2015 Year in review

Highlights:

January

Celebrated Brian's birthday, played in the snow, went ice skating, and Courtney made honor roll at school.

February

Evan turned 9, we were in a car accident (but are ok), went sledding, and Courtney did amazing on her clarinet solo.

March

Jacob rocked the hand bells, Courtney did great at her band concert, and Evan won the "Most Musical Car" for his piano pinewood derby car he built with dad.

April

April Fools Day pranks, celebrated Easter, went swimming and bowling with friends, Courtney's first time to the temple, visited a farm, had giant slurpees at 7-11, and lots of family bike rides.

May

Evan wins a prize for his "Makey Makey" invention at school, celebrated Star Wars Day, we went to Evan's 5th grade showcase, Evan had a piano recital and did super, celebrated Mother's Day, and went on a field trip to the museum with Courtney.

June

Took the kids to the mountains for lunch by the river, Courtney got a super cute short haircut, made homemade ice cream, visited Skyline High School to see Evan's invention for Innovation Academy, and visited Grandma Alexander in Utah where the kids had a blast making homemade suckers!

 July

Went to the local parade, blew giant bubbles in the backyard, went on a tour of Hammond's Candy, Evan got braces, rode paddle boats and fed the ducks, celebrated Pioneer Day with friends, and spent a day at Boondocks.

August

Brian and I took at trip to Oregon to celebrate 20 years together, Courtney and I saw "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" with my mom, school started (Jacob 11th, Dillon 9th, Courtney 7th and Evan 5th), and went to a Rockies game as a family.

September

Went swimming a lot, Evan started playing the tuba, Evan ran into a pole at school and got a huge bump on his head that had me worried (he was ok, thankfully!), did some canning from our garden, and many other service projects.

October

Courtney played on a volleyball team at church, Dillon turned 15, went for a nice drive to see the leaves changing, was surprised with the best 40th birthday party ever!, carved pumpkins, got flu shots and went trick or treating.

November

Took a trip to Disneyland/California Adventure, spent some much needed time with family in California, Jacob turned 17, had Thanksgiving dinner at my mom's house, and Courtney fell while roller skating and broke her left wrist.

December

Courtney and Evan have their first band concert together, Christmas shopping, gingerbread house making, awards at school, wrapping gifts for Santa Cops, celebrated Christmas, Courtney turned 13 and she also got her cast off the last day of the year!

 These are just a few of our favorite family highlights for the year. It is always fun to look back and see everything that you have done together and look forward to all that is in store for the future! 

I thought I would share one of my favorite quotes that I have thought about many times this past year:

I often will doubt myself or get caught up in trying to get everything off my "to do" list. This coming year I need to take a breath, enjoy all the little moments that make me happy, and realize that I am doing better than I think I am. I have so many great things in life such as my family, friends, and my testimony of the Savior. He has never stopped believing in me and can see my potential even when I cannot.  

Happy new year everyone!

Quick trip to New Orleans

Brian and I have been talking for years about going to New Orleans together. He lived there for 2 years while serving his mission. It was fun to have a personal tour guide with me and to see all the places he lived and served. We also did a lot of the tourist type activities while we were there.

 We walked around the French Quarter and had lunch at The Gumbo Pot. Delicious!

We ate beignets and hot chocolate at Cafe Du Monde, ate lunch on a steam boat on the Mississippi river, and listened to some very talented jazz musicians. 

What a great trip I had with Brian! I loved every minute of it! So thankful for these little opportunities to get away as a couple! And I am also thankful for my best friend who watched our kids while we were gone. Thank you Liz!

September

On September 8th, a new baby was born into our family! My brother and his wife had tier 2nd child child and she is a cutie!

Welcome Elsie June (with big brother, Nolan).

We also reflected on the floods that took place 1 year ago this month...

There are not many days when I feel strong emotionally or physically... but in this photo I felt strong and capable of doing anything! My best friend was there minutes after my house flooded and stayed until the very end of the clean up. With her help, God's help, and the help of so many others, we were able to accomplish so many things! We retook that picture today on the year anniversary, just so we could be reminded that we were given this life because we are strong enough to live it. Thank you Liz for sticking by my side through all the ups and downs.

 I love looking at this before photo and the after photo of my neighbors house. They felt helpless and like no one cared, but God had other plans and sent angels to their rescue. Thank you to everyone that made a difference and served during that time.

August

Most of the first part of our August consisted on driving down to Colorado Springs daily to visit Sharon (My mother-in-law), who had a heart attack while visiting family there. We are so thankful that she was okay and got the care she needed!

We also had back to school time for the kids. They are so cute and I love how each of them are continuing to improve in school and make good choices. 

July

This July was filled with so many great things!

We celebrated the 4th of July by watching the local parade and spending the rest of the day with our best friends swimming and lighting fireworks. 

We went to a Rockies game together, and although it rained while we were there, we saw a beautiful rainbow afterwards!

We did some service projects for our friends.

We went to Utah for our annual fishing and camping trip with Uncle Gerald and his 2 girls. On the way there, we stopped by the Vernal Temple and took a few pictures.

May/June

May was a busy month, but a fun month! My little sister got married, school activities, a trip to Utah, and Mother's Day! The pictures with my kids are what really amaze me. They are really growing up so fast! My oldest is already so much taller than me!

Looking back, I think June was such a fun month too! We spent the first little bit of the month visiting with family in Utah. We play lots of games, the kids love hanging out with cousins, and we eat yummy food.. Like pancake apple pie, right Amy?
I also was able to go on my first hot air balloon ride with my mother in law. We had gotten her tickets over a year earlier, and with many failed attempts to go, we finally did it! It was amazing and so much fun! The perfect person to go with too!

 We celebrated Father's Day, did a car wash fundraiser, and had lots of play dates with friends!

 Another highlight of June was being able to go to girls camp with Courtney! This was her first year and I was so lucky to be one of her leaders along with my best friend, Liz! What a great time we had all together! Other than it being super cold at night, it was the best camp ever! Hope I get to go with her again sometime!

April

April was full of  great activities like field days for the kids, field trips, family fun time, and of course Easter!

 I am still laughing at some of the Easter photos below. My sister was hiding a couple eggs by her elbows in her sweater and it was funny how no one noticed...(Looks so natural!) And the photo of Brian and I makes me smile because we were both supposed to be making goofy faces, but this is the only photo we took where he smiled so cute! I wish I would have been smiling with him! (It kind of sums up our personalities though!)

March

March was a busy month with lots of school and church activities!

We had the Pinewood Derby, a field trip to the Capital, a hand chimes concert, a choir concert, a school market day, and many projects to make. Love seeing each and every thing that my kids are involved in!

February

February was a fun month! Evan turned 8 and got baptized! We are so proud of him! Isn't he just the cutest 8 year old? I love him to the moon and back! We also had park days, the kids helped with the cooking, and Courtney fell in love with a little puppy at the pet store. (No, we didn't buy him....)

January

I have felt so terribly bad for not keeping up with my family blog, so I am going to try to recap just a little first and then hopefully not fall so far behind again.

Starting where I left on from my last post in early January this year, we had a great rest of the month! Courtney celebrated her birthday at school, we played in the snow, Dillon became quite good at shooting his bow and arrow, Evan's did terrific at his showcase, and Brian had his birthday!

 Love the picture of Jacob eating a huge slice of homemade pizza! And Courtney and I made some little owls together that turned out super cute!

The year in review

What a year 2013 has been! It seems that part of it has flown by, and others have lasted longer than they should. I am going to do a quick recap of some highlights first...

January: Kids making treats in their Easy Bake Ovens, Jacob's feet grew bigger than mine (and I wear an 11!), Grandma Alexander and Aunt Amy came for a visit, Celebrated Brian's birthday, and Dillon went to the temple for the first time.

February: Evan from heaven turned seven, Courtney made her first batch of caramel cinnamon rolls by herself, and geese took over the world. (Okay, it just felt like it!)

March: Family trip to Estes with the Lowrys, Bowling party hosted by my mom and step-dad, Kite flying, Lots of school concerts, Sledding, and a great Easter!

April: Disney on Ice with Grandma Kittler, 14 inches of snow, New kitchen floor, Grandpa and Grandma Means came to visit, and Field days at school.

May: Family bike rides, Cinco de Mayo pinata party, Scout sleepover, Field trip to Centennial Village with Courtney, Rocket launching, Field trip to Eliches with Jacob, trip to Utah, Jumped off the roof onto the trampoline (and will never do it again! LOL), Last day of school.

June: Sprinkler + Trampoline = FUN!, Dillon shoots a 22, Fun trip to Estes with friends, Played in the Lyons river, I went to Girls Camp for the first time!

July: Parade, Fireworks, Movies, Slip n' Slide, Lego exhibit, swimming, Rockies game, and lots of time with friends!

August: Family camping and fishing trip, Carriage ride, Drive-in movies, Back to school, and corn picking.

September: Flood, Cleaning, Crying, Friends who amaze me, Maroon 5/Kelly Clarkson concert

October: Birthday parties, Trip to Iowa, Jumping in the leaves, Roller skating, and Halloween.

November: Jacob's birthday, Volunteering, Thanksgiving, and Christmas shopping.

December: Ornament parties, Christmas concerts, Christmas, Courtney's birthday, and New Years with the Lowrys.

 

This year has caused me to reflect on things and what matters most. I highlighted a lot of events that happened this year because I didn't want it to become the year of the "flood". That was only part of it. I have heard so many people say that they are glad 2013 is over and they would never want to relive it. Even though I can see where they are coming from, I disagree. I think we are given trials to strengthen us and grow from even though they seem unbearable at the time. I watched alot of my friends go through much harder trials than a flood, and yet they are strong and I see them leaning on Heavenly Father and knowing that He has a plan. The thing I want to take away most from this past year is this quote: "God doesn't give us what we can handle, but instead helps us handle what we are given." I have leaned on Heavenly Father to pull me through the trials in my life and he has never disappointed me. He bears our burdens with us. He sent people into our lives this past year that made our trials lighter, that showed us Christ-like service, and that were truly answers to prayers. I cannot think about this past year without being thankful to my Heavenly Father. 

A visit to the funny farm!

My kids make me laugh alot! We went to the park and they were doing some crazy things!

Acting like cows on the cow....

Being farmers on the tractor...

I wonder where they get this from??? Hmm...

Nervous in nature?

We took a drive up Trail Ridge road and man, I had no idea how bad my fear of heights was! I tried taking a few photos when we stopped, but most of the time my eyes were closed and I was leaning as far into the middle of the vehicle as I could! LOL! The pictures I took turned out gorgeous however and I love looking at them! (They are not 3D ha ha...) I feel like I can't say "I love Colorado" enough, especially the breathtaking mountains.

Annual Fishing Trip

We took our annual fishing trip to Whiterocks Utah and had alot of fun! We fish, hike up the river, play games, and enjoy family time together. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the trip!

Who knew?

Who knew that buying a bag of colorful plastic balls would be so much fun? The kids played with them on the trampoline for what seemed to be like forever! Such a great buy and a lot of fun!

A night at the Rockies

Enjoying a family night at the Rockies game together!

We love LEGOS!

My mom and I took my kids and their friends to the Museum for the LEGO exhibit. What a fun time we had! They were able to spend a couple hours building their own creations in a room full of LEGOS! 

Slippin' and Slidin'

Just a fun day with the kids playing on the Slip and Slide! I even joined them, but I won't scare you with those pictures! :)

Tooth fairy is on overtime!

Evan has been losing what seems like alot of front teeth recently! The poor kid doesn't have to many left to eat with and has to start chewing from the side on almost everything!

Courtney has also lost a couple of molars as well... Guess it is just that age! Loving the fun, toothless grin!

Our adventure to Estes

We decided with our best friends that we would go up to Estes Park with our younger kids since our older boys were at scouting activities. We had a great time! Love living so close to the mountains!

We rode the slides, drove the go carts and bumper boats, and then rode the aerial tramway up to the top of Prospect Mountain. We then fed the chipmunks and walked around the area. 

Such a beautiful day with friends!