A New Year Begins

Goodbye to 2015 and welcome 2016!  We are off to a happy start!

This is what we have been doing the past couple of weeks.

On New Year's Eve, Kayla and I had a fun "girls day out" with our friends.  We were having so much fun talking, eating, and getting our nails done, that I failed to take any photos!  I did snap one picture of Kayla driving for her first time on the freeway.  What a cutie!

I took a turn chaperoning the youth dance that night so I got to see Kayla and Hunter having fun on the dance floor with their friends.  On the last dance of the night, I thought to take a picture of them.  Hunter and Janine let me snap a photo but Kayla's partner refused.  Boo!  Ha, ha, it's okay.  It was fun to be there.  We came home and stayed up talking until after 2 a.m. and it was one of those times when I thought, "I love having teenagers!"

The next morning, New Year's Day, we hosted our annual brunch and game party.  We've been doing this for 15 years with Jason's family, and occasionally we invite friends too.  We always have yummy food, then we play a variety of games.  We usually play Family Fued, Taboo, and some other game.  This year, Jason made us do the marshmallow/spaghetti noodle challenge that is popular at work meetings.  Each team has 18 minutes to see who can build the highest free-standing structure out of spaghetti noodles, tape, and string with a marshmallow balancing on top.  In typical fashion for this game, the kids beat the adults.

I treated myself to a play-cation over the holiday break and did a lot of stamping instead of house-cleaning, organizing, and other responsible stuff.  It was great fun!

Tanner participated in his first Pinewood Derby.  He worked hard to build his car with Grandpa.  He came in 2nd on most of the heats, which was exciting, but he just missed placing in the top 5 (he came in 6th).  We all had fun watching and cheering him on!  Unfortunately, he lost his scout shirt before the event, so he wasn't in uniform.

Jason is on a 6-week break from school and I was recently released from my calling as Stake Primary president.  This has given us more time together as a family these past few weeks and we are enjoying it immensely.  It will be hard when Jason starts up again, but he's hoping to finish by August so we are almost there.  Let the 8-month countdown begin!