January-February 2013

 It looks like Mama neglected to take pictures in January, but it looked a lot like February, so let this suffice:  Lots of sledding and snow angels happened last month!!  Not to mention school, work, karate, piano, personal training, choir, family history, church callings...etc.

 Kaeleb has been working hard at Cub Scouts and we all got to come to a spaghetti dinner at the blue and gold banquet at the beginning of the month.

 We got the boys snowshoes for Valentine's Day and spent President's Day weekend at our new favorite sledding hill near Strawberry Resevoir.  There are trails to cross country ski and snow show, as well as a hill big enough to snowboard down and get a good thrill on a sled.  We love snow!!


The last week of February  was super busy for Kaeleb.  It was spirit week at school, so every day he came up with a costume.  Wednesday, as you can see, was Cowboy Day.  We borrowed these duds from our neighbor's, the Tandy's.  He loved this costume the best!

 Kaeleb also tested for his red belt in White Lion Martial Arts.  It was the hardest belt test he has taken up to this point and moved him to an advanced level in the dojo.  We are all really proud of his hard work and was so relieved that he passed!  He will stay at a red for quite some time, because the next step is brown, then junior black (until age 18 at which time he can earn an adult level black belt), which take some serious commitment and time.  We know he will make it though.  We have all learned from karate, that once Kaeleb decides he wants to do something, he will do whatever it takes, no matter the cost, to get there.  I love my Kaeleb!!

Brennan was the photographer that night, and I think he did a pretty good job, apart from all the blurry pictures of his own toes and his nose.

Brennan stripe tested in Lion Cubs, and we were pretty proud of him too.  For the last couple of months he was not so sure that he wanted to continue practicing karate, so he took some time off.  He decided he wants to go forward, so he came back and stripe tested a week later.  He is pretty talented at it but we want him to choose what he loves, not what we want him to love.  I have a feeling he is going to love all sports and will try them all before he knows what he loves most.  He is also learning to read and doing simple math.  I am so excited to see what happens when he starts kindergarten next fall and spreads his academic wings.

I thought this pic was pretty funny.  Nice foot in my face!

 

Kaeleb also had some great acheivements at the Heber Valley Piano Festival this weekend.  He played two duets, 3 solos, took 3 tests, and submitted his own composition.  Out of the 9 categories he scored 7 superiors.  Woo Hoo!!  He was crazy nervous before festival and couldn't believe it when his teacher called with the news.  He gets a statue with his name on it- a bust of a famous composer (we don't know which one yet) and a gift certificate to his favorite restaurant.  It was a really big deal for him.

Kwint and I have been trying to make time for personal hobbies too, so we don't forget to enjoy our own lives while watching our boys create theirs!

Kwint has been practicing the guitar nearly every day and he loves it!  Kaeleb even asked Kwint to play a duet with him at piano festival, and it meant a lot to both of them.  Kwint is also loving the snow sports, and spring is coming a bit early so he's already been out on his mountain bike once.  Professionally he is very busy and trying to be creative at succeeding in his career, and really craves the time outside to refresh.  He also has a busy calling and loves being involved in all the learning that happens at church.  He is training all the Sunday School teachers as well as Young Men and Young Women leaders on the new curriculum and we are all learning so, so much. (I teach the 14-15 yr old class and totally love the new curriculum)

I am having way too much fun decorating and constantly reorganizing our home.  Is it weird that I do that for fun?  I ran out of closets to organize, rooms to paint, furniture to refinish, curtains to hang, decor to move from place to place and new pillows to make in various color combinations.  So, I started making bags for myself and others but I can only sew so long before I get impatient and recently found myself needing a new hobby.  I am obsessed with color, so I moved on to my wardrobe.  I found a lot of good information on color palettes and dressing in colors that look best with my hair, eyes, and skin, and I am having so much fun analyzing everybody else now that I think I may have to consider a career plan change.   I am studying again for my personal training exam, which I really want to do, and love.  I even have a trainee guinea pig- I train for free in exchange for the experience of working with a real person and it has been a tremendous experience for me.  I have realized how important it is to help people in this way and that I really CAN do it... But the colors are so FUN!!  I want to redecorate and redress the world.  Training is a little more realistic at this point, I guess. :)

More to come for March....

Happy Holidays 2012

I have now beaten my record of the longest lapse between blogs.  I have also taken a good many too few pictures of our busy lives since my last blog.  

For example, Thanksgiving: none.   We spent the weekend in St. George where the Robinson's put together a beautiful dinner and we had so much fun!  

We went to see Rise of the Guardian's, which we loved and laughed at the "kiddie cones" we got at Marv's diner.  They were 8 inches tall.  Even the grown ups couldn't down them.

Amidst all the busy-ness of the month of December we found ways to have fun and enjoy the season.  We played in the snow and went to lots of fun parties, and even had one ourselves.  Kwint's birthday party this year is set to become a yearly tradition for us.  He went snowmobiling with Kris (which was a one time break in the tradition of snowboarding together on his birthday) and then we had a hot cocoa & cinnamon roll party.  Oh, I wish I had pictures!!  And if I had pictures, I would wish that they could have captured the sweet, soft, mouth-watering, Mmmmmm feeling of biting into one of those warm Kneaders cinnamon rolls!!

As is our tradition, we spent Christmas Eve feasting at Kris and Barbi's.  We always gather around the piano to sing carols.  When Great-Grandma Enid was alive she played, then Grandma DeAnn took over, and now the duty has fallen upon Bailee, who is an amazing pianist already, at age 11.  Barbi played her flute and Kwint played his guitar, and we all felt the Spirit of Christ.  What a gift He gave to the world with his birth, life, death and resurrection!

Here are our favorite shots of Christmas morning!

Poor Kaeleb, all he wanted for Christmas was his two front teeth, but he didn't get them.  I think he was pretty happy with what he got instead, though.

 

Brennan was not short on holiday cheer either...He was really glad Santa remembered what he wanted most!

                                     Just for fun, I'll include Mom and Dad... We love Santa too.

 We had a slow start to the snow this year- which is strange for Heber.  We love snow sports and we love a White Christmas, so we said a lot of prayers for it to snow before Christmas and we know the Lord was listening!  We taught the boys to cross country ski over the break from school and they picked it up like it was nothing!!  They also spent a lot of afternoons at the park on their snow skates- including Dad who got one for Christmas.  Santa knew Daddy was jealous of the boys' skates. :)

We always love our Little America brunch with Aunt Marie as well, and got a great family picture, which I hope I will be getting a copy of soon!  I can add it in- everyone was there except Paul and Coby, so it is quite a treasure! 

December seems to sneak up on me and I am always stunned when I realize that a whole year has come and gone.  I always look back and think "How?  Where was I?  It's really gone?"  So much has happened this year, though and we have all learned and grown.  Nobody wants to hear about the crummy ins and outs, or the stresses and challenges of day to day life, though they are ever present, so I try not to write most of them.  I am so glad to have a place to store pictures and memories of the good, great, and fun experiences we've shared here on this blog and in the book it will become.  We are a family filled with love for one another, which is the best gift we could hope to receive, and we do have a lot of fun together.  We also feel blessed by family and friends who add to our blessings every day.