Year in Review

2009 was a good year for our family. A lot has gone on since 2008. Here is the year in review with a few pictures..... only 5 because that's all blogger will let me do.
January: Jack was born on January 21. That month we had fun with a new baby, pneumonia, a flooded basement and a little baby jaundice. Luckily everything ended up just fine.
February: Maddy turned 5. It was cold and snowy.
March: It was cold and snowy. Does anything exciting every happen in March?
April: We helped get the house ready so that Jake and Alicia could sell it. We spent a lot of time cleaning. We also perfected the art of cleaning an entire house in 20 minutes, just in time for a last minute showing. It made us never want to sell a house....but was definitely good practice.
May: We got to go to Virginia for a few weeks to visit my family. My youngest brother got home from his mission and we got to be there for that. We spent lots of time at the beach and in grandma and grandpa's backyard.
June: Sam graduated from optometry school. Yeah!!! We packed up all of our stuff and moved to Oregon. Sam took over an optometry practice in town.
July: We had fun finding all of the parks in our new home and unpacked boxes.
August: Played outside. It was hot. Mason turned 3 and discovered his love of pirates
September: Maddy started kindergarten. She loves going to school so much and she has a really nice teacher. Jack learned to crawl.
October: The kids dressed up for Halloween. Maddy was a witch. Mason was a pirate and Jack was a piece of pizza.
November: We went to Utah for Thanksgiving. It was so much fun to be there with Sam's family. Maddy and Mason couldn't get enough of playing with cousins.
December: Christmas in Oregon. A little bit of snow. Jack started walking.

We feel like we have been really blessed this year. A lot has happened since last January. We know that we are in the right place, where Heavenly Father wants us to be. We are thankful for our families and for the gospel. We hope that 2010 can be a great year for everyone! Now for those new years resolutions....... guess what mine is? It rhymes with whose gate. Happy New Year!

Christmas 2009

Maddy and Mason were really excited about Christmas this year. They left a donut out for Santa and some carrots for the reindeer on Christmas Eve. It was one of the first things they checked in the morning. Luckily "Santa" and the "reindeer" remembered to eat some before they went to bed. The older kids both got up at 5:30 am....... that's pretty early. We had to wake up Jack because for some reason he had decided to actually sleep. They loved all of their presents. Jack has had fun walking around with his walker and Mason loves his pirate ship. Maddy got a Littlest Pet Shop House and a Barbie Veterinarian. She's had a lot of fun playing with all of those things. Thank you to everyone for sending such nice gifts. We hope that everyone had a merry Christmas!

Our Totally Awesome Gingerbread Houses

We made some real gingerbread houses today. I have never done this before so I didn't know if it would really work. I can't believe that they are actually standing up,,,,,, it's a Christmas miracle. Maddy and Mason loved the decorating part but not so much with the cookie making part. Maddy rolled and cut the dough for about 15 minutes and then she was done. Jack got a hold of one of the gingerbread men and chewed on it for a while. Well, I guess he gummed it since he still doesn't have any teeth. This might have to become a Christmas tradition since it turned out so well and it was fun for everyone. Apparently Mason is not able to make a normal face in pictures anymore.