2018 Continued!

After Lake Powell, the kids and Dan met me in Utah so that we could go to Mac's baby blessing. Seeing Beth and David become parents has been so fun. They are awesome with our kids and we always knew they'd be great. Mac is a luckily little guy! He is so sweet and chubby and is such a good baby!

John and Bridget and their cute family came to visit us in July. We met them at lagoon and had to best day!!!! The kids don't really know each other, but they went on rides and hung out together like they've never been apart! Instant best friends. It was so sweet to see. I really wish we lived closer to Dan's family, I want our kids to be close to their cousins. So these trips really mean a lot to me! We had so much fun at lagoon and the days after, we just hung out at our house and played games and let the kids have fun together! It was such a fun trip and I am determined to see them once a year! This year we are going to try and drive over to the east and see all Dan's siblings. Johns in Pennsylvania, joe is in Maryland, Brynne is in Indiana, Tim is going to be in Alabama, so that just leaves us and beth over in the west. So hopefully we can make a big trip and go see everyone!

I went to Montana for my cousin's wedding. My mom was adopted when she was 5, but has found her biological family. This is her biological niece who I've never met. My aunts were also going to be at the wedding with more cousins and family that I've never met before. So I jumped at the chance to go! I love my aunt Patty and Aunt Julie! It is always so crazy to me how much they look a like, their mannerisms, and temperaments are all the same! Their husbands are the nicest guys and it was just so much fun to be around them for a few days! The wedding was beautiful and it was so cool to be with all these people who are family, but I've never known. We took a drive up in the mountains on our way back home, and took the long way through yellowstone. It was fun to do that with my parents and just get to talk for hours and not have to worry about anything else. It was a trip i'll never forget!

After a very exhaustive and draining time in his life, Dan decided to quit his job in August. It ultimately was the best decision for us.  It was so scary to think about going job hunting again, but it was the best thing he could have done. He's so much happier and just feels free. Nothing he ever did seemed good enough at his last job. His confidence was shot. He worked so hard and was just unappreciated for years. We job searched for a while and had some promising things, but they didn't pan out. So out of desperation and little by little Dan started doing online work for different businesses and it's built up to be something that can sustain us nicely so we are rolling with it! It's amazing how things can look so promising, then it doesn't work and forces you to take a different path, then it ends up being the best decision and you wonder why you didn't do it sooner. Anyway, we hope this new venture keeps going like it is, we are just praying and working so that we can have a great 2019.

We went to the Oregon coast the end of October. It's one of my favorite places in the world! It's where Dan and I went on our honeymoon, and I vacationed there lots as a kid. It's so healing for me to go there. It's just a whole different type of beauty. While we were there we decided to take family pictures in front of Haystack rock. They turned out awesome and I'm so glad we forced it! It was going to rain most of our trip so we were just waiting for the right window. We had to hike like a mile down the beach to get to the right spot, hauling all the camera equipment and two toddlers, but it was worth it! It's such a special spot for us, and we have lots of pics of the two of us in front of it on our honeymoon, that it's fun to have pics of our little family in the same spot almost 10 years later. We just used a self timer and a tripod. It worked better than having someone behind the camera! hahaha I don't know how, but our little ones looked and smiled perfectly in most of the pictures! That never happens!!! We had such a fun trip just exploring and hitting our favorite spots. Swimming in the pool, looking for seashells and sand dollars, playing on the beach, eating at Mo's, and shopping for fun souvenirs.  Definitely one of my favorite trips to the coast! We stopped at Multnomah falls on our way home which was seriously so amazing! I've never stopped and it was so beautiful! All the fall colors were so amazing and vibrant! And the falls were unreal! We were at the coast over Halloween so on our way, we were able to take the kids to a trunk or treat with some of our friends, the Ashton's. We had so much fun and it was nice to still let the kids do halloween and not have to worry about doing it on our trip! We were just going to find a random neighborhood in Oregon and let them go door to door, so this was a much better and easier thing. Rafe lost a tooth on our way to the coast. I had to pull it out. barf. I hate loose teeth! It's so gross to me and having to pull it off the last little bit of gums was seriously so gross to me! Hahaha but he was so excited about it!

We spent Thanksgiving with my family. That was fun and we got spend lots of time with friends and family while we were there.  We set up Christmas before we left. We normally do it right after Thanksgiving, but since we were going to be in Melba, we did it before. I love having Christmas up. And Dan and I have so much Christmas stuff I feel like we need 2 months to really enjoy it and appreciate how long it takes to set it all up! It was fun to come home to and feel like it was Christmastime! It's our favorite time of year. I could totally leave Halloween and Thanksgiving! Give me Christmas for a few months and i'd be a happy girl!

The second week in December we took the kids on the "polar express" in Heber. We got to ride on the train, sing songs, had hot chocolate and cookies, and go to see Santa! My parents met us in Utah so they could come with us. We have talked about doing it for a few years, so we were so excited to do it! It was such a fun time and our kids thought it was the coolest thing! I can't wait to do it again next year! After our train ride we went to my parents condo's in Midway and spent the next day and a half there, playing games and swimming and making lots of fun memories.

Dan's parents were able to come for Christmas! We had so much fun, and it was so busy, I hardly took any pictures! But i'm so glad we will have the memories! We made sugar cookies, went sledding, make gingerbread houses, had hot chocolate, played lots of games, watched christmas movies, and just enjoyed each other's company! We had Beth and David and Mac, and Tim and Mikiah here as well so it was a big party! Christmas Day was magical as always. It was definitely one of my favorite Christmas's. I say that every year i swear, but it's just so fun seeing my kids get excited about Santa and their gifts. We made the boys wait until 8, then we got everyone up and opened presents. It was so fun watching them open everything and see the excitement on their faces!  Santa brought them a nintendo switch, which has been a big hit! It's so much fun playing it as a family. We definitely all got spoiled this Christmas. It was so fun to have it with Dan's family. Since everyone is so spread out we never get to do Christmas with his side, except for Damon's first Christmas when we went to Florida. So it was nice to have them here! I just wish I would have taken more pics!

New Year's Eve we had Tim and Mikiah over and we watched the ball drop and had IBC cream soda and just had a good time.

I can't believe this year is over. It's been full of fun things and trips and lots of memories with our families! That's all that matters to me! I love creating these memories for our kids to have and taking these trips even though it can be hard to want to travel places with small kids! It throws them off their routines and nap times, makes them cranky, and driving is always difficult. But it's always worth it. If there's been one main thing I've learned this year, it's that you have to force yourself to make theses memories. I've gotten to a point where doing anything outside of the main responsibilities of being a parents sound exhausting. I'm quick to shoot things down so that I don't have to go outside my comfort zone. But it's always worth it. Having little kids is hard and demanding, but these trips we took this year, and the fun adventures we went on were things i'll never forget! One of my main goals for next year is to get out of my comfort zone, say yes more often, and continue to create lots of memories with my kids and our families.