I am short, nonetheless, it was fun

A few weeks ago Nate and I went to a Jack's Mannequin concert downtown.   I took the pictures, and as you can see we aren't far from the stage-which is fun.  But of all the concerts we have been to, this one seemed to have more tall people than any other.  I was standing on my tippy toes with my arm as high as I could raise it.                








They played with a band called .fun.  The whole night was a great date!  What's the next concert on the list Nate?

Bear in the House

 

We are so proud of you Jack!  

Jack got his Bear Patch at the Blue and Gold Banquet last week!  He loves scouts and puts in a lot of hard work and effort.  We did a lot of work over Christmas break, I don't like being in a rush at the end, so even though he isn't old enough to be a Webelo yet, we have a few months of smooth sailing. 

Project Linus Quilts

We did some quilts for Project  Linus for Disney's Give a Day, Get a Day program they have up and running right now.  Each family member over the age of 6 needed to make a quilt.  So I taught Nate and the kids to sew a straight line.  Harder than you would think.  Jack likened sewing to driving a car.  Having to keep you eye on the fabric and keep track of pedal speed.  Bella loves to sew and would do it all the time.  Nate did great until he got toward the end, then he would panic a bit.  It was fun for me to watch and share some sewing with them. 

Storage-pros and cons

So, I spent most of the morning underneath the house in the crawl space.  I have been trying to get it organized so we can find what we need and of course, put more stuff down there.  While down there I started opening bins and making piles, stuff to keep, stuff to get rid of, stuff that goes somewhere else.  After hauling up several bags of stuff to get rid of, I wanted to just clear every thing out.  I mean, there is stuff that has been sitting in the same spot since we moved in almost five years ago.  And why have things around that we clearly don't use, and I didn't even realize we owned anymore.  What would we keep if we had no crawl space?

On the other hand, I love my crawl space for storing all the stuff we do use.  I try really hard to keep Bella's clothes sorted and ready to pull out when Sophie grows into each size.  I am really happy when I pull out a ready made wardrobe for the kid.  I do try and get rid of all stained or well worn stuff before I store, so pretty much everything is in really great condition.  I discovered today that when Bella wore a size 9 1/2 in shoes I bought her like fifteen pairs-either she was in that size for a long time, or I was indulging in my love of shoes more often than any other size she's been in.  Hopefully Sophie will be in the right season when she hits that size.  Either that or she will wear Mary Janes and boots all summer.  Along with a pair of barely used tap shoes. 

And I do love being able to have a nice food storage area, camping gear area, and general I don't know where else to put this area.  I just want to be better about not keeping around stuff that we never use.  Today, all the bins are labeled and contents checked.  I thought I might get around to installing the door, but that will have to wait for another day.  I think the main thing I need is the organization of it all, and we are edging closer to that. 

Random Coolness

 I took this picture in September of 2003.  It is at the Utah State Fair, Jack is on one of the ponies.  The other night Nate noticed the lady in the background.  It happens to be Hollywood.  I met her in 2006 after we were called into the Primary together.  Now she is my first counselor in the Relief Society.  She lives down the street.  How cool huh!

Evolution of the Beard

Nate takes a break from shaving every winter. It started while we were at BYU. He wouldn't shave over Christmas Break. The poor guy has such thick hair, he always has the five o'clock shadow. Well, we graduated almost ten years ago, and he has upheld the no shave for winter tradition. The difference being the hiatus from the razor is long each year. This year he began after Halloween. So when he finally did shave on new years, he shaved in small portions, just to see what he would look like. He wouldn't smile, just look slightly intimidating at the camera. Now he is clean shaven. I would guess the beard will come in again around the end of October next year.

2009 A Recap

January-Pretty uneventful!  We had a lot of snow, and Nate started working in the office all day again.  We all went to a Gymnastics meet at BYU-which further solidified Bella's love of gymnastics.  And  we got passes to the Legacy Center-which was supposed to encourage us all to exercise more. 

February-I donated my hair.  We started in on preparing for summer activities such as girls camp and football.  I got to go to some friends temple sealing, it was a really beautiful day.  And my mom visited at the end of the month.

March-March is always filled with a bunch of family birthdays.  Two of Nate's sisters, his mom, my brother, and a few friends.  So there is lot of celebrating, which is fun.  We bought a new couch!  Our old couch had been really awful for a few years, so I was glad to finally be rid of it.  I still love our new one, so that is a good sign.  Jack played indoor soccer.  Sophie started going to nursery-which she loves, except when other kids are crying, then she seems to think they are on to something and joins in.

April-April began fabulously with a book club adventure into the mountains.  Jack and Nate began the baseball season.  We had a spring break which included visits to the pool, the zoo, the Childrens Discovery Museum, and lunch with Nate.  Nate and I spoke in sacrament meeting on the 19th.  I made Jack a quilt for his birthday.  He also got a bike.  Nate had a football over nighter.  And for some reason, my brother-in-law had a duel?

May-In May my friend Shelly and I began work on a quilt-it is still not finished.  Marsha came to stay with us for a few months.  Holly and I went to a childrens book festival in which we should have brought our children.  Isabella had her sixth birthday, it was on the last day of school.

June-Jack and Nate still have baseball weekly, and football practices and tournaments began.  I went to girls camp in the second week in June.  It was really a lot of fun.  The food was to die for and I inhaled a constant stream of hot cocoa.  Isabella played t-ball and loved it, she took it very seriously.  We saw Suessical the Musical in Midvale in the park.  We had family pictures taken.

July-We also have a lot of birthdays in July.  My mom at the beginning, my sister-in-law, my brother-in-law, my soon to be sister-in-law.  An aunt, a cousin, a few friends, and me.  We had a fourth of July BBQ and set off fireworks.  The kids had a primary activity about the pioneers.  Jack had scout day camp.  We all had dentists appointments-the first for Nate in like 8 years.  Nate and I went to see The Fray at USANA Amphitheater.  Jack had good news at his eye appointment, his eye is getting better each year.  We had a neighborhood BBQ on the 24th with fireworks.  We went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house as a family.  We set up the tent in the backyard for some near home camping.  Nate's company moved to California and we did not.

August-I went to Youth Conference at Reid Ranch. It was a ton of fun, horseback riding and archery, all sorts of fun activities.  My niece had her first birthday party at our house.  Nate and I had our 12th anniversary on the 5th.  Isabella started outdoor soccer.  The football season began on the 21st.  School also began-I am anti school beginning in August.  I picked out the serger that Nate got me for my birthday!  I love the serger.

September-For book club we went and saw "The Scarlet Pimpernel" at Hale Theatre in Salt Lake.  It was so funny, I am hoping to go again and take Nate.  The Malibu broke down and was in the shop for two weeks, so Nate and I had great times juggling the van between us.  It also cost a week in Europe to fix, not thrilling.  Jack started his second season of flag football.  My mom visited for Sophie's second birthday.  Bella participated in the primary program.  Jack and Nate went to Arizona to see the Colts v. Cardinals game.  I was released from Young Womens.  Then called to be the Relief Society President.  It was a busy month.

October-Roger and Cassie came over and fed us all before General Conference.  The kids went to the Bean Museum with friends.  We had some more family pictures taken, Nate finished up the high school football season.  I made the kids Halloween costumes.  Jack was a Jawa.  Bella was a peacock. Sophie was Tinkerbell.  Alice and Violet came trick-or-treating with us.  We also had a ward Halloween party with games and pumpkin ice cream.

November-We had a getting to know you meeting for relief society which was a lot of fun.  Jack, Isabella, and I went to a fireside featuring Mike Schlappi- it was an awesome fireside, the kids loved it.  The kids ran in the turkey trot at school.  We had Thanksgiving dinner here at our house.  Everyone really chipped in this year, which made it a bit more relaxing for me.  I finished Christmas shopping by doing almost all of it online.

December-Richard Miskin turned 80 years old.  We went to Temple Square with the Glovers to see the lights.  Bella and I went to see "The Princess and the Frog" together.  Jack started basketball season with a clinic put on by the Flash.  I helped out at Bella's class Christmas party, so fun!  And we had a ward Christmas party with a big turkey dinner.  Our neighborhood did a Christmas Pixie thing in which we delivered gifts to an assigned family for six nights and an unknown family delivered things to us for six nights-the kids loved the doorbell ditching aspect.  Olivia, our new niece entered the world!  We then went to Oregon for Christmas.  There we decorated trees and cookies.  Ran into old friends.  Stayed up way too late, played Shang-hai, and had a lot of fun.  Nate's family came over for his birthday-also shared with my grandma.  Then last night Roger and Cassie showed up to play Pounce and ring in the new year.

I counted all my books read in 2009-91, I had no idea I spent that much time reading.  Leave book suggestions for 2010 for me please!  I made 16 quilts in 2009, I think only a few still live here-so that is good.  I also made various outfits and accessories.  I have a list of things I want to get started on for this year, and 4 UFO's that need to be finished in the next six months!!!

That was just a glimpse of our year.  I realize I left out most of the scouts and gymnastics and day to day stuff.  I had a great time working with the Youth, I will really miss that.  I am looking forward to all the Relief Society fun I will have this year.  Jack will turn ten this year and I can hardly believe that!  We have a wedding in the family, which is always exciting.  And we will finally see our long lost Texas relatives.  Leave in the comments one goal you have this new year-if you do that sort of thing!