Reflection

I always like to end my blog post of the year with a little reflection of the year. 2018 was a year of ups and downs. That sounds cliche, but I really think this year was one of really great highs and really sad lows.

I feel like my blog tends to just highlight the good times we have as a family, and don't get me wrong, we have a lot of great times together. But I don't want to paint the picture that our life is in anyway perfect. We had a lot of challenges this year as we were in the middle of some intense family drama with my brother, Darren, and I don't believe our family will ever be the same again. I have to say that was probably my biggest trial I have ever faced. I still don't fully understand why or what I was supposed to learn from that, but I did learn about forgiveness and mercy. I learned a lot about myself and what I want for my own family and for our future.  One thing is for sure, Tyler is the greatest person and so good to me, and my kids are the most important thing to me. I love my little family of 5... even if we are a little crazy!

Of course one of the brightest moments of our year was our family sealing. Even 6 months later I still reflect on how great that day was. I loved receiving my endowments and enjoy going back to the temple to feel the peace there. Our family sealing was a testament of one of the brightest days of our lives and one that gave us the most hope and joy for the future. I love my eternal family!

This year we celebrated birthdays...

And vacations...

We cried lots of tears when my Grandma Draper passed away

And celebrated new starts

We got news that changes our future

And realized we have the support to get through any challenge 

 

Life is so great and so challenging. It is so full of good times and sad times. It's full of celebrations and challenges. I'm learning to embrace the difficult times and relish in the good. It's been hard and I don't always appreciate those times when I'm being taught a lesson, but I love my life, my family, my Heavenly Father, my Savior, my beliefs, my health, and myself! 2018 was a year of growth and I'm happy with the people we are today because of it. 

What day is it? AKA The Week After

Yep, this was me the week after Christmas. 

After our very eventful Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, it was nice to just have a few days to relax and do nothing. 

December 26 we spent the entire day playing with toys. I don't think I showered or changed out of my pajamas until 7:00 when I just got into another pair of pajamas!

Caden built his Legos from Karly and Rico. I am so impressed with Caden. He is so smart and can put together his Legos pretty much by himself. This set was for 9-12 year olds, and he is only 6 and did it almost all by himself. I think we have a future engineer!

 The day after Christmas we went to Temple Square to look at the lights.

 We loved the candy displays

 And the light are probably my favorite. I don't think the kids quite enjoy it as much as I do, but oh well.

 Then we headed up to Hanna Land for a few days and celebrated New Years. The kids have a blast playing with each other. I love that we have so many fun memories at Hanna Land!

Brynnli took her Unicorn game up and the kids had so much fun playing with it!

 How funny is Caden getting ready to play, "Watch Your Mouth?"

 Brynnli was all ready to go outside in the snow!

 We had so much fun playing out in the snow. The kids pulled each other around on the sled and we spent hours going up Tabby Mountain and sledding down the hill. Seriously, it was the funnest thing I have done in a long time!

By New Years Eve we were all pretty warn out. Colton couldn't keep his eyes awake long enough to do the count down (which we did at 9:00 this year)

 Happy New Year! Bring on 2019!

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

The day we have been waiting for all year is finally here! We love Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We have at least 4 parties to go to the two days and we just love spending time with all our family. 

Christmas Eve started at our house when we let the kids open their Christmas outfits from us. 

 Sadly, these are the only pictures I took of our decorations this year:

 But how cute is this cutie in her trendy outfit. I swear she is dressed better than me more days than not.

 I just love these cuties. How lucky are we?

 Our best attempt at a family picture.

 We went to Grandma Terry and Grandpa Craig's house for a few hours. We played the $5 game then had to leave to get to our house for our second party of the night.

 We had my parents over for Christmas Eve. Christmas was kind of weird with my family this year with just my parents over, but it was fun nonetheless. My parents always spoil the kids.

 Makayla got some stuffed animals and make up. One of her gifts was in this cereal box and when she opened it and saw the cereal, she just said, "thanks" and set it aside, thinking it really was just cereal. We all got a good laugh and then told her to look inside for her present.

 Caden got the Earth Mech Legos he has been wanting for about a year now.

 And Brynnli got barbies and a stuffed kitty.

We set out cookies and milk for Santa, oatmeal for the reindeer, and a note then we were off to finish the party at Grandma and Grandpa's

We had the talent show, danced in the street while Tyler played the accordion, then opened presents. Makayla got Jo Jo Siwa stuff, Caden got more Legos, and Brynnli got some cute unicorn toys.
By the end of the night Brynnli was O.U.T, so we let her sleep while the other cousins smiled for the picture. 

 We went to bed that night about 11:00 hoping Santa would come. Makayla was convinced that she would hear the reindeer land on the roof since her room is upstairs now.

The kids slept in until about 7:30. They all showed up in our room and Makayla told us how she really did hear the reindeer on the roof. She got out of bed and tried to peek at Santa downstairs, but she must have just missed him. Darn! Maybe next year!

We took our traditional stair picture

Then we walked into the room... and boy, did Santa ever come! We must have really great kids because Santa spoiled them rotten!

 

 Makayla got a karaoke machine, so she and Daddy did a little performance for us.

 She also got the American Girl Doll Bunny and the tote she asked for.

 Caden got the Police Station Lego he asked for

 And Brynnli's favorite gift was the band aids.

 Just kidding, she got the Bitty Baby and Izzy doll she asked for.

 I love this look on Makayla's face

Caden got the Elmo with headphones he wanted. 

 Then wasted no time dancing. It has some really catchy songs!

 Brynnli is a hoot... I can't remember why she was running around naked, but is there anything cuter?

After opening presents, we headed back to Grandpa Craig's and Grandma Terry's house for the Christmas party with the Evanses. We had dinner, opened presents, and took some family pictures: 

We ended the night with stopping by to see my parents, then heading to Tammy and Bruce's for another family party. By the end of the night we were exhausted, but I wouldn't have it any other way. 

Merry Christmas! I am so grateful to spend time with my family during the season. I'm grateful for the time to reflect on the Savior's birth and I am grateful to my Heavenly Father for the gift of His Son.