Parenting Strategies: Let's Make a Deal

So... 8 years ago, when our little Joseph was just a wee 10 year old, his father was thinking about his eldest son's future. And knowing that girls weren't a distraction now, but could become one later, his father made him a bet - a bet to help him stay focused on school and not get distracted by getting in a serious relationship too early. They made a deal that Joseph would not kiss any girls until he was 18, and if Joseph kept that part of the agreement, Corey would pay him $1000. Last night, it was time for Corey to pay up. Here was the moment, with a bit of Corey explaining once again the reason for the deal, surrounded by a bit a lot of the normal chaos that goes on whenever we're trying to have a serious discussion around here...

As Corey attempts to explain to the rest of the children "Why am I willing to make this deal?" "Cause you don't want us to be happy!" replies our funny Ethan (at 6:09). No, Ethan. This bet it not to make you miserable. This bet is to make sure that you're not just handing out kisses like they're nothing. If you're gonna kiss, make sure it's worth it! If the girl is worth it, go for it. But hopefully knowing you're passing up $1000 bucks will give you a moment of pause. Don't make your kisses cheap. We do think that this deal has helped Joseph stay focused and do well in school and on the ACT.

And Corey actually let the deal slide a bit - he said Joseph could pucker up as soon as his college applications were done, which was last month.

The slowly counting out (with $140 in ones) and handing over such a large amount of money had the desired incentivizing effect on the rest of the kids, as each proceeded to ask if they could make the deal with their Dad.

Lucky Mel, she's already almost there, just 11 more months to go. Corey has joked that he needs to switch it up for her and pay her to kiss, teasing that she's a little too timid and shy. Ethan didn't shake here, he made the deal years ago apparently. Hyrum, you in?

Wes? Yes, though he looks a bit nervous or something.

Each of the kids proceeded to shake hands with their father. Abi...

Lily... 

Sophi... Look at all this positive peer pressure in action!

 

I didn't get a photo of Natalie, did she shake? What is this? Even little Owen is in! Go O! This toddler is in it to win it! just 15+ years to go.

(You better start saving your quarters, sweetheart!)

Joseph is an Adult!

Happy Birthday Joseph!! Wow! 18 years! Everybody come wish your big brother a happy birthday!

(Lily and Wes are being weird in all three pictures I took. But that's normal around here, so there ya go. Owen, you look so sweet!) So, yeah, Joseph is 18. That means I've officially been changing diapers for 18 years today! Not his, mind you, just all the little kids that have followed suit behind this leader of the pack. It's Joseph's "last" birthday with us! Everything's become a "last" now with the mission quickly approaching. Most of the gifts he got for Christmas and the ones today have been with the mission in mind - things he'll need and be able to use when he's a missionary. For his birthday, he went to school, came home and had cake and ice cream, then he had some activity at 7 and went to the temple after that. Busy day for this busy guy. He's ready to launch into life, thanks for sharing your "last" birthday with us!!! We miss you already.

Lost Pictures

Daniel woke up at 2 a.m. this morning crying. I tried to give him a bottle but he didn't want it and kept crying. I got him out, changed his diaper, and tried the bottle again, nope. He just kept crying and crying for no apparent reason. He would not calm down or be consoled. I didn't want him to wake up Owen so we went down stairs. I tried rocking him, walking him, giving him the bottle again, laying with him, bottle, food... nothing worked, he was just ticked. I wasn't feeling too frustrated, mostly I was like "Whatever dude, I don't know what's wrong, so sorry... " and just let him freak out. Nothing I could do but just keep trying. Around 2:30 I picked up a book on the floor and surprise surprise, he calmed down! He looked at the pictures and turned the pages, so we read Toy Story at 2:30 in the morning, and after half the book, he politely accepted his bottle. It was promising, and I thought this calm moment might be my chance, so I closed the book and took him upstairs where he sweetly and easily laid down went him to bed. I was scratching my head as to what that middle of the night fit was about.

Unfortunately for me, I was on alarm clock duty. I told Joseph I'd wake hi up at 3. I know I know, I said I was done with that kinda stuff, but oh well, what's a mother to do, just let the whole house fall apart? He asked for me to wake him up at 3 so he could finish homework, cause he's missed 3 days of school for the JEN tour in Dallas. He got back yesterday at 4, so I felt sorry for him. He originally planned to pull an all nighter - working on his Eagle Scout papers until midnight, then starting on his homework. He's trying to decide if it's worth it to get his Eagle, cause it might mean he doesn't get any sleep the next two days, and it's end of the term this week too! So after putting Daniel to bed, I rested but I wasn't able to fall back asleep before 3. Then I went and woke up J after his very loud alarm clock didn't work. He kept laying there, I blogged for a bit, woke him again at 3:30, repeat. He got finally got up at 4:45 but I've been awake since 2. I couldn't fall back asleep. But I've been getting lots of blogging done, catching up on December, so that's good.

Bad news though - I haven't finished blogged December yet, and now I've lost my chance for a few things because yesterday Lily reset Corey's phone AGAIN and he lost all his pictures and videos. He tried recovering them all morning but they're gone. He had some of the sweetest videos of the kids skiing at Wolfcreek on Decemer 21st (which I haven't blogged yet) but now his pictures and videos have gone the way of all the earth, goodbye! He also lost all the pics he took at Brigton this past Monday, I hadn't seen them yet, so I'm not sure what's gone, but I'm sure I'd be sad if I did know. I had one of the Wolfcreek videos of Owen on my phone, but since I got a new phone for Christmas, that is gone too, unless Hyrum, who got my old phone, didn't delete it (kinda doubt it.) I'll check when Hyrum gets home. That one that Corey shared with me via WhatsApp was a really cute video of Owen laughing as he skied with Corey. Corey skiing backwards, filming Owen in front of him laughing, wearing Corey's big gloves. Now all we have is the a photo of it - cause I didn't download it so I can't watch it or save it! I'm so sad.

Sure, we do still have the one of Owen screaming his head off as his afternoon of skiing started (end of this post) but that one wasn't as cute as the laughing with delight videos. Lesson learned. I shall now retrieve the photos off of Corey's phone every week so that we never have to endure a tragedy like this again.

I'll try to look on the bright side. I guess we do have other pictures and videos. As Jim Gaffigan says, we probably have more pictures of our kids than our parents ever looked at us! Ha. Ok, so, the memory will just have to be captured by in black and white text like back in the old days. So I'm putting the memory in words right here, so it's not a totally lost memory, but I it is kinda lost. Ya can't photo, instagram, and video record everything. Or if you do, get it online pronto! Good bye little video of Owen and the cute videos of Natalie and Sophi. I'm sure you will soon fade from my memory. Hopefully we've got enough other pictures and videos of you guys that we'll be able to figure it out close enough. Or maybe we'll just have to go skiing one more time to recreate the moments.

Braces and Barf

Abi got braces on this morning.

Corey said he's gonna miss her Wallace and Gromit smile... (let's see it Abi!)

...but we're glad that things are going to get straightened out. She usually won't show her teeth when she smiles, so it will be good to get this taken care of. It was a memorable appointment today, and I almost missed it, cause last night, as I was figuring out logistics, Corey offered to take Abi in to her appointment. I was grateful for that, cause then I could be home to finish getting kids off to school, with the added bonus that I wouldn't have to wake up sleepy toddlers. Sweet. But... at 7:00 this morning, after getting back from taking the high school kids to jazz band (cause, as I've mentioned twice already, our only insured driver is Joseph, and he's in Texas on tour with the Crescent Super Band) So I got to drive them in and when I got back at 7, Corey was up and ready for the day. He said he had a meeting at 8 that he should go to. Blah, ok, so scratch plan A. Plan B: I take her, with all my ducklings in tow. Yay, I get to wake up sleeping children. That just always seems like such a tragedy! Getting them to be quiet and to sleep is a big parent goal every day, right? So to take them out of that quiet and peaceful state just seems wrong. But duty calls. I got them up and we started getting dressed and ready and eating breakfast. With Corey and all the big kids gone, I had to decide: do I take Lily and Sophi with me and drive them back to go to school? or do I find a fellow mom that could send them off? My first call to a neighbor solved that and Lily and Sophi went over there after they finished getting ready. I finish getting Natalie, Owen and Daniel ready, and we're left at 7:55 - a little late for Abi's 8:00 appointment, but that's okay.

At the orthodontist, Daniel was being a handful right off the bat. One of the receptionist ladies brought out balloons to give to some patients that were getting their braces off. Daniel really wanted one and reached for them saying "Hep!" (aka help). "Hep! Hep!" I looked at her to see if she was okay with it, and she didn't seem to be, and didn't offer to go get an extra for him, so sorry little buddy, no balloon today. I pulled him away and tried to distract him with something else (hard to compete with big metallic and shiny blue star balloons though!) So, next best thing - he tried to grab her computer mouse. I was signing paper work for payments and Hiipa and whatever else, aware he was trying to wreak havoc. I finished signing paperwork and picked him up. We went over to join Natalie and Owen who were watching Beauty and the Beast. Daniel was still everywhere. The lady who had helped me with the paperwork brought out a puzzle. Natalie liked that, not Daniel. She then brought out a little farm toy set. Daniel liked that, but so did Owen. And they started fighting over the red tractor. Usually Daniel doesn't fuss, but he was fussing really loudly this time. He wanted that tractor. I took it from Owen and tried to encourage him to let Daniel have a turn. Owen wasn't having it and starting freaking out louder than Daniel was. I gave it back to Owen and picked up Daniel. We did that twice and I was getting embarrassed about how loud they were being. So I give Daniel the tractor and get my phone out for Owen. Owen was pleased with that move. But then Daniel didn't want the tractor anymore and he wanted the phone too. Ugh, I can't win here... I went back to where Abi was getting worked on and thought about going to the store or something to kill time. How long does this take? About an hour. We'd already been there 15 minutes, so just 45 more, would that be worth it? Maybe I can just drive around in the car? I don't know, but I gotta get out of here. I carry Daniel and Natalie and Owen follow me back to where Abi is. They all sit on the bench. Hmm. Maybe one last try - I put a video on my phone and they sit quietly and watch it for about 2 minutes. Then Daniel starts to fuss and gets down. I pick him up and he is fussing a little weirdly - like crying a weird cry. He looked a little pale... I thought maybe was going to faint or something. I wasn't able to hold the video on the phone for Owen as I tried to help Daniel, so Owen was upset again, Ok, I give up. Abi, I think I'm going to go. Then Daniel throws up over my left shoulder and down my back. Oh! Ok! So that is what that weird cry meant!  Abi, I definitely am going to have to go now. The ortho assistant looks at me like "What do you need?" Um, I am going to go, I'll be back. I switched Daniel to my right hip and apologized for the mess on the floor. Luckily most of it got on me though. "Don't even worry about it!" I gather Natalie and Owen, and then Daniel throws up again all over my right side and my front. Ok, I better get out of here! The ladies had already grabbed me a towel and now there were like five of them on the floor cleaning things up and trying to help. "Do you need help getting to your car?" Yes. She walks me out to the waiting area. If you could grab my bag there. And those papers, And that blanket. "Is this bottle yours too?" Yes, thank you, that too. Oh my goodness. I find my keys and unlock the car. "What can I help you with?" She was so nice. I was laughing now. "Can you take a picture of me? Cause this is so funny..." She was laughing too - Mom life, right?

After a picture, I put Daniel in the car, Owen and Natalie are in and I get them buckled. I get ready to get in, and she says "Just so you know.... it is all over your back, so you might want to take off your coat or it will get on your seat..." Good idea, thank you! I knew it was bad in front, I was thankful she pointed that out. Here is what I looked like not counting the mess that my coat had absorbed, (which was most of it...)

screenshot courtesy of the Marco Polo video I did for my family, cause I just have to share this funny and gross moment with someone. Rice milk and banana barf all over me and in my hair, smelling it during my 15 min drive home, it was stinky, I was trying not to breath. But I was very grateful this was a breakfast barf and not a spaghetti dinner barf. And I was also glad he had only eaten a smoothie breakfast instead of a chunky cereal or something like that. Yes, if I'm going to be covered in vomit, this is a good one to get. Daniel fell asleep right away in the car with his wet clothes. I wondered if it would be bad for me to die in a crash cause I had the shoulder strap of the seatbelt down so I wouldn't get throw up on it - what is my priority? Safety? ...or not getting the car interior dirty with puke?

I call Nicole and tell her, we are both laughing - I call Corey and left a message with him to see when his meeting is done and if he could possibly come home and save me so I don't have to take the kids with me when I pick up Abi. He calls back and says he can go get Abi. Great, that's even better. We get home, unload, start a bath, start laundry, into the tub, and wow, that was funny. My first time being puked on in public. I guess it was nice though to not have carpet to clean by myself! Seriously, they all jumped up to the rescue and I was just able to say "Hey! Sorry about that! Thanks for your help, I'll be leaving now..." and walk out and leave. That was nice. Thank you, three cheers for McDonough Orthodontics! I was barfed all over last year on the first week of January. Hope this doesn't become a new new years tradition, or maybe it's a winter thing? More barf stories - Natalie threw up in February 2015 or a when we had a whole barf week in February 2013

I didn't get to see Abi's finished product until I saw her walking home from school (on my way out to pick up high school carpool again, yay) Doesn't she look cute?!

You look good Abbers. Sorry I didn't stay till you were done, but I guess that was fun to have such a memorable appointment!

Drawing on Daniel

Hi. It's January 4th. I need to catching up big time on the blog, as I'm atleast 3 weeks behind. But before going back to wish a Happy New Year and all that, I'll start with the here and now. And as most posts on this blog, this one will be about the baby of the family, who is currently known as Daniel.

That there is Daniel last night after his big adoring teenage brother expressed his affection for his little chubby brother by giving him Marlo the Magician mustache and goatee on his face. The mustache and beard was all I had noticed until bedtime, when I saw more writing all over him. "CUTE" on D's left arm, "Daniel" on his right, and other grafitti all over his sweet little body.

Eth had written "Chubby Calves" on his legs, "Kick Me" on his back, colored his toe nails, gave him earrings, put a face on his tummy, using the belly button as the mouth, etc etc. Daniel's happy when he's got his pointer finger in his belly button. You gotta move it so we can see the belly face!

Owen, wondering why Daniel tolerates such abuse.

Ethan wasn't done yet. Daniel got on his tummy to join the circle of kids looking at a book - and was a prime target for more of Ethan's shenanigans... 

Eth wasn't finished with the back. He had to add an arrow pointing down at Daniel's cutie patootie...

...and he also added the word "hard".

It was time to put Daniel to bed, but Ethan had one final work before his masterpiece would be complete. Fine, hurry. The exclamation point was a uni-brow. 

All in silver permanent marker, mind you.

It was funny, Daniel was still cute and making us all laugh, and then I remembered that he had a 15 month well visit in the morning.

Well, D. What are we gonna do about this?

I put him to bed last night with marker on, woke him up early today, and into the tub we went.

 Why, mother... why?

He didn't want to take a bath, but was fine once he got it. His protest time lasts for just like 30 seconds tops. But don't tick off Owen... he can go for a full half hour. Anyway, I washed his body and couldn't get it off easily, so I wasn't going to bother with it, except for the face. We had to get the face clean. Just a few minutes of rubbing it with the coarse skin on my thumb and thankfully, I was able to get that all off. And the "earrings". Long sleeve shirt, long pants, sweet, we're good to go. Into the car and off to the doctor.

As predicted, we didn't get any looks on the way in from other patients or the check in ladies. Once we get in to the exam room we're safe, cause I don't mind if the pediatrician sees. He's our neighbor, he knows how it is. Daniel got a glowing review, he's doing great. Still in the high percentile for weight and height, and his head is about off the chart.

One of the questions he asked during the check up was if Daniel is starting to say any words. "Yeah, he says 'help' a lot" - I always ask him if he wants help putting on his shoes or getting a bottle or being held - so he says help as he asks for things. The doctor joked that Daniel probably says "help" a lot when seeking protection from teenage brothers and their permanent markers. Lol, yeah, but lucky for us, little D is pretty chill. He does a good job of just rolling with the chaos around here. We love you Daniel - you're totes adorbs.

Pulled Over

I got pulled over by a cop tonight, which I guess is an appropriate way for a mom to end a busy chauffer day. My day of driving started early this morning when I took Ethan to jazz band (Joseph was finishing getting ready to leave for a jazz band tour to Dallas.) Then I came home and had to drive out there again as Wednesday morning is my day to take the jr. high carpool. It was while taking these kids that I first heard, via Hannah, that President Monson passed away. I'll write up a post about President Monson soon. I love and admire him so much, and his talks and his example have blessed my life and guided me and our whole family. So, I took carpool and Corey took Joseph to the airport while I was gone. Home to get kids up and ready for school.

Since I had a busier morning than usual, I didn't go to scripture study group but stayed home to try to get a handle on life again. Since I was home, I was able to listen to the 11:00 BYU devotional. Today it was this talk - Convenient Service by Sheri Palmer. I would like my service and my impulse to help to be automatic, like President Monson. I loved that she started with a quote by him.

I was coming in and out of my bedroom cleaning as I listened, but stopped when she was talking about the beggars at the hospital and her roast beef lunch money. We all need to learn, even President Monson had to learn. I will try write more about President Monson this weekend. What a wonderful man.

So... we had the usual afternoon - Sophi came home from kindergarten, lunch for the girls, naps for boys. At 2:15 I loaded the four little kids in the car, cause with Joseph gone to Texas, he wasn't around to drive himself and Mel to their 3:45 Lyceum rehearsal, or Wesley to Little Big Band at 4. So I got to do it. We headed to pick up Mel at the high school, then to the Jr. High to pick up Wes, then we were off to American Fork. We dropped off Mel first, then to the Soundhouse to drop off Wes. Usually I run an errand to Costco as I wait, but since I had four kiddos with me, they voted to go to the McDonald's playplace instead. I didn't know where a McD's was, so I just drove, trusting that in this fast food culture, I would be able to find a place. Sure enough, Chick-Fil-A came into view, we did a drive by investigation. Success - there was a slide inside. We parked and went in. I didn't have a big kid to help me, so we were a mass of 5 people that had to go places together. Before we went to play on the slide, we all went into the bathroom for a potty break. Then all 5 of us to the slide. It was messier than the last play places I can remember. I do not like fast food play places. The kids ran around for a bit, I got grossed out every time I saw Owen's blanket dropped or dragged on the floor, and then we took a break to go get 3 kid meals.

I was grateful to PBS kids and the show Odd Squad for helping my kids play pretend with their juice boxes -

All pretending they were Miss O talking on her juice box phone. Silly kids

They shared their fries with Daniel. I probably should have ordered an extra serving of fries for him, cause there's never enough fries, right? (Cue Jim Gaffigan at 2:22 "What happened? Where'd they go?") Then the five of us headed back into the handicapped bathroom stall to access the toddler table and change D's diaper. Then back to the playplace to try and kill another 20 minutes. While we were there, two kids were prowling around like Gollum, growling and hissing at each other. Owen and Daniel looked at them with some concern and confusion. Then another little boy by the slide was having a coughing fit, which made him hack and throw up on the slide. I was the only parent in the play place with the kids and I jumped to my feet, rescuing children from sliding into the mess. I signaled for the little boys older brother to go tell his mom so she could grab paper towels. And then I had had about enough. I sent Corey a voice message, telling him that it would please me if Owen and Daniel never learned the word "McDonalds" and if they never learned that these fast food places exist. Sophi and Natalie are lost to us, but there is still time to save Owen and Daniel. I left there feeling glad that my kids are my kids and that other people's kids aren't my kids. Although I do hope to someday learn to love all people and children as if they were my own. So, yay, it's 5:30! We killed an hour and a half! Time to go pick up Mel at 5:45, then Wes at 6. We had to briefly wait for Wesley. I turned off the car and turned off my headlights, but I kept the running lights on - aka this position:

Wes got in the car, I turned on the car, and we headed out. I turned out of the soundhouse parking lot, drove west through a 2-way stop where I had the right of way, and then a cop pulled out behind me. There is no way I was speeding, so he must be going after someone in front of me. So I pull over out of the way, and the cop pulls behind me. Ok, what did I do? I know that we are late registering the car, but there's no way you saw that as I drove by... The officer comes to my window. "Did you know you were driving without your headlights on?" I look at the switch... doh, it was still in the "running lights" position. I turned the dial. Doh. Really? Ok, you got me. Yes, officer, I didn't have them on, I'm sorry. "It makes a big difference, huh?" Yes, officer sir. I'm sorry, I was just picking up my kid right back there at the Chapman music soundhouse... I had just barely pulled out from the parking lot, sorry I didn't notice it yet, I'm sure I would have in a moment. "Can I see your driver's license and registration?" Mel was in the passenger seat and looked through the glove compartment. She grabbed the insurance papers. "That will do, thank you, I'll be right back." Lame. Oh well. I figured I'd get a warning or a ticket and we'd be out a $100 bucks, lesson learned. I'm glad it was just about the headlights. Although I'm sure he will now also notice our expired registration. Doh. Ok, so maybe $160. I sent Corey a WhatsApp message to let him know of my mistake. The officer came back. Pointed out that the car registration is expired. Yes, I'm sorry. He then gave me back my license and the insurance paper, but didn't give me a ticket or warning or anything. I was surprised, and then he then asked me if I'm related to Cory Wride. Since it was an officer asking me, I knew he was talking about the Utah County police officer Cory Wride that was slain a few years ago. I said no, I was not related. He then said "Oh, well, it's not that common of spelling of your last name..." Yeah, it's the same spelling, but we are not related. "Ok. Well... turn your headlights on, and get your car registered." Yes sir, officer sir, thank you sir. And he let me go after that. I was grateful for my good luck, but also felt bad that he probably didn't cite me because he thought I was Cory Wride's widow. I called Corey to let him know that because Cory Wride had been slain, I got out of a ticket. Poor guy, he probably shouldn't have had to die just for me to not to get in trouble. Now I feel like I lied or stole his widow's identity or something. Corey said that the officer should know that I wasn't the widow, cause the wife of a police officer would surely have shown more respect for the law than I had. Yes, that is true.

In January 2014, Corey was over at his parents house and the television was on, when he heard his name over the news. Old friends called, emailed, and messaged us on facebook asking if it was Corey. Mostly old high school friends that we haven't kept in touch with. Corey's answer the phone "Are you a police officer?" No, and I'm also alive, as you can tell by hearing my voice... As Corey heard it on the news, he had a Brian Regan moment... Where Brian Regan the comedian heard about Brain Regan the spy on the news...

I was watchin' the news the other day, and I heard them talking about a criminal named Brian Regan same spelling and everything. He's gonna be in jail for the rest of his life. So I'm sitting there doing a crossword puzzle and all of a sudden I hear, "It is unknown whether the charges against Brian Regan will lead to his execution." "Guess I can put this down. Honey, did we pay that parking ticket?!"

We were sad for his family and it was weird to be on our end as friends tried to figure out what happened and if it was us. I had a few friends reach out to me - "I thought it was Corey! Oh, I felt so bad for you! I'm glad it wasn't him!" Anyway, sorry Cory, I didn't purposely take advantage of your death to get out of a ticket. I go turn myself in, I'll pay it, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, and I promise I'll always turn on my headlights!

2017 In Review

We haven't sent out Christmas Cards or Holiday greetings for a couple years. I did one online in 2014, which I recognize is more than a bit lame, but I guess "pathetic" it's better than "nothing". So, I'm late, but here's our 2017 recap and we send a wish that y'all had a great 2017 and we wish you a wonderful 2018. 

January - Joseph turned 17 years old, Corey's 3rd attempt at making an ice rink was his best yet.

February - Corey and I celebrated 18 years - we took a quick trip to San Diego, some friends from Chile stay with us for a couple of weeks, 1st car accident by one of the kids, Corey's business Movie M0uth got a new CEO
March - 5 month old Daniel is the cutest thing ever, Ethan turned 15, Corey and kids took a trip to Las Vegas with 10 kids and 3 Chileans, he's a champ.
April - Natalie is potty trained, Joseph ran an amazing but unsuccessful SBO campaign
May - Ethan's Year as school governor comes to an end, family bird watching, we're getting healthy
June - Family Pictures, Corey and Joseph trip to Boston, Lily turned 8, Wesley is 12, some of us are trying to go vegan, Boondocks
July - Natalie is 4, Owen turns 2, Scofield, Park City
August - Hyrum is 14, Total Solar Eclipse in Rexburg! Sophi starts kindergarten, a fun summer with our monarch butterflies
September - Abi turns 10, Sophi turns 6, Daniel turns 1
October - I took some kids on a trip to Moab, Courage Challenge, Hyrum got his braces off, worries about Movie M0uth, Halloween
November - Joseph's third strike, Thanksgiving, Momentum
December - Melodie turns 17, Family ski trip, Christmas

Fun fact of 2017 - it was the first odd year since 2001 that I did not have a baby. The first 3 were even years, and then came 7 kids from Hyrum in 2003 through Owen in 2015 that were born every odd year. Daniel broke the tradition being in 2016. We're looking forward to 2018. The only big change we know that's coming as of right now is that our oldest, Joseph, will be leaving this summer for a 2 year LDS mission. We are super excited for him, but also a little teary that our first chick is flying from the nest. It will never be the same, but you can't stop the change. He's ready to launch so we're happy for him. Have a happy 2018! 

Day at Brighton

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

We celebrated the first day of 2018 the way that we have for the past 5 years and that has become a family tradition - ringing in the new year with friends at Brighton, then having fun staying up late with a huge neighborhood sleepover, followed by a day of skiing or sledding with friends.

We had a lazy morning after all that partying.

Corey went home last night so he could get a good nights rest and then he picked up ski rentals this morning and brought them up. The kids had fun playing while they waited to go outside. Highlight of my morning was seeing Owen and Daniel swinging, they were both giggling, it warmed my heart

They are so cute!

So much fun to swing in a chair with your brother. They laughed and laughed and swinged and swung and twirled. Cute cute boys, love 'em.

It was also funny to see Owen holding Daniel, as if he's big enough as a 2 year old to hold a 1 year old on his lap.

All the kids went skiing except Sophi, Natalie, and Daniel. I didn't ski either, I stayed in the cabin to get kids out and bring kids in. Corey was a little later getting up than he planned on cause the rental place lost our order and the kids sizes and stuff. He got it all figured out and they were on the mountain before lunch. Corey and Owen went first and spent some quality one on one ski time on the bunny hill. Corey called me when O had had enough, and then I suited up Lily and took her over for a kid swap. 

Every year we tell ourselves that next year we'll have a car with 4-wheel drive. But that was a new year resolution that we made again that we didn't achieve again. Which means we weren't able to drive up to the cabin, so we parked down in the lot and I'd walk down with a kid, drive over to where Corey was, swap, drive back, park, and walk up with a kid. I did it a few times. When I brought Owen back, he fell asleep right away in the car. I drove over, parked, and walked up holding him. Probably just a third of a mile, but boy were my biceps burning holding his little dead weight! I layed him down in our room and he was out for a few hours.

I didn't take off his snow pants, which means Natalie didn't have any to wear to go skiing, but she didn't want to go very badly so she stayed in the cabin and played. I went to take older kids over and was able to walk back in the pretty winter wonderland.

Walking up the snowy road with Mount Wolverine in the distance.

Pretty winter aspens. 

We had a fun day all day, and the kids did not want to go when it was time to head home. Yes, it's hard to face the unfortunate reality that there is school in the morning. Back to reality, noooo! This Christmas break was way too short, I agree. Oh well, what ya gonna do, our family life revolves around public school calendar, they call the shots. So we went home, Joseph helped me unload the car, little kids scattered, older kids were coming with Corey and returning the skiis. This is what our kitchen/great room dumping are looks like after a ski trip sleepover -

I started to sort piles of helmets, hats, gloves, coats, snow pants, sleeping bags, etc etc.... these are the moments when I realized that yes, we do have a lot of people in our family. This is also why we don't do things like this very much, it's too much work! But we're glad that by a miracle we're able to make it happen now and then, it's good memories for the kids. Children, someday we trust that you will recognize and appreciate all the work it took raising you! It's worth it - we hope we'll have plenty of children to take care of us in our old age after we've spent it all for you! Lose your life to find it. Matthew 16:25 :)