Best of 2008

1. Jared and Clarissa had the opportunity to be in the musical "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" at the High School. The practice and performance schedule was hectic, but it was well worth the memories, and we still have all the songs memorized, even Krystal.

2. After a year of being on the market, our house in Texas finally sold. We paid off all our debts except for our current mortgage, including our student loans. We were so excited to finally have some money to buy groceries and decided that our first "meal" in celebration would be the biggest brownie sundae ever!
3. Chris finally got his riding lawn mower, a John Deere. He spent many a Saturday this year giving the kids rides while he mowed our yard.

4. Our vacation to the Pennsylvania was most memorable. From seeing Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, to hiking in the Poconos Mountains, to taking a tour of the Hershey factory, we had a fun-filled week together as a family.

5. We really enjoyed our garden this year. It has been several years since we'd been able to have a garden between living in Texas and living in temporary housing in Virginia. The garden kept us busy from shoveling dirt, to building garden boxes, to planting seeds, to harvesting the food, to eating the food and canning it.

6. Swimming at the Martins. We are so grateful for neighbors who have a pool and share it with us any time of any day. We spent the fourth of July with them, swimming, playing games and watching fireworks.

7. After living in Southwest Virginia for two years and looking at the Blue Ridge Mountains every day, we finally drove to the Blue Ridge Parkway and went hiking. It was beautiful and we enjoyed being together.

8. We enjoyed numerous cookouts at our backyard firepit. Usually coupled with some Archery practice. We decided to start archery after some target practice in the Poconos. Jared and Chris both got bows this year.

9. A quick trip to Washington D.C. turned out to be a great experience. Chris and Jen wanted to go to the D.C. temple so the kids tagged along. We went up a day early to go into downtown D.C. to the Art Museum. We all enjoyed seeing the Rembrandts, Vermeers, and DaVinci.

10. The kids each had exciting things happen this year. Jared received his Wolf badge for Cub Scouts and began learning to play the piano. Clarissa got glasses, began learning the piano, and started taking horsebackriding lessons. Krystal started preschool at home with some of her friends. Amber has learned to talk and continues to surprise us with new words everyday, her latest - Right Now!

11. We always enjoy dressing up for Halloween. This year we did the Peter Pan theme. We missed our Captian Hook for the ward party (He was working in Illinois), but were glad that he was able to make it back home for Halloween night.

12. Our final best memory for 2008 is sledding and ice skating in Illinois. We had such a good time being with Chris while he worked in Illinois. We enjoyed the winter weather, almost as much as we enjoyed coming back to Virginia for some sunshine.

Happy 2nd Birthday Amber!

Our baby is 2! It's really hard to believe that this much time has gone by, but it's been fun. Amber at 4 months old is just sweet and happy.At 18 months old, Amber has become our family clown.

Don't let that sweet face fool you, she's full of spirit!

See! This is one of Amber's favorite funny faces. She gets us all in stiches with this one every time.

Amber wants to be like her big sisters. Not old enough to ride real horses yet, she's succumbed to taking her rocking horse out for a ride.

Can you say bouffant? At 2 years of age, Amber finally has enough hair to match her hair-raising personality. We love you Amber. We love laughing at you, and with you. Here's to a life time of laughs. Thank you for bringing so much joy into our lives.

Merry Christmas!

We are grateful for this time of year to reflect on all the blessings that we have in our lives. We hope that this Christmas Day finds all our families and friends happy and healthy. We are looking forward to the New Year and all the adventures that four busy children bring into our lives. We are grateful for our Savior and His sacrifice for us so that we may live such enjoyable lives together as a family. Here's to a great 2008. Merry Christmas.

Back from hiatus

After a month of being a single Mom while Chris worked in Illinois, the kids and I decided to join him there for the month of December and take advantage of that opportunity to visit our good friend's, the Stewarts. Just after Thanksgiving, we packed up the kids, the dog, and the car and headed North. As soon as we hit the Illinois border on Sunday, Nov. 30th, the girls asked, "Are we at the North Pole?" because we found that it was snowing! So naturally the kids spent the next couple of days sledding, making snowangels, eating snow and getting really cold. Amber in the penguin sled at the Stewart's house.

Jared and Dayn spent hours outside every day they could. They wouldn't come in until after dark, when we finally made them.

On Friday, we warmed up at the hotel hot tub.

We spent our days at the Stewart's house doing our schoolwork, but on the weekends we had fun with Dad. Saturday, Dec. 13th we surprised Jared with ice skating (he had been wanting to go the whole time we had been there). It took everyone a little while to get used to the ice, but it was fun.

Sunday, the 14th we had dinner over at our friend's, the Stonehockers.

It snowed a lot while we were there. Most mornings it took about 20 minutes just to get the suburban de-iced. One morning we couldn't get any of the doors open because they were frozen shut, we had to crawl in from the back. Diesel loved running around in the snow.

On Friday, the 19th, Chris and I watched the Stewart's four kids while they went out for their Anniversary. We had a lot of fun (and messiness) making chocolate covered pretzels.

Sunday, the 21st, church was cancelled because the windchill was -35 degrees. We still got dressed up and took advantage of the fireplace in our hotel room for a Christmas photo shoot.

That evening, the kids put on a production of The Nativity. They did all the casting and costumes themselves. After three weeks of spending every day together, they are all really good friends.

On Monday, the 22nd and with the temperature at -6 degrees, we loaded up the Suburban with all our stuff including all the Christmas presents we bought while we were there and headed back home. Whether it was passing by steel mills in Gary, Indiana - horse pastures and stables in Lexington, Kentucky - or coal refineries in Charleston, West Virginia, we finally made it back home and were able to add three more states to our list of States we've visited.

Now that our hiatus is over, it's time to get back into the swing of things here at home.

Stars and Spots?

Tonight at dinner Krystal was singing a song from Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and in the middle of it she broke into this..." I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic, for which it stands...Dalmation." Then she burst into laughter as she realized her mistake and Clarissa reminded her that it's One Nation, not Dalmation. So cute!

Christmas Tag

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper with stamped gift tags (except for this year).
2. Real tree or Artificial? Real if we're going to be home the whole month of Dec., otherwise, artificial.
3. When do you put up the tree? Whenever I find the time.
4. When do you take the tree down? Same as No. 3
5. Do you like eggnog? Love it! Cold or Hot, have even made it from scratch.
6. Favorite gift received as a child? Keyboard - I still have it. What makes it my favorite is that I never asked for it, my parents just seemed to know that I wanted it.
7. Hardest person to buy for? Chris, he never likes anything I pick out. I don't buy for him anymore.
8. Easiest person to buy for? Close friends.
9. Do you have a nativity scene? Several, my favorites are the two that my mom has made for me.
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Try to mail.
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Corduroy pants.
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? It is a little known secret that I don't like Christmas movies. Actually I detest most of them, the only ones I tolerate are Home Alone and Home Alone II.
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Usually some time in December. Chris and I always do Christmas shopping on my birthday (16th).
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I don't think so.
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Buried cherry chocolate cookies (the only way I'll eat maraschino cherries).
16. Lights on the tree? White lights and rose lights.
17. Favorite Christmas song? "O Holy Night" especially when sung by Celine Dion or my friend Vicki.
18. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? If I'm singing the song I can.
19. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel, gold and white with lights.
20. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? If grandma sends pj's we open those Christmas Eve, everything else, Christmas morning.
21. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? The cold weather! Hands down!
22. What theme or color are you using? Most people know I LOVE red. I love to wear red, decorate with red, have the red KitchenAid and everything to match in red. The only time I don't like red, is when decorating for Christmas. For Christmas, it's Burgundy and Gold with a Victorian flair.
23. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Ham and Sweet Potatoes.

I guess the idea of a tag is to tag others, but if you're like me and you feel guilty if you don't have time to respond to a tag, don't, but do if you want to, I'd love to see you're answers.