Wednesday, December 07, 2011

Probably as good as it gets this year...






So I was really hoping to do Christmas cards this year but this is probably as good as it's going to get this year. There just has constantly been something going on as is the case in everyone's homes I am sure but I have just been slow getting life taken care of. So here's an annual top ten ish list...

1. We got a new car and have seat belts for all the kids-our current ones expected one and neighbors and carpools etc...It is a Ford of course and we were pleased to still feel a lot of brand loyalty.
2. Jocelyn got tubes in her ears and can speak in sentences now. It's great!
3. Taryn started kindergarten and has thrived! Her handwriting and math skills are amazing!
4. Cami started second grade and has become a HUGE reading fan. Currently she is addicted to some books called Fablehaven but has also LOVED the Harry Potter series and the Gregor Underlander series...
5. Brent got released from the Young Men's program at church after 3 3/4 years and has been home the last few Tuesday nights. Bed time is so much more peaceful. We are looking forward to lots more family time in the summers for boating and camping and hiking since he won't have to take boys camping hiking etc every weekend.
6. Amy enjoyed a 10 year anniversary trip to Hawaii now that we have been married 12 years (with Brent). It was so relaxing we brought home a great souvenir-a baby boy due in a few weeks.
7. Brent's business has taken off more and he now officially leases out office space instead of a bedroom at grandma's...
8. Cami started piano lessons and has her very first recital this week. She is playing I saw three ships come sailing in and maybe a couple others?
9. We took our first family trip to Disneyland and had a very magical time.
10. The girls had a great summer of swimming lessons and two great soccer seasons and a great year of dance.
11. Jocelyn is still in one piece despite her mad climbing skills which Amy claims as a personal victory-knock on wood.
12. Taryn has a loose tooth and is almost done with speech therapy after almost 3 years..She just needs to work on Rs and Th.
13. Cami got braces and lost several teeth and has been an amazing trooper over the whole process...
14. Brent has continued to sing in his boy choir and has had several great concerts. It is fun for him to fill some time with community service (lots of concerts at nursing homes and community events) and to learn more about singing.

Obviously I still can't count and the year has been full and we feel very blessed. We are excited for the little boy 2012 will bring and all the next adventures life has to offer. We hope all of you have a great 2012 and a fabulous holiday season!

Hiking with the Cousins

Because I have totally slacked at blogging lately, I have neglected lots of fun memories...BUT when Brent downloaded his pictures and I saw these I had to post because these were great memories. In October we went on a hike with some of the cousins who were down visiting for the weekend. We found someone's impromptu tomato garden off the trail and lots of bees. The kids got a kick out of hiking up a crevasse and I was encouraging them until I realized that it was kind of steep and I should probably be nervous. Luckily no one was wounded in pursuit of the crevasse including the photographer...Anyway, it was just a fun laid back hike so here you have it...

An up close look at the crevasse-they had to shimmy a ways to get to this point...
A fence by the random tomato garden...All the kids taking a break while the Dad's got the group picture in...
Not sure the instructions the kids were given to get them to make these faces but they were great faces.....