Family Vacation 2011! We made our way through
Utah, stopping at Arches National Park before heading
to New Mexico then onto Arizona. After visiting the Grand
Canyon we came back into Utah to stop at Grand Staircase
Escalante National Monument and Capital Reef National
Park before we came back into Cache Valley. It was pretty
fun and I loved hiking at each National Park!

Delicate Arch at Arches National Park

Double Arch at Arches National Park

Four Corner Monument, New Mexico
where I got to stand in four places at once.

Monument Valley, Arizona

Grand Canyon South Rim

Grand Canyon North Rim

On May 6 something truly surprising happened...


I actually graduated with my Masters degree.
I had my doubts that I would see the light at the end
of THAT tunnel, but somehow I made it.


As part of the graduation process we "got" to
walk from the Fieldhouse to the Spectrum.

I am excited to have finally made it to my seat!

The Hooding part of the ceremony.

Walking across the stage.

I made it!!!


I have a great family and I am grateful for their support.
Below are some pictures of the best cheerleaders
anyone could ask for!

Dad and Mom

Rusty and Holly

Grandma and Grandpa Karren

Happy Easter!!
This year since it turned out to be nice outside we were able to set up an Easter egg hunt for my nephews. They were so excited! It turned out to be a lot of fun!

This is my attempt at creating an Easter bunny cake. I think it tasted better than it looked!

Even though Nixen couldn't join in on the egg hunt, he still had a blast following his big brothers around!

Easten was so excited when he found his first egg!

Stetsen wanted his eggs to be harder to find, but I think when
he said that he underestimated how hard we could make it
for him. Some of his eggs took him a while to find!

All of the boys together!

For Spring Break I went on the Baja Mexico Cruise! I have always wanted to go on a cruise and this one did not disappoint. There was so many things to do on and off the ship. I had a blast! Here are only a few of the many pictures I took.

Carnival Paradise

Carnival is known for their towel animals and each day we had a new animal waiting for us. This one is of a bunny.

Our first stop on the cruise was Catalina Island.

Welcome to Ensenada Mexico!

La Bufadora shoots water up to 60 feet in the air.

This weekend most of the Karren family gathered to celebrate

Grandpa and Grandma's 60th Wedding Anniversary!

Here they are with their children.

Here they are with most of their Grandchildren.

Here they are with most of their Great Grandchildren.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas came and went so fast this year. We had a great Christmas! Stetsen was relieved that Santa found their house and left them presents, even though they don't have a chimney! Easten just loved opening presents. On one of his gifts he had barely started to open it when he just started laughing. When I asked him what was so funny he said, "I can just tell this one is going to be good!" Nixen was happy even though he had no clue what was going on.

For the past few years (at least 5) my Dad has been up and waiting for me for hours. Isn't it funny how the roles have reversed?

Easten and Stetsen transforming into Bumble Bee thanks to a gift Santa left them!

Nixen laughing at his two crazy brothers!

Here is Easten and Stetsen opening a present.

Karren Family Christmas Party

While Grandpa Karren was getting his picture taken with Santa,

Easten decided to borrow his glasses!

Unlike last year, Easten was super excited to see Santa. He wanted it to be his turn so bad, he kept going up whenever a name was called!

Everyone gets a turn to tell Santa what they want, but this year not everyone had to sit on his lap!

This year Stetsen had a list of things he wanted, so he wrote them all down for Santa. He said he wanted to make sure Santa didn't get confused.