HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMBER!!

Our oldest daughter Amber is 26 today! It's so weird to think of her grown up with a husband and son when I can still remember her as my little girl!

One Down, Four to Go!

Birthdays abound in our family in January and February -- the first being Emily's.
She managed to work it for days --

Tucanos on her birthday;

Build-a-Bear with her friends on Saturday;

and a family dinner on Sunday

(sharing the spotlight with Amber)!

Now just four more birthdays (and a baby's birth) to go!

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY, EMILY!

My Baby is 11!!!!

Emily through the years:

NEW YEAR'S WISHES!

No resolutions, just wishes -- it sounds more positive, doesn't it!?!!

The things I wish for in 2009:
1. A healthy, new grandbaby -- It's so great being a grandma and baby Wadsworth will make his appearance in the next 4 weeks!!
2. More time to enjoy my grandson(s) -- and my children :)
3. Less time cleaning -- okay, maybe not less, just more productive cleaning!
4. Better organization for my office -- which means less procrastinating!
5. More time strengthening my "spirit"!
6. Less time worrying about "dumb" things!
7. More time with my "sweetheart" -- yes, that's Dale :)!
8. A healthier "house" for my soul! (I had to get that in there somewhere)
9. Less time wasting time!
10. More time visiting with family and friends -- that's what phones are for!

RING IN THE NEW YEAR!

We had a great new year's eve -- complete with family, AND LOBSTERS! We decided it would be fun to have live lobsters shipped in from Maine.

They came the morning of the 31st packed in dry ice, but still ALIVE! You could hear their claws scraping on the styrofoam. Luckily, we had some manly men -- Brycen, Dale and Jason -- to "slay" the critters. After much smashing, cracking and prying, we finally got some lobster out of the shells to eat. Talk about working for your food! Luckily, we had lots of salad and rolls to fill up on in between.

The Wadsworth's -- Jan, Pauline and Kevin -- joined us for dinner (having left Kaitlyn W. at the MTC that afternoon -- she's going to be a missionary in New York City). They were pretty wiped out, so Jan and Pauline left soon after playing a rousing game of TRI-BOND. Then Brycen and Caitlyn left to spend new year's with friends; Brittany needed her bed; and Jason and Kevin were itching to kill zombies; so Dale, Emily and I rang in the new year with a fierce game of MarioKart, followed by bottle rockets and sparkling cider.