Elizabeth asked me to show her old pictures so I pulled up this blog. I'm so glad I did this when they were little. I was able to show her so much.

Just to do a little update while I'm here...we now live in Columbia, Missouri. Travis works for Allstate. I take care of two children here at home. The kids are all huge...literally. Joseph is 6 feet tall! Spencer is 5'10", and Connor is almost 5'9". Even Elizabeth is getting to be a big girl. She's 8 years old and still the crown jewel of the family.

Monster Jam

Since he was born, Joseph has loved Monster Trucks. He knows everything about them and their drivers. So, every year for the past 5 years, we buy Monster Jam tickets for Joseph. They come to Tacoma every January. Some years they are cheap nose bleed seats, some years they are front and center...All depending on our budget..But every year is declared "epic" by our boy. This year they got middle ground seats but Joseph declared them the best of all because they were by an exit and he got some up close and personal views is some of the trucks.

Last year Travis, Joseph, and Connor took our good friend, Jason, with them. They took him again this year, but with the addition of Jason's 9 year old daughter. Everyone had so much fun. Joseph was thrilled to meet Ryan Anderson, son of famous Dennis Anderson. They also got to meet announcer Scott Heaton. Travis has admired Scott for years. When he met the boys he signed Joseph's autograph book and then, (Travis jokingly requested this), he got out his microphone and announced to the entire Dome that Joseph and Connor are Washington states biggest Monster Jam fans! So cool. Also, just as the show was starting, they were looking for judges in the audience. Scott the announcer, with his microphone, saw our boys and said, "There are my buddies Connor and Joseph in the stands." He remembered them! It was such a cool moment for my boys. Especially for Joseph, who is 14 and wanting to be noticed and accepted like teens tend to do.

While those guys were gone, Spencer, Elizabeth, and I spent the day reading books and watching Doctor Who. I took Spencer on a date the night before and bought he and his sister some art supplies and treats. He is not a truck, dirt, noise fan. He is more like me and enjoys intellectual things and nerdy science space shows.

All in all it was a great day and we all had tons of fun and made good memories with our children. Sometimes life can be really hard and days like this one can really be a balm for our hearts and a lift to our spirits.

My cute date!

Spencer eating Ramen and watching Doctor Who

The girls

Connor and Joseph with Ryan Anderson!!!!!

Oh my gosh...it's Scott Heaton! I don't know how often he gets fans like the Nelsons

That's a good looking bunch of dudes.

He got a butterfly balloon. 

Son-uva-Digger (which is fitting...cause Grave Digger driver Dennis Anderson's son, Ryan, drives this)

What the heck?

I am a tad behind on my blogging. I haven't blogged about new years and stuff...I pull up the app on my phone and realize that the last FOUR entries I made never published! So, it looks like I was REALLY behind...or that I wrote like 5 blog entries in a day... now that I've got them to publish. I suppose it doesn't matter, as long as they are published in the end. Ha

New year's was fun except that the hold outs all got sick. We ate lots of yummy food and watched movies and just hung out as a family. That's my favorite way to celebrate, so it was a great night! Now...on to a new year!

Next I will blog about Monster Jam...But I need to get pictures from my boys.

Food...it's all about the food!

Christmas and the flu...

So...Christmas was a success in that everyone got what they wanted. However...it also found Spencer, Elizabeth, and myself all very sick. Spencer opened presents and then went to bed. I managed to get the ham and potatoes cooked and set out before I crashed. We still feel yucky today, but are on the mend. Now I'm waiting for Joseph, Connor, and Travis to get it. It seems to hit hard and leave quickly.

I managed to get a couple of pictures...

Must...wait....to....go...in........

Connor was so excited it took him two Melatonin to get to sleep.

Can you tell she had a fever?

Can you tell he had a fever too?

This boy got TONS of toilet parts this year.

This boy got TONS of Monster Jam and Duck Dynasty.

Little Miss got her chipmunk and that was all she really cared about.

"Awesome! A new cover for my iPad...now can I go back to bed?" He seriously didn't open all of his presents until later that night...he was that sick. Poor kid.

Christmas Eve

We have a couple of people not feeling their best, including me, but it was still a nice Christmas Eve. I am so blessed to have my family. I love them so much! I am so grateful for a Savior that loved me..us...so much that he came to the earth to be our example and make it possible for us to return to our Heavenly Father. My heart is so full.

 Now off to stuff some stockings!

Temple trip and other fun things

Travis and I were asked to chaperone the youth temple trip this past weekend. We decided that since it's just a few days before Christmas we could go over a day early and stay a night at Travis's parents so that the kids could give grandma and grandpa their Christmas presents. It was a fun little trip. When we got to the Temple it was crazy busy. The Bishop told us they had more than they needed as far as adults so he sent Travis and I off to do a session together. We haven't been through the Temple together for 15 years. Crazy! We went twice a month before we had kids, but since the kids, we have gone separately. This was so special and a great experience. Plus, the session we went to was a Spanish session. Haha. What an experience. All us gringo's used head phones to hear the English words. My favorite part was seeing Travis smiling at me in the Celestial room at the end. He makes me crazy sometimes, but I sure do love him.

After the Temple trip we went to Old Country Buffet with all the other people from the ward and the boys ate their fill. Then we went back to grandma's, packed up and took the ferry home.

We would have stayed longer, but today we had the Christmas program in church that Connor and Elizabeth sang in and then the Christmas lesson in primary. I combined classes with the class above me, so I got to be with Elizabeth as she reenacted the Christmas story. She was Mary and adorable.

Now I am scrambling to get things ready for Christmas day. The kids are so excited...I'm tired already. Haha

They really were having fun...I caught Joseph mid blink I think.

Some of the people that came. The bald guy on the right is our Bishop...the semi bald guy on the left is his brother. Some of the kindest people you will ever meet. 

Ferry ride home! Woot!

Ack...blurry but still adorable.

We didn't even change out of our church clothes to go home. Spencer loves dressing up anyway.

Cutest Nativity in the Universe!

"Gingerbread" Houses

The fun continues for December! We made "Gingerbread" houses. I was very impressed by the creativity of each child. Elizabeth is the most fun to watch because she's now old enough to participate in all the fun, and still is full of innocent wonderment.

December fun

I'm finally done with classes! I got one A and two Bs. Phew! Now the fun can start!

Actually it has already started. We've had our party at the church, party at the funeral home, and we got our tree yesterday. Good old Swain's always has awesome trees. We buy them wrapped up and don't know what they will look like until we get them home. Then we have a "Griswold" tree reveal when Travis cuts the strings. Haha This years tree is huge and we LOVE it! I loved watching the kids so enthusiastically decorate it. Travis and I are so blessed.

I will include a few pictures. Jingle Mouse has been busy as well, but I think the  pictures of our cute kids trump Jingle reports. Haha!

I got to help decorate for the Christmas party this year. This was so fun to put together.

Even daddy wore a Santa hat. Cute!

These were all at the church party. It was a fun and yummy dinner.

This Santa was the next day at Travis's work...Sequim Valley Funeral Home chapel.

This Santa was at Swain's. They took a professional picture, but I snapped one as well.

It's December!

Okay....so the last few days just have been a blur to me and the next few coming days will be even more so. It's finals week for me...gulp...I have sooo much to do. Throw in the fact that we had snow and freezing temperatures the last several days (meaning...children stuck in the house more), kids with the sniffles, and all the upcoming December stuff...(you know...parties, presents, scout elves, decorations, Santa...)....see? Gulp. Actually, I welcome December and all the activity and festivity....just not until after I finish exams and papers and all that yucky stuff. So, I think I'll get busy with my homework....Then we can hang more lights in the windows. :-)

 

Oh...and yes, Jingle Mouse, our family's scout elf, er, mouse...has returned. He has reported to Santa and the kids are already doing their best to behave and avoid a naughty status on Santa's list. Even the older two boys are behaving and going along with it. I'm glad they don't think they are too cool yet. 

I'll just go ahead and include the Jingle Mouse pictures so far. Not super creative, but, seriously...I have mush for brains these days. Haha

 

Day 1...Kisses, Lights, and a Letter from Santa

Day 2...Elizabeth loves this RC Cola (it's a rare treat for her) Jingle Mouse brought a whole 12 pack and even put on a crown!

Day 3...Just to make sure the kids don't forget the real reason for the season.

Day 4...Camping and roasting marshmallows on top of the wood stove. (side note...the kids were totally horrendous in behavior today...but maybe they weren't and I'm just sooo stressed trying to get my stuff done that it seemed horrendous...I decided to give them the benefit of the doubt and let Jingle Mouse continue on with his adventures)

Let's Just Pretend...

Let's play a game called...Let's Just Pretend! It will be loads of fun....I'm sure of it! Okay, I'll give a situation, and you pretend that the opposite has happened! Then, I will appear to be totally with it and cool and put together and all those things that I dream of being....someday.

Ready? Okay, here we go....
1. I haven't updated this blog since June.
2. I had great ideas and plans to deslobbify my house and document it.
3. I managed to deslobbify half my house, (but then got busy)....and the minions that live here kindly helped continue my work.
4. I am just breezing through my college classes, acing all tests and writing papers in a day.
5. The funeral business is booming and paying us billions of dollars
6. Homeschool is getting easier and easier every day.
7. My kids are ugly and I hate them. (Remember....opposites) :-P
8. I lost a hundred pounds and ran a marathon. (Opposites! Ok..I didn't actually gain a hundred pounds, but I didn't lose any either)

Really, things are not that horrible. haha I'm just busy. Between homeschooling four kids, being a senior in college, taking kids to activities, church callings, and just being a wife and mom....blogging hasn't made it on my list much. But I really used to love to blog and I kind of miss it. Throw in the mix that I'm lazy and would rather be reading a good book or watching the BBC....I admit it, things don't get done

But...this is me, checking in and saying 'hey' and making sure my blog still exists. I'll throw in a couple of photos to mark the occasion. Hopefully I'll be back again and some of those opposites will have come true. ;-)