The Rest of January

 Eli figured out how to take pictures on my phone. If I'm not paying attention, he'll take dozens and dozens of the same thing.

Afton's homework for January was to complete 12 assignments out of 31 options. Of course she picked the most complicated ones. This one was to create a play and have your family perform it. Thankfully we had just gotten this big box so she used it as a manger and we performed the nativity.

What was in the box? This canvas. Now I finally feel like our bathroom is complete. It's a picture I took of our trek in Peru. I love it. It was taken after coming over the highest pass of the hike. Our trail friend, Chintin, is far down the trail.

Here's a close-up. Can you see him? He did the whole hike in jeans and carrying a jansport. And the friend he arrived with had to turn back on day 2 so Chintin did it alone.

Dan took the big kids sledding while Eli napped. A man with an awesome lens happened to be there taking pictures of his own kids so he offered to snap a few. I'm glad he did!

Bath time.

We find her in the most uncomfortable positions sometimes.

I began the process of clipping Eli's pacifier. With the other two kids, once it was snipped just a tiny bit, they were done with it. Eli is more stubborn. So it started like this:

 Then went to this:

 And now it's like half gone, but he still wants it, although I don't think he keeps it in for very long anymore.

We took a trip to the temple.

 And I donated 9 inches of hair to Pantene's Beautiful Lengths program.

 Some days I like it, other days I feel like Professor Snape.

We spent a beautiful day at the grandparents'.

Where Afton served as their new toy tester. She approves.

And that's a wrap for January!

VNITY PL8S

As anyone who has traveled to Virginia knows, we love our vanity plates. Last April I decided to keep track of all the vanity plates I saw related to the beach/water/the bay. We live 90 minutes from the closest beach, but apparently people around Richmond really like the beach. I feel like I have collected enough plates that I can share them with you. I don't know why I'm doing this. I guess I just need to get it out there before I throw away my piece of paper. I stopped writing them down about a month ago and have seen a few more since, but I can't remember them. So here's what I've got:

OBXNJOY
OBX 20
OBX WAV
OBX 4LC
OBX4US
OBX GEM
OBX TX
NTO OBX
CME SRF
BIG WAV
SEESIDE
JRN OBX
BCH GAL
BCH BRZS
ISLN GRL
SURF DAD
WATR VW
OCEANVU
BCH-HS
BCH BOX
OLDSURF
ISEASUN
WE SEA
SFR&SN
GOCOSTL
NAGSHED
SWTBREZ
SOFTSHL
OCENCTY
2 OSHN
CRPABCH
ONDBOAT
S SHORES
RVA2OBX
BY SEA
OL BAY1
BREZZ 2
SUN4US
SURF FRK
OL SALT
SALT-LFE
BCH H20
BEACHON
TME4BCH
URN OBX
2THOCN
(HEART) OOBX
CSHELL2

There you go.

Eli's Birthday

Eli turned TWO on Sunday, January 8.

The day before, it snowed a bunch. So church was cancelled. We spent a nice morning hanging out, playing in the snow, and putting up decorations. This video is pretty fun.

Eli liked his birthday hat a lot more than last year.

 Snow time.

 Dan tried to make a sledding hill in our backyard, but it didn't really work out. Too many trees.

So then Dan made a ramp on our back deck.

Which worked out much better.

During Eli's nap time, the rest of us played Life and then I think Dan took the older kids sledding on a legit hill. Or maybe that was Saturday - can't remember.

Grandma and Grandpa Cheney braved the eight inches of snow to come and celebrate with us. Eli loves pancakes, so we had pancakes the night before. On his birthday we had salmon. (Just thought pancakes plus cake after dinner would be too much "cake.")

 Not a fan of fire by his face.

 But definitely a fan of frosting.

 He got some great books and clothes from G&G Cheney. His big gift from us was a basketball hoop. He calls basketballs "game balls" and points out basketball hoops wherever we go. He's loved it so far.

 Should have gotten a picture of G&G Cheney!

Putting it to use right away.

I spent a lot of the day just thinking about how grateful I am that Eli is in our family. He is a miracle and I am so thankful that we were blessed with him. Everyone in the family dotes on him like crazy (yes, he is spoiled!). And he loves us all in return. He says, "Yes, please" and "thank you" a lot, which I love. He also says, "Bless you" and "Love you, too." He sleeps with like 4 little stuffed animals and a ton of blankets. He LOVES Curious George with all his heart and soul. Eli is also a great little singer and he makes noise non-stop. He is the best. We love you, Eli!

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.