Winter

This month has gone by way too fast. Once again we have crammed it full of fun memories though and way too many pictures to scrapbook. Someday I will get back to my scrapbooks but for now I am just enjoying my darling family.

Dinner our for my sister's birthday. We love any excuse to get together and go out to eat.

My beautiful bouquet of flowers that Dave surprised me with on Valentine's.

Valentine's came and went too fast. Again this year we made Valentine's for the Residents of a retirement home here and went to visit them and hand them out. It is such a Valentine highlight for us.

We love Saturdays especially going to Matthew's basketball games. He is loving his team and his coach is our favorite so far. He has shown huge improvement from last year which has been so fun to see. 

Our great friends the Cook's invited us for their superbowl party. I am really not into football but this party was a ton of fun. The Ottley's know how to make it fun for everyone. When we got there we had to fill out a questionnaire about the game and about every hour someone won a prize. Yes, I even won a prize which thrilled Matthew because it was a gun that shot balls.

We are huge Brian Regan fans in this house so when we found out he was coming to Logan we about died. Our good friends the Johnson's are also huge fans so we got tickets for our kids and surprised them for Chrismtas with them. Brian did not disappoint, we laughed our heads off the whole time and wished he would have gone on for another 24 hours. Just what we needed after another dump of snow and cold.

So this is our cultural month with 3 plays, and one comedian night. Lexie and I went with our friends to see the Music Man which was fantastic. There is such amazing talent up here in Logan. My sister came up and we went to see the High School's Wizard of Oz which was also amazing.

Cold is cold

So as many of you who know me know that I hate to be cold. Moving to Logan was a stretch for me since EVERYONE had to remind me how much colder it is in Logan.  Even my mom would call about every other day during the winter months to tell me how much colder it is up here than down in Ogden. Honestly to me, cold is cold wether it is a difference of 5 to 10 degrees. So Dave who is always so worried about me has planned trips to somewhere warm the last 3 years to help me get through the winters. Well here it is the middle of January and we have no trip planned because we have been so crazy busy this year. THAT has made all the difference, staying busy and not thinking about how cold it is but enjoying the beauty that the cold brings. It has given me a new appreciation for snow. This is the first year I remember in a long time that I have LOVED January and am actually sad to see it come to an end. Thank goodness there will be another January next year.

New Year's Eve - such great friends and food. It would not have been complete without the Amsdens (we were sad Rob had to work) and the Johnson's. Dave really was here - someone had to take the picture. We all ate, talked, played games, ate and had way too much fun until around 1:00a.m.

Once again the holidays have come and gone way too fast. All the decorations are put down except for the Christmas cards which I have hanging on in my entry hall and leave up for another month. I love passing by there and glancing at all the wonderful friends we have made throughout the years.

Of course we had to hit the lights on temple square which are amazing as always. This year we went with our darling neighbors the Johnson's and ate at Spaghetti Factory first. We just can't seem to get enough of that place.
For Christmas we got Just Dance 2 and have been loving it ever since. Jeff, Jana and kids came up so of course we had to have a dance-a-thon. Not only is it fun to do it but to watch the people doing it was well.
I love Christmas dinner and especially when family comes. I got pictures of the table all set but forgot to take them while we were eating oops.
Nothing says the holidays like Christmas plays, here we are with the other Johnson's to see "Elves" by Pickleville playhouse which was a Christmas highlight.
Every year we make out our wishlists for everyone to see. Matthew doesn't want to get anything wrong so he still includes pictures as does Dave's (his are on the back). It is a fun thing to see what the kids hope for each year.
One other musical - The Forgotten Carols which started us off on the Holiday Season. It was just what we all needed to be in the right spirit for Christmas.

Excuse me I wasn't finished with Summer yet.

We had such a great summer this year and crammed so much into it. Here is a small glimpse of some of the things we did. A family triathlon which was a blast.
Our yard looked so gorgeous this summer. Hard work really does pay off.
Flew up to Denver with my sweet Indiana friend Joan and her daughter to be there for our friend Keri who had lost her daughter.
Love driving by seeing Dave on the billboard.

My 20 year highschool reunion was a blast.
Dave did the spudman so we all went up to Idaho to visit our darling friends the Pedersen's.

So Dave did a couple of Triathlons this summer with his brothers, I don't think I have enough room to post even half the pictures from them. But they all improved this year and had a lot of fun doing them.
I think I am getting old because I could only do the roller coaster twice this year at Lagoon. Luckily the kids are old enough they can go on it by themselves.

Love, love, love hanging out at Cherry Hill with the Dodenbier's. (Lexie wouldn't get out of the Lazy River to be in the picture)
We hosted couples bunko again this year which is such a great tradition.
We love hanging out with the Miller's in Park City
My sister, Mom and us cheering Dave on at the Ogden Marathon.
Matthew had another great soccer team this year and scored more goals than ever.
Threw a fun surprise party for Lexie's 13th birthday party. She had no idea.
We spent the 4th of July weekend in Kaysville having so much fun with family.
Love going on early morning runs with my sister. Wish she lived closer by so we could go everyday.
Sisters and Mom weekend - making christmas gifts. We love spending time together.

Memorial Day - Matthew's Birthday

Memorial day was a day full of fun family tradition. Since we moved back to Utah 3 years ago it has been so fun starting new traditions. For Memorial Day we love getting together. We go down the night before and stay and my sister's house then get up way early and go run a 5K. This year Lexie walked it with my mom who is 81 which was perfect. I have to say that I have the best family ever! Thank goodness we were able to move back so we can do all these fun things together.
After wards they provide a breakfast which is always so yummy!. My niece said it perfectly "I love that no one has to clean up afterwards." Well said Chris. It is just fun to sit down and talk about what everyone is up to. They always do a nice program along with bag pipers playing while we eat. I love the little home town feeling that my kids get to experience.
My darling sister is always such an inspiration to me. She is so positive and always pushes me to try new things. I seriously want to be her when I grow up.
We all went to the cemetery where my Dad and brother are buried. My mom had a fun surprise for all of us. She had written a story about her being in the war and submitted it to a dutch newspaper which got published! We all got a copy of it.
Since it was Matthew's birthday we went to Bookdock's for a fun filled afternoon. What a great place! Dave described it as a kid's Las Vegas.

The mini golf was a ton of fun. Of course Matthew won.
We all loved the go-carts. It makes me want to go and buy one and drive it all around the neighborhood all day.
I opt'd out of the water boats because everyone was getting soaked and that did not really thrill me.
As we were leaving Matthew told us it was the best birthday ever. I guess we can just bag the party then on Wednesday. Matthew won so many tickets that he bought a little pool table with it.
We ended the night at AppleBee's with of course Jeff, Jana and kids. One of these days I need to put together a collage of us and all the places we have eaten with them. We love hanging out with them and their kids!

Dave's Birthday

I totally surprised Dave this year for his birthday. We made him a nice breakfast then blindfolded him and drove all over Logan. We ended up at the Logan airport where I had arranged for a flying lesson. He was totally shocked and so excited. The kids got to fly in the back and Dave did the lift off and flew all around Logan. It couldn't have been more perfect.Dave, the kids and instructor walking to the plane.
We ended the day with a fancy dinner at Elements. The kids actually loved their food, it was such a fun way to celebrate Dave's birthday.

Are You Kidding Me?

Dave continues to amaze me. He just ran the Ogden Marathon and did fabulously! He was a little sore after but other than that he accomplished an amazing goal and made us all so proud to call Dad. Matthew also ran a Kid's K which he loved and did well at. I think he has running in his gene's too.
I kid you not there were around 500 kids that ran this kid's K. Thank goodness he did not wear his green shirt so I could tell where he was.
My darling sister and Mom came to support Dave as he crossed the finish line. What inspiration it is to see all those people coming in. My sweet family all met at my mom's home afterward for a congratulatory lunch in Dave's honor. After all this is a HUGE accomplishment. (Lexie was at a YW pre-camp overnighter so she was not with us)

Mother's Day was sweet!

Dave had to work on Mother's day so we celebrated on Saturday. Jeff, Jana and kids all came up for the weekend. It was so fun being with them and all going to Hamilton's for their Mother's Day breakfast. It would have all been totally perfect if Matthew wasn't being a pill as you can see from the picture. He did not want to eat anything. We all loved the crepes, bacon, fruit, omlettes - okay you get the picture. Jana and I went shopping afterwards and then Dave made a yummo ribs and potato dinner for all of us. How did I get so lucky? Everyday I am truly thankful and humbled for all I have and especially for the blessing of being a wife and mother to two of the greatest kids ever.
I don't know what got into Matthew but it better not happen again next year.