Another Year in Review

January
We started the year with a New Year's party at home and then had dinner with Amy & Loyd on New Year's Day.  

Connor turned 9 and Rafa turned 17.  Trey and I went to a John Pointer concert with Hope at the Granada Theater.  It was lots of fun.  I went to Vegas to visit Cody.

It was SO good to see him.   We spent the weekend at the Circus Circus hotel when we weren't shopping.

February
Cub Scout Blue & Gold Banquet.

Connor finished his requirements for his Wolf badge.

We went to the Dallas Zoo for a day.  Cody is 16.

March
Mariah broke her arm and threw a wrench in our plans for going to Florida for Spring Break.

We took Connor and Marc to Tanglewood for a few days and then I joined Hope in Austin for Phantom of the Opera.  

April
We had the kids for Easter.

We colored eggs and went to Amy & Loyd's for an egg hunt.  I celebrated being 41 and we went to the Dallas Zoo.

Trey played softball with the ward team.

May
Trey and I went to Vegas to visit Cody, Taylor, and SharNell.

We did some bowling and some shopping.  Trey took his boys camping for the Fathers and Sons campout while Mariah and I joined several sisters from the ward at Emma Phillip's dance recital.

The next day we went to the grand opening of the Giants of the Savannah at the Dallas Zoo.  We also hosted a Shrek party with food provided by McDonald's to celebrate the release of the newest Shrek movie.

Trey started his new job at GIS.

June
Monet graduated from Leander High School,

so we spent a weekend in Austin to help Hope celebrate.
I taught summer school.  Jimi came to visit for a few days.

We met my Aunt Elsie at the

Dallas Museum of Art for late Night.  Trey entered a new decade.

and we went bowling with some friends one afternoon.

Taylor is 22 and Alex is 13.

July
We went to my cousin Sam's for the Fourth of July.

It was fun to celebrate with family. Then we went to DISNEY WORLD!!

 It was a great week in Florida enjoying the parks and beach.  It is always so good to see my Daddy and Di.  We got to spend some time with Mother and Roger too.

August
I went to Vegas with Jimi and Scott.

I LOVED having my three boys together with me.  We also took Alex, and Rafa to Six Flags for a day.

September
Back to School and Back to Seminary.  Grandma Bailey came to my house for the first time.

We had some dinner together before I went to see Dave Mathews band with Hope, Sam, & Samantha.

October
Marc turns 5 with a Monster Truck party.

November
Jimi is finally 21!  Trey and I stayed home for Thanksgiving and then celebrated with his family the day after.

December
Mariah turns 8.  She celebrated with a party at LaMadeleine and Galleria Ice Rink.  I took a quick trip to Wisconsin to visit Jimi.  We have the kids for Christmas this year, so that will be lots of fun.  Taylor graduates from BYU-I with a Bachelor's Degree in Education.

Mariah's Baptism

Baptism Sparkle Purple Baptism Invitation

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Happy New Year

I am a sucker for New Year's Resolutions.  I make them every year.  Some I keep.  Some I don't. But at least I have goals...Last year, I wanted to lose 20 lbs. (I lost 10).  I also wanted to do 52 endowment sessions: the equivalent of once a week.  I did about 32.  I also wanted to reduce my debt or get rid of it altogether.  Well, that one I didn't do so well on.  

So what's up for this year?

I want to lose that other 10 lbs.  I did really well last year from January to July.  Once August hit with going back to work, etc. I hit a plateau.  I am back at it now and I am hopeful to get back to my Weight Watchers Goal Weight.  I am a lifetime member.

I also want to try to do 52 endowment sessions.  I think that is a good goal.  This year our "kid night" is Wednesdays.  Last year it was Tuesdays.  I am going to try to go to the temple every Tuesday night.  I tried going on Thursdays last year, but by Thursday night I am usually too tired to do much of anything.  Maybe this  plan will work.

Debt...well....right now I am not sure how I am going to do that.  I read an article in Reader's Digest about going on a spending fast. RD Spending Fast article

It sounds interesting...I am going to think about what things I need to spend on and what my "Latte Factor" is.  I am sure there is money that I spend that I could redirect...

I should really change clothes and head over to the temple.  Might as well get a head start on that.