Resolutions and Book List 2016

Okay, here were my resolutions for 2016:

1. Go to the gym at least 3 times a week (to make sure we get our money's worth).
2. Finish blog books for 2014 and 2015 (Then I'll be all caught up!)
3. Read 30 books
4. Go through every cabinet/cupboard/box in the house and get rid of things we don't need or no longer use.

I did #1 to the best of my ability. I went three times a week unless I absolutely couldn't get there (vacation, sick kids, etc.)
#2 I finished as well! So glad I got those books done. Now I just need to stay on top of it and do 2016.
3. I went way overboard. I read A LOT last year. I'll put my list of books at the end. I'm trying to scale it back this year and really only read a few books each month.
4. I didn't do this. Well, I didn't do the whole house. I did about 1/4, maybe? It was a nice goal, though. I'm currently working on clearing out old kids' clothes, so it's a work in progress.

This year I didn't really make any resolutions other than to read less. I still want to go to the gym at least three times per week.

Here's my book list for 2016 in (mostly) chronological order:
1. Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
2. Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot by Bill O'Reilly
3. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
4. Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina by Misty Copeland
5. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
6. Magic Hour by Kristin Hannah
7. For the Love: Finding Grace in a World of Impossible Standards by Jen Hatmaker
8. The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
9. The Light of the World by Elizabeth Alexander
10. Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan
11. My Story by Elizabeth Smart
12. The Rent Collector by Camron Wright
13. I've Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella
14. This Is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith
15. And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini
16. Schindler's List by Thomas Keneally
17. What She Left Behind by Ellen Marie Wiseman
18. The Crossover by Kwame Alexander
19. The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Phillip Sendker
20. The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion by Fannie Flagg
21. David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants by Malcolm Gladwell
22. Harry Potter #1
23. Harry Potter #2
24. Harry Potter #3
25. Harry Potter #4
26. Harry Potter #5
27. Harry Potter #6
28 Harry Potter #7 (These were all re-reads)
29. The Romanov Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas and Alexandra by Helen Rappaport
30. Year of No Sugar by Eve Schaub
31. Ten Girls to Watch by Charity Shumway
32. Still Life by Louise Penny
33. Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
34. When Breathe Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
35. My Name Used to be Muhammad by Tito Momen
36. The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
37. The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
38. Holes by Louis Sachar
39. No One Knows by J.T. Ellison
40. My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
41. A Fatal Grace by Louis Penny
42. Born Survivors: Three Young Mothers and Their Extraordinary Story of Courage, Defiance, and Hope by Wendy Holden
43. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
44. The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery
45. All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
46. Enchanted Islands by Allison Amend
47. Necessary Lies by Diane Chamberlain
48. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling
49. The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
50. Where the Light Gets In by Kimberly Williams Paisley
51. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins (re-read)
52. We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
53. Unstuffed: Decluttering your Home, Mind, and Soul by Ruth Soukup
54. The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom
55. So You've Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson
56. The Orphan Keeper by Camron Wright
57. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
58. Moon over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool
59. Where Am I Now? By Mara Wilson
60. Daddy Long-legs by Jean Webster
61. Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum

I read some pretty lame books this year and some pretty great books. Top of my list is 100% All the Light We Cannot See. I also really enjoyed Counting by 7s, Fish in a Tree, The Rent Collector, The Crossover, and A Monster Calls. 44 or so fiction, the rest non-fiction. I read more young adult novels this year to see if there were any books I thought Sam would like, but he's pretty good at finding his own series to read.

Other December Things and Christmas

Dan's firm had its annual family Christmas party. The magician was there again and I am so entranced by his magic that I really can't tell how he does some of it. He's a highlight. They also had cups of Chick-fil-a nuggets, which was a huge hit, and lots of cookies. This year went didn't get caricatures done because the line was too long, but we did see Santa.

Afton wrote her own chore list. (And no, we don't spank her!)

Richmond is known for some pretty tacky Christmas lights, so one night we drove to a nearby neighborhood where they go all-out. This video isn't very exciting, it's just showing some of the homes.

We later saw a super amazing house with the synced music and lights, but I didn't get it on camera.

A cousin put up pictures on facebook of her and her roommates in matching Christmas clothes, which reminded me of when I did that with MY roommates FOURTEEN years ago! Anyway, I sent them all the picture and we had a nice laugh. It's funny how you think you're wearing pretty timeless things, but it's definitely dated.

Did you know that brussel sprouts grew like this? I didn't until I saw it at the store.

I thought that Sam and Afton both had pajama day, so I sent them both to school in their PJs. Turns out, only Afton had pajama day! But Sam handled it like a champ, and I'm sure he was the most comfortable kid!

 Some of Afton's school work.

 Love this one. "I have stamina."

 We met Dan for lunch downtown once winter break began. Eli kept pointing to the lobby of the building so Dan took him out there and wouldn't you know it? There was a whole model train village set that was really cool. Eli LOVED it. He loved it so much that he peed through his pants just moments after this picture was taken. All over Dan's pants and shirt.

Afton learned a new song.

For Christmas, we headed over to G&G Cheney's. Mom and Dad were kind enough to watch Afton and Eli while Dan and I took Sam to see Rogue One. We were pretty disappointed with it, but it was fun to go to a movie with Sam.

Here's the shirt Sam got Dan for his birthday.

One night we went and looked at a big Christmas display at a home in Ruckersville. It was pretty awesome! Eli and Afton loved the nativities.

Air hockey is always a huge hit.

 Always lots of naps at their house - especially for Dan.

Lots of loot!

 This is one of my favorite ornaments that my mom has.

 She has a lot of cool ones from their travels.

Somehow, some way, for some reason, we began doing puzzles. I have never been a very big fan of puzzles, but we really cranked them out this Christmas.

 This is Dan's sweet Christmas blazer that he will now be obligated to wear each Christmas.

Christmas Eve we tracked Santa on the radar, then watched a few church videos about the birth of Jesus. Then we sang pretty much every Christmas hymn in the hymnbook, and a few the kids like, too.

Christmas was on a Sunday, so we had all the kids ready in their church clothes when they came down to look at their stockings.

Stocking time! We got Eli a train set and that was a big hit.

The other kids really liked their Pokemon cards. They (Sam, mostly) had been BEGGING for some for months.

We had time for Christmas chunky bread and cereal before heading out to Sacrament meeting. It was nice to go to church on Christmas. Then we came back home to open presents. We were majorly spoiled.

Sam promptly tried to set up his new hot wheels track, but we couldn't get it to work.

We eventually exchanged it, and we couldn't get that one to work, either. So he picked out something else in the end...

Here's the 500-piece puzzle the adults did for "fun" one night.

We spent most of the next day visiting, then we headed home. But not before Dan went to Walmart bright and early the day after Christmas to snag a bunch of Christmas lights 50% off. He thinks that he basically doubled our display. We shall see next December!

We bid farewell to all of our lovely Christmas cards.

 And let's just get a close-up of Afton's reindeer. She is so creative.

We went back to my parents' house December 30. Mom and I went to an antique store and spotted a lot of hidden gems like this Michael Jackson painting,

 (it was up so high I couldn't get a decent picture!) and this amazing 6-foot hot dog statue. You KNOW I wanted to take that home with me! (And for those who are familiar with my parents' area, this hot dog used to stand outside of the grocery store where I worked as a teenager, but not until after I had left.)

I was sad to leave that guy behind.

We spent the night so we could hike in Shenandoah early the next day. It was SUPER cold. We did two hikes: Bearfence and Hazeltop. Hazeltop didn't really have a view, nor did it have an "end" - it was just part of the Appalachian Trail and the third highest peak in the park, so we figured since we'd done one and two, we might as well do three. Bearfence had a great view, but it was too cold to enjoy it for very long.

Eli was in the backpack and kept saying "stuck!" He fell asleep during Hazeltop.

 And we hit up a Burger King for lunch.

It was a great way to spend New Year's Eve. We got home in the afternoon and relaxed the rest of the day.