2017- Week 52(Dec 25- Dec 31)

 I forgot to mention before but this year for our annual ornaments we just bought one for the whole family in Hawaii. I had such an uneasy feeling the week before Christmas- like something bad was going to happen so I was very happy to make it to Christmas morning. Whitney woke up with a bad headache around 3 AM and couldn't sleep so Jeff gave her a blessing and we had her get in bed with us. Ethan and Ashtyn came in promptly at 6 so it was pretty brutal to get up. We per our usual spoiled the kids. They all got a few things that they really wanted and had a good morning. We had a Stranger Things Christmas and all got something to do with the show- yeah we're kinda obsessed. We made cinnamon rolls and just lounged around until it was time to go see family. We went to the Shaw's first. It was crazy as usual and the kids had fun exchanging gifts with each other. We talked to Scott and Malia briefly but it was so loud it was hard to hear them. We ate lunch and had a good time. Then we hurried home to get ready for the Hugheses to come over. We had a good dinner and then watched the kids open presents and visited the rest of the time. It was a fun but really really long day. We totally crashed afterwards and went to bed.

The next few days we worked on a puzzle that we had given the kids, returned a few gifts that didn't fit, played games, went to see Star Wars- so good!, ate way too much sugar, had a sleep over with Brody and Brooklyn, got makeovers from Brooklyn, played risk and Stranger Things

 Monopoly and relaxed.

Thursday Ashtyn got her braces off and Ethan got his braces put on.

Friday I got sick so I missed out on the Shaw sibling dinner- they wanted to reschedule but everyone was already planning on it and Tom and Sharon had all the kids sleep over so it was a perfect night to do it. We plan to go again when Malia is in town in a week.

The kids had fun at the cousin sleepover. They played Bunco and all won a prize. I think Tom and Sharon do a great job with such a wide age range. They missed Corban and Ruby.

I ended up being sick all weekend and finally felt better Sunday afternoon so we all went to Kristy's to spend New Years. We played games all night and then banged pots and pans at midnight. It was a good night. We hurried home after to go to bed so we could get up and go bowling the next day.

2017 Year in Review

Jan- Lela's funeral and Book of Mormon in 30 days
Feb- The ward split
Mar- Grandma and Grandpa die and Dad gets in a car accident
Apr- Ashtyn flies to Chicago, I start my dream job at TITP and April the Giraffe finally has her baby
May-Ashtyn finishes the track season and Gets her drivers license
Jun-Ashtyn gets an ambulance ride and ER visit and Jeff gets a pushcart
Jul-Whitney meets Why Don't We and Ashtyn goes on her first date
Aug-Whitney gets her learners permit, there was a total solar eclipse and we went camping
Sep-Family pictures and Ethan earns his Life rank
Oct- Hiked the Y
Nov- HAWAII and Stranger Things
Dec-Star Wars & Sickness

It's been a year with the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. Can't wait to see what 2018 brings!
Happy New Year!

2017- Week 51(Dec 18- Dec 24)

Monday was the Shaw Family Party- Jeff and I weren't able to go because Ashtyn had her Christmas Concert. It was the True Blue Concert. This is an annual tradition at Bingham. They honor one person each year with the True Blue Award for outstanding service. The choir's opening number was O Come Emmanuel and every choir participated. They all entered down the aisles holding candles(battery operated) and the room was dark. It was stunning and brought me to tears.

The whole concert was fabulous and Ashtyn finally had her dress so she looked great.

Whitney and Ethan went to the party where they had sloppy joes, played an unwrapping present game with saran wrap and dice, played dominoes and watched Mr. Krugers Christmas and exchanged white elephant gifts.

Tuesday for mutual the youth went to Temple Square. Since this involved my whole family I decided to go as well. Whitney ended up babysitting so she didn't come and I didn't really get to see Ashtyn or Ethan at all but Jeff and I had a great night with the teachers quorum.

 It was cool to see the service vending machines from the Light The World campaign but it was so crowded we couldn't even get close.

Wednesday was our annual Red and Green Dinner with the Larsen's. They hosted this time. We had red roast, red potatoes, green salad, red jam for the rolls and red and green rice krispy treat desserts. It's fun watching our families grow over the years. We've known them for about 13 years.

Thursday Whitney got her braces off. She was so nervous they would say no again but she was ready. She looks amazing.

On Saturday Santa finished up his wrapping. We also made gingerbread houses. That night we went on a Christmas lights tour.

 Of course we had to bring Daisy too.

at the end we stopped at Maverick to get treats and Ethan slipped and fell and hurt his wrist.

There was an amazing Christmas Eve sunrise. We spent the day at church. They only held sacrament and had a beautiful program with music and the written word. Then we had a picnic under the Christmas tree. Then we made thumbprint cookies for Santa and we invited Jeff's parents over for dinner and to watch the First Presidency Christmas Devotional that we had not seen. The kids all got to open their pj's and Ashtyn surprised me and got me some too- which was so sweet because I would love to get them every year but we never do for Jeff and I. In my perfect world we would get matching family pj's every year.