Memory Lane

I had fun looking through old pictures last Sunday and taking pictures of pictures.  (Because I was too lazy to scan them. Ha!)

College: Ashley, me at Nutty Putty Caves

College: Becca, Jordan at Nutty Putty Caves

College: Bryant, Riannon at Nutty Putty Caves

College: Me, Riannon, Becca, Ariana at Ariana's apartment for her baby shower.

College: Riannon, me hiking

College: Ashley, Riannon, me, Jenna dressed up for a mystery dinner date

College: Becca, Andy, Nicole at my house in Colorado; we had a fun gathering of friends and adventure before heading back for a new semester

My mom, 1990's??

High school graduation: Caleb, Marissa, Liz, Josh?, me

High school graduation: me, Maria

High school: Maria, Caleb, me

High school: Seminary class 1999-2000 school year

Preschool: Desi, me

Easter 198?: Me, Danielle

1983: Danielle, me

College: Kaylene, Rachel, Becky, me, Denise, Ashley

College: Bryant, Riannon, Becca, me

My niece Aubrey 2002/ 2003ish??

Nieces Mariah and Aubrey 2002/ 2003ish?

Niece Mariah 2002?

Aubrey, Sarah, Mariah

2001, just before heading to Russia: me, Liz

Mom, Josh 2001?

Aubrey, Mariah 2000

College: Riannon

2000: Aubrey, Danielle, Mariah

College: Riannon, ???, me, Becca, Laura, Myra

2006: Bryce, Danielle, Logan

1995: Marissa, Liz, Ariana, Me, Jaime

2003: Kristin, me, Liz

1982: me, Danielle

1997 or 1998 my birthday from front to back: Sarah, Jessica, Kristin, Me, Ariana, Marissa, Liz, Kaelynn, Evan, Brandon, Caleb, Robbie

High school graduation: Brandon, me

High school graduation: me, Marissa, Kristin, Liz, Brandon, Caleb

1984: Josh, Danielle, Me

1989??; me, Nicki, Danielle

2006: Logan and Josh with his college afro

Early January

On New Year's Eve, we had a game night at some friends' house, and I almost completely forgot to take pictures.  This was so cute.  This friend and his wife were Abby's teachers at church for 2018, and he was obliging enough to read stories to my little girls.

Homeschool perk: school time in bed!  We were feeling kind of lazy and snuggly this day.  I just wish all of my kids could have been with us.

The boy has three big sisters.  Ha ha!

This little lady is constantly changing into old dance costumes  and then turning on music to dance. I can't keep normal clothing on her.  Ha ha!

 "Mom, take a picture!"

Laurel decided that my clean laundry pile made a really comfortable bed.  She also frequently uses it as a comfy seat.

We were making really good progress on picking up the house and then....

Abby brought this picture home from school.  She explained that the purple thing is my mom's grave.  Sweet girl.  She's always thinking about her grandma.  Talking about and drawing about her death has been a way she's processed it all.

Cute kiddos.  Seconds before I took this picture, the three were snuggled together and Brig was asleep.

We rotated toys the other day and I found unexpected motivation to organize and purge.  I only actually looked into two totes, but I got rid of an entire tote full of toys.  Yeah!  I also managed to empty several boxes and make big progress in organizing a storage room.

It's like Christmas every time I rotate toys, especially when I've neglected it for a while.

Things I never thought I'd say to my kids, "Laurel, stop stealing my brussel sprouts!"  Ha ha!

End of December

My brother gave us spikeball for Christmas.  It was fun to try something new.

This is what it looks like when our family of eight neglects the laundry for five days.  We had 7 clean loads (pictured) to put away, plus 5 more in varying states of being cleaned/ waiting to be washed.

I found some weird motivation one evening to spot clean our white carpet in the upstairs.  It's incredible how fast my boys get things on their carpet.  I think they need an area rug!

 
In the middle of carpet cleaning... "Take a picture of me!"

 I had only planned on doing some quick spots, but ended up tackling the stairs and entire hallway.  It's hard to tell in the pictures, but it made a noticeable difference.  BEFORE

AFTER

The boys' room after looked MUCH better.

I had a puzzling conversation with Laurel, age 3.  She woke me up with this.
Laurel, "Mom, don't look at the milk!"
Pause.
Laurel, "Mom, don't look at the milk!"
Me, "I won't look at the milk."
Laurel, "Close your eyes at the milk!  Say I will close my eyes at the milk!"
Me, "I will close my eyes at the milk."
I thought she was playing until I came downstairs.

We used our museum membership one final time at our home museum.  Jim hadn't actually been to this museum before so he particularly enjoyed it.  It's not the most interesting museum for kids, though it's well done, but the kids enjoyed themselves as well.  I mostly enjoyed having a family outing.  It was so nice having Jim home from work for a week and a half!

I forget where we were going one night, but these silly girls got into the car ahead of everybody and buckled up in the very front.  Ha ha!