NEW

So let me just start by saying that I kind of stink at New Year's resolutions. I try every year and succeed for a few months before failing...A friend of mine posted on facebook about One Little Word. I've never heard of this so I read it and really liked the idea. Instead of making a bunch of resolutions this year, I'm picking one word that I want to focus on. As I was reading about the One Little Word, NEW is what popped in my head. It was kind of like those word association games where someone says a word and they want you to respond with the first word that pops in your head. Well, I feel like that works in this case.

I love this word for the year. I feel like I've become to complacent with the OLD and I'm ready to make some changes for the year. There are many aspects of my life that I feel can benefit from a touch of NEW and I'm excited for the new year and the opportunity to make some changes. I may not be making resolutions like I used to but I still have some areas that I'm wanting to change and I'm hoping that using this one little word in each of those areas will help. I guess I'll be able to tell you more about how this works next year about this time!

Anyways....HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope that this year will be a happy and healthy one for each of you. I'm so grateful for all the blessings in my life and for this time of year, where we get to reflect on so many of our blessings. Despite my last post, I do love this time of year. For some reason, this year I was feeling a bit grinchy...But I'm feeling better now...my heart must also have grown a few sizes! (Just a little Grinch humor for ya)

YIKES

I can't believe Christmas is in 2 days! This year it has really just snuck up on me..How it's done that, I'm not sure. Stores started putting out Christmas stuff in October so I should have been well prepared..but I'm not. I've got to say that this year I've been feeling like Christmas has gotten lost in hustle and bustle. Every commercial I watch is all about buying the best presents and I know it's like that every year but...I was reading an article about how Christmas has affected the unemployed. Many people have just done Christmas differently, accounting for lack of funds to buy Christmas but do simple things with their families. I read some responses from others that made me sad. They feel ashamed that they can't buy their family presents so they just don't spend any time with their family. That made me sad that instead of coming together with family in a time of need they push them away. I can't say how I might react if put in the same situation but I sure hope I would want to be with my family. This holiday is all about family and just giving....giving whatever you have. It doesn't always have to be of monetary worth but sometimes just time is a great gift. I loved the first presidency's Christmas devotional because President Monson touched a little on how I've been feeling this season. It is Christmas, CHRIST is the most important part of the season. I guess that is what I feel has been lost in the hustle and bustle of getting ready for Christmas. I saw a lady who was wearing a pin that said "It's okay to say Merry Christmas!" At first I thought it was kind of a weird thing to be wearing but then I thought about how often people are afraid of saying the wrong thing and offending someone else. Someone may not believe in celebrating Christmas or something else. But I don't think it's wrong to spread the joy of Christmas. I'm not saying it to make someone offended. I'm saying it to try and be friendly and happy during this time of year, I think that is the message to take away.

I feel like I always end my posts this way but I hope that makes sense. I'm trying to hurry and I sometimes I feel like my thoughts don't always convey well to my blog! So for anyone reading this, hopefully you can follow me....if not...sorry!

Anyways, it is the season. I do love this time of the year and I love the fact that we get to celebrate our Saviors birth. I know that He probably was not born this time of the year but I'm still glad for the celebration. I'm grateful too, that I don't have to work on Christmas again and get to see my family...even if it's a brief visit! Let's also hope that this Christmas doesn't end in sickness like last year!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Delayed....And long...Sorry!

So I'm a little slow to post this. It's been somewhat of a crazy few weeks. In this post is some good news and some sad news. Good news first...I'm getting a new niece or nephew sometime in April! This news was definitely a surprise and I couldn't be more happy to get it! YAY!!!

As for the sad news, on Oct. 21, 2011, the same day my family received the news of a new baby, we also found out the my mom's cousin, Robert Brinton, who has always been Uncle Robert to us, suddenly passed away. This news is always unexpected and hard to deal with. I was at work when I found out and couldn't fully process it until later. Let me just say that my family spent lots of time at Uncle Robert and Aunt Nanette's house. When we moved to Texas, every summer we would drive back to Mesa and we usually stayed there. Their kids were relatively the same age as us and we always had a blast there! I have always been so grateful for the love that he and Aunt Nanette showed to us. ...This is still hard to write.... Uncle Robert was an amazing man. I think I realized that even more so at his funeral. He did so many things in the church and for the community, but he often did it quietly. He never did it to be praised. He always was kind and ALWAYS, ALWAYS had a smile on his face. I think it was usually a mischievous smile because he like to joke around. One of the best memories I have of him was a few Christmases ago...There was a whipped cream fight with him, his daughter Heidi and my dad. I think in this instance he was just a bystander, but somehow he ended up with the whipped cream on his head. There are more stories to be told but that is my favorite! I'm really grateful that I was close enough to be able and attend the funeral. It was a great service for a great man.

A week after the funeral, my mom called again, with bad news. I told her I just wasn't going to answer the phone anymore! My grandpa Roy's brother Leland passed away. This wasn't as unexpected as Uncle Robert but it's never easy. Fortunately, I was able to see him in July at a Smith family gathering. It had been years since the last time I'd seen Uncle Leland so I'm grateful for that opportunity. Uncle Leland lived kind of kitty corner from Grandpa and they somehow shared a backyard, so there were many times that we would visit Leland and Marilyn while at Grandpa's. His kids were all grown and gone by that time but we would still run over and visit and get homemade popsicles! Oh the fun times when you're young...He never looked like Grandpa but he was always kind like grandpa and I'm so grateful for the chance I had to know him.

Thankfully, this past week was news free....at least with my family. I'm hoping it stays that way for awhile...Twice is enough for a few years right?

But, back to the good news....YAY for new babies! Next week, we'll find out whether it's a niece or a nephew!!!!

Boston Finale!

This is the last post for Boston...Finally, I know it's taken me forever, but here it is. I can't remember which day this was but it was just Kalli, Steve and I. We went to the Boston Gardens(?) where they have these lovely swan paddle boats. It was fun to go. There were a few live swans and some ducks that kept chasing each other around the pond. We also saw a family of turtles and some ballerinas in a photo shoot. A very eventful time. We joined a class at the statue of George Washington...I think it was George... and we learned a lot about him from this class.
This is me on our lovely swan boat tour. Ignore how awful I look...It was humid and hot walking around!
This lovely picture is from our whale watching tour. As you can see it looks awfully cold right. I'm so smart and thought...I'll be ok without a jacket. I froze and quickly learned my lesson that you should always take a jacket with you. Because it was so foggy when we went, we saw no whales! We really couldn't see much because of the fog, but it was still a fun experience! Walking on the boat was an adventure and I feel like I might understand what it's like to be drunk! I thought I was walking straight but I was far from it! There was a family on our tour and oh my heck were they prepared for a sighting. There were like 5 of them and each had these monstrous cameras. It was pretty funny to watch them!

Random

So, mom emailed us a copy of Grandma Bertha's journal and I was reading it today. It's been pretty awesome. I was only 4 1/2 when she passed away. I have a few memories here and there of her but not many. It's been fun to read about her life. So far she writes a lot about canning at the cannery and being with family. It also makes me feel a little better about my own journal writing...or lack of it. There are many entries where she comments on how fast the time goes between entries, but she keeps trying to do better. I guess I need to do better now. Anyway, I've really enjoyed reading about life through her eyes and getting to know her a little better through her entries.

And I know, I still need to finish the stinking Boston trip. I sure have dragged it out enough....I'm getting there, I just wanted to write about this and then I'll catch up!

Maine!

Well, I'm finally finishing up Boston...only this post deals with Maine! And the pictures are out of order. We ended the day at Bob's Clam Hut. I had my first basket of fish and chips....and it wad pretty good. I also tried some lobster soup....it was good but I don't know how often I would have it!

This is at the Portland Observatory which was closed. It was opening for the season the week after we left, kind of a bummer!

This is an attempt at the jumping pictures...Let's just say that Kiersty is a much better photographer than I am, which is why I didn't post the pictures I took of her attempting the same...

I took lots of pictures of the ocean. I love watching it crash on the rocks! I think that out of all the places we went Maine, was one of my favorite. It is so beautiful there. I wish we could have explored some more. We did find a great outlet mall and shopped through a really amazing rainstorm!

Uh....

So, I realize that I kind of lost steam in the middle of my Boston trip...but I'm still here! I'll finish someday for all those who are just waiting in agony! Now I'm really behind because I have another trip to blog about...I just can't catch a break here!