New Years

On Thursday after the photo shoot I went and picked up the kids from Papa and Mimi's house. They had fun playing with the train in the basement and then we headed home. 

 On Friday morning we woke up and had a lazy morning at home. Sean and I both got to run on the tredmil, Sean and the kids (mostly Brett) played Battleship. We all had showers and baths and then left at about 11 to get to Idaho in time for dinner. We packed lunch for the car and only stopped once to switch drivers, no one even had to use the bathroom! We arrived in Boise and had a fun time saying hi to everyone and getting settled in. Sam made a delicious potato corn chowder with grilled cheese. We all ate and enjoyed then exchanged Christmas gifts. Brett, Alana, and Lizzie got a few things, new books from Aunt Sam and some pajamas and a fingerling from Grandma, but mostly they just enjoyed playing on tablets while Kaity and Sam and Jared opened all their gifts from Grandma and Grandpa.

 Santa brought Kaity a Little Woodeeze house for Christmas and Lizzie especially loved playing with it!

 The kids all got in their new pajamas and pulled out Kaity twin hatchimals to watch them hatch.

 I got things unpacked and ready for sleeping and got Lizzie to bed, then got to see the egg hatch open. It was a lot of fun to see the hatching , but I honestly think the toys are kinda weird and confusing. Brett really wants one now and is saving all his money and wanting to do extra jobs to earn a hatchimal of his own. I don't think Alana cared much. She thought they were cute, but I think she likes regular stuffed animals just as much!

 On Saturday, we went to Chik-fil-A for lunch and then we went to the YMCA to go swimming. The water was warm and we had a lot of fun splashing around in the pool for an hour and a half! My mom brought her water weights and did a workout while we were all playing. I tried some of her plank exercised and was pitiful at them! Sean took the 4 kids home and I went with my Mom and Dad and Sam to Joannes.

 That night Mom and Dad made greek gyros for dinner then we played some fun games. The kids all watched Despicable Me 3, while Sean and I went to the grocery store to get supplies for Sunday nights dinner,  Hobby Lobby, and Downeast Outfitters. Sam and Jared gave us King Domino so we played that game after the kids went to bed, it was a lot of fun!
We have decided that we would like to buy a house. Its actually been a long decision in the making as we have gone over so many different scenarios. When we finally made the decision to stay in our townhome rental for another year to save money, we prayed that we would feel peace and we felt the exact opposite of peace! The next day after we had prayed for peace we started talking again and decided that we should really be looking to move. We then formulated a plan to extend our rental till August so that we could potentially save a bit more money, but quickly came to realize that the option that makes the most sense is to buy in May so that we can move in before June and be settled a little before Sean starts his new job in July. That way he won't have to be stressing over real estate listings and appointments and then moving right at the beginning of a new job. Since making this decision I have started dreaming about actually owning a home. We found this awesome couch at DownEast that we both loved and could actually see ourselves being able to afford it someday soon! Its all very exciting! We have tried to be super tight with our budget for so long that it seems like a dream to be talking about moving into a house with a garage and space to spare! We have a mortgage company that we are interested in, they seem to have a really good physician loan product and they have referred us to a realtor who is used to working with physician loans. We have been e-mailing back and forth and even sent in our wish list the other night!

On Sunday we went to church for Sacrament meeting. Brett was especially in a rotten mood and both kids felt really anxious and grumpy about going to primary in another ward so we decided to head home after Sacrament meeting. In retrospect we should have taken a drive and maybe gone and walked around temple grounds before heading back to Sam and Jared's the kids did really good, but I started to get a little stir crazy! The kids did a sticky mosaic craft we got them at hobby lobby, ate treats, and played our new ghost catcher game. They had a lot of fun with each other. In the evening Sean and I made Rigatoni, garlic bread, strawberry and bananas, and green beans for dinner. Everyone ate their fill then my sister pulled out her Jamberry nail stuff to show my mom how to apply the wraps. I have been wanting to try the gel nails because I love having my nails done but hate it when they chip. I have loved gels that I got done in the salon, but I don't like paying for the salon and I don't like making time to go. I have really like the manicure I did and it was really easy, so I ordered some gels and a gel lamp from Sam so I can do it at my house now =)

While we were all sitting there at the table, Lizzie was so fascinated and asked if we could do her nails! She loved getting them done and held so still the entire time. She was really cute blowing on them and then running around to show everyone her darling mani and pedi!

 Kaity and Alana painted nails too, and Brett was a good helper at getting lids off nail polish for them. After they finished with nails, they helped Sean make cookie pops. They were delicious and Sam has tons and tons of sprinkles and candies to decorate with so everyone had a great time!

 Lizzie LOVES Hoopla kids, especially Wheels on the bus and spent a long time carrying Sams ipad around watching it. She was so cute sitting on the stairs. Brett and Alana got their kindles out and all the kids parked it on the stairs to play. Lizzie went to sleep about 8:30 then Alana about 9. We let Brett say up later.

 The adults played a game of King Domino, then Kaity, Brett, and I played the ghost game. After our house was haunted and we lost, we toasted in the New Year with sparkling cider and kisses. It was only 9:30 but seemed like a good time.

Kaity and Brett played a bit more and we all chatted and ate some cheese ball, then Brett and I went to bed about 11. Brett wanted to talk and I chatted with him for awhile then Sean came in and talked with him about hormones and adrenaline, lol! That got him sleepy enough and he finally fell asleep =)

We woke up around 8 the next morning and got packed up and said our goodbyes. We had a pretty good drive although Lizzie was in a horrible mood and we ended up switching her to forward facing to try and help her cope. She liked that. When we got home I looked in her mouth to see that she was cutting two more teeth so no wonder she kept screaming for no reason. We stopped for lunch at McDonalds, then stopped again because I was driving and couldn't stay awake. Sean drove us safely home. When we got here we took down the tree and put away the Christmas stuff then I ran to the store to get a few things and we had leftovers for dinner. Zach and Zander had come to play which was fun. We exercised and had baths and got to sleep =) 

On Tuesday Morning Brett was really hard to get up. I wasn't super surprised since I know he'd been staying up later and sleeping in later over the break. He complained of a stomach ache and didn't eat much breakfast, I wrote it off as being really tired and took him to school. By the time I dropped him off he was feeling better and ran inside. I took Alana to school and then needed to go to Costco which didn't open till 10, so Lizzie and I went home to start laundry and do dishes. I got a call from the school that Brett had a tummy ache so Lizzie and I went to get him. He told me he had been laying on the floor when his teacher told him that he should probably call me. He layed on the couch for awhile and was even asking for treats (although I only let him have some goldfish to start), then he really seemed to be fine. He told me the tummy ache would come and go. I figured we could run to Costco really quick after we picked up Alana and Brett agreed that he would be ok with that. I packed lunches for everyone. By the time we got to Costco Brett was feeling sick again and didn't want to eat. He layed in the back of the cart while I went through Costco as fast as I could. On the drive home he kept moaning and a few minutes after we arrived he threw up. He felt quite a bit better after that and rested on the couch while he and Alana watch the Lego Ninjago movie, Lizzie napped, and I ran. He threw up one more time later that afternoon, but felt hungry enough for some toast before bed. He woke up with diarrhea later that night and had more the next morning so I kept him home from school on Wednesday. 

Alana had her tumbling class on Wednesday morning. She was so excited to go and it was fun to watch her do so well at everything. She has the same teacher as last winter so when she did the balance beam all by herself, her teacher understood how much that meant! 

After tumbling we dropped Alana off at the church so she could go to play group with some friends, then she went to Jack's house for the afternoon. Brett and I played some games and watched some movies, and by evening he was sick of being sick!

Our microwave stopped working on Wednesday! When Mom and Dad P stopped by after taking Brian and Jill to the airport, I had to use the stove to heat up some dinner for them! It was really weird and it made me very grateful for modern conveniences like microwaves!
On Thursday, Brett and Alana went to school and Lizzie and I went to walmart to get a new microwave and do some shopping for my friend Melanie who is having a baby boy. After I picked up Brett from school in the afternoon we got home and he mentioned that he was cold. I checked the thermostat and it was down to 60, darn it the heater went out again! I had a meeting that night at the church so Sean was here when our landlord Nader came to try and fix it. It was decided that it needed a new motor and that we needed to order it. We got by Thursday night with space heaters. On Friday morning the girls and I wasted time shopping to get out of the cold house and we tried to stay busy and keep moving to stay warm. I did all our laundry, folded, ironed and out away.

 When I stopped to do some computer work, I got so cold though! I didn't really want to stay another night at home in the cold, so when Sean got home we packed up and went to the Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner. We had a fun time laughing and joking with the kids and we were all pretty hungry! After dinner we drove to Papa and Mimi's house for a sleep over. Kaden and Lexi were even there to play for a few minutes. Brett had a hard time sleeping with the nasty cough and congestion he now has (poor kid can't get a break!) but the rest of us slept really well! There is a memory foam pad on the mattress we slept on and I really want one now! There house is super warm and cozy and just enjoyable to be in! The motor came this morning for our heater and it was decided that I would come up to our house to hangout while Nader put it in, while Sean and the kids stayed with Papa and Mimi. It has been nice to just have some alone time. I gave the car a super good vacuuming and cleaning (which is desperately needed) and have been blogging and chatting with Nader. I'm about to go to my friends baby shower then I will head back down to get the crew from Orem =)
Here is one last picture of all our Christmas cards hung up on the wall! We got a lot this year and it made my heart so happy!