Review of 2015 in Pictures!

This is the last post of 2015.  It has been a great year.  A busy year, but great!  I have enjoyed it, and I am so grateful for my many blessings that the Lord continues to bless me with.  One big blessing for sure...my family!  2015 has had it's up and downs, as all years do, but 2016 will bring big changes for the Brasier family!  Bring it!  I think we are ready!

January

Ian went to the Mormon Fort to work on some merit badges.  He has spent the whole year finishing the merit badges up.  Now he is on to his Eagle.

February

We went to Disney with Dance Fusion.  We took Zach with us to give him a little vacation.  It was a blast!

March

We went to Mexico with some friends.  We were so grateful to that these friends let us join them and we got stay in their family home!

April

Aubrey went to prom and looked beautiful!

May

Aubrey and her friend Syann became the new captains of Dance Fusion.

June

School ended and Don and I headed to St. George to watch Dance Fusion perform at dance camp.  While the girls were taking class, we went on a hike.  It was so pretty.

July

We went camping and hiking in Great Basin National Park.  Ian and Don were still working on the hiking merit badge.

August

Austin came home from his mission!

September

Austin started school at BYU-I.  He did awesome his first semester!

October

Ian and Don fulfilled a dream, and went to the Alabama homecoming game.  I gave Don is airline ticket as a birthday gift for his 50th birthday gift.

November

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with Austin!  The first time in 2 years.

December

For the first time in 4 years, all of our children were here for Christmas!

 

New Year's Tradition

A long time ago, we decided to go bowling on New Year's Eve day.  Our kids were getting older and they spent their evenings with their friends.  We decided to do some things as a family during the day.  So of course we invite our favorite family, the Albrights to join in!!!  This year when we went to the Red Rock to bowl they had Cosmic Bowling going on. That was fun.  Something new!  We also had Zachery's fiancé with us.  It was a ton of fun.  Now the kids are headed out to have some fun!

I Love To See The Temple!

I realized yesterday that this has become a tradition.  We always seem to go to the temple right after Christmas and before New Years.  So here we are again.  The end of the year temple trip.  This year Aubrey's boyfriend came with us.  I love that my kids love the temple.  I love that when we go, Aubrey tells me that she needs more!  She obviously feels the Spirit there and wants to go. It was a great day for us. 

Some thoughts on Temples:

In addition to the closeness we feel to the Lord when we are in the temple, we can continue to receive blessings even after we have returned to our everyday lives. Attending the temple gives us a clearer perspective and a sense of purpose and peace. President Thomas S. Monson described temple blessings as follows:

“As we go to the holy house, as we remember the covenants we make therein, we will be able to bear every trial and overcome each temptation. The temple provides purpose for our lives. It brings peace to our souls—not the peace provided by men but the peace promised by the Son of God when He said, ‘Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.’”

President Boyd K. Packer, President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, described additional blessings of attending the temple:

“When members of the Church are troubled or when crucial decisions weigh heavily upon their minds, it is a common thing for them to go to the temple. It is a good place to take our cares. In the temple we can receive spiritual perspective. There, during the time of the temple service, we are ‘out of the world.’

“Sometimes our minds are so beset with problems, and there are so many things clamoring for attention at once that we just cannot think clearly and see clearly. At the temple the dust of distraction seems to settle out, the fog and the haze seem to lift, and we can ‘see’ things that we were not able to see before and find a way through our troubles that we had not previously known.

“The Lord will bless us as we attend to the sacred ordinance work of the temples. Blessings there will not be limited to our temple service. We will be blessed in all of our affairs

 

Happy Birthday Ian!!!

14 years ago, this little guy came into my life.  He has been a joy to me and his Dad.  Ian is just the sweetest boy.  One thing for sure, he loves his family!!!  He is just the cutest boy, and we adore him.  His birth was scary and we almost lost him, but he pulled through!  I will never forget leaving him in the hospital and just falling apart!  I wanted my baby home, but he had some health issues, and needed to stay in the hospital.  It broke my heart.  Then on New Year's Day we got the call from the hospital early in the morning to come and get him. We rushed to the hospital, grabbed our baby, and got him home!  Now he is grown, and just a ton of fun.  This year will be different for him.  At the start of the school year he will be the only one home and a freshman at high school.  Changes are coming for him.

Don took him to Star Wars again, but this time in 3D an IMAX.  Ian loved seeing the movie again, but said he wasn't too impressed with the 3D.  Then he wanted to go and eat out at the Mac Shack.  This kid loves his mac and cheese for sure.  Then we went home to have his favorite ice cream sandwich cake!  It is good!  He wanted Lacrosse Camp again for his birthday, and that is what he got.  He is excited for it.  Then the next day he got invited to go to 6 Flags with his friends.  He was so excited to do that.  So, I think he loved his birthday.  It was pretty good!

So this is my last child to interview this year.  Next year I will have different questions.  Here is Ian's birthday interview.

1.  Did you have a childhood hide-out?

No

2.  Did you and your father share an interest in any special activity?

Yes, watching Alabama football and airplanes.

3.  What is your favorite Christmas memory?

This Christmas.  We were all together again and that made me happy.

4.  What is your favorite Halloween memory?

This Halloween because I was with all of my friends trick-or-treating and we were being hooligans.

5.  What is the weirdest dream you've ever had?

When I was a kid I remember this dream instinctly because it was a nightmare.  So it was weird.  I was in a house, no one was there, and I kept hearing things, voices.  I went into a room and there were hands coming out of the light sockets.  It was weird, and scared me.  After that I woke up.

6.  Do you like rainstorms?  Why or why not?

Yes, because it doesn't happen a lot so it's fun and unusual. 

Aubrey's Holiday Fun!

Aubrey had a ton of fun for the holidays.  She had a couple of parties to go to and fun times with friends.

She went to Beatles Love with her boyfriend.  They went to celebrate Christmas and their one year anniversary.  She loves that show, so she was excited!

She went ice skating a couple of times.

She went to parties.  Some big parties, and some with just close friends.

Then there was all the school festivities.  There were dress-up day and winter assembly!

It was fun!