End of a year - End of a decade

Tonight we were reminiscing about this past year, and the past decade. We were surprised at the memories we have made in the last 10 years. This is certainly not intended to be a brag session (some of it isn't anything to be proud of), but more of a re-cap of our lives for our journal.

Here we go:

In the last decade we have...

-Have had two beautiful children

-Purchased 2 houses

-Purchased 2 rental houses

-Built and sold 2 spec homes

-Owned 8 vehicles (not at one time obviously)

-Brett has had 5 jobs (not something to be proud of, but at least I wasn't fired or layed off any of them)

-We have started many companies (some were successful and some were not)

-Brett closed an $8.5 Million dollar real estate deal where Salt Lake County bought land in Herriman (no we didn't get rich off that deal...)

-Brett started doing professional photography

-Brandon had 4 surgeries

-Makenna had plagiocephaly and had to wear an expensive helmet, but now has a beautiful, perfectly shaped head.

-Nicole had two surgeries and two babies (babies previously mentioned above)

-Brett nearly died with blood poisoning after a week long boy scout camp (2009)

-Visited Disneyland 4 times

-Visited Universal Studios once

-Visited Moab, Zion's, Saint George, Las Vegas, Oahu, Chicago, Kansas, Denver, Seattle, Austin, San Antonio, Portland, Los Angeles, San Diego, Jackson Hole, Lava Hot Springs (and many places in Idaho and Utah). These cities are just some of our favorites that stand out.

-Celebrated our 10 year anniversary in Hawaii (Without the kids).

-We crossed the border to Canada (without passports or birth certificates) and they almost didn't let us back into the US. The interrogated us for about an hour.

-Our brother-in-law Todd passed away (2008).

-We lost 2 grandfathers.

-Brett taught the entire family how to ski (started the kids at 4 years old). Now they are pros.

-We learned that Makenna has asthma and has been to Primary Children's Medical Center twice in 2009.

-Both kids have started visiting the Orthodontist (they start them young now days).

-Young Men's presidencies, Elder's Quorrum Presidencies, Bishopric, Primary, Relief Society, Stake Missionaries, Librarian, and Cub Scouts.

-Brandon was baptized (2008).

-Nicole has had the opportunity to be a stay at home mom for the past decade.

-We get food poisoning nearly every other time we eat at a restaurant (but that doesn't stop us, we still love to eat out).

-We have been to many weddings, reunions, and parties with family and friends.

-We had the opportunity to attend some of the Olympic events like the running of the torch, concerts, and the medals ceremony.

-Brett has run several 5k races, and the family has walked some (where Nicole won 1st place in her division).

-Brett did one triathlon and loved it. He would do more of these but doesn't have time to train.

-Nicole has had the opportunity to go on several trips with her twin sister Becky.

-Camping, skiing, snorkeling, hiking, biking, swimming, golfing, and more,

I guess I can edit this post in the future if I want to add more things. I KNOW there are millions of other memories and experiences that are not listed here. In fact, I know that there are many that are not listed because they are too personal.

We have seen many challenges in the past decade, but we have also been extremely blessed. We are excited to see what the next decade brings (and many more). We are so grateful for our wonderful friends and family who have shared these memories with us and supported us in the rough times and celebrated in the happy times!

Here's to 2010 and a wonderful future. Cheers!

Sledding

Yesterday we invited David & Rebecca, Zack and Jacob and Grandpa Rowe over to go sledding on our big sledding hill. It was such a fun day, even though the wind was howling and blowing and the snow was falling.

Here are Brandon and David getting ready to launch!

Here is Zack and Jacob (Zack is on the snowboard)

Here is Makenna and Rebecca getting ready to "Blast Off" into the snow filled, winter wonder land.
After Makenna and David had a successful ride (David informed us that they went further than anyone else), they worked together to get the sled back up the hill. I thought this picture was priceless!

Thanks for all the fun!

First Music Video - Comments Please

Here is my first attempt at a music video for my photo blog. Let me know what you think.

Jazz game with Brandon and Zack

Tonight Brandon and Zack and I are at the Jazz game. Some friends invited us down to the lower bowl to sit by them. Before we knew it, the Jazz bear was doing a balancing act on the rail behind us. I quickly snapped these pictures, so sorry they are blurry. The boys thought it was so cool!

Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year!

We wanted to wish all of our friends and family, near and far, a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Decorating Grandma's tree

We just went over to Grandma & Grandpa Rowe's to help them decorate their christmas tree since grandma had knee surgery.

The kids had a blast! They did such a good job decorating.

Merry Christmas!

Pinewood Derby Races

The races are over! (finally) The boys worked so hard on their cars for the past month. I am so proud of them. I can honestly say that these cars were made by the boys. They picked the body style or design they wanted. Obviously adults had to cut them because the machines are dangerous.




The boys sanded and sanded and sanded.


Then we smoothed the axles and wheels since the wheels had bumps on them and the axels had burrs.


Brandon wanted to do SIX coats of paint AND 3 coats of gloss. WHEW! That was a lot of painting. Again, he did it ALL! I was so proud of him. He really did a good job of blending the red to the blue.


Here is our drying station. The car fell off the wires several times since most of the weight is in the back.


This is Jacob's car drying.


This is Zack's car drying.


This is our paint studio.


This is our makeshift workshop (you do with what you have... right?)


When we weighed the cars at the beginning of the race, we had to add more weight. This is Brandon's car waiting to race.


This is Zack's car waiting to race after it was weighed. (Yes they spelled Zack's name wrong).


Here are the competitors! Lots of variety.


For each heat they run each car on every track (4 times). Brandon came in 1st the first run and 2nd the next three runs. He then made it to the second round, but that was it.


Here is Zack showing off his car.


Here is Jacob racing his car on the kiddy track.


Here is Brandon showing his off.


Zack won two awards. The first one was "The Fastest Looking Car". The second one was "The car with the best brakes". I don't know why he got that one since another boy's car kept stopping in the middle of the track. Zack's never stopped.


Brandon got the award for "The Most Creative Design". It really was a cool looking body style and then the blend from red to blue was AWESOME in my opinion.


Here is Brandon showing off his ribbon and car.

I am so proud of Brandon and Zack. They both worked so hard on their cars. The best part about it is that they were THEIR cars. THEY did all the work. It wasn't DADDY'S car.