Are We There Yet?

Good grief. WHAT A MONTH! January has traditionally been my least favorite month, and this year has been no exception. Bleh. In some ways it has felt like eternity, just because I want to get past it... in some ways it feels like we JUST took down the Christmas tree.

Jared and I were talking the other night, and both of us agreed that it has just been a WEIRD month.

Just. Plain. Weird.

We had visitors for two weekends in a row (loved the visitors, not so much all the towels we had to wash afterward - LOL! Actually, the problem was probably the fact that I just didn't do laundry, because I was having so much fun just hanging out with company, therefore I got VERY behind!) Then we took a quick trip to Logan over MLK weekend... fun, fun time with NO responsibilities. We did receive a few phone calls from home to let us know that my mom had slipped on some ice and had broken her ankle. She ended up needing surgery. More weirdness... really. Oh, and...

We ate WAY TOO MUCH!

Back home to reality, and completely buried in laundry... we got a phone call at 4:30 am one morning letting

us know that Jared's Grandfather had passed away. We will miss him. He was such a great guy. I loved when he would call and chat with me for a few minutes before he asked for Jared. He had the BEST grandpa voice. I wish I could have heard him play the trombone. He is one of those "Greatest Generationers" for sure! I appreciate his zest for life, and his always positive attitude. We also have him to thank for Jared's love of all things Andy Griffith!

Now we are in the midst of planning to go to his funeral. It will be fun to see family members we haven't seen in a while, and a great teaching experience as our kids experience the funeral. Bryson has already asked a lot of questions.

And now as I look at the calendar, and see that it's the 25th already, I'm relieved that this month is nearly over. That's me putting a positive spin on it. I have to say, however, that I have learned a lot this month about what is important... what's REALLY important. Hopefully I'll remember those things I've learned and apply them to the rest of my journey.

Hurry up February... I'm ready to start fresh again!

Walking on the Moon

We had some free tickets to see a show at the Plantarium, so I called two of my sisters to see if they wanted to come along! The kids were super excited, and I was looking forward to seeing the "new" planetarium. I hadn't been since it was the old Hansen Planetarium... long, long ago. Of course, whenever we decide to make a trek to Salt Lake, I forget that parking can be tricky. We decided to all just meet up there, and when the kids and I got there, we accidentally drove past where we needed to get in to park. We went all the way back around the block, and made our way into the parking garage. Apparantly half of the state of Utah decided to go to the planetarium on the same day as us, and we drove up and down through the parking lots TRYING to find somewhere to park. We drove around for probably 20 minutes before we finally found something. Unfortunately, I realized that my phone was dead, and I couldn't get hold of my sisters to see where they were. We waited for quite a while, and apparently they had been having the same parking issues we had... in the parking garage across the street! Well, unfortunately, the next available show was sold out, and the one after that wasn't for a L O N G time (atleast in Kid Minutes) so we decided to scrap the show and just look around the planetarium. There isn't as much to see as I had hoped, but the kids still had a great time watching the pendulum knock over one of the little pegs, looking through telescopes, and pretending to walk on Mars and the Moon. We didn't end up staying very long (it probably took longer to drive there and back than we spent there) but the kids enjoyed it, and it was a fun little getaway anyway.

And when did we go on this fun little excursion, you ask? Well, it was clear back during Christmas Break. I haven't been this behind with blogging in a very long time. I think I was feeling a little burned out after the holidays, and we've been busy just catching up on life!

Over New Years Eve weekend, we had Jared's Mom and Sister Sarah (who flew in from Virginia), as well as his sister Marie and her husband Jeff from Logan... all staying with us. They were here for the weekend, then went back to Logan for the week, then back down with us the next weekend. Having all those visitors, and the kids heading back to school, meant washing lots of towels, cleaning the house, and just a lot of general catching up. It was busy, busy, busy... but we enjoyed having them all here. To make up for all that craziness, we ended up going to Logan over Martin Luther King weekend. It was so nice to have absolutely NO RESPONSIBILITIES at all! I didn't take a single picture... in fact I haven't picked up a camera for weeks! I'm kinda starting to miss it, so hopefully I'll have some to share SOON!

Other than that, we are just trying to work on our goals. I'll be doing some tax stuff (not fun), and painting (more fun) over the next couple of weeks. I hope to check back in at some point!!

Happy 2011!!

Whoa! I still can't believe it's actually 2011! I've written 4 checks already this year, and I've put the wrong year on THREE of them! We had such a great Christmas Break... including spending part of an afternoon at the Clark Plantarium with two of my sisters and their kiddos. (That will be my next post).

I am definitely a New Year's Resolution Maker.

I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not.

Sometimes I do well... sometimes NOT so well.

For instance - last year Jared and I resolved to get in shape. I wanted to lose about 20 pounds that I'm still hanging onto after my huge weight gain from being pregnant with the Haydster. We wrote our starting weights on a mirror in our room, and each week we would write where we were. By summer I had lost 15. I was feeling great. Apparently, however, it had not become a "lifestyle change" and I put every bit of it back on, PLUS 2 or 3. Oops!

I also had resolved to stop biting my fingernails once and for all. I did it. Then I had a little bit of stress and started right back up again!

Grrr!

This year: I have those same two goals. So far, so good. (Mostly I just want to be able to wear the jeans I already have and not have them cut off my circulation!) I also decided I would do MEGA DEEP CLEANING and REALLY get my house organized. I'm off to a great start on that one. I cleaned out under the stairs and totally cleaned out the food storage room. Both rooms have become 3 times bigger, seriously! Our house has lost a lot of weight, even if Jared and I haven't! LOL!! It feels so good, and I'm going to continue. After the organizing will come the painting. There is a lot of that to be done.

I do have spiritual goals as well. I really want to be better about reading my scriptures... I want to be a more patient person, especially with my kids, and I want to be less stressed-out all the way around. My fingers are crossed!!

I love fresh starts. I've decided, however, that I don't need a New Year to have a New Start. I'm going to evaluate my week each Sunday, and decide what I want to do the NEXT week. Less daunting, if you ask me!!

Here's to a beautiful New Year, with fresh starts every week!!

My mom gave me this Amaryllis bulb in November to plant... it took me a couple of weeks to get it planted, but it was so fun to watch it grow, and get bigger each day. The kids tried to guess when it would bloom as soon as we started seeing the buds forming. It took longer than we thought, but it was definitely worth the wait. I'm going to remember this pretty flower as I evaluate my goals and how I'm doing each week. It may take me longer than I would like to accomplish some of them, but it will be worth the wait!!

Christmas Day: Santa Came!

My parents started a new little tradition last year, where they come to each house and watch the grandkids open gifts! We got to be first (since we have very early risers), but we still had to wake everyone up! We still had a few minutes before Papa and Grandma would get here, so we just hung out inthe kitchen. The kids were so excited, and about every 30 seconds would ask "How much longer?"

Silly B-man. Funny story about this light-up snowflake. On New Year's Eve, I went to plug it in, and it basically blew up. There was this HUGE flash of light as I inserted it into the outlet - it scared the crap out of me (and I probably jumped about 8 feet into the air), it fried the cord, and tripped the fuse. It took me a minute to get brave enough to even REMOVE it from the outlet. Well, it was cute while it lasted.

FINALLY Grandma and Papa showed up (pretty much on time, but to the kids it felt like they would never get here!) and we headed into the living room to see what Santa left!

One of the kids always has to read the letter Santa leaves, thanking us for the cookies we left for him, and the carrots we left for the reindeer. He always adds a reminder for us to remember the TRUE meaning of Christmas and the birth of the Savior.

B got some Bakugan, Kung Zhu stuff (Zhu Zhu Pets, ninja style), an Air Hog helicopter, clothes, books, etc.

For some reason, I didn't get any pics of K opening her gifts! She was excited, though, because she got a camera, and MP3 player, clothes, books, earrings, etc.

Hayd got a TOWER CRANE (a cute Handy Manny one), Zhu Zhu pet, some Matchbox cars sets, a game, clothes, etc.

E got a Karaoke Machine (which has been quite fun), an MP3 player, clothes, earrings (which ended up getting lost :( poor kiddo), books, etc.

When you see that little etc. at the end, it's mainly because I don't

remember what else they got!!

Then we went over the Grandma and Papa's for breakfast. It was SO yummy. We exchanged cousin gifts (and couple gifts) and had a great time.

This is pretty much all Hayds cared about the entire day... He LOVED it!

Of course, one of the hightlights of the day was getting to go visit Grandpa Grace.

We had a wonderful Christmas, and it was so nice to have the kids home. I have to admit, I wasn't ready to send them back after the new year! I just wasn't ready to get back to the whole routine of things, but we are back in the thick of it with lots going on. Check back soon for more ;)

The Longest Night of the Year (otherwise known as CHRISTMAS EVE!)

Christmas Eve. I swear it's the longest night of the year... even now that I'm all grown up with my own kids. I still love the excitement, the anticipation, the new PJs. We went to my parents house for Christmas Eve dinner and fun. Dinner was super delish, and it was just awesome to be there with everybody (except the Murrays, who were definitely missed :( )

After dinner, the kids watched Despicable Me, and the grown ups played games and just visited. Of course, the kids can't wait to open their one gift from Grama Cheryl...

Here they are waiting ever so patiently:

PapaBob gave everyone a brand new flashlight. They were the HIT of the night (until one of my crazy kiddos lost his! Thankfully it was found before we left). And Grandma passed out her special wrapped gifts.

Even though they know (or should know by now) what is in that beautifully wrapped package, they never know what they are going to look like!

NEW CHRISTMAS PAJAMAS!!

My cute girls - they are getting so dang grown up!

LOVE the new cute jammies!!

The "Dads" playing a little Phase 10!

The kids all loved their new jammies. We had such a fun night, then we headed home to prepare the milk and cookies and go to sleep so Santa could come!

Christmas Sing

I love Christmas Music. I'm not one of those people who turns it on the day after Halloween... I do think that's a little weird, but as soon as Thanksgiving is over, I'm ready for the Christmas tunes! I especially love hearing kids singing Christmas songs. One thing I look forward to every year is the annual school "Christmas Sing!" which is always held on the last day of school before the break. Our three older kiddos are in a Charter School, and while they do actually have something similar, they do it more like I remember doing it... just for the other kids at school! Hayden is in Kindergarten at our local Elementary school, and they do a big performance for the parents. Jared and I were excited to go and watch. We got there, and one of our awesome neighbors had saved a bunch of seats right up near the front! Perfect! As each grade level came in to perform their songs, the kids in our ward and neighborhood seemed to be RIGHT in front of us. I got some pictures of them for their moms. It was great that they were just right there, front and center. The Kindergarten came in very last. The grand finale!! As we watched the kids march up onto the risers, Hayds was nowhere to be found. By the time we finally figured out where he was, we realized that not only was he on the front row... he was CLEAR ON THE OTHER SIDE from us! We could barely see him. We only took the smaller camera, because it does video, but it does have a pretty okay zoom, so I stood up real quick, zoomed in, and snapped a couple of quick ones. It was so dark, so they aren't great, but I wanted to make sure he knew we got to see him, because he never even knew we were there! They sang Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer, and Up on the Housetop. Of course it was the best part of the show ;)

Up Next: Christmas Eve and Christmas Day