Bucket List 2016!

I've really loved coming up with a Bucket List each year. It has helped us keep our goal of having experiences that create memories instead of spending money and time on stuff that we don't remember.

So here was our list for 2015:

• Summer Road Trip- didn't happen last year, but it most likely will this year. We're thinking Yellowstone, Idaho, maybe Utah and then back over to Colorado.
• Go River Rafting! Not sure if this will be with the kids or not, but something we definitely want to do
• Horseback Riding at Garden of the Gods- I chose something else for my bday last year, but it's gotta happen this year! I will regret not doing it if we move!
• Finish Korea blog book- this is super time consuming, but will be well worth it when I finish. My goal is to finish it so it can be a Christmas gift!
• Save enough money to have 2 months rent/mortgage on hand. We plan on renting out our property so it's good to have some back up money in case it goes un-rented for awhile.
• Camping! We've really enjoyed our camping trips and hope to do some more. I won't put a number of times because we've found Dan's summer schedule to be so unpredictable that we can't even reserve a place too much ahead of time. 
• Do the incline. It's time!
• Be less busy and more productive. 
• Work ahead!

Yay! We got a lot of our bucket list crossed off! We're definitely working on that savings, especially now that I'm working full time. I couldn't have predicted that one for last year's list! I could never have guessed that by the end of the year I'd be working full time and deciding to take a break from teaching piano.

I remember last year I was feeling antsy that we didn't have any new military assignment yet, but now we do. It's all completely tentative and can totally change... but here's what we hope to have happen for our next duty stations. Dan is on assignment to 8th Army Band in Korea beginning January of 2017. He will go by himself for a one year assignment. This keeps us in Colorado a little longer so the boys can stay in their school and I can enjoy my job a little longer. By having Korea as your duty station you can usually bargain for you choice of next duty station and it looks as though Germany will be available at that time, so we're going to jump on that chance to live overseas again. It's hard to get the coveted Germany assignment and we hope it all works it out. If it does we'll be in Germany in January of 2018!

So my bucket list this year will reflect doing things as a family before Dan leaves in January. (and I already know a bucket list item for 2017- visit Dan in Korea!)

• Do a few getaways with Dan alone. We already have one planned in March, just a weekend up at Mt. Princeton hot springs. I'd like to do an overnight camping trip with Dan too.
• Camp more! Last year I think we only camped as part of our vacation, not just around Colorado. Cade really wants to camp at the Sand Dunes again and have the Bennetts come with us!
• Alex's baptism! He will turn 8 in June so we look forward to celebrating his baptism and welcoming friends and family who want to celebrate with him. Still trying to figure out a good date.
• Vacation! We've gone back and forth about doing a big trip this summer like a cruise or Disneyland. We may not find the time to do one, but I still want to.
• Hike once a week once school is out. I really miss hiking and I'm looking forward to having the summer off to get back out in nature.
• Christmas cabin! We loved our Christmas getaway and want to do it again this year. If we love Mt. Princeton hot springs we may do it there :)

We've been so blessed to be in Colorado this long and to have some tentative plans that suit our family very well. Here's hoping it all works out!

Holidays 2015!

After Halloween it just seems like life moves 3 times faster than it has before. November brings the holidays into full swing and we had a great time this year.

Thanksgiving-

We contemplated going to Utah, but in the end decided to stay home since we had traveled for the past few Thanskgivings. Denice came from Oklahoma, and Marsi, Quinton and their 6 kids came to visit and they had a blast because it snowed! Down in Parker, AZ they don't see much snow so this was a real treat for her kids. While the kids froze, we stayed in and played a lot of games. It was nice to have some time of to just relax and enjoy the company. For the actual Thanksgiving day we also had a bunch of soldiers that Dan works with come over and join us for the big feast. It was a full house, there was lots of food and we truly spoiled ourselves.

School parties-

Click here for a cute Thanksgiving poem from Alex!

Cousins playing!

Charlie and Carson became best friends, which if you know how much Carson loves little kids, you'd be surprised!

Meal prep!

Mmm... pie...

Lots of game playing!

After Thanksgiving brings the onslaught of Christmas celebrations. As a musical family we have lots of concerts this time of year. I had 3 for school, Dan had 1 for work, I had my piano recital and we had our church christmas program. We also were so excited to go see Uncle Kevin in the Colorado Mormon Chorale's Christmas concert. It was amazing! Here's a few pics of the night and some clips of a few of the songs they did. So good!

Click here for clip #1
Click here for clip #2
Click here for clip #3

Yay for kids who take amazing pictures! lol

The morning after Kevin's concert I had my last piano recital for awhile. Working full time and coming home and teaching was beginning to take its toll on me and the family, leaving very little time to get anything done or spend much time together. I'm sure I'll teach again but for now the job at the high school is plenty!

Here's Dan and I debuting our ugly christmas sweater at the ward party.

Fun Christmas activities with the kids-

Making sugar cube igloos-

Playing in the snow-

Making christmas cookies-

Seeing santa!

I even hosted a fun Christmas party involving Christmas socks! Everyone was to pick a pair of socks and fill them with goodies for a fun gift exchange and fondue! We had a blast and plan on making it an annual tradition.

After all the holiday craziness, school was out and it was time for CHRISTMAS BREAK! Hooray! We decided to do something different for Christmas this year, and get a cabin in the mountains for a mini getaway. We packed up all the presents, a few strings of lights, stockings and of course cinnamon rolls and headed to Glenwood Springs, CO for a Christmas getaway.

We had SO much fun at the hot springs, Glenwood caverns (which had laser tag, 4d movies, an alpine coaster, a zipline and caves to tour). Christmas eve was spent in the cabin watching a movie, eating popcorn and sipping on hot cocoa with new PJs and slippers. Santa found us in Glenwood springs and we opened presents. It had even snowed a whole lot overnight! We carefully drove down to Denver and spent time with my mom and then made our way back home to enjoy the rest of our break. Picture time!

By the way, did I mention how cold it was there? We went hot tubbing anyways!

The hot springs were awesome, but we didn't take any pictures. They had 16 different little hot tubs, if you will, and we hopped from tub to tub checking out the different temperatures and features. Some had rocks at the bottom which provided a little foot massage. I want to go back!

The zip line was cooooold! Click here to see the zip line!

What a fun Christmas! So many memories were made. There was some sickness that Dan and Kevin had to deal with, but hopefully that will fade from memory.... right?

The last thing I wanted to share with everyone is that I have been learning to play the harp since September. I hope you enjoy, and that you all had a wonderful holiday season!!! Merry Christmas!

Click here to see the harp video.