The Days are Long, But the Years are Short

It's a saying older, more experienced parents tell you all the time when you have little babies: "One day you'll look back and miss this" as you're trying to quiet a crying baby, or entertain a busy toddler, or stop a sibling fight that is escalating by the minute. And you just look at them and think there is no way I am going to miss this. But then those babies turn into toddlers and learn how to communicate, and those toddlers grow up and go to school, and well... let's face it... those siblings still fight. 

As a mom, you try to not blink and enjoy every second. But the reality is, you do blink. Time does fly by. And you're left wondering have I said "I love you" enough? Did I let them know how special they are to me? Do they know how proud I am of the smart, amazing, kind people they are growing into?

You blink and that chunky little baby girl who made me a mom is now a beautiful tween who is almost taller than me. 

You blink and that little boy who never needed sleep and used to ask questions all day long is now a curious, smart kid who loves to build, and create, and learn. 

You blink and that little girl who followed her brother and sister around all day trying to do everything they did is now a spunky, talkative bundle of energy with a mind of her own. 

And you wonder where the time went?

You notice a lot of things look different to you now. 

You look back at those moments when you had three kids under three and you wondered how you were going to make it until 8:00 bedtime

But now 8:00 pm means car rides home from dance or basketball practice and some of my favorite moments to catch up on what is going on in school and with their friends. 

You notice you are able to go out on more date nights and more vacations with just the two of you and you're getting to know your best friend all over again

You notice your dinner conversations now are about the new opportunities middle school will bring. 

  You notice now instead of watching them play "family" you wave to them as they run off to play at a friends' house.

 You notice now instead of cheering their first steps, you cheer their hard fought win at a basketball game with a reminder to never give up. 

You notice your trip to Disneyland this time meant all kids were running to catch the last ride before the park closed instead of carrying three sleeping kids out of the park in your arms. 

You notice you don't have to push them in the swings at Hanna Land anymore. Instead, you remind them to wear a helmet when they drive the 4-wheelers. 

You look back at those moments and hope you've taught them how to work hard and play hard. 

And to support each other

This new stage of life isn't easy, but in the same way we got through sleepless nights and early mornings, we'll will look back at this stage of life with envy. But not without a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes as I admire this life and family we've made. 

And in case I haven't told you enough, I love you and am so proud of you. 

What a Year!

 To end 2022 we headed up to The Land. We spent a few days together playing games, eating lots of food, and playing in the snow for hours and hours. 

We played 10 penny rummy and what is so fun is that now the older kids like Carson, Colton, Makayla, and Caden like to play the games with us. We also had the funniest game of Baulderdash where all of us were crying because we were laughing so hard. 

on New Years Eve we counted down at 10:00 pm, because you know, 10 is the new midnight! 

And just like that our 2022 came to an end. 

This has been a great year for our family. We've had a lot of good moments and trying moments. We've learned that "sometimes we get what we want and other times we get a lesson in patience, timing, empathy, compassion, faith, perseverance, resilience, humility, trust, awareness, resistance, purpose, clarity, grief, beauty, and life. Either way, we win." - Brianna Weist

And we totally won this year. 

Merry Christmas to All, and to All a Good Night!

It's here, it's here! Our favorite day of the year is finally here! Christmas Eve and Day are so full of fun, family, presents, eating, laughing, and making memories. We started out our fun day with the kids opening their present from mom and dad. They are never that excited about this gift because it is always clothes, but they act excited anyway. Even Bella got a new outfit this year, and I think she is the cutest dog in her Levi jacket. 

We took a family picture and then we were off to the Joneses house. 

Tyler totally kicked butt at foose ball and won against all the kids. 

Tyler and Mason had matching shoes and matching thumbs up. 

Guess who lost a tooth on Christmas Eve? Brynnli!! Do you think Santa and the Tooth Fairy will meet up at our house at the same time? 

We had our talent show where Caden showed the Legos that he and Tyler are building. This set is so cool because it is a grand piano that really plays music while the keys move. It has taken them a long time to build it because it is so complex, but they are close to being done. For the other kids' talents,  Brynnli did a dance and Makayla showed a video of her solo. 

We took a short break from the Jones party and went over to my parents' house for their Christmas Eve party. It was fun to see a lot of my nieces and nephews that I don't get to see that often. 

After that we headed back to the Jones party for presents. 

We sang and danced in the street and I'm pretty sure the Jones' neighbors thought we were all crazy! Then it was time to get in our matching jammies and head home. 

We set out cookies and milk for Santa and then it was time to say good bye to Kitty the Elf. 

It never gets easier to say good bye. 

The next morning the kids woke up early. We had our traditional picture on the stairs. I don't know how many more years they will all be able to fit on one stair. 

Santa delivered in a big way!!

He even signed his autograph for Caden!!

The kids opened their stockings first. There was an envelope in each stocking with cut up letters. The kids were very confused and tried to sort it out. 

Brynnli figured out her letters spelled out Look, but the other kids couldn't figure theirs out. They decided to open presents and they would figure it out later. 

Even Bella got spoiled with presents. She got lots of new toys and all her favorite treats. 

Makayla got her wireless headphones that she wanted

Caden got his Legos 

And Brynnli got a Barbie Dreamhouse!

They also all got Minky blankets and games. Caden got a fishing pole, Brynnli got more barbies, and Makayla got clothes, shoes, and makeup. It made me kind of sad this year because Makayla didn't get any toys. I guess that's a sign that she is really getting older. 

Then it was back to trying to figure out this puzzle. It took a lot of work, but they finally figured out that all of their words made a sentence: Look in the Playroom. 

They ran upstairs as fast as they could and found the best surprise!! Santa brought them a new foose ball table and a new air hockey table for the playroom!!

Talk about some spoiled kids! We spent all morning playing with our new toys and had such a blast. 

Later that day Tyler's grandma Bonnie, Grandpa Bill, Jo, Craig and Terry, the Jones family and my parents came over for dinner. We had a great time, but I forgot to take pictures. 

Then only bad thing was that right before everyone was supposed to come over to our house Makayla said she wasn't feeling well and ended up throwing up literally right before everyone showed up. We told her to stay away from everyone and hoped it didn't spread. 

After the party at our house, we decided to stop by Tammy and Bruce's for their party. Brynnli wanted to go with the Jones boys in their car and Makayla wanted to go in Grandma and Grandpa's car. We were just a few minutes behind Craig and Terry when they got to Tammy and Bruce's. We noticed Makayla was outside while everyone else was inside and as soon as we pulled up she got in our car and told us she had thrown up in Tammy and Bruce's yard, but nobody saw her. She said she felt better, so we told her we would leave as soon as we could and headed downstairs to say hi to everyone. About 20 minutes later Brynnli comes running downstairs as she had just gotten there with the Joneses and was crying hysterically. I took her upstairs only to find out that she had thrown up in Tammy and Bruces' bathroom... but not just in the toilet... all over the floor and wall. I told Tyler we were done. I cleaned up the bathroom while he explained that our kids maybe overdid it on the Christmas treats, and we booked it out of there. Turns out our family caught the flu from Kenzee. I ended up getting sick the day after Christmas and Tyler got a little sick later that week. 

Despite having the mild flu, we had a great Christmas and loved spending time with all our family. We were spoiled with presents, time with family, and lots of great memories.