11Years and Counting!

It has been 11 WONDERFUL years now married with my very best friend! And I think we are going on 16 years of being friends....yes it took us a little while to get to the whole marriage thing...but it wouldn't be us if it didn't!  I mean for the first YEAR I thought Josh's name was HOBIE and when people started talking about this guy named Josh I didn't know who they were talking about! But we got passed all of that and I did finally learn his name!
We have had many good and not so good times in these past years but through all of it we have laughed a lot...sometimes it has taken us a little time to get to the laughing part but we always seem to get there! Not everyone seems to think we are as funny as we think we are, but that's what seems to make us so perfect for each other! So here is to another 11 years of laughing together!

New Year New Goals!

Last year we filled out these sheets and so this year we read what we wrote last year and then wrote new ones! First we write down what our favorites are for the year...example: food activity, color and books. And if you are anything like my kids they change year to year.  Then we go over the highlights of the last year. Example: Favorite memory, greatest lesson...things like that. Lastly we write down what we look forward to in the next year...Example: goals, what you want to learn, etc.  It was fun to hear what everyone wrote and thought about last year and it will be fun to hear what was written for this year. It has been a good way to teach the girls about making goals, not that they remember what they wrote down for a goal by the end of the year...but we try!

The End Of Another Year...

Our somewhat new tradition to end the year and to bring in a new one is to go to the "Little Andersen's" New Years Eve Party! They really know how to throw a party! Josh and I both are not stay out late people (Josh NEVER has been and I am no longer one because of being married to Josh!) and each year we say we can't stay ALL night...but what happens the "Little Andersen's" do their magic and we end up staying ALL night! This year I was sick, (yep I bet everyone is shocked...me being sick) and I wasn't really feeling the party spirit but I couldn't miss this one...so I dragged myself out of bed and actually got dressed! I was going to take my camera with me this year to take pictures...but not feeling good I forgot it and then thought wait...Amy takes pictures EVERY year so I can just wait until she posts about it on her blog and steal her pictures (but is it really stealing when you tell the person that you are going to do it? And anyway I didn't take all of them...because really that was a LOT of pictures!). I did promise to give her credit for her amazing picture taking skills! So here we go through our night of fun...
It started with a little and I mean little game of air hockey! Josh cheats so he will say that he won but we all know who really won!

I don't know how the "Little" Andersen's do it but they can get Josh to dance at least once during the night at this party! Josh NEVER plays along with things but for one night he will participate! I know it's practically a Christmas Miracle! I only did it twice, I was coughing so hard that at one point Amy had to put a cough drop in my mouth while dancing! But watching everyone else do it was SO much fun!

Then we started the real games...Minute to Win it! We always seem to play boys vs. girls and us girls never seem to win, and this year was no different! We did do it  couples against each other which was fun. Here are a few of them...

Josh and I had to pick up different paper bags that were all different sizes with our mouths and the only thing that could touch the ground was our feet...I thought for sure I had this one that Josh wouldn't be able to do even one! He surprised ALL of us and ALMOST beat me...I WON but he got all the way to the last one...way to go Josh, super impressed with your new found flexibility! 

Then the leg wrestling started and Josh won...I think only because Amy was injured and couldn't compete, but that is only one girls opinion!

Then we were off to the cold outside to shoot up our rockets that we made when we first got to the party! And then ended the evening with a toast and a group picture! We had so much fun with everyone and LOVE bringing in the new year with these amazing people!

Winter Break Happenings...

I have been sick ALL break...well really I have been sick for months but we wouldn't go into that... and I wanted to still doing thing with my girls during this break since I was sort of stuck inside. So we put together a few puzzles while watching I think EVERY cartoon movie we own! When I say a few I mean a total of 9 puzzles with a grand total of 3,391 pieces! Yep we went a little over board!  Here is a picture of our set up in my room in front of the TV! We started together on a big one then the girls each did two small ones by themselves then we moved on to big ones after that. 

This was our first one that we did together. The girls picked it out, it is a view of Vegas.

These are the girls small one's that they did all by themselves! Elizabeth did the two dogs and the bunny and Abby did the one dog and the unicorn.

Then we did the bears...

Then we got into the Arches....

Minnie came next, Abby's favorite. Abby and I did this one together while Elizabeth went with Josh to work on Porky. And last was Witches Night Out, a Utah favorite!

I do have to say that the girls didn't stay in the whole break. My sweet sister took the girls out with her a couple of times to see real people and I took them out one day to go shopping with their Christmas money, where I also got the Vegas puzzle! I had a lot of fun with my girls, we talked and watched movies, and they would get frustrated with the puzzles but they would work it out and it all would come together. So even though we didn't go out and do any grand things I had a lot of fun this winter break hanging out with my girls!

Christmas Day 2013

I had all of these elaborate ideas of fun activities to do before Christmas this year....but being sick the whole month kind of wasn't in the plan (I really do need to just always put that in the plan) and Christmas came faster then expected! So Christmas morning I finally dragged myself out of bed and went up stairs to see what Santie had brought! The girls had been awake for hours and some what patiently waiting for all of us to get us stairs. And of course before I would let them open gifts I made them take a picture in front of their tree.

The day before Josh and I took the girls to the store to get each other a gift. Elizabeth is a planner who plans ahead and is just in and out....Abby on the other hand takes FOREVER!  But they earned the money and paid for their gifts themselves. And then came home and wrapped their gifts. On Abby's gift from Elizabeth the tag read..."To Abby From Elizabeth or Siser" I love the relationship that these two girls have with each other.

Santie came for Josh as well as well as the girls who gave him one of the big snickers bars (of course it was bought by my mom, but the girls took credit). Elizabeth also gave Josh $5.00 because she said that is what he asked for!

It was a wonderful Christmas Morning. Josh surprised me with tickets to go see Wicked in July and I in turn surprised him with a new watch, the one that he saw and liked on our cruise! So much for the deal that we weren't going to get each other anything!
That night we had everyone over for a yummy dinner and Cory had put together a Christmas program! This is the first year that we did a Christmas program, I loved it! The kids were so cute in it and my mom as the angel awesome!

 The kids all performed something as well....These kids are getting so big and are so talented!

It was a fantastic Christmas and a wonderful way to spend the day with family!