Last Post Of 2013

Well, 2013 is coming to an end.  It has been a good year for our family.  We had a missionary come home, one go out, another missionary still serving,  graduations, a cousin's wedding, priesthood ordinations, baptisms of cousins, the end to chemo therapy and radiation, two major surgeries, saying good-bye to one dance team and hello to another, and a chance to celebrate 25 years of marriage.  As I look at these pictures I swear it was Austin's year!  I think senior year is always like that. 

January

Austin was accepted to BYU-Idaho, only to defer it for two years while he serves his mission.

February

The guys love going to see the Rugby Sevens tournaments.  I never thought rugby would be a part of our lives!!!  Now we can't get enough of it.

March

Easter came early this year.  I don't even try to ask them to pose like "normal people" anymore!  O.k. maybe this is how "normal people" pose!

April

Prom time for Austin.  His date was so sweet to go to prom with him even though she is a college student at BYU.  These kids are awesome!  Just a great group of kids!

May

Zach came home from serving his mission in Russia.  We were all super excited to see him after two years of him being gone.  We were also lucky to have Don's family visit us twice this summer!  It was wonderful to have all of that support as we welcomed one missionary and sent out another.  Of course we had to take a picture.  This was taken after Zach spoke in church about his mission.  There is another picture that was taken at the same time, but I don't want to embarrass my mother-in-law again. Lets just say, she was not pleased with one of her grandchildren!  (Just look through the old posts and you can find it!)

June

Austin graduated from high school.  This time my family came from Connecticut to support us.

July

We went to California to play at the beach for Don's birthday!  It was a cold and stormy day, but that didn't stop these guys!  The good news is....no sunburn this year!

August

Austin left for his mission in North Carolina.  You can read his blog and see his pictures here.  He was super excited to go.  We miss him everyday, but we are so proud of him and the service he is giving!

September

School began and with that Aubrey began dancing with the high school dance team, Dance Fusion.  They work so hard!  Even though we have left her other team, she is dancing more hours now.  She averages about 12 hours a week!  She loves it! These girls are great girls. It is a great team.

October

Halloween.  I bet you can't guess Aubrey's costume!  Yep, she was a ballerina!  Ian went as Dr. Who.

November

One day the kids didn't have school so they asked if we could go and walk around Calico Basin by Red Rock.  They wanted to see the fall leaves.  Aubrey then told me that she thought I would like it because I get so homesick for Connecticut in the fall.

December

Enjoying the holidays!

We are looking forward to 2014.  I think this is going to be a good year.  Everybody have a safe and happy new year!

Happy Birthday Ian!

Today Ian turned 12 years old today.  This is a big birthday in our church.  He leaves Primary (Sunday school organization for the church's children under the age of 12.), gets to go to Young Men's Organization, and also gets the Aaronic Priesthood (Priesthood is authority, the exclusive right to act in the name of God as his authorized agents and to perform ordinances for the purpose of opening certain spiritual blessings to all individuals.). He is super excited for all of these changes!  Today he just asked to have his favorite Ice Cream Sandwich Dessert and have some of his friends come over to play.  He was really excited to get another video game.  Ian has been playing video games all week, since Christmas.  During break we let him play as much as he likes.  He is loving it!!!

We love Ian.  He is a wonderful boy!!!  He is a sweetheart!  I asked him the questions that I have been asking all of the kids this year, and these are his answers.

1.  What is your favorite book?  What was your favorite book as a child?

My favorite book is Percy Jackson.  When I was little I loved the Hungry Caterpillar.  I loved how it ate holes in the pages.

2.  What was a favorite place to go with your family when you were young.

Disneyland!

3.  What is your favorite food?  When you cook for the family, what do you enjoy making the most?

I love Pizza and I can only make bagels right now.

4.  Is there something you've always dreamed of owning?

I have always wanted a platypus.  No else can say, hey I have a platypus!

 

Merry Christmas

For the first time since we had kids, we slept in till 7:00 am.  As Aubrey put it, "I don't think we have ever opened Christmas gifts with the sun up!"  The kids were excited to open their gifts!  Can you tell?

Uh yeah, check out what mommy got!  I love it.

Aubrey wanted a polaroid camera.  Really?  Where was I suppose to got that?  Why does she want one?  Sure enough Santa is amazing and found one! I found it here!

We had a huge dinner and ate tons of food.  When we were not eating we played games and watched movies.  It was a very relaxing day!  The best part of the day was getting a chance to talk to this boy.  I can't believe he is on a mission.  I just look at him and can't believe he is in North Carolina serving!  He looks so good. It was so good to talk to him!!!  He is happy and that is the most important thing.  Big thanks to family and friends who write him, send him packages, and support him!

Christmas Eve!

Christmas Eve started out with the kid's gift exchange.  They choose names and exchange gifts in the morning.  They love this.  They try to pick the perfect gift.  So first thing in the morning, they start bringing down the gifts to put under the tree.

Ian had Zach's name.  He got him a book and wrapped it in underwear.  Clean underwear.  I don't know why Ian thinks this is so funny.  He does it every year!

Actually, Ian did wrap it.  He kind of got carried away with the bows!

He got Zach a book he has been wanting to read.

Then Zach had Aubrey's name.  He wraps gifts perfectly!

He got Aubrey this great BYU-I hat.  I am sure she will be using it in a few years up in Rexburg!

Aubrey had Ian's name.  She searched and searched for this gift.  She wanted to get him some Dr. Who shirts. We looked and looked.  Then one day I was in the mall and saw them at Hot Topic!  I couldn't believe it.  They had a ton of Dr. Who things!

Ian loved his shirt!

Then we went ice skating with the Albright family.  We love this tradition.  It is so much fun!!!  We were so tired afterwards.

Zach and I have some sweet moves!  Get ready Sochi....here we come!

It is so hard to take group shots on ice.  Everyone keeps moving!!

We came home and fed the missionaries Christmas Eve dinner.  You know, clam chowder in bread bowls.  Then we got in our pj's to take pictures.

Don and Ian got Alabama pajamas for Christmas.  They love them!

This year we had to wait forever for our older children to fall asleep.  It was rough.  They love to stay up late!!!  Finally they fell asleep!  It was a long night, but we had fun!

Funny Story:  Earlier in the day Don had to go to the post office with Ian to pick up a package. The line was really long and it was so hot in the post office.  Ian started to feel sick and felt like he was going to pass out.  So Don had him go and sit outside and get some air.  While he was outside, sitting down, a lady came by and dropped a dollar bill in his lap. She said, "You need this more than me!"  Ian looked at the lady and said, "I'm not homeless!  My dad is in there!  It is just too stuffy for me!"  Well the lady took back her dollar bill!  I guess her good deed didn't go as planned!!!