the 12 months of 2012...

Merry Christmas!  2012 has been full of busy and good things for our family.  Here's a glimpse of our year a month at a time...

january

Caden turned 7 this year!  He's growing up too fast!  His loves building amazing stuff with Legos and never seems to get tired of it.  He also loves to play on the computer.  He is a special part of our family and we love him so much!

february

Chip introduced Carter to ice fishing this year and he loves it as much as his dad if that is possible! They went every chance they could right up until the ice melted.  Chip definitely has a new ice fishing BFF...

march

Family ski trip...Cade's first time skiing and possibly my last time.  I had knee surgery on both knees in April and June and my knees and skiing aren't going to get along for a while!

Caden had a great time with the exception of the first run.  Chip didn't want the other kids to be bored, so he started our day with an intermediate run thinking Cade could handle it just fine, well not so much!  He ended up carrying him down the mountain after about a half hour of Cade trying to stay upright.  Once we put him on the appropriate hill he was a pro and had a blast!

april

...and when the ice melted, they just changed the fishing techniques!

may

The boys' elementary school sponsored a 5k and Caden and Lauren wanted to run it.  I was helping at the finish line and was a little worried about Cade being left behind after he headed off with Lauren and her friends.  Oh how wrong I was to be worried, because soon after a few people starting finishing, along comes Caden who ended up taking 1st place in his age division.  Way to go buddy!

june

Summer at our house always starts out with our sweet girl's birthday.  This year she is officially a teenager.  She is beautiful inside and out and we are so lucky she is ours.  She started playing the cello in orchestra at school this year and this summer started private cello lessons.  How grateful we are for her "girly" influence in our houseful of boys!

july

One of the favorites of our summer was a fishing/camping trip to Strawberry.  We spent the days hanging out at camp, catching crawfish from the shore and fishing on the lake.  I had a book in my hand instead of a fishing pole which meant it was also a very fun relaxing trip for me!  The boys had a blast - with the exception of Caden when Curtis decided to jump off the boat with Cade in his arms.  Oh boy was that water cold!  Poor guy!  I would have been furious too!  :)

The highlight of our summer (at least for Chip, myself and Curtis) was going on trek to Martin's Cove and Rocky Ridge with our stake at the end of July.  It was such a special experience and one that I will never forget.  I'm so grateful we were able to be there with Curtis.  If you ever have the opportunity to go - GO!

august

Lauren missed out on our family camping trip because she chose to go and help Grandma tend the cousins in Las Vegas. She did get her camping fix with girl's camp...(although she made us promise we'd do another camping trip next summer at Strawberry - this girl LOVES to camp!)

Both Curtis and Carter are our August babies.  Curtis is now the big 1-6!  Holy smokes where has the time gone?  He is an amazing young man and getting bigger by the minute.  He is now taller than Chip and occasionally steals his t-shirts and always his ties on Sunday. Unfortunately for Curtis, turning 16 didn't mean getting his license because he procrastinated getting his learners permit early enough.

Carter has now reached the double digits in age.  He has two loves in life.  Fishing with his dad and sports.  He is obsessed with playing whatever sport happens to be in season at the time - sometimes two at once which makes mom crazy!  Carter brings so much joy in our family.  He always has a huge smile on his face and a positive attitude that is contagious.

september

Carter had a crazy successful year on his sports' teams.  His soccer team took first place in both spring and fall leagues.  His baseball team made it to the city championship and then on to the state regional play-offs where they ended up taking second place.  To finish the year off, his flag football team took the championship after a nail-biter 4th quarter.

october

The 3 youngest kids were itching to go out of town for fall break, but Chip had work and church commitments and couldn't leave town.  A couple of my friends were in the same boat and one had a brilliant idea to go anyway.  So the moms and kids headed down south and we all saw some of the beautiful sites in this great state of ours.  It was such a fun trip and I'm so glad we went.  Curtis spent the break in Park City at a DECA leadership conference.  We missed the two oldest boys in our family but are glad we went anyway because we had a blast!

november

Patience is a virtue...

Oh how this boy loves to drive and the freedom that goes along with it...and I do have to add it's also great to have another taxi driver in the family!

december

I can't believe the year is already over!  We always look forward to a drive up the canyon to find a tree. This year was COLD but not so snowy.  After crossing a stream while we looked the thought crossed my mind "how are we going to get the tree back to the road" but I knew these two guys could handle it.

We want to wish you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.  We are grateful for all our family and friends and the love you share with us.  We're most grateful for the love our Savior gives to each of us and the joy and happiness His gospel brings us.  May you all feel this love in your lives.

Merry Christmas 2012

Chip, Michelle, Curtis, Lauren, Carter and Caden