February 2014

1,  It has been a crazy busy month getting ready to move.  We moved in the last week in February and we love the new space.  I'm sure that some of our day to day activities will flow much better.  (Homeschooling with 6 kids can be tricky!  It's hard for older girls to do piano, math or other school work while little boys want to run around making noise or wrestle on the ground in the same room!  This new home provides a better layout us...and the outdoor space will be awesome!)

2.  Valentine's Day was pretty low key here this year.  It fell over the long President's Day weekend and Ryan and I had plans for a productive weekend working on packing and getting the house ready to sell.  Unfortunately, we both got sick and spent most of Friday, Saturday, (and for me Sunday) in bed.  Ryan did manage to go to the store on Friday (Valentine's Day) and buy me some flowers and the kids each a candy bar.  Kessiah made us a romantic dinner, unfortunately our stomachs prevented us from eating dessert...but we really appreciated her efforts.

3.  We had our 3rd annual Judy Family Chopped Competition on President's Day.,,for the first time, I didn't win!  It came down to a showdown between Kessiah and Jenessa.

4.  The girls participated in Piano Festival.  It was a great opportunity for them to play in front of judges and receive scores on their performance.

5.  We enjoyed a visit from Nana and Papa who came down to help us move.  They were incredibly helpful!

January 2014

I admit the last half of January has been a bit of a blur.  We made an offer on a different home and have been doing some painting and decluttering in our current home to get it ready to sell.  It has been a bit stressful for me and I have lost several hours of sleep but we are excited about our new home.

Other January events:

1.  I had a birthday!

2.  We went to the Polar Bear Splash...there were games for the kids and a pancake breakfast  Jenessa won the ice cream eating contest in the youth division.

3.  I went with the Kessiah and Jenessa to their Outdoor Adventure 4H outing where we went geocaching...it was a new thing for most people in the group (including us) and it was pretty fun!  I am looking forward to doing it again.

4. We went to the Gilbert Temple open house.  What a beautiful building...I think the kids were most impressed with the huge chandelier in the Celestial Room.  I am grateful for the opportunity I had to take my children and have them see the inside of a temple.  On the way home we stopped at the Phoenix temple that is under construction...it will be great to have a temple that is 1 1/2 hours away from us...it should be finished the end of this year.

It's a Wonderful Life

 Some happenings from December 2013!

1.  Kessiah did a service project with the youth from our ward cleaning up a park.

2.  I enjoyed a date with Jenessa.  (Ryan and I each go on a date with the girls when they finish a book of the scriptures)  She was doing Christmas shopping for her siblings...something she does on her own and with her own money!  At the end we enjoyed a shake from In-n-Out.

3.  I came home from running an errand one Friday morning to find that Ryan had set up the toddler bed and was taking down the crib for Corbin!  We had discussed it...but I kept putting it off!  Corbin took a nap in it that afternoon and when I went in to wake him up I found him laying down with his eyes open.  Maybe he didn't realize he could get up on his own!  He has figured that out now!

4.  We did get a little bit of snow!  I got some pictures of some of the kids outside.

5.  December wouldn't be complete without decorating a gingerbread house and some gingerbread men.

Christmas Morning 2013

Christmas is so much fun with kids!  We had agreed that the kids would come and wake us up at 7:00...however, we heard Corbin at around 6:00.  The girls tried really hard to keep him quiet and happy...but about 6:30 I turned to Ryan and told him we should just get started!  So we did!  Ryan and I went in the room with the kids and had a family prayer and sang a Christmas carol.  Then we walked out.  Corbin just stood there for a moment and said "Whoo!"  He is too young to realize what he was going to wake up to...so it was quite a surprise!

We enjoyed a yummy ham dinner (in our pajamas) and spent the day having fun with the things we received!

Christmas 2013

Life is Good!  We had a fun Christmas season and enjoyed the break from our regular routine!  It's always wonderful to take the time to focus on our Savior.

We decorated our tree.

On Christmas Eve we had a "shepherd's dinner" and acted out the nativity.

Christmas Eve pajamas brought by the "wise men"  The kids had a slumber party in Jenessa and Sienna's room...The girls had to work hard to get the boys to go to sleep!  I needed some time to get things ready for Christmas morning considering I hadn't wrapped anything!