Highlights from our 2014!!

2014 is almost over (already?!/finally!) and I thought we should do a recap of our year! The year started out REALLY hard & was even dubbed "the year of the tubes" but we survived and are stronger then ever- physically, mentally and spiritually.

PATRICK

Patrick is enjoying his last year in his 20's- lest we forget he is 3 years younger then I am & he loves it. But soon he will know what it's like to enter your 30's! He is still working at Go Daddy and in March switched from working graveyard shift as a supervisor over to a day shift on the Premier Services team. Thank goodness! Those 8 months he worked nights were rough on us all. In the middle of the year he was released as a counselor in Elders Quorum and put in as Elders Quorum president. El Presidente is enjoying the calling & doing great in it. He still makes the best jerky in all the land & if you ask nicely he'll make you some just how you like it. He had his turn with "year of the tubes" when he had an outpatient procedure this year to have some nasal polyps removed. He can breath a lot better now which is always a plus. He works so hard for our family & we love him so much for it. The boys all adore him & from the second he gets home someone is demanding his attention.

JESS

The year saw a lot of me taking boys to doctors/specialists and dealing with the never ending boy tornado that rips through the house everyday. Seriously in one week I had yogurt dumped in my hair twice. TWICE! I was released as YW 1st counselor and put in as a primary teacher for 10 & 11 year olds and as a Den Leader for 8&9 year olds. Good thing I've got some experience in dealing with boys! I had a weight loss goal that I came so close to hitting (46 out of 50 lbs lost) but will keep working on that this next year. I participated (almost willingly) in my 1st sprint triathlon- 400m swim, 12 mile bike, 5k run. Don't know if I'll be doing that again since swimming is not my thing, but it was a good experience. Right now I'm training for the Phoenix half marathon in February. I bit the bullet and got glasses at the beginning of the year and at the end of the year traded them in for contacts. I'm still getting use to them....

PRESTON

Preston turned 4 in January and immediately started asking when he would turn 5. 16 days btw. He went back to preschool with the same teacher as last year Ms. Claire and loves it. He's kindergarten ready & is looking forward to going to the big kids school and eating lunch there. He had tubes put in his ears in March after countless ear infections & they seemed to help. We will be going to the ENT in January to discuss getting his tonsils out to possibly help with all the strep/allergy/ear issues he has. He was in Sunbeams this year which means he did his first talk in church & participated in his first primary program. He was a big hit during the program & lots of people commented on how funny he was.

He is always coming up with funny phrases, like saying his nose has a shield when it's stuffy & confusing the words overcast with flabbergast. He went through a lot of phases this year- power rangers, angry birds, big hero 6 & is currently into Pokemon. He's a bit of a homebody (like his parents) but asks to go to a fun places like the movie theatre for popcorn or the phoenix childrens museum often. He wants so badly to be big and do things big kids & his dad does, in fact one of his favorite things to do is have a late night with his daddy playing video games- which he is really good at! 

JAXTON

Oh Jaxton. Our daily emotional roller coaster. If being 2 is hard you should see what its like being 3. Jaxton started working with AZEIP (az early intervention program) for his speech delay and then in November when he turned 3 started at the same school Preston goes to. He even has the same teacher! He LOVES going to school which is great. He became potty trained early in the year which was nice to only have 1 in diapers again! After some weird glucose issues- peeing alllllll the time, like 6 times a night, endless thirst, almost passing out in the mornings we had some blood work done and discovered he's hypoglycemic. How much better life has become now that we know he functions better with some juice right when he wakes up.

He's definitely our outside boy & isn't too interested in tv/movies and such which is fine. We predict he will be the first to break a bone since he is so all over the place and fearless. He starts Sunbeams in January and that will be interesting. But as long as they have snacks I think he will be happy! 

LUCAS
Lucas had a rough rough year. Poor baby had 3 brain surgeries in 3 months. Lucky for him since they placed the internal subdural to paritaniel shunt he's been doing really really well. So far he hasn't showed any major delays from the issues he had. He is working with AZEIP also to make sure there aren't any developmental delays and he's great. Of course my kid who had brain surgeries is my fastest walker/crawler/best eater. He is showing speech delays already, but that runs in the family. 

Lucas did the most growing this year I think, as a baby will do. He learned to sit up, stand, crawl, walk, run, turned 1, got 6 teeth, knows a handful of words he knows and is just a chatterbox trying to repeat everything he hears. Besides eggs there isn't a food he doesn't like. He ADORES his brothers and is the instigator for most of the wrestling matches that happen around here. He has the most infectious smile. Hopefully this next year we have less doctor visits for him and just as many smiles.

Other things that happened this year that we enjoyed:

Dress like a cow day at Chik-fil-a, Phoenix Childrens Museum, Pump it Up, 4th of July festivities, Splash pad, Temple open house, awesome Halloween costumes, the chance to serve others, Az State Fair, new fridge, Thanksgiving with family, 6 year wedding anniversary!, playing outside, Golfland, Swimming, Getting a dog (Louie), Park trips, playing games, making forts. 

Seems like there is never enough time in the day but the time we have we try to enjoy.
Happy New Year!!!!!

This is ALL Christmas

Ok. I thought it best to do 1 big long post all about Christmas and then it's done and we can move on to other things. Like Preston's birthday in 17 days.

So the week before Christmas the boys had Christmas parties at school. I try to go to all of their school functions if I can b/c I love how happy and proud they are showing me things in their room. Plus its nice to see things that are going on in their class that I can ask them about.

So first up was Jaxton's party. Lucas and Preston went along to this one. First we made ice cream cone Christmas trees. And ate them. We did other things too like play "Rudolph Rudolph wheres your nose?" and an obstacle course outside. I love their school and their teachers. 

After Jaxton got out we had 40 minutes before Preston had to go to school so we rushed to Sonic to get a "fun lunch" and ate it at the park and then rushed to get Preston to school. 

I then took #2 and #3 to go play at Rox's and went solo to Preston's party. MUCH easier that way! 

We tried to go simple for the teacher gifts this year but dressed them up by making them into snow globes. 

We went simple with our treats to our neighbors too. Nothing is more simple then oreo truffles in a makeshift basket via a paper plate!

We had a Christmas party at my grandpa's house the weekend before Christmas. It was nice to be able to continue the tradition of Christmas party at Grandpa's with a younger generation. Sad to say my boys weren't on their best behavior at the party. Missing naps and blood sugar issues bring out the worst in us. 

Christmas Eve we had our usual Christmas Eve dinner- White Chicken Chili! 

But first there were other activities before stuffing our faces. 

We started the day with an early trip to the doctor. Preston has a bacterial infection of the outer ear. 

Then we raced back over to Marc and Chelsey's house for the annual Christmas Eve breakfast party. It was sad not having Patrick with us- he had to work, but the boys and I did just fine.

That night Laura and her  kids came over to help us eat the chili and visit for a bit. 

And then finally it was Christmas!! Lucky for "Santa" he had the good sense to assemble some of the gifts before Christmas Eve. "Mrs. Clause" didn't have such good sense and ran out of tape TWICE while wrapping presents that night. 

And time out. Can we talk about our Christmas tree for a second? I feel like I should get an award for letting go of some control this holiday season. The boys really wanted colored lights up on the tree which is fine except some of the ones blinked and other strands didn't and it drove me CRAZY and I ignored it! And I let Patrick and the boys hang up all the ornaments and didn't even move them all how I wanted when they weren't looking! Thats kind of a big deal. 

Present time!!! 

Present Recap.
Preston- a big boy bike, spikey helmet, Pokemon ball, Scout boy shirt and 2 books plus little stocking stuff. 

Pretty sure he's the only 4 year old in the world who wanted a boy scout shirt for christmas. 

Jaxton- train table (thank you jimmy/mallory for picking that up on black friday!), a big big helicopter, pokemon doll, 5 Pete the Cat books & socks

Lucas- a cookie counting jar, a crank car that pops into a robot, new shoes. 

I think they were happy with what they got. It was a hard Christmas with Patrick working all day, and having worked Christmas Eve and then the days after Christmas. Takes away some of the togetherness and can make a person feel lonely. But he works so hard for our family and we are grateful for that & know that if he could have it any other way he would! 

The night ended with a lovely Christmas dinner (ham, macaroni and cheese, rolls, corn, and dessert) and then we had a video chat with Jimmy and Andrew and their significant others.
If you are wondering what a video chat between us looks like, it involved a lot of just making weird faces in the camera. 

Typical. 

2014 GoDaddy Party

Every year we look forward to the Go Daddy holiday party. And why wouldnt we?! It's on Chase Field- home of the 2001 World Series Champion Diamondbacks, all kinds of entertainment- past entertainers were Sinbad, Ke$ha, Psy (Gangham style guy), the B52's, catered food, prizes- rememebr that time we won $1,000?!! I do..., open bar (for all those Pepsi's we knock back) and a gift at the door- camping chairs, beach towels, things like that. It's a great time!
This year was a little different. 

Saturday I did some shopping and then started getting ready. LOVE Jamberry nails!!! 

Just like prom getting all dressed up! I love this part!! 

Everyone wanted in on a picture, even Louie who looks like he wants to eat Lucas. 

Party time! 

This years party was kind of disappointing. And I feel kind of spoiled saying that, but it's because I know how good it has been in the past that I feel that way. 

Lets start with decorations.

 Years past have had themes and we've had an ice skating rink, a ferris wheel, carousel, eiffel tower, paparazzi and this year we had 2 big lights. Thats it.
Food.
We use to have a big catered meal with carved meats and such. This year we had finger foods like empenadas, tacos, nachos. And for dessert there wasn't choices and fun things, there were prepackaged brownies. Thats it. And the 3 bar areas they had in the past was now 1 bar where we waited in line for 30 minutes for a bottle of water. 

Prizes.
They always bragged about how much money they give out to their employees. This year they bragged about how much money they give to charity- $1 million every 10 days and then they gave away 3 cars, 2 motorcycles and about 50 people won prizes like a watch, gopro, iphone, tv. And thats it. No money giveaways.
Entertainment.
 Eliana Elias. Who??? Daddy Yankee. Who???  And PitBull who looks like Gru from Dispicable me and Dr. Evil had a baby. 

Patrick got really into it as you can tell. 

Ok just kidding, I just caught him yawning. 

By the end of the night we (i mean me) were tired! Guess I could have used a few more Pepsi's but I didn't want to wait in line for another 30 minutes.

And then we left looking for our gift they give out at the door.
Only there wasn't anything.
How do you have all those employees you credit for your success and then not even give them even a thank you card?!?
Disappointing night. 

Guess we are just spoiled! 

At least we looked good and enjoyed the time we had with each other! 

A trip to the Phoenix Childrens Museum

Wednesdays is the day when we can go do something fun. Usually the boys insist on going to the library or having a "fun lunch" (aka McDonalds) or something like that. If Preston had his way we would go to the Phoenix Childrens Museum every week, but he knows that thats a place where we need a mommy and a daddy to go. But this week I was feeling brave, and we had a Groupon that expired by the end of the week and I decided to surprise them and take them on my own.
As soon as we pulled into the parking lot Preston knew where we were and there was quite a bit of excitement. 

They love love love the giant tree house and would spend hours playing in there if I let them. It makes me so nervous to have them go off on their own but it's good for all of us for them to do it. 

Every time we go there is a different display that is their favorite. This time Jaxton loved the Eagle fan. 

This isnt a great picture but it made me laugh b/c I posed them all standing and then of course Lucas escaped but as soon as I said "say cheese" he froze and smiled at me! 

Jaxton, always the architect. 

They really really loved playing outside on the playground. Usually when we go it's too hot to play, but this time it was perfect. There were long tunnel/tubes for them to crawls around on and they were in heaven. 

Seriously, has Jaxton ever been happier?! 

Jaxton's learned how to pedal a trike from school, but the ones here were just too long for him and he couldn't get the hang of it. 

I could not be more happy with how they behaved there. They listened and obeyed and didn't throw fits (except 1 from jaxton when it was time to go home) and it was a really fun time. I'm glad I decided to be brave and take them. First thing they asked when they got up this morning was if we could go back. So i'm sure we will visit again soon!