A bright beautiful morning and a bright new beautiful year.
We debated what party we should go to or if we could pull off a last minute road trip to Vegas to celebrate New Year's. But after much thought and watching the weather, staying in town with the kids was our best bet. Our local mall puts on a full-fledged party for families, so to the mall we went.
There was one hundred and one things to do. Tons of crafts, lots of entertainment, different dances, and lots of activities like laser tag, a climbing wall, and karaoke. But first things first. This is Boo waiting to get her hair done.
Sadly, it lasted about two minutes. She went on a train ride right after this and the rest is history. I think I like the piggies she came with better.
Jarom's excitement cannot be contained. We waited in a neverending line for this.
Flipping
that smile says it all
Bella going up and over
Orion bounced his little heart away.
And yes we did it too. Felt a little bad because I knew how long the kids behind us had been waiting. But heck, we waited too. Matt wowed the crowd with his triple backflips. It was truly a sight to behold. Just amazing. Let's just say only one person was sore the next day :)
Yours truly xoxo. Looks like I was doing my own frontflip but nope. Tried and failed.
Behold the magic of the short lived balloons
We all took a turn to pick what we got to do next. And I picked facepaint. Jarom HATES it. But I insisted everyone in the family must do it. Orion was so pleased to see he could choose a Jack head.
My turn!!
They didn't have a very big selection to choose from. But I think Matt walked away with the most spirit.
Eating contest. You got to love Jarom's itty bitty little blue star.
Not as easy as it looks.
Midnight came way too fast and before we knew it it was time for the second set of fireworks. They had some earlier at 9 pm for kids. We watched those too thinking we would have the kids in bed and have the bewitching hour to ourselves - ha.
My true love
My heart and head felt about like this. Too much to contain and process. Feeling not quite ready to wish away the year and welcome the new. Am I ready to say goodbye to my kids 8, 6, and 3? NO!!! The new year brings 9, 7, and 4. Time. Time. Why must you come and go with the wind. My heart aches with the change, but being me, I also can't wait to make more memories. And to try to remember to live every day to the fullest. To really listen to their little rambling stories, and when they are stuttering over their excited little words, not to say, "just spit it out!!" Ugh.
Matty and Bella, January 1st making our new New Year's tradition - monkeybread. Matt's family always makes it on Thanksgiving and Christmas. But I think it will work best for us to change it to New Year's Day when we are not already feasting and pigging out on stocking stuffers.
Turned out perfect (don't mind the pan, we use it to roast our soynuts).
Matt saw this on his way to the dentist and sent it to me xoxo I am the luckiest. I got my man. My babes. My faith. I can't ask for anything more.
On the same note - this is our New Year's post so I must write some of our family goals and lifestyle changes.
I'll start with my personal ones:
No more cracking my fingers
No more chewing gum
Hope to read more
Hope to serve more
As a family:
We now make our own bread - lots of trial and error on my part.
No more packaged candy - doesn't exclude bulk and us bringing our own container :)
Cutting back on store-bought cereal
Making a even better garden than last year
More canning
More compost
Getting our chickens
Making their warm coop
Planting fruit trees
Not much but a lot. To try and do our best in every way possible toward man, nature, LIFE!
4 comments:
Amy, you're so inspiring, and I can't believe how long your hair is getting!! Beautiful. I almost thought that was Matt's mom painting your face for a minute. =)
love your goals. can't wait to meet those chickens. i really should make this a goal too (accidentally typed "goat," is that a sign??!!!) after all, everyone says it is not that hard to raise chickens. for some reason i find it extremely intimidating and i don't trust that i can protect them well enough from the elements and predators. my cats are so spoiled, in the house every night. i don't think you can do that with chicks. anyway it's true you guys are inspiring. why not chewing gum? i realized that i don't chew gum near as much as i used to and i was pondering that, wondering if there is some weird thing about it that is not healthy for you and my body simply did not crave that anymore? guess what?!!! you will never never believe. i have given up diet coke. i swear to goodness, both darin and i. never would have thought, huh?!! it hasn't even been hard and it was just a sudden split second decision. we haven't bought any in over two weeks but we do share one once or twice a week if we go out to eat at a restaurant. anyway thought you'd be shocked/proud. LOVE YOU GUYS and your new years looks like a dream. jarom's tiny star cracks me up and good for you for making everyone do it. you and mattie are the funnest parents ever in the whole wide world. can't wait to hang out. JUST A COUPLE DAYS LOVIES!!!
That is great!! Good luck with the new goals! I want chickens someday. And congratson baking bread. I love it. 4 years later it has become second nature-but there were a lot of bad loafs in between. -- sometimes there still is if I forget about the rise.
Anyway- glad you guys are happy! It is all we need-our love and family and faith! thanks for the reminder. Good post!
Amy, you always inspire me! When are you coming out to visit? Do you want to go to Trafalga in Lehi this week? Let me know! BTW, your goals are similar to mine. I just started my compost pile in December, I am planting lots of fruit trees this year, we are eating healthier, and I am trying to take as many opportunities for family fun and making memories as possible!!!
Post a Comment