Last Post of 2014

January

Ian started a new sport and fell in love with it!  We love lacrosse too.

February

The Winter Olympics came to Russia.  Zach and Aubrey showed off their ice dancing skills.

March

The Frozen movie came out!  Aubrey was happy!

April

We hiked the West Rim in Zion's National Park.

May

Aubrey completed her first year of Dance Fusion.

June

We took Don's parents to San Diego to go on the Midway.  Don's Dad served on that ship. It was a very emotional trip.  It was so good to learn more about Don's Dad.

July

We went to Idaho for the 4th of July.

August

I went back to girls camp as a cook and a member of the Young Women's Presidency.  I serve the best girls!  I just love them!

September

We found ourselves back at football games watching Aubrey dance.

October

Halloween was upon us.  The girls did a zombie dance and took a picture eating Ian.

November

I went back to running races.  My first one back after two years was the Ragnar.  I was the 12th runner and was able to end the race.  It was such an honor.

December

We love all things Christmas.  We love the spiritual side of Christmas, the traditions, parties, friends, and family!

So another year has gone.  I am so grateful for each year that I am healthy and cancer free.  I love my family with all my heart.  I am so grateful for them.  This year I felt like I was dealing with a ton of emotions.  Just trying to figure out how to deal with things that happened with my cancer.  Crazy right.  Kind of a delayed reaction to everything.  I think I am going to be fine.  This year I am going to enjoy this year, relax, and work on self improvement!  So many blessings have come into my life.  I don't know why sometimes I am so blessed!  I know my Savior Jesus Christ lives and knows me personally.  I know it is through Him I was able to fight breast cancer. I know it is because of Him I am blessed with my wonderful family.  I am very grateful.  So here's to the next year, and getting it right!  Always working on self improvement!!!  Happy New Year's!

New Year's Eve!!!

 A couple of years ago we started going bowling on New Year's Eve with our kids.  We realized that they are older and wanted to go out and do their own thing.  You know, dances, parties, fireworks, and such.  No, no one has ventured down to the strip yet but they have other plans.  We love to go bowling.  It is a fun activity.  We always invite the Albrights, like they invite us to go ice skating on Christmas Eve.  It is always a ton of fun with them around.

Yeah, this happened!

This might be the girl who caused it!  Maybe not, but she sure does take a cute picture!

Ready for tomorrow!

Great Day With My Kids

I love the temple.  It is a place where we make covenants with the Lord, receive personal revelation, can find peace, and receive answers to our prayers.  It is a place where we feel close to our Savior Jesus Christ.  Our kids love to go to the temple.  Today we were able to take them there.  Zachery was even with us.  It was a great day.  I cherish the blessing it is to have a temple in our city and to be able to go to it with my children!  It was a cold and windy day, but I still made them pose for a picture.

Happy Birthday Ian!

Today at church, Don turned to me and said, "Our youngest is 13 years old."  It is a hard thing to accept!  I feel like he was born yesterday.  I remember that day like it was yesterday.  Maybe because his birth was so traumatic and the poor little guy had to be in the hospital for a few days.  Maybe because I knew this was my last baby and I wanted to savor every moment with him.  Anyway, today he is 13.  He is such a great kid.  I have enjoyed every minute of these 13 years with him!

As I was going through Ian's baby pictures, I came across this one.  So many little babies were born in the same week.  These kids have all become friends.

I had to take this picture.  This is how it is with my children.  They love each other and it just brings tears to my eyes to see how much they adore each other.  I am so grateful they have such a wonderful relationship with each other.

 Ian loves this ice cream sandwich cake.  He has it every year.

 

Ian got an Alabama hoodie.  He loves it.  He got that from his grandparents.  No, not the ones who are Alabama fans.  The ones in Connecticut!!!

We got Ian a BYU lacrosse hoodie and BYU lacrosse camp.  He is super excited to go this summer to that camp.  He loves BYU lacrosse.

Every birthday we do a birthday interview.  Here are Ian's answers to his questions.

1.  Describe a childhood friend and something you did with him/her.

Noah Karnafel.  He is short, child-like and enthusiastic.  I like when we make movies.

2.  How do you like being the youngest child?

It's fun.  I see what my brothers do wrong and I try not to make the same mistakes.  Oh also, Aubrey.

3.  What did  you do when you were a child that got you in the most trouble and how did your parents handle it?

I never get in trouble.

4.  How did you feel about school?

Mediocrity.  I do like my friends in school.

5.  What is your favorite smell, and what does it remind you of?

I like the smell of my lacrosse pads after a season of lacrosse.  You should smell it.  Oh, and the smell of victory.

6.  What was your favorite song in high school?

I am still in Middle School.  I don't listen to music.  I love it all.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas morning, oh how it's changed.  We used to be up by 3 or 4 in the morning.  There used to be a ton of gifts under the tree!  Ton's of toys.  Now, our children are older.  They sleep until 7:00 am on Christmas morning.  The only reason they get up so early is because Ian wakes them all up.  They ask for expensive things from Santa and their gifts are small, so it looks like they have nothing under the tree.  With all that said, the kids told us that this is one of the best Christmases they ever had.  They loved their gifts and were super excited all morning long.  They also loved their gift cards from grandparents and promptly spent them within minutes online.  Then the day after Christmas they went shopping all day!  They were thrilled.

 

After I got dinner in the oven we were able to Skype Austin.  I have never seen this kid look so happy!  He loves his new area and loves what he is doing.  He is working with a group of refugees from Burma.  He loves it and has even started to learn the language.  It was so good to see him.

Even dinner was relaxed.  We didn't have any company so no reason to get all fancy.  We still had a huge turkey dinner!  The kids loved that.



Even with all of this fun, we still remember the true meaning of the day.