Our favorite Christmas tradition

We made it! We are in California for Christmas with the whole family! One of our favorite traditions is getting new matching jammies every Christmas Eve. And we wear them All. DAY. LONG. on Christmas! Cozy pj's, yummy food and family....what more could you ask for.

The girls...

The guys.... (don't you just love the In-N-Out t-shirts! Very California!)

Merry Christmas!

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."
Isaiah 9:6

My birthday wish...

For the last two years my birthday request has been to have family photos taken. We have a friend that we can always count on to take some gorgeous pictures. Here are the first few that she has let us peek at...







I can't wait to see the rest!

Last Home Game....

We're going to the last home game of the season tonight. We never miss them...it's our date night. What are we going to do when football season ends? Good thing RMHS is going to the playoffs!!!
Do you go to your local high school football games?
{Chase is in this photo somewhere!!! Do you see him?}
I've never seen a high school with so much spirit...love it! GO ROCKY!

Choosing Joy

I have to be honest. My MIA behavior on my blog (and blog reading/commenting) was not all because of my super busy schedule. Yes, we've been running around like crazy over here, but I'm also a little blogged out. Pooped. Over it.


My blogging love wanes sometimes. Sometimes I feel like I have nothing good to write about. Other times blogging can be quite overwhelming. There's a lot to deal with. A lot to keep up with. It can totally zap the joy out of writing.

Don't get me wrong, I love reading about everyone's adventures. Blogging is a fabulous way to stay in touch, keep up with current events and learn about different lifestyles. But for a while, it was bit of a chore. And things that you enjoy should never get put into the chore category.


So, I just removed myself for a bit. I stepped back and enjoyed being in real life.


A while back I read something about "choosing joy" ... living deliberately, simplifying. So, I had to do just that. But sometimes that can be hard. The pressures of "keeping up" are quite overwhelming. And I want to choose things that make my life joyful and keep my heart happy and light.


Stepping away from the computer was one of those things.


What is keeping you joyful?

We have we been?

Sorry guys for being M.I.A lately! Our computer crashed and we have been putting off getting it fixed. Not sure if it's worth even fixing at all or if we should just buy a new one.

The school year is coming to a close and the boys are busy with their end of year celebrations. The 8th graders are enjoying Festivus as I write this with all you can eat pizza and the whole afternoon free to write in each others yearbooks. They are also enjoying a magic show in the cafeteria this afternoon. I can't believe that Chase's middle school years are over and he will be starting High School next year!

Tanner's class is having a P.J and Bingo day today and tomorrow they are having a pizza and yearbook signing party. We will also be enjoying a movie put together by one of the parents of everything the class did throughout the school year. Tanner is excited to be a 5th grader next year!

Hopefully we'll have some photos up soon. My parents will be here soon, with our neice and cousin, Lani. Planning on lots of water fun and plenty of trips to the shaved ice shack! Both boys will be enjoying sports camps at the high school, Basketball for Chase and Football for Tanner and also their annual vacation in California with Oma and Poppa.

Whoo Hoo!!! School is out! Happy Summer!!!!

Walgreen's Deal of the Week!

I purchased these four bottles of Vitamin D for only $1.20. But I received $20 in Register Rewards! That's a $18.80 profit!!! Each bottle was on sale for $5. And for each bottle purchased I received a $5 register reward. But to make the deal even sweeter...I had 4 coupons for $5 off per bottle! So all I had to do was pay 30 cents tax on each totaling $1.20.
Another reason why I HEART WAGS!!!

SCRABBLE

Oma sent Tanner these cool Scrabble crackers...


He had so much fun!

He even used each of our names spelled with crackers as our place cards at dinner...

Happy Easter!

Twas the night before Easter....

Getting the Easter Bunny's snack ready...

Snowboarding in Bogus Basin, ID

Nothing like snow during Spring Break! Usually you imagine sun, sand and warm days. NOT this year! It has been raining and snowing ALL. WEEK. LONG.




However....that was exactly the weather we were hoping for. So, lucky for us Bogus got 3feet of fresh powder for us to play in! And to top it off. Chase got to use his new snowboard right away...and not have to wait till next season!

Chase, Neitzel, Stiles and Tanner ready to hit the slopes!

April Fool's!

I told the kids that I had a "special" drink for them. They thought they were getting orange soda with lunch.

SURPRISE...APRIL FOOL'S!

It was orange Jello!!!

Spring flowers

My flowers are looking prettier and prettier everyday!


Even with a little snow on them! Nothing says "SPRING" like snow!

The big 1-4 !!!

We celebrated Chase's 14th birthday yesterday...wow...where do the years go!

Do Oma and Poppa know this kid or what?!


He REALLY wanted a snowboard. He was so surprised when we gave it to him that evening after Troy got home.

Lovin' the new snowboarding pants too!

He wanted his two favorite things for his birthday meal:
~Chicken fried steak with biscuits, mashed potatoes and gravy for dinner
~Better-than-Megan-Fox cake for dessert
Yum!




Here's a photo I took after I "thought" he fell asleep! Yep, that's his new board tucked into bed with him! Guess he really likes it!

Happy birthday bug! We are so proud of you and all that you've become!