Our ONE snowfall :(

well, .....this was it this winter..... Kids...and mom...are missing our Utah winters!!

Christmas Morning

Jamie helps me out in the kitchen so much!  He helped cook our Christmas breakfast!  We had eggs, cinnamon rolls, bacon, juice.  The kids love breakfast.  I think it is their favorite meal.  Maybe it has something to do with eating dessert things and counting them as breakfast!  That's what makes my favorite meal breakfast!

Christmas Piano Recital

We had such a fun piano recital this past christmas.  All the kids did such a great job.  These are not all my students!  Half of them are my friend, Johnna's, students.  We had a poster contest and door prizes and awesome food....and of course......great music!!!

Thanksgiving!!

The last several years we have been spending Thanksgiving at my sister's house near Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.  We usually run a 5K, have a football game, go to Chuckie Cheese and sometimes some shopping.  This year I came in 2nd place in my age group for the turkey trot!  You can tell they didn't have too many people running if I placed 2nd!  We also stopped at Valley Forge Historic park this time.  Good times :)

My First Marathon!!

     I can't believe I haven't written about my marathon!  I better do it now!  I ran the Richmond, Virginia marathon in November 2012 with two of my great friends in Ohio.  They made the long drive (8 hours) just to run a marathon with me!!  Such awesome friends!  I have always wanted to run a marathon but wondered if I would be able to finish such a long race.  Knowing the time commitment involved in training kept making me postpone what I have always wanted to do.  Last year was the first year all my kids were in school all day so I figured....no more excuses!  This is my time! :)  So I kicked off the training by running a half marathon with Jamie in September.  He did great, by the way...:)  from then on I really enjoyed my training.  I was running faster than my goal so I was really encouraged!  But I wasn't ever smart about fueling while running.  Many times I ran 20 without water even!  DUMB! :)  I would cramp up after the run but I would walk it off.  When the day came for my race I was keeping a great pace until mile 20 and I started to cramp.  I had to walk the next few miles.  It really slowed me down. I was emotional and upset and one of my friends stayed with me until I was ready to run again.  I sprinted the last mile and was happy that I finished :)  I will definitely do another one to redeem my time...maybe next year!  The other blonde in the picture ran her best marathon yet that day!  It was a great course!

Wonderful Home Teacher!

For Family Home Evening, we went to our Home Teacher and worked in his wood shop. With his help, awesome computer, and tools we created four name plates for the kids and a family goblet for Monique & I.


Harrison at the computer working on his name plate.



"So many buttons, so little Time!"



Ireland also had a great time working in the shop!




Here are the final products after they were delivered!




Here is the final product! - Up close shot.
It states "Jamie Monique Dec 18 1999 Sealed in the Bountiful Temple"


Here is the Eagle Scout Plaque he made for our Scout Troop. Aedan has been given extra motivation after seeing this plaque and thinking his name will be up there when he gets his Eagle award.

Here is his wonderful website:
http://www.rexkrugmansaircraft.com/index.htm

Master Closet Upgrade

After two years of living in Maryland, we finally decided to stop living out of boxes for our closet. We had one row to hang items on either side but a lot of wasted space. So we used an online tool and designed our own layout.


Here is a photo before the change.


After!


Monique's side of the closet.



Jamie's side of the closet.



Final view with clothes and mirror.