Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all our family and friends! We brought in the new year with laughter and loud noises! Kelsey and Jake decided they would not only blow their horns, but they'd jump up and down on bubble rap to add more excitement. It was just fun watching them!
Morgan and her friend, Taylor, decided to take the more mature approach.
And, as always, I was sappy and emotional. New Years Eve always brings back family memories and thoughts of my dear parents. Tears are good!
Christmas was a joyful day. Santa keeps finding our home, regardless of our behavior, and he had a fun sense of humor this year.
Family tradition....First prayer, then line up from youngest to oldest. (I always enjoyed this tradition since I was the youngest of 5).
Morgan received a life-size cardboard cutout of Edward. This became the "joke of the day" as we kept hiding him in rooms, closets, showers, etc. and scaring each other. How come it's always the random gifts that become the favorites?
Christmas Eve was spent with family and friends. We enjoyed our traditional singing of Christmas hymns, reading the account of Christ's birth from the scriptures, reciting my mother's Christmas poem, singing the rowdy Christmas songs and finishing in unison reciting, "The Night Before Christmas." It is always a wonderful evening.

Holiday Greetings

One of the most beautiful things about having a blog is that I don't even have to write a Christmas Letter recalling all the happenings of the last year. All one has to do to see what's happened is scroll down the page.

We feel blessed this year to be healthy, happy and our needs and wants are met. The older I get, the faster the years seem to pass. The kids are growing, maturing and turning into truly adorable young adults and tweens. I am so proud of the kindness they show others and the good decisions they make.

Thank you to all our friends and family for your friendship and association. We are so lucky to have so many great people in our lives and appreciate your good examples. We pray that you and your families will be blessed this holiday season with health, prosperity and the joy that comes only through Christ. We believe in Christ and are thankful for the opportunity to recall His birth, His life, and His sacrifice for us. He gives us light and hope. May you have the peace and comfort this holiday season, that only He can offer.

Giving Thanks

2010 Pie Night was wonderful and delicious, as usual! Aunt Toni, Uncle Shirl, and family made an amazing 49 pies this year and we sat and ate pie and enjoyed family and friends. Thank you so much. Pie Night is a huge act of kindness and service. We love you!

We enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner at Carol and Lynn's. We were joined by the Darrington family and it was so nice to have them there. John Darrington is serving in Iraq right now and we miss him and are grateful for his service.
We also had my nephew, Mitchell, who is attending BYU, join us for dinner. We had delicious food, good company, we watched a movie, had time for a nap, watched some football, ahhhhh.....it was a fabulous day. My sister Tammy, who lives in St. George, knows how much we love her homemade pumpkin pies. She had friends coming up this way, and they delivered two pies (and a gluten-free version) to us. They were delicious and one more reminder of how blessed we are to have kind family and friends. Thanks Tammy!
Kelsey participated in the 6th grade Temples and Tombs program this month. It was entertaining to watch and they did a great job.
This was a big month for Kelsey as she started on phase 1 of her braces adventure! She had braces put on the top and got two teeth pulled on the bottom. So far all 6 teeth she has lost on the bottom, have been pulled by the dentist. We aren't sure why her teeth don't behave correctly, but they don't. Makes me wonder if it had anything to do with the original development of her teeth when she was a baby and we didn't know she had celiac? Guess it doesn't matter. We are making progress and she'll have a beautiful smile to show for it. Love you Kels!

Derby and Spooks

Congratulations to Jake for taking FIRST PLACE at the Pine Wood Derby!! (Do I have to mention that it was actually Jake Finlinson that took first place?) Jake and Joe put blood, sweat and tears (well, not quite) into the Pine Wood Derby this year. They spent hours preparing for their first car ever. After several changes and tweaks, they were ready to go! The boys each got three runs down the track. First run, our car did not go so fast. Second run, our car threw a wheel into the audience. Before the third run there was a quick pit stop which included repairs with the hot glue gun. After repairs, they ran the second run again and third run. Jake's car was fast a furious after the repairs! Way to go boys. We're proud of you.

We had some crazy silly Halloween-ers this year. Morgan decided to join in on the nerd-herd....

Kelsey was a mad-hatter (and a dang cute one!)...

Jake was a ferocious werewolf...

And Joe and I, well, we feel like we're from the age of the dinosaurs, so why not act like it? We dressed up like Fred and Wilma.

Halloween was fun but it's always one holiday I'm happy to have over. No more sugar rush, no more headache and no more creepy spooks. Now on to the good stuff, like pie night, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Can I listen to Christmas music now?

Fabulous Fall Break

Joe and I were both able to take off work this year and enjoy fall break with the kids. We decided instead of spending one day packing and getting ready, one day driving, and another day unpacking and washing clothes....we'd just hang out locally and act like tourists. And that we did! We started our first day by going to the Living Planet Aquarium. That was pretty cool. We got to pet some sting rays, watch the penguins being fed and check out some amazing creatures. We also did some laser tag that afternoon (5 games worth) and had a blast. Wow, that is addictive! We worked up a sweat and laughed our heads off. We also had a couple fierce games of air hockey. Finally, we ended the night at Denny's at 10:00 pm chowing on some greasy food. We were worn out from our first day.Second day we started by taking the kids to Red Lobster for lunch. None of the kids had ever eaten lobster and crab. They all loved it and we may be in trouble now! Red Lobster may be the new birthday meal choice. We then drove to Park City to check out Olympic Park. I feel like such a goof that we haven't ever gone before.
I'm a huge fan of the Olympics and I got teary-eyed just reading all the info at the museum and reliving the SLC Olympics. Good memories! That night we went to Mike and Susie's to break-in the new theater. We watched How to Train Your Dragon and gorged on popcorn and candy. Nothin' like a good tummy-ache before bed.
On Saturday we ate some delicious BBQ and then went to Boon Docks for some go-cart action. Jake and Kelsey weren't tall enough for the fast go-carts, so they begrudgingly drove the little (slow) carts. By that evening, Joe and I were worn-out with all the kids play. We headed to Little America in SLC for an evening alone. All in all, it was a successful, fun-filled, memorable weekend. Love you family!

Autumn Time

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. Women, let's not forget our monthly self-exams! I must say that I have never been a "fan of the self-exam" until now when I'm seeing new breast cancer patients each day. Wow, cancer sucks! I am back in Provo now, working for Dr. Tudor, and I love my job. I am working WAY too many hours at the moment and that has got to change, but other than that, I love the work (stress and all!). We have amazing patients and they inspire me to be a better person.
Last weekend our bestie pals, Mike and Suz, had us over for the unveiling of "Thee Basement." They have been working tirelessly for months to finish their basement. During this time, we have not been allowed down there so it would be a surprise. Wow, it was beautiful and they've done such a good job. Since we are such weirdos, we decided to make the night special and dress up for the occasion. (What I love, is that my family is crazy enough to follow my every whim and have some fun.) Good job on the basement, Mike & Suz! It's fabulous and we can't wait to spend a ridiculous amount of time there and overstay our welcome.
Joe has been teaching the Marriage and Family Relations class at church for the last several months. During class, we had an awesome family (thanks Hanks) give us an idea to help with our family scripture study. They have a Consecutive Club and make goals with specific rewards for a certain amount of days. We started our own Consecutive Club in July. Our family made several goals and amazingly....it's working! We have had the longest run of consecutive scripture study (as a family) since Joe and I were married 16 years ago.
We went bowling as our reward for 30 consecutive days. Here we are being silly and having fun!
For 60 days, we get to do laser tag. We've actually passed the 60 day mark, so this weekend we plan on getting out and getting crazy.
We are on consecutive day 74 and counting. Once we hit 90 days, we're going to be headed to Boondocks for a day of fun. I'm looking forward to the go-carts. I am so proud of the kids for supporting and encouraging us to keep this up. They even did scripture study on their own when Joe and I stayed the night in SLC for our anniversary (that was without a reminder from mom and dad). It's brought us closer as a family and increased the spirit in our home. After Boondocks, I think we'll shoot for the stars and plan out a Disneyland trip for next spring. Huh, how many consecutive days is worth a trip that big?.......