THE TANK

It is really only 22 inches longer than the Armada I had, but it feels like I am driving a bus now. But with our ever growing family and the need for more grocery space we weren't left with many choices. I do like it, but it is going to take some to get comfortable parking this beast!

Snow Trip!

There was no school last Friday because of Staff Development, so the stake took advantage of that and had a Priest/ Laurel ski trip. We left the church at 5am and headed to Brianhead, UT. Chris and I were the chaperones on the bus, which was lots of fun!! Since I have never been snowboarding before I kind of chickened out and just decided to stay and tube with Jenny. Most of the youth from our ward went snowboarding and I heard that Chris was a great teacher. That is good because eventually I do want him to teach me. After spending the day with little snowflakes falling on us we boarded the bus again and headed to The Pizza Factory in St. George for dinner. The pizza was so tasty! It was a very long day, but so much fun!!

I just thought I would post this to keep myself motivated. Although I have accomplished this I know I am not finished, it will be a lifelong journey!

January

It seems like this year just began and now we are almost a month into it! The beginning of the month I celebrated my 26th birthday. It was probably my best birthday yet! I woke up to pink Gerber daisies on my dresser, my absolute favorite. Not even a trip to the doctor's office to get Chloe up to date on her immunizations could ruin my day. We just went to dinner at Outback with my family (all 22 of us!) and then to our house for lots of yummy cake. It wasn't really what we did, but that I felt so special. I am so thankful to have good friends and such a great family to help me feel so special!

Even Cooper enjoys a little work out now! After I am done they all have a turn now. Funny kids!My kids have now learned about the ice cream truck. It was so cute when Alex came running in the house, I couldn't help but give in. Now they wait daily for him to come. Lucky for me, our street isn't one of his regulars.

And last but not least... this has been my favorite part of the day lately! My kids have had colds off and on and they have been straight up difficult. I have been talking with a couple of people lately and they have asked how I do it with 4 kids. And my only answer is it didn't use to be this hard. I have been praying for lots of patience to handle all the nastiness that my kids have thrown at me this last month. I know I will make it, lets just hope they do too!

Let's Bowl

This last Friday was the half way mark for our bowling season. I only have about 18 more weeks!
They teamed the first and second place team up, the third and the fourth, and so on. And we were matched up with the last place team. At least we weren't last! In our favor we did forfeit the first 4 weeks or so because are team wasn't together yet.
It is not about who wins or loses, but what matters is that we have a good time! And even though I joined this kicking and screaming and still do scream abit. We do have a good time! The good news is that even if we did place last we still win $money$!
Not counting last week , but I definitely have improved my game. Not that I really know what I am doing anymore than when I started, but my average has gone from 60 to 96.

So here is to a better half! I will really try and follow through!

GO OH REALLY!

A Snowy New Year!

I think there has only been one New Year's day since we were married that Chris and I haven't gone to play in the snow. The first couple of years included the kids, but they were so little and Chris and his friends thought tubing more of an extreme sport. So we would go play with friends and have a day without the kids. But after last years little incident ( I am not allowed to talk about it!), this year was a very safe, family outing in the snow!

My sisters joined us to do a little sledding and we even built a cute little snowman.
Cooper wasn't so sure about it. He was only happy if somebody was holding him. Alex had a blast going down the hill on his "keek" board. And Nick and Chloe had fun making snow angels and racing down the hill. Next year we will have to buy a couple of more boards so they can each have their own. They grabbed the boards and climbed the hill all by themselves. They mostly just needed help sitting down on the boards before they slid down. They, me too, went down many a times without a board!

After the snow we headed back in to town and met my parents at the movies to see Bedtime Stories. It was a really cute show!
We hope everyone had a great day! Happy New Year!

Our Christmas

It seems as though Christmas came very quickly this year, it really snuck up on me! Even with all the last minute shopping, cleaning, cooking, and baking that almost sent me over the edge we still had a wonderful Christmas!Christmas Eve is our BIG dinner with my family. So after I spent the day baking and cooking we headed over to my parents house for lots of yummy food. Just like always we were bombarded with lots and lots of good stuff! All of my brothers and sisters were there, so it was great!
After dinner the kids got to open a couple of presents. My grandma made all her non-married grand kids and all her great grand kids rag quilts with their names embroidered on. They were so cute and my kids loved them! And then they got to open a present from Uncle Jordan and Aunt Amber. They are rule breakers!! They got all the kids "cool" shirts, so they all had a little wardrobe change. After too many treats and lots of good company we had to head home so that Santa could come. We put the magical key out, so Santa could get in and we left him some sugar cookies (those are his favorite!) and some hot chocolate and then off to bed for us. It was a very long day!I was very surprised when Nick and Chloe came into my room so early. This is the first year that they actually woke up first. I am not a morning fan, but I was actually laying there awake because there is just something special about Christmas day and I can't sleep in. So Nick and Chloe woke Alex and Cooper up and then we headed downstairs to see what Santa brought. Nick got Nintendo gs, Chloe got her double stroller, and Alex & Cooper both got big trucks. We took our time opening presents and had our traditional Christmas breakfast, egg strata and homemade cinnamon rolls.
After we all got ready we headed to Chris' parents house to deliver presents and breakfast. We chatted with them for a bit and then it off to my parents again to open presents. I think my kids were more excited for Grandma's presents than Santa's! As usual they were spoiled!

Then time for some more breakfast! Crepes has been the Christmas tradition since I was little, so I definitely couldn't miss out on that. We spent the afternoon playing Wii and putting together new toys. After we couldn't handle any more sweets we went to lunch at TGI Fridays with all of my family. The kids crashed in the car on the way to Chris' sister's house for Christmas dinner. We couldn't handle anymore food, so we visited with family and friends and enjoyed a the 2008 Lichty Family video that Melissa put together. And finally...we headed to the movies with some of my family to see Marley and Me. It was a cute show, but very sad.

We had a wonderful Christmas! We are so thankful for all of our family because they are ones that made our day special!!