New Years Eve

It is hard to believe that another year has come and gone. 2014 brought many changes for our family. Kevin got a new job in Salt Lake and started working from home. We sold our house that we lived in for 13 years. We are living in temporary housing while our new house is being finished. Change is never easy but I think we have ended up stronger because of the change. I am excited to see what 2015 will bring.

Tonight we had our traditional dinner.

Madison was heading to a Stake Dance later with some friends so Capri joined us before the dance. After dinner Madison headed out with her friends to the stake dance.

The rest of us spent our night watching Studio C. Allison loves the show. She showed us some her favorites. It was a great evening. I love our little family traditions.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

Winter Driving

Madison is just now getting back into driving since her surgery. She has really wanted to try driving on snow but we have been concerned about her reaction time since her leg is still weak. Today I picked her up at the high school and though it might be fun to try driving. I took her to a parking lot first. She did a good job and kept it slow. After a little bit, I let her drive around the neighborhood and then home.

She did a great job. I think the first thing on list of things to do in the new year is get her license. She is frustrated that the surgery held her up on that.

Allison is 13

This started out as a hard birthday for Allison. She is feeling a little left out by her friends from our old ward. She feels like they have dropped her and it has been hard. The girls in our new ward have been great and one girl that she has made friends with birthday is the day after hers. Her mom put a party together for her and invited Allison. She was reluctant to accept the invitation but decided it might be fun. Before the party we went out to dinner for her birthday. She chose Texas Roadhouse. We tried to get there before it got busy but didn't make it. The wait didn't seem that long but it ended up being twice what they told us it would be. Once we got seated it was a great evening. Allison pointed out now that she is 13 she is no longer on kids menus. She was excited to order off the adult menu. She was excited when they came so sing to her because they brought her a chocolate sundae.

She was also a good sport and got on the saddle when they sang to her.

I love her face in the picture. She looks like I can't believe that I am doing this. After dinner we dropped her off at the party. She still wasn't sure about going but decided to still go since she said she would. When we picked her us she was grinning ear to ear. She had so much fun and realized that it isn't bad to move on to new friends. She met a new girl that is building a house three houses down from ours. I am so glad that she ended up going. This move has been hard on her but I think that we might have turned a corner today.
After the party we headed home for cake.

Today was great day. I loved celebrating Allison. She is a beautiful fun young women.

Christmas

Christmas morning came with many surprises, including a white Christmas.

I thought it would be more snow with how much it was coming down last night but I won't complain because there is snow on Christmas. The girls has permission to wake us up at 6:30 but Ashley couldn't convince any of her sisters to get up until 7:30. I am afraid Allison is slowly turning into a teenager. We had a great morning opening gifts.

Allison really wanted a microscope and she was so happy to see that she got one. Madison loves jelly beans and not has 50 different flavors. She is enjoying mixing flavors and making new flavors. Ashley wasn't sure about her box of pvc pipe until she found the instructions that showed her it made a bed for her doll. She can't wait to put it together. Macie even got a new collar.

The girls thought it was time for her to have a new one. We had a great day spending time with each other and enjoying our presents.

Christmas Eve

We did Christmas Eve a little different this year. While dinner was in the oven we ran out for a bit. It started snowing while we were out so we decided to look at light while we were out instead of going back out in the snow.

When we got home the girls convinced us since we were doing things out of order it was time to open PJ's. Two kids had been asking since they woke in the morning.

I haven't done matching pj's for a couple of years and I didn't think that the girls cared but they told me that they miss matching. I need to make a not of that so I don't forget by the time next year comes around.

Ashley loved it that her pajamas came with matching ones for her doll. She told me that all her cloths need to come that way. Not sure that is going to happen.

Next we moved onto dinner. The girls in the pj's for dinner is a different twist but they sure did look comfortable.

I have a feeling the doll is going to be with us all of Christmas as long as Ash is in her pj's. After dinner was all cleaned up we sat down and watched a movie with our candy tray. A lot of our stuff is in storage, including our candy tray. Allison found something and made it work.

Allison is a little OCD.

Tonight we said goodbye to our elf on the shelf. Ashley has loved searching for the elf each morning. The elf was a little naughty compared to last year but Ashley loved it.

She finished off the pie one night. Not too happy about this one. The pie was good and everyone wanted seconds.

This was kind of helpful. She strung more lights on our half lit tree.

Ashley didn't think this one was funny. That is her school work that the elf colored all over.

This was a pleasant surprise. She got herself some donuts and brought some for us.

Ashley was sad to say goodbye and wishes she could stay around all year.

Interior update

The interior of the house is starting to come along. We close on our house in 45 days. It is fun to see all the progress that is happening. The interior paint is all done. We decided to go lighter on the wall color. I loved our old wall color but just want this house to be lighter.

We decided to do an accent wall on the fireplace wall.

I love the yellow. I think it will brighten the room. They have also started doing the tile work in the master bath.

It is fun to see the selections that we made. It is all coming together so nicely. I can't wait to see more. Only 45 days and we can call it home.

Quick drive by

We took a quick drive by our house today and noticed that they came back and fixed the front paneling on the porch.

I love the white. Kevin isn't sure he does. It will grow on him.

Christmas progams and flooring

Today Ashley had her Christmas music program at school. We have been hearing her sing these songs for over a month now. She loves singing. It is always fun to see her preform. I love her energy and excitement about the program.

It was fun to watch the program and Ashley loved that Kevin was able to be there with me. After the girls got out of school we thought hat we would check out the house. The floor is all stained. We went back and forth about what to do with the hard wood and I am glad that we decided to stain it.

We finished our evening with Allison's Christmas band concert. She is loving band. The 7th grade band has come a long way since last year. It was fun listening to their songs.

Clarinets are harder to figure out where to sit. I have yet to get a good picture of her.

Basketball breakfast and a busy day

We started our morning out with a basketball breakfast at our house. Not being able to play has been hard for Madison but the girls on her team have been great. Even though she won't play in one game this season they act as if nothing has happened and treat her like one of the gang. It was fun having them over this morning. They are a fun group of girls.

Once the the girls left and the breakfast was cleaned up we decided to drop by the house. It has been a while and thought we would check out the progress. It was fun to see the hard wood floors all installed.

Things are really coming together. I love the floors.

We finished our evening out by attending our ward Christmas party. At the party they had a gingerbread house contest and Allison and Ashley worked on one to submit. They had fun working together and did a great job.

Santa also made a visit to the party. Ashley went and sat on his lap. It is sad that the others are too old and she is my only one left.

It was a fun day and our ward party was fun.

Little Warriors

Ashley loved little warriors last year and could not wait to do it again this year. We missed the first game because of NHS but the second game worked out. This year it was a little different because not many kids signed up so the boys and girls played together. Ashley was in heaven having the boys coach her. The boys varsity team has a boy that is 6.8 and can dunk the ball. Ashley talked and talked about him. She is such a fun kid. She had a fun time out on the court tonight. She has so much energy and no fear. I love watching her grow each season.