Farewell 2015

Looking back on 2015 we realized there weren't many "big" events. We didn't buy a house or a car, we didn't have a baby or get pregnant. We didn't even really travel very far. But we had so much growth as individuals and as a family, which as it turns out, are pretty big things. If you read our blog, I guess you would know what we've been up to. But before I review the year, here are some of our celebrations. 

We kind of like having a quiet New Years at home. The boys can go to bed on time and Max and I can enjoy a special home date. Also, we are not on the roads with all the drunk drivers (and all the marijuana smokers here now!) We have done this for a couple years and we love just reviewing our year together, setting goals for the upcoming year, and eating Chocolate covered Strawberries. 

This year, we let the boys join in on the Strawberry eating. 

We discussed the fun things that we had done the past year and what we'd like to do in the coming year, this must have been the normal dinner table distracted conversation because I don't really remember what the boys said. Oh well.

We then showed them a New Years countdown around 8:30 and put them to bed. They needed sleep and Max and I were excited about our date. 

When the boys were asleep we pulled out the real chocolate covered strawberries which are not pictured since they ended up in our bellies pretty quickly. We drank sparkling cider, played games and discussed life. It was simple and wonderful. 

We discussed (and listed) some of the highlights of 2015 which include increased adventures as a family, such as more camping trips, beach trips, a rafting trip, forest outings, and hotel stays. All things that used to feel somewhat daunting. We both feel like we have become more confident in our parenting and we are loving the dynamic of our family of four. Now that Miles is a little older it has been fun to try to do more as a family. (we are still quite imperfect parents, but it is nice to know that we are improving). We feel that our marriage is even stronger as we constantly try to support each other in all of our endeavors and express appreciation for each other's contributions to our family.

In our home we finally have kitchen cabinets and no lead in or outside of our house...(ok we're still figuring out the upstairs bathtub but we are close.) This is a huge accomplishment.

Overall, our whole family has improved health and we eat more nutritiously. Miles' lead issue was taken care and we are staying on top of Charlie's eye issues, he will need an eye surgery in the coming months but that should be routine and help his depth perception. Max and I are super healthy as of now, no back pain, or knee pain for Max! We are just getting stronger everyday. My excellent health is really something that I need to take the time to appreciate. Oh and Charlie started doing push-ups.

Financially, we completely paid off our car at the beginning of the year, and we've been saving up for a down payment on our first house.

Now let's brag about Max's accomplishments: At the beginning of the year his mom suffered a huge heart attack, she is recovering quite well now, but Max had to take over a lot of responsibility, such as being completely in charge of their finances and paying their bills, paying off their debt, going through the whole home buying process for them to get their house, fixing up and selling their cars, and cleaning out all their storage stuff left behind after they moved. It has been a huge task but it has also gotten his parents in a much better position. So it has been completely worth it for him. And I hope my kids are watching and taking notes...haha!

Dreamboat right?

As if that is not enough with his full time job, he also completely fixed up this house that has been the bane of our existence. One of the properties we manage has been mostly vacant and in need of serious repair for as long as we've lived here. It was a scary house, the first couple of times I went in it, I had nightmares the following nights that I was trapped in it with my children and we couldn't breath. BUT, Max has worked so hard to make it a beautiful and livable house that even I would live in now. It is mere weeks away from taking the final pictures and putting it up for rent. (stay tuned for a before/after photo post) This was a huge task and so satisfying to finally see it come together. Let us know if any of you want to be our neighbor and live in this lovely house. OH yeah, and a patio is being poured right now as I type this! So proud of that Max!

Oh but that's not all for Max, he was called as the ward clerk at the beginning of the year and has devoted a lot of time serving in the church in his calling. Not to mention he is a very involved father and husband! Man, we are lucky!
 Oh yeah, and did I mention we started our own real estate business? That's been taking another chunk of time but we are having so much fun working together.

Charlie started Sunbeams and also started doing preschool with two of his best friends and me and the other moms as his teachers. He loves preschool and gets so excited about anything put in front of his face. He is always astounding me with his ingenuity and his inventive mind. He got to go on his first rafting trip did amazingly well.

Miles began walking and talking up a storm this year. He amazes us with his speaking and the things he picks up. He sings twinkle twinkle little star very well. He has the greatest personality and I'm in denial that he will ever hit the terrible twos or threes.


I feel that I have improved on my personal scripture study. Also, like I already mentioned, I feel like I've improved as a mom. I'm not so intimidated about taking my boys on different outings and to the store. I feel that I've become a better wife as I really try to take time to express my appreciation to Max for all he does for our family (and it's a lot!) I served as Charlie's sunbeam teacher (poor kid doesn't get a break from me) I have made vast improvements on my photography. I've also improved my nutrition and become stronger.

So all in all 2015 was a year of growth for us as we are always striving to be better. When we looked back at our goals in years past we saw that we are always progressing which is reassuring that we are actually achieving goals and moving forward.

And now we come to 2016 which will be a big exciting year for us.

Some of our goals include:
Buying our first home and delegating the property management stuff!
Traveling to Armenia for a photography storytelling workshop.
Traveling to Chile to see Walter and Melina married and baptized
Grow our business.
Charlie's Eye surgery
Buy a second car
Start potty training Miles
Finish Potty training Charlie...seriously the poop is killing us!
Get in bed by 11pm 3-4 nights a week.
Start printing my blog out
Print our yearly photo book
Quarterly temple attendance
Monthly Family Service project for FHE.
There are more and we still have weekly planning sessions to go over finances and make our weekly goals so I'm sure we will still accomplish a lot this coming year.

Christmas Time

We got so wrapped up in the Christmas season that I wasn't the greatest at taking pictures. I mean, I took some, but they aren't that clear or great or even in the action. It is kind of fun to put your camera aside and just celebrate sometimes, but then it's not as fun to blog without pretty pictures. Anyway, we celebrated with gingerbread cookies, stringing popcorn, our fair share of hot cocoa, a bunch of Christmas crafts, and a lot of family time. I think I get more excited to celebrate Christmas with my kids then I did when I was an actual kid. It's so fun to make it magical and to get them all excited.

Anyway, a week or so before Christmas we made Gingerbread cookies with Richard and Marissa.

Both Lacey and Charlie tried a red hot and they both hated it so the stood at the garbage can and took turns spitting into it.

So, with all the package deliveries and our house having an extremely weird address, we got a lot of wrong packages and some very confused delivery men. This is a mailman that decided to drive through our yard looking for a house and then he got stuck in the mud. No that isn't a road, that is our yard...It was getting crazy, all the while, our packages were always left at the neighbor's house. haha!

This is a craft that I made Charlie help me with since I wanted it to be his craft. I ended up doing most of it and I will proudly display it for many Christmases to come!

This is how my boys play with the nativity. (Those are Miles' chubby little hands)

It was sad that we were not able to do our Bus tradition this year since my mom no longer drives the bus. Yes, I will put all the blame on her for this, granted, I'm super happy that she doesn't have to drive a bus anymore. So, the Saturday before Christmas we just decided to have a fun day at my Red Grandma's house. The weather was great so the kids were able to play outside most of the time. And four of them got stuck in this large bush all at the same time....it was pretty funny.

We enjoyed good food and games but a couple families weren't able to come so we saved the pinata for actual Christmas day when we would be getting together again.

We did quite a few Christmas carols throughout the season.

Max's parents came to stay with us a for a couple days before Christmas.
On Christmas Eve, during the day we went to celebrate at Max's uncle Jay's house. Jay always spoils all the little and big kids with toys they can immediately throw around after opening presents. Charlie and Miles loved this.

Grandma Annette...in case you didn't recognize her...

Time to play and wrestle! 

These boys!

And Santa always crashes the party!

We stayed for a couple hours then made our way over to my Green Grandma's house where we traditionally spend Christmas Eve Evening... We had a potluck dinner and played with all the cousins. My camera didn't come out once which is a bummer. We were all spoiled by Grandma and surprisingly enough, Green Grandma got Miles the EXACT same gift that Santa was set to bring him. (a xylophone) I was a little worried about this at first but then I remembered Miles is one and he really woundn't care. But Kudos to Green Grandma (and Uncle Gary) for rocking the gift giving and knowing what my boys will love. James and Elizabeth got into town just as the party was winding down. We stayed a little longer to spend time with them, then thanked Grandma for the wonderful party and called it a night. I have been to my Green Grandma's every Christmas Eve of my life except the year I was in Armenia. I love this tradition. We got home and got our tired and excited boys in bed. Then tidied up the house enough for Santa to visit. We even got a midnight workout in, maybe that should be a new Christmas tradition. Haha!

Miles woke up first for a change and Charlie grumbled into our room shortly after. After we reminded him that it was Christmas morning, he cheered up a bit. I ran downstairs to get breakfast in the oven and a couple other things ready. Max and the boys watched A chipmunk Christmas show while they waited. Once I was ready we all went down together. I love this part. I love seeing the boys light up when they notice Santa had left them surprises and candy canes all over the tree. They loved seeing that their stockings were filled. They checked out their surprises and emptied their stockings. They each got treats, z bars, and a harmonica. Miles got a book and a mango, Charlie got a Captain Barnacles toy and a pomegranate.  

In my stocking, I was surprised that Santa had left me some pepper spray. haha! It would seem that Santa is worried about me and some upcoming international travel. 

We then ate some yummy dutch pancakes with berries for breakfast. 

After a filling breakfast, we moved back into the living room to open our gifts. I don't mean to sound shallow in this post, I really like giving gifts to my family and I think it's great that we have the opportunity to do so. I know the true meaning of Christmas and we spent a lot of time sharing the message of our Savior's birth with our children. It is great to see how much more they understand each year, That's being said, if you've been reading my blog for a long time you probably know that I basically just list the events however they happened and this is how Christmas happened at our house.

So we opened presents. Both boys got books and underwear and pajamas. They also received some car toys from Grandma.

Miles wanted to wear all his underwear right away and rage around with as many candy canes as his little hands could hold. 

Charlie also got a magnet toy and Miles got a puzzle toy. Both boys got great art supplies and a toy store gift certificate from Grandpa

Max got some ear muff's he's been wanting while he's using heavy machinery (or the blender) Miles modeled them. 

I really don't know why all the pics are of Miles. Our whole family was here. Like I said, I wasn't doing great on the picture taking. 

One of the gifts I gave to Max was all our awkward videos we made in our early dating years (on a video camera) I was able to get them on DVDs and upload them onto the computer (so lookout for some really awkward videos on the blog coming soon) So after all the presents were opened Miles went and took a nap, Charlie played with all his new toys on the floor and Max and I cuddled on the couch and watched these videos of ourselves. It was awkward but so fun to relive some great memories of when we were first really getting to know each other. I'm just glad I married Max because it would be even more weird if I married someone else but had hours of footage of Max swimming and singing, waxing his legs, and hosting a high school assembly etc. haha! It was a good time!

After awhile, we decided to clean up a bit and put on real clothes. When Miles woke up we went over to my Red Grandma's for dinner and more family party time. 

We got there in time for dinner. The boys love playing at Grandma's house with all their cousins. 

We got to do the pinata in Grandma's garage. Every kid got a turn and Timmy was able to mostly bust it open. 

 

Some of the kids!

Everett loved playing and wrestling with Miles. It makes me happy that my boys have wonderful cousins their age.

We stayed pretty late then decided to go take our boys home to sleep.

The next day we watched my cousin Stephanie's kids for a little bit while they went to a sealing at the Temple. When they were picked up we ran over to the Community center pool to go swimming with James, Elizabeth, and their kids. We haven't taken our boys swimming in a long time and Charlie is still quite timid in the water. We played for hours and had so much fun going down the water slide, climbing the rope and jumping in and playing in the kids' area. After we were done swimming we still weren't ready to go so we played with the train sets and ate snacks. We drove home, Miles slept, we looked around at houses in the neighborhood, and once we pulled in front of our house, we were too tired to get out, Miles had already woken up so we decided to just leave again and go out to dinner, and then to Cabela's so Max could pick out his hunting coat with the gift card from his Uncle Jay. We ate some yummy Mexican food, then went over to explore Cabela's.

We enjoyed wandering around and checking out all the animals and the fish tanks. 

The hunter's tent...I love these boys so much! 

He got so excited each time I passed him an animal so I couldn't stop!

And there you have it, a whole bunch of Christmas celebrations! I love all the family time and this season focusing on giving. Most of all I love my Savior and know that He was truly the greatest gift that we have ever received.