Builders and Buddies

Don't know if I say it enough, but we are so grateful for good friends!

Dee's Room Re-Do

So, Santa did pretty darn good with Marissa's "fun room stuff", don'tcha think? Marissa is very excited about her new, fun decorations.

Both she and I had such a great time putting it all together!  I can't believe she's in her teen years!  (Makes for fun Christmas gifts :))

Christmas with the Fam

Oh, how I love Christmastime!  Not just the day of ... but the WHOLE season.  Any chance we can get together is heavenly!

Mom and Dad got Ty-n-I an electric fireplace/heater.  We love it and have used it EVERY day since.  Mom really out-did herself this year and made so many darling things for the kids.  Here are Aaron and Ethan in their homemade race car hat.  Adorable, yeah?

 

Mom made Hanna and Krystal fancy scarves and purses that fold into doll cradles (they were both in LOVE with those - still are!)  Look at the darling hat she made Marissa (I've borrowed it a few times already), and the "scripture bag" that Marissa loves.  She also made Aaron a bag full of marbles, and Ethan a looooooong snake.  The kids love all of them.

Grandma and her girlies.  Marissa is almost as tall as her Grandma Pat!  AGH!

After a fabulous morning with the Millers, we headed over to Tyler's parents for the traditional Swedish pancake extravaganza!  

Here are Tina and I cookin' and ready-a-fyin'!  :)

Here are the kiddos enjoying the start of the feast.  Krystal was SO happy that both she and Anaka got twinner vests.  :)

Mmmmmmmm!  Tyler and Brandon cooked the pancakes this year, and did a great job.  Check out that stack!  (that's only half of 'em  :)!!)

 

Here are the gorgeous girlies!

And the crazy boys.  

Tyler and his nephew, Ryan.  This might be our last Christmas with him for a few years as he should be leaving on a mission soon.  

Anyway - we had a fantastic day with the family.

More Christmas Eve Adventures

We spent Christmas Eve with my parentals this year ... and we really had a good time. We kind of broke tradition of the "musical program", and just hung out - opened presents - played games - ate yummy food. It. was. FABULOUS!

The kids got to open some toys for the basement gramps recently finished - to put in their playroom.

They were ecstatic, to say the least.

The princesses and their daddy-princess-ees.  :)

We played this super fun game (I can't remember what it's called) - but, we each payed $3.00 to play.  We then rolled dice (for however many dollar bills we were holding - up to 3) and certain numbers determined what you did with each dollar (pass right, pass left, put in the middle).  SO. FUN!!  Even Marissa and Aaron got into it.  I pretty much lost all 3 of my dollars with one roll of the dice ...

... but ended up winning in the end!!!  $27.00!  That was a nice dinner out - thankyouverymuch.  :)

Mom and Dad surprised the kiddos with a ...  newwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww car!

 

Pretty sweet, eh?  The kids just died.  They are in heaven.  Now when Hanna and Krystal play house, there is a Mom and a teenager (that can drive) - no one wants to be the baby anymore.  hahaha!

Marissa enjoyed her Meggie-roo.  (we all do! just can't help it!)

And, we're grateful to have each other ... especially over the holidays.  The love and support of family is irreplaceable.  We miss Kent and Leisy EXTRA this time of year.

Here are the kiddos in their new jammies from G-ma and G-pa:

Ahhhh - I've been dreading finishing the Christmas posts,  but I'm so glad that I saved them.  These memories really warm my heart and make me glad.  I'm so grateful for my family and my Savior, and the warmth and joy that fills my soul through them.

Christmas Eve Sledding!

Gramps took us all out to a snowy field for sledding behind the four-wheeler on Christmas Eve day.  Talk about an AWESOME day.  I'm not sure if you can tell how much fun we all had by the looks on our faces ...

 

I really think Krystal had her mouth open most of the time.  haha!

Cute girlies:

The gramps and his boys.  Aren't those mountains incredibly beautiful?!  The day was just gorgeous!

They each could NOT get enough turns!  Good thing gramps had two sleds going.

I seriously couldn't get over how gorgeous everything looked.  Snow isn't ALL bad :)!

Here's Kris and Miss with their twinner "Black Friday" coats they got.  Pretty stylin', eh?

 

It just wouldn't be truthful to say that Tyler and James didn't have AT LEAST as much fun as the kids.  Granted - BrentO went all out wild for them.  :)

Sent Tyler flying right off into the mud ... didn't get it on film, of course.  Oh - we all had such a blast!

Counting down the days 'til we get to do it again!  Thanks Mom and Dad for such a fabulous day.  More Christmas Eve pics coming up soon!

1-1-11

What a cool date, huh?  I have several posts to put together still from December 2010, but I couldn't resists posting on 1/1/11.

Tyler and I have been talking a lot lately about what goals we want to work on this new year.  Change is really hard for me - and, I don't think I'm necessarily lazy, but trying to set goals seems a little overwhelming for me each year.  Tyler and I talked about making little changes and improvements ... not something COMPLETELY different, but being better at what we're already doing.  We also talked about the importance of still being specific with what we want to work on.  I really like that idea.  It seems more realistic to me.  So, here are my "baby step" goals for 2011:

1.  The theme in Primary this year is "I Know the Scriptures Are True".  I have felt SO strongly about this theme and making it important in my own life as well as the primary kids (in Singing Time) this year.  So my number one goal for 2011 is to read the scriptures EVERY DAY, and study and ponder specific scriptures (that relate to the songs I'm teaching) every week.


2.  Magnify my callings.  I love being the Singing Time leader in my ward, and being the Stake Primary Music Leader has been very challenging.  That being said - I get a "burned out" attitude on a monthly basis.  This wouldn't happen if I stayed more prepared - so, that's what I'm going to work on.  I'm introducing the new theme and song tomorrow in Primary, and I'm anxious for it to go well.

3.  Exercise "officially" once a week.  (Man - just typing that makes me nervous!!)  I hope this is a realistic goal.  I gotta start somewhere.  I always rationalize and say that I got enough exercise cleaning the house, running errands, or (haha) doing singing time.  I have so admired those around me (Leisy and Linz!!) that make exercise a priority.  I know it's important.

4.  Keep my house clean.  This may seem like a silly goal, and really - I'm already pretty anal about how clean my house is.  I like my house CLEAN (drives Marissa particularly crazy).  But - keeping a house clean is quite time consuming.  And now that our house is three years old - things are adding up (cleaning the blinds, baseboards, ceiling corners, cupboards, closets) - plus the usual stuff.  And I want to keep up on that.  So - I'm making it a goal!  :)

5.  Blog.  hahaha!  This blog is important to me, because I feel like it keeps track of my family - and, I think that is important for my kiddos.  Sometimes I like to blog - and sometimes I hate it.  I ALWAYS like to go back and read it.  :) And I KNOW I love reading others' blogs.  But, ya know - it's time consuming - so, on my goal list it goes.  ;)

I'd like to know how others work through New Year Resolutions, so please feel free to share.  And Happy New Year!