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1. It feels like we've seen lots of movies in the theater lately. Our theater in town is literally a mile from our house (maybe less) and it's NEVER busy. Ever. Sometimes we even have the entire theater to ourselves... I honestly don't know how they stay in business! But anyway, it's so accessible that we've been able to take the big kids to a movie during Boston's nap time, or right after dinner without keeping them up too late at night. It's been great! Most recently we've seen Star Wars (some of us saw it twice) and also The Greatest Showman (some of us also saw this one twice). It's so fun having 2 of our kids be old enough to see movies with us, even though the movies aren't "disney". We meant to go see Wonder while it was in the theater but things kept getting in the way and then it wasn't showing anymore. Bummer! Because we listened to the whole book as a family too. Redbox...

2. Logan has been struggling at school ever since Christmas break. He's had a really hard time with the separation. Lots of tears, lots of begging not to go, and lots of dramatic drop-off experiences when I drop him with his carpool. He's never been like this before, so it's really throwing me. This morning was the absolute worst though. It took me 20 full minutes to get him settled in his classroom after lots and lots of tears. It's so strange to feel frustration, sorrow, and guilt all at one time. I hate to see him so sad!! I don't know how to make it better. But it's also super frustrating because it came out of the blue and it's a total drag (selfish, I know). Plus I feel so much mom-guilt over it. I hope (and will pray) that he feels comfortable once again and not so sad each time.

3. Grace is such an awesome big sis! Ever since her baptism she has really stepped up her game. She unloads the dishwasher for me without a complaint. She begs to give Boston his bath at night. She helps Logan with something he needs even when he's being super rude back to her. She's just a sweetheart. Of course there are also human moments in there where she is causing trouble right alongside her bro, but that comes with being a kid. I'm just so proud of who she is becoming. Grace also got to start activity days and she loves going! She is really enjoying having something that's all her own and with a bunch of the older girls at church. It's fun to see her in each new big-kid stage.

4. Ryan has been doing Weight Watchers ever since Thanksgiving (yes, he started it a couple days before Thanksgiving...  I thought he was nuts, ha!). He's already lost 15 pounds! He looks so good, and he feels good. WW has always been a good reset for him and he says he wants to reach some health goals this year since he's turning 35.

5. I, on the other hand, really like to eat. I literally exercise to support my eating habit. I LOVE baking, especially bread and chocolate chip cookies. Today I realized I had 9 bags of chocolate chips in my pantry. Nine!! haha I try to be careful and know my limits though, and I do exercise almost 5 days a week when everyone is healthy.

6. I shouldn't say this "out-loud" but with all of the sickness around me, especially in my own house, I have no clue how I've stayed healthy. I'm the one helping wipe noses and getting coughed and sneezed on. I've been so lucky, and realize how much of a blessing it has been that I haven't been hit with anything. Moms don't get days off!

7. Two weekends ago we had my dad come out for a couple of days to consult with Ryan's medical group. He was helping them all understand the new "model" for healthcare which will be coming down the pipeline sometime in the near-future. We don't know when, but when it switches there will need to be a LOT of changes made to the way doctors do business in order to weather the storm. There's too much to try to explain, but to sum it up: Ryan's group is WAY behind figuring this stuff out, they have no defensive strategies as a business, half of them want to keep doing what they're doing and retire when this thing hits the fan (which means bad news for Ryan, as the youngest), and there's just flat out TONS of work to be done in order to get their business ready for the switch. It's overwhelming and the partners have a lot of decisions to make. They're meeting in a few days to talk things over and hopefully make some decisions. We suddenly are looking at the possibility that our time here may come to an end much earlier than we expected and wanted. We will stay prayerful and, as always, wait for guidance from Heaven to tell us what path to take or not take. Neither of us are "worried" though and we feel confident that we will be led, as always. It's just a bit depressing to realize we can't just keep living this life here that we have really come to love for much longer. No matter what, change is coming. Whether that means we stay here but he switches to a new group, or he goes over to strictly contract work with the hospital, or we leave completely for a new opportunity for much less pay. We don't know, but something will work out.

8. I've been listening to books on audible for the last several months and I love it!! I can get so much more reading time done just by listening while I run on the treadmill, wash dishes or drive to and from Chico. I've listened to something like 15 books just since the fall. My favorites have been "Before We Were Yours" and the Lady Hardcastle series. I also love almost anything from Sara Eden, so I finished up a few of hers that I hadn't gotten to in the last few years. Thank goodness for audible, or I would never "read" books these days! I just don't find time to sit down quietly with a book.

Holiday Stay-cation

We sure enjoy having no school and nowhere to be. I am definitely not one who likes to be out of the house much and my kids are happy to be home as well as long as they have a variation of activities/distractions throughout the day. The kids got almost 2 full weeks of break after Christmas Day, so it was nice to just be together! Ryan also was able to take off several days as well, which helped him feel like it made up for the crazy-busy Christmas weekend he had on call. 

We all went to Barnes & Noble to spend the kids' giftcards from my parents.

The boys got buzzed! First time for Boston. He hated every second of it but it looks so much better than it did before.

Lots of play time, reading time, snacks, movies, inside play, outside play, etc.

A sweet YW and one of our favorite sitters is leaving on her mission soon. I was able to work it out with Ryan so I could go to her Temple endowment session. It was so wonderful! I don't get to the Temple as often as I'd like to since it's 2 hours away, but being able to leave the kids with Ryan when he already had the afternoon scheduled off was such a blessing.

The kids and I each made a marshmallow snow scene. I found these little marshmallow gingerbread people and they got a kick out of making their own pictures.

Mine.

Logan's (and somehow I didn't get a photo of Grace's... whoops!)

Our family went to try a new place for lunch. Boston kept dipping his french fries and making this funny face... but then kept going back for more. Silly kid!

Logan was supposed to keep Boston awake on our drive home, but instead he held his hand as Boston fell asleep. Too cute!

We had such great weather with the temp in the 50s and 60s. The kids and I spent some time at the park getting their energy out.

I love to snuggle this boy. Sometimes he wakes up and just needs to be held without anyone talking to him or bothering him. He just needs a comfy, safe place to relax for awhile. I definitely don't mind being that place!

This was January 2nd and look at my children! Playing outside with no coats on, and Logan is in shorts.

Grace's watercolor painting about The Greatest Showman turned out awesome! She included the bearded lady (and don't worry, that black part is just part of her dress...), PT Barnum, Dog-Boy, and the trapeze artists. Impressive!

For New Year's Eve we did the traditional waffles and ice cream dinner!! It's a must.

And so is licking your fingers...

Ryan bought me a DOUBLE belgian waffle maker for Christmas. So we were lucky to have such yummy waffles this year.

That night, we played many rounds of Bop-It, Heads Up, and Disney movie Pictionary. It was really fun! We went through almost all of our Disney movies too.

Toasting at 9pm (out pretend midnight).

We watched a fake firework show on TV and made lots of loud banging sounds! It was probably our very favorite part! hehe

I had a girls' night one evening at Shannon Hunt's house and it was by far the best one I've been to in a long time! (I haven't had many good social experiences here in Paradise...) We had just the right dynamic of girls who showed up, the conversation was great and uplifting, and the last minute game of Slapzi was just too much fun. SO.MUCH.LAUGHING. That girls' night was good for the soul.

Shannon, Rachel, Ashley, Becky, Tenille, me

Christmas Fun with the Croshaws

For Christmas dinner, we invited our besties over. We all have such a blast when we're with them, it was something we'd been looking forward to! I had a yummy but easy Christmas dinner buffet to enjoy while we hung out, played, and laughed.

We played some Christmas bingo with prizes! So much fun.

 Grace and I took turns taking pictures. :) 

 And we ended the evening with some crazy rounds of Heads Up!

Our Christmas day was so wonderful and full of all the things and people we love (either in person or on facetime). We're so thankful for our Savior, His birth, His life, and that we can focus on Him at this time of year. We're also thankful for the "magic" and fun of Christmas day and that playing and partying together brings us closer to each other. Merry Christmas!

Christmas Morning Madness

Gotta line up by age first! It's tradition.

 Santa brought Boston this awesome new car for outside.

Everyone got to open their stockings right away before breakfast. I got a great new necklace (Santa knows my style) and fuzzy socks. Ryan got some more Aqua Di Gio and some of his favorite treats. Logan and Grace both got snow globes, some little toys and LDS dot-to-dot booklets. Boston got a water bottle just like mom's but smaller (he's obsessed and needed his own), toddler snacks and a lava lamp toy.

Breakfast was simple and perfect: sticky buns, scrambled eggs, fruit, and hot chocolate. When our kids are older and can appreciate 

(I didn't take as many pictures as I usually do, and got more videos instead)
This year, Santa decided to just bring each kid 1 present they really wanted and had written to him about. Logan got an RC car... which unfortunately broke within 2 hours but we got it replaced. Santa gave Grace a soccer outfit and a crutches and cast set for her doll. Boston got that awesome car so he can be pushed around while his siblings are riding their bikes. All in all, they were very happy!

 The rest of the morning was spent opening all the gifts from mom and dad, cousins, and grandmas and grandpas. I LOVE Christmas morning. Giving gifts that I've put a lot of time and thought into is one of my very favorite things to do, so it's so much fun for me to watch everyone open things up and be surprised and excited. My favorite gift Boston got was a sweet, bed-time, stuffed Curious George and a bedtime book to go with it. Boston loves George and he has seriously latched onto his own little George and his new book. It warms my heart.

His other favorite new things are these two big trucks!

 Logan received a new SLC sweatshirt, bow and arrows set, a bluTrack AND more hotwheels track pieces.

 Grace received some things for drawing and doing art, a Salt Lake sweatshirt, and a bow and arrows as well. Her very favorite gift though was her new digital camera! It takes pictures and videos the normal direction, takes selfie (with a selfie-stick too), and you can also play a few little games on it. She was super excited!

 And then it looked like Christmas had exploded... but it was awesome.

 Ryan had to shower and go round at the hospital for a few hours, so he headed off. The kids played and played! I tried to create some order while he was gone and prep for our party that afternoon. We also spent some time FaceTiming our Utah families. We're thankful we feel connected to each of them through our phones and computers. This is literally the first time since moving away from Utah that I didn't feel homesick at Christmas. Of course we miss our families, but being able to create Christmas morning/day memories for our own crew in our own home was so special. All day my heart was full of gratitude and joy. Ryan was unfortunately away from home at the crazy-busy hospital for a total of 8 hours that day, so he had a rough time of it and was tired and feeling frustrated. But at least he doesn't have to be on call or every christmas! Next year will be better.