A new year and bucket lists.

I've got most of the Christmas decorations put away with just a few things left on my dining room table.  The house and walls look so empty and bare now but it's nice to have some openness again.  I start feeling ornery and ancy with all of the new gifts, toys and Christmas mess all over the house after the big celebration.  I'm always more than ready to put it all away once it's over.  Griffin came into the family room this morning and had a sad face when he asked, What happened to my Christmas tree?  He's already planning and talking about what he wants for Christmas next year.  It's always that way with him.  He talks about the last holiday until the next one comes around and takes all of his focus.  Before Christmas, it was all Halloween and what costume he was going to wear next year.  So I'm trying to help him with the adjustment by looking forward to the next holiday.  We pulled out some of the Valentine decorations today.  Heart plates on the dining room table.  Now it's time for some early spring cleaning.  I'm excited to go through all of the closets and toy room and fill up bags of stuffed animals and dolls to donate to our local good will.  Find a place for all of the new Christmas goodies.

I like that we celebrate the new year.  A new beginning.  A chance to reflect on your past and change your future.  To make resolutions to become a better person, mother, wife, sister, daughter, and friend.  I had to look back at the pictures from this past year to help me remember all that happened.  

2010 was a good year.  

Full of happy and fun times.  Trips to Arizona, Las Vegas, Alaska (epic trip!), St. George, Park City, Oregon, Washington, Bear Lake and Lake Powell.  

Full of celebrations.  Gavin and I both turned 39 years old and also celebrated the birthdays of six children.  Nothing compares to celebrating your child's birth and reflecting on the day they entered your life and changed you for the better.  Our year was full of Minnie Mouse, American Girl doll tea party, Toy Story,  boating, Nemo swimming, and laser tag parties.  

It wasn't free of pain or worry though.  We cried and rallied together with the support of our family and friends last January when Morgan was fighting for her life in the ICU.  Just another reminder of how lucky we are to have this little girl in our life.  And to appreciate every moment we have with those we love.  

So we celebrated the end to a good year with hopes for the upcoming year.  We started off the celebrating with a yummy dinner at "Laylas" with my family.

Then made it over to our house for an evening of food, games, movies and lots of laughter.  It was a perfect ending of 2010 and beginning of 2011.

Gavin grabbed my camera and started taking pictures "for the blog".

We played a new game, The game of things . . .  I'm pretty sure I've never laughed this much playing a game.  If you play it and don't think it's very fun then you might just need to borrow my brother Chad.  I sat on a bench with my little sister, Brittany, and little brother, Blake, and on more than one occasion we wrote down the exact same answer.  Word for word.

We turned on the TV just in time to watch the countdown.  Gavin loaded the kids up with tupperware (huh?) and spoons (a few years ago all of our silver bowls and pots and pans ended up with big dents in them).  Grandma loaded them up with silly string.  And we made a mad dash for the front door.

And we celebrated.  Freezing temperatures and all.  There was clapping and yelling and string shooting and tupperware hitting and one crazy teenager thought it was only fitting to breakdance while rolling in the snow in his shorts. (Video footage below).  The highlight of the night for all of his cousins.

Silly string and laying in the snow = a very happy New Year's Eve!

We went back inside and noticed that someone decided to silly string our bathroom.  Our house looked like we had just hosted a frat party.  It was thrashed!

The aftermath of the party.  Just in case you didn't know (because I didn't), silly string doesn't come off of concrete.  It's gonna look like we're always in the middle of a party at our house!

The kids all loved getting sprayed and covered with silly string

A toast to the new year.

There were some serious melt downs after midnight.  There's a reason these kids go to bed at 7:30 pm and not 12:30 am.  Griffin was crying because his can of silly string was empty.  Mia was crying because she couldn't push down the thing to make it spray.

And then they both wanted to be held.  By mom.  At the same time.  And I loved every minute of it.

My babies are growing up quickly and I really do savor the moments when only mom will do.

(P.S.  That's silly string on my shoulders and back.  Not dandruff!  At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it!)

New Year's Day was full of new adventures for Morgan, Mia and Griffin.  SLEDDING!  They had never been before and loved it.  Yes, we live in Utah and have snow all around us but for some reason we had never taken them before.  They had a blast.  Except for the 10 minutes of pure panic when Griffin went sledding full speed into a parked car.  Miraculously, he didn't get hurt.  He was hysterical but I think it was more out of fear from our reactions than anything else.  He warmed up in the car for a minute and then was ready to take on the hill.  Just a different hill.  The one without parked cars at the bottom.

I signed up for the Daily Challenge at Me You Health.  Today's challenge -- share five things on your bucket list.  I love reading other people's bucket lists but for some reason always have a hard time thinking of things I want on my bucket list.  I feel like I have had amazing experiences in my life and have traveled and seen much of the world.  I am filled up with love with my amazing family and six children.  But I am gonna do it.  I'm gonna start a bucket list of 5 things I want to accomplish in my lifetime.

1.  Become a grandma.

2.  Go on a cruise with my family, parents, siblings, nieces and nephews.

3.  Serve a mission with Gavin.

4.  Backpack thru Europe.

5.  Take the family on a humanitarian trip to a third world country. 

Whew.  That wasn't so hard.  

Wishing you all a very happy new year!  May you drink it all in, every last drop!