March

Getting pictures from Jake is the best part of my month.  Here he is with his new companion Elder Flake.  The bottom right is what they look like when they don't get mail.  haha

We were so happy to attend the baptism of sweet Emma.  It was a very special day.  The baptism service was so wonderful with such a sweet spirit there.  We had brunch afterwards at the Bundy's, and as usual, Lindsey went all out.

We celebrated Brad's golden birthday a week late since he was in Texas on his birthday.  We ate, played masking tape on the nose, and do you love your neighbor. A fun time was had by all. 

We tended Lydia for 3 days while Ryan, Lindsey and Emma went to Zion during Ryan's spring break.  She kept us entertained and on our toes.  She was absolutely thrilled with the game of chasing me and Cam around and squirting us with a water gun Sunday after church. Cam's friend Parker joined us for dinner one night as well as Jessica since Brad was in Texas.

We went to the Weyerts for dinner to celebrate Tom, Cam and Teresa's birthdays. Jess was tending the Hess kids, and we had Lydia, so all the kids had a great time playing together.

Cam had a baseball tournament in St. George, so since this is Mike's crazy busy time at work (as opposed to just his busy time- which is most of the rest of the year) and Brad was in Texas, Jessica willingly came along as my travel companion. We had such a great time!  I had never spent any significant time in St. George, so it was great to explore the town for 2 days. 

We drove to Zion one morning to hike Angels Landing.  The Bundy's told us we had to after they did it earlier in the week.  I'm so happy we did it!  I loved it so much. It was beautiful, and enough of a challenge to make it interesting. 

 We climbed to the top of this rock!  It was amazing.

We celebrated Cam's birthday a couple days early so more people could come and party with us.  It was another golden birthday celebration which is incredible that out of our family of 8 people, 4 are celebrating their golden birthday in an 8 month period of time!  So it's been great to reuse the same decorations and candy.  We had a fun time eating, visiting, and playing who knows Cam best.  I made Mike, Jess and Brad be in their own category, and they all got the same score- 34 out of 43 possible.  Lindsey won in the other category of people with 32.  For fun, I sent Kylee and Jake the same questions to see if they could break the tie--- Kylee, amazingly, got 34 too!  So it was up to Jake, and..... he got 39!  So it's official- Jake knows Cam best!

 
 
 
We didn't remember about the photo booth until everyone had gone home except the Bundy's...

 


At 12:01 am on Cam's birthday, his 4 best friends surprised him by waking him up and taking him out for a midnight snack at Buffalo Wild Wings.  It was fun for them to be waited on by Lindsey.  I love these boys and am so grateful for great friends that all my children have been blessed with.

February

I didn't do a great job of taking pictures of our Superbowl party, but our friends the Lesters sure did.  They have been Seahawk fans for as long as we've known them since they lived near Seattle for a time.  They were beyond excited that their team not only made it to the Superbowl, but won- and in convincing fashion.  We've become followers of the Seahawks since Jake's been on his mission, so were rooting for them too.  We watched the first half of the game at home, then went to the Searles for the second half.

My 3 cute activity day girls and I made these yummy looking (and tasting) Valentines treats and posters and they had a great time doorbell ditching them to 6 families in our ward. 

Cam had a fun time at the LHS Sweethearts dance.  His date's mom took some pictures of them at The Bluebird before the dance.  The theme of the dance was 'Masquerade' hence the masks...

Valentines Day snuck up on my again, so luckily Lindsey was thinking ahead and ordered me 2 loaves of colored bread for french toast and Cam's daily PB&J.  Doesn't Cam look absolutely thrilled with his breakfast?  Mike gave me the flowers and sugared nuts. I made more treats to deliver to neighbors, family and friends. 

I heart attacked Mike and Cam's bathroom with hearts, balloons, candy and a gift.

Brody was going to be in Africa for 3 weeks for work, so Jessica and I decided to make a quick weekend trip to Ft. Collins to keep Kylee company and to help her start getting her nursery ready for the wee babe.  On Valentines Day, Ky and Brody found out they're having a BOY!  Funny story- Cam said to me a few weeks before they actually found out "Have Kylee and Brody found out if they're having a guy or a girl yet?"  Haha. So of course we all tease him about that and refer to the baby now as a guy.  It was very exciting news and after knowing what they're having, going to Ft. Collins and seeing Ky's pregnant tummy, helping decorate and buy baby clothes, it finally seems real!  Hurray!  I'm so excited to meet the little man.  I loved spending 3 days with just my girls.  We worked hard in the nursery painting the crib, dresser and bookcase white (primer coat plus 3-4 coats of paint) and the walls yellow. 

We also took Sal on several walks, made a couple yummy Pinterest recipes, went out to eat several times, went to church, watched the movie Frozen as well as some of the Olympics and also some great family videos I brought along, bought some darling baby clothes at Gymboree, and bought material for crib bedding that Freda is going to make. 

The drive both ways went by so fast. We had good weather except for strong winds through Wyoming.  We enjoyed some beautiful sunsets. 

I sent Jake a Valentines package that he and his companion loved.  Cam has enjoyed some great ski days with his friends.  He's sacked out on the lovesac on a Sunday afternoon- exhausted after a busy week. 

My sweet adorable friend Josie came to visit along with her equally adorable and sweet boy Forrest.  Look at him!  How does he know to look at the camera and smile like that?  I could eat him up.  Look at the height difference between Cam and his grandma Freda!  My beautiful girls.  I love them so

January

For the second year in a row we went snowshoeing on New Years Day.  Brody was gone to SLC to ski for the day with his friend Landon, and Brad was in Texas selling for a week, and we couldn't convince Cam to come, so it was just me, Mike, the girls and Salomon (who is always thrilled to go anywhere). We went up Logan Canyon to Temple Fork and walked along the road until the trail to Temple Fork Saw Mill starts.  It was a beautiful day and especially nice to get out of the Cache Valley inversion and see the blue skies.  We had a fun afternoon. 

Cam and his friends bought a season pass to Park City this year (as well as one to Beaver) and he has loved having somewhere else to go skiing besides Beaver.  He doesn't even mind the long car ride, or when he crashes into a pole and gets a big scrape on his leg.  

One night, about 6 weeks before the upcoming girls choice Sweethearts dance, Cam got asked to the dance by three different girls.... all in the same night!  It was crazy!  He felt really bad for the 2 girls he had to turn down, but he's going with the girl who asked him first (technically...) This is the way the first girl asked him... (yes, she drew that picture of Cam- which I think is amazing.  She had previously turned it in for credit in her art class)

Brooke, the girl he's going with asked him this way- She left 7 frozen heart shaped blocks along with the Melt My Heart poster and a bunch of heart shaped candy on our front doorstep.  When he melted the hearts, the letters to her name were inside.  The other girl asked him by leaving a trail of Hershey kisses from our front door all the way to the driveway, with the poster at the end of the kisses and he had to search through the kisses to find the letters to spell out her name.  I thought the way each girl asked him was so cute and creative. 

One Sunday night we decided to have a taste testing party.  So, along with Jess (Brad in Texas) and the Bundys, we set out to discover the best kind of: marinara sauce, spaghetti noodles, brown soda pops, ranch dressing, tomatoes, cucumbers, string cheese and butter vs margarine on garlic toast.  We found that we all liked best whatever it was we were used to- but it was still fun to try different kinds of that many things.

Jess and Brad were tending the Hess kids that weekend, so all 5 kids had fun playing together- even favoring us with a musical number and a dance.

My living room hadn't been rearranged for over 3 years and I was ready for a change.  I found the new chair and ottoman at Sams Club so that was the push I needed to get it done.  I love the new look, and it's nice to have another place to sit.

I spent much of last summer and the last half of the year working on my first blog book.  It ended up being 160 pages.  I'm done scrap-booking and making family history books because I love doing it digitally so much more.  It's rather addicting.  I love how this one turned out and look forward to making many more.  I redid my wire picture holder in my room with all pictures of Jake- I love seeing those pictures every day.
MISC- Jess helped Kylee make a cute Christmas tree skirt- Mom trying to keep warm while spending an evening with us- I took my cute activity days girls ice skating at Merlin Olsen park- making some delicious fresh squeezed oranges from a box that Lorene sent me from AZ.

MORE MISC- An awesome winter picture of the temple- Cam got asked to Sky View's girls choice dance (but just by one girl...)- Mike's freaky fingers which go numb during the winter if he gets the least bit cold. It's so irritating to him and feels weird.

December

This month has been chuck full of parties and lots and lots of awesome family time.  I don't know how I'll survive the regular routine of life come January....Our first party was on December 8 and was hosted by the Bundy's at their house.  We ate delicious chicken enchiladas, then played catch phrase, and the trivia game.  It was a delightful evening. 

Sadly I don't have pictures for all our parties, but on the 13th, the Skeens invited me and Mike, Carol and Mom out for dinner and games.  We had fun playing taboo and cards.  I just love getting together with extended family.  The next night Mike and I went to our friends Allen and Sandy's for dinner and visiting. We had a nice evening, and since this is a second marriage for both of them, I enjoyed learning more about Sandy.  Turns out we have a lot in common, so it will be a fun friendship to continue.  The next night (Sunday the 15th) Carol had us and the Wheelwrights and Mom over for dinner, games and the Survivor finale.  It was a fun evening.  The next night we went to Steve and Janet Broadbents for dinner along with the Wood's and Measoms.  We 4 were the RS presidency and we've decided to get together for dinner 4 times a year- once each at each other's homes.  It's a great way to stay in touch.  Ty and Sue had bought this little band at a YSA service auction so we got to enjoy their amazing music for an hour while we ate and visited.  I loved it!  The top two pictures were from that evening, and the bottom left is the awesome Amaryllis that Teresa gave me for Christmas that I absolutely loved watching grow and bloom.  It was so beautiful and lasted all month.  The bottom right is the much anticipated neighbor gift from Marnie Corbett that I look forward to every year.  It's delivered hot out of the oven and literally melts in your mouth.  That's a full size plate by the way, not just a dessert plate.  Oh, the deliciousness of this thing is next to nothing!

On Thursday the 19th, me, Carol, Mom and Paul (who was in town for 5 days) went to Ann's for a cookie exchange, candy making and game playing.  It was a lovely evening.  The bottom right picture is a work check from a year and a half ago made out to Jake from Westates theater that he irresponsibly tossed into the trunk of his car (who does that?) and it was discovered by Cam when he and Mike went to get the spare tire out of the trunk to change a flat and there was the check wet and frozen to the tire.  Luckily for Jake, he has a nice mother who went to the trouble to track down the person who could re-issue him a new check.  It was fun showing it to him on Christmas (complete w/ the new check) and telling him all about it and making fun of him.

The next night we had a blast at a party at Carol's school.  We ate pizza and other goodies, then played a super fun scavenger hunt that Carol and Taylor had made that was throughout the school.  It was great.  Then we played some minute-to-win-it games in the gym.  A great evening.  We enjoyed having the Romney's spend the night w/ us that night and enjoyed visiting w/ them for an hour while soaking in the hot tub.

The next day Mom had her Griffin family Christmas party that was 20 years in the making.  All her children and spouses were there except for DeNae.  We had a lovely afternoon feasting on a delicious dinner that Gary made, sharing Christmas memories, playing cards and just visiting and enjoying each other.  It was wonderful.

The next evening, Sunday the 22nd, we had a fun progressive dinner that started at our house with soup and a game, went to the Griffins for lasagne and garlic bread, stopped by the Searles for salad and name that Christmas tune that Carol played on the piano (I loved listening to her play- she's awesome) then finished at the Skeens for dessert and a spiritual message.  It was a great night.  We hurried home to welcome Ky and Brody who were just arriving for their Christmas break.  Our ward's primary did a live nativity the next night that Ky and I went to. It was very well done and attended by so many people. It was so great.

 On Christmas Eve day, the girls and I started off the day with an awesome Zumba class at the Sports Academy.  We then met Brody, Brad, Cam and the Bundy's at the Jump Zone for an hour of fun and practically had the place to ourselves.  It was perfect.  Came home for a delicious breakfast that Mike had been kind enough to bake since he couldn't break away from work to come to the jump zone with us. 

We played some games that afternoon, then Ky and Brody went to Brody's moms for the evening, and the rest of us went to the Weyerts for dinner.  We had a delicious feast of crab, shrimp, ham and french dip, played the present game, then went to the Bundy's for the rest of the evening.  Ky and Brody were able to meet up with us there about 10:30 and we had a great time playing a survivor type game along with Trace and Ann who were spending the night there.  This is the only picture I have from dinner at the Weyerts.  I sure love this baby boy of mine.

 I absolutely love my house at Christmas.  Well, I especially love it.  On Christmas morning, Mike and I made a big breakfast of fresh squeezed OJ (thanks to my friend Lorene who sent me a case of oranges from Arizona), red buttermilk pancakes, red potato hashbrowns, sausage and hot chocolate.  For the first time ever we ate before opening presents.  It was because of the timing of Skyping with Jake.  The day revolved around that and I love that it did. 

We spent a wonderful hour opening presents.  We enjoyed the addition of Brody's BFF Landon who lives in SLC but doesn't have any family nearby so he spent the day with us (and Christmas Eve with Brody's family).  It was special to have Mom with us for the morning.  That hasn't happened since we lived in Arizona. 

We went to the Weyerts as soon as we were done to open presents from them and eat leftovers, then we rushed home to be waiting at 1:30 when Jake was scheduled to Skype with us.  We anxiously waited for 10 minutes before the call came through, then it was pure heaven for 85 minutes talking with him.  It was all that I dreamed it would be.  He looked great, he was happy and his same ole fun self.  It was the best part of the day without a doubt.  I was so happy that he wasn't homesick and wasn't too sad to say goodbye.  And I was happy that I got my tears shed while waiting for the call to come and not during it.  (the top picture is of us waiting...)

 We had an hour to clean up, do dishes and make chalupas for later at the Skeens, then we all met at Trace's YSA building for a rousing game of glow-in-the-dark ultimate frisbee. Everyone who lives in the valley was there except the Griffins.  It was so much fun!  I hope this becomes a tradition.  I really loved it.  We all went to the Skeens after that for dinner and more games.  It was a delightful way to end a perfect day.

On the 27th the Bundy's and Ann came over for lunch and games.  

Saturday the 28th we attended a morning session of the temple (Ky had never seen the new film so was happy to finally get to do that), then we all went to the movie "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty."  It was a great movie.  That evening the Densleys joined us for dinner and games.  We had a great time with them and were so happy they were able to fit an evening with us into their lives.

The next day- Sunday the 29th, the Bundy's joined us for dinner and more games. I had a table full of prizes I wanted to get rid of, so we played games until they were almost gone.  It was a blast with them as always.

On Monday the 30th, Ky, Brody, Cam and Jess (Brad is in Texas for the week selling for Vivint) went to lunch at the Crepery then I met up with them for the matinee of Frozen (me and Jess) while the other 3 went to The Hobbit.  Jess and I LOVED Frozen.  It was so cute.  Ky and Brody spent most of the rest of their time home with Brody's mom, so on New Years Eve it was just me, Mike and Jess as Cam had gone to Park City snowboarding for the day, then stayed there to go to a party with his friends.  We three ate leftovers while watching 2 movies- The Impossible, and Hachi- A Dog's Tale.  Both were very good.  And then we went to bed at 10:30.  I know, I know.  Boring- but we were tired!  It was sad to say goodbye to 2013 because it's been a good year, but I look forward to all that 2014 will bring.