Happy New Year!!!!

"For last year's words belong to last year's language. And next year's words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning." ~T.S. Eliot

Wishing you all a safe New Years Eve, and a New Year filled with adventure!

FA LA LA LA LA!!!!

Christmas this year was so much fun! I love the traditions that come from both sides of our families. My families traditions begin on Christmas Eve. When we were little my parents would get us up really early, and we would spend the entire day doing a whole bunch of activities so by the time bedtime rolled around we were exhausted and went straight to sleep. This tradition has been continued on to include the grandkids and friends that want to join :). A fun tradition that has come from Chad's side of the family is on Christmas Eve every year the "Elves" bring you new PJ's for Christmas, but the Elves don't only bring them, but they hide them and the girls have to find their PJ's. The girls LOVE looking for their jammies and being able to wear them. Christmas day has always consisted of opening up gifts and then heading out to visit family. I love being able to visit and give gifts! It really is a special time of year. Here are a few (okay, a LOT) of pictures of our Christmas adventure this year!

Christmas Eve: We start the day with breakfast. We ended up having a little bit of a breakfast fiasco this year and we weren't able to start breakfast till around 9:30am instead of 8:30am. Here is our crowd of 19:

Pemberlynn was REALLY hungry!
Gotta love the kids menu that comes with crayons :)
After breakfast it was off to the bounce house..........

This is Chad doing jumping jacks.....HA HA HA!
A train? Drew, McKinzley, and Kirstin
Can't you just tell that they are about to cause mayhem?


After the bounce house everyone came back to our house and watched the movie Despicable Me, followed by some snacks and games. One of the games that we played was UNO. We played the "Normal" way for a little while and then Kirstin and I decided that we needed to show my family how to play with the "Hoyt" rules! It was a blast!..........And, of course Christmas Eve wouldn't be complete without a surprise visit from the big guy!!
After Santa left with the reindeer we had a scrumptious dinner of soup in bread bowls, salad, tater skins, and brownie sundaes.

I just couldn't pass this picture up! TWINNERS!!! So cute!
After dinner we had a program and the kids put together the manger scene throughout the story.
CHIMES!!!! Christmas Eve just wouldn't be the same if we didn't play the chimes. It is always interesting :)
Jammies from the "Elves"!!! (We were starting to get into meltdown mode at this point)
Christmas Day: Started out bright and early at 6:00am with stockings.....

Up the stairs we come to see what Santa left
Yippee!!! He came!!

For some odd reason Oaklee is in LOVE with Luigi



This picture is out in the garage when the girls saw that they got a trampoline.
After we cleaned up, ate breakfast and got ready we headed out to visit Chad's family. David and Paige invited everyone over to their house for lunch, games, gifts, and LOTS of laughs!! We had a HUGE group there! Even two of Chad's uncles and their families joined the party. We played a huge game of PictureMan, and I REALLY wish I would have taken a picture because the girls KILLED the boys in that game!! I think the final score was 15 to 6??? It was a great time! We had a

fantastic lunch of ham, cheesy potatoes, jello salad, broccoli, and lots of treats. After dinner we opened presents and played games the rest of the night!

Kids table

Drew and Brexlyn hung out the ENTIRE weekend! If Drew was there, Brexlyn was with him :)
Opening gifts......

Cousins playing
This was right before we were leaving. I just thought that this picture was really funny :)

Like I said earlier, Christmas was SO much fun this year!! Thank you to everyone that joined us on our Christmas Eve excursion, and thank you David and Paige for inviting us to your home and throwing a GREAT party!! I also want to thank everyone that gave gifts to my girls and Chad and I, you were all very generous! Thanks to both sides of the family that were involved with making our Christmas special this year! We love you guys!

I can't wait for this next year to come! SO many changes on the way, but I can't wait!! Merry Christmas everyone, and Happy New Year!!!

$5?? Sure, why not....

At Chad's company party the other night I learned some interesting things about my husband, one of which is that Chad will do almost anything to make people laugh, vomit, or fork over a couple of dollars. I heard a story about Chad drinking a cup of water that had been sitting in the foundation of the building they were building for at LEAST a week all for $5!! Ummmmm....GROSS!!! Of course all of his work buddies thought this was hilarious, including Chad. Fast forward to the work party. Every year they do a white elephant exchange, and this year Chad received some word-search books, pencils, and this REALLY disgusting, homemade (in October) gummy brain thing that was swimming in a pink liquid. Just looking at it made me gag a little. Why did MY husband, out of everyone there, have to pick this present??? I'm sure you can guess what happened next. Someone threw out a number "Chad, I will give you $5 if you eat that whole thing", "Chad, I will pay you $20 if you eat that whole thing", "WAIT! Don't start yet, I have to grab the camera!". I started cringing, and hoping that for just this once he would say no. But, he just couldn't pass it up. I think he thought it was going to be a lot easier than it was. When he took his first bite his teeth got STUCK! I couldn't help it, I started to laugh! I was completely grossed out. It was one of those horrible things that you want to look away from but you just can't help but stare. The funny part was how it kind of backfired on him. It was so tough that he actually ended up having to cut it into pieces with a steak knife! It took him 5 minutes to eat each piece! All in the name of a few dollars and ALOT of laughs! I think he was the highlight of the party :) I love that guy! I might never kiss him again, but I sure love him! :)

Getting ready to take the first bite

Playing to the crowd

Teeth stuck, and laughing really hard
Licking the goop off of his fingers
Starting to second guess his decision
Maybe feeling a bit queasy
He did finish the whole thing, and earned every penny of that $25 :)

Amazing Math

The title of this post might be a little misleading.....I actually DESPISE math! But, I wanted to write about the math class that I just finished so that I can remember what a hard, but amazing experience it was for me.

The decision of me going back to school was not something that we were planning on doing until all the girls were in school, but sometimes, well, most of the time, life doesn't go how we have things planned. I was excited to start back into school, but I also felt a heavy weight on my shoulders. There is so much weighing on me doing well school, and getting my degree. I don't have any room for re-taking classes, or dilly-dallying around :) I was also worried about the toll it would take on my family. Going to night school mean't that I would barely see Chad at all, and I wouldn't be there to help with the night time routine. I wouldn't get to kiss my girls goodnight 5 out of the 7 days a week. I wouldn't get to just sit and talk with Chad about our days, and how we were doing. He walked in the door, and I walked out. But, I decided to be as positive as I could because we both felt like this was the right move for our family.

As with every other program, the nursing program requires certain classes to be able to get in to the program. I have been able to cruise through most of the classes, but one of the classes that I was required to take was a math class specifically for health-care professionals. For most people this wouldn't be a big deal, but for me?? HUGE deal!! Just the thought of a math class makes my heart start to race, I start sweating, things start to get foggy....well, not really, but you get the idea :) But, I really do have a hard time with math. Just ask Chad. Give me a addition problem and I can do it, no problem. But, if you start to throw in subtraction, division, multiplication etc. I start to have issues. Imagine my reaction when I went to class the first time, cracked open the book and saw LOGARITHMS, MOLES, EXPONENTS.......I started to panic! I was worried that I wouldn't be able to pass this class, when this was the one class that had so much weighing on the outcome. How I did in this math class would determine if I would be able to continue on into the nursing program, or have to retake it and lose my spot in the nursing program.

The first day didn't help squash any of my concerns. I found out that the head over the department was going to be the one that would write all of our tests, including our final. So, we would be taught by our teacher, and then have to take a test from someone that has a very different teaching style. He was also requiring us to do around 100 homework problems per chapter, when we were covering about 4 chapters every class time. On top of that, he also wanted us to write a service-learning paper. Thats right, a PAPER in a MATH class! But this wasn't any normal paper. He wanted us to go to a hospital or a clinic and volunteer doing something that pertains to our medical math for 15 hours and write our paper on our experience in serving. Okay, 1) We are in night school. OBVIOUSLY we have something that we do during the day that makes it so we can't go to school, so what makes him think that we have 15 spare hours? And, 2) You can't do anything "volunteer" in a hospital or clinic that has anything to do with anything medical. It is against the law. I needed to figure something out because this paper was worth 5% of our grade! Ridiculous! Fortunate for me, I have recently done my CNA certification and I was able to use my clinical hours for my paper. I was wondering what other people were going to do. But, relief came soon for all of us. There must have been a lot of complaints, because about half-way through the semester we were told that the paper would now be extra credit, and not required. I decided right then and there that I wasn't going to worry about doing it. I was already SO overwhelmed by all of the math crap that I was going to have to fill my brain with.

This is where the "amazing" part comes in (and a little bit of bragging :) ). I have worked SO hard this semester to learn the things that are going to be important for my career, but I have also had SO much help! This is where it might get a little mushy for some of you......But, I KNOW that my Heavenly Father has been watching over me and helping me through this class. I was constantly asking for help throughout this semester to not only do well in the class, but to make sure that I was also able to juggle keeping the house clean, getting my homework done, making sure that I was spending enough time with the girls, and being able to spend time with Chad. I know that Heavenly Father is blessing me to be able to juggle all of these things because this is what I am supposed to be doing for my family at this point in our lives. I have had a feeling of calmness every time I have gone to take a test, and I have been able to recall the things that I need to know, and I have been able to REMEMBER them! (that is amazing all in itself!). Chad was MORE than amazing! He was always willing to help me when I had questions, and never once complained when I was studying or doing homework and the girls were melting down. His constant support and love is always amazing to me! He is really is a dream come true!

I was feeling pretty good about how I was doing in the class, so I was still thinking that I wasn't going to do my service-learning paper. It seemed silly to me. But, I kept feeling like I should. I decided that I would just do it because, what could it hurt? At this point I was excited because I knew that I was going to be able to do well in the class. I figured that doing the paper would just boost my grade a little bit. So, I did the paper and turned it in on the day that I took my final. I felt really good about how my final went and figured that I would be somewhere in the range of "A to A-". When I checked my final grade the next day I had an overall percentage of 95% (which I was thrilled with!) but as I scrolled over I saw that our teacher had just tacked the extra credit to our final percentage. So instead of having a 95% overall in the class I passed the class with 100%!!!!!!!! I couldn't believe it! I am so glad that I was prompted to do the paper. Not because I wouldn't have been happy with a 95%, but with how much I have struggled with math in the past, this just filled that whole in my heart, where I didn't feel like I was smart enough. I feel confidant that I am doing what I am supposed to be doing. I might not understand why my family is in the position that it is right now, but I know that my Heavenly Father loves me, and that he is looking out for us!

Christmas Lists To Santa

A few days ago the girls wrote letters to Santa. Here are a few things that were on their lists that made me smile....

1. Pig

2. Birthday present for Santa

3. Triangle

4. Pot thats a toy

5. Cottage Cheese

6. Eyebrows

7. Flowers

8. Treat

9. Drink of water

10. Toothpicks

Happy Holidays!!!

New do and a fantastic lunch too!

For the past week I have been dealing with puke, puke, oh ya, and MORE puke! My family caught a nasty little stomach bug that took a couple of them out for an entire week, including Chad. It was HORRIBLE!!! By the end of the week I was in desperate need of some time to relax. And what could be better than getting a new hair-do and going to lunch with a great friend??

I started out bright and early to go and get my hair done. Ever since Chad and I have been married he has wanted me to have dark hair with bright red streaks. I have put it off over and over again mostly because I wasn't sure if I would be able to "pull off" a hair-do like that. But, I figure that I needed a little pick-me-up and I decided to get it done after all. I am SO glad that I did! The pictures below do NOT show this hair-do justice! Plus, I took the picture after I had been outside when it was really windy, ya, I don't know what I was thinking :) Anyways, I lOVE it, and Chad loves it too. I had Kristy (my amazing hair dresser) give me a different cut as well. I just told her to do what she thought would look good, and I am glad that I left it up to her! I feel so spunky! :) Thanks Kristy!!

First picture is a little windblown in the back, and in real life the highlights are WAY brighter red.....they look a little orangy in this picture

Side view of my new cut

To continue my relaxing day, I met my great friend Paige for lunch. It was so fun to chat, laugh, and catch up on life with each other over some delicious Chili's food! So nice to be able to take a break from the "grind" of life and just enjoy a good friends company. AND, it is extremely therapeutic!! Thanks Paige! I had a blast!!

I came home to one of the most wonderful things......a clean house!! Chad and the girls cleaned the house while I was gone so that I would be surprised when I got home. I love you guys!!

And to top the day off I get to snuggle up with Chad and watch a movie while we snack on some treats. So happy to have everyone healthy and happy again!!

Thankful for...

Even though we aren't to Thanksgiving yet I wanted to share a few things that I am thankful for:

1- Above all things, I am thankful to have the most beautiful and loving girls in the universe. There are times when this rock called "mom" feels like crumbling and my girls are always there to say something funny or make me feel good. People often make off the cuff comments about the fact that I have 5 kids-but let me tell you, I couldn't imagine my life without them. McKinzley, Taylin, Oaklee, Brexlyn, and Pemberlynn, I LOVE you so very much and I am thankful for you.

2- My husband, the first man to ever truly love me, and whom I love with all my heart.

3- The Gospel- We would be lost without it.

4- My family, who even though they sometimes don't see it, I love unconditionally and I always will.

5- I am thankful that my family believes in and supports us.

6- My friends, without whom my life would be empty and humorless.

7- I am thankful for my health, and that of my family, really thankful.

8- The gift of education and the opportunity that lies before me. The chance to make a new and better life for myself, and my family.

9- Having a roof over my head, clothes to wear and food to eat. Many many others around the world don't have half the things I take for granted each day.

10- That my life is full of rich opportunities that didn't exist last year.

11- That I see a world of hope and possibilities instead of constraints and necessities.

12- I am thankful for trials. Although they are hard, and sometimes the worst things we've gone through, I know they are important and a necessary part of life.

13- I'm thankful to live in this country. I'm thankful for the soldiers as well as ordinary Americans who are fighting too.

14- I am also thankful for Dr. Pepper. It is the Nectar of the Gods!

My Sweet Pemberlynn

Two years ago we welcomed Pemberlynn into our family! I can't believe how fast time has gone, and I know that everyone says that, but now that she is 2 I am realizing that I don't really have a "baby" anymore. This is definitely bittersweet for me. I am so thankful that we were blessed to have Pemberlynn in our lives. There are SO many things that I love about Pemberlynn that I can't name them all, but here are a few: I love her smile, chubby cheeks, her sideways stares that say "Really mom?", her attitude, kisses, hugs, snuggles, bossiness, and her tender heart. I love you Pemberlynn!!