Good riddance!

So long 2016.

Can't say I'm sad to see you go.

It was a rough year. Not all bad, certainly-but not all great either.

Lost my dad this year.

Jon lost his job.

I got to take a fun (or not) emergency visit to the E.R for pancreatitis and removal of an offending gall bladder. Wiled away four days at the hospital. Lovely vacation😝. Can't say it was actually worth the accompanying $95,000 hospital bill. But then, I am still alive, so.....

Silver Linings:
Well, when my dad passed away in June, I got to go to Palm Springs for his funeral, and I got to see many family members I haven't seen for more than a few years; most notably my sister and her kids.
It had been ten years since we'd last seen each other.

Jon still hasn't found a job, but I put my trust in the Lord and I know things will work out there. He did receive a decent severance package and at least can collect unemployment until he's able to find something. Hoping that something comes along soon.

I certainly don't miss my gallbladder. It had given me more than one or two bouts of pain in the past couple of years. Honestly, it's something I should have had checked out before it became an emergency. So the silver lining there is that it is gone and I don't have to suffer from one of those episodes again. Also, the fact that Jon was still employed at the time and we were still covered by his insurance when it happened is a huge blessing. Our actual bill is a fraction of that $95,000 bill. Still more than I can afford, but definitely better than that HUGE bill.

And Christmas was lovely this year.
I love that it fell on a Sunday, so we got to attend church and I like that it gave us a moment to pause and reflect on the reason we celebrate. Jon even went to church with us, a nice gift.

The world lost some favorites. Quite a few actually.

And then there were the elections. 2017 will surely be interesting.

I just hope it passes a little bit slower.

Where did my little girl go?

I'm sitting here, slightly in shock. 

It seems like just yesterday, I was holding her in my arms for the very first time. 

Welcoming this precious baby into our lives.

Thanking God for placing such trust in me. 

How can she be turning 18?

It's gone much too fast. 

I want those years back. 

Happy New Year!

Time to say goodbye to this year and welcome a new one.

I find it so hard to believe how quickly each year slips by.

I'm pondering what my goals are going to be for 2016.

Trying to keep it simple.

I have so many areas to improve upon.

But I know from experience that grandiose resolutions rarely come to fruition.

So, I'll try to keep them small and simple.  

Happy New Year from my house to yours!

Christmas

Christmas morning.

The calm before the storm. 

Jason got a new bike. He's been waiting practically since his birthday for one. 

He also got some new guns that make sounds. Oy, I think I might regret that. 

Ashley got a new camera and a sweet jacket. 

Haley is getting a $1300 band trip in April, so it kind of limited her Christmas gifts. 

She got underwear and socks. :/ Poor kid. 

We did get Guitar Hero for the family, which she has been really enjoying. 

Justin got cowboy gear. We bought him a pair of boots a while back which he wears everywhere. And ever since, he's been wanting the rest of the cowboy ensemble. 

I decided there were going to be very few electronic gifts this year. We got the guitar hero and one of those retro Atari systems. I only got those because I thought they'd be fun for us to play with together as a family. 

I bought the boys Lincoln Logs because they bring back many fond childhood memories, and I want them to use their imagination. 

He didn't actually put this together. Ashley and I did spent an hour on it while he was out playing with his new guns. But he has since played with it. Hopefully it doesn't collect dust. 

Our Christmas spread.

 We usually just spend the whole day being completely lazy and munching on food. We don't do a sit down dinner. It's just nibble, nibble, nibble all day.

This ham was SO good!!! 

Sweets and treats!

Old school Atari. 

Centipede!

Hope your Christmas was as wonderful as ours. 

<3 p="">

December Doings

The first week of the month was just crazy with Haley's band performances. 

A performance at the mall with her Jazz band class. 

She plays trombone.

Can you spot her? She's the one with the blue hair......

And then two more performances the same week at her school. 

And she plays the Baritone in symphonic band. 

We also had our ward Christmas party early in the month.

 I'm thinking this might be the last pic I get of them sittin' on Santa's lap. 

And then the weekend before Christmas we visited the Magical Forest at Opportunity Village.

 His mancave..

 We had tons of fun.

Have I mentioned how much I love my days off???

Merry Christmas!

Family Pics

It's been a couple years since we did an official family picture. Like...five. 

I don't think I've sent a Christmas card in five years cause I haven't had a family photo to put in.

Sigh.

Jon and I both have been wanting to go someplace scenic and use his camera to try our hand at capturing our own family pics, so since I now have these sweet weekends off with my family, we decided to give it a shot finally. 

We had a lot of fun. Mostly.

 Managed to get mostly smiles. Yay!

 Got to be a little goofy....

 cute!

 I love, love, love this one.....

Now to decide which one to use for Christmas cards.