Thursday, January 22, 2015

Throwback Thursday

Throwback Thursday to 12.4 years ago.  I can't believe how fast time goes.  Even through our ups and downs, Rory remains my best friend. We have been through a lot in a little over a decade. 
We've:
Been married for 4,521 days
Lived in 7 homes (8 when our house is done)
Had 4 kids
Had 7 different cars (we have a problem, we keep trading cars in looking for the perfect one, I don't think it's out there)
7 different trucks (I guess we have a problem with trucks too)
3 camp trailers
Several turkeys
6 dogs (we currently have our German Shepard Bella and have unfortunately had terrible luck with dogs.  2 died from Parvo, one we had to give away when we moved to a rental, one was hit by a truck, and 2 ran away)
3 cats
2 trips to Disneyland
1 Mexican cruise
Have traveled several different places
Countless camping trips

And much more!!



Monday, January 19, 2015

Insulation!

Insulation went in this week, they start on dry wall tomorrow, the house is coming right along!

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Welcome to 2015

So far so good!  We spent New Year's Eve with Derk & Debbie, Jeff & Emily, Miles & Chris (and their kids), Derek & Nicole (and their kids), and Logan, Kella, & Landon.  We had a meat tray, doughnuts, dips, and all sorts of goodies to munch on.  We played some games and visited while the kids ran around in the gym and put on a parade for us to ring in the new year.  Connor, Logan, and Devin didn't leave the gym all night.  They played basketball and soccer until we made them come out to go home.  It was a low key night but we had a lot of fun.

The Friday after new year's we rode up to SLC with Jeff & Emily and went to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory and then to a Jazz game.  The game was a blast!  We always have such a good time when we go out with our friends.  We got home late, late, but Kadee was so nervous she insisted we come and get her from Kyle and Candee's, the other kids were already asleep so they had a sleep over.
Saturday morning we got up and headed back to SLC with the kids.  We went to see grandma Bet and grandpa Earl and then went and had lunch at Wally's restaurant.  He is such a great guy.  He bought our lunch and we were able to visit with him for a little bit, but not nearly long enough.  After that we went Ice Skating at the Gallivan Center.  It's a lot harder than I remember it being as a kid!  Connor and Rory got the hang of it pretty quick, but the rest of us stayed near the rails and took our time going around.  Finally we made our way to the Stay bridge Suites (the hotel with the big red water slide) and went swimming.  The kids swam until they were starving, so we ordered room service and all of us crashed and were asleep by 9:00!   The next morning we headed to the Living Planet Aquarium.  Aunt Susan got us a year membership there for Christmas and we wanted to go check it out.  It is a great place!  The kids were mesmerized and got to touch a live star fish, cross a rope bridge, and watch a 4D movie about life under the sea.  The highlight was the shark feeding.  Kadee said, "it feels like we are underwater!"  It was such a great weekend, it was so hard to come back to school and work.  When's our next break?!


 

Thursday, January 1, 2015

New years resolutions

Every year I make resolutions I sometimes keep and sometimes don't.  I love it though,  so I make new resolutions every year.

These are mine for 2015:
1. Be more patient
2. Be more crafty
3. Learn basic Spanish
4. Do things to exercise my brain
5. Eat healthier,  workout at least 4 times a week,  and lose 15 lbs.
6. Spend less time on my phone and more time in the moment.

Rory's are to:
1. Swear less
2. Lose 20lbs.
3. Finish the house

Favorites

2014:
 
Connor:
My favorite food: Steak
I love to play: Basketball and baseball
My favorite song: Burnin’ it down
A place I'd like to visit: Brazil
My favorite book: I Funny
My favorite treat: Licorice
My best friend: Cole or Gavin
I love the color: Light blue and red
A goal I'd like to accomplish: Save money to buy an IPod5

Kadee:
My favorite food: Doughnuts
I love to play: Preschool
My favorite song: Take me to church
A place I'd like to visit: Hawaii
My favorite book: Ivy and Bean
My favorite treat: Chocolate
My best friend: Jordan, maybe
I love the color: Blue and lime green
A goal I'd like to accomplish: To not be lazy


Kinlee:
My favorite food: Mac n cheese
I love to play: Preschool
My favorite song: Animals by Maroon 5
A place I'd like to visit: Disneyland or the zoo
My favorite book: the Mickey Mouse one
My favorite treat: Bubblegum
My best friend: Kaydree
I love the color: Turquoise
A goal I'd like to accomplish: Learn Spanish


Matthew:
My favorite food: Hot dogs
I love to play: Trucks
My favorite song: ABC song
My favorite book: Ready, Set, Learn (Mickey Mouse)
My favorite treat: candy
My best friend: Zac (Bradley)
I love the color: blue



Top 10 of 2014

1.  After 2 years of trying we sold our house of 6 years.  It was bittersweet.  We made so many memories there, but are so excited to build again.
2.  We participated in our first campaign and worked hard on the committee to elect Jeff Wood for Sheriff.  We even hosted a Utah Jazz Dunk Team event and had approximately 500 people from the community come out and support us.  Our hard work paid off, because as of January 1, 2015 Jeff Wood is the new sheriff of Carbon County.
3.  Matthew started preschool!  He has some speech issues, so as soon as he turned 3 they tested him and determined that he would qualify for speech and preschool at Wellington Elementary.  He loves it and is always super excited to go to school.
4.  Kinlee started her 2nd year of preschool and "nastics."  She loves it and is doing really well.  She knows most of her letters and many of her sounds, she is getting ready for Kindergarten, although she tells us that she isn't going, she wants to stay in preschool forever.
5.  Kadence started 3rd grade and played her first year of softball.  She is still doing gymnastics and is playing Junior Jazz basketball.  She has really grown up this year and is doing great in school.  She was also baptized this year and has grown like a weed.
6.  Connor started 4th grade and has developed a new love for science and reading.  He is still obsessed with sports and is still on his traveling baseball team and is playing Junior Jazz basketball.  My favorite memory of him this year is when he wrote a note to a girl in his class.  He attached a sucker and wrote, "do you like me?  Check yes or no."
7.  I am still working for Price River Water Users, but I also began working at Wellington Elementary under Americorps.  I do attendance and work with kids who have problems with attendance.  I am loving it and love being at the school with the kids.
8. We went on vacation to Lava Hot Springs and had a wonderful time.  We stayed in a cabin with beautiful views and Rory, Connor, and Kadee floated the river.  It was a little cold, but we still had a great time.  We also spent a week at Willow Lake.  It was so relaxing and was a much needed camping trip.  We did a lot of fishing, rode the four wheelers, and played games.
9.  Aunt Susan got us a zoo membership for Christmas, so we were able to visit the zoo several times this year.  The kids loved it and we were able to go to zoolights with Derk and Debbie and take a summer trip with nana Kelli.  We were in about 5 parades, ran in 2 5k's, visited an ice castle, went camping 3 times, attended countless community events, went to gymnastics meets, baseball tournaments, and spent quality time together.
10.  We began construction of our new house!  We are so excited and can't wait for it to be done.  It's been a beautiful fall and winter so we've been able to get a lot done already.  Our four way inspection will be next week, then we can get insulation in.  I'm enjoying building a house again, but hate our tiny rental.  It will be nice to have space again!

We have had a blessed 2014 and look forward to a wonderful 2015!

Saturday, December 27, 2014

Christmas 2014

We had a wonderful Christmas holiday.  The Saturday before Christmas we had the annual Branch family party.  It was really low key and wonderful to visit with everyone and enjoy yummy food.  Monday we went caroling (see the previous post) and Christmas eve we went to Derk and Debbie's for a delicious dinner and to open presents.  The kids reenacted the Christmas Story and we watched some home videos before opening presents. The kids had so much fun opening presents and Kinlee was so excited to open her Elsa doll that sings "let it go,"  but told Debbie that Santa was supposed to bring it to her so she wasa little worried she was going to get two.  When we went home later that night, she left her Elsa doll under the tree so Santa would know she already got one. Matthew was excited to be the sheep in the Christmas Story so he crawled around on all fours baaing all night. When we got home he was so upset because we wouldn't let him take all his trucks he got from the party to bed with him, he kept saying, "me big truck! " Christmas morning the kids were awake by 4:30 am. I made them wait until 5:00 before going out to see their presents,  but Kinlee couldn't wait and snuck into the living room.  When she saw the Kindle santa brought her she started yelling,  "I got a Kindle! " over and over again until all of us got up to see it.  After opening presents we all fell back to sleep until it was time to go to Nana and papas for breakfast.  Nana and papa made us a delicious breakfast like always, then the kids opened their presents and stockings.  The rest of the day we relaxed and played games,  then yesterday Connor went rabbit hunting with his cousins.  Finally tonight Rory and I went to a Jeff Wood committee celebration at Connie Hamiltons house.  She had so much food and it was so so fun to visit with everyone.  We are so blessed and have had an amazing holiday season.

April and May

April and May have been a blur.  We moved into the new house so it's been a very busy time in our lives.  The kids are really enjoying h...