Grandma Arlene's 80th Birthday party!

Grandma Arlene turned 80 on January 7th. We threw her a little party even though she insisted she doesn't like being the center of attention. ☺

I didn't take very many photos and I didn't take all of these photos, someone else must have had my camera. LOL. I know that because I was in some of them, and not in a flattering way either.

Mom, Anita, Sharla, Loretta, Daryl, and Malcolm all made it. It was nice to see everybody since we didn't make it to any of the Hanks gatherings in 2011.

Amber and Grandma

"My hands are sticky!"

Kaylee wasn't sure what to make of all the new people.

Aidan cleaning up the leftovers.

Let the Good Times Roll...

 Ugh, for the last week and a half, all of our kids have been sick. At first it was just a regular cold and it seemed as if they were getting better and then it came back with a vengeance and Ella and Britton have a croupy cough and are just really miserable. Britton has two teeth coming in too, so life is just really rough for the little guy right now. We're not getting a whole lot of sleep at night either.

 I think it's safe to say that Aidan is finally potty trained. (Yes, just barely) ☺
All attempts for the last 14 months have been very unsucessful, and during the summer it was so bad that I started thinking that Aidan wearing diapers until he was 10 years old wasn't such a bad thing and I was not going to do anymore training. Ever. (ok, so I was a little dramatic)
We tried a couple of times after that, but it wasn't until the beginning of December he decided he was ready and after only one day he went a whole day without an accident. Naturally, he'd have good days and bad days, and he had a problem with not wanting to stop whatever it was he was doing and waiting too long, but he's gotten over that. Thankfully.
Now I think Ella's ready. Aaack.

Hmmm...

The other day Cary and Britton were napping while Aidan, Ella and I went on walk/ wagon ride. The weather has been fabulous this past week, today my outdoor thermometer said it was 62 degrees so we're getting outside as much as we can.

 We've been eating by candlelight for Erev Shabbat (Friday night) and I like to mess around and take photos. ☺

Right after we got to church last Saturday morning. Aidan and Ella went to the back and started dancing, I usually forget that my camera is capable of taking video but for some reason I remembered and grabbed it. By that time some of the other girls had joined them but I love this video because Ella loves to dance so much, and now I have a little bit of her dancing on video. Also, Britton thinks he's a kitty and he crawls around carrying toys in his mouth and I got that at the end of this video too! Bonus. ☺

Bringing in 2012

The festivities were planned but I wasn't sure how much Cary and I would be able to be a part of it. At first we were going to put all the kids down to bed and then take turns going to the party, but it happened that the kids were still awake when it started so we just thought we'd go along with it and see what happened and in the event of any meltdowns we could take them home.

Britton wanted to go to bed shortly after it started so Cary took him home and I stayed with Aidan and Ella. They were having so much fun that they stayed awake past midnight!

The only meltdown that occurred was when it was all over and I informed them that the fireworks were over and we weren't having anymore sparkling cider. ☺

 John Paul playing hide and seek with Ella.

 Watching the fireworks!

The fireworks were awesome! Made up for the rained out fireworks show at the 4th of July. ☺