Crafter's Corner

We tried out this new place in Pleasant Grove this year for P's birthday. It turned out to be so fun and cute. The girls each got to paint their initial to their first name. It was amazing to see how creative the girls were. I was worried that some of them might turn out not so cute, but found that they all turned out awesome. They all knew exactly what they wanted and how they wanted to do it. It was a great place, with good help and inexpensive! It was so fun to see how much quieter and well mannered the girls were compared to a big group of boys. Not that the boys were all that bad, just much more rambunctious! Happy Birthday Sweet Girl.

Tanner's Baptism

I think having a child get baptized is one of those benchmarks that ages you. I have never felt so old. I can't believe I have a kid that has chosen to be baptized.

It was such a great day surrounded by family and close friends. T-man knew exactly who he wanted to talk, to pray, and even what songs he wanted. He is such a great kid and we are so grateful we can be his parents.

Oh, And One More

I did set a New Year Resolution this year. Who am I kidding?

I set it for Brett. I told him that he should write me a love note a day for a year. And I bet you are wondering how he is doing....

A little taste of just what kind of romantic Brett really is:

"Marriage is like doing push ups. There are a lot of ups and downs, but in the end you are much stronger. I love getting ripped with you. B"

New Year Resolution

My husband and I have the same discussion every year.

Brett: Do you want to set some goals for this year.

Me: Yep.

Brett: OK, what do you want to do.

Me: Oh, I don't know you figure it out.

This conversation goes on for about a week, the last week of the year. He has every intention of getting me to commit to something, and I have every intention of agreeing, trying, and even coming up with some of my own. And then before I know it, it is January 27th. He has set goals for us (and I may not even know what they are) and I am still trying to figure out what I slacked on from last year.

I hate Resolutions. I understand the need for goals and to work on things, but I guess in my mind, I hate that it has to surround the New Year and that is isn't something that is a continual process.

I should love them because maybe it would really get me to blog. Maybe.

And there you have it. The first resolution I failed at.

There is still time.....

Last month I opened up my journal to write in it. I try to write a yearly letter to each of my kids around the time of their birthday. I remember the year before I was always so tired and had the intention of doing the older 2's letter when KK had her birthday and I wrote hers, since I didn't get it done when they had their actual birthdays. You probably can imagine my surprise when I opened my journal and realized it had been over TWO years since I last wrote. TWO WHOLE years of incredible busy, brutally honest events that were captured no where. Maybe occasional excerpts here on my blog, but even this has slacked off. If I don't have it here, and I don't have it in my journal-it is nowhere. Guess I better get on it and start getting better at both.

I am setting a resolution for today: To start.

Nesting

Nesting: Often referred to as the period of time before a woman is about to go into labor in which she feels the need to organize her house and her life.
I have always thought of it as a womanly instinct. Until this week. My husband is on a roll. He has spent the last two days going through cupboards, drawers, and closets. I have never seen the likes of it before. Can't say that I mind it. It would just be nice if it lasted all year long.
Now let's just see if I can actually find things in the days to come.

Ready for the New Year

I am sitting here at work right now, 3 am on Christmas morning. Not a lot going on, which is a good thing. I hate tragedy on holidays, especially this one. I requested to work tonight. Strange, especially for me, I know. As much as I would rather not work, I need the hours. Work has been extremely slow to the point that I am working sometimes only once a week. It has been like this for a couple of months. Everyone keeps thinking it will pick up because of "respiratory season", but we have yet to see the effects of that. Maybe once everyone hangs around family for the holidays that will change.
I am sad I won't be there in the morning to see the looks on my kids faces. Brett is going to try to hold them off for as long as he can. He told them he would even make them breakfast in bed, sweet, I know.
It is amazing to think how quickly 2010 has gone by. I can hardly wait to slap this year goodbye as it goes out the door. 2010 has to have been one of my least favorite years, EVER.
Lots of things happened, challenged us and helped us to grow. Maybe one day I will look back and cherish this year. Not today.
One good thing did come of the year and that was getting Brett back with us. Couldn't have asked for anything better. One more year til we are done with school and maybe I will feel some normalecy in my life. And truly, I can't complain because I am blessed with a beautiful healthy family!

Here's to hoping for a better year!

It's Great to be Eight

T-man is a huge Jazz fan. It has been fun to see this develop. He gets excited to hear about the games, asks his dad the final score, and loves to go to the games. His favorite player is Andre Kirilenko, AK-47.

He just turned 8. For his birthday party, he wanted to go to the Jazz practice facility, tour it with his friends and play basketball on the court. I didn't know if this was possible, but with a small connection ( wink, wink) to the Jazz, we were able to pull it off.

The kids loved it. Smitty was amazing. Made the tour fun, funny, and exciting for the kids. Their favorite part was Fesenko's size 19 shoe. That's right, I said NINETEEN.

Fifteen kids later, we had ourselves a party. They loved climbing up on the seats where the players get their ankles taped. They were each able to pick a player to stand in front of their locker to get their picture taken. Played a little hoop, some quick round of lightening. and then headed up for pizza and cupcakes. They even got to pick drinks out of the refrigerator.

Smitty had little bags for them all, each with player cards, a book and a Jazz fleece blanket. T-man got an autographed basketball from the team.

I think everyone came out a winner and some even scored!