My Nemesis

I love diet coke.... man do I love diet coke. I love diet coke so much that a few years ago I bought a wine fridge and put it in the pantry so I could stock it full of my diet coke just to keep it chilled at 37.5 degrees. Anyone that loves diet coke knows that this is the optimal temperature to store it, this is in part because this temperature allows more carbonation to be released, thus creating a bigger head. There is nothing better than coming home and popping a nice cold aluminum can of coke, letting it fizz and then gulping it down. Just writing about it makes me want to go get one.
Anyways as part of our new years resolutions Jill and I are doing "theme months" where we pick something we need to do better at and try to improve on it. At first I thought "how can I improve on drinking diet coke?" Then my beautiful, but slightly crazy wife informed me that this meant that I was limited to two cans a day. I must be the crazy one to agree to such a thing. I thought last months "sugar free" month sucked, but this is taking it to a whole new level. Anyways I will let you know how it goes. Whether I last the month or cave in, either way it isn't going to be pretty.

The Dude

Is this not the cutest picture of Dude? Joel took it with his cell phone yesterday when he had the kids for a while. Such a funny kid :)

Chuck and Larry

I have a terrible memory.. I admit it. For years the two oldest have been known as Chuck and Larry. (from an old Adam Sandler movie). I might not remember their names all the time, but I remember the good times we have together, here we are at the Jazz game last night. The Jazz lost but Chuck, Larry and I had a good time together.

Squats at Crossfit

Love this picture! This is a common move we do at Crossfit. There I am in the back. hee hee

THE JOYS OF BEING STUPID

HOLY S#$% MY SHOULDER HURTS. TWO WEEKS AFTER MY SURGERY AND MY SHOULDER STILL HURTS. THE DOCTOR WAS RIGHT, I DO NEED THE TRICEP AND BICEP TO BE PERMANENTLY ATTACHED TO THE BONE. OH WELL, ONE OF THE JOYS OF BEING STUPID.

Christian turns 3

So our little Dude turned 3 today!! I can't believe it. Seems like he was just a baby yesterday. Well, he still kind-of is because he isn't potty trained yet. hee hee. He was so cute when we sang happy birthday to him, he got all shy and covered his face until we were done singing...

He tried to blow out the candles before the singing even started...

I love these next few pics of Dude, just shows his cute little personality...

We love you little Dude and we are so glad you came to our family!

Run-in with the shower

So the other morning Dylan went in to use my shower and next thing I know I hear a loud scream coming from my bathroom. I went in there and Dylan was on the floor holding his head and blood was gushing everywhere. Apparently he got in to turn on the water and turned around to get out while the water warmed up and hit his head against the side of the glass on the shower. I called Aunt Lisa (aka. Dr. Lisa) over to see if it needed stitches and she said it probably did. I decided to call our kind neighbor Scott Rees (who really is a doctor) just to see what he thought and he was coming home from an all-nighter at the hospital and dropped by and put that medical super glue on the wound to close it. Dylan was thrilled that he didn't have to get stitched and I was thrilled we didn't have to go sit in the emergency room for hours. :) Anyway, he wishes it were a better story like he was catching some air while skiing or something like that but unfortunately it was just a fluke accident with the shower. You never know what's going to happen! :)

Katy's first lost tooth

Well, Kaitlyn lost her first tooth the other day... she keeps looking at herself in the mirror thinking that the new one is just going to appear any second now. She thinks it looks funny with a tooth missing. Wait until she loses her two front teeth!

So, I guess I will post my new year's resolutions for this year then maybe I will be more accountable than if I just think about them and sometime around November I might think about them again. :) That's what usually happens. In church today we had a good lesson in Relief Society about centering our homes around Christ and I realized I probably don't do it as much as I should. We usually have FHE and say a family prayer at night, but I realize these things aren't enough. We have never had family scripture study and now I think is a good time to start (better late than never) with my kids. It will probably have to be at night before bed since Joel is gone earlier than we all get up in the morning. It might not be every day, but maybe we could start with 2-3 times a week realistically.

Another thing I want to do is eat healthier. I do ok at this right now, but treats and chocolate are pretty much impossible for me to resist. Joel and I made a pact today that starting tomorrow we would go off sugar completely for a month and see how that goes. If it makes us feel good and helps us lose weight maybe we'll go for longer. I think if I just keep it out of my house and don't even take that first bite, it will be easier. I also signed up to do a half marathon in June which scares the crap out of me, but I really want to do it.

The last thing I am going to work on is patience. I am patient in many circumstances, but not when it comes to my kids. For some reason, I lose my temper and come unglued with my kids a lot easier than in any other situation. Maybe it's just easier to take things out on them, I don't know. But I really need to slow down and enjoy them while they are little and not worry about being in such a hurry all the time. They do try my patience A LOT but how do we learn to patient if we aren't given situations that try our patience??? Anyway, we'll see how these things go by the time February rolls around and hopefully there will be some improvement!!

Christmas 2010

Well another Christmas has come and gone... time just flies by the older I get. Here is Katy with her Rapunzel tower... She was so excited...

Kinlee and Katy in their new shirts...

Dude on his new bike... Dude loving his new trucks...

Dylan with a new watch...

Dude and Toy Story 3... his new favorite movie :)

I just liked this picture because Kaitlyn looks so surprised about something...

Kinlee and Dude...

Katy right before opening gifts...

Dylan with his new skis...

Can't believe it's over for another year, I haven't been able to bring myself to take down all the Christmas things, but I guess it's time. Now if we could just skip to spring!! :)

Kinlee's Christmas Recital

Kinlee had another piano recital right before Christmas. It was held at Day Murray Music in Orem. She played "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" and "The Magic Clown". She did a great job and was the best one there in my opinion! Here she is with her piano teacher Margarat Tueller...