Better Late Than Never

Well, I finally did it!!! I finished the twilight series!!! This past year I've listened to numerous people rant and rave about how awesome these books are. (Even Cole got in on the action.) Then the movie, Twilight, came out. This was when I truly felt like I was missing out on the party. But could I really read 2444 pages? About werewolves and vampires? I eventually caved because I wanted to see what everyone else was talking about.
The verdict: I wasn't disappointed.

Life is Like Hot Chocolate!

Happy New Year Glitter Pictures




HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Looking back over this past year I realize how grateful I am for the friends and family I have in my life. I've thought about what kind of message I could leave you with for the new year. My favorite is a story that someone sent to Mark in an email.

ENJOY!!!

A group of graduates, well established in their careers, were talking at a reunion and decided to go visit their old university professor, now retired. During their visit, the conversation turned to complaints about stress in their work and lives. Offering his guests hot chocolate, the professor went into the kitchen and returned with a large pot of hot chocolate and an assortment of cups - porcelain, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the hot chocolate.

When they all had a cup of hot chocolate in hand, the professor said: "Notice that all the nice looking, expensive cups were taken, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. The cup that you're drinking from adds nothing to the quality of the hot chocolate. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was hot chocolate, not the cup; but you consciously went for the best cups... And then you began eyeing each other's cups.

Now consider this: Life is the hot chocolate; your job, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life. The cup you have does not define, nor change the quality of life you have. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the hot chocolate God has provided us. God makes the hot chocolate, man chooses the cups. The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything that they have. Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. And enjoy your hot chocolate.

Our New Addition

We have been getting so much snow!!! This is the first time in a long time we have had this much snow before Christmas. And we are loving it!!! We got a foot of snow a few days before Christmas. And then we have had little snow showers over the last couple of days. For Christmas it snowed another 6-7 inches. It was so magical to look outside and see the snow falling.
Keri couldn't wait to build a snowman. Cole and Carson wanted to play with their gifts. But Keri said that her gifts could wait. Her snowman couldn't!!! He's now our new addition to the family. You'll find him in our front yard greeting all who pass by. The question is, "How long will he stay?"

Christmas

Our Christmas morning was awesome!!! We got to sleep in till 8:30am. The first time ever!!! When the kids woke up Cole commented on how good he slept. (Usually he can't sleep at all on Christmas Eve.) Must have been something Aunt Celeste put in her food the night before. :)
It was so amazing to see our children get excited for each and every little thing. We are so blessed and grateful for our little family!!!

Boise State Game

What a close game!!! Boise State lost by just one point. Final score 17-16. What was so hard to swallow was that they led the game 90% of the time. Oh well!! Better luck next time...
Even though their team lost the boys had a blast!!!

SURPRISE!!!

We celebrated the boys birthdays today!!! Carson turned 9 years old on Saturday and Cole will be 13 on the 28th of this month. Wow!!! Pretty soon we'll have a teenager in the house.
As part of the celebration we surprised Cole with tickets to the Poinsettia Bowl on Tuesday!!! He is so excited to spend time with his Dad and Grampy. (Grammy and Grampy bought his plane ticket for his birthday.) I think he is still in shock over the whole thing. He had no idea what we were up to. Hope they have fun!!! Go Boise State!!!!!

Coopers Visit Cooperstown

While we were there our family took a trip up to Cooperstown to see the Baseball Hall of Fame. It was so neat to step back in time and learn about the great men and women that have made our favorite pasttime what it is today...
The kids enjoyed it more than I thought they would. Each of them studied all the exhibits and participated in a scavenger hunt. They gained a better appreciation for the game. And even took an interest in baseball card collecting, just like their Dad.
We even visited Cooper Lane, which was right around the corner.