Year End Wrap Up

2011 was a pretty good year for us.  Today we reflected on some of the highlights of 2011 and some of our plans for 2012.  Tonight I'll just post the retrospective!

Ed

Favorite Colors: Orange, Brown, Purple
Favorite Food:  "Ed's Burrito" at Winger's
Hobbies:  Fairview! and LHS Boosters

Best Event of the Year:  Our summer trip to Illinois and Indy

Kaye

Favorite Colors: Bright Apple Green, Orange
Hobbies:  Photoshop, Blogging

Best Events of the Year:  Watching Colby march in Lucas Oil Stadium,  Parker earning his Eagle, the LHS Band getting picked to go to Washington, DC,  Getting a new Dodge Challenger

Worst Event of the Year:  Losing my wedding and engagement rings

Colby

Age- 18
Favorite Color:  Blue
Favorite Food:  Mexican
Best Friends:  Danaca Moore, Paul Struthers, Brayden Roberts
Hobbies:  Band!

Best Event of the Year:  Marching with The Academy Drum and Bugle Corps

Parker

Age:  15
Favorite Color:  Green
Favorite Food:  Cinnamon Rolls
Favorite Movie:  Warrior
Best Friends:  Max Inman, Chandler, Dalton Rice
Hobbies:  Hunting, Wrestling

Best Event of the Year:  Trip to Pecatonica, IL,  Earning my Eagle,  Getting my Driver's Permit

Worst Event of the Year:  Separated Shoulder

Reed

Age:  14
Favorite Color:  Purple
Favorite Food: Tepanyaki Noodles
Favorite Movie:  War Horse
Favorite Book: Hunger Games
Best Friend:  Spencer Yates
Hobbies:  Baseball and Gaming

Best Events of the Year:  Being on the Red Sox for Baseball Season,  Mom being at home

Worst Event of the Year:  My team was pretty crappy

I Want to Remember:  Turning 14 and getting ordained as a Teacher on Christmas Day

Gratitude 2011

At the beginning of the month I was surfing on Pinterest and I saw a quote that literally stopped me in my tracks. It said,

"What if today you woke up with only the things that you thanked God for yesterday."

It was about 11:00pm and I sat for about five minutes just pondering that thought.  I realized in that moment just how ungrateful I am to my Heavenly Father.  I feel gratitude, but  don't express it often enough.  I have been richly blessed and I take it for granted.  I am so grateful that someone posted a simple thought that I can honestly say has changed my life over the past three weeks.  I know that it has made an impact on my family, too- mostly because I am hearing more gratitude reflected in their prayers.

The only thing that bothered me about the quote was that the chance for action was past.  As I presented the quote to my family I changed it up a bit:

I printed this and put it in a frame in our mud room where we see it several times a day.  (If you would like the printable version, please go to my creative blog.) It reminds me to be grateful in all my thoughts.

Here are my top five things that I am grateful for in 2011.

My family.  I am married to a truly wonderful man who treats me like a queen.  Ihave been blessed with three strong, smart sons who are kind and loving.  They are good to me, too!  I love that I never have to open a door for myself.  I enjoy watching them grow and change.

My faith.  I get tears in my eyes just thinking about the impact that the Gospel has on my life.  I am not perfect- far from it.  I know that Christ died that we might be saved and I know that families can be forever.  This is the rock of my faith.

My parents, brothers and ancestors.  I have been loved, taught, and protected by a wonderful family.  I had traumatic events in my childhood that could have ruined me, but thanks to the people in my life, I grew up to be strong and confident.  (Maybe too strong and confident. . . but that's a post for another day!)  These people helped me turn stumbling blocks into stepping stones.

My education.  My parents demanded good grades.  They knew I was capable and pushed me.  That is. . . until I learned to push myself.  I still regret that one A- I got in my Masters Degree!  What a blessing it is to have a good education.  It has opened so many doors in my life and allowed me to be involved with such fulfilling activities.

My home.  I love my home.  It represents safety and security.  It is a haven from the physical elements, but also from spiritual buffering.  Although we are blessed to live in a very beautiful house, I know that I can be happy in much more humble circumstances.  When we moved to Utah we moved from a large, beautiful home to a shabby 4-plex.  Guess what?  It was still home.  I hope I don't have to do that again, but I know we would survive and thrive.

And you. . . thanks for reading this blog and supporting me.

Prom 2011

I am a little behind in posting prom photos.  Colby's senior has come and gone so quickly that I can hardly believe it!  I had all sorts of big plans, but mostly we are in survival mode.

Colby, being the good son that he is, decided he should mow the lawn on May 6th.  We appreciated his efforts, but he paid dearly.  Apparently his Allegra wasn't really up to the additional allergens. His allergies took a hit that took some of the joy out of the prom.  He went through a whole box of tissues in a 24 hour period. . .

He did put up with a few photos before heading out to pick up the other members of his group, but you can see by the look on his face that he just wasn't that into the photo session.  This was by far the best shot. . .

I was quite impressed this time around that the guys actually had something planned before the event began.  Usually I am prodding Colby to come up with a plan a day or two before the dance.  The hardest part for this event was finding accessories for Colby's tux that would match Brittany's dress.  I printed out color samples to match against that sash and I even visited the dress to make sure that I had a good mental image of the color.  Clash would have been bad.  From now on I will begin my searches for similar items at Men's Wearhouse.  They easily have 3x more choices than the competitors.

Colby picked up Nick, Heather and Brittany before heading over to Quail Park (which is the revised, somewhat snooty name of the American Fork Amphitheatre.)  They were running late because Nick forgot Heather's corsage and they had to go back for it.  When they finally did make it to the park, I whipped out the camera only to realize that I had left the memory card in the computer.  Luckily there was a Wal-Mart nearby, so Papa C went on a tear for a new CF card.   

It was fun to watch all the prom kids with their photographers.  There were some stunning gowns, some 70's tuxes, and lots of giggling.  What fun!  This foursome met up with Garrett and Kayla for dinner and then they drove up to the Prom in the mighty Suburban.  The Prom was actually held in a room at Rice-Eccles Stadium at the University of Utah.  All Colby had to say about it was that it was way too hot.  He is such a talker.

So, here is Colby with his special lady, Brittany.  She may look familiar because they have gone to every formal together.  That is SO against our family rules, but she is such as sweetheart that it is hard to argue that he should be dating other girls.  We met some of the other girls. . . and Brittany is an excellent choice.