The great catch up of 2013 continues..

In July, Jess, Britt and mom and I (Kailey was missed) hopped on a Westjet plane and headed for Maui proving that there is no bad time to visit Hawaii.  It it always paradise.  I don't have the words to express what a fantastic trip this was.  Four girls, no kids, no work or school, no worries, set loose on a tropical island with a rented chevy impala. Like I said,  paradise.

We had so many adventures from snorkeling at Honolua Bay, to Britty mis-interpreting local information signs, to body surfing, to mom tracking down the life guard at Big Beach.  Each of those things bring back amazing and hilarious memories that I wouldn't have wanted to share with anyone else. 

Every morning was spent snorkeling, every afternoon exploring a new beach, and every evening dining out.  Heaven. Yes, I would definitely do that again.

Fall brought the Relief Society triathlon, Jared's birthday and beautiful autumn walks.  We lucked out and had summer weather September 29th when the triathlon was held.  I think it's safe to say that everyone was a little nervous at first but it always ends up being a rewarding and super fun experience.  Jared turned 29...again!  He doesn't need to lie about his age, he turned 35 and like fine wine, only seems to get better with age. 

Our house was the King headquarters for Thanksgiving this year and we were happy to have G and G King, Auntie Jessie, and Karla come to Salmon Arm for some turkey and fall delights.  We had a fabulous time hitting up the local parks, going for hikes and eating delicious food.

Is it bad that Halloween may be my favourite time of year?  OK, I guess it can't beat Christmas, but it comes pretty close at our house.  This year Jared and I dressed up as the Black Widow and Hawk Eye for a Halloween party.  Everyone thought Jared was Katniss.  It worked out OK though, because Katniss ended up winning "the funniest" costume award.

There was a Fear Factor competition at the party and I may or may not have eaten things that I am now ashamed of.  I ended up coming in third (the last one was a timed competition and I lost out to two dudes although I did finish) and won a lovely digital picture frame, making it all worth it, right?  Right?  I'll give you some hints as to the things we ate; let's just say there was lots of animal food involved, a Chinese market, a popular household pet and a possibly a science experiment that you have seen on YouTube.  Use your imagination, we probably ate it.

We had Christine Sinclair, Frankenstein, Dracula and a Ballerina at our house this year.  Lucy was going to be a Ninja up until about 3:00 pm Halloween day.  In the end, she was a pink explosion.  The lure a tutu and tights was just to much for her.  Ollie caught on quickly this year and made it around our entire neighbourhood, he and his little super friend Grayson were a complete hit.

                         

 Winter at our house means, pageants, concerts, parties and my birthday.  I turned 29. 

This year for Christmas, we strapped on our roof top carrier and headed south of the border to Camas, Wa to spend Christmas with the Floyds.  Between giant blue sacks, lovely walks by the lakes, games, treats and endless visiting, a wonderful time was had by all.

I'm happy to report that Santa nailed it Christmas morning.  Nathan spent most of Christmas day reading through a sixty five page instruction booklet and putting together his X-wing Fighter, Jordan spent most of her day belting into a microphone, Lucy spent most of her day prancing around like a fairy taking care of her crawling baby and Ollie spent most of his day playing with his new "trucks."

We made it downtown Portland one day and were able to visit the food trucks.  What a treat!

                         
Nathan's birthday celebrations began down in Portland at G6 Airpark.  Are you kidding me?  This place was amazing!!  I wish I could have this in my basement!  An entire trampoline room dedicated to dodge ball?  What?

 Can't forget a friend party for our little seven year old!

Ollie turned 2 on January 20th!  He talked about his birthday for weeks and was thrilled when the day finally arrived.  We went to Silver Star and enjoyed fun and frolic in the snow on his special day.  The primary president came into nursery on Sunday and sang to Ollie and gave him a card.  He carried that card around for two days.  The next week at church, it happened to be his nursery leader's birthday. so the presidency came in and sang again.  Ollie had the biggest scowl on his face and when it was over he pointed at himself and said 'it's MY birthday!"  Welcome to the terrific twos!

Whew!  Done and done.  Of course I'm sure there are things I've missed, for example, I just realized that I don't have one piano recital picture, or no mention of the piano festival, or work, or baskeball season, or Tough Mudder.  But hopefully you get the idea, 2012, although it had some challenges was a fantastic year!  Now onto 2013.