Hello 2012

Well the holiday season has come and gone and the new year is here.  Things here have been busy with work church and kids.  We had a great Christmas this year.  I helped Jacquie decorate her house on the 30th of November but took a bit longer to get my house done.  I discovered that I need new lights and had an issue with the lights on my tree but figured I will worry bout it next year.  It was so nice to have all my kids together on several occasions during the holidays.  Michael was here for 9 days and Bret was off between Christmas and New Years.  I hosted Christmas Eve with the Addington's and Christmas with the Sharpy's.  Had all my kids and Karter over for breakfast on Christmas and than we all went to church together.  That was nice.  I enjoy having company and even hosted the Addington's for New Years fun and games.  Rusty, Jacquie, Karter, Bret, the girls and their friends and I all took a day and went to the snow.  We had so much fun.  We got chicken and hot chocolate and played and ate till we were tired.  I love that we can drive for less than 2 hours and find snow to play in.  Karter loved it.  Rusty even took him down the hill in a tube.  Now the decorations are down and the New Year is upon us.  Ive never been a person to make resolutions so none of them were made.  I have made some goals and plan on working hard to achieve them.  We have been working hard to pay off our debt and with the pay cuts over the last few years it has been tough but we are staying strong to that goal.  Nice to know that in the last 3 years we have incurred no new debt.  CASH ONLY.  We wish for things but we just do without.  The thing that has been toughest on me is the lack of vacationing but things like trips to the snow take their place.  In less than 2 years our home will be the only thing we owe on. The first thing we will do is take a great vacation.  Ohhhhh it will be so worth it.  I can not wait.  When We were making very good money we spent more than what we made and our debt got crazy.  We could afford the payments so it didn't really matter or so we thought.  Than when I lost my job we went into more debt to pay bills. Ugh it was an ugly cycle.  So many lessons were learned and so many blessings have come our way.  We can never begin to thank those of you that have helped us in so many ways.  This year will be a good one.  Rachel has her drivers permit and will be 16 in a couple weeks. YIKES.  Family night was a trip to sonic for ice cream with her driving.  Bret has been out with her several times, me this was my first time.  We all survived and she did pretty well.  Becka finally got new glasses that she will wear and I will post pics soon.  Karter turns 1 next Saturday. Time flies.  He is so stinkin cute.  Just getting off the bottle and has been stubborn bout it.  He will push the cup away and not look at it.  He is trying to be daring enough to let go of things he holds onto but no walking on his own.  He is a blessing to our family.  Michael is working hard up in Provo for Morgan Stanley and does well making money grow for his clients.  He is talented, handsome, and still single girls.  He is looking for his mrs but will not rush into things and for that I am proud.  Craig is working for a plumbing supply company full time and is still with Murphy (we love this girl).  He is living with a friend and doing really well.  He loves his online games and from what I hear is really good at it.  He keeps saying he will earn money at it one day but I think he needs to stick to a "real job". So here is the latest from our family and I hope to keep up on my blog better this year.