Welcome 2016!

We've had another fun week off of work and school.  Monday we got the house picked up some and let the kids nap and then headed out for a sleepover at Dad and Sallly's.  It was a great time.  When we got there, Dad kept the kids busy playing uno with him so Dan and I could finish the new Mission Impossible movie in the media room.  Dad was mostly concerned with how his projector compared to Shad's.  Haha, we assured him that his was better.  We had a nice dinner with Dad, Sally, and Charlie and then the kids played and watched Frosty the Snowman and we put them to bed around 8.  Megan and Brooke fell asleep pretty quickly.  Jack and Candy were little stinkers.  Especially Jack.  So around 9 pm, we brought him out to the game room where he watched the train go around the Christmas tree.  We put a pillow by him and he laid his head down.  Then a blanket.  And after about 20 minutes of watching it go around and around, he was out. 

We played 5 crowns and Canadian salad with Dad and Sally and went to bed around 11.  

Tuesday morning Dec. 29 was cold (in the 50s) and we walked to the park by their house to let the kids play.  Then Dad and Sally treated us to lunch and we came home.  Dan went to buy lumber for my Christmas present from him--more storage in the attic!  That night we went to the T's house for cake and ice cream for Maddie's 7th birthday.  

The picture above is my new storage.  Dan and Beckett spent 5 hours Wednesday Dec. 30 nailing down plywood boards to give us an extra 10 foot by 11 foot space.  It's so nice!

Thursday was New Year's Eve.  Our kids have been so tired all week!  Jack passed out in the morning on the couch. I had my 30 week checkup for this baby--she's doing great!

After lunch we took the kids ice skating and the T's met us there.  The 6 older kids skated.  Jack and I didn't skate, and the T's 2 year old and baby and Beckett didn't skate.  It was so fun to watch our girls.  One of Brooke's resolutions last year was to learn to ice skate, so we barely squeezed it in--and she did awesome.  Megan took a bit to warm up but she did well too.  Candy used a little ice walker thing and she had fun with that but would do one lap at a time and then take a break for a while before going again.  

Candy-4, Kenzie-5, Megan T-8, Megan A-8, Maddie-7, Brooke-6, Mallory-2, and Jack-2

We got home from ice skating around 4 and had Ali's fam over for dinner and playing.  They left around 6:30 and we headed to the T's to watch the fireworks in their culdesac and have root beer floats and let the kids bang pots and pans and the like.  It was cold and even rained pretty good for part of the fireworks show.  We headed home just before 9 to put the kids to bed.  Dan picked up Shad's fam from the airport and he watched a bowl game while I fell asleep!  It was the first year in a few years that we didn't make it to midnight.  

Use your imagination to fill in the noise here.  7 crazy excited girls banging pots and pans and blowing noisemakers and yelling to their hearts' content.

Friday New Year's day was spent taking down Christmas and moving things into our new storage space.  We got a lot done and there's still a little to go.  Dan took the kids to Ali's while I caught up on the house and then we had dinner with Ali's fam. 

Saturday Jan. 2 we ran errands in the morning and let the kids nap in the afternoon before heading to Shad's for dinner.  We were there from like 4 to 7 and watched BYU basketball and I took the little girls in the hot tub.  Very nice time together. 

Jan. 3 was a nice Sunday.  Dan had an early meeting but was done in time to come home and help get everyone ready.  It felt strange to have an extra 2 hours before church.  We moved from the 9 am slot to 11 am.  Not my favorite time, but it's better than 1!  We got to church and Dan was asked to bless the sacrament.  Which meant that one of our kids was bound to melt down.  Today it was Brooke and it was pretty bad, I had to take her to the car for about 10 minutes before we were both composed enough to go back!  I was thankful for Dan's sister helping with our other kids while I was with her.  One testimony I did get to hear was from Candy's outgoing sunbeam teacher.  She mentioned each child and what she learned from them and for Candy said she learned to just be happy all the time.  It reminded me of things people have said about my Mom and I was really touched by that.  I hope my little Candy is like her namesake in many ways. 

The kids went to their new classes and did pretty well.  Candy was a little nervous partway through and came to me crying, but she went back to class and did ok.  Jack was a champ.  Brooke was teary at dropoffs but had fun.  Megan did great.  My class of 8 year olds were really good.  They were all kids I taught in nursery 7 years ago, and it's fun to see how they've grown.  I think I'm going to like teaching them.