New Year's Eve

We began our New Year's Celebration by going down to the South Jordan City Hall to finish the candy windows scavenger hunt.  Earlier in December we went as a family to count all the candy canes on each display in the shops nearby but hadn't been able to finish because the city building was closed.  We got there 10 minutes before they locked their doors and were able to make our guesses for the last two displays and turned in entries for each member of our family.  We have our fingers crossed they'll draw one of our names to win dinner and movie for our family.  And even if we don't win, we all had fun.  

We stopped in at Cafe Rio for dinner where Bentley stood in line with me while Aspen sat at a table with Colter and Dahlia.  Bentley was fascinated watching the employees ask, "black or pinto beans?" and ladle dressing into little cups without spilling a drop.  I admit it's quite a show!  When we got to the table, Bentley said, "I want to work at Cafe Rio when I grow up!" We didn't want to wait in line so we used to go lids and plates and filled our bellies with a pork burrito, cheese quesadillas, and chips and salsa.  The kids behaved well and Aspen and Bentley were especially helpful to get water for everyone, additional forks, etc… The only mishap was when Dahlia spilled her ice water all down the front of her shirt and pants.  

After dinner we drove home to get ready to spend the rest of our New Year's Eve celebration.  The kids changed into their pajamas and I loaded up the sweet and tangy meatballs along with the other food we were bringing to munch on.  Adam had been able to take off of work the days following Christmas, but he had to work New Year's Day.  We picked him up at the front runner station in Lehi and went to party with the Zobrists, and their friends, the Howes.  We ate yummy food and played games while the kids played games until it was time to bring in the new year!

Dinner at Cafe Rio

Dahlia fell asleep on the way there and after being brought in from the car, snuggled right into Melissa to continue her nap

Colter loves a cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows, whipped cream, 

complete with and a candy cane

Dahlia putting her feet up…still sleeping

Jaxson, Beckam, and Colter with their mini marshmallow shish-kabobs…or at the lease the ones that weren't eaten yet!

Anna and Brannen.  We were having a much better time than this picture tells!

Brad explaining Texas Hold "Em.  Melissa wishing we were betting real money instead of M&Ms

Dahlia sporting the "Donald Trump-comb-over" while she was still sleeping

Happier to be playing Scum.  Although I'm not as happy as I look because I was "scum"!  

The Howes brought over their new puppy, a yorkie-poo.  

All I heard all night was, "Can we PLEASE get a puppy!"

Aspen and Izzy with Zeik

Bentley and Addi playing cards

Kirby hiding in the pantry

All these crazy kids were awake to celebrate 2016!  Even Dahlia decided to wake up!

Dahlia with the puppy.  

Visiting Grandma

Sunday we went to visit Adam's parents at the Stonehenge Rehabilitation Center now that his mom has been moved there after having knee replacement surgery. Shirley seemed pleased to see us. She said she had received visits from all of her family in the area.  Trina, Michael, and Matthew had all come with their kids sometime that day.  She'll spend a week to two weeks at the center and then will continue with physical therapy to keep scar tissue from forming. I know recovery and rehabilitation from the surgery hasn't been easy but I'm hopeful it will be worth it and she'll have an easier time walking then she did before.

Goofing Around

Date with Bentley

Aspen was spending the night at Mamie and Papi's to watch "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" after finishing the book, Colter and Dahlia had gone with Adam, and so Bentley came on a date with me!  Our first stop was at Harmon's to see if there was anything good from the Redox to watch later.  We found "Inside Out" and Bentley was happy.  We saw it in the drive in but not since.  After getting our movie we hit Target to do a couple of returns and looked at their "dollar-spot", always a must.  We finished off our date at Noodles N Company for a late dinner.  We shared a bowl of Wisconsin mac and cheese with meatballs and I had some tomato basil soup.  During our date Bentley and I had good girl talk.  She had all sorts of questions about when a girl gets her period.  I can't believe we're entering into "that" stage!  I don't know if I'm ready to have my girls turning into women! One thing I do know is Bentley sure is cute!  I loved our date and spending time with her!  I hope my kids always want to go on dates with me!

25th and Final Radiation Treatment

(Instagram Repost)

25 treatments DONE! Wahoo! The kids helped me ring the bell at my last radiation treatment this morning! It's hard to believe I'm completely finished with everything! Chemo, surgeries, and now radiation! I'm still pinching myself! I think it will take some time to sink in. My heart is so full and I feel so very blessed! I'm not sure how to adequately express my thanks, so I'll just say thank you!Thank you to family, friends, neighbors, and even strangers who have been the army behind me! I feel like we not only won the battle today but also the war! #trustgodandcarryon #radiation #colrectalcancer #crohns #colitis #cancerfree 

Utah State Game

Go Aggies!

Colter's First Dance Video

Colter has decided he wants to be a Ninja dancer and have people record him (his words) when he grows up.  You're on your way, buddy!

First Day of Radiation

Meet my date for the next 6 weeks.  I started radiation today.  1 down 24 to go.  I keep telling myself it's going to go by fast.  #beammeupscotty 

Colter's Church Nap

While we were at Griffin's Homecoming, Colter decided he needed to curl up on the church floor and take his regular sacrament meeting nap.  It's becoming a regular thing.  Colter falling asleep was in no way a reflection of how well Griffin did on his talk.  He did a great job.  I'm sure Colter was dreaming  about serving a mission himself!

Weird

Braids

I braided Aspen's hair and she braided mine! Eat your heart out Coolio!

Bentley's Movie Night

After Aspen had a movie night, Bentley wanted one to watch the Disney movie, "Descendants", too.  The girls came in their pajamas with pillows, blanket, and stuffed animals and we popped popcorn.  Either because of age or personality's, Bentley's group of friends didn't sit and watch the movie as well as the group of older girls.  I think Bentley was happy though and that's what matters most, isn't it?

A Visit From Chrystalee

Chrystalee is like a cousin to me.  I don't have any cousins on this continent but I've known her and her sisters and brother my whole life.  Our moms have been best friends since before I was born and stayed in touch when their family moved to Arizona, making extended visits to each others houses over the years.  Chrystalee lives in Texas with her husband, Scott, and their three kids.  She was in town for Education Week at BYU and stayed for an extra week to visit as many temples in the area as she could.  She stayed at my parents' house but came to visit us a couple of times between temple trips.  I haven't seen her in over ten years but it was like no time had past.  My kids fell in love with her!  She braided Aspen's and Bentley's hair, read along with Colter to the "Brown Bear" book he made in Kindergarten, and tied Candy for Chemo boxes with us.  She called all my kids"baby" and before she left, she brought the kids crystal rock suckers from the Blue Bird in Logan.  It was so great to reconnect with her and although we miss her now that's she's gone back to Texas, we look forward to seeing her next time! 

Our First Week of (Home)School

We may not have taken pictures the first day of school, but we got them done for the first week!  Aspen and Bentley are doing homeschool again this year.  Aspen is in 5th grade and Bentley's in 3rd. Colter started kindergarten at the public elementary at the beginning of August and Dahlia's doing homeschool preschool, I guess.  I was able to convince them all to let me take a few pictures of them on the porch in their new school outfits.  I think they all secretly love a little photo shoot. 

I can't believe how tall Aspen is getting! And Bentley isn't far behind. They'll both be taller than me but I think Bentley will end up being the tallest girl in our family. Hopefully Colter is taller than her, and I'm betting Dahlia will be the shortest.  I've been trying to improve my braiding skills and have been practicing this diagonal Swedish braid. It really just takes patience and practice! I was given the advice to smooth the pieces of hair like you're pulling sugar, and that's really helped!  I didn't do too bad. Even if I had done a horrible job, these girls are cute enough to make any braid look good.

This year for their studies, Aspen and Bentley will be doing several courses through UOS again, Utah Online School, and some of our own. They'll be continuing with a reading program called Read Live, daily writing in their journals or notebooks, French, tumbling, piano (new for Bentley), and starting  Aleks Math, Think Through Math, and keyboarding. Our homeschool co-op also offers classes throughout the year in all kinds of subjects that they'll take part in as I finish with radiation and we can take more on. It's going to be a great year!