2012 in Review

2012 was full of ups and downs for us. Here is a review of this past year.

January

• We rang in the New Year with a Nacho Average NYE party at the Clawsons. 
• I celebrated my one year work anniversary.  
• We went through the horrible process of trying to short sale our house. While we had a cash offer that was over the asking price, the bank declined.
• Zander upgraded to a big boy bed.
• Devin climbed to the Flat Iron in the Superstition Mountains with the scouts. 

February

• We chopped off Zander's curly hair and it still makes me sad to this day.
• We took a trip up to ShowLow with our besties, the Kietas and Clawsons. The boys went snowboarding and the girls stayed warm inside with movies.
• We celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary with dinner and saw the musical Wicked. 

March

• We started a new adventure in a new house in Gilbert. It's been nice living close to "town" as we'd call it in the STV. We are closer to our jobs and our commutes have been cut in half. I love that I can run errands in the morning, go home, and still go out in the evening without having to be in the car for hours and hours. 
• We bought a new 3D tv.
• I enjoyed watching a Spring Training game with my fellow coworkers. 
• A yearly must - the Aloha Festival. We ate good food, shopped, and connected with my Polynesian culture. 
• I dropped a tv on my leg and it hurt, a lot!

April

• Devin's sister, Ashlee, married Scott in the Mesa Temple.
• We took Zander on his first trip to Disneyland with his Grandma Judi and Mimi. It rained all day, but we still had a blast.
• We finally fixed our jet ski so celebrated with a camping trip to the lake with our besties, the Kietas and Clawsons. This was the beginning of our summer at the lake.
• Devin's company had an award banquet at the Pointe South Hilton in Scottsdale. 

May

• Eric Hutchinson concert. Devin's faith in my music choices was restored.
• The whole Merrill family took a trip to Branson, Missouri and Aleene, Arkansas with Grandpa Reed. We knew it would be his last trip to his beloved hometown and I'm glad we didn't miss it. Little did we know that he'd pass away four months later. Definitely a trip that we will never forget.
• Zander turned 2 and we celebrated with a small party at the house.

June

• Devin and I took a trip to Utah to see the Merinos and attend a benefit fundraiser for Mario. Sadly Mario lost his battle with cancer and passed away a week after our visit. 
• We hung out with the Clawsons in Park City, UT. We rode the Alpine Slides and grabbed dinner in SLC's #1 voted pizza place. 
• Zander started swimming lessons with my friend Melanie. 
• We finally decided that it was time to start trying for baby #2 and my IUD was removed.  
• We found out that Zander can sit through a whole movie at the theater. Hallelujah! 

July

• Fourth of July celebrations with the Merrills.
• We practically lived at the lake.
• The Summer Olympics mesmerized us and we were glued to the tv.
• We had a fun double date night with the Clawsons where we enjoyed LoLos Chicken and Waffles and Octane Raceway. 
• Zander had an appointment at Phoenix Children's Hospital so they could look at his legs. Prognosis was that his legs are crooked and there is nothing they can do about it now. He'll either grow out of his pigeon toed walking or we'll need to deal with it in a few years before the bone hardens.

August

• Devin turned 28! He wanted to celebrate with dinner at....Taco Bell. It made me so mad.
• Devin celebrated his one year anniversary at a job that he absolutely loves.
• Devin, Zander, and I took our first family trip with just the three us of. We spent a jam packed week in Orlando, Florida. We tanned, surfed, saw some gators, spent time with good friends, conquered Disney World, explored Universal Studios, learned about space at Kennedy Space Center, and went tubing down Rock Springs.
• Our beloved Popsie passed away while we were in Florida. We were able to see him before we left as we thought this could be a possibility with his heart surgery scheduled for that week. I'm thankful that we were able to attend his funeral and be in Thatcher for his burial.

September

• We waited for 6 years for them to go on tour again and loved every second of the Red Hot Chili Peppers concert.
• Grandpa Reed had a terrible accident at his new nursing home. We spent a week by his bedside at the hospital and at hospice care before he passed away. Devin and I were able to fly back to Arkansas for his funeral and burial.  
• We hiked up Wind Cave Trail in Usery Mountain Regional Park and learned that Zander is a horrible hiker. 
• We saw the Broadway show Les Miserables and sat 11 rows from the stage. It was amazing!
• Triple date night with the Kietas and Clawsons. We had a mini golf rematch and ended up losing again. 

October

• We found out that we were pregnant with baby Merrill #2.
• We went to a pumpkin patch with our besties, the Kietas and Clawsons. The kids rode horses, bounced in the bounce house, found their way through the maze of hay, and picked out the perfect pumpkin.
• Devin had a handlebar mustache.
• Zander and Devin were DJ Lance Rock for Halloween. 

November

• At my first ultrasound appointment, I found out that our baby's heart stopped beating a few weeks earlier. I had a D&C done and it was recommended that we wait a few months before trying for another baby.
• I turned 29! We celebrated with breakfast at Joe's Farm Grill, mini shopping spree, Christmas movies, and an Osmond Brother show.
• Thanksgiving x2 with the Merrills, Wasilewskis, & Powells.

December

• We got a new mattress for our bed.
• We visited the Mesa Temple lights several times this month.
• We fed the homeless in Phoenix on Christmas morning. 

It's crazy to look back and see all the events that unfolded over the past 12 months. I have definitely learned a lot and we are a closer family because of it.

Here's to hoping for a wonderful 2013 full of happiness, family, a new baby, traveling adventures, friends, and whatever else is in store for us.

He wanted to take all of his toys to the park.

Mama spying on him. He tried to play with these girls and when they went to sit in the grass, he followed them.

His friends left and he was sad.

Two Years + 7 Months

* Celebrated his 3rd Christmas. He's starting to understand the concepts of holiday. We talked a lot about the birth of Jesus. Anytime he saw a Christmas tree, wreath, or lights he would say "Christmas".  He even learned We Wish You A Merry Christmas. * One day he come over to me, put out his hand, and asked me to dance. It was so sweet. * Has this crazy obsession with finger nail tips. He's constantly want to rub mine which drives me crazy. * He's such a good napper and still naps for 2+ hours a day. Previously we would just let him fall asleep whenever, but now I actually put him in his room at nap time and close the door. If he cries at all it will be for a few minutes, but he'll normally just lie down and go to sleep. One Sunday after church, he actually jumped into bed himself for his nap. * Thanks to Tangled and Sophia the First, he thinks everyone who wears a dress or skirt is a princess. * Still loving Taylor Swift and will ask for the "Back Together" song every time we get in the car. He's performed it for lots of people now, including my office where he had 15 of my coworkers standing around him in amazement. He is currently learning the new T.Swift song "I Knew You Were Trouble". * Just call him Houdini. He's able to get his arms out of his car seat buckle. * Loves the little yellow monsters from Despicable Me. He watches the movie trailer to the new movie over and over and says it's funny every time. *

Zander was my little helper at work today. I got a late night text from his sitter saying all her kids were sick and if I could find somewhere else for Zander to go today. Since it's been super slow at the office and there have been a lot of people out with the holidays, I thought it would be ok to bring him with me for the day. He managed to find all the toys in the office and gave a little concert to my coworkers.

It's a tradition to have a family party around Christmas at the Stapley farm. We ate the most delicious carne asada tacos, kept warm by the large bonfire, ate lots of s'mores, took a hayride through the neighborhood and sang Christmas songs, and enjoyed spending time with family.

Christmas

The kids kept warm in the car.

We spent Christmas morning feeding the homeless in downtown Phoenix. It's been a tradition for the last four years and one that we definitely want to continue. After our first year, the Powells started joining us so it's been nice to spend the morning with both sides of my family. The number of volunteers increases each year so we have to get creative on how we are going to help. Devin spent the morning talking with people in line and was often mistaken for a homeless person himself. He met some interesting folks, but the most heartbreaking was a guy who said all he wanted for Christmas was a friend. Stevan was the trash bag holder who got all the trash from the areas where they were cooking food. Kylie cooked up hashbrowns. Ashlen and I wandered around offering candy canes and a warm Merry Christmas greeting to people while they ate and stood in line. I hope we were able to spread some Christmas cheer and show the love of Christ through our service. 

 After our busy morning, we had an even busier rest of the day. We opened presents and ate breakfast with the Merrills. Santa, Mimi, and Papa spoiled Zander with Yo Gabba live tickets and a cool new push car/bike. We made it over to the Powells for some football and Apples to Apples fun. We ended the night with a family movie and watched Les Miserables. 

 

Christmas Eve

Matching Vans for my guys

Nan and her "puppet". She had no idea what it actually was.

White Elephant gifts. Eddie got maxi pad slippers.

Attempt at the little kids performing the nativity.

Aubree's face says it all.

We had a really relaxing Christmas Eve. Devin, Zander, and I spent the majority of the day together at home. Since we knew Christmas Day would be crazy, we decided to have our family time then and opened our gifts. Zander got a tool bench, Dr. Seuss books, Yo Gabba pjs, and new Vans. He was so excited to play with his new toys and to put on his new jammies that night. 

We spent Christmas Eve night with the Merrills/Stapleys. After eating dinner, we opened up white elephant gifts and attempted to have the grandkids act out the nativity. With 1 girl and 4 boys, we finally had a Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, and some wise men. We ended the night with walking around the Mesa Temple to look at the temple lights.

High Five Friday

1. Devin has been participating in his company's No Shave November to raise money for Prostate Cancer. He normally sports a beard or goatee, but he's never gone a whole month without shaving. It was really thick and unpleasant! At the end of their contest, which went into December, he wore a handlebar mustache for a few days. Thankfully he is clean shaven now.

2. I took Monday off of work and was able to spend the day with my favorite ladies - Kassidy, Jamie, and Charlotte. We took the kids to the Arizona Science Museum and grabbed lunch in downtown Phoenix. I stopped by work on the way home and Zander gave an impromptu concert for my coworkers. Where does this kid come from?

3. Devin's sister, Lauren, and husband, Jason, came into town for the holidays and we had nonstop activities each night this week. Sunday dinner and gingerbread houses, The Hobbitt, baby shower for Grayson, Visalus shake party, and we saw the amazing Dutton family show. It's been a busy week, but I'm glad we are able to spend so much time with family. 

4.  Devin has a beautiful voice. He grew up singing with his family and was a choir geek in high school. He always gets roped into ward choir and whatever family function where a special musical number is needed. In November he was asked to join a group doing a musical number for our stake Christmas concert, but this also meant that he had to join stake choir. He's been diligently attending two hour weekly practices and a four hour rehearsal practice in preparation for the concert. To say he is over singing and stake choir would be an understatement, but the concert was wonderful. It was a community Christmas concert with lots of musical numbers and the stake choir.

5.The world is back to normal now that my Mum is back from vacation. She went to France for 3 weeks to visit my brother Svend. I talk to her everyday so it was quite an adjustment to not have our daily chats while she was away. We only got to spend one day with her before she headed to her own house, but we are planning a trip to the farm in January.

High Five Friday

1. We are so spoiled living in Arizona during the winter. The weather is amazing although I wish it was a bit colder to wear boots and scarves. We took a family bike ride on Saturday to Chick-fil-a (or as Zander calls it Moo Cow). I was wearing shorts and sandals in December.

2.  For our ward Christmas party, they had a live nativity and milk and cookies with Santa. As you can see below, Zander liked Santa a lot more this year over last year which you can see here and here. No crying this time, but he also didn't have any eye contact with the big man in red. Hopefully he'll do better for Christmas 2013.

3. My work Christmas party was held at our office this year. We had fabulous appetizers and there wasn't a non alcoholic beverage in sight which was not so fabulous for me. We all had a 1 in 10 chance of winning door prizes like an IPad, 50 and 60 inch tvs, cameras, surround sound, and gift cards. Sadly I didn't win anything. The party was fun and went long into the night with a dance off and beer pong in our conference room.

4. It's been great living closer to civilization. Lots of things we can do and the best part is that we can do multiple things in one night. After our ward Christmas party, we headed to San Tan Village for the Hot Air Balloon Festival.

5. Our good friends, the Merinos, came to visit us for a week so we tried to pack in as many activities as we could with the Clawsons and Kietas. On one night, we had SomeBurros for dinner and went to see the Mesa Temple Lights.

All he wants for Christmas is longer legs so he can reach the pedals. Looks like we may have to wait until his birthday for a new bike.