Happy New Year!

Only a couple days late! We are on day four of the new year and we still aren't fully functional. Christmas is put away, and the house is back to normal, but I guess I feel a little cheated with my Christmas break this year, being sick for most of it and only getting Ellie home for one week wasn't enough! Today she is home with strep, ugly stuff, but I think I am grateful for the slower pace this week and the fact that I have her home with me until tomorrow. Did you know that it was 14 degrees this morning? Brrr. So glad I didn't have to walk Ellie to the bus! =) If it is that cold we really should at least have some snow! Speaking of snow, we did have some flurries yesterday. I have a cute story about Sophia- on Monday she brought home a wishing lantern that she made at preschool. On the side was a wish written down, her wish? 'I wish for snow'- how cute is that! Tuesday we had snow flurries in the morning and it made my heart really happy. Now if we could get some to stick on the ground it would really be thrilling!

So, goals, we always talk about goals for the new year, right? Well our family has some good ones and I have a few too. My first is coming up in March, another half marathon. I really loved my last race, and want to do two this year, and keep my training up, and improve my time. We also want to get to the temple EVERY month. We realized with our busy schedules that we aren't going to be able to go together every month, but one of us needs to be in the temple, so we are going to do our best to get there, one of us, every month. The kids have goals too, simple things about their behavior and attitudes. I have got to get Sophia reading before Kindergarten, Ellie was so prepared for school and I want to make sure Sophia is ready too.

This year has amazing potential. I look forward and I am nervous about the future, but I know it is all in Heavenly Father's hands. I have already started preparing myself mentally for change, for the possibility of a move in a year, it is going to be hard on me but I know if it is the right thing for our family then it is what we need to do. Living here I have felt more stability and happiness than I have felt in a long time. Life is easy here, we have amazing friends, fantastic schools for the kids, a wonderful neighborhood, a fantastic ward family, and so many more wonderful things. It would be hard to leave, but that is part of life sometimes.

So, here my little Gradon, he is getting so big! He is a really funny little boy. He is learning and doing so much, he wants to be part of whatever is going on, and has the cutest smile and personality. The girls and I have been playing a lot of games lately to pass the time while Ellie is home. One of the games they love to play is Bananagrams, a fun word game like scrabble. Gradon likes to play too, by taking everyone's tiles and putting them back in the little banana bag. Happy New Year Everyone!