Change. My theme for 2011

An interesting thing about having a bday in early January. Not only do I make goals for whatever year it is, I can make goals for my year of life at the same time. In this case, my 26th year-- a year of positive changes!

We hope that in a few months our lives change dramatically. After what is most likely his worst semester yet, Luke will graduate with his Masters degree from USU.
That not only means NO MORE SCHOOL! (YIPPEEEEEEEEEEE)! but it also means finding a new (career) job, finding a new home, selling our current house, moving..... and lots and lots of other changes. We're ready! We've been doing the student thing for more than 6 years--It's time for these changes to take place!

Obviously, thise are some MAJOR changes... which include some monstrous goals (ie. writing thesis, home improvement projects etc) but there are other minor personal changes I'd like to make. 

In thinking of my large list, I decided the best way to do that was to categorize them, then rate them in order of "Good, Better, and Best" as directed by Pres. Oaks a few years ago. 

So here are some things I've already started working on: 

GOOD- Do something dramatic with my hair..........So I became a brunette!  Wow. it looks really red in that picture, but it's more brown when I'm not standing under a light bulb.

BETTER- Begin the year with a fully organized house. I went crazy last week and reorganized just about every closet, drawer, and cupboard. It feels so nice!

BEST- Keep it that way! It will make showing the house to prospective buyers much easier. 

PARENTING GOALS:

GOOD- Plan ahead, and leave more time so when Tianna doddles I don't get so frustrated with her 

BETTER- Spend more time playing with my kids-- don't use the phrase "We'll do it later" so much. 

BEST- Use kinder language and tone with my children so that they will  remember their mother as being nice to them. This one is very hard sometimes. ..Even with cuties like these!

  Adelia got into Daddy's tools-- she is a bit less girlie girl than her older sister... who insisted I take a picture of her in a Hawaiian outfit.

SPIRITUAL GOALS

GOOD-Plan primary songs out 2 months at a time.. or for the entire year would be best!
BETTER- Go visiting teaching earlier each month

BEST- Reserve a time each day to study my scriptures 

BEST- Attend the temple once a month
BEST- Have FHE EVERY week

PHYSICAL goals:

GOOD-Utilize the treadmill upstairs. 1/2 marathon in July? (maybe it's an unrealistic goal, but we'll see!)

BETTER-Floss more often 

BEST-Go to bed by 11:30--doesn't sound "early" but it's an improvement

JUST random STUFF:

GOOD-Not just make cards, but SEND them out! 

GOOD-File the mail pile more often: weekly would be nice, monthly is more practical

GOOD- Figure out a better system for receipts-- SUGGESTIONS welcome!

BETTER- Eat out less

BETTER- Spend less time on the computer

BETTER- Be on time for things

BEST- Be a better listener, give my opinion less
BEST-  Think positive thoughts

BEST-  SMILE

Here's to you 2011 and 26! Let this be the best year ever! 

Ringin' in the New Year in C.D.

On the 29th we left the cabin and headed to Castle Dale until after the new year on Jan 2nd.
It was ridiculously cold and therefore a LOT of time was spent inside playing the Wii, and with new toys- (thank you everyone! ) and best of all... with our loved ones!

On New Years Eve we ventured out for a swimming trip and to dinner..Sadly Adelia wasn't feeling well enough to go with us to the pool.

 Luckily she was feeling well enough to play with her cute stick horse Aunt Monica made for her.

The New Year was rung in with the kids in bed and half of the adults too! It was low key, but nice.  I even got a Near Year's kiss from the best husband in the whole wide world! 

Now we're home, back into real life, and school starts again for Luke in 2 days.  Twenty-Ten was such a good year, even with it's highs and lows regarding school. We hope that Twenty-Eleven is even better and chock full of POSITIVE changes! And hopefully no more school after May! :) 

Thank you to all our family and friends who brought us so much joy and happiness as we made 2010 a memorable year. We love you! 

More Cabin Fun

A very memorable thing happened on Sunday, the 26th.  All of my siblings, Garth, James, Jana, Jason and 2 of my sister-in-laws, Tori and Joy, and I sang, "O Holy Night," in Sacrament meeting in the Scofield branch.  It really is something I will never forget.  I love singing with my family!

My favorite gift to open up this year was our blog books! I had done a book for both 2008 and 2009 and had them printed up in a nice hard bound book (www.blog2print.com) They turned out so nice! I couldn't be happier since our blog is both our journal and our scrapbook.  With that being true, and a 2010 book pending......... here are a BUNCH more pictures of our fun time at the cabin:  

All dressed up and ready for Church

Tianna with Payton and Rylie

While watching "Despicable Me" Adelia found Uncle Casey to be the perfect seat! 

Harley, Jocelyn, and Tianna being silly girls!

 Cute little Joelle and her mama

It only took 4 days, but Adelia and Pyper finally learned to play happily together-- as long as they were separated by sturdy plastic.  

It's snow fun.. i mean So FUN 

Luke is throwing a snowball at his wife- Jerk! : ) 

Talking to Aunt Laura-- HOW WE MISS HER!

Jacomo opening his light sabor from Adelia.  

This is a very special ornament Val brought for the tree.  

We sure miss you Vittoria! Your spirit was truly felt during the sweet family moments and especially on the sacred holiday honoring our Lord and Savior.  

Christmas Time!

The last time I blogged I was escaping from all of the remaining stuff I had to do before leaving for the 10 day holiday break! Now, I'm escaping the after math-aka, the mail pile. 

On the 23rd we took off.  The weather was great, traffic stunk in the Provo area, but otherwise, a good trip down to the cabin. Just in time for a story with Grandma before bed. 

Christmas Eve!

The day was spent settling into the cabin, cooking, sledding, and making an adorable reindeer piñata. Perhaps we should have spent a bit more time rehearsing the family Nativity : ) but it turned out really cute even with a silly donkey (me), a few grumpy participants, a little girl *cough* Adelia, who kept trying to steal baby Jesus and a "Mary"- Tianna who thought that was VERY upsetting.  We finished the evening off with the opening of new pajamas--including some "Big Sister" and "Little Sister" jammies! 

Christmas Day!!!

Oh the anticipation! How rude of us to make the children wait while the cameras get set up!

The best moment of the day was when Adelia first saw her new car.  She immediately ran right up to it, bypassed everything else, and tried to jump through the window to get inside.  I think Santa Claus made the right choice with that toy!

Tianna was also very excited!

Adelia also loved her new baby!

After presents and breakfast we got to be lazy and spend the day enjoying each other's company.

I think what followed that evening may become a new family tradition: the breaking of the pinata!

It was hilarious!!! You couldn't even imagine the serious/determined look each of the kids got as they tried to beat the reindeer open.  

They [the kids] cheered, they whacked, they cheered some more. It was seriously one of the funniest and FUNNEST things we have ever done. Finally, after about 3 or so rounds the pinata finally gave way and candy splattered over the room. It was a perfect ending to a wonderful Christmas day.