Farewell, 2017

To wrap up the year, we spent the month of December closing on and moving into a house of our very own! No more paying someone the mortgage for landlords. It was a long, often scary road, but our realtor, Marilee Inman, and everyone rooting for us made it possible. We spent the first two weeks as home owners coming over every night to rip up carpet, prime and paint the walls and our sweet friends, Cheryl and Tanja, painted the banister for us because the paint was literally peeling off the railing. We then had new carpet put in seeing as the carpet that was in here was probably original fromt he 90's. Everyone needs to experience fresh, new carpet in their home at least once in their lives. It is wonderful. After all that, we loaded up a U haul and moved everything in. We have some really great neighbors and Luke is loving playing with friends on the community play set whenever they are out (I'm still getting used to the idea that he is old enough to be out there without my constant supervision, although I check on him quite frequently through the windows...). I asked Luke if he wanted his own room or to keep sharing with Caleb to which he gave a very stern, "Keep sharing!"

We got all moved in at the beginning of December, with two sick kids, one with the flu. It was impressive. A work friend of Dallin let us borrow one of their in-law's may artificial trees because, "Those boys can't NOT have a Christmas tree!" It added a little Christmas spirit to our otherwise hectic holiday season.

We got to go to the reception of one of the Frye boys, whom I grew up with. I met this particular Frye when he was all of 6-years-old. I always think they should stay that way, or still be that age, so it always throws me for a loop when I get wedding invites or someone has a baby. I still feel like I'm 16-years-old! The reception was at a fun little barn in Layton and the boys got to run around, literally, with other kiddos and have a blast. Caleb thought that he should help DJ by turning the music on and off, Luke had more hot chocolate than I think any person should consume in one sitting and it was so good to get to visit with people I haven't seen in years.

Dallin decided to participate in no-shave-November, which he says he is going to do every year, lasting only a couple of weeks. This year, however, he made it the entire month! I was painting late one night and recieved this series of picture texts:

He had fun and was mighty proud that he actually was able to grow more of a beard than he ever has before. Only took 30-years.

We also finally got to use our indoor skydiving Groupons, just barely before they expired. I was beyond nervous because I have a slight fear of getting stuck or sucked up in small spaces. When we were waiting our turns and I watched them fly up the little tube, out of sight, I almost turned to Dallin and said, "I love you. I'll meet you in the car." He wouldn't let me that and before I knew it, I was in the chamber, drooling everywhere for all to see. Dallin was a natural and was laughing at me for drooling but, guys, it is quite windy in there.

We had a haircutting mishap with Caleb, resulting in having to shave his entire head. I honestly almost cried as I watched his red locks fall to the ground as well as might still be praying it comes back just as red.

A few days before Christmas, we made the trek to California for a Napkin Christmas. Weather was amazing, the boys were amazing and we made it in less than 12-hours, which is pretty impressive for us. Luke keeps asking when we can go on road trips so that he can load up on goodies from the dollar section of Target. I may have created a Target monster.

While in Napa, both boys fell in love with the dogs all over again. Caleb took almost the entire time we were there to be okay with them moving their heads while he was petting them, but eventually, he stopped screaming at them anytime they moved. He now will run after dogs and just love on them. We are trying to teach him that not all dogs are like nana's dogs.

We went on many walks, spent a day reliving my teen years at Scandia (no arms were broken in the process), went to the Oakland Zoo Lights, made luminarias, had crab, dug up all of Brad's old toys, drove through the parts of Napa that fell victim to the wildfires, celebrated papa's birthday and, of course, got wrapped up in the magic of Christmas through the boys' eyes. The pictures tell the stories!

Hole in one! Never-mind the fact that every other hole was a hole in 5...

We then decided to take a few extra days and make our way down to San Luis Obispo for SLO love and Green-sibling love. It was gorgeous, the boys LOVED the ocean (Luke the water, Caleb the sand), and it was so good to get to be with siblings. We even tried to find a rock that has been painted twice by a certain sibling to look like a watermelon. Unfortunately, the park rangers had already power washed it off. It did make the front page of the paper, though!

 While in the Powell's sweet shop downtown, an odler gentleman came in and got a giant bag of these double salted licorice candies. He convinced Dallin and Lauren to try one; Lauren spit it out the minute it touched her lips, Dallin suffered through it but was in utter disgust. The worker then informed us that they make new employees try it as a sort of hazing gimmick. Guess you are not true Dutch if you can't handle the Double Salted Licorice.

We then ventured home to Utah, after a 15-hour drive due to lovely traffic and met up with the Evans for a New Year's Eve celebration. We went to their house and the boys got to have a mini-sleepover, which they thought was so fun, while the adults stayed up until midnight, playing games including Harry Potter Chess, Exploding Kittens and Scattegories. It was a the perfect way to say good-bye to 2017 and welcome 2018 with open arms!

We are grateful for a home, health, family that is beyond amazing and supportive, good friends that we consider family and new adventures. Here's to 2018!