I'm back...

I know, it has been forever. So here's what we've been up to.

I got released as Primary President. (Woohoo!) Don't get me wrong, I absolutely loved this calling but it was a lot of work and after 3 years, I was starting to feel pretty burnt out. After some friendly suggestions to the Bishop, I got my wish to be the Primary Chorister. I love it! I still get to be in Primary but when I go home on Sunday, I'm done until the next Sunday.

We had our annual New Year's Eve party. This time we made it to the New Year without stitches or a trip to the ER. So our year started out better right away.

We had a fun and busy Christmas. Most of Robby's family was in town so it made for a crazy and fun Christmas. The boys were thrilled to have Kelsey, Tommy and Maya stay with us. As usual the boys got nearly everything they could possibly want for Christmas. We spent a whole evening the next week cleaning out their room to make room for the new ones. We nearly filled out entire trash can but at least now they can find their toys.

Even our neighbor Margaret got them a present. Margaret, who is 83, came over on Christmas Eve and asked Robby if he would come and help her bring the boys' present over. This is what he brought back:

Yup, that's right, the present was bigger than them both put together. Here's what was inside:

They LOVE it. The only problem is where to put it in the house until it's warm enough outside to put on the patio.

Sadly, Jack did not get the real puppy he asked for. Instead he got a toy puppy that does all the stuff a real puppy does, just minus the poop. He seems to be satisfied with it for the most part. But if he ever finds money lying around he tells us he's going to use it to buy a puppy. This phase will end soon, right? Because seriously, it's not going to happen.

A couple days before Christmas the boys got together with their cousins and made Gingerbread (graham cracker) Houses. If you know my boys their houses say everything about them. Owen's is nice and neat, the sides match, etc. Jack's is crazy! My favorite part is the huge cookie he slapped on the roof.


Last week my parents came to visit. They came this same time last year and the weather was sunny and beautiful. This year they came and it was like a hurricane! It rained every single day and the wind blew like crazy. The boys still had a blast with Grandma and Grandpa and as usual my parents help us fix things around the house. My dad fixed our doorknobs, installed a new doorbell, helped Robby fix the bathroom faucets and hung a new towel bar. Here's Jack "helping" my dad.


My mom and I spent most of our time making Valentine decorations and sewing. Owen was thrilled to have her sew his Webkin some clothes. Here's Shaggy in his latest getup.


Owen's requests while my parents were here were to 1) go to McDonald's for breakfast, and 2) go to the train museum. Luckily, we were able to do both. The boys had a lot of fun at the train museum. We had never been before and the boys loved getting on all the old trains and then playing with all the toy trains. I'll add pictures when I get them from my dad.