A YEAR in REVIEW...

Here are some memorable moments from this past year! Some we are more grateful for than others....that is for sure!

**Our adoption was finalized and our family was made ETERNAL when we were sealed in the SLC TEMPLE!
**We spent half of our vacation in West Yellowstone puking! (all of us!)
**We celebrated Ethan and Nyah's FIRST birthday!
**Both twins contracted bronchilitis at the same time. Can you say nebulizer?
**We bought a new HOME and VAN in the same week! So fun...
**Brigette set FIRE to the babies' tubby when she accidentally put it on the stove in the kitchen!
**Ethan and Nyah experienced choColate for the first time (Halloween) and seem to have mommy's love for it!
**Brigette and the babies missed Daddy terribly when he went to Oregon for 10 days to work for TNT.
**Our little family took our first ROAD TRIP to Wyoming and celebrated the 4th of July (the real way.....boom!)
**Marty and Brigette lost a lot of weight,...but didn't reach our 100 lb goal YET!
**Nyah has built her vocabulary to over 80 words! No joke,...she is quite the talker!
**Ethan is our musical genius! He has so much rhythm! He will actually sit and play the piano!
**We've gotten rid of the naptime bottles,...BUT we still LOVE our binkis!
**Marty has LOVED his 2nd year teaching SEMINARY at Viewmont High.
**Both babies had a rare viral strain and had to get their blood drawn for tests! Mommy cried worse than they did!
**Marty ran THREE 5k's this year!
**Brigette survived a really fun and rewarding year with TWINS! We are so BLESSED!

We wish you all the very best in this new year! We LOVE you all!

A Walk Down Memory Lane...

Here are some highlights from this Holiday Season! We have had a lot of fun celebrating Christmas with our loved ones!

This year, we took Ethan and Nyah to the Festival of Trees. We each picked out our favorite tree! Ethan and Nyah loved this glass blown tree that lit up in time to music. It was amazing!

Marty was quite impressed with this little playhouse. Too bad it was already sold,...or he may have purchased it. (for the twins ofcourse)

My favorite was this beautiful tree trimmed with deep reds, oranges, and browns. Yes,...I am a sucker for anything with Fall colors!

My side of the family decided to put together a gingerbread village. Some of it is actual gingerbread and other parts are made with graham crackers! The theme was "Story Time Christmas" It included: the Train that Could, the Who-ville christmas tree (from the Grinch), Willy Wonka's chocolate factory, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and Hansel and Gretel. The Empire State Building,....was an added bonus!

Each year, Nana Schroader hosts the "Cousin Christmas Party!" This year was so much fun. The kids ate a yummy dinner and waited anxiously for the gifts and games. The cousins exchange little gifts and it is quite the exciting frenzy! One of the most memorable traditions is the advent calendar. Each child gets the oportunity to pick an ornament off the advent tree and locate their treat after they solve the riddle. (you can see them lined up in the picture above as they anxiously await their turn) Also, every year a family member reads stories to the kids teaching the significance of Christmas. The stories include: The Christmas Spider, The Christmas Orange, and the Candy Cane Story. Then,...Santa delivered gifts from the North Pole (left on the front door step) to all the Children. It was a lot of fun and we really love being with the Schroader Cousins!

Aunt Debi (Marty's sister) made these adorable cupcakes for the Cousin Christmas Party! She is so talented! Each cupcake was a unique ornament!

Ethan loving the Christmas festivities!

After trying to play some Christmas music on the piano, I was quickly bombarded by my cute babies who insisted on playing their own musical masterpieces. Here is Nyah playing something beautiful!

Ethan and Nyah in their winter hats! So cute!

Our family on Christmas Eve at the Schroaders. We showed up in our new PJ's! It is tradition that we open a new pair of jammies on Christmas Eve!

Daddy helping Ethan open some presents!

Uncle Darren flew in from LA to spend time with the family! He is so funny and just adores the kids!

Aunt Debi spending time with Nyah on Christmas Eve. She sat on her lap all night....So cute!

Mark, Marty's brother, opening one of his gifts!

Mitch, Angie, Cayden, and Sydney on Christmas Eve!

Nana opening part of her gift from our family!

This is one of my favorite decorations my mom would put out at Christmas time. She handpainted each figurine and always displayed them with twinkling white lights.

This is my mom's beautiful pink tree! Since my mom passed away, we have made it a tradition to decorate her pink tree in her formal living room! I missed my mom terribly this year and it felt really good to spend time remembering her as we decorated her beautiful tree.

With the exception of Paige (my sister) and her families' stockings, we placed each of our stockings on my Dad's stone fireplace wall. Mom hand-made each stocking with every new addition to the family. Kristy has since taken over. Last year, we made new ones for Ethan, Nyah, and Leah. This year.,....Baby Taylor was represented. You'll have to ask me the story behind each stocking! Each has a special meaning to our family!

Lots of stockings in our family!

Pay it forward!

I'm participating in a Pay It Forward Exchange. Who wants to play? I will send a handmade gift to the first three people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this Pay It Forward Exchange. You will receive your gift within a month from leaving your comment. The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog. I can't guarantee it will be anything amazing, but who cares if it is FREE! Remember, you have to have a blog to participate and must Pay it Forward on your site as well. Who's ready to play? Please leave your e-mail in a comment if I don't already have it.

BLESSED!

Marty and I have been thinking about purchasing a van for awhile and we just recently found one that was an AMAZING DEAL! We feel extremely blessed to have found such a nice van, in excellent condition, and with very low miles! Marty surprised me yesterday and brought it home after work. (I thought we still had to go pick it up, work out the registration, and set up insurance still) It was such an awesome surprise!

Marty was so excited that he wanted to load up the van (with as many people as it could hold) and go to the Festival of Trees. Unfortunately, we were unable to make that happen so instead we took a drive as a family to see the lights at Layton Park and around different neighborhoods! Nyah and Ethan were able to sit in their forwad facing seats for the first time and look out the big van windows. They kept saying,.."WoW! and "Lights!" It was definately a fun time with my little family!

Thanks honey for working so hard so that we could have this blessing!

Here is a picture of our NEW (new to us) Toyota Sienna!

Our Sweet Babies...

My sister Jodie and I went to get some pictures taken of our kids! It went really well and I am so grateful to have these darling pictures! Taylor was so darn cute too! Enjoy!

So cute!

Nyah Lois

Ethan Joseph

Taylor Lotus

IT IS OFFICIAL!

YIPPPPEEEE! We have closed on our NEW HOME! We are so excited! We will move in sometime in March. For now,...we are renting it back to the previous owners while they finish building their next home. It is a WIN-WIN for both families!

Marty is excited about our huge back yard and I am excited about having a formal living room for my piano! AND....I can't wait to decorate and paint! We will definately post more pictures when we can!

Thanks to all of you for your love, support, and guidance in this home-buying process! It surely has been an adventure.

Disclaimer~~Christmas is Here!

Fa-la-la-la-la.....la-la-la-la!

To all of you who hate the fact the Christmas music hit the airways right after Halloween,..I am sorry. I actually have such a love for the Christmas season and the music that I am guilty of listening to it as soon as I possibly can. For me, it brings back some of the best memories of my childhood. AND,...Marty and I have made some of our own family traditions that we always look forward to!

So.....I've already decked my blog with everything Christmas including music! I hope you enjoy it! I know I will!

Love you all!

Highlights~~Fall 2008

Here are some highlights from the past little while! I went a little crazy on the pictures,....but ENJOY!

We love climbing stairs,....Mommy--not so much!

Ethan really does like playing the piano....

What do we have here? Little Nyah destroying Aunt Kristy's tape. Uh-Oh!

Ethan raiding the Halloween candy...

Our little Peter Pan and Tinker Bell!

Such a poser!


So stink'in cute!

We took a trip to Packs Pumpkin Patch. Here we are making friends with the scarecrows!

Nyah picked her pumpkin!

Nyah, Ethan, and cousin Leah

Aunt Kristy took a ride in the cart....

What I didn't capture was when Marty tipped the cart back and she almost rolled out!

Our little pun'kins!

Cousins Austin and Adam take Ethan on the helicopter ride at Lagoon...

Cousin Aaron took Nyah for her ride!

She loved it and actually liked going up and down!

Aaron and Ethan driving around Lagoon...

Adam and Nyah enjoying the ride,...

I have to admit that I had just as much fun at Lagoon! I have not been there since highschool and I was crazy about the rides! I've always loved rollercoasters! Marty and I especially loved WICKED! It is one of the best rollercoasters I've been on!

SOLD!

We just SOLD our townhome! We listed it less than two weeks ago and we are under contract to have it sold and final on Oct. 10! I can't believe that we are leaving our first real home! Marty and I have loved this place. We've been blessed with an awesome ward and amazing neighbors. We've lived here almost our entire married life and we are going to miss it.

So where are we going,...you might ask?! Well,..we currently have a bid on a short sale in Syracuse. (Sorry Paige....Syracuse, UT not New York) It is a beautiful home with everything we could possibly ask for. We will find out within the next two weeks if the bank accepts our offer!

We decided to make the "scary" move because the market has finally moved into our favor. Our townhomes, after many years of little value appreciation, are now worth much more giving us equity. AND....right now it is a buyers market! So many houses for sale are competing against one another making homes more affordable.

If the Syracuse home falls through,...we will take it in stride and have a lot of fun finding our new home! It's so exciting.....

It was the best of times....it was the worst of times!

My close friend Lora invited my family (all 24 of us) to go to West Yellowstone this past week. Her in-laws own two cabins there and offered to let us stay there while they were on their mission in Germany! Lucky for us! My five sisters, some of their husbands, my dad, and all the kids were there! Lora and her two girls were there to show us around and be the ultimate hostess!

The BEST part of our trip was the time spent with family, the scenery, the boating, the hiking, the wildlife, the serenity, the window shopping in West Yellowstone, and the trip to the national park. The cabins were awesome and the views were breathtaking! Who wouldn't want to wake up to a beautiful sun rising over Lake Hebgen? I witnessed the beautiful sunrise twice in the wee hours of the morning. Why would I wake up so early on vacation one might ask?! Well.....we were plagued with a horrible stomach bug!

This brings me to the WORST part of our trip. My little Nyah had a stomach bug two nights before we left for Yellowstone. She must have passed it on to Ethan who suffered all through the first night we were there. And because my children have learned to share.......everyone, with the exception of a few, suffered! 20 out of the 24 got sick! In fact,.....the twins had it twice! The Schroaders sure know how to spread the love...yikes! Luckily,..we all tried to make the best of it and in the end we still loved eachother.

My new motto: the family that pukes together.....stays together.

Thanks to Lora for her hospitality and kindness to my whole family.

Thanks to the Lyon family for the invitation and trust!

Here are some of the highlights:

One of the great cabins we stayed in!

All the cousins on the boat! Even baby Taylor joined the fun!

Dad enjoying the wildlife at West Yellowstone Nat'l Park

The older boys playing games in the cabin...

Meet the newest parents....Jodie, Adam, and baby Taylor.
Kristy and Tanner enjoying the sites!



Nyah looking "cool" in her shades.



Ethan feeling all better and lovin' the outdoors!

Machelle and her boys at Kepler Falls!


Nicole and Leah getting ready for some boatin' fun...
Lora and her beautiful girls!

Marty and I at the Lower Falls...



Daddy and Nyah went to go see the "Paint Pots"
Ethan and Daddy enjoying the beautiful waterfall...

Paige and Nathan lovin' the wildlife...

Paige's boys always find time to hike and explore...