2012

Here's a very brief recap:

We moved into a new house in January.  We feel blessed to be here and know that we were led to this home.  We love having a yard for our family!

It's nice to have a roof over our heads... ;)

Slip-n-slidin' with the cousins

The zip line was a favorite

Taiki stayed with us for a month.  He is from Japan.
We had an amazing experience!
Thank you, Taiki!

Los Angeles  Coliseum

Redlands California Temple

Jacob and his Cub Scout Rocket Derby

Jacob and his cardboard creation

The preferred pastime: playing in the mud.

Emma after a mud bath

15 years?!  I can't believe it...

Cousin Kyle turned 15 in August and Brandon in April

Evan is 1!!!!!!

Joshua wanted to wear his Sunday clothes for school pictures.
He's in 1st grade.  

Scarecrow Day!

Emma wasn't too happy to see Hulk

But that didn't stop me from taking pictures....

Blake jumped out of a tree and landed on his arm.  It broke.

The Hulls joined us for Thanksgiving!
David and Maralynne and family and Sam and Olliviah

Jonathan entertaining Evan while we're making dinner

Dan took Brandon driving.....let's quickly move on....

Raking leaves

Blake, Jacob, and Joshua are playing basketball.
Joshua had fun with his shadow while we waited for
Jacob to be done with his practice.  

Our sweet boy, Evan

Emma in her "sparkly dress"

Our attempt at a family picture.
(I should be a ventriloquist because I'm actually saying,
"Don't touch your brother" while this picture was being taken)

We feel truly blessed and we are looking forward to an exciting 2013!

In which your brother knocks you over..

 9-year-old brother + zipline + 3-year-old + sidewalk = scraped nose and forehead

summer vacation

Brandon has been out of school for a week now and the other boys will get out tomorrow.  I am looking forward to having them all home.  It seems like the last week or two of school are always full of final projects and deadlines.  I am eagerly awaiting the lazy days of summer.  (Really, I'm just looking for a reason to justify my desires to be lazy.)

I would like this summer to be a memorable summer.  It makes me sad to think that Brandon has just a few summer vacations at home before he goes to college!!

So, this summer I plan to be Happy Mom, Kind Mom, Reading Mom, Eagle Scout Project Mom, Cub Scouting Mom, and Crafty Mom.  (I may even be Cooking Mom and not just Cereal and Sandwich Mom.)

We are also looking forward to having a foreign exchange student from Japan this summer.  He is a 13 year old boy who enjoys science, trains, and table tennis.  He'll be here for a month and we are looking forward to having him here.

Well, here's to an exciting summer vacation!!

Hello!

We've had so much going on that it's been hard to sit and write. I have tried several times but so much has happened that it's hard to know where to start.

Since I last wrote we:
bought a house
bought a car
attended Dan's brother's wedding
visited with family
packed
prepared school projects
pack some more
celebrated Christmas
took lots of trips to DI
made a food storage inventory list
watched as many people helped us move and unpack and setup a new home
felt humbled as we benefited from people's generosity
attended a niece's baptism in Yuma
tried to potty train Emma
have hosted family and friends
all while trying to savor every moment with our sweet little Evan.

It's been good. I still don't feel "normal" and my brain really isn't working like it used to but I am finally seeing some light.

Oh, and my 5 year old taught me to play chess! It's taken me 37 years but I finally learned.

I look forward to blogging some more...