Idaho

Since the last post was all pictures, I guess this will be all talk.  Mostly because I always forget to take pictures in Idaho.  We're always having too much fun.  I think my kids would prefer Idaho over a lot of other vacations. 

This time the ride went smoothly both ways :)  We swam, sledded, played games, enjoyed talking, snowmobiled, and much more.  The kids can't get enough of playing with their cousins.  Travis especially adores Mathew and Brian.  He also decided he wanted a snowmobile for his birthday.  We are blessed with amazing family.

As 2012 closes it's sad to see my kids growing up and yet I'm excited for a new chapter.  A year hopefully with no pregnancy, babies, or sleeplessness!  I remember my one word goal for last year was endurance.  And in a way that's what it was.  Enduring the end of pregnancy, enduring having a newborn, enduring a baby with kids home for summer, and the grand finale being enduring all the fall activities while juggling kids.  But honestly, if that's enduring, sign me up.  Because, yes, it was hard.  But there were so many nuggets of gold along the way that made it worth it all.  I wouldn't trade it for anything.  This coming year I hope to build on that.  I hope not to just endure but to enrich the moments of life.  Make more meaningful time with my kids, family, and friends.  I hope to be less selfish and give more of myself.  So my one word goal of 2013 I guess would be enrich.

Christmas

We had another fun, memorable Christmas.  It's always exciting with kids counting down to when Santa comes.  It's also fun having added family. We enjoyed Christmas with Jeff, Selly, and Marcus, Grandma and Grandpa.  That's what the holidays are all about.  Christmas to me is much better explained in pictures rather than words.  So I'll do my best to have more pictures and less talk.

Here's our Christmas Eve birthday party dinner.  Love the midgets, especially Marcus swinging.

Grandma and Grandpa had plenty to do :)

Grandma even helped Hailey figure out the right way to use her sleeping bag.

Grandpa got superman pajamas and added to his outfit quickly.  He's still my "superdad"

There were a lot of Zebras in our house on Christmas.  Especially with Ashley decked out too.

We played some fun Christmas Eve games including Glow in the Dark ring toss, snowball fight, marshmallow shooting, an all-around competition...

And I almost forgot the human Christmas tree.  What good sports.

The kids slept awesome knowing Santa only comes if you sleep.  But nothing beats the excitement of Christmas morning when everyone is anxious to see what he brang.  We snuck one quick picture in before the chaos began.

This girl was good for a while eating and watching all the craziness.

Marcus is such a cutie and was fun to watch.  We love this little guy.

Lots of Zebras

After things settled down it was on to the fun part of playing with toys.  Travis was quick to try on every star wars dress up he receive and test out his new light saber wii remotes.

This girl played on her kids tablet and did Legos for about a day straight.  It was fun to sit down next to her and watch this architect go at it. 

It's always sad to see Christmas go.  I think I need two months of this season.  I love the lights, the music, the family, the fun, the excitement, and most of all the symbolism everywhere of our Savior.  It was another year of fun memories.  I know these stages will cruise by, so there's self inflicted pressure to make the most of it.  All in all - I think we'll call it a success.  Merry Christmas!