Weight Family Top Ten of 2017

Weight Family 2017 Top Ten List

aka the year of busy memory making

10. A good chunk of the year was spent with three kids in braces...Jocelyn got hers on then Taryn got hers on after getting like 10 teeth pulled out….then Cami got half of hers off and then Jocelyn got hers completely off recently but there will be more to come for her…and someday everyone will have healthy, straight, white teeth…..

9.8.7.6.We had lots of summer adventures for making memories. We did lots of camps. Cami did an esmart stem camp at the college. Taryn and Cami did a code camp at the college. Jocelyn did a climbing camp at the rec center. Creed did a safety town community camp too. Cami also did a high adventure church camp. We also did lots of hiking and camping and biking, and train rides, and museums, and flash marathons, and swimming, and even boating. No one was seriously wounded in the making of this year so that counts for multiple top ten moments.

5.We got to meeting new cousins and enjoy playing with them for a week up at Papa's. Hopefully someday they will live closer and we can spend more time playing.  

4. Everyone has been crazy with school and the accompanying extras...including Creed. We've done lots of science fairs, reflection contests, story telling festivals, debate clubs, student council events, choir concerts, sewing lessons, piano recitals, soccer games, swim meets, and dance recitals. Creed started Kindergarten and knows how to behave at school so far but has definitely been exposed to a more colorful vocabulary than we would wish. Jocelyn started 2^nd grade and didn’t cry from being nervous this year. She loves her class full of familiar friends from last year.  Taryn started 6^th grade at the intermediate school and has negotiated moving between classrooms without getting lost or late and is spanking it academically. Cami started 8^th grade at the middle school and has become super independent and spanks it as VP of junior national honor society. YEA for progress!

3. Church activities have kept us all busy. Cami is the president of her age group. Taryn started Young Women and Jocelyn got baptized. Creed is mostly reverent at church now which we all appreciate. Brent helps in the clerk department and that's a lot of work as one building is torn down and another is built and he has to keep people organized as it happens. Amy is still lucky enough to be working with kids.

2. Brent continues to love being his own boss. Consulting pays the bills and work on the  smart tank (a new project) keeps things interesting. Win-win. He also self published a children's book last spring so check it out on amazon. (Walrus Kisses are Scratchy)

1. Amy keeps up carpools, volunteers in classrooms, volunteers as the PTA health and safety vice president, keeps everyone fed, alive, and has a stash of band aids ready for Creed. She also has recently mastered the skill of instapot cooking. Maybe mastered is too strong a word but now procrastinating dinner prep is a success...

The last highlight that I forgot to add was that Cami is now officially taller than Amy...by more than an inch. And although Taryn is not taller than Amy yet she has grown 6 inches in the last 9 months...

Christmas Piano Recital

The girls all did great in their piano recital this winter. Jocelyn did not seem a bit nervous and she had about fifty songs she could have played since she enjoyed her Christmas music so much. She played constantly since she got the book. 

Taryn who is the least fan of piano lessons of anyone was nervous and a little hormonal about the whole thing but she sounded great. She also sewed a skirt for the event with material her piano teacher gave her. It turned out really cute and I was proud of her for doing something (piano) that was hard for her. 

Cami was not into pictures despite my pleadings and her photo bombing her sister was the closest I got to a picture of her which is a shame since she sounded so good. She played a duet with her best friend for the first time and it was a good experience for her although it did make her more nervous than she usually is.  She is getting to the point where she really sounds legit when she plays and it makes our house a better place to be/hear. Love these girls.

Creed made it through the recital pretty good with only one wwwf move that landed him and Jocelyn on the floor very loudly. But mostly he behaved in a recital worthy manner.

Merry and Bright

We love driving around to see Christmas lights but somehow this year was really busy and we only got out once. We of course had to go to thWe Phineus and Ferb house. It pretty amazing and we talked about how the family even sleeps in a house that is that bright and how the neighbors must feel with their neighborhood inundated with cars 24/7 for a month. BUT we loved it and it makes our season a little more merry and bright. And yes Cami was wearing shorts....

Mad Skills

Taryn has mad sewing skills and I love it....and even better she loves it. She sewed this latest skirt for her christmas piano recital. It was challenging because it has side pockets and a side zipper. I love this kid and her creative skills. She is amazing! If you ever need anything sewn she could probably hook you up...

Christmas Choiir

Cami has been in her school's show choir this year. They had about ten performances during the last month but their final holiday concert was held out side at the city center. It was pretty cold but I do love that we live in a place where you can legit have a holiday concert outside and not be sitting in snow all frostbitten. They did a really good job and it was fun to be part of and fun to watch. It is also fun that Cami has some really good friends in choir with her.

Church Party Visitor

The second weekend in December Brent and I were in charge of our church's Christmas party. We were told to plan on 300 people. We decided to do a breakfast so it didn't conflict with work parties. We had a pancake bar with lots of syrups and toppings. There was also egg/hash brown casserole and ham. It was a really big job but it turned out nice enough. We even had a special visitor at the end and this might be one of the first years that our children didn't cry and run away from Santa. Maybe its because Santa had candy canes he was handing out. Creed and Jocelyn REALLY like candy canes. Hopefully everyone had a good time and thankfully it was over pretty early in the season so we could work on getting our kids Christmas ready.

Jingle Bell Cute face

The second grade at the elementary school has a tradition of going caroling to a local bank then the bank gives them a tour and has them decorate the tree in their lobby. I know this tradition wouldn't hold in most places but it is a really fun time for the kids. It was fun for me to sneak in and watch them sing. Jocelyn seemed to know all the words and even though she was packed into the middle of the crowd I saw her poke her head out looking for me.She insisted on wearing her red dress with her green headband and white tights...because she wanted to look totally festive. What a cute little face and a fun little girl. I'm so lucky to be her mom.

Decking the Halls

The kids (particularly Creed) were REALLY excited to deck the halls this year. I told them if they cleaned fast and picked up all the fall time decorations that we could do it the day after Thanksgiving. They moved fast and we all decked the house. Brent got the lights up outside in a few minutes. It helps when you can just reach up and hang the lights without a ladder. Everyone loved watching them twinkle out their bedroom windows and on the stairs. It is a lot more fun to decorate this house than it was our old one for some reason. The kids helped with Grandma Jennings's Christmas village and it made me really homesick for my mom...but I am sure she is more homesick since she is actually away from home. I got to put out my nativity that I got for Christmas last year and it was really fun to have an actual nativity that was nice and wouldn't get played with constantly. (although we did put the touchable ones out too) And just to avoid the yearly fight Creed put on the star. Next year is Cami's turn.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving break was really different this year. With my mom out of town and Brent's dad out of town it felt a little bit sad. BUT luckily I still have a sister and brother in town so it was still good. Wednesday the kids needed to get out of the house for all our sakes so I took them on a walk along a river trail. Taryn showed us a place down by the river to play and it turned out really fun. Jocelyn found a lady bug so life was good. 

Thursday we ate at our house and it was fun to use our China that gets used like once a year other wise. My sister and brother and nieces came. My niece Madison brought a friend from Tibet. It was super fun to learn about her country and culture and religion. She is such a great girl. We also showed her St George by taking her hiking to a place called fat man's misery. The kids always get a kick out of going through the slot. It took a while because a guy in front of our group really did get stuck in the narrow crevice but eventually he was pulled out. 

Friday we cleaned the house and put out Christmas decorations...always a good time but man the holiday season came fast this year. Saturday we found a new hike and it was AWESOME! The trail was up the whole way to the top and down hill the whole way back. All the kids did great hiking on their own and no one fell off the ginormous cliff. The views at the top were amazing.