Out with the old

Today is the last day of 2008! It has been a wonderful year full of so much fun and a lot of great memories. I'm sure that there were all kinds of fun things going on earlier in the year, but my mind can only remember back to about May. The Spotts family went to the sand dunes in Alamosa and enjoyed a fun, but very windy camp out. Then we met back at Colorado Springs for the Flying W Ranch. There was fun music and enjoyable eats!

The end of June brought the big trip!

Hubby flew to Florida for work and I drove the kids to Saint George for a wonderful Family (Bugg) reunion. After the reunion we drove to Las Vegas to pick up hubby ( who flew in from Florida) and then off we went to meet up with the Spotts for more fun at Disneyland. (My camera is not cooperating with me and the pictures I have from that trip are all stuck on the camera. ) Then we worked our way north to visit Great Grandma. The kids love the ocean and youngest daughter declared that it is her ocean. California is beautiful. After our visit with GG, we got a short visit with Aunt and Uncle B. We headed to Sacramento to visit more Spotts. Because hubby's grandfather passed away, we had a bit of an impromptu reunion, and were able to see all the family. Aunt T let us stay in their camper, Thanks! We had an awesome July 4th with Aunt L and enjoyed the fresh oranges off the tree, we also got to go to the Jelly Belly factory! The big trip was over and we headed home. ( a very long 2 day drive with some not so happy kids).

The end of July brought a new cousin G-











And the beginning of August brought new cousin L.












School started in the middle of August. The kiddos have enjoyed it and are all doing well. They all participated in after school cross country and gymnastics and daughter #1 also did ralley ball and basketball. Daughter #2 started piano lessons and loves it!
September brought us a trip to New Mexico to see a cousin baptized. It was a quick trip but definitely worth it.
Halloween was fun, and warm this year! No Halloween snowstorm, YEA!!! Thanksgiving was a wonderful time with family.
December is almost gone, along with all the insanity!*(well, I suppose that is up for discussion) We put in a new bathroom in the unfinished space in our basement. It wasn't finished, but was usable for our guests. (*contractor promised it would be done before Christmas, sigh). Christmas was wonderful. So much of our family was able to come. I love spending time with my family and feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to see everyone. All 6 of my brothers and sisters and I got together for the first time in years! Daughter #2 got baptized and the birthdays were all a lot of fun! We have had so much fun this year and I hope we all feel closer for it! Well, I know this is getting to be a long post, so I'd better stop. I hope all of you, my family and friends have a Happy New Year!

Gingerbread houses

Normally I am not a very crafty person. When I got married, my husband informed me that our family traditions would include a gingerbread house at Christmas time (graham cracker houses weren't in the picture). He procured the recipe from his mom along with patterns for the house and dog house. The first of many houses was made the year I was expecting my oldest. Now, as you know per my previous post, December is somewhat of a hectic month for me, so this tradition of making gingerbread houses doesn't happen every year. However, this year there was a contest at the church Christmas party, so I decided I'd better enter. The kids love it and I guess it really was worth the hours spent rolling out dough and constructing the homes. Here it is:

The top picture is the back of the houses and the bottom picture is the front of the houses. (Can you see our pet rabbit?) Oh, and we did win an award " the welcome to the neighborhood award".

Band

Okay, proud mommy moment here. I went to my daughters first band concert on Monday night and it was so exciting! She is my oldest and I was very excited to get to see the work she had done. She has made so much progress from the beginning of the year. I think she is sounding pretty good. Anyway, I also need to acknowledge her band teacher...all elementary band teachers for that matter. He was so enthusiastic and proud of that little band. I don't know about you, but I'm not sure how they do it. I mean, really, the sound is well.....ummm....I don't know how to explain it really, but I think if I were the teacher I would need to invest in Ibuprofen. The thing is, I understand that they all have to start somewhere and that with practice, most of those kids will get pretty good. By high school they will probably be a joy to listen to. So kudos to the elementary band teachers of the world. Thank you for helping these kids have something to be proud of and feel good about!

To shovel or not to shovel?

We have been getting quite a bit of snow lately. It snowed all day Sunday and now all day today. On Sunday we shoveled our drive and sidewalk 3 times. Once in the morning before church, once again after church because we host choir at our house and don't want people slipping and then again in the evening. (I suppose that was just for good measure.) I just got back in from shoveling, and of course the driveway is filling back up. I did it this time because the kids will be getting home in 45 min and the snow had started to slow. It has now picked back up. It seems pointless I know, but I hate when the car drives over the snow and packs it down into hard, impossible to remove, tread marks. I guess I am just too picky. Of course it reminds me of the saying, Cleaning the house while the kids are growing is like shoveling snow while it's still snowing. I guess both should be done, even if it is a hopeless endeavor.