Happy New Year

2015 is looking to be a great year.  Big plans for big changes...!!  We made it through a sick Christmas, a sick first trimester, the actual flu (it was awful--three full weeks I was pretty much dead. I never want to repeat that!), an a truck total (Mike was plowed into by an uninsured, unlicensed driver--this was a fun hassle, let me assure you!).  On to brighter, healthier, and snazzier futures!

Enjoy a quick recap of January, in pictures. The weather was warm, the purchases were big, big plans were laid, and fun was had by all! :)

Katelyn went through 8 of these bottles during her recovery from strep. Wowzers! 

Out with the old...

In with the new!

Josh is in afternoon Kindergarten--poor Katelyn is gone all day. These three boys get to spend a lot of time together!

100 days of school!!  Made a lego house out of 100 bricks to take to school to celebrate!

Almost too big to fit all the boys in the tub!

Paid our taxes--even Josh (who made just enough in his clinical eczema study to get the privilege!)

Bye-Bye Strep!

Katelyn has been getting strep a lot--like every 6 weeks a lot.  It was getting a bit ridiculous, so we decided to take the plunge and remove those tonsils and adenoids.  We had to schedule the surgery for the day after Christmas, which made Christmas break a bit of a bust, but at least it is done! The surgery went great--but recovery was just as bad as people warned me about. We made it, but it was a full 2 weeks of misery for our sweet Katelyn-girl.  But...tonsil free now, so all is well! :)

Before the surgery--a bit nervous, but not too bad.  Thanks to my parents for watching the boys so both Mike and I could be there.

The next two weeks were pretty much spent like this...

But then we made it to real food, Grandma brought fresh watermelon, and we could finally stop the pain medicine! Hooray!

Christmas 2014

Who doesn't love Christmas?  This year was pretty much a bust thanks to all the germs at our house, but we survived and still had a good day. It is so sad to be sick on Christmas--poor Katelyn-girl.  The boys had a great day! :)

We enjoyed our traditional Mexican feast with Becky and Chris on Christmas Eve. We've got a good system figured out--and the food is oh-so-yummy!  The kids had fun playing and we enjoyed some adult game-age.  Katelyn had strep, so she enjoyed sleeping. ;)

We went to Mom and Dad's for Christmas Eve dinner.  It was fun to spend the evening there.  Tylenol and Ibprofen were working their magic so Katelyn even had a good night.

We spent Christmas morning here at our house.  We really tried to cut back on presents and such this year, and I don't think anybody felt gyped. The big exciting present was out in the carport--our very own camping pop-up trailer! We are SO excited to us it this summer!  Mike and I spent weeks prepping the trailer for Christmas morning (paint, new cushions, cleaning, repairs, etc.)  Since Christmas morning was a bit lame, we left it up for a few weeks in the carport and the kids had fun playing in it.  We had planned to pull it with our van, but who would have guessed Mike's truck would end up totaled the end of December and we would upgrade trucks to one that could fit us all and pull the trailer. Sweet.

I think every person in Utah was praying for a white Christmas--and Heavenly Father certainly answered! The week of Christmas was the only snow we got all month, but we used it to our advantage! Mom and Dad  (Grandma and Grandpa) gave the kids sleds for Christmas and so Christmas afternoon we all headed to the Institute for hot chocolate and sledding. We had SO. MUCH. FUN. Antibiotics were all kicked in by Christmas day and Katelyn was back to herself.  Whew.  What a great day!

We hope your Christmas as good as better than ours.  How grateful we are the the birth of our Savior and his endless love this holiday season!

December 2014 Photo Re-Cap

It was a pregnancy year, so our December was a bit lame--but full of happy smiling faces and a few of our favorite traditions...plus lots of TV and quiet time. ;)

Josh-o sporting his new PJ's.

Walking through the Layton City Holiday lights with Davis and Holly and Fam.

Josh and Katelyn had their school choir Christmas concert. It was awesome!

We got tickets to see the Muppets and the Mo-Tab.  It was...good. ;)

Decorating our Nativity Gingerbread houses.

Crazy Ben!

We spent the evening with friends enjoying a yummy dinner and cookie decorating.

The traditional Craven Family Christmas Party. It was fabulous, as always.

Crazy Ben, again.

Brielle came to town--we tried to get Grandkid pictures. It was cold. :)

Happy New Sunday Clothes!  Love Christmas Church clothes! 

Thanksgiving

We have been blessed with amazing friends--friends who become like family!  It's a perfect chance to spend the holiday together!

We headed up to Great Falls Montana to spend the holiday weekend with Andrew and Elena.  It was great! The kids traveled well, and even my sick pregnant self did well. The weather cooperated and was actually BEAUTIFUL for most of our trip.  We had such a great time---lots of game playing, kid imaginations, cooking, going out, shopping, chatting and playing in the snow.  Thanks for having us!! Let's do it again!

PS--These are the only pictures I have. Really, really, really lame.  Do you have any others, Elena? Send them to me. :)