A Realization

I just realized that I don't necessarily have to have pictures to post a blog. I haven't been posting because I have so many pictures to post that it overwhelms me. So this is going to be my first no picture blog. There will be more blogs coming your way soon with pictures, so stay tuned!

Just to catch you up a little on our life, we had a great Christmas! We had Ryan's parents and sister, Kelcie, come and spend Christmas with us. Then for New Year's, Ryan's brother, Greg, and his family came and celebrated with all of us. I love having family around for the holidays! We had a really great time and played quite a bit of Rockband and games.

Having family around once again brought the realization how lucky we are to have families. I love my in-law family! They are all really great! I love each of the brothers and sisters-in-law in a special way. We all bring something special into the family and I appreciate that Ryan comes from such a solid family. I admire Ryan's parents immensely for raising seven fabulous kids who are all active in the church and are raising amazing families. I think it says a lot about two people who raise children who contribute to society and are responsible. Joe and Gisela (my in-laws) have always been good to me. They took me in and made me a part of their family at a really complicated time. I appreciate their love and compassion they have. All this said, I really enjoyed having Ryan's family here for the holidays! Of course, Greg and Melissa's kids are adorable and I get a kick out of their cute personalities! Having young kids around always makes a house fun!

Ryan, the boys, and I are getting ready for our big trip to Hawaii! I have plotted, planned, and scoped out ways to get myself out of the plane ride but so far no luck. I received an article from one of my friends at church who knows about my plane phobia that listed the probability of our plane going down over the Pacifc. The article told me that I have a 1 in 60 million chance of getting in a plane accident and that for the next 160,000 years I can fly every day and enjoy my peanuts without any problems. They don't get it!

Other than the plane ride, I am anxious to go to Hawaii. This is the first real family vacation we have taken in 12 years. The boys have been talking about it since September when we booked their tickets. Taylor thinks he is going to conquer surfing and about a million other things while we are there. Hopefully we will have some fun things to report when we get back along with some fun pictures!

Bless my mom and dad, they are coming down to keep an eye on the boys while we are in Hawaii the first week! Again with the family thing, I love my family! I have the best parents in the world, I know each of us feels that way about our parents. I guess I should say, I have the best parents in the world for me. They are the most wonderful people I know and are both my greatest heroes! I love having a family of mostly girls and one boy. My sisters are awesome! I love every one of them and they have all been shining examples to me. They all take the time to help me and show me how to be a better wife and mother and I admire each of them for the role that they play in their own families. Having one brother has been fun as well! Travis is a lot of fun and keeps our family laughing. I think he secretly enjoys being the only brother because that automatically makes him our favorite brother!

Enough of the sentimental me! I will post more later but better get back to work! Maybe I'm doing this as my last farewell before I plummit into the ocean and become shark food. Whoever reads this remember, Colby and Taylor get everything and Alan and LaVoy are deemed their legal guardians ( I hope that's okay with Alan and LaVoy!).