Christmas Letter 2011

 The kids are another year older and it’s hard to believe we’re adding another one to the mix in a few more weeks!

This year was an exciting one.  Jeremy and I were able to get away on a couple of small weekend trips!  That coupled with our summer trip to Canada means that we kept busy!  In May we made the trek to the capitol of the US of A to see the sights and visit with some family.  We left Brenna behind and took Mason.  The trip was great and it was so nice to spend time with family that we don’t get to see often.  We really enjoyed seeing all of the neat things in Washington D.C. too.  Soon after that in June Jeremy and I escaped for one night to Vegas to celebrate our anniversary a bit early.  It was quick, but fun to spend some time alone for the first time in years!  We took ourselves on a tour of the strip and enjoyed being responsibility free!  Lastly, I took the kids to Canada in July and Jeremy met up with us for a big family reunion and we had a great time up there with family.  We are grateful we’ve been able to visit during the summers to escape the heat! 

Jeremy is still working at MetLife as a financial planner and continues to enjoy his work!  He’s also still the Scout Master in our ward and keeps very busy with activities, meetings, and monthly campouts.  He keeps active with our stake athletics and practicing basketball once a week with some other men from the stake.  He is a great father and the kids love it when daddy comes home to throw them around and wrestle.

I am enjoying getting to stay home with our two beautiful kids, and trying to prepare as much as possible to be a mom of 3!  I hear it can be a tough transition!  I ran in my first race this spring, and it was fun to do, and surprisingly hard to prepare for!  It was a short one and more for fun than anything.  I am the nursery leader in our ward and for the past year I have been able to spend Sunday with both of my kids and about 12 other young ones in the ward!  I have also enjoyed being more creative with meals and crafts at home and activities with the kids lately thanks to Pinterest!

Brenna is 3 and a half now, and still quite the fireball at times.  She is loving playing at the park, riding her bike and anything dirty, rough …or girly!  She did gymnastics a couple of times this year, and really enjoys it once she learns to obey the rules!  She loves to dance, sing and wrestle, and does not like to wear pants very much.  She is excited to move up to primary in a couple of weeks!

Mason is nearly 2 and is very smart.  He speaks really well and can count to 10 (if you help him with 7), sing part of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, knows a few shapes, and is getting pretty good at his colors too (although mostly everything is still “geen”!).  He is a handsome boy and brings lots of joy and laughter to our lives… as well as a lot of sleepless nights but I think it all evens out in the end!  I’m hoping when the new baby comes to get at least an hour or two of sleep each night between the 3 kids!

We have enjoyed this year, and are very excited for the year to come as well.  We hope that you are all well and wish you the best for 2012!