Out with the old, in with the new... 2015/2016

2015-

It's been quite the year.   Here we are at the end of 2014.



There's been a lot of growing this year.

Ginny knows how to walk now.  We have three permit drivers.  Jules is potty trained.  But that's not all I'm talking about.  I'm so proud of my family.
2015-

• In January, Samuel turned 10, Michael served a mini-mission, there was a Pinewood Derby, lots of illness, and Ginny started walking.  
• In February, Ginny turned 1 and Emilie spent time in St. Louis with family.  
• In March, Nathanael turned 12, Christopher turned 7, and spring seemed to start as we tried to start our garden.  
• In April, we had Michael's Eagle Court of Honor, Emilie turned 15, Juliana turned 3, the Worlds of Fun season started (Michael and Benjamin work there for Kaman's), and we headed out to Utah for a trip to see family and friends and the Payson Temple open house. 
• In May, we came home from our trip, Emilie also got a job with Kaman's at Worlds of Fun, and Benjamin left for Scout Camp as staff, which would last all summer.  Oh, and it rained alllll summer long.  Michael graduated from high school, too.
• In June, we finally planted our garden only to have groundhogs decimate it (and deer... and squirrels...), we missed Benjamin, we had Cub Scout Day Camp as well as Young Women camp which ended early due to violent storms.  
• In July, our washer and dryer died, we got to see Benjamin for a short time as he came home for 4th of July, Emilie and Michael both went on mini-missions, Youth Conference for Michael, Benjamin, Emilie and Dad in Nauvoo, Illinois, Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-Fil-A, Scout Camp for Nathanael, and had lots of fun... crazy busy!
• In August, Benjamin came home for good, we replaced the alternator in the van to FINALLY fix the battery problems, we gained an organ (musical) and a ukulele in addition to the trumpet, viola, guitar and piano we already have going here, and just tried to recover from July.
• In September, we started a new homeschool school year with Benjamin in 11th grade, Emilie in 10th grade, Nathanael in 7th grade, Samuel in 5th grade, Timothy in 3rd grade, Christopher in 2nd grade, Liberty in 1st grade, and two hangers-on.  We freed two monarchs.  We canned jalapeños and salsa.  (not a lot of produce this year between animals, being late and too much rain) 
• In October Benjamin turned 17 and we learned that Michael got accepted to BYU-I AND BYU.  He will defer going to BYU until after his mission, but SO exciting for us as homeschoolers AND for him because that's where he wanted to attend!   We had fun with Halloween as well.
• In November, Liberty turned 6, Timothy turned 9 and Michael turned 19.  Michael's mission papers got turned in even though some additional things needed done before they were finalized in December.  We traveled to Washington, Illinois for the first time since the tornado destroyed much of the town in November 2013.  We were there for Thanksgiving and enjoyed seeing family.  Emilie finished her Nanowrimo novel.
• In December, we celebrated the birth of our Savior and the end of another year.  Michael submitted his mission papers and Benjamin got work started on his Eagle project as well as starting another new job.  Tom and I also celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary.  I still like him.

Thus ends another year.  It's been good.  I am so thankful.
What will 2016 bring?

• For sure, a mission call.  Sometime in the next 2-3 weeks.
• A missionary leaving.  We don't know when or where, but we know he's going.  *sniff*
• Another Eagle Scout project.  Earlier than later.
• Another Eagle Scout Court of  Honor.  Party!
• Samuel turning 11 and going from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts
• Nathanael turning 13 and having another teenager, our 4th so far.
• Nathanael growing taller than me.  It was supposed to be 2015, but he missed by half an inch. 
• Ginny turning 2.  Another era of my life is coming to a close with each year that goes by without a baby.  She's getting so big!
• Samuel's first Scout Camp.  (11 year old Scout Camp)
• Christopher turning 8, and thus, being able to be baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.'
• Christopher starting Cub Scouts!
• Tom's 4th year directing Cub Scout Day Camp, with this year being in a new location with a new district.
• Juliana turning 4 in April, and starting Primary this weekend (no longer being in Nursery!  My 9th Sunbeam!)
• Emilie turning 16... and whatever that means.  Watch out.
• Benjamin turning 18.  Wow!  Another adult son.  
• Scout Camp for Nathanael, and Scout Camp staff for Benjamin again.
• A Worlds of Fun season without Michael working there.  Benjamin and Emilie probably will.
• At least one or two children getting their drivers license.  We'll see about the third.
• Liberty turning 7.  One more year until Activity Days for Girls!
• Timothy turning 10.  All great milestones, in Cub Scouts, at church, and in school.
• Another year of Seminary and school.
• Another year of going to the temple and church and all the service opportunities there.
• Michael turning 20, in the mission field most likely.   I can't believe I've been his mom that long.
• Living here 6 years, or, longer than we've lived anywhere, even Texas.
• and whatever else the Lord has in store for us!

I hope your 2015 was wonderful and that 2016 is even better!

2013 is nearly gone. 2014 is nearly here!

It has been a good year.

In January, Michael baptized Samuel and Tom confirmed him.  This is so awesome on so many levels.  First, that Samuel was ready to be a member of the Church and make the choice to follow our Savior Jesus Christ in every way, including into the waters of baptism.  Second, that Michael was a worthy Priesthood holder, that is, holding the same authority that the apostles received from Christ, to baptize his younger brother.  Third, that my husband was able to perform the ordinance of giving the gift of the Holy Ghost to Samuel, through that same Priesthood power.  I think over the rest of the year I may have slightly forgotten how wonderfully it started.

We also took a trip to Nauvoo (and Carthage) this year.  It was over Easter weekend and we also got to see our Illinois family.  It was neat to fully immerse ourselves in our Church history, as well as a good look at life in the early 1800s in our country.  Testimonies of the Prophet Joseph Smith were strengthened, and we also just had a LOT of fun.  It was also good seeing family and enjoying time with them, especially considering what happened in Washington, Illinois about 7 months later.

We traveled to Utah as well this year, and got to see much of our western US family.  We spent a week in Payson, Provo, Salt Lake City, hiking, visiting BYU (and getting shirts for EVERYONE!), visiting friends, and playing with cousins.  We were offered U of U shirts by a nice old guy.  We saw Norman Rockwell's paintings of Scouts over the years.  We made a lot of memories and got to see a LOT of temples, as well as a lot of Kansas driving there and back.  Wait, no, it was dark through Kansas.  We sat through a lot of traffic in Colorado instead.

We saw Michael get his first job this year.  He worked as a caricature artist at Worlds of Fun.  It was neat seeing him earn money for his mission and college, as well as grow more independent and use his talents to make other people happy.  Sometimes it was awkward working with two different work schedules but it works!

Three children learned to read this year.  Even though they'd made a good start, Timothy and Christopher both had HUGE breakthroughs early in the year and Liberty had some major learning jumps late in the year.  It's neat being able to read the scriptures together and only help with the hard words.

We got a bearded dragon this year.  He belongs to Benjamin, but we all claim him.  His name is Martin and he has doubled in size since October when we picked him up from Petco.  It's fun to see him eat and grow and learn about all of us.

Tom is Program Director for Cub Scout Day Camp.  This means he is in charge of all the activities done at Day Camp for 700+ boys from ages 7 to 10.  It takes over our lives for a short time in June and slightly before, but he preps starting in October.  It's exciting but exhausting.

We found out this year that we are expecting our 4th baby girl.  We knew when we started our family that we'd have mostly boys... we didn't expect to have more than one girl, honestly.  Liberty was exciting... Juliana was shocking... I guess we don't have a word for this coming baby!  Her name will most likely be Virginia.

As a family we started watching the Doctor Who current series, mostly the modern series but we also watch the classics.  The kids have really enjoyed all the different Doctors and shows.

We have 4 Scouts (Cubs and Boys) and they all are doing well.  Samuel is a Wolf, Nathanael is a Webelos and working on Arrow of Light, Benjamin is now a Star, Michael is a Life and working on his Eagle required Merit Badges and thinking of a project..

Homeschooling is going well.  We have Michael graduating in the spring, Benjamin just started high school and seminary as a 9th grader.  Emilie is somewhere in 7th or 8th grade.  Right now it's all transition and none of us have decided where she is going to be next year.  Nathanael is in 5th grade and Samuel is in 4th.  All three of them did well in the Geography Bee last month.  Timothy is in 1st grade and Christopher is in Kindergarten.  Liberty is doing preschool and Jules is working on talking.

Emilie is learning a lot and has recently started making all our bread, knitting a lot of new things, and baking something new each week.

2014 is going to be a great year too, so we can look forward or backward and really enjoy the view.

Happy New Year everyone!

Another August, another school year....

And what are we doing?  We didn't finish a lot of things that we said we were going to do this past year, but we're starting fresh and it should be a good year.   I didn't do a post summing up our past year, but a lot of things continued through the summer.  At least for Michael, they did. 

Michael is now starting 10th grade.  He got perfect attendance at his 6 am seminary class (sometimes through extra assignments) for the Doctrine and Covenants and this year they are starting Old Testament.  Hopefully he's not the only one there!  He is working on Life of Fred Geometry for Math.  He is continuing a Literature course he started last year, as well as writing his book.  For art, he is drawing and possibly learning new mediums.  He is continuing piano.  He is completing AP Biology, after a rough beginning last year.  We are working on US history as a family, with age appropriate adaptations for different kids.  He is also busy with Boy Scout advancement and church activities, as well as his movie making and Lego projects.  We are still trying to find a good 2nd year Spanish.

Benjamin is starting 7th grade.  He is working on Boy Scout advancement and merit badges.  He is in Life of Fred Beginning Algebra, working with Winston Grammar, writing practice, Spelling Power, 7th grade Sonlight Science, history with the rest of the family, and any reading he can get away with.  He is also learning piano, music theory, and we've yet to decide on how to do more foreign language for him.  (in the past year he's worked on Italian, German, and more.)  I think we're doing Latin, too, more because we have the book and it's something new to him than any other reason.

Emilie is borderline 5th and 6th grade.  We're just not quite done with some of the stuff she's learning.  She'll be doing science, some math review before she starts Life of Fred Fractions, and lots of writing practice.  We'll add to her curriculum as needed.  She's interested in languages, art, sewing, movie making, piano, violin, and many other things.

Nathanael is starting 3rd grade and is starting some serious stuff like grammar, spelling, typing, and writing.  This will be interesting.  We're going to try a new Life of Fred set of books on him and Samuel.  If we don't like them or if Nathanael is past them we'll find something else.  He'd also like to learn cursive this year.  He is still doing The Head of the Class for basics and other fun stuff.

Samuel is also doing The Head of the Class as well as computer games, writing practice, and he is still requesting a 2nd grad workbook to work through.  Again, we're adding stuff all the time at this level and it's worked out so far.

Timothy has discovered computer games and loves anything Magic School Bus or Blue's Clues.  He's very successful at figuring out the mouse and the different alphabet and number games, as well as science and shapes and patterns.  I'm not worried about him with kindergarten level work at all.  We're going to work on writing with him.

Christopher also knows all his numbers, letters, shapes, colors, as well as science and other things.  So for now we're just having fun and maybe learning to draw letters.

Liberty knows how to put pen and crayon marks on paper.  We'll work on NOT putting them on anything else.  She's also learning new words.

Overall, I feel rather disjointed and disorganized this year but everything is falling into place and I know it will work out in the end.

Don't remind me, but we're also starting Drivers Training come November...

2011... what are we looking forward to?

What will happen in 2011? What are we looking forward to?

Well, in homeschooling, we have a world's fair and a spelling bee, as well as just finishing up everything we've started. In the fall we'll have Michael in 10th grade, Benjamin in 7th grade, Emilie in 6th grade, Nathanael in 3rd grade, Samuel in 2nd grade, Timothy possibly in Kindergarten and Christopher and Liberty learning whatever they want to. Lots of reading will take place, but hey, this IS our house and that's quite normal.

Michael will be turning 15 and looking at a drivers permit. He will most likely get taller than me this year. (Shush, you don't have to say that isn't saying much...) He'll probably go to Youth Conference as well as Scout Camp. He will most likely get his Life in Scouting. He may even decide to go to his first Church dance.

Benjamin will become a teenager, so we'll have two of them. He may hit a good growth spurt and he will also go to his first Scout Camp. He has already earned some of his Scouting stuff but hasn't received any, so whenever the first Court of Honor is here we'll get onto that.

Emilie will turn 11. She's growing into a talented young lady. We just need to get her to focus. We will probably start ballet again soon, as well as piano with older brothers and possibly younger brothers if everything works out. She is disappointed to not be in Young Women's yet, but she still enjoys Activity Days with the other girls and I think she'll enjoy the year with them.

Nathanael will have a BIG year. In March, he will turn 8 years old. This means he will be baptized, most likely in early April. This also means he gets to start Cub Scouts. (and our family will constantly have Cub Scouts in the house until Christopher turns 11... in 2019). He is very excited. It seems this ward has an active, if small, Cub Scout program.

Samuel turns 6 in two weeks. He doesn't have any big plans for the year other than reading the Harry Potter series. That's pretty big by itself. He is pretty proud of himself and excited for any adventure our family is involved in.

Timothy turns 5 at the end of the year, and may start Kindergarten homeschooling or he may not. It doesn't change anything in how we do things around here. His vocabulary is expanding daily and that means so his Christopher's. His writing is improving but all he writes is his name so far. He is learning to spell other words and that is also a great sign for reading readiness.

Christopher WILL be out of diapers this year (one in diapers, whatever shall we do?) and he turns 3 in March, the day after Nathanael turns 8 in fact. His vocabulary is exploding, he knows colors, shapes, and a whole lot of letters and numbers.

Liberty is already walking, her big event this year will probably be words other than Mom and moving her head yes and no. She'll probably start running, too. I may need to get one of those baby leashes... lol... I said that with Emilie too.

Another exciting thing this year is the temple in Kansas City being completed. They are far ahead of schedule and it's amazing to think it might be done before next January!

We would like to take a trip West to see family and friends, either to California or Utah. We'll see how it works out. Hopefully our house in Texas sells this year, and we'll buy the one here in Texas.

We'd like to keep the blog up to date and update our family website to reflect at least our current family size and family pictures, though facebook has been nice to keep up with family and friends.

So, not sure if there is anything else in the works, but that's what we're thinking and hoping for this year! What about you?

2010... year in review.

What happened in our family in 2010?

Well, in January Samuel turned 5. Liberty smiled a lot. Aunt Amanda came to visit. Michael, Benjamin, Emilie and Nathanael were in the spelling bee for our homeschool group. Benjamin had 6 teeth pulled and we got a lot of snow.

In February Liberty smiled a lot. We got a big enough table for our family. Kids played Band Hero a lot. (so did Tom) Tom bought a really big TV. Christopher went into a big boy bed. Liberty was blessed.

In March, Nathanael turned 7 and Christopher turned 2. Liberty smiled a lot and rolled over. We got even more snow. Yes, in Amarillo, Texas. Emilie got a hair cut.

In April we went to Utah for a week and Emilie turned 10. We visited Salt Lake City and had a lot of fun exploring BYU again as well as climbing the Y. We saw lots of family. At the same time, Tom was interviewing for a job with Russell Stover candies. We had an enjoyable Easter and Tom also had a birthday.

In May, Tom was offered the position with Russell Stover and we got ready to relocate our family to Kansas City, Missouri. We decided to pack up the house before we found a new one... to get it on the market sooner. We started sorting and getting rid of stuff. Officially, Tom had some time where he was unemployed, homeless, and left his wife and kids at his parents' house... but he did have a job he was starting the next Monday and we did own a home.

June started off on that note but also with our family being in Nauvoo for Tom's sister Amanda's wedding to our new brother (and uncle) Cameron. It was pouring rain and Christopher was puking everywhere, but other than that it was wonderful :). Tom's youngest sister turned 16 the next weekend... again with Christopher puking everywhere. Tom's parents were so patient and so great as to let me and 8 kids stay with them while Tom was in Kansas City starting the new job. We didn't know how long it was going to be, but every weekend saw either me (and Liberty) going to Kansas City or Tom coming to Illinois. We found a home pretty quick but issues led to complications and it worked out that we are renting the home until our house in Amarillo sells (pray for it to sell soon!). And Liberty started crawling.

In July we celebrated Independence Day together, the kids and I also travelled to Kansas City to celebrate "Cow Day" with Dad, and then see Toy Story 3. We also got to see the new temple site, and start moving into our new home. Liberty started cruising along the furniture and smiled a lot.

In August, we saw 110+ temperatures, especially on move in day. We started exploring our new area, started making friends, and started the new school year with homeschooling, and for Michael, high school homeschooling and early morning seminary.

In September there was a really bad microburst that damaged our entire neighborhood and left us without power for a few days. Thankfully temperatures were starting to cool down and it seemed to miss the temple building site completely. Ever since the area has been plastered with roofing company advertisements and signs. We were able to get our roof replaced as well... after all the inspections and paperwork, the roof work got done in November. Our family continued to explore and learn our way around. We also got to go to a Kansas City Royals baseball game, thanks to some friends from church.

In October we took advantage of the free zoo admission for Kansas City residents. The kids and I had a blast exploring a much larger zoo than the one in Amarillo. We went a few times in October and a few times in November. Also in October, Benjamin turned 12 and received the Priesthood. We also had Cedric the hamster join our family. He's a more active family member than Kenny the snake. We also celebrated Halloween. Another big milestone was getting our Timothy out of diapers. Everyone got sick for a while and Samuel even had a trip to the ER for pneumonia. Everyone is well now, of course.

In November, Liberty turned 1 and started to walk, just in time for a trip to Grandma's in Illinois for Thanksgiving. Timothy turned 4 and started writing his name. Michael turned 14 and advanced to a Teacher in the Aaronic Priesthood. We had some cold weather but nothing white... Michael took part in National Novel Writing Month (50K words in 30 days... we didn't see him much... he did 25k which is awesome!)

In December we started out with Benjamin and Emilie taking part in a Geography Bee and holding their own quite well. We got a new camera just in time for some snow... not enough for snowmen or forts yet though. Liberty is getting really good at walking and nods her head yes and no for questions, though she also squeals in different tones to get her meaning across. We celebrated my birthday as well as Christmas.... and then the following week celebrated 15 years of marriage as well as a great New Year's Eve!

We are so thankful for this year, for all the changes, good and bad, for all the experiences, also good and bad and sometimes just odd or frustrating. We are happy, healthy, learning, growing, busy, we have friends and family, near and far. We have hope, we have faith, we have our knowledge and beliefs.

Bring on 2011 and let's see where it takes us! If it's anything like 2010, I look forward to it all!

A New Decade

Or the last year of the old one, depending on what side of that debate you are on... but if you look at the tens column of the year, and it changed, to me it's good enough to call it a new decade.
Here is our family 10 years ago...



Let's see, 10 years ago... that would have been us living in Kentucky, expecting Emilie, living in a townhome in Florence. (Cincinnati area) We were close to the airport and Turfway park, a place they race horses. Michael was 3 years old and Benjamin was 1. Here we are at the end of 2000...


2000- We had Emilie while living in Kentucky. We took a camping trip to eastern Kentucky that summer. Tom worked for Walmart in management. We were in the Northern Kentucky 2nd ward and loved it.

In 2001, we moved to Ohio, Benjamin got his tonsils and adenoids out, I went to the hospital many times and we had Joseph, and lost Joseph. We were in the Milford Ward in Ohio.

In 2002 we moved to the other side of Ohio (middle of nowhere!) to a little town called Coolville, near Athens. Tom had just changed jobs to work for Anderson Merchandisers. The fun thing was, he was assigned to an area in Western Ohio... so for the first few months after we moved we only saw him on weekends. The best part of living here was being two doors down from the library, and we literally went every day. We went to church in West Virginia (Parkersburg Ward) and that was also an adventure. We started officially homeschooling here because Michael would have started kindergarten, incidentally, at the elementary school next door.
In 2003 we had Nathanael (yep, in a little tiny hospital in Athens, Ohio... his pic is still on the hospital website instead of taken off like the big corporate hospitals LOL) (and we were only at the hospital for 9 minutes from the time we entered the ER doors at 2:40 in the morning until he was born, in L&D) This was also the year of our marathon, 2 wedding trip across the US without Dad. He did join us in California and Utah though, for a few days. We also went to Glenn Beck's Rally for America in West Virginia. Awesome.

2004 was a big year... this picture is actually from early 2005. First thing in 2004, we moved to Pennsylvania. Tom had already started working in PA in December of 2003, alternating weeks between his new territory and his old one. We lived in this house in a valley between Indiana PA and Clymer, in the foothills of the Appalachians. The stars at night were amazing. The fall colors made me fall in love with the area, and our Indiana Branch was wonderful even though we were only there for 9 months- Tom got a promotion to the home office in Amarillo, Texas. We were expecting Samuel SOON at this time, so it was a crazy time for us. Tom actually moved to Texas and was there for 6 weeks before we moved there the week of Thanksgiving. Benjamin started homeschooling also, though it was sporadic at this point with moves and another baby coming...


In 2005 we had Samuel. Emilie started kindergarten. We got used to Texas weather... welcome to the Panhandle... we also celebrated our 10th wedding annivesary.

In early 2006 we travelled to Utah for the first time in a long time. Tom was tired of Texas stuff everywhere... and this picture is the result :) Yes, we both graduated from BYU and are very proud of it!
In 2006 we bought our first home! After many years of renting (ok, our whole marriage LOL) we looked at the homes that were in our price range and bought one... We are still happy with our decision. Timothy joined our family in November. This year also marked 2 years in Texas...
In 2007 I started working for Sears Portrait Studio, first regular job I had had since working for BYU.

In 2008 we had Christopher and I stopped working for Sears. We took a trip to California in our new 12 passenger van, going through Utah and Colorado on the way back. I had not seen my sister and a few of my brothers in 5 years, so it was about time! and Nathanael started homeschooling...


In 2009 we had Liberty, our 2nd daughter. We also have a teenager now! Michael turned 13 in November. Earlier in the year we took a trip to Illinois via Arkansas. That was fun, too, we hadn't seen some of Tom's brothers in a while. And Samuel started reading :)

We have now lived in Texas for 5 years, fully half this decade! This is longer than we have lived anywhere. Tom still has the same job and it has really treated us well. We've also been in the same ward for 5 years. Michael is now 13, Benjamin is 11, Emilie is 9, Nathanael is 6, Samuel is 4, Timothy is 3, Christopher is 1, and Liberty is new! It has been 8 years since we held Joseph.

It has been a good decade. Here's to many more! This decade should have some interesting events... by 2020 we'll probably have 2 sons go on missions and 3 kids go to college... 4 teenagers at once, a few Eagle Scouts we hope... but amazing to think about! In 2019 Liberty will turn 10, Christopher will turn 11, Timothy will turn 13, Samuel will turn 14, Nathanael will turn 16, Emilie will turn 19, Benjamin will turn 21, and Michael will turn 23... yikes!

Happy New Year!

I promise I'm going to update our blog more often. Really. I completely missed December, but I've already posted once in January, so that's more often already.

Now, how much free time do you think I have with 8 kids?

:)

enough to play on Facebook, apparently...

Review of 2008 :)

Took this from Sara's blog... thanks Sara :)

1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before?

Quit a job, take a long trip (k, wait, I've done that before) by myself with the kids (yep, that too) take "maternity leave", and probably lots of other things... sent a child to activities by themselves... interesting year!

2. Did you keep your New Years’ Resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I didn't really make any resolutions, the goals I made I didn't quite keep. (finishing Nathanael's stocking, stressing less was better... working out was better... I think this coming year I will try and worry less and do more with the kids and my husband. I know we already do a lot, but what is more important?

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Yup! Myself, a friend in Colorado, a friend in New Jersey, a sister in law in Missouri, a sister in law in Oregon, some friends here too. One the same week as me in the same hospital! Isn't a new baby a miracle? We had Christopher in March.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

Yes. Not close personally, but someone I saw a lot. Our OBGYN died in August. He delivered Samuel, Timothy and Christopher. It was sad news.

5. What countries did you visit?

Just the good old USA, and we saw a lot of it this year. We drove all of route 40 from Texas to California, and meandered through the rest of the west as well, on the way home.

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?

Time to enjoy my family. Better finances, but it could always be better, right? Time to see our extended family as well.

7. What date from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

May 2008 when my daughter Emilie was baptized and Christopher was blessed. My parents and grandmother were able to be here. We also got a 12 passenger van.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Getting through the year? Driving by myself to New Mexico with 7 kids? Driving from California through Utah and Colorado to Texas by myself with 7 kids? Getting the kids excited about Math? Helping Nathanael learn how to read? I am happy with all my family has accomplished this year and am happy to have had some small part in each of their progress.

9. What was your biggest failure?

Not trusting my Heavenly Father more.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Not really, though I have some aches and pains that I can't explain? We all got sick a few times.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

Our 12 passenger van. Maybe the laptop, too.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

Michael got his 1st class in Boy Scouts as well as multiple merit badges. Benjamin earned his Bear and arrow points. Emilie made a hat, a pillow, learned how to bake, and has developed into a great reader. Nathanael is reading well and writing too. Samuel learned how to use the computer and write his name. Timothy said a word, can get on the counter himself, and help throw away stuff. Christopher learned to crawl, clap, roll over, and kind of stand. Tom got a promotion and fixed the bath faucet. I'm stressing less and we're all getting our food storage going better. We're doing better with scripture study and family prayer (more like daily now than ever before!) We're eating healthy. We're working together. The whole family is worth a celebration!

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

You know, I don't think we'll go there. Let's focus on the positive. Let's say noone I know in person :)

14. Where did most of your money go?

Mortgage, debt, and Walmart (groceries are good!)

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

12 passenger van, trip to California, and kids learning :)

16. What song will always remind you of 2008?

"If the Savior Stood Beside Me"
Click link to see, click here to hear.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder?

happier

ii. thinner or fatter?

lol, thinner. I was 6 months pregnant last January!

iii. richer or poorer?

slightly richer?

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?

playing with the kids, reading with the kids, reading my scriptures, serving others

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?

worrying.

20. How did you spend Christmas?

happy spending time with my children and husband. playing, mostly :)

21. What online users did you meet?

None. I've met some before but did not meet anyone this year.

23. What was your favorite TV program?

We watched a lot of TV on DVD. Psyche, Eureka, Numb3rs, we love 24 and are anxiously awaiting the new season...

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

I don't think I hate anyone. Not worth the energy. Sure, some people annoy me, some people do things that are downright despicable, but hate? No.

26. What was the best book you read?

The Book of Mormon? I reread a lot of books, the best new book I read was Brisingr, Beedle the Bard was interesting... I'm reading Neal A. Maxwell's biography.

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?

A capella groups on youtube and elsewhere. Just great. Here's a favorite. Moosebutter is awesome.

28. What did you want and get?

A big van that fit all of us :) A happy baby. A good year with us.

29. What did you want and not get?

More for Emilie than me, but a baby sister for her. I'm good. She may get a sister one of these days. That's all I can think of. That I will post about anyway lol.

30. What was your favorite film of this year?

Wall-E, I love anything Pixar.

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

Taught in Relief Society, went visiting teaching, kids stayed home sick with Tom... had cake and chicken broccoli, was a good day. Other than sick family, that is. Oh, and I was 34.

32.What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Snow. That stuck.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?

Jeans, t-shirts, worn out tennis shoes.

34. What kept you sane?

My husband and kiddos. I like Sara's answers, scriptures, prayer, the computer. My sister.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

None

36. What political issue stirred you the most?

Prop 8 in California.

37. Who did you miss?

I missed my extended family. I got to see a lot of family on my trip though. Not one of my sisters in law or one of my nephews, but everyone else! It was very very cool.

38. Who was the best new person you met?

My son. My niece in law? What would you call your nephew's wife? haha. My sisters coworkers. New members at church.

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.

Stress less, enjoy more time with your family. I guess trust our Heavenly Father a lot more and things always work out. Look for the good in people.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

Shoulder to Shoulder from Pooh's Heffalump Movie

"I think I feel more like myself
When I'm with you..."

listen here