The Best of 2013

With 2013 at a close and 2014 here and full of the possibilities of the upcoming year we wanted to share our favorites of 2013 and what we look forward to in 2014.  The kids made their own lists and were asked the name their top ten favorite or most memorable things about 2013 and ten things they were looking forward to (and hope happen in 2014).

Peyton's 2013 Favorites:                                                 

Scooter from Santa

Played with Grandpa

Played with Macie (next door)

Santa 

Built a snowman

Got snow

Got presents

Colored

Did a puzzle

Played with Rylee

Peyton is looking forward to:

Thanksgiving, Halloween, Christmas, Valentines Day, Easter, 4th of July, summer, winter, ballet, tap, cheer, 1st grade, playing with friends, loosing teeth, being a tooth fairy, swimming, birthday party, Hawaii.

Easton's 2013 Favorties:

Saying Bob

Doing pottery

Doing soccer

Making a peg board

Going to Denny's 

Going fishing

Having snow

Going hunting

Going to Mexico

Going to the top of Pine Valley

Easton is looking forward to:

Going to Hawaii

Going on the top of Pine Valley

Hunting

Fishing

Eating

Watching Mocking Jay

Getting Pics

Going on a cruise

Eating snow

Caleb's 2013 Favorites:

Played Risk

Made a peg board

Did art

Took pottery

Took tennis

Watching Bailey and Dad run the marathon

Went to the top of Pine Valley

Went to Mexico

Bailey got her appendix out

Christmas

Caleb is looking forward to:

Getting snow

Christmas

Going to Hawaii

Going to the Bahamas

Getting a 22 rifle

Summer

Birthday

New school year

Watching Mocking Jay

Thanksgiving

Bailey's 2013 Favorites:

Braces off

Meeting Madi

Appendix

Level 4 cheer

Christmas

Getting snow

Vegas

Lake Powell

Marathon

Mexico

Bailey is looking forward to:

Choosing the right

Doing well in cheer

Starting high school

Getting snow

Getting along with family

Going to Lake Powell

Going to Denny's

Having fun

Getting a driver's permit

High school cheer

I love the kid's lists and love that they shared so many of their favorite experiences. While it's difficult to narrow it down here is my list:

Watching my boys play baseball.  This consisted of Easton doing outstanding as a pitcher (including pitching the entire first game of the season ending tournament) and making the all-star team. Caleb playing his first year in majors and getting put on the mound one game only against the toughest team in the league and striking out their biggest home run hitter.

Going to cheer comps and performances.  This year we got to watch both our beautiful daughters compete and perform.  Bailey became a strong, amazing cheerleader and leader for her team.  

Watching Peyton at dance.  As cute as Peyton is on her cheer team it's easy to see she loves dance.  Her year end recital was certainly no exception to that.  She stole the stage in her tap routine and the crowd (in particular mom and dad) loved her.

Watching Easton's soccer games.  Easton is becoming a very valued member of his team.  He played great this year and it's been pure joy to watch him enjoy the sport I love as well.

Watching Caleb compete in his first geckathon. I love this event and loved watching Caleb's determination and felt incredibly grateful for how healthy and happy he is.

Our family trip to Mexico was of course a highlight.  Staying at a beautiful home on the beach playing with the kids for a week will always be a bonus to any year.

Lake Powell with Mat.  Time with my best friend is extremely valuable and something I always cherish.

Watching Bailey and Mat complete the marathon.  Not going to lie, quite a bit of pride there. 

My birthday spent in Zion.  I was so happy Mat got a year pass that day.  I love Zion and have missed hiking the trails and seeing it's beauty.  I was so happy to share my joy with the kids that day. On a separate trip Mat and I stayed the night and hiked Angel's Landing the next morning.  Also, a highlight.

My biggest highlight of the year would be the cruise that Mat and I took.  It was a few years overdue for us to take time for each other and I loved it.  

Looking ahead to 2014 I'm looking forward to many things a few of which are:

Hopefully after 8 years I will get my front room completed.  Looking forward to some amazing cabinets and being able to do a bit of designing.

Caleb turning 12. Which means he will begin to pass the sacrament, receive the priesthood, and we get to take him on a trip just Mat and I and Caleb.  Lucky for us his birthday is only a few weeks away...

Easton will move up into a different division in soccer and he begin playing an 11v11 format.  I can't wait.

Always looking forward to watching Peyton perform.  She definitely loves the stage.

Caleb has said he would like to run the marathon.  I hope that he really does want to run it.  I think he will do amazing and it will be something he will always have to look back on.

I'm hoping to have a weekend spent in Zion with Mat and the kids, hiking, tubing, and spending time together.

I'm super excited to go the beach for spring break with the kids.  We were planning a Hawaii trip but having a few unexpected finances arise we decided getting a beach house for the week somewhere we can drive would be just as fun. 

For Christmas 2014 we are hoping to spend away from home this year at a cabin in the snow.  We talk about it every year but it is officially being put on the agenda for 2014.

Amongst all the fun trips, performances, competitions, that we have to look forward to, the thing I look forward to the most is seeing my family happy.  Nothing makes me happier then seeing the smiles of the 5 most important people in my life.

It's not very often that I write in this blog.  First, I want to thank you Jamie for all the time and efforts you spend on the blog.  It is a true treasure to me and to our family.

I look back on 2013 with gratitude for the many great experiences that were had.  Here are some of those experiences in no particular order

• Jamie and I were able to spend a week together on a cruise.  What an enjoyable week we had together.  We played games, ate good food, sunbathed, went on airboat rides, relaxed, read books, and had an amazing week building our love for each other.  I'm in love with you Jamie.
• I was able to spend several days on top of Pine Valley Mountain with my two amazing sons.  I will never forget the mountain lion that tried to attack Caleb and Easton or the fort that we built, or the attempt at making snares, eating wild berries, rolling monster rocks, and hiking about 15 miles.
• Bailey completed the St.George Marathon.  What a special young woman you are Bailey.  I loved the many jogs that we shared.  You amaze me.
• Peyton has started to learn how to speak Chinese this year.  I love how full of life and happiness you are.  You always love to play games, color, dance, and be involved.
• My dad survived cancer this year.  I am grateful for the good influence he has been in my life and  am glad his time here on earth was prolonged.
• We took a couples retreat to Lake Powell this year with some other couples.  I have really come to enjoy lake powell and the beauty there.  I had a blast kayaking, jet skiing, and surfing the boat waves.  Gabe and Sandi came and I must mention Gabe knows how to play the games at the lake.
• We were lucky enough to be able to spend a week with the Lofgrans and the Taylors in Mexico at a beach house.  We had such a great time together there.  I am grateful for such good neighbors and friends.
• Easton scored a goal from mid field this year.  Probably the most amazing goal I will ever see.
• Caleb pitched during one game of the major league tournament and struck out Tim Shakespeare.
• Bailey had her appendix taken out cause they seemed to be bothering her and the sprite that I suggested she drink just did not help the pain go away.
• I had some very uplifting, peaceful experiences attending the temple this year and indexing.  It was a wonderful year.

Looking Ahead 2014

• We are planning on spending a week at a beach house in California for spring break this year with the kids.  I love spending time together as a family and hope that this will build our family relationships.
• I hope to spend time with Jamie playing pickle ball, going to lunch, attending the temple, date nights, working with our kids on their goals, and strengthen our love for each other.
• I am excited to see Bailey try our for High School Cheer as well as meet her goal to read the Book of Mormon.
• Caleb will be receiving the Priesthood and start serving in that capacity.  I am excited for him. I also look forward to running the St.George Marathon with him this year.
• Im excited to see Easton shooting his bow and developing his soccer skills.  He has set great goals this year and I hope he reaches them.
• I would like Peyton to not grow up.  She is such a sweet girl and always so happy and full of laughter.
• I hope that Jamie and I will be invited to Lake Powell again this year.  I have really enjoyed spending time together there.
• I look forward to taking Caleb and Easton to the top of Pine Valley camping again and successfully setting some snares.
• I look forward to strengthening our family unit through striving to live the basic gospel principles, serving each other, and others.  I am so grateful for this life and all the learning experiences it brings.  What a wonderful experience this has been and I look forward to more time together here on earth.

Christmas 2014

 Christmas 2014 has come and gone all too quickly.  With thanksgiving being late this year and Mat and I being gone the first week of December we had to pack a lot of things into a short amount of time. It's ok though, it's not like we needed to have time for sickness or emergency surgeries or anything...

 Once Mat and I were back home from our trip I was excited to get some Christmas fun going!  I decided to attempt making gingerbread houses from scratch again...  The kids said the house smelled great!  I didn't notice as I spent 4 hours mixing the houses and baking them.  

 The kids had a blast putting them together.  I didn't notice as by the time we got 6 house built and the frosting workable I was exhausted and snuck away to the relief society party.

 I did get to see the finished products and they were pretty great.  I'm not sure if they were great enough not to come from a pre made kit next year but they were pretty great.

 As mentioned in my previous post we went to Salt Lake.  We watched Bailey rock it at her cheer comp competing on two teams.  We played with cousins and had an impromptu Christmas party.  We went on the Heber Creeper with first class tickets and enjoyed hot cocoa, cookies, and singing as the train literally crept along the mountainside.  

 I made fudge one Sunday and caramel another.  We hosted an ugly sweater party for friends.  I had a quick activity days party as well as put together a crazy teacher's Christmas lunch.

 We read multiple stories before bed. 

 Mat, Caleb and I all got sick.  Bailey had surgery.  Before we knew it, Christmas was here. 

Santa found us and the kids rejoiced.

Every gift anticipated for months had indeed arrived and smiles were seen all around. 

 Mat and my hearts melted to see our kids happiness.

 We were all truly blessed.  

With decorations, gifts, yuletide celebrations all around, we celebrated the birth of our Savior as we spent time loving and caring for one another and feeling peace as Mat read out of Luke Christmas Eve night.  Pretty incredible.

Bailey's Christmas...

When you go from one moment of doing jumps, tumbles, and stunts, and then a few hours later your lying in a hospital bed it's never fun.  Extra bummer when it's the week before Christmas.

Bailey competed for her first time as a level 4 with her team on the 14th.  They did incredible given that it was their first comp of the season AND that they've never had a level 4 team before.  They had a couple of slight imperfections in their routine and didn't end up placing but it was a very close division against very large gyms with seasoned teams. We were extremely proud of our baby girl. We enjoyed the weekend in Salt Lake.  We took our kids on the "Polar Express" aka the Heber Creeper and spent time playing with cousins.  Monday came and went as usual. The kids went to school and Bailey and Peyton went to cheer after.  Other than I had caught a cold and wasn't functioning that well all seemed normal.  About 3:00am Bailey came in saying that she hadn't slept and her stomach was hurting.  I was sick and didn't respond.  Mat told her to drink some sprite and get to bed.  When morning came Bailey said she didn't think she should go to school as she hadn't slept at all and the sprite didn't help.  Reluctantly we told her she could stay home.  Caleb had already been in our room earlier saying he was sick and was back in bed as well.  I just thought we were all coming down with a Christmas bug.  When Bailey finally emerged that morning again she looked very pale.  She had been vomiting quite a bit and her symptoms weren't similar at all to mine and Caleb's.  Then I happened to see her texts to her friends saying she had sharp pains in her stomach and thought "oh oh".  I calmly asked her where her pain was coming from and decided she needed to see the family doctor.  They were able to see us 45 minutes later.  

 The appointment began like any other visit.  We waited in the waiting room until her name was called. they measured her height and weighed her.  Took her blood pressure and everything seemed normal.  She gave her symptoms to the nurse and the nurse said "well, that sounds like the flu and it's going around".  I told the nurse that she didn't say that she had sharp pains in her right side and the appointment quickly changed.  The nurse said we should have came directly back and we saw the doctor pretty quick.  He said since Bailey wasn't running a fever that they wanted to run a few quick labs on her to decide if she needed to see a surgeon but keep her out of the ER.  The tests came back and they notified a surgeon.  We were told the surgeon wanted to make sure that Bailey was suffering from appendicitis and not a cyst which wouldn't be surgical.  We were sent to the hospital imaging center.  They gave Bailey an ultrasound.  The tech said she found Bailey's appendix which meant something was wrong as she typically can't seem them on ultrasounds so we headed up to surgery.

 A few hours later our little girl was appendix free.  Her pain was at a 10 as we arrived at the hospital.  I felt horrible that I had let her go all day in pain like that.  She's such a champ and never told us how much she was hurting.  After the surgery she was groggy but said she felt much better.  She asked for my phone to instagram a pic as soon as we saw her in recovery.  A little over an hour after the surgery was over we were able to take her home!  

 It was such a long crazy day.  I was incredibly grateful for modern medicine that easily relieved my little girl of a painful and serious infection.  I was grateful that our other kids were home and watched over.  I was grateful that she was able to come home with us that night and sleep in her own bed.  I'm grateful that she is recovering quickly!  A little too quickly as a few days post surgery she was caught back flipping on the trampoline...

Thanksgiving?

 Those couples that ditch their kids on holiday weekends to jet off to the Caribbean...YUP we are them!  We DID celebrate Thanksgiving traditionally on the 4th Thursday of November eating Turkey and playing kickball with our kids.  The day after however, we DID watch a couple of Easton's soccer games in the traditional Thanksgiving tournament, but shortly after caught a flight to Fort Lauderdale and snuck away for a week on a cruise.

 Of course the last vacation that was just Mat and I was when Peyton was less than a year old.  We were due for our own time together as well as it being MUCH needed time together.

 We visited Princess Cays in the Bahamas as well as the islands of Curacao and Aruba.  Not too shabby to be in the Caribbean during the first week of December.  When we finally were back in Port Everglades we began receiving all of our missed texts as well as new texts with many pics attached of SNOW!

Apparently it snowed not once but twice while we were away in good ol' Southern Utah and was snowing quite heavily as we were beginning our route home.  I had looked at temps for St. George after a quick stop at a wifi stop in Curacao and thought my phone and switched to Celsius readings because the temps were significantly less than when we left in fact I'd never seen temps that low in St. George.  We had a brief stop in Dallas on our way to Florida and Mat questioned me with concern as we were eating lunch in our shorts and t-shirts about having a stop on our way home.  Dallas had cancelled 2,500 flights!  Luckily we did in fact have a direct flight.

After hearing various reports of the gorge being unsafe to travel and finally hearing that it was closed we were thinking we would need to stay the night in Vegas.  We decided to fill the car up with gas and try our luck going over Utah Mountain.  It took us over 3 hours to finally get home to our kids and we came home to a complete winter wonderland!  I was shocked at how incredibly cold it was and that the snow stayed for weeks!  I felt guilty that we didn't get to watch Easton's team take the championship that weekend and that we didn't get to take the kids Christmas tree hunting.  I felt guilty that I didn't get to watch my kids delight as they watched the snow fall.  I felt guilty until I actually returned home and felt the frigid cold.  Then I couldn't figure why we didn't just have the kids flown to Florida to join us. :)

Caleb's First Geckathon

 Following in the footsteps of his big sister Caleb participated in the Lava Ridge Geckathon.  It's a mini triathlon for the students at the 6th and 7th grade center.  40 boys and 40 girls swim 300 meters, bike 4 miles, and run two miles.  It's such a fun event that the school hosts. 

 Caleb didn't exactly burst at the seams with excitement to compete in it but DID want a GoPro for Christmas and a hint or two that IF he wanted one he MAY want to compete...

He didn't beat his big sister's time but he did amazing!  He passed one of his super fast buddies on the bike portion and endured the race very well.  Both Mat and I are extremely grateful for Caleb as our son.  He is kind, giving, and thoughtful.  Caleb impresses us constantly with his talents in so many areas.  He will make an amazing husband and father someday.  Hopefully to someone who likes to bake....

Gratitude

Mixed in with the holiday season, the hustle and bustle of shopping, holiday parties, cheer comps, and more, gratitude seems to quietly grow overlooked more and more these days.  I am grateful however.  With EVERYTHING the past year has brought, despite hoping 2013 would be easier than 2012 and finding out that it may never get easier, I'm grateful.

 I have 4 healthy kids!  Sure they get scraped, bruised and sometimes broken, but they are healthy!  They are happy!  Their smiles light up my days.  

 As a parent it's difficult to watch your child struggle in any way.  Kids can be mean, siblings fight, some kids get things others don't.  My kids have been extremely blessed and I'm grateful.

 I'm grateful for transportation to take them to the many activities they are involved in.  I'm grateful they are able to participate in the activities they love.  I'm grateful for their abilities, their talents, and their desire.

 I'm grateful when they open our fridge there is food in it. I'm grateful that when they rest their heads at night they don't have to worry about the changing seasons outside their windows or worry that their home isn't safe.

 I'm grateful for the example they have in a father who has a strong work ethic and teaches them valuable life skills on a daily basis.

 I'm grateful that my kids get incredible education from amazing teachers and that their schools are close, clean, well maintained, and safe.

 I'm grateful I'm privileged to be their mom.

I'm grateful.

Halloween 2013

 October 31st has come and gone once more.  The kids were extra excited to go trick or treating since they were on a cruise ship last year for Halloween.  I personally preferred the cruise ship.  Halloween is always full of running around to get the kids class parties ready and costumes on and completed.  I kinda dropped the ball this year and made the older kids figure out their own costumes... Easton was an old man at school but decided to switch to the morph suit from last year to go trick or treating. Caleb was some sort of a zombie.  He had been looking up online how to make scars and such look real with makeup and did a pretty awesome job!

 Of course Peyton was easy to persuade to be what her mommy wanted.  Since I LOVE red.... Seriously so cute as little red riding hood and truthfully I feel like I get bonus points for being able to convince her she doesn't need to be a Disney princess EVERY year. ;)

Bailey was a zombie football player with apparently super long eye lashes.  She looked darling but refused to smile.  

The kids were all too cool to hang around for everyone to get a picture together much to my dismay.  For the first part of the night it was just Mat and I handing out candy to kids because even our youngest kids went with friends.  Are we really THAT old already???