And A Happy New Year!

As usual we put together our "Dream Posters" for the New Year. It's always a fun and therapeutic project to think of what you want to accomplish at the beginning of a new year and hang up your inspiration to remind you throughout the months to come. I have found that as I get older, my goals become fewer...probably because I keep adding children and other great endeavors to my life! But it has become more about quality than quantity. This year I am choosing to focus on my top 3 priorities (this is utilizing Chalene Johnson's book "PUSH" which is all about goal setting) which are: My relationship with God, My Health, and My relationship with my family. Of course there is still much to do within these 3 priorities but I have plan and it's going to be great!

No surprise that Bradley's poster revolved around his faith. He wants to read scriptures, listen better at General Conference, learn to play hymns on the piano, and be more like Jesus. He is SO excited about his upcoming baptism. He talks about it every single day. He is having his baptism and a party, and getting a new bike, and starting cup scouts- it's a lot of excitement for him and his poster shows it!

I love Benjamin. I am always impressed with his posters. He said that he wants to get strong, and learn to surf, and go on a boat, and listen to music...and follow the Prophet. :)

Savanna poster's a bit blurry...and honestly it looks like more of a catalog for clothing and accessories than a dream poster to me. She did add the 3 main points of our mission statement in the middle (To be obedient, respectful, and grateful). Her reasoning was that if she learns to do these three things well, she should have no problem receiving permission and the means to have all the other stuff on her poster. I get it...sort of...

We actually took a break from schooling for 2 whole weeks! We haven't done that on purpose (no illnesses or births or other interruptions) in a very long time. It was SO fun! Savanna enjoyed sleeping in and playing with her hair and makeup. I had a lot of extra time to do some organizational things around the house and lounge around a bit. I spent a good deal of time planning out Brad's baptism and party...it was very nice. We even made it out to the beach!

Have I mentioned lately that we live in the most beautiful place ever??

December 17, 2011 - January 1, 2012

Merry Christmas!

I am finally getting around to sharing our Christmas pictures! All I can say is that it was a wonderful, magical holiday season this year. James was able to be home for 3 nights and 3 days, we had the missionaries over for our big Christmas Eve dinner, we drove around and looked at Christmas lights, we went to church Christmas morning, had a wonderful brunch and opened all of our presents, rested, played, and read scriptures- it doesn't get much better than that!

We made lasagna for Christmas Eve dinner- I found gluten-free brown rice lasagna noodles at the health food store, and it turned out AMAZING!

We introduced our new tradition to the children: letting them open one gift on Christmas Eve (their new pjs), but then also let them each open one more just for fun!

Ben opened up some dinosaur K'NEX.

Do you think that Bradley likes his dart board??

Savanna made out this Christmas! Clothes, money, make-up, a spiral curling iron, more clothes, a smash book, an itunes gift card....yeah, she was a very happy girl!

Emma loves her Little People farm!

And her new tent. :)

But the hit of the gifts was the boys' Nerf guns! I have always thought that my boys would never have toy guns but with their dad being a peace officer and all, and them being boys, they have turned almost anything into a "weabon" or a gun! I have to say these Nerf guns are pretty cool. We bought a couple of extra so Dad and I could play too. Mostly Dad plays...I think he had even more fun than the boys!

After Dad shot Brad in the eye, we started making them wear protection!

Emma's second Christmas dress.

It was a long, but wonderful day! The kids played with all their toys, Savanna disappeared into the bathroom for most of the day, we ate leftovers, and watched movies. It was awesome!

The day after Christmas my sister and her family came for a visit. Her daughters are adorable! They played nicely with Emma while their dad, James, and my boys spent the majority of the day having Nerf gun wars, and building Lego and Hotwheels sets. I've never seen two grown men having so much fun (see the videos below if you don't believe me)! They broke into teams and had home bases and strategy meetings and everything. My boys were in absolute Heaven. It was so fun to see them bonding, and just being plain ol' boys! They don't get much of that roughhousing with Dad gone.

Little Gabby.

And Princess Sofia.

Ben got a basketball hoop! He has been having so much fun practicing his skills. Bradley has too. That's the cool thing about having kids so close in age. They are possessive of their new toys for about a week or so, and then they just start sharing everything. It's not fun to play by yourself, so it just makes sense. So really it's like they each received double the presents! :)

And Brad got a Hotwheels track that attaches to the wall. I have been amazed that most of it has actually stayed on the wall despite the dog and baby running around!

The Nerf Gun Wars....to our surprise, Ben was a little timid in these wars and Brad was relentless! Ben hid most of the time while Brad ran around like a mad man shooting anything in his sight!

The Nerf gun war ended when Brad and Ben collided, scratching Brad's face pretty good. He took it in stride and moved on to his other toys. So far that (and getting shot in the eye- poor Brad!) have been the only casualties!

And Legos...

And Hotwheels...

I have not been able to get Emma to drink out of a cup, despite buying almost every kind of sippy cup they have on the shelves! But she saw Sofi drinking out of this one and took to it. I went out the next day and bought 8 of them! She has been using them every since. Go figure they are the simple "take and toss" plastic cups. No fancy straws, no handles or special features...but she likes them! :)

Brad's Creations.

Nerf War

The Battle Continues

Emma opens her present

December 24 - 26, 2011