie Mermaidia." Lately she has gotten into collecting "The Littlest Pet Shop" toys and will spend as much time as she can keeping track of all the tiny playthings that go with that.

Alena is a very obedient and helpful little girl and is especially protective of her younger brother and sister. She is constantly singing and will often make up her own words to a familiar tune. She also loves to daydream. Alena daydreams so much she has to be reminded to pay attention to what she is doing! But we can't complain because we do ask her to do so many things for us. What a beautiful, special little girl we have. Mommy and Daddy love you very much, Alena. Happy birthday, sweetheart!

All of Our Kids Look Alike!

2008-09-16T12:45:00.000-07:00

Okay. I can't tell you how many times people come up to me and tell me that. I don't even think I could do this if I hadn't been the one to put it together. I would probably have to use other clues like the backgrounds and what they are wearing to help me get it all straight! (Looks like I've given some helpful hints!) So c'mon. Give it your best shot! Good luck!

Happy Anniversary!!!

2008-09-15T15:48:00.001-07:00

It was only a few short years ago, 8 to be exact, that Christine and Larry were Sealed for Time and All Eternity in the San Diego Temple. We have been blessed extremely by the Lord. We are happy and cannot believe that time has passed so quickly!!! Our lives have been filled with GREAT JOY, because of our Love for one another and the blessing of our Three Children.

There is never a boring moment in our home! Between work, school, piano, having fun, and the kids, there is not much time not to be happy. I know I am what I am today because of my dear wife and I hope I can contribute even a little bit to making her a better person. But that would be hard, because we already know she is PRACTICALLY PERFECT IN EVERY WAY! She is not only a great wife and example to me, she is also an Excellent Mother. Her kids love her too. They are always excited to see Dad when he comes home from work, for about 2 minutes, the rest of the time it is all about MOM.

We love you very much. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!

This Morning!

2008-09-13T07:44:00.001-07:00

This morning when Dean woke up, he came into my bedroom and I asked him how he slept last night and he said "I turned off my eyes just like Alena." I'm guessing he means that he went to sleep. And if her hair is any indication, it looks like Alena slept well, too. Which is more than I can say for poor Adriana, who is usually so SMILEY. When we went to the temple this past week on Wednesday we asked Stacie to babysit for us and Adriana screamed and cried the whole time! Poor Jamma had to come over and help try to calm her down, and finally had her asleep by the time we got home. Well, the next morning I felt Adriana's lower gums and she's TEETHING already!! One cute, tiny little teethie poked its head up above her gums. She's doing a little better now, though. But still not my smiley girl yet. This is how she woke up this morning, with her serious little face and a wave to the camera.

CUTEST KIDS EVER

2008-09-12T17:34:00.000-07:00

How can you deny it? We have the most BEAUTIFUL, well-behaved, sweet, darling children ever!! Mommy and Daddy love you!