Sunday, September 30, 2018

15th Birthday



This girl is officially 15!!  She brings soo much joy into our family.  She is happy, kind and loves a good blanket...no serious....she has 14 of them!  Her favorite gift this year was her new Minky Couture pineapple blanket! She is getting ready to take her drivers test to get her learners permit (WHAT?!?!?!), busy dancing her way through life and squeezing in as much time with her friends as she can!  We are so proud of you Kaylie!  We can't wait to see what great things you are going to accomplish!! 

Happy Birthday!!!!

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Heather

Friday, September 14, 2018

Spreading Love

My sweet friend lost her dear mom over the weekend.  To brighten her day after the long, grueling day of the funeral, I had the young women and other leaders I work with in my church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, write little notes of love and appreciation for my sweet friend and her daughter.

On the day of the funeral, I snuck over to her house with my little 8 yr old and we put them on her door!!



Just one small way to show her how much we love and appreciate her.  I hope it was a little moment of happy in her day.

"Never suppress a generous thought" -Camilla Eyring Kimball


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Heather

Monday, September 3, 2018

Happy 3rd Anniversary to Us!

I can't believe I've been married to my dream man for 3 yrs.  3yrs on the 3rd....Isn't there a special name for that...when your anniversary falls on the date you were married?  Well in my world its a celebration!!

This year it was on a Sunday!  So...we did the things we would normally do, like church and hung out with the kids....all except when our youngest threw up at the dinner table!  Not awesome!!  We made sure she was alright and then it was off to Anniversary Inn...(check it out if you haven't been, it was awesome).  We had treats and watched movies & just enjoyed our time together.  Since our anniversary falls over Labor Day, we had Monday to hang out together.  We checked out a reclaimed wood store we have wanted to visit, but it was CLOSED!  So being our fun selves...we headed home!!



I love that we can have fun just hanging out together, doing the normal every day things that a family does.  That is what a real relationship is to me.  Its not just the going out every night, spending money and impressing each other...its the real things of life...the good and the hard things, but we face them all together.  Thanks for sticking with me Goodman!  We make a great team!!

Happy Anniversary!


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Heather

Thursday, August 30, 2018

4th First Date







It's that time again...the time when we get to celebrate our first date EVER!!  We are so thankful that we found each other.  With all the crazy of 4 kids and real lives, we think its important to take the time to celebrate us and our relationship.  So we went back to the place where it all started.  Dinner and taking in some us time at City Creek.  Simple, but fun to reminisce how WE came to be!

So thankful for this guy and all of the happiness he brings into my life!  Love you more every day Goodman 💜


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Heather

Wednesday, August 29, 2018

She's off to college....





And just like that she's off to college...I have so many mixed emotions about this!  On one hand I am so excited for her to begin a new adventure.  One where she gets to be in charge and make her own decisions and choices.  I'm excited for her to have so many wonderful experiences and see the world through her eyes.  On the other hand, I am sad.  I only got her for 3 years.  She won't be at home any more.  Our whole family dynamic changes.  I'm sad she won't be around for all of the experiences that we have and the memories that we will make...I worry that the relationship I have with her will not be enough and that she won't be bonded to our family as much as the other kids.  This blending families business is hard work!

I hope she knows how much she means to me......how much I love her.....how much I've enjoyed the last few years with her...I hope she knows that I am here if she needs me....and that no amount of distance will change that.

So with that sweet Lucy....go take on the world and make it a better place....the one where you hoped you could make the difference....experience life and all of the joys and sorrows....and we will be right here when you need us!!  Happy first year of college!!



She even sent me a 1st day of school pic because she knows how much I love them!!

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Heather

Tuesday, August 28, 2018

Family Pictures 2018

Each year we do this...each year there is finding a photographer, (we used Whitney Charles Photography...and she was FABULOUS!!!)....planning color schemes...coordinating outfits....searching till the last minute to find things to wear....less than excited husbands....kids crying....kids making faces or scowling....laughing...You all know what I'm talking about.  Family pictures are not what they look like in the final project...but we do them.


We do them for the memories....

We do them for the good times we remember when we aren't posing for the camera....


We do them to remember what otherwise we would forget...


We do it to remember the different stages of life our kids, nieces and nephews go through...my nephew is cuter than your nephew!!  😉.....


We do it to remember the photobombing teenagers....



Mostly we do it to remember the loves of our lives...the precious moments and memories we share with these beautiful people we share our lives with ❤

And somehow at the end of all of the chaos and the tantrums and the smiles, we are left with something beautiful...something we can cherish for a lifetime.




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Heather


Wednesday, August 22, 2018

Another year begins.....



How is it that another year is already beginning??  At the beginning of the summer I always feel like its going to be a long time before they are back in school, but it's never like that!  Time really does fly by so quickly with these kiddos!  This year is a little different for us.  Our oldest daughter Lucy is off to college this year...so we're down to just 3 in school at home.  We had our usually night before school starts dinner.  This year they all got to pick part of the meal...a main course...a side...the dessert...or what to drink.  We didn't tell them whose choice we picked...they just got to be surprised.  It was a fun way to spend a little more time together before the start of the school year.


Cole is a junior.  He loves anything sports, being with his friends and he's begun his working career at a local bakery.  He is smart, funny and very helpful to our family.  We love Cole so much!


Kaylie is a freshman.  She is our dancer and that pretty much consumes her world.  She loves pineapples, clothes and jewelry and she also loves being with her friends.  She is kind and thoughtful and our family wouldn't be the same without her positivity!


Cecelia is in 2nd grade.  She loves school and being with her friends, but she hates homework and is not looking forward to that starting again.  She loves McDonalds, playing with her toys and watching the kindle when she gets up in the morning while she is eating her breakfast is a must to starting her day off right!!  She is so full of life and excitement for the world she is learning about.  She keeps us all young and fun!

Here's to a great 2018!!

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Heather

Saturday, August 4, 2018

It's Baptism Day!!




There have been so many special moments for our family over the last couple of weeks.  And today...we get to celebrate one more!!  Today is Cecelia's baptism day.  In our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, when we turn 8, we get to choose if we want to become a member.  If we do, we are able to be baptized and make a promise to Heavenly Father that we will follow His commandments and try to follow the example of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  Also on that special day, we receive a gift from Heavenly Father, the gift of the Holy Ghost...he gets to be with us all the time!  He helps us to know what is right in all the things we do.



Cecelia has decided to become the newest member of our ward and be baptized.  She is so excited to be baptized.  She was able to choose whether Dad or Cole was going to baptize her...and she chose Dad.  She also decided that she wanted to wear Kaylie's baptism dress since she wore Lucy's for her pictures.  She is so excited that her friends and family are going to be there to watch her....she is also hoping that her mom, Jeni will be there too.  I told her I thought she would be.


After her baptism, as she was coming out of the font, she looked at me and said, "Mom, its soo cool that my old mom got to see that!"  We're all so glad we got to be a part of this special day!!  Cecelia we love you and are so excited for you to continue to grow and learn more about our Savior Jesus Christ and His ministry.   Happy Baptism Day sweet girl!!

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Heather

Monday, July 30, 2018

Warrior



This year was such a year of growth for Kaylie with her dance life.  She amazes me.  She was invited to audition for a ballet routine, which was by invitation only.  She made the cut.  She was so nervous to dance with these other extremely talented and longer tenured dancers, whom she admires so much.  They are beautiful dancers.  She also was introduced to the world of guest choreographers.  Jacki Ford of Jo and Jax choreographed this piece.  It was stunning.  They competed it so well each time this year.  I'm grateful for the opportunities Kaylie has had while dancing this year and for all of the amazing teachers, friends, fellow dancers, choreographers, and directors she had learned so much from.

Congrats Kaylie!

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Heather

PS...Isn't this picture gorgeous!!!!

Saturday, July 28, 2018

Cecelia is turning 8



Cecelia is 8!!  I can hardly believe it!!  When I met this sweet little girl she was 4 yrs old.  She still has her beautiful curly hair, but she is much taller and so full of life.  

This year for her birthday, she wanted to have a camping party...so we made her a campfire cake to eat with our family on her actual birthday after her favorite meal of McDonald's chicken nugget happy meal, with fries, apple slices and chocolate milk....


And then for her birthday party, we made her a "Smores Cake", which consisted of a tray of graham crackers, marshmallows and chocolate bars so the kids could make their own smores in the fire pit after a hot dog or two.




We had some crafts to make, a tent to crawl though and lots of food, family and friends to share it with!!  All of the campers seemed to have fun!  But this...this is my favorite camper...


Such a good helper and a wonderful father!!  He is there to do whatever it takes to make sure these events are successful!!  We are lucky to have such a dedicated guy around!  He makes everything more fun!

Happy 8th Birthday Cecelia!!  We love your smile and love creating these memories with you!!




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Heather

Wednesday, July 25, 2018

Families are Forever




Today is one of my most favorite days!!  Ever since she was born, I hoped for a day when I would get to have my daughter sealed to me forever!!  As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, we believe that we can be with our families forever.  Through the sacred ordinance of sealing, we can have this blessing for our family....and today was that day!

It was such a special experience to have all of our children in the temple with us for the event.  We were all able to participate in Kaylie's sealing.  The temple workers were incredible and were so excited to have children in the temple, since most times the youth are only there to do baptisms for the dead, which is in a different part of the temple.  Our kids felt like royalty and were definitely treated that way!  They had their own special changing rooms and things to do while they waited for Rex and I to get ready.  Then we were able to meet together in the special sealing rooms.  We all dressed in white.  We all felt the Holy Ghost.  We all knew that this was God's will for us.  He loves us and wants us to be happy and return to Him someday to live as families with Him.

After the sealing, we of course took pictures outside of the temple.  Then we went home and had pizza with our family who came to witness this special time in our lives.  We laughed and ate and enjoyed the time we had to spend together.  Families are a gift from heaven.  They are there to celebrate the good times and help us through the bad times.  They are what brings meaning to our lives!  We are so thankful for all of the love and support we get from our families.

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Heather

If you want to learn more about our church...click on the link here.


Wednesday, July 4, 2018

BeaUTAHful

Living in Utah definitely has its advantages!!  I love being so close to the mountains...they might be my favorite part of Utah!  This is Cecret Lake.  Its a short little hike & was perfect for a small morning hike with the family.  Take a look...   #nofilter





I somehow missed all of the wildflowers that were in bloom.  It's a quick hike..only about 1.5 miles round trip and just gorgeous. 

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Heather

Friday, June 1, 2018

Lucy's Graduation Day 2018




It's here!!  She is graduating.  So many emotions on this exciting day!!  She is celebrating her success, I mean 36 on the ACT isn't bad right 😉😉😉, and looking forward to continuing her education in the fall!  We are so proud of this beautiful young lady!  Although we will miss her at home, we are excited for all of the new adventures she is about to experience!!




Love this family of mine ❤❤ and all of the things we get to do together!!

Happy Graduation!

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Heather

Thursday, May 31, 2018

DIY Paver Patio

Our project this year was to create a new flowerbed, a paver patio, a retaining wall and a fire pit.  Man was it alot of work!!  We started out by visiting our local nursery to find out what kind of stone we wanted.  My husband had a design in mind and we just need to get our heads around what we needed in terms of material and labor.

We ended up getting a kit for a paver circle and a fire pit and then measured how much more square feet of pavers would need.  We watched alot of you tube and asked alot of questions to the professionals.

We decided to use a couple different kinds of paver.  We used Belgard pavers in a couple of different variations....Cambridge Cobble, Holland Stone and the Stonegate retaining wall stones. We were able to get our pavers from Amcor, but if you are not a contractor, you must go to your local distributor to get them.

We took out the grass, compacted the dirt...leveled it and compacted it some more.  We brought in about 12 ton of 3/4 in road base and leveled that...compacted it again, added some sand and then finally laid the pavers and the retaining wall stone.  Once that was done we back filled the space behind the retaining wall, compacted the patio again, cleaned off all of the existing debris...added some polymeric sand.  Make sure you clean off the excess sand and then wet it down.  We let it dry for 24 hrs.  Once that was done we added our fire pit  and then we added a sealant to make the stone look wet and shiny rather than all dried out.  We added weed fabric and plants in the flower beds and put down bark and had curbing put in to tie it all together.

It took us about us about 6 weeks to finish it all!  There were a few missteps and things we didn't expect like a honey bees swarming on a tree we had to pass under while bring all of the road base and sand down, adding retaining wall pieces to help keep the patio level, and even flipping over the sod cutter machine!  But...in the end, it was definitely worth the time it took to build!

Watch the video to see the transformation!!

💗💗💗💗💗💗

Heather




Wednesday, May 23, 2018

God Loves Broken Things

I am constantly looking for other women who are going through or have been through the same things I am struggling with.  Blending families, divorce, remarriage, raising kids...whatever it is.  It seems like it is always easy to find the negative or discouraging things out there, and I know that is part of the journey, but its so special and uplifting to me when I find someone who can be in the midst of a trial, but still be trying to find happiness. And can show that happiness throughout their struggle.  Not every day maybe, but more than they are projecting negativity, and also that they can show they are making it through and so can I.   It's the way I want to live, the way I am trying to live, although I know I need to work on that a lot!

Yesterday I came across Calee Reed.  She is a motivational speaker and a songwriter, singer.  She spoke in Time Out for Women in 2017 and talked about a song she absolutely loves called "Broken" by Kenneth Cope.  She also talked about a form of Japanese art called Kintsugi.  It means to repair with gold; the art of repairing pottery with lacquer and gold or silver powder, understanding that the piece is more beautiful for having been broken.

Image result for kintsugi images

She goes on to say that she hopes that as she comes closer to the Savior that He can make something beautiful of her broken pieces.  And I just LOVE THAT!  Don't we all feel like we have so many broken parts of us?  There are so many things that we find ugly within ourselves..things we want to just hide away, but with the love of our Savior and His refining power He is able to put those pieces back together in a way that is beautiful and powerful and we can see His light within ourselves.  I love this image and imaging His love woven through the cracks in our lives and the love that we feel knowing of His love for us.  And hopefully others will be able to see that too!

I love this message.  I love that others help us on our journeys.  I love that God loves us so much that He uses us to help each other.  I love that through our brokeness (Is that even a word??)  that we become better beings and closer to what He wants us to become.


Here are the words to "Broken" and also a link to her cover of the song:

BROKEN (Words by Kenneth Cope; Music by Kenneth & Eliza Cope) —inspired by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

Broken clouds give rain
Broken soil grows grain
Broken bread feeds man for one more day

Broken storms yield light
The break of day heals night
Broken pride turns blindness into sight

Broken souls that need His mending
Broken hearts for offering
Could it be that God loves broken things

Broken chains set free
Broken swords bring peace
Broken walls make friends of you and me

To break the ranks of sin
To break the news of Him
To put on Christ till His name feels broken in

Broken souls that need His mending
Broken hearts for offering
I believe that God loves broken things

And yet, our broken faith, our broken promises
Sent love to the cross
And still, that broken flesh, that broken heart of His
Offers us such grace and mercy
Covers us with love undeserving

This broken soul that cries for mending
This broken heart for offering
I’m convinced that God loves broken me
Praise His name—my God loves broken things
So, broken cloud—Give rain
And broken soil—Grow grain
And broken bread—Feed man for one more day

Calee Reed cover of Broken



Happy Wednesday Everyone! ❤

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Heather

Wednesday, April 11, 2018

Spring Break 2018

This is the last Spring Break before our daughter heads off to college.  We offered a few choices of where we might go for spring break and she chose to see 4 National Parks; Kolob Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef and Canyonlands National Park.  They were awesome!!  So amazing that these places exist....Beautiful beyond belief!!  Make sure to see the petroglyphs in Canyonlands at Newspaper Rock.  We all loved seeing those.  Amazing that they have survived this long!!

We decided to get the America the Beautiful Pass.  It's basically a year of unlimited access to any National Park.  It was $80, but well worth it.  It saved us time when entering the parks and we only had to pay once!  If you are visiting enough parks to make it worth buying then you definitely should.  They sell them at most of the visitor's centers.  I have linked the website to the pass above that you can check out and see where to buy them!!

We did 4 parks in 5 days with 4 kids, 2 parents stuffed into a Toyota Highlander, 24 hrs of driving, 2 stopping places and LOTS of fun!!  The kids were great!  I prepared ahead of time with some car games.  I found some great websites, Landeelu.com and Mum in the Madhouse for some games to play while driving.  And of course we played some of the classics..the alphabet game, the name game using the alphabet, and the license plate game, which we found all but 12 states!  Everyone wanted Hawaii, but no luck!!  We even drove around the outlook parking places looking for different license plates!!  We had a lot of fun just being together and seeing all of the beautiful landscapes of the national parks!  We had to stop at the Visitor's Center of each park and get a window sticker for our oldest to put on her hydroflask.  Of course there was time for sleeping and also for using their electronics.  I did like that most of the time there was no cell service.  It really gave us a chance to interact and spend uninterrupted time together!  Here are a few of the sites.....



Kolob Canyon


Bryce Canyon


Mesa Arch at Canyonlands


Capitol Reef

It was so much fun to hang out with our kiddos and make some memories!!  I treasure each family vacation we take.  Not only do we get to see cool things, we get to grow closer together as a family and build our family relationships.  If you read my blog you know that we are a blended family.  It is essential to me to spend as much time together as we can.  We only have a few short years to live all in the same place & build our relationships so these times are priceless to me!  Love this family of mine!!

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Heather

Sunday, March 18, 2018

Rainbow Love Notes

Sometimes as a stepmom I wonder if I'm doing it right, if I do enough, if I am enough, if these littles (and not so littles) entrusted to me feel enough love and support.  Its a challenging situation when you are blending families.

This weekend my daughter and I were out of town at a dance competition.  And when we came home, this is what we found....


What a precious little gift.  My cute little 7yr old made this adorable card for us during sacrament meeting and had each of the family members sign it.  Such a sweet sentiment for this mom!  I love this family.  I love being a part of it and I love that as time moves forward we are able to share more love and kindness with each other...especially ones with handmade rainbow love notes!!

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Heather

Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Ding Dong Ditched

We are working on creating unity in our young women's group at church.  To follow up with our lesson on Sunday, the group I get to work with, 12yr-13yr old girls, did a fun little activity. 


I found these cute tags at Poppies at Play and we wrote little notes to each girl in our group and doorbell ditched them!  It was a fun way to let the other girls know we were thinking of them and for the girls doing the ditching it was a fun activity!  So much laughing and encouraging each other to run fast and not get caught!

I had ditched the 12 & 13yr olds earlier in the week to give them a hint at what we would be doing for our activity!

Check out the link above to get the free printable!!

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Heather

Monday, February 5, 2018

Italy 2018

Italy has never been on my bucket list...but it should have been!!  We had the wonderful opportunity to go to Tuscany this year.  We found an amazing deal that we just couldn't pass up!!


I get emails from a website called Travelzoo.  If you don't subscribe to them and you love to travel, you really should subscribe!!  They have some really great opportunities to travel on a budget. This particular trip caught us by surprise.  Next up on my bucket list was England.  When the deal for Italy came about I sent it to my husband just joking, but SURPRISE...the joke was on me...he said to book it!  So after some research, we did!  We did extend the trip by a couple of days so that we could also go to Rome.  We ended up visiting Montecatini, Florence, Pisa, Lucca, Venice and Rome in 10 days.  It was beautiful.  The weather was great.  We were a little worried going in January/February as it is their rainy season, but it only rained for a couple of hours one day.  I would definitely go again during the off season....less crowds, much cooler and still so many amazing things to see!

We rented a car in Milan and drove to Montecatini, Venice and back to Milan.  It was fun to see the actual country and make pit stops wherever we wanted.  They drive on the same side of the street as we do in America so that wasn't an issue.  They do have toll roads and learning to navigate those was a little tricky since we aren't accustom to them in our neck of the woods here in America, but you can pay either with Euros or a credit card.  The city streets are a little harder to get around on as they are curvy and the streets aren't well marked in some parts of the country.  We didn't drive into most of the cities in Italy.  I would definitely recommend taking public transportation.  Their transportation system is superb.  We took the Metros, the high speed trains and the buses.  Its very easy to navigate & using Google Maps makes it simple to know what form of transportation you need & where to pick it up! 

We got some of the passes to see things while in Florence and Rome.  The Firenze Pass in Florence and the Roma Pass in Rome.  They essentially get you into some museums, skip the lines and allow you to take public transit for less money.  They both have time restraints so be sure to plan ahead with the things you want to see & do them according to your passes.

We used Rick Steves ' Italy book ALOT!!  He has so much good information and we followed alot of what he says.  His maps of the cities were very helpful and just his details of the cities made it much easier to get around and to determine what was a priority to see.  I would recommend at least giving it a quick read of the places you are thinking of visiting!!

My favorite city was Venice.  There is something about a city on the water.  Bridges connecting you to everything.  Old buildings and the smell of baked goods wafting through the streets.  The old architecture of the buildings and the stories of the infancy of the city.  Its rustic and charming and beautiful.  Oh and it's where I had my first taste of Italian Hot Chocolate...its sooo good!  Thicker than American Hot Chocolate...creamy...mmm...delicious!



My next favorite thing to see was the Colosseum!  Its exactly what you see in photos.  Its old and run down and missing some of the elaborate details that once made it a masterpiece.  But, it is also so massive and solid and has stood the test of thousands of years.  Its inspiring, a sign to all that you can withstand even the hardest things in life and still be beautiful....Amazing!  The Romans constructed some awesome things!!  Rome is filled with a lot of things to see...the Vatican, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, the Forum, Palatine Hill (another one of my favorites) and lots of museums and culture to explore.  It was more of a city feel than I expected, but the history there runs deep!



Florence is filled with soo many museums and places to shop...and leather...LOTS of leather, very reasonably priced I might add...It's a busy town with lots of wonderful things to see.  I loved the stories of the Medici family.  They eventually became one of the most influential families in all of Florence, they even produced a Pope...Leo X.  Check out the Pitti Palace, which was one of their residences!  Incredible!!  The other cool place was the Florence Cathedral where you can also climb the Duomo or the Bell Tower.  Tickets to the Duomo sell out quickly so check early if you are interested in climbing it.  We ended up climbing the bell tower, which is just as exhilarating!!  The views of the city are spectacular!! Take a look...


Pisa and Lucca were fun cities as well.  Lots of shopping in Pisa and of course the main attraction, The Leaning Tower of Pisa.  We climbed the tower, which was fun and gave you a beautiful view of the surrounding city.  It was much less crowded than the other cities of Italy.  Lucca is famous for their intact Renaissance Era walls that were never breached.  It's now a pedestrian walkway which circles the entire city.  Its amazing!  Lots of families and people using it.  Such a quaint little city.  We really enjoyed visiting it!




I'm so glad we came across this trip.  It was completely unexpected, but so worth it.  I loved every second of my time there.  10 days was obviously not enough, but now we have a better idea of what we would spend more time seeing on our next trip there!  And since we rubbed the nose of the boar in the Mercato Nuovo we will be returning!!


💗💗💗💗💗💗
Heather


Friday, January 5, 2018

Highlights of 2017

2017 has been a good year for me.  I know there is a lot of bad happening in the world, but I try to find the good in things despite the bad things going on around us.


We've had some milestones as a family and individually!  We have all gone through some hard times and had some really good times blending our family.  I feel like this year has been the best year yet in terms of blending..hard, but getting stronger as a family, accepting each other and trying to find love for one another.  Here are some of my favorite moments from this year.....




In January 2017 our oldest daughter got her driver's license!!  OH No!!  Look out world here she comes!!!!!




Also in January, our 2nd oldest daughter was able to go to the LDS temple for the first time and perform baptisms for the dead!  It was such an awesome experience to have all of our children who are old enough to go be there all together for this experience!




For Spring Break in April we took a trip to California!  I was able to go to my inlaw's almond farm for the first time, Newport Beach (which was Kaylie's first time to the beach...at 13...epic mom fail!!), Disneyland and Las Vegas to visit some family!  It was a great trip...with LOTS of driving....but a week of fun!!




In May, our son Cole finished his Eagle Project.  He fundraised, bought, tied and delivered fleece blankets to the Huntsman Cancer Institute.  He did this to pay back and say thank you to them for all of the support and care they gave to his mom while she was undergoing cancer treatments.  He hopes in some way it will bring some happiness to others in that situation.  It was so rewarding as a parent seeing him not only give back, but give back to something that touched his life so deeply!  Way to go Cole!






In July I finished my VERY FIRST furniture restore!  It was so fun for me to try something new and something out of my skill set!  I enjoyed it and have done a piece or 2 since!  Check out my journey with chalk paint HERE.






In August we took an end of the summer family road trip to Bear Lake.  It was the first time some of us had been there...Check out my post about it HERE




In October we did family pictures!  I LOVE THEM!!  I'm grateful to my husband for putting up with this sometimes stressful addiction of mine!!






In December we started what I hope to be an annual gingerbread house/people/train decorating extravaganza with my mom and sister.  Heres the 1st annual....




And lastly, also in December is our annual Christmas Eve family selfie...it was a record this year I think we only took 5 photos!  Love this crazy tradition!!




As I look forward to 2018, the word that has become my goal is Balance.  Life is all about balance.  I need to find more of that in my life.  And I think what it really comes down to is just trying to be a little better this year than last.  Life is a progression and I want to keep moving forward, trying new things and becoming a little kinder and more centered so I can focus on what really matters to me...and that is my Family and Friends...people are what really matters in life, but all of the other distractions cause me to lose sight of that at times.  So balance has to be a priority for me this year!  Lots of new experiences are coming our way this year and I am excited to see where they take us!


Happy 2018 Everyone!!


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