Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to everyone!

We are so thankful for this time of year to celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. We hope this finds you well.

We have had a great year and have enjoyed spending time together.

Brad continues to work at Progressive Insurance in the IT department. He continues to improve his skills programming skills. At church, Brad is serving in the primary with the 9 year olds. He loves his calling and is doing a fantastic job. He is able to occasionally get in a golf or racquetball game. His dad and brother were able to visit us this year in Colorado and spent 3 days golfing. Every boys dream.

I have had a busy year. I continue to take pictures and have enjoyed every photo shoot. I was able to take a photography class and I loved it. I have also started teaching preschool this year. It is going really well and I would love to continue teaching.

Tyler is 6 this year, in Kindergarten and doing really well. He is improving his hand writing skills and his reading is coming along nicely. In November, he finished his 5th soccer season. He finally scored a goal and was the happiest boy you have ever seen. He also played t-ball this year and did fairly well considering he has never played before. He also took his first leap off of grandma and grandpa's diving board. He loved it!

Tyler is a great help around the house and he loves to make Katie laugh. When the two get together they continue to laugh on a continuous basis. He has the best smile in the world.

Katie is 3 and continues to amaze me everyday. She is a little mama in training. She loves to help around the house, she loves to color and draw. Most days you will find her with markers and paper in hand. Katie knows her alphabet and I think she will be reading before she starts Kindergarten. She loves to learn and read books. If I would read to her all day, she would let me. Katie loves to swim. She was so brave as she climbed the ladder to the big slide at the pool. She tried many times but didn't have the courage to go down. One day she had enough courage and took the plunge. She loved it from then on. She also went off the diving board. She continues to ask when she can go swimming again.

We were lucky enough to have a few visitors this year. Grandma and grandpa Clonts, Grandpa Bastian, Uncle Reed and the Lindsey family. We welcome all who would love to visit.

We hope everyone has had a great year.

101 update

Here is an update on my 101 list. I still have a long way to go but I feel I can accomplish this list, at least most of it. I am really excited to really push forward this next year. In Young Women's for one of our activities we are going to be talking about goals and I get to share my 101 list with the girls and talk about how to set and accomplish goals.

1. Go to Disneyland

2. See the Braves play in Atlanta (5-12-2011)

3. Take pictures of all the temple in Utah (that are currently built 13) (2 completed)

4. Design a new business card (10-12-2010)

5. 1 photo shoot weekly for 6 consecutive weeks

6. Fit into wedding dress

7. Attend General Conference

8. Sell temple prints

9. 52 consecutive weeks w/ different theme, post picture weekly on blog

10. Attend the temple everyday for one week (tue-sat)

11. Visit a temple I have never been to...Columbus Ohio Temple 10/2010

12. Earn enough money from photo shoots to buy a full frame camera

13. Take a photography class (5-11)

14. Learn or improve 5 new photography skills White Balance, DOF

15. Read standard works: Old, New, BOM, D&C, PGP (completed BOM 2x, completed PGP)

16. Stop biting finger nails (10-11)

17. Buy a home

18. Cook dinner every night for 30 days

19. Run 5k

20. Go back to school

21. Create a March of Dimes team

22. Go to education week or women's conference

23. Weekly outing with Tyler and Katie for 2 months, then continue

24. Memorize The Family Proclamation

25. Memorize The Living Christ

26. Hold Family Home Evening for 2 consecutive months

27. Kiss Brad every day for 15 seconds for 2 consecutive months

28. Read 5 church books within 10 months

29. Quiet time with Brad for 30 minutes; no kids, no TV, no phone. 3 months daily

30. Bridal shoot or wedding (wedding in April or May)

31. Read entire conference issue for November and May

32. One night a week no TV from 6pm to bed 2 months 12-11

33. Morning scripture study before getting on the computer for 2 months

34. Write in my journal weekly for 3 months

35. Make 100 baby blankets for the NICU

36. Design another website for photography (10-11)

37. Save 10% from every photo shoot

38. Read from Book of Mormon every morning with Tyler before he goes to school. 3 months
Have family scripture study daily, 1 month then continue 1/2011
39. Pay off credit cards
40. Host a game night

41. Visit 3 states I have never been to before (Montana, Wyoming, Georgia, Ohio) 10/2010

42. No fast food for a month 1/2011

43. Watch a sunrise and sunset in the same day with Brad, NO KIDS

44. Visit 5 different museums (visited 2)

45. Encourage someone else to start a 101 list 11/2010

46. Complete a 1000+ piece puzzle by myself

47. Visit 3 national parks (Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, ...)

48. Attend an outdoor concert

49. Donate blood at least 3 times

50. Friday night date night for 2 months

51. Kiss in the rain

53. Go golfing with Brad

54. Finish Tyler and Katie's 1st year scrapbook

55. Donate $5 for PEF for every goal I do not complete

56. Invite a new family once a week to dinner for 2 months

57. Climb the incline with Brad

58. Make a new quilt for my bed

59. Finish Tyler's bed spread (10-11)

60. Make a bed spread for Katie's bed

61. Volunteer at Tyler's school once a week for 2 months 12/2010

62. One week, do not go grocery shopping for food and live off food storage

63. Start riding my bike again

64. Learn to bottle applesauce

65. Identify 100 things that make me happy

66. Plan a 6 month dinner calendar 1/2011

67. Make a "bucket list" of 20 things or places I would like to do or visit, be specific

68. Learn to make homemade bread

69. Get a couples massage

70. Floss every day for one month (Nov 2, 2010)

71. Go on a picnic with my family

72. Do 50 consecutive push-ups (hundredpushups.com) (I can't even do one now)

73. Go on a girls weekend trip

74. Blog at least once a week on family blog for 3 months

75. Start a new family tradition 11-2011 Thanksgiving Tree

76. Take a photo of 26 things, one for each letter of the alphabet and post on my photography blog

77. Go horseback riding as a family

78. Learn to identify 10 constellations

79. Memorize 25 scriptures

80. Try zumba 12/2010

81. Put together a family tree with as many pictures as possible 4 generations

82. Take a picture of my kids with their grandparents and great grandparent

83. Do the 200 sit-up challenge (twohundredsitups.com)

84. Become an organ donor

85. Post on DPS for 3 months, every challenge

86. Go to bed every weeknight at 10 for a month

87. Potty train Katie (08/2011)

88. Make a portfolio

89. Take a random road trip with Brad, we could try spontaneously, but we have kids

90. Watch a movie with Brad in the country

91. Have a big 4th of July celebration party (Brad's favorite holiday)

92. Milk a cow

93. Take a trip to Texas with my mom to find more genealogy

94. Go whale watching

95. Write 101 love notes for Brad 2/14/2011

96. Pay for someone's meal who is behind me in the drive thru (9/2011)

97. Serve 10 people in a month, random acts of kindness

98. Read 15 minutes with Tyler and Katie daily, 1 month then continue

99. Write a letter to self on 1st day of challenge to be read on last day of challenge. Letter should include how I am feeling about self, goals, and where I am spiritually. Also relationship with Brad. (10-2-2010)

100. Write another 101 in 1001 if I enjoy this challenge

101. Move back to Arizona! (really a wish)

Wow I have A LOT to do.

Tyler's 1st tooth

A couple of weeks ago I took the kids to the dentist for their 6 month check up. I was completely shocked when they told me Tyler had 2 lose teeth. He had been telling me they were lose but I never saw them move.

Monday night Tyler's 1st tooth came out. He came in from brushing his teeth with a mouth full of blood. I couldn't believe he had pulled his tooth out on his own. He was so excited. So we rinsed his mouth until it quit bleeding.

Katie was so disappointed that she hadn't lost a tooth. She was really sad.

We told Tyler to put his tooth under his pillow so the tooth fairy could come. Luckily he put it in a plastic bag because it is the tiniest tooth I have ever seen. So we took his tooth, put money in his bag and went about our business. This morning when Tyler woke up, he was the saddest boy in the world. He didn't want money, he wanted his tooth. So when he got home from school, he went straight to his room and was so happy because his tooth was back, along with the money. He thinks he is so big now.

Tyler has already lost his tooth. We can't find it anywhere. With it being so small, I don't know if we will ever find it. He was hoping the tooth fairy would put it back under his pillow. He kept checking every couple of hours. Sad boy.