It has been 18 months since my last post. Having our sixth kid was a bit much and some things had to go. Most of those "things" we quit were my interests like blogging, running, reading, book club, etc. There wasn't enough time for extras. It took everything I had to accomplish my regular, menial tasks-cleaning, homework, church callings, piano lessons-and I was exhausted by the end of the day. f there was something I needed to get done it would take me six weeks to get around to it.
Things are beginning to balancing out. I'm able to keep up with the mundane and also have a little extra time for myself now. At the beginning of the year I started running again. I made a goal to read a book once a month. I had no intention of beginning my blog again until three weeks ago. My girls were on reading past blog posts and laughing. Watching them laugh and reminisce about forgotten stories made me realize I needed to start my blog again. My kids love it.
It still took me three weeks to sit down and get it done. :)
Here's what you missed (not in chronological order):
Christmas 2016 with my grandma's tree in the background.
My baby (3months old in the last post) grew up and he is adorable. He's old enough for nursery and appropriately screams each time we send him in.
We went to the coast for Memorial Day LAST year.
We spent one night camping. It was our first ever camping trip with only our family. We are not adequately outfitted for camping excursions. We need to accumulate some basic camping gear. Until then we will probably go back to camping with/mooching off others who ARE adequately outfitted for camping.
We also took a beautiful hike on that trip. And we found ourselves beautifully lost along the highway.
A black and white photo correctly represents the mood of the kids as we hoped and prayed we would find Dad at some point along the deserted road.
It was all smiles when we found him. The kids have vowed never to hike again.
Daisy was baptized. Her shoes were her favorite part.
Summer time peaches...
Harry Potter book release...
A Utah wedding in August (followed by another Utah wedding in November)...
School began...
Brace face...
Star (and be the bad guy) in the 5th grade play...
And third place winner of the cooking competition.
2016 was a really busy year. I will (maybe) go back and describe some of these events in more details so my kids will read and remember all the funny stories. This is my family history effort. One day I will make it to the actual Family History Library and figure out how to do real family history but, for today, this will have to do.
