Another way I'm turning into my mother.

I just have to laugh at myself when I realize all the ways I'm becoming like more and more like my mom all the time. Not only do I frequently burst into song when talking with my kids, and I often wake them up singing the dreaded "Wake up, wake up ya sleepy head" (Cheyenne and Natalie dread it, but Billy actually requested it the other day), I realize I'm starting to have her same tastes in decorating and clothes and value her opinion over just about any one elses. Good thing my mom is such a classy lady! So, the newest way I'm becoming my mom - I'm now part of a group of "old ladies" exercising at the church. From the time I was little up until I think I was in high school maybe, my mom met up with a bunch of other ladies to exercise every M W F. She was religious about it and I don't think she hardly ever missed a day. I tried to go with her a few times, but I never kept with it very long. It was just too early for me and I cherished my sleep more. See the biggest difference between "us" and "them", those ladies were made of much sterner stuff. Not only did they go three days a week, we only go twice a week, but they would meet at 5:30 a.m.! I just can't handle that early in the morning. We meet at 8:30, after the kids all leave for school. My little kids have a great time playing with their friends in the nursery and I get in a great workout. It's all good! Oh, and the other difference, no fancy leotards and leg warmers and no Jane Fonda. :)

Love you, Mom! Thanks for being such a wonderful example to me. I'm proud to say "I'm turning into my mother."

Thanks Grandma!

Chloe and Maddie in new Christmas dresses from Grandma and Grandpa. They love their "puppy" dresses, especially because they can twirl in them.

I DID IT!!

Yup, I played Little Red Hen on Saturday. I ground my own wheat, and made beautiful (if I do say so myself), delicious (according to my whole family who couldn't get enough of the stuff), whole wheat bread! I even remembered to be a good mom and tell my kids the story of the little red hen and show them the wheat grinding and how it turns into flour and everything. So this was Saturday night that I took the picture, and as of Monday morning we're down to 2 loaves left because I put those ones in the freezer. Yeah, I'm actually making progress on my goal!

Ahh, a new year and a clean slate!

There's something refreshing in getting a new clean start each year. The holiday decorations are all put away, the house is back to normal, the endless goodies and treats are gone, we're back to our regular routines. I give a sigh of relief. Oh, I love the holidays, don't get me wrong, but I love, crave routines and normalness. Call me weird. Then comes the fresh start part. Time for those New Year's Resolutions. Those promises of making this the best year yet! So here are some of goals for the new year:

1. SIMPLIFY! Yup, that's my biggest goal this year, although it includes an awful lot. I want to simplify in the way we eat, more homemade - I will master rolls this year!!! Simplify in what we do as a family or my expectations and ideals of what we should be doing. Simplify in the amount of "stuff" we have or that sits around our house - I already have a huge bag for DI, and I thought I'd cleaned everything out already. Simplify in my YW calling. Simplify my scrapbook pages. I loved Elder Perry's talk this past conference called "Let Him Do It With Simplicity". I even have it downloaded on my mp3 right now. I'm also reading Carolyn J. Rasmus's book "Simplify" that I bought a few months ago and never managed to get to yet. It's an awesome book and when I finish it I'll have to write a review for it, maybe. My sister even gave me the word "simplify" to put in my house for Christmas. So that's it, I'm just going to simplify - we'll see how simple it really is.

2. Of course there's that stupid 15 lbs. I've been trying, but not trying very hard, to lose. They're gone this year!

3. I'm going to actually study the scriptures, not just read through them.

4. Spend more time scrapbooking and/or doing crafty things. I really miss this as I haven't spent much time in this area for a long time. This also means I have to keep what's supposed to be my craft area cleaned off. Unfortunatley, it turns in to the junk table catch all place and I always have to unclutter it before I can do anything fun. It's my one weak spot of junkiness in our house, but NO MORE!!

Okay, that's it. That's what I'm striving for for this month, one month at a time.

A review of 2008

Let's see, what happened this year . . .
We started off with the temple open house and dedication. What a neat experience for all of us! And ever since then, Cheyenne and I have been doing baptisms there about every other month and some of those months, twice in the same week. What a blessing to have a temple so close now!

In March, Natalie started karate lessons. She loves it and especially loves practicing her "moves" on Cheyenne. Cheyenne is a little afraid of her now. Natalie earned her yellow belt in Sept. and is now working toward orange, I think. This is her in her sparing gear.A huge milestone was accomplished by the triplets about the same time. All three were potty trained in about 6 weeks! It was awesome!! It is sooooo nice to be diaper free at our house.

The kids were thrilled when we got a swing set this spring. Bill and I were not so thrilled with the assembly that was required to put it all together.

The summer was spent working in the garden, much to Cheyenne, Natalie, and Billy's chagrin. Despite the stupid gophers taking nibbles out of about everything, we got a good harvest and did a lot of canning this fall, too.
I got to spend a few days up at Girls Camp with Cheyenne, although I hardly ever saw her. We as leaders were trying to decide if camp is more fun as girls or as leaders. I think as leaders! I haven't laughed so much in a long time. I think Cheyenne had a blast, though, too!

Bill got to take a few rides up in the hills on his 4-wheeler until he dumped it down the side of the mountain. Luckily, he got off it first. The girls told me I should "ground" him from the 4-wheeler, but after a lot of work and a few parts, it's running like new and he enjoyed a few more rides with his dad, uncles, and friends.

A huge milestone was reached for Billy, too. He started kindergarten this fall. It made mom sad and Chloe, Maddie, and Jon weren't sure what to do when he left, but we've adjusted now. Billy is really enjoying it, especially recess where he loves to play "army guys" with his friends, and he loves to ride the bus.

Bill has also been busy starting a new business this fall. He and two of his friends started a dvd rental business. The have 5 kiosks (like Redbox) around the area. They're still doing some tweaking on it, but things are coming along. The best part is we usually get to preview the movies a few days before they come out to rent/buy.

I got to take a little weekend "girls only" trip to UT with my mom, sisters, and sisters-in-law in October. What a blast! We even made our television debut on "Good Things Utah".

Natalie started playing the clarinet this fall and Cheyenne is still playing the saxaphone. They both love it! I get a little lost when they start talking about reed numbers, ligatures, embouchure, and what "key" their instrument plays in. Good thing Bill understands their language. It's fun seeing them enjoying playing music (and learning counting is important, not just something mean old moms/piano teachers make them do).

I've been playing with the camera again, and wishing I had more time to play - that's my goal for next year.

I guess that brings up to now. We're excited for Christmas and enjoying the snow we're getting (well, except for Cheyenne and maybe Bill.) We wish you all the best for 2009! Love, The Tanners

New Room

Well, we finally got everything finished in our room, so I thought I'd share some pictures. I'm so excited!!! We bought new furniture - which we've never had, a whole new bed set, we painted (Bill moved away from white walls!!), and I found the perfect pictures that I just love. My mom (the wonderful and talented woman that she is) recovered the chair for me again. We even got "saloon" doors for our closet - the kids think they're the funnest things to play with ever! The only thing left to do now (according to Bill) is get the flat screen tv that we so badly "need" in there.

Thanksgiving Fun

Ahh, Thanksgiving . . . what a great holiday! Family, food, and fun, what could be better? Well, we started off the festivities with my sisters, my mom, and me going to see Twilight. A fun "girls time" but the movie could have been better. Of course Thursday was a great feast at my parents this year. All of us siblings and kids were there and as we discovered later, this could be one of the last times we are ALL together. Between my parents leaving on a mission soon and nephews leaving one after another, it could be a while. After dinner was the traditional browse through the circulars, as Grandma Clements would call them. We didn't find much worth getting up early for and even Curtis couldn't find anything worth camping out for, what a disappointment! Friday, we all got beautiful and froze while we took family pictures. All the red noses and cheeks will just remind us of the fun of Idaho in November. The kids loved playing with cousins for days on end and I don't think the xbox was ever turned off the whole weekend. The girls even had to take a turn at Rock Band, and we ROCKED!!