Teachers Know How to Party

We have a goal to try and entertain more. Party because we always want to invite people over, but feel intimidated by the size of our house - feeling like we can't fit people in. We decided to swallow our pride and have a teacher party at our house. I've worked at La Europa for 5 years now and never hosted one - it's about time. I knew I couldn't fit everyone and their families at tables for dinner, but we decided to do a game night and eat muchies. I was inspired by our New Year's Eve party because it was so much fun and simple as far as food.

I think it was a hit. I set up a separate room for the kids with a tent, a Lego table, and Kyson's toybox. Surprisingly enough, they spent most of time with the TV, or chasing each other around the coffee table. Kyson was the only boy and he didn't know how to play gentle with the little ladies. He kept trying to get them to chase him and he'd push them. He wasn't trying to hurt them, and it wasn't hard, but I don't think the girls liked playing with Kyson too much.

The adults played many games. Well, "played" is a term used lightly. We read the trivia questions to Are you Smarter than a 5th Grader, Mad, Gab, Origins, and then finally did Catch Phrase. We didn't keep score on anything, just like trying to guess things. Kris even found a few friends with the husbands of a few teachers. It was a nice evening and I dare say, I think we'll have to do it again.

The Perks of Basketball

Saturday night we went to a basketball to see our nephews smoke it up on the court. Both of our nephews, Josh and Baily, play basketball. Josh nearly couldn't play this year because just before Thanks- giving he broke his hip playing football. He was ordered to take a year off from sports. Luckily, he healed very quickly and was able to play. Baily and Josh have been on the same team for years, in fact, that's how my sister met her husband. He coached the team that both boys played on. I guess there are more perks to playing basketball than just physical fitness.

Anyway, the boys did pretty well. It was nice to go to the game because Bill was in town and we got to see him as well. Both boys had a chance to do free throws and they played pretty well. Josh has a hard time with his coach because he's in high school and doesn't seem to know what he's doing.

Family Goal #1

One of the many goals I have this year is to do Family Home Evening at least once a month. You'd think that would be easy - one day out of 30 shouldn't be a big deal. Well, I'm proud to say, we made it for January. We were planning to go tot he aquarium some time soon and talk about how God created all of these great things. Maybe even talk about the entire creation. An unfortunate event got us there sooner than we expected.

Amy, our sister-in-law, had some trouble with her jaw over the weekend and had to go in for surgery. She's in pretty bad shape so Rusty, her husband and Kris's brother, took Monday off to take care of the kids. He was going to take the kids to the aquarium and asked if we wanted to join them. Monday night, we did.

It was so funny to watch Kyson run through the aquarium. You'd think he'd never seen a fish before. It was hilarious. It was funny to watch him with his cousins that are his age. Colin is 2, Kyson is 2.5 and Blake is 3, so the three of them are really cute together. At one tank in particular they were so excited because there were fish that looked like Nemo. It was a nice adventure, a great family bonding time, and a chance for Amy to have alone time. I think the entire event was a success (even though it was only about 45 minutes).

I'm so proud of us, one month down, only 11 more to go.

America's Got Talent

My dad has many talents that may not be appreciated by everyone. He strums a mean banjo, has a vast knowledge of fruit jars, and can find a bargian on any piece of junk you're searching for. The last talent I mentioned was what found him the fine instrument pictured above. He spent in the double digits for the beautiful piece of equiptment, but it was well worth the purchase price. Breathtaking music does not have a price and only a naturally talented musician can pick up an instrument and play music like my dad. I've provided a video for your listening pleasure.Thank you dad, for sharing your talents with us. We're so proud.

Goals for 2010

For a while now I've had my goals for the year written out by I hadn't had a chance to put them here so I can be held accountable. I've organized my goals into a few categories so they won't seem overwhelming to try and complete. I also plan to do quarterly updates to re-evaluate and check in with my goals - at least, that's the goal. So here it goes, Kelli's goals for the year 2010.

Personal Goals:
1) Floss at least once a week - preferably every day.
2) Finish my nightly prayers without falling asleep.
3) Read the lesson/scripture chapter before Sunday for Sunday School and Relief Society.
4) Exercise at least 3 days a week

Family Goals:
1) Have Family Home Evening at least once a month - preferably every week.
2) Invite company over more often - preferably once a month.
3) Potty train Kyson

Project Goals:
1) Clean and organize the garage.
2) Scan all my grandmother's old picture books and put them into one book with captions and dates.

Home Improvement Goals:
1) Finish painting the upstairs - preferably the whole house.
2) Fix the broken drawer in the kitchen
3) Replace the broken blinds so we don't look like white trash.
4) Replace the cracked window in our bathroom.
5) Get a curtain for the living room.

Well, there you have it, my hopes for 2010. I'll check in in a few months and let you know how they're going.

Our Nerdy Neighbor New Year's Party

This year, Cora B was the place to be (sorry-you missed out Jade). For the past 3 years we've brought in the New Year with our friends, the Holts, by doing puzzles, eating junk food, and just enjoying the company. This year, we had triple the fun when a third family joined our festivities - the Bartletts.

This year's menu consisted of a fondue pot, taquitos, pizza bites, little smokeys, a chocolate fountain and a plethora of dips for tortilla chips. I figured it didn't matter if I ate junk all night because I already lost over 20 pounds last year - from the pregnancy :). We did a murder mystery puzzle, played Catch Phrase, Fact or Crap, and Compatibility. It was so much fun at midnight we didn't want it to end, so we kept going until nearly one. When midnight hit, Nate and Rebecca brought sparkling apple cider, but we were laughing so hard at everything that we started to question if it was indeed non-alcoholic. The entire evening was a blast and I can't think of a better way to start the new year - with wonderful friends.

Nate getting loaded on Sparkling Apple Cider

Rebecca being tempted by the Chocolate Fountain

Our first picture of the year

Coulsen getting jiggy with the Wii