2008

It's always fascinating to me to look back on a year. Though the days sometimes seem long and challenging, the years as a whole seem to go by quickly. Looking back, the good usually outweighs the bad and it's fun to reflect. Here are my highlights for this year.

Top 5 for 2008

5- Vacations: We've never been able to go on vacations before. We've always come home to visit our families for Christmas and at other times, (which has always been great by the way families!) so to be able to take some trips this year has been a lot of fun. We went to Washington, Europe (Phil and I), and Disneyland and really enjoyed that time together with each other. Now we understand why everyone does it!! (The boys and I started a change jar today for our next Disneyland trip. I can't wait until Phil sees it!)

4-Sports & Fitness: Jacob has become a much better athlete this year. It's been fun to watch. Both boys played soccer and T-ball and now know what a football is, so that is exciting! Micah tags along with the rest and I'm sure will be our football player, if we have one!! I ran a couple of marathons and have continued running with some great friends (exercise and therapy at the same time - can't beat it!) Phil has enjoyed some bike riding with friends. We love being outside and trying to stay fit.

3- Family Time: Besides having the option of going of vacations, we now get the added benefit of seeing our families so much more! It has been great. We love being close to grandpas and grandmas, aunts, uncles and we LOVE our cousins (I even get to run with one of my cousins - something I never imagined would happen!) It's been a lot of fun.

2- Education: As educators and students! Phil has been able to give many lectures and even participate in international conferences as a lecturer. That has been exciting and something he really enjoys. I finally earned my bachelor's degree and enjoyed taking a few classes to finish it up! Ben started kindergarten and Jacob is doing great in the 2nd grade.

1- Religion: I have the greatest calling right now: The primary chorister!! I have really enjoyed that this year. The kids are great and one of the things we all remember from primary is the songs. So it's great to be a part of that!

The other awesome thing has been reading the Book of Mormon with the boys. We have been reading all year and have one chapter to go. We always tried to read the stories, but to be reading the real thing this year has been exciting for me. Now, I know they haven't gotten a ton out of it (you can probably picture how our scripture study goes...but we ARE trying!!), but I love hearing them say "now it came to pass...", they are beginning to know the stories and we're trying to develop the habit of reading the scriptures. I know that as we continue to study together and separately, their testimonies will grow. I'm so grateful to have the gospel in our home to help us raise our boys!!

Here's to 2009!

Christmas Fun!

We had a nice Christmas. I always love the way the tree looks. We were supposed to have no presents under it because we went to Disneyland...easier said than done!

Micah got Diego legos, Jacob a remote control helicopter and Ben his long sought-after remote control Wall-e!

We couldn't be content to stay home though, we had to risk life and limb to be with family for Christmas. The drive to Idaho was awful - we prayed as we pulled out of our driveway and into Phil's parents drive way! It was a close one!

Ben was thrilled to finally get the Wall-e movie. We're not sure where his fascination came from since we'd never seen it, but we've watched it 4 times since!

We went to the Idaho Falls museum for their nativity/santa/gingerbread display....then headed home to do our own creations...guess who...WALL-E! Of Course!

Phil's family did pictures on Friday, so we had our family's done too.
Pretty good for a bunch of Stevens!

Last, but certainly not least...Grandpa Stevens invested in a Wii. The boys loved it, especially Jacob. But this video of Micah helps us understand why they call it a WEEEEEEEE!

Merry Christmas!

We had to wait to post this until my parents (who are in France on a mission) received their Christmas gifts. This is our family's best wishes for you to have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

Wonderful World of...

DISNEY!!! We just got back from a wonderful trip to Disneyland. We decided on a trip for Christmas this year since we already have too much "stuff". We wanted to enjoy the Christmas decor and rides, yet avoid as many crowds as possible, so we went before Christmas.

We talked about President Monson's Talk on Enjoying the Journey for Family Home Evening on December 1st, then told them we were going to do Christmas a bit different this year. We had them open their present from us early. They were quite confused to find Disneyland shirts until we asked them where it would be fun to wear them. Jacob was especially thrilled!

Micah was so excited he couldn't even open his eyes!!

We all had such a great time. We went with my brother Brian and his family. Most of what I remembered about Disneyland was the long lines (Phil too), but we were just as excited about all of the rides as the boys were, and the crowds were manageable. Jacob and Benjamin even got to fight Darth Vader! Here are some of my favorite pictures:

Phil and I were both very impressed with Disney's ability to go all out for each ride and at their use of space (maybe they could come make more room in our home!) We're hoping this will be a fun Christmas memory for years to come!

Joy to the World!

The lights on temple square really are glorious!! We enjoyed them together last night.

You gotta love it baby!

It was with great honor on Wednesday night that I accompanied Jacob to his first Jazz game!! I was so excited! Growing up I LOVED the Jazz. I almost passed out once getting Karl Malone's autograph (he asked me my name and I frantically spelled it out for him so it would be correct - that would be awful if he spelled it wrong!) I had a pictures of John Stockton and his boys on my bulletin board and even listened to the post game shows with Hot Rod. My journal entries were about the Jazz and the only fights my little brother and I ever had were Jazz vs. Bulls fights.

We had a great time. Many of my siblings and some of the older cousins went. We were in the nosebleed section, but loved it anyway. I'm hoping that enjoying Jazz games will become a family tradition to share with my boys for years to come. Go Jazz!!