2015... What a Great Year!

2015 has really been a life changing year for us.  It has also been a great year for us too.  In February Russell started his new job with the Logan City Fire Department.  This caused us to quit our jobs, sale our home, and totally uproot from our lifelong home of St. George and move to the beautiful Cache Valley.  The decision to accept this job and move was a difficult one to make but after many prayers, we knew it was the right thing to do.  Leaving our friends and family has been difficult but I think we have adjusted just fine and we are happy with where we are at this time in our lives.  We love Hyrum and have met many new friends over the last year.

After school got out for Emily we made the complete move up to Cache Valley.  We lived with my parents for two months after selling our house.  During this time Russell was commuting back and forth from Logan to St. George each week.  We were glad to finally get past that limbo stage.

A lot of awesome things happened for our families as well this year.  Our family grew this year.  In May Traci and Sean got married in the St. George Temple.  Their wedding was so beautiful and we were all so happy for them.  Jess and Danny welcomed Cash into their family on May 27.  Justin and Summer got married in September and then welcomed Grayson into their family on November 23.  Tyrel also got baptized this year.

Logan turned 2 this year and was potty trained a few months later.  Logan is such a fun little boy and he has a funny personality.  Because he is the youngest, he does not think the rules apply to him though.  I may or may not have caused this because I kind of pamper him because he is the baby.  Logan is quite smart and knows most of the letters of the alphabet and some of the numbers.  He is also a daredevil and not afraid of anything.  He can do anything his brother and sister can do.

Colby is now 4 years old.  He learned to ride his bike without training wheels the day after his birthday and rides his bike whenever he gets the chance.  Colby is also very smart and I think he has a photographic memory because he does not forget anything.  Colby learned to read this year and he loves reading.  He can read "Reading for all Learners" books or Colby calls them Sam books.  He is on level three which is higher than some of the kids in Emily's first grade class.  He can also read Dick and Jane books.  We have also had him start reading some verses out of the scriptures at night.  He thinks he is pretty awesome because he can read the scriptures.  Colby is in a preschool that we do with some of the other kids his age.  He loves going to "school." He also started going to music class this year and seems to really like it too. Colby's new love is Lego's.  He can built anything he sees and will play for hours.  Colby also learned to tie his shoes so he is now ready for kindergarten next year!  Colby is our kid that keeps us on our toes.

Emily is 7 and in the first grade.  She absolutely loves school especially because she gets to see her two new friends.  Emily is now reading chapter books and loves the Rainbow Fairy series and the Magic Tree House books.  These books are around a second or third grade level.  Emily also learned to ride without training wheels and she and Colby race up the road all the time.  Emily started piano lessons this year and is learning a lot.  She even performed in the school talent show.  Emily is a great daughter and a big help around the house.

As I mentioned before, Russell's life changed a lot this year too.  He started his dream job and he is so much happier to go to work and come home from work.  Russell loves his job because he knows he is making a difference in some one's life.  Russell also started road biking this year and wants to continue with that in the future.

I looked back over my new year resolutions for 2015 and I don't feel like I did very will in the spiritual aspect of things.  I did complete my fitness resolutions last year though.  I ran over 1,000 miles and ran my first full marathon.  This goal took a lot of time and dedication but I did it and I am so glad I did.  Will I do another marathon?  Well I don't know yet but maybe.  Next year though, I want to focus more on the spiritual aspects.

For New Year's Eve, a bunch of us got together at the Halligan's house and had a little party.  

We partied and played many fun games with the Halligan's, Checkett's, Booth's, and Jones' while the kids watched movies and played.  It was so fun to get together.

As you can see the kids were pretty glued to the movie until the Nerf guns came out and then it was a war.  They had a good time dressing up, playing games. and watching a lot of movies.  

We played a lot of games including Telestrations, Balderdash, and Nertz but the best game we played that night was Pie Face.  This was such a funny game and no matter how many times the hand smashed whipped cream into some one's face it never got old.  We laughed so hard every time.  Even the anticipation when it didn't go off was almost too much.

Around midnight, the guys started having a little too much fun with the drinks and food.  We rang in the new year by banging pots with wooden spoons.  Poor Kristen lost three wooden spoons that night.  The kids were so excited to yell "Happy New Year" they even braved the -6 degree weather and ran outside in the snow to bang the pots and yell.  The adults on the other hand preferred to stay in the warm house.  This was such a great party.  I am glad we have been able to make so many great friends up here.  

Goodbye 2015, you have been a good year.

An Update and Fun at School

Ever since school started in August, we had been so busy with fun activities.  This post is full of random pictures of the things we have been doing over the last few months.

In September the PTA at the school put on a bike rodeo for all of the kids and their families.  The kids loved riding their bikes to the school and participating.

There were obstacle courses, safety demonstrations, and lots of fun games to play on their bikes.  They were even able to get their bikes tuned up by a bike technician.  Now we know all about bike safety.

October also was a lot of fun with these crazy kids.  

First we had a great time during Halloween.  The above picture is of us at the Zombie Walk.  I really thought this was something the kids would like because the advertisement made it sound so fun with a costume contest and everything.  Well it was not what we expected and there wasn't really anything going on for kids. But one good thing happened, we got to try the "World's Greatest Corn Dogs" food truck!  They were pretty good and really big so we were able to share two of them.  I don't think we will go to this Zombie Walk next year though.

The next picture is of Emily giving her first report in school.  About once a month or so Emily does what they call a "Celebration" on a different continent.  This first one she did on North America and talked about the Mormon pioneers.  Russell also built her a little handcart for her Barbies so she could show it with her presentation.  She has since done one on the famous buildings in Europe and the penguins of Antarctica.  

October also had school lunch week in it. On Monday that week we were all able to go to school lunch with Emily.  She loved having us there and the boys felt so big to be eating school lunch at school.  We had Macho Nachos which actually were pretty good.    

After lunch we even got to go out to lunch recess with Emily and her friends!  Russell loved teaching the girls the proper way to play hopscotch.

Our neighbors, the Lee's, had two apple trees that were just overflowing with apples so they told us we could pick as many as we wanted.  We picked a couple of big buckets full and went to work peeling and coring them.  The boys liked using the apple peeler to peel the apples.  They were a big help.  We made a few jars of apple sauce and then dried the rest of them for apple chips.  I even got to use the dehydrator I got for Christmas last year for the first time.

Each month Canyon Elementary has a Super Spirit Friday and a Colt Recognition Assembly to recognize the students that have done an outstanding job.  In October, Emily received a recognition award.

She was so excited to receive an award during the assembly especially because her friend Jadaci got one too and they got to set by each other during the assembly.  Emily got an award for being Proactive.  Her teacher says she does the right thing without being asked, even if no one is watching.  After the assembly, all of the kids that get awards get to run through the halls of the school in the Colt Stampede.  This is the real motivator for the kids not the award!

On October 24, Emily got to go ice skating for the first time.

It was Jadaci's birthday so her family took all of her friends to the Eccles Ice Center to go ice skating.  It was so funny to watch all of the kids try to stay balanced on their skates.  Luckily they had these little red walkers for the kids to help them skate.

Emily and Ayzleigh liked to share their walker.  It was amazing to see how well some of the kids skated and how wobbly most of the other kids were.  Emily had a blast and wants to go back again really soon.

October was also Red Ribbon week.  The kids got to do a lot of fun things during the week like wear crazy socks, wear their clothes backwards, wear their Halloween costumes, and even crazy hair day.  This is Emily's crazy hair!  It was even crazier when we took out the mini buns.  Her hair was all over the place and very frizzy! I was hoping it would just be nice and curly but no it was not.

During November, Mrs McBride did something called Turkey "Tie"m.  This was where dads, grandpas, uncles, or brothers could come in and either tell about their jobs or read the class a story or something and then donate a tie to put on the board to make up the turkey's tail.  Russell had a good time talking about his job to the kids.  He brought in his turnouts and had some of the kids try them on.  He talked about what to do in an emergency and in a fire.   

He also told the kids that Fire fighters have to get dressed in all of their gear in less than one minute and then showed them how it was done.  All of the kids were just glued to his every word because they though it was so cool.  In the end we handed out little fireman hats and sticker badges.  The kids loved it.  One mom even told me that her kid went home and told her all about being a fireman and would not stop talking about how cool it was.  

November was the Reflections contest at school. Emily participated in the contest by submitting a photography entry.  She received a trophy and was advanced to District!  We didn't even know she won until we went to the recognition assembly.  Everyone received a trophy but she was one of the 15 participants to advance.  We thought that was so awesome!

Here is the picture she turned in for her Reflections entry.  The theme for this year was "Let Your Imagination Fly."  So the caption Emily put on her picture was, "The sun will shine through every cloud if you let your imagination fly."

Also in November was the school talent show:

Emily bravely performed a wonderful piano piece.  She played "Alouette" She memorized it and everything.  She did an amazing job.  This was her first real performance and she did great.  Here she is with her two friends who were also in the talent show doing a cheer/gymnastics routine.  They all did well.

Finally, December was the Christmas choir concert.

These kids really put on a good show.  Their theme was "Christmas in any Language" so they sang Christmas songs from all around the world and many different cultures.  

Here is one last random picture of these three knot heads.  Nothing is more fun than a cardboard box especially if it is as big as you!  

So there you have it, one long update on all of the things we have been doing since Emily started school.  Now that 2015 is coming to an end it is nice to look back and remember all of the good times.

Sledding

More snow fun!  The day after Christmas we dressed in our new snow clothes and took out our new sleds to go sledding.  There is an awesome sledding hill at Hyrum's Salt Hallow Park so that is where we went.

Sledding was so much fun!  The kids had a blast going down the hill multiple times.  OK to tell you the truth, Russell and I had a great time going down the hill too.    

The sleds worked perfectly.  Colby even went down like a penguin without the sled.  We were able to sled for a few hours with out even getting cold.  The new snow suits and boots helped so much.  We can't wait to go sledding again soon. 

Christmas 2015

Merry Christmas everyone!  We had a really good Christmas this year.  It was our first Christmas away from home but to tell you the truth, it was kind of nice to just be together as our little family.  We just kind of did our own thing and made our own traditions.

Unfortunately, this is the only picture I have of us decorating the tree this year.  It seems like because Colby is the middle child, he gets the bad end of the deals.  So this year we let Colby put the star on the top of the tree.  He was so happy to have the privilege of putting on the star.

Russell had to work on Christmas Eve so we went over to the fire station to spend some time with him that night.

Sean Lowe, Russell's co-worker, family was there as well. While we were at the fire station, Sean's daughter, Kendall, turned into Logan new girlfriend of the week.  Logan is the biggest flirt around.  Anywhere he goes, the little girls can't help but want to be around him.    They were so cute together holding hands and playing hide and seek.  They got to be great friends.

Also while we were at the station, we opened our Christmas Eve presents which was new pajamas of course!  Instead of making them this year, I went to the local pajama factory, Lazy One, and bought these cute bear and moose ones for $5.  You can't beat that and they are super cute.

On the way home, the kids and I stopped at the Logan Tabernacle to see the large Nativity set.  I was able to explain a little more about the true meaning of Christmas.  I told them that Christmas was all about Jesus' birth not presents or toys.  They loved seeing the Nativity and didn't want to leave.  We were all freezing though so we headed home.

That night we read the Luke 2 account of Christ's birth and talked more about what Christmas was really about.  Colby made me laugh when he honestly told me, "Mom, I know Christmas is really about Jesus but I'm just really excited to open presents."  

The next morning, Russell came home from work at 8:00 a.m. and woke us all up because he said we were sleeping in too late on Christmas.  Time for the fun to begin...

Emily had a great Christmas.  She asked for a carrying case for her doll, Kit.  She received that and new snow clothes, boots and gloves, as well and some new books to read and matching clothes for her and Kit.  A few weeks ago we took Emily to the eye doctor because she was complaining that she couldn't see the board at school.  She came home from the eye doctor with a new set of spectacles.  Emily loves wearing her new glasses and is so happy to be able to see without things being blurry.  Because Kit does everything Emily does, Kit needed new glasses too.  So that is what Kit got for Christmas.

The thing Colby wanted most was more Lego's which is what he got.  He immediately went to work building two new race cars and other fun things.  Colby also got new snow clothes, boots and gloves, and new books he can read.

Remember Logan telling Santa he needed a new Thomas?  Well Logan got a new set of Thomas the Train tracks to go with his new Thomas Train.  He sat for hours watching his train go around and around the new track.  Logan also got new snow clothes, boots and gloves. 

These kids had so much fun playing with all of their new things that we didn't even eat breakfast until almost noon!  They kept finding new things to build with the Lego's, new outfits for Kit to try on, or simply watching Thomas, Emily, and Stephen race around the train tracks and crash in the middle.

We are all set for the snow now!  The kids all got new snow things and we also got two new sleds to play with.  Russell also got each of the kids a snow shovel so they can help him shovel the snow off the driveway.  They are really excited to get out and start working in the snow!

After breakfast, it was present time.  We had so many presents to open because Russell's family sent us home with a box full of presents last weekend.  The kids loved everything they received.  They were also really excited to give each other the presents they had picked out.  Russell loved the back scratcher Colby got him.  Colby was so excited to give Logan the Paw Patrol Scooter. When we were at the store Colby told us that Logan needed a scooter because Logan didn't have one like he and Emily did.  Emily was excited to find the Thomas the Train puzzles for Logan. Colby absolutely loved the tool box and real tools Emily got him.   Emily loved learning how to use the weaving loom Logan got for her and immediately made a little hot pad.  Colby and I got Emily a Skip-It exercise game and a pedometer watch to go with it.  She spent most of the day learning how to Skip-It and walking and dancing around with her watch trying to get her fitness numbers up.  Russell's big gift this year was his new road bike.  He is really looking forward to riding a ton this next year and hopefully competing in the Latoja in the fall.  So for Christmas he got a bunch of stuff for his bike like headlights, gloves, riding clothes, and a computer to track his mileage and speed.  I was spoiled as well and  received a nice new stock pot, a pressure canner, a nice can opener, clothes, and snow gloves! 

I also made a couple of gifts for the boys.  Colby has been needing a new backpack for preschool (and for school next year) so I made him this Spiderman backpack.  As you can tell, he loved it!  He loves Spiderman and he said his favorite color is black so we have the best of both.  I made Emily a backpack like this a few years ago.  She still uses it but it is a little small.  I made Colby's quite a bit bigger in order to hold more things.

I also made Logan an art kit like the other kids'.  He picked out the shark material himself.  When he opened the gift he went straight to work coloring in the notebook.

We had nowhere to go all day so we just spent the day chilling and playing with our new stuff.  It was so nice to not be rushed anywhere and to just enjoy the day.  The kids had a lot of fun just playing.

That night we headed over to the Phillips's to see them and Grandma and Grandpa Maxwell.  We had a good time just chatting and visiting with them.  It was a great end of our Christmas Day. 

This year for our family gifts to the Morwood's and Stewart's we made giant dice and domino's for Yard Yahtzee and Dominoes.  I think they will be really fun games to play for FHE or on group dates or just for fun.  These things took longer to make than we expected because the stain and varnish took forever to dry in this cold weather.  But they turned out pretty nice.  We ended up making 5 sets of each, one for the Morwood's, Stewart's, my parents, Russell's parents, and us.

For her friends Emily made these cute picture frames out of Popsicle sticks.  She painted and decorated them by herself and then we put a picture of her best friends in there.  I think they turned out so cute.

We had a great Christmas this year and we loved spending time together as a family.  Merry Christmas!