Happy New(ish) Year!

I haven't posted in a while so the new year is not quite as shiny and new anymore.
Here's a quick catch up from our holidays.
We decorated Grandma's house for her. We love you Grandma!

 Played with Uncle Bill's chickens.

 We went for a lovely walk in the cemetery in the snow at Grandma Keeley's.

 There was barely enough snow to sled on. Jimmy and Kristi went everyday.

 Kristi was pretty impressed with my sledding skills. I went down quite a few times.

 Christmas "Tea" Party. We have one every year. Complete with dainty finger foods and festive hats. Don't you just love Nathan's jaunty hat?

 The whole family went to Temple Square on Christmas Day. Brrrr!

 My family has been helping us out with cleaning out the bushes in the backyard so we can plant a garden. Jimmy and Kristi found a family of geckos. They have all been named and held for long periods of time. We like them for the bug control.

Celebrated my birthday. Mom was kind enough to make me turkey pillows. Mmm. Imagine a homemade roll stuffed with Thanksgiving. Yummy!

We have a family tradition of sleeping under our Christmas Tree before taking it down. This year, we combined it with my birthday celebrations. Nathan appeased me and helped me drag one of our mattresses out into the living room. I'm all for sleeping on the floor, but I value a good nights' sleep way more than my adventuresome side values roughing it.

Nathan has graduated and is still searching for a job. Keep your prayers coming our way on this one. It would be awesome to get school district insurance before baby comes. He also started his masters program. I miss him already and it has only been two days. He is gone most nights and all day Saturday. I keep telling myself that it is only a year and it is paid for...worth it. It just doesn't make me miss him less.

I did set some goals for the new year. I am going to document them here so I will be accountable for them.

Our Relief Society is doing a fun Pursuit of Excellence bingo game. I want to get "Bingo" each month. It has goals like go for a walk, invite a sister for lunch, review your budget, do your visiting teaching and so on. I am well on my way for this month.

I am going to get at least two Personal Progress values passed off. I will work on it while Nathan is working on school.

I am going to catch up in my journal. Another thing I can do while Nathan is gone. I really want to remember the little everyday experiences, especially once our baby comes.

And I want to follow the counsel of President George Albert Smith, who we will be studying in RS and Priesthood this year, “Let us all be a little more forgiving, a little more tender in our associations with each other, a little more considerate of one another, a little more generous of each other’s feelings.”