catching up . . .

i have really put blogging on the back burner the last few months. life has been full and productive. here is a small taste of how our family wrapped up 2009.

November:

we traveled to salt lake for thanksgiving and had a wonderful feast with the carter family. my mom prepared a fabulous dinner; my favorite dish being the stuffing!

"fly away jack, fly away jill

come back jack, come back jill"

highlights of the trip: visiting late at night with family - getting to know dave's wife kelli - dad's sunday school lesson on becoming as a little child - going to "new moon" with abi, lizzie, and mom - early morning walk with mom and sis - byu\utah game with mom, dad, & sis - citris grill with mom after the game - gingerbread houses and pizza with doug's cute sisters and families - going to see "a christmas carol" in 3D with kids, sam, melissa and family, laurel, dad, & mom - training table after the movie - late night movie "the blind side" with sam, melissa, doug, ed, val, laurel, dave, kelli, joe, & lynda - having doug be with us for the whole weekend - thanksgiving dinner and visiting around the table.

I am so thankful for my family, for the time we are able to spend together building memories, sharing, loving and growing. I love seeing the sweet interaction between my kids and my parents. I am always grateful to my parents for opening their home to us and taking such good care of us.

December:

always such a busy, festive, exciting, fun month. i love december. i love anticipating with my children, i love decorating the house, listening to christmas music, planning, reading christmas books with my kids and serving as a family. how blessed we are as a family and truly humbled as we focus on the gift of our Savior to the world.

here are a few pictures or our christmas house:

mr. peeps came to check up on the kids again this year. we are glad he is around to make sure everyone is behaving:)

one of my favorite's of the season is receiving greeting cards from friends and family. i love seeing how families are growing and changing!

December 16-20 i flew to salt lake for my brother joe's wedding on the 17th. besides my brother getting married, the highlight of this trip was spending time with my sister who lives in chicago. we were both traveling without our children whom we missed, but it was so nice to be able to spend that time together without the business of having the kids with us.

joseph & lynda

when i returned from utah, the kids had finished their las week of school and were out for the winter break. i love having my kids home from school! we celebrated mitchie's birthday batman style on the 21st. what a darling birthday boy he was!

on christmas eve we had our traditional feast. doug prepared prime rib, shrimp and cocktail sauce, funeral potatoes, and pumpkin pies for desert. we spent the day baking and watching christmas movies - my favorite being "it's a wonderful life"

the kids opened their christmas jammies and the gifts they had gotten for each other. before going to bed for the night, we watched "joy to the world" a christmas devotional which closed the evening with such a nice spirit.

we headed back to utah again to bring in the new year. one of our family traditions on new year's eve is to record and share a family memory. this is the tenth year of this tradition and we have quite a collection. it is always kind of a hassle to take the time to think of what to record and to actually do it - but we are always so glad. there is such a neat feeling listening to everyone's memory and a great way to bring in the new year.

another family tradition is bratzlie making. i used to help my dad with bratzlies and i was able to capture gracie and her grandpa making his third batch of the season. bratzlie making is an art (maybe because i can't do it quite right:) grandpa is a pro!

we are back home now . . . almost. doug and carter headed to arizona to cheer on the bronco's in the fiesta bowl. go bronco's!! kids started school and it's time to get back to a routine and a schedule. 2009 was an amazing year. we are blessed to be healthy and to have the gospel in our lives. welcome 2010.