Now what????

So I am done with my post a day thing...the year is over and I wanted to end with the old year so I could start fresh with the new year.

I think I will still plan on posting daily...unless it is too crazy and hectic too...'cause you know...family comes first!

It has been a good year.

*I have loved blogging cause not only do I have pictures from every day of our lives from the past 305 days...but I have memories written down that I would otherwise forget.

*I had a hard time getting used to loosing so many commenter's...but I have learned to deal with it and know that I am doing this for me and my family and our future generations...how fun for our grand kids to someday look at our blog books printed up and see what we did in our daily lives.

(But a big thanks to the ones who still comment...thanks! Love ya!)

*I have enjoyed being forced to find something positive in my life everyday to share on my blog.

Cause sometimes it is hard...

Life isn't always great...but you know what...when you are trying to look for something good... there is always something there.

And it makes life a whole lot better when you are looking for the good instead of the bad!

*I have loved to see our family grow, learn, love, and have adventures...it makes me so happy to have it all recorded!

*Yes, I focused on the positive stuff, but we had hard times too...hard times that have helped us grow stronger and try harder...

Looking at our life DAILY has helped me realize...we can make it through anything...and we can do it having FUN!!!

So yes...I am going to keep doing it...and keep posting pictures from our lives, daily...

Hope you still check in once in awhile!

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HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!

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We LOVE home!!!

We got home today...

Home to our Christmas presents...

Home to our beds...

Home to our Home.

Isn't that always the best.

Coming home?

The trip was good...the snow wasn't too bad.

The kids were pretty good.

And it was a safe trip.

Only bad part was sending Dad away as soon as we got home.

He has to work a few hours tonight...he had to trade so we could go on our trip.

But that is okay...we wouldn't be much of a party here anyway... we are all SO TIRED!!!

It is funny how much lack of sleep makes you tired...ha ha ha!

But yes...we are home...it is so good to be HOME!!!

So Happy New Years to everyone!

See ya next year!!!

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We LOVE to party!!!

Even though we were ALL severely sleep deprived...we got together with everyone in our family except April, Tom and her girls.

I can't believe we got that many together without it being a reunion...

We really missed you April!

But we had a little (understatement) white elephant exchange...and we all had a lot of fun.

It was a fun filled exhausting night!

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We LOVE our cousins!!!

Man, we have had too many LATE NIGHTS!!

More game playing tonight...this time we are in Utah.

The kids always have so much fun together!

Promise to write more later...we are just too tired!

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We LOVE to ice skate!

Brent thought it would be fun to take the kids to the pond and do some ice skating.

Our kids have never ice skated before...and they were so excited.

When Cassi woke up this morning at about 7:30...she wanted to go right then...and was pretty disappointed when we told her she had to wait.

We took Heather, Lauren and Kaleb with us, who know their way around the ice, and they helped the girls get comfy on the ice.

Thanks to Aunt Cindy and Uncle Dave we had ice skates for the girls...even Elsie had a pair and she was SO EXCITED to be ice skating!

I will put more picts of the other kids up, but for now here are a few cute shots of the little ones.

You can tell how much fun Elsie had!

Afterwards Grandma treated us to some dinner and hot cocoa...thanks Grandma!
And later tonight we got to go play more games with family.

We always have so much fun together!!!

Elsie being pushed around like a hockey puck...

I just thought this picture was so sweet...right after I took the shot, he reached up and tried to yank off her glasses...he is so much trouble!

Every once in a while I need a shot to prove that I really am around when we do these fun things!

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We LOVE family!!!

Today we had a homecoming and get together because our nephew Ryan just came home from his mission in Mexico.

Ryan gave a wonderful talk at church.

Ryan is a pretty cool kid and our girls were so excited to see him again after two long years!

There was a HUGE get together at Dave and Cindy's house...it was a packed house!

And, as always, there was yummy food.
I don't have any pictures...crazy I know...so that is why I put the one of the girls...'cause I gotta have a picture!

We had such a great day filled with family and catching up with family members that we haven't seen in a LONG time.

We had almost everyone there today on the Matthews side...and that is pretty miraculous!

We sure love our family!

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We LOVE Evanston!

Here we are in good old Evanston.

So far we have played with Grandma...

Helped Grandpa at the feed store...

Took turns riding 'Elsie's Stripp' (as she likes to put it)...

Lots of sledding with JJ and Hudson...

Bonfire in the snow with hot cocoa made with love by Grandma...

Then fun and games at Mindi and Lexi's house...

We always have so much fun here!!!

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(Lots more pictures...I will post them all when we get home!)

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We LOVE Christmas!!!

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas!!!

We had a wonderful day today filled with presents...movies...eating...sleeping...and just being with each other!

And to me, there is nothing better than that!

The girls waiting to go down those stairs...
First sight of what Santa brought!
As Madi would say...
"It looks like a toy store exploded."
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Some picts of some of their gifts...

Elsie brushing her horses hair.
She loves the horse...but the dang thing won't stay standing!!!

We teased Madi for looking like an old granny in her Snuggly...(but generic one...)

and her knitting needle and loom...

She has been having so much fun and staying busy knitting a scarf...

This is what she plans to do in the car ride tomorrow...

Not too shabby...these looms are SO COOL!

Watching movies...

And our little Porter in his firetruck...man I love this thing! Isn't it so cute???

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Merry Christmas!!!

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We LOVE traditions!!!

We LOVE Christmas eve...

Not only are the kids on their best behavior...(they try very hard to at least...)

But we have so many fun things that we do.

Of course the kids get their new jammies...but we usually let them open another present along with the jammies...

Well, this year they chose to open Grandma Ene's presents and among all the great treasures she sent...they got new jammies...

So we made them wait for the other jammies...what are they gonna do with two pairs of jammies tonight anyway?

Are we mean???

Thanks Grandma Ene for the snuggly warm jammies and socks!

We also use this day to make out Gingerbread train...

This year it was changed a bit...our gingerbread was a little too soft to make it 3D...so Brent suggested just laying the pieces down on the board...and wall-la...you have a train...Beautiful!

The kids had so much fun decorating and eating...more eating then decorating....

I have so many more pictures to post...hopefully tomorrow I will have some down time and post them...

But I gotta get to bed so SANTA can come!!!

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We LOVE Christmas Eve's EVE activities...

It has been a busy day getting everything finished up.

Besides wrapping I think we are all set!!!

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I have been looking for YEARS for the perfect nativity...

I have yet to get one.

Each year I look and look for the perfect one...

This year I have found it...but at only one store that is sold out and doesn't give any info on it to find it elsewhere...frustrating!

Here it is if there is anyone SAVVY enough out there to find it for me.
It is the 16th one down on that page...anyway...

So Madi knew how bad I wanted one...badly...

So she made this for me...

I thought it was so sweet of her.

She knew I was looking for one...and she made this beautiful one for me!

How sweet is she!
Thanks so much Bell for being so thoughtful!

And Cassi was out in the garage helping Dad wrap up some last minute gifts...
And she made this clock for me.
Isn't it so sweet...she put the nails in herself and I think it turned out so cute!
Thanks Cass!

And last, but not least...for about five years I have been wanting to make new stockings...
I always ran out of time...
So this year I was determined!
Piece by piece I have been putting them together...and finally today got them all done...well kinda...I still need to put a little hanger thing at the top...but that should be easy enough!
Anyway, I love how they turned out!!!
I sewed the diagonal lines for the boys but for the girls I stippled them...I am happy with them and so excited that I finally got around to getting them done!

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We LOVE Yoga!!

Well, I haven't gotten so much into it yet...my balance is horrible...but the kids are loving it.

This morning the girls begged to do a yoga work-out...nothing better than when your kids MAKE you exercises!!! Right?

So I gave in and here they are Yoga-ing away.

It cracked me up...but mostly it warms my heart.

It puts the biggest smile on my face to watch Elsie do the yoga positions...she listens so closely to what he says and she breaths when he says to breathe.

This has really convinced me to try to find a baby yoga program...I think it would be perfect for her!

The other girls had fun too...

Cassi lasted about 20 min. which is awesome.

Madi lasted the whole hour and 8 or so minutes...

Elsie went a pretty long time too, with large breaks in between...but I was so proud of her for continuing to go back to it.

My girls are so fun.

Maybe if they beg me to work-out every morning I can get into great shape for our Cancun trip!!!

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We LOVE shopping for Dad!!!

Okay...that is a total lie!!!

We went out today thinking we would have a fun-filled day with each other shopping and picking things out for Dad's Christmas...

We did have some fun parts...one of them being lunch at Wendy's, as you can see by my 'cell phone picture turned Polaroid'.

They weren't too bad...but man, why do they have to fight so much??? WHY???

Overall it was okay and we got done what we needed to get done and we all ended the day happily.

That is what matters most, right?

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We LOVE mostly fight-less fun!!!

I got the pieces of this felt nativity hand puppet set as an anonymous gift from someone in my ward...someone who made a set for each family in our ward...how cool is that???

Anyway...I finally got around to gluing all the pieces together.

I wish I did it much MUCH earlier...

I cannot believe how long Madi and Cassi played together WITHOUT fighting!

It was heaven!

Tonight we also watched the Nativity story...which was so powerful and amazing and something I really wanted us to watch with the big girls and help them to really understand this Christmas season.

With all the rush and hurry and shopping and EVERYTHING that goes along with this season it is hard to fit the real reason in there...at least for me it is.

That is why I am trying to make an effort this year...with kids who are old enough to really grasp it now...it is so important.
I am very grateful for this season and like I said before...I am TRYING to not let myself get stressed out.

I sure enjoyed watching my big girls play and get along together today.

I just wanted them to know that!

They turned out pretty cute...

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Madi might be a little mad that I used this picture...but I just couldn't stop laughing...

Cassi was shining the flashlight on her...and I believe she was being the 'Angel'...although I am pretty sure the Angel didn't use that pose!

Silly girl!

Elsie thought she was pretty funny too...getting herself stuck in the tipped over chair.

When I came in and saw this I thought it was so cute...they were pretending it was Christmas morning and the other girls had beds on the floor...but Elsie fits so nicely in the drawer...why not?

I had to share Porters new favorite thing. He thinks rides on the vacuum is pretty great!!!

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We LOVE a good Christmas party!!!

Especially when it gets us out of the house without the kids!

We had a fun night at the Pillings and came away with our very own Enema! Yippee!!!

Love white elephant gifts...what had bee some of your craziest gifts???

Winners Winners!!!

Drum roll....
Winner #1...Andrea who said "Those calendars look FABULOUS!! I would love to win!"
Winner #2.....Staci who said "They look so good. You are so talented. I like them both. They are very lucky to have you!"

You guys need to e-mail me and let me know which calendar you want!!!

And everyone else...it is still a good deal to buy a $10 calendar for such a good cause!!!! Let me know if you want one! You know you need a new one anyway for the new year!!!!

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Last call for the GIVE-AWAY!!!!!

Ends midnight tonight!

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I LOVE being excited!

Look what we got today!!!

My sweet hubby is taking me to Cancun in January for our 10 year anniversary!

Ten years...wow!

That went by fast.

Anyway, I am so excited.

I love to be excited!

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*****GIVE-AWAY*****

almost over...leave a comment HERE!

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We LOVE Dads NON 9-5 job!!!

Brent has been teaching a confined space class for the Fire Department this week.

Which means going into work EVERY DAY...

EVERY DAY!

On the days he is on shift he goes from class back to the station.

And the days he is not on shift he will come home around 5ish.

Five o'clock has to be the worst time of day for a husband to show up at home.

Well, that is if you want your husband to come home to a clean house and dinner started and a happy wife...

All that by 5...how do you normal people do it????

I like what we are used to.

I am so happy that he doesn't have a 9-5 job...
I am sure it works for some people...but man, if this is how we had to live I would be even more crazier than I am.

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****GIVE-AWAY****

Don't foget to enter...HERE

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They LOVE to help...

Help????

Ya.....I guess we could use that word.

This afternoon we made some Muddy Buddies as gifts for bus drivers and stuff...

The girls had a lot of fun shaking powdered sugar with the chocolate Chex mix.

So much fun...

Thanks girlies for your help!

Ha ha...I couldn't stop laughing at this picture!

Very intense!

Buddies making muddy buddies...Aydo and Cass.

Elsie and Madi...

Ya...Elsie thought she would help by dumping the powdered sugar all over the table...and floor.

Ya, that wasn't so helpful...but she sure was cute about it.

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Don't forget to leave a comment for a chance to win the GIVE-AWAY!!!

Give-away ends Friday at midnight...

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We LOVE playdough!!!

It amazes me how long these kids can keep busy playing with playdough!

Yes, it makes a huge mes on the floor...but the trade off is worth it!!!

I just make my own salt dough for them...

Whenever we have the Playdoe brand...it always dries up way too fast...

So this works good!

Elsie loves it...sometimes when she gets herself too upset...it is hard to get her out of her 'fits'.

So we have two weapons to get her out of it...

One, is Popsicles...the other, PLAYDOUGH!!!

We love stuff that keep their minds creative!
They come up with some pretty fun stuff!!!!

Madi did a little drawing while they played...
Porter eats his bread while watching...goofball!

Cassi with her bird and nest.