Family Fun THIS year!

Okay, so I may be a little bit excited to finally be blogging about this year. Yay! Considering I started in 2004, this is something to be proud of. Especially since I started in February, and have been busy with my schooling, our business, and a busy toddler while doing so. Yup, I am definitely a little proud, and think I deserve a pass on this boasting session about myself. ;)

 

The beginning of this year was chuck full of fun time with family. It was a busy time with me going back to school and working the business, and a stressful one with things still being quite tight, and Ben still looking for a decent job to work until our business is built up to the point where we can do only that, and have it be a steady and reliable source of income (we SO can’t wait for that!). In between all that craziness, here are the good times we had as a family.

Dinner and game night with Ryan and Hilary, and Casey! Such a good one!

Jayden liked to doodle on our scoreboard, but notice how it was only on Ryan’s score? Ha ha! At least he is a loyal child.

Hilary made a delicious candy bar brownie dessert! It was so sweet I could only handle a couple of bites, but they sure were yummy!

I am sure fond of this little cutie pants!

Yes, it was January and my Christmas decorations were still up. I was busy, and any excuse to keep up Christmas decorations is a good one in my book! Jayden loved playing with his ornament for last year (we have a tradition of giving him one every year, so when he turns 18, he can take them and use them for his own tree). He was so cute with it!

Casey spent the night, and Jayden, Caleb, and him enjoyed cuddling and eating breakfast the next morning. Jayden loves his Uncle “Kiki” and he now calls him.

Jayden loves to pull all of his toys out of his toy basket and climb in. He still does this almost a year later.

We let Jayden play in the car one night. He thought it was pretty neat, and the pictures we got make the perfect comic strip.  “This is sure fun, but now if I could just figure out a way to see over the steering wheel…hmmm.”

“Hey! This is better! I’ve got this!”

“Oh no! Who is manning the brakes?!” Ha ha Ben and I were cracking up at his facials!

Jayden LOVES the train tent at Grandma’s!

Our boys enjoying another visit and cuddle session with Uncle Casey!

We got some crazy blizzards this past winter!

Girl’s Day with my Mom! We hit up Olive Garden! SO good!!! Then we hit up the mall, the D.I. (the one by our place is AMAZING!), and of course Gordman’s! I LOVE that store!

Cami was in Ecuador this past October-April, so when we got her mission call in Januray, we all Skyped her and opened it so she could read it. P.S-Do you like the Family home evening board my mom made from the cute board she found at the D.I. during our girl’s day? So cute!

Jayden wanted to wear Aunt Hilary’s boots, so Ryan and Hilary helped him into them. It was pretty funny to watch him try to walk in them.

One night during one of those blizzards we kept getting, we went and had some fun spinning donuts in a nearby parking lot. It was a moment in time when life felt super stressful and completely devoid of fun, so we decided we had to quickly remedy that. Jayden LOVED it, and would squeal and put his arms up every time (don’t worry, we were pretty careful about them). What can I say? We are the best parents, and we are the worst parents. ;)

We definitely got the fun and laughter back in a matter of minutes with this family activity.

It was not a rare sight to see tons of semi trucks lining our street during one of the blizzards. We loved to get in the car and drive along the back roads by our house and just bask in it all.

LOVE these two with all of my heart!

During one of Casey’s visits, Grandma Durfee joined in on the fun, and even treated us to Burger Bar for lunch-so yummy!

Jayden really liked wearing Casey’s hat! He made the cutest, little soldier EVER!!!

I am sure crazy about my family. Especially this guy right here! He is the best friend and husband I could ask for!