Monday, December 31, 2007

2007- Year In Review

In honor of the Christmas newsletters, I decieded to do a 2007 year in review blog. This year has brought many highs and many lows. We have kind of been on a roller coaster and are very glad that 2007 is over. We look forward to making 2008 great! After all 8 is my favorite number!

This year for Dave was probably the hardest year of his life. He lost his Dad to a five year battle of liver cancer. Luckily, we were able to spend about 4 weeks with him during part of June and July. We enjoyed that time that we had learning from him, and just being together. We went back down to San Diego in August when we got the news that Dad took a turn for the worse. We were able to have about 3 good days with him. We got to say our good-byes while he was still coherent. Then we drove back home and waited for 10 days. It was like we were in limbo, just waiting. When we got the call that he returned to his Father in Heaven, we got back in the car to be with family and to have a beautiful memorial service for him. It was such a great tribute to such a great man. We will always miss our wonderful Father, Popie, and Friend. We love you Dad!
Dave's highlights are his family, his job, and his duck hunting. Dave is the best Dad! His kids are so lucky to have him! I am so lucky that he is so into his kids. I could not do this without him! He is very hands on! He loves his job. He gets to take people to lunch, take them golfing, or even duck hunting. Yes, how cool is that! I think you call that smoozing. He feels very blessed to have a job that he truly enjoys! This year brought him two new ducks. He shot a drake Common Merganzer, and a Blue Bill. We also enjoyed getting together with a bunch of his mission pals at a mission reunion in May. It was good to see so many people and reconnect!

I spend most of my days cleaning, and taking care of kids. I am such a homebody. Although I do leave the house to go to my dance class which I absolutly love! I love to get out and move. I am no dancer, but this class sure is fun! We will be preforming in April so if any of you want a good laugh, feel free to come and watch me! I started a new lifestyle where I kind of went Vegan. I gave up meat, dairy, and sugar. Inspite of the strict eating restrictions, I felt fabulous! I ate for fuel, not for enjoyment. It was great to lose weight, and to feel so good! I did not have a migraine the whole time that I ate like this, which in itself is a MIRACLE!!! Then, you guessed it , we got pregnant, and that lifestyle went out the window! I could not stand anything organic. No Rice Milk, or Soy Milk, no vegenaise(like mayo-but no eggs, or dairy). I went back to the good stuff. I still can't drink milk, and I eat all meat very sparingly. But I did have a Chadders hamburger the other day and it was so good! (For those of you who don't know, Chadders is a knock off of In and Out). Anywho, I will go back to that kind of eating when I can stomach it. I felt so good, and after watching my father-in-law suffer so horribly, it scared the snot out of me and I want to do all I can to take care of my body. I was able to go to San Diego by myself this past year. Two weeks after Dave's Dad passed away my mom fell and broke her hip. I waited to go down until she was out of the hospital. So In the middle of October, I went down and spent four days, just being my mothers daughter. It was such a blessing! I had never left the kids with Dave for any long period of time, so I was curious how he would handle it, but of course he did beautifully! I was so impressed when I came home, everything was clean and the kids were happy! I think I will have to make this a yearly thing! You know, since he did so well! I can't wait for this year to be over since the last three months of this year I have been SICK! I have never been sick like this with any of the other kids, so this is a new experience, and I must say I could have lived without it! So hopefully 2008, I will feel great!



Lauren turned 8 this year. We celebrated her birthday by taking 9 little girls to the Sweet and Sassy salon. They had a hairdressing session, followed by a fashion show! So cute:) Lauren started 3rd grade this year. She loves school. She likes to be the teachers helper, even when the teacher does not need help. She takes piano, violin, and dance, even though we said this year we were going to SIMPLIFY! Lauren was baptized in July and we were so thankful that we were able to baptize her in San Diego. This inabled all the family to be there. Which of course was worth the entire trip. She loves achievement days, spending time with her friends, and she told me the other day that she wants to be a fashion model. She also said that she would have to get all new clothes because fashion models always wear nice clothes. I told her nice try!




David turned 6 with a Star Wars birthday party, complete with a huge lightsaber fight against Darth Vader. (Which was Dave dressed up in a Darth costume) . David is in the first grade and he loves to read. He has lots of friends. They come over and play out back in the ponds. They just do little boy things, and it is fun to watch. His new interest, which thrills his father, is duck hunting. He begs, and begs, to go out with his dad. He can't shoot or anything, I just think he likes to be outside, with his dad, I love watching him get ready, he lays out all his clothes in the order in which he puts them on. So the hat is first, the shirt is next, then the pants, and socks, and shoes. It is funny because we have picture of Dave doing the same exact thing when he was little. Like father like son! David also got to play soccer, t-ball, and flag football this year. He liked all of them the best.

Kathren and her frilly slip

Kathren turned 3 at Sea World in San Diego. We had such a fun time, we even got to pet dolphins. The day ended with a fireworks display- some of you might know this as the Summer Nights firework show, but we told Kathren it was for her birthday! That is the beauty of being three, you believe everything your parents tell you:) Kathren is a firecracker! She keeps us on our toes! Her daily wardrobe consists of a frilly slip that she got from her Aunt Lillian. She insists on wearing this slip everyday, so she can dance and twirl around! Kathren's big accomplishment this year is that she is FINALLY potty trained! She also lets us leave her in Nursery. She started taking dance this year and loves to watch herself in the mirror. Even though she hears from the teacher every 10 seconds, "Kathren eyes on me" . Kathren also goes to Ms. Karli's preschool, and absolutely loves it!



West turned 2 in November. He is such a good boy. He loves to give hugs! He has a sweet fro, which I can't cut, even though sometimes people think he is a girl! I know when I cut it those curls will be gone, and I am not ready for that! West loves the movie Nacho Libre. He laughs at him, and likes to wrestle anyone who is laying on the floor. He also likes the movie cars. This movie has created quite the obsession with all things that roll. He loves cars, motorcycles, you name it. If you can push it, he loves it. We got a trampoline this year, with a net, West loves to go out and jump. I love to watch his hair go up and down:)

Guests that we enjoyed this year were, in no particular order... All the Schimpf kids, some more than once. We actually saw Marla Hartpence while the Schimpf boys were here. Also Amy Pulsipher made a few cameo's while her friend Steven was here. The Fagerwold family, The Royce Family, Grammy Moreau, Kevin and Donna Moreau, and Zephyr. Alex Moreau, Jim and Diane Hutchings, The Konold Family, and The Hill Family. We love having company! So if you have never been to visit, repent!

We are glad that the year is over, and are looking forward to the new year! Yeah 2008!
Have a Happy and safe New Years Eve!

Friday, December 28, 2007

Sakes Alive...


here comes BABY number FIVE!!!!!
Estimated arrival is June 18, 2008
Pray for us!!!!!

Christmas in San Diego

We left on Thursday December 20 at 3:47 a.m. and after the twelve hour drive, we arrived in sunny San Diego at 3:00 p.m. We were exhausted from the drive, but so happy and excited to be in our San Diego home. For some strange reason, Karen thought it would be fun to sleep in a motor home. So by the grace of our friends, the Smith's we were able to make that dream become reality. The kids were so thrilled to "camp out". We had forgotten how cold San Diego can really get, until we were laying in our beds looking at our breath. It was chilly. But my sister let us use extra blankets and a space heater, so that helped a ton. We had to take a picture of the gigantic motor home, and the cute license plate. It says Our Momo. I am assuming that is what their little girls called the motor home. What a memory. I don't know if we will ever do it again, but it was worth doing it once. A big thank you to my sis and her cool family for letting us stay in their front yard. And for letting us hang out, eat, and shower in their house. That is my idea of camping:)








One of our many stops on our whirlwind trip was to visit the grave of our Popie, Dad, and Friend Roger Moreau. Lauren said right when we got to SD that she missed her Popie, and wanted to go visit his grave. We made the drive down and talked about what a good Popie we have, and how he loves us, and is so happy in heaven helping Heavenly Father. We found the grave sight and David went and got a big rock to put as a marker until his grave stone is done. Grass was trying to grow so we moved all the leaves to allow the grass to come up. The kids were really trying to make Popie's grave look nice. It was so sweet to watch them work. When we were done, we let Dave have a few moments alone. Dave's Dad was his best friend, and he misses him alot. We all do. He was the best of men.



We had Christmas Eve with the Moreau's on Saturday the 22nd. We got there a little early, and the kids deceided to do a bit of yard work. They had so much fun sweeping and picking up leaves. They were so busy working.








The kids loved doing the chime bells. Some of the adults grumbled at first, but they all got into it.




The dinner was great. We had the traditional Onion Soup and homemade bread. It is such a great meal. We all look forward to it every year. Thanks Grammy for a great dinner, and evening.




David and Lauren sang as their present to Grammy. I don't know the name of the song, but it is from Polar Express. I'm wishing on a star, and trying to believe, that even though it's far, he'll find me Christmas Eve.... you know the one I am talking about, I just can't think of the name. Anywho, they did a great job.



December 23rd we celebrated Christmas at the Hutchings which was insane as always. How could it be otherwise with 50 people, all just immediate family. It has been so fun to watch the grandkids grow up and take up more and more space each year. This picture is not of everyone, just everyone that could fit in that room. It is wall to wall bodies. Fun. This evening was filled with food, singing, gift exchanges, and white elephants. We are so glad that we got to come down for Christmas this year. We also had a celebration for Dave's birthday...the big 33! Thanks Diane for making the yummiest Texas sheet cake ever!



We left Monday December 24th at 6:30 a.m. and got home to the Ute at 8:30p.m. We hit a blizzard and it took us two hours to get home from Nephi. I was sooo scared, I had never been in a moving car when it was snowing like that. Luckily, Dave knew how to drive in it. I would have pulled over and had to have been rescued.



This is how we all felt after this fast paced trip! We are glad that we were able to do this! But it is sooooo good to be home!

Friday, December 14, 2007

What is a Blog?

Okay, so for all of you blogging fans, I am sure that you can tell I am new to the blogging scene. I really did not know anything like this even exsisted. I know right, where have I been? I was just getting the whole e-mail thing down when I discovered that people have these amazing things called blogs. I have been checking other blogs out and am truly impressed with peoples technological abilities, as well as their creativity. I am wowed at the fact that people have been able to add such impressive things as sound tracks, lists of friends blogs that allow you to connect immediately from the original blog, and even permanant pictures that go on the sides. How in the heck do you do that? I have just figured out how to post. So please bare with me as I embark on this new adventure. I hope someday that my blog will not only be informative, but also have some entertainment value. If anybody has any tricks, feel free to leave them in a comment, call me on the phone, or just come on over and HELP ME:) I am sure that together we can save this blog!
Thank you!

Sunday, December 9, 2007

Check out my Slide Show!

Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!





The first big snow fall! I hope that I can just learn to LOVE the winter freezing cold snow:)
The kids sure loved it! They spent three hours out there! Making giant snow balls, and sweet snow forts!
Oh the joy!

Thursday, December 6, 2007