One Day Left

One day and 2007 is gone!

As I look over the calendar these are some of the events of 2007
Jan 8th--Brandon's brother arrives home from his mission
Jan 29th--Boston celebrates his 1st Birthday
Feb 8th --Niece Saige is born
March 1st--Nephew Deagan is born
March 6th--Our years supply of food is finally complete!
March 16th -- Spent weekend with friends is Flagstaff at a cabin and had lots of fun
March 31st --Spent the best money ever and paid someone to paint our house! No mess for us, worth every penny...not to mention it was done all in one day!
April 8th-- Celebrated Easter
April 13th-- Ward Camp out in Flag, fun but freezing
April 23rd-- Boys are back in swim lessons
May 21st -- Carson graduates from joyschool
June 4th -- Brandon and JL celebrate 8th anniversary
June 5th --B&JL Leave for Nauvoo for 5 days with no children, best vacation, would highly recommend it
June 11th--Backyard Splash pad is finally finished! Yea...now the kids can cool off
June 18th-- Brandon turns 30! Celebrates with a surprise party
June 19th -- Carson turns 4 and learns how to ride a 2-wheeler
June 28th-- Goodman Family reunion in Prescott...lots of fun
July 8th--JL turns 27
September 4th-- Carson starts gymnastics and cries when he realizes his teacher is his old swim teacher! That brings many more days of tears each time gymnastics rolls around
September 5th -- JL takes up piano lessons again...for the first time in many years
September 9th--Carson starts preschool at Laveen Elem
September 17th--JL enjoys an overnighter with girls in the area...that was fun!
October 19th -- Family goes camping with friends in Sedona with RV...highly recommend the RV camping, much more comfortable
October 31st -- Boys enjoy Halloween
November 4th--Bishop challenges everyone in the ward to read the Book of Mormon by the end of the year!
November 13th-- JL's brother leaves on his mission!
November 22nd -- Thanksgiving spent with family
December---Activities, ward party, family togetherness, Family pictures, school parties, baking, making, wrapping and of course Christmas!

Not to mention the daily babysitting, making meals for families, extended family activities, service projects, primary preperation, bishopric stuff, cooking, cleaning, laundry, zoo trips, swimming, crying children, park trips, bike rides, self-employment stress, piano practicing, meal planning and everything else that comes with having a family!

Two big goals that were accomplished this year...obtaining of our years supply and the finishing of the Book of Mormon from start to finish in Eight weeks! I'm thankful our Bishop issued that challenge it was a big one but I got so much more out of the book than ever before! I just finished yesterday.

2008 goals are yet to come!

The wait is finally OVER!

We had a very nice Christmas! We all enjoyed the many activities and get-togethers that accompany the season! We are very thankful for wonderful family and friends to enjoy throughout the entire year!


Carson left out cookie and milk for Santa!

Santa's come but no kids are awake yet! They didn't get up until 7:45...I didn't think that was to early.

The boys are enjoying opening their gifts!

Carson and Boston couldn't wait to get outside and ride their new bikes! This is Carson all ready to go in his new protective gear! His bike is a little big for him but Santa figured he'd grow into it! He loves being able to ride without training wheels!

Boston on his new ride from Santa!

This is the most wonderful time of the year!

Christmas Eve...one night to go!

Ever since we've been married we've spent Christmas Eve with Brandon family hosted at his Grandma's house. This year it was different... we had the opportunity to host the family party.
We wrapped presents for a family, acted out the nativity scene enjoyed a puppet show from 3&4 year old boys, opened presents, played many games of speed scrabble and of course ate lots and lots of good food!

We started off the night by wrapping presents and delivering as a surprise for a great family!
Thanks to everyone who donated gifts!

This is the little nephews putting on a puppet show for all the family! They thought of it themselves and enjoyed the attention while preforming.

This is Brandon's entire family on Christmas Eve.

What a fun night!

Ward Christmas Party

Our ward Christmas Party was on December 1st. The boys had lots of fun. Here are few pictures of that night.

Carson enjoyed sitting on Santa's lap!

Boston didn't cry or smile with Santa...he just stared at him the entire time.

Boston is always willing to help clean up.

Thank you to the activities committee for making it a fun event!

Snow in Phoenix?

Well not really snow but when it rained for 3 days straight I figured it was the closet we'd get to snow so the kids had fun playing in it like it was snow! Carsons friend Sam came over one day to play and when her Mom came to pick her up Carson escaped out front and before I could stop him he was totally wet from playing in the nasty street water! Sam soon followed and to make it even better she had her swim suit on under her clothes she wore that day so she was ready to go! To the neighbors I might look like a neglectful parent, but your only a kid once, right? Mine as well make it fun!

Boston was able to get in on the action also!

Thanks Sam for coming over, Carson had so much fun!

All dressed up with no where to go

So today is the big Goodman Traditional Family Christmas get together located in Prescott, AZ. This has been planed for well...about a year now:) At 2:30am Carson calls for Mom so I go to see what he needs and just as I walk into the bedroom Boston starts vomiting in his crib. Needless to say Boston and I were up till 5am when his body finally calmed down enough to go back to sleep. I went back to bed also. I later woke up and we decided we would still go even though Boston had vomited a few more times. At noon we just finished family prayer and were headed out the door when Carson threw up all over the wood coffee table! No problem...after that he said he felt better so we waited around for about a half hour and were literally walking out the door again when Carson said "hold on I have to go to the potty" there it came again, more puke! Needless to say we're all dressed up with no where to go! I thought this would be a good time to add more stuff to the blog! I can't really complain about having sick kids though because this is the first time I can think of that my children have ever vomited in the night. Really the first time in 41/2 years I have ever lost major sleep due to a sick child. Actually recounting 2007 I realized I went to the doctor twice, once when Carson had a growth on his leg...everything was fine and we went again in Nov for each boy to have a check up! Brandon nor I ever visited the doctor this year! With having "lovely self-employment" insurance I really do count my blessings that I have a very healthy family. I really miss not attending the get together but I hope everyone has fun...I really love being with family.

It is truely the most wonderful time of the year

After breakfast the boys and I made sugar cookies and decorated them. That was really fun.
After lunch Carson and I headed off to the store to buy a few gifts for a family that we recently found out wasn't having Christmas due to finances. It was very humbling to watch Carson pick out gifts for another 4 year old boy and siblings. I saw his excitement in wanting to give every toy to an unknown child. He began to grasp the spirit of giving. Then Brandon took the boys to the park while I fixed dinner. Brandon left for church meetings and I had made plates of stuff for people in our ward...yet they never got delivered, instead I felt it was more important to take them to the neighbors and wish those we rarely see a Merry Christmas. Our neighbors who never come out were most grateful for the act. The boys enjoyed that as did I, we want to have a missionary experience in our family so we need to start somewhere. Sorry to the ward members who won't be getting goodies from us this year :) To top off the day our doorbell rang four times between 6:30pm and 8pm. Three of the four visitors were carolers. I was so grateful to have visitors and grateful that Carson and Boston could listen to the beautiful music. As I sat down tonight I thought to myself, could this day get any better? Spending time with my children, providing Christmas for another family, visiting with neighbors that rarely have visitors and listening to the sound of Holiday music from faithful youth in the ward. It really is the most wonderful time of the year. I am convinced no purchased present can bring true joy as a family can