I can't say that I loved this book, but maybe by far one of the best I've read this year. It is about Jeannette Walls life being raised by parents who didn't want to live the normal life, and in doing so went in the very opposite direction. The kids would go days without eating food and they lived in homes without plumbing, heating, or anything else that we take for granted every day. This book has given me a new understanding of the homeless and a new strength. It was very interesting to see how she made it out of that life and the strength and courage she gave to her siblings. Definately a must read

New Site

Check out my new favorite site. I have gotten some cute ideas for Riley's hair. She hates getting her hair done, but since we tried these hairstyles she has loved it.

My New Years Resolutions

I very rarely write down my New Years resolutions. I think I don't want to in case I don't accomplish the goal. This year is a time of change so I am writing down my resolutions. This post is more for me than anything. I need a place to remind me daily of these goals or they would not happen.

1- To create a home of order and comfort

2- To live a healthy, active lifestyle

3- To read a book on the life of each President

4- To remember to read scriptures and pray daily

5- To be more involved in my children's schoolwork

There it is! There are a lot of things I need to work on, but these will work for this year. I hope since I wrote these down they will truly happen.

Christmas 2008

Our Christmas was a nice ending to this year. Santa, as usual, brought balloons Christmas morning. A favorite family tradition.
Not the greatest picture, but we are sledding at midnight on the streets after the big snow storm.
Mark captured this great pic on our trip to see the Christmas lights at Temple Square
Here is another great picture of that evening. Temple Square was the last tradition we hadn't gotten to experience, so Dec.21 at about eight o'clock we bundled the kids up and headed down there.
The kids had a lot of fun in the snow
Our kids annual sing-a-long at their school
Cooper had a lot of fun bowling for his birthday on the ninth. Thanks to all his friends that came.

Well there is the recap. It was a lot of fun and now I have to decide on my New Year's Resolutions.

Cooper made the perfect remark today after we voted. He said "We need a joke." He is so right! He handed me a laffy taffy and we had a fun time telling jokes. Here is the joke for the day off of the laffy taffy: What does a television have in common with a rabbit? or What did the crop say to the farmer? If anyone can guess the answer I will reward them with 5 minutes of uninterrupted eye contact!

The Best Vacation Ever

Sorry for not posting for awhile. I feel like I have been running a million miles a minute. I thought having Cooper in Kindergarten would give me some extra time, but it has made things a little difficult. Kindergarten is still half day in Utah (come on, get with the times), so I have to drive to my kids school three times a day. I am always in my car these days. Oh-so back to the best vacation ever. We went to New York for our anniversary and we had so much fun. Thanks to Suzy, Quinton, Jacob, William, and Grace, Mark's sister's family, for showing us the sights. The picture above was taken on the ferry from New Jersey to the Statue of Liberty. I kindof look like Sherlock Holmes, but oh well. Lady Liberty was a lot bigger than I thought she would be. The best part of the vacation was experiencing it all with my hubby. Neither one of us had been to New York before, so it was fun to experience it together. We were giddy about everything and were total tourists. We had to go get our picture taken with Rupert by David Letterman's studio, stand in the long line to got to the top of the Empire State building, take a picture of anything that reminded us of Seinfeld episodes, go see Ground Zero and Wall Street, eat all the yummy food, and much more. We had a blast and we will definately be going back.
Here is something you don't see everyday. This was in front of the Rocky steps in Philadelphia.

The Last Time

Cooper's first day of Kindergarten was Tuesday! This is the last time I will send a child off to Kindergarten. It is sooo sad :( What makes it even worse is he didn't even say goodbye, but its good he is so excited. I really can't believe the baby phase in my life is over. I am not really sure what I am supposed to be doing now. Hmmmm.... I think I will pamper myself! I got a chance to ask Cooper his faves. Here is what he said:

fave subject: Painting

fave food: corn dogs

fave sport: The Jazz

fave song: Soldier Boy

fave movie: Shark Tale

Best Book: Thomas the Train

awesome activity: play on the computer

his hero: Superman

Something you might not know about him is: "my name is Cooper James Robbins. I like to watch TV and play games. I love to play on the computer. I hate cats and I like to play Chutes and Ladders."