Emma and Ethan are such good friends. She is very good with little children, it is a gift of hers. Emma and Ethan went outside to play after Sadie and Isaac got on the bus and found a frozen world full of fun things to do. Like ice skate in the sand box and make foot prints in the frosty grass!

Angel baby and not so angel baby. Ethan put his hat on that way himself. My children bring me such joy without even trying.

Joel hard at work. He sent me this picture this morning. He is amazing!

We had so much fun on our annual Christmas tree day. Breakfast with my brother Jeremy's family in the morning and then on to Snowshoe Evergreen to cut down our trees. Thank-you Grandma Martha for helping us all and Jeremy for cutting down our trees after my kids hacked them up with the saw. I love my family!

The day before Thanksgiving Neeley's kids and mine plus Josh and Sharsti went to Owen's beach. It was cold but beautiful. It was good to get to know Sharsti's fiance a little better and also to see her so very happy.

Can I just say how blessed I am in marriage! Through rough times and good times, we are there for each other even across the continents and ocean. I never get tired of being his best friend.

This is Joel and my second trip to Germany. We had such a good time and enjoy that country and its people so very much. We went to the 1936 Winter Olympic Stadium. We hiked around in the mountains. We toured the streets and shops of Garmisch. We also toured the Dachau Concentration Camp. He is my best friend and I love being with him. I missed my children but I so enjoyed this rare opportunity to be with my sweetheart.

The sunsets were of course incredible. I couldn't stop taking pictures of them. I am so blessed to have such beautiful fun children and a husband who is my best friend. I will never forget our time together in Hawaii this summer.

I could not keep Ethan out of the water. He would race straight for the ocean without any fear. He loved it when I would swim out with him and lift him above the swells as they would come crashing in. When the kids weren't swimming they were in the beautiful perfect sand digging and building. Such fun!

Breeanna helped so much. She was so much fun and we were all very glad she came. Ethan couldn't eat his ice cream fast enough before it would melt. The other picture is from our day at the Hilton. The kids enjoyed the opportunity to kayak in the lagoon. They were actually really good at it by the time we left.

These are from our trip to Hawaii back in June. This was Joel's first time home since leaving for Kuwaitt. He is in Afghanistan now and we miss him so much but we loved this vacation. So very fun and memorable for us all.

Today is the last spirit day at Sadie's school. The theme was "Hawaiian" so Sadie dressed up in a dress I got in Hawaii when I was 8! I thought she looked so cute I had to post these pictures of her. When Emma and Ethan saw Sadie getting her picture taken they had to get in on it so there you go. The hair flowers were made by my friend Megan and I think they turned out just adorable. So ALOHA! Or as Emma would say "HULA HULA!!"