2007: A year in review...

I'm going to try and remember something from every month in 2007, but since I didn't start my blog until August it might be hard, we'll see how it goes...

January: Kelly and I started the new year in Phoenix at the Fiesta Bowl watching our Sooners get beaten by the Boise State Broncos. Oh well, it was still tons of fun! Thanks Grandma for coming to watch the kids!

February: I got a new calling to teach the Laurels in Young Women at church. It was, and still is very scary for me to teach, but I really enjoy the girls, and getting to know them.

March: We traveled to Utah and Arizona for Spring Break in our new Suburban! We got to see most of our family, and had a great time! And, I couldn't find one picture of our Suburban or our trip!

April: I celebrated my birthday with a much-needed trip to the beach with Uncle Jesse, Jeremy and Rochelle and all our kids! While at dinner one night, Kelly ordered a 32 oz. cut of Prime Rib! I don't have a picture of it, but it looked like his own Sunday Roast, so disgusting!

May: Kelly starts his new position at work full-force, he was traveling every week! Bronson, Kelly and I took a quick trip to Hawaii for his Auntie's and Uncle's surprise birthday Luau. So much fun packed in to so little time! We got to see Grandma and Auntie Jennie over there too. Thanks Auntie Rachel for coming to watch the girls! We also went on a camping trip with Jamie and Jodi, and Spencer and Nicole and families. We came back from that trip and bought our boat the very last day of May! I also had a fun visit from high school friends Kayela and J.J. along with their son Asa, while they were in the area for a family reunion.

June: Kelly and I celebrate our 11th anniversary! We traveled to Wyoming for my family reunion. While there we went to Yellowstone, went rafting on the Snake River, and had lots of fun swimming at the pool!

July: We spent lots of time on our boat and got really tan this summer! Kelly and I enjoyed an all-expenses paid trip to Chicago. We got spa treatments, dinners out, had our first Nascar experience, and got to stay in the Ritz-Carlton! Thanks to Nicole and Spencer for watching all of our kids and keeping them so entertained while we were gone! They took their family plus our kids to the ward camp out, Chuck-E-Cheese's, a fair, and fireworks! Our kids thought we were soooo boring when we got home! We try to space things like that out over many months:) Bronson also turned one in July.

August: The biggest event of this month was Bronson's 1st birthday luau! We had lots of friends and family come to visit for the party! Everyone from Kelly's family was here except for one brother and one sister and their families. We had a full house, but it was sure fun! Thanks to everyone for coming and traveling so far to see us! September: Logan started 4th grade in Ms. Penn's class and Maika started kindergarten in Mrs. Hansen's class! We had lots of fun on our boat with Jared and Chelsea over Labor Day. We tried to get back into the swing of things after a long, active summer!

October: Marks the last day it was warm enough to take our boat out. It's now winterized and tucked safely away into storage waiting for it to get warm enough to bring out and have fun with us again. The most exciting thing to happen in October for me was that Nalani got potty-trained! A close second was my trip to Las Vegas with my sister, Melanie and my mom. We had a great time! The kids also had fun on Halloween getting all their candy:)

November: We took another road trip to Utah and Arizona for Thanksgiving. Kelly enjoyed helping his mom get her yard ready after moving in to a new house, the kids had so much fun playing with all of their cousins, and it was so nice to see all of my mom's family and my cousins again after so long! We had a memorable trip to Temple Square, and got some Christmas shopping done too:)

December: Well, you just read about our December! We are looking forward to a hootin'-hollerin' party tonight to ring in the New Year, with lots of Guitar Hero to be played, I'm sure!

We had a great 2007 and we look forward to a great year of 2008! I hope to be a little more patient, more understanding, smaller, more kind, more spiritual, and more dedicated to serving my family! I have a lot of work to do!! Seriously! So I guess I better get busy! Happy New Year, everybody!

Christmas 2007

We had a great Christmas this year! We spent most of our time with Jeremy and Rochelle and their kids. We started out on Christmas Eve at our house with our traditional meal of Navajo Tacos. They were very yummy! Even if Rochelle didn't eat the fry bread! After dinner we watched "The Nativity Story" it was a first for all of us, but we enjoyed it. The kids started getting a little restless towards the end:) I think they were really excited for Santa to come, so Jeremy and Rochelle went home and after our kids opened their jammies, they were in bed. Logan and Maika slept together in Logan's room. Logan kept telling the kids to go to bed so Santa could come. I honestly think they were asleep by 9pm! Santa got busy and was gone by 10pm:)

On Christmas morning we got up around 6:30 and the kids got busy opening their presents. Logan got Guitar Hero III and a new coat, Maika got some new jeans and a make-over Bratz doll, Nalani got the Princess babies, and Bronson got some tractors. They all got some games, cute duffel bags with their names embroidered on them, and other nice gifts from Grandparents, friends and cousins! Bronson was more excited about pushing Nalani's babies around in the stroller than playing with his new tractors, I just tried to let Kelly know that it was a sign that he will be a good daddy and ladies man someday:) But Kelly took it upon himself to get down on the floor with him and play tractors and cars and make all sorts of sound effects to go along with them.

We were treated to Breakfast a'la Jeremy...homemade hash browns, bacon, sausage, pancakes, eggs, and OJ it was all yummy! After the food, Kelly and Jeremy got down to the real business of the day, playing duel Guitar Hero on the Wii.(see Rochelle's blog for other pictures!) They were really rockin'! It was fun to watch too! Especially with all the SNOW coming down outside! A couple of times Logan came in to ask if I would go tell dad that it was her turn to play...I just told her that it was his turn and that he had to go to work for the rest of the week and she could play all she wanted. She's getting very good too, and likes Talon to come up so they can play together.

After Christmas Naps, we had dinner at our house with ham, Funeral Potatoes, rolls, green beans, and apple and pumpkin pies, again, yummy! We had a slumber party at our house that night and the kids played the Wii and watched movies late into the night, I must've been tired because I didn't hear a peep out of them!

The house is back to normal, all the decorations are back in their boxes except for the lights outside, Kelly gets that detail! We have to wait a whole year for another round, but we had a great season, spent with great friends! When we live so far away from our family and other loved ones, it's so nice to have "family" around here too!

Taking a breather

I'm taking a breather right now. I've been sitting on my office floor for the last hour and a half wrapping presents and my hips and back are killing me! I needed to sit upright for a little while:) So what do I do? I check blogs.

As I'm sure most of yours have been lately, my days have been crazy! Getting the last minute shopping done, Nalani's birthday festivities, cooking, wrapping, the list goes on and on. Today at church was good. We had our Christmas program in Sacrament meeting (I missed most of it because I was out in the hall with Bronson) what I heard was good though. Then for Sunday School my friend, Candy, taught the lesson on "Mothers Who Know" (search the title in the search box). She is a great teacher. For Young Women today Lorna and I were in charge of the lesson. We read the story called "The Three Trees" and then had the girls share some favorite memories of Christmas time. They had a great time sharing and we went around the circle twice! Keep in mind, most of these girls don't like to talk during lessons, so we were thrilled! We ended the lesson with the poem called "The Nail"

It's Christmas time at our house and we are

putting up the tree,

I wish I could find one simple way to

remember Christ's gift to me.

Some little sign or symbol to show friends

stopping by,

The little babe that was born one day, but he

really came to die.

Some symbol of His nail pierced hands, the

blood He shed for you and me.

What if I hung a simple nail on my shining

Christmas tree?

A crimson bow tied round the nail as His

blood flowed down so free,

to save each person from their sin and redeem

us for all eternity.

I know it was His love for us that held him to

that tree,

But when I see this simple nail I know he died

for me.

We gave each girl a nail tied to a red bow to hang on their trees at home, to be reminded of the real reason for Christmas.I hope we can all remember Christ this Christmas and be touched by His Spirit!

I guess I better get back to my wrapping, I'm never sure when one of the kids is going to walk in on me. I threatened them that if they did, I would take all the presents back to the store though. I guess we'll find out if they think I'm serious or not:)

Nalani turns 3!

Happy birthday Nalani! I can't believe she is already three! She had to grow up pretty fast...she was a big sister by the time she was 19 months old:) We love this little girl! She is our bossy one, our couch potato, and our tempermental little girl. She loves her little brother and her big sisters. She likes to ride on our boat. She loves her blankie and her pacifier (I know, she's too old for one!). She was our early Christmas present. We love you, Nalani, and hope you have a great birthday!

Toothless

Maika's bottom teeth have been loose for about a month now. And, given that her permanent teeth have already started popping through, I told her she really needed to get the baby teeth out! Now!

The tooth was so loose she could tip it sideways with her tongue! She was still so nervous to pull it, so I tried bribing her with stuff. I told her if she pulled it out, I would email the Tooth Fairy and tell her to bring $5. The thing that clinched it was, I told her I would take a picture and put it on my blog! She went in the bathroom got some toilet paper and pulled it out! So, now I'm living up to my end of the bargain. The Tooth Fairy came bearing a $5 bill and here's Maika's toothless entry on my blog:)

Good Job, Logan!

We just got back from Logan's award assembly. She received two awards this time. One from her PE teacher, and one from her Music teacher. We are so proud of her! It's always fun to hear good things about your kids and to know that some of what you are teaching them sinks in. Her teachers from Kindergarten until now have always raved about how well she treats the kids at school. She doesn't play favorites, or worry about who wears the cutest clothes, or which kids would further her social status.

Don't get me wrong, sometimes I wish her teachers could see her in action at home:) But, it makes me so happy to know that she's not one of the "mean girls" in school. Her first grade teacher described her the best, I think. She said,"Logan is kind and smart, yet delightfully sassy!" And, sassy she can be! I hope Logan continues to realize the importance of an education and always does her best. Most of all, I hope she continues to realize the importance of treating others with kindness. That will get her further than anything.

When Logan was in 2nd grade, she was kind of struggling with a friend. She came home and said, "_____, just wants to walk around at recess and not say hi to anyone, and run away from people." I asked her if she did this with the girl and she said no. Then she was worried because "so and so" was mad at her because she wouldn't do this at recess. I told her about Kelly's little sisters, Nani and Nathele, and how they were the most popular girls in their high school. I then asked if she wanted to know why they were so popular? Auntie Nan, and Auntie Belle were popular not only because they were smart, and pretty, and athletic, but because they were kind to everyone. Not fake nice, but genuinely nice. I think that lesson sunk in with Logan, and I hope it will sink in with Maika, Nalani, and Bronson too. They sure have a good example to look up to in a big sister!

Giving Myself a Pat on the Back

Yeah, I'm giving myself a pat on the back. "Why?" you ask. Well, because I've pretty much finished sending out our Christmas cards. This is the first year I had to write the letter (you better be starting your draft for next year, Kelly!), and I ordered them online (if you don't know me, this is major progress), and I figured out how to print the address labels (by myself) so I didn't have to spend hours hand printing them! I had to call Kelly for some moral support during this trying time. He probably heard a few choice words he could have gone without, but was very supportive and had faith in me that I could find a way to print those suckers!

I've finally finished the in-house decorating too. I just gave up and had to remind myself that Bronson thinks that since the ornaments look like balls, therefore they must be balls. He's already broken about five of them because he rips them off the tree and takes them over to the hardwood entryway and throws them. Then he stands there with a confused look on his face like, "hey, why didn't that thing bounce?"

Kelly was in charge of the outside decorations and did a great job! Jeremy came to our door a few days before Kelly got the lights up and asked in Scrooge was here. That sure got Kelly on the ball. He was stocking-up at Walmart the next day! After he was finished he came in and said, "That will teach Jeremy Lyman to call me Scrooge!"

I've still got some shopping and some shipping to do. So when that's all done, I'll have another reason to be patting myself on the back. Maybe I'll just splurge and make myself an appointment for a massage...now that sounds rewarding!