It's almost 2009

Well, the new year is fast approaching. Tonight our family went to see the ZooLights. They are always wonderful - but it was crowded. Then we came home, had hot chocolate and chips and dip and played the Wii. Megan and Brock missed the game playing, because the little babes were exhausted and they took them home to go to bed. We only have tomorrow and Wednesday left before the Caiti and Nate head back to California and Megan and Brock and the babies leave for Texas. It is so wonderful to watch your family grow up, get married and begin their own families - but reality hits when they move away. We will be sad to see the kids leave, but we will be welcoming Weston home in March and we will make sure Brittany and Jaten get their fill of being home while they are still here. Other than juggling doing things with the kids this week, I actually got all the Christmas decorations put away and now I am trying to get the house back in order and cleaned. I also have to finish all my Primary stuff for the new year. There is so much to be done. I have to get the notebooks with the lesson manuals and pictures ready for each teacher, the lists of the children, update the birthday list, get the lesson schedule typed, basically, update all the lists and door signs and have everything ready to begin a new year. I actually look forward to another year in Primary. I feel like I am just getting the "to do's" of this calling down. I am still having fun working with, playing with and training my dogs. My poor Diesel boy has been sick for over 7 months now with Valley Fever. We just got his test results back today, and he is still sick with active Valley Fever. He is such a good boy - we just keep giving him his medicine and have to give him to get well. My other dog, Ellie, is doing good. She just wants someone to play with her all the time. She is silly. That about covers what is going on this week. I am off work for another week - yahoo! I don't even miss it. I am very grateful to have such a good job, but I am also very grateful for vacation time.

Remember, there are only a few more days left to get your New Year's Resolutions written up. What a great time of year. We are just closing the season that we celebrate the birth of our Savior and then the new year approaches - giving us a specific time to reflect on the past year, and make plans and goals for the upcoming year. I love this time of year. I can tell anyone who is reading this - from experience - that every year that I have taken the time to contemplate what I want to accomplish, what I want to change, and where I want to be in another year, AND WRITTEN IT DOWN SO I CAN REFLECT ON IT OFTEN THROUGHOUT THE YEAR - I have actually accomplished every goal I have ever written down. The years that I just think about it, and don't write anything down, I look back and realize that I did not accomplish much. I would encourage all of you to reflect on your life, see what you want to improve on, or change or make better in your life and the lives of those around you. Write down your goals. Keep them where you can reflect on them often. It is a wonderful blessing that we have each new day to be better than we were the day before and to make a difference in someone else's life!

Well, Christmas is over . . .

But the fun and festivities have certainly not stopped around here. The day after Christmas the girls and I had a craft day. We made jewelry and Caitlin showed us how to decorate these really cool cardboard letters. We ate junk food most of the day, laughed and had a great time. Also, here are more family pictures and pictures from Christmas. I also posted a picture I took at Jeff's Dad's house - showing two of his grandsons, which are both in the United States Marine Corps. I just thought it was so cool to see two pictures side by side of two of Barry's Grandsons, both Marines. Our son, Weston, is currently serving his Mission in Argentina (taking his two years of inactive duty in the Reserves). He will return home the end of March and will report back to the Marine Corps on April 11th. Soon, we will have a third member of the family who will be joining the Marine Corps. I believe our boys have started a new Lindblom family tradition. We are proud to have them serve their Country, and grateful for the safe return of the one who has served overseas.

It's Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone! This has been a busy week so far, but it has been so fun. Caiti and Nate came in town to spend the holidays with family, and Megan and Brock and the kids are spending as much time as possible with family before they leave for Texas. Britt is out of school for a few weeks, but still has to work. At least she is not under as much stress, and can enjoy more family time, not locked up in her room doing homework. Jaten is spending more time here also, and spent the night on Christmas Eve. It is always a treat to see our children open their gifts on Christmas morning, but this year, a special treat as Rian and Maddox were here to open their gifts too! Rian was so excited to be able to rip open presents, and particularly liked the Princess pillow that Auntie Brittany got her. Maddox was getting into the ripping the paper thing, but loved the beanie hat we gave him . . . until he got to the blankie from Grandma. Clearly his favorite gift -- score! We feel so blessed to have our family around us - especially during this wonderful holiday season. We were able to talk with Weston this morning (serving his mission in Argentina) and then headed over to Jeff's Dad's house for Christmas morning breakfast. We were late, since we were on the phone so long with Weston, so most of the food was gone, but we still were able to visit with family for a bit. It is different without JoAnn, but Nancy, Barry's new wife, did a wonderful tribute to JoAnn. She gave each of Barry and JoAnn's children a beautiful ornament, a shell with a pearl in it, with a saying about how each life that touches ours leaves behind something beautiful. It was a sweet tribute to JoAnn and I appreciated her for doing that. It seems like our life and our family is always changing, but the one constant is the love we share for each other and for our Savior. Jeff and I are so grateful for all our Father in Heaven has seen fit to bless us with. We have a wonderful family of beautiful children. Two of our girls have wonderful husbands and we have the two most beautiful grand children in the whole world. We hope all of you are well, happy and healthy and have a wonderful Christmas season.

Well, it has been a while since I last posted anything. We have been really busy. Jeff and Britt and I went to Cedar City, Utah, to visit my brother David and his family for Thanksgiving. We had a blast. It was real cold, but we managed to survive it. We had lots of fun with David's kids, played games, ate great food, and the one of the funnest things we did was have a marshmallow gun war on Thanksgiving Day. All of David's family were there (except Clinton who is on his mission), including their newest grand daughter Kayli, just home from the hospital. That was exciting. I was surprised at how serious everyone took the marshmallow gun making. They were carefully engineered, constructed and even painted and decorated with rhinestones! Then the fun began. We did lots of visiting, stayed up way too late, but had a terrific time. We went into St. George and saw the Temple there and on our way home Jeff, Britt and I stopped in Las Vegas, so Britt could see Vegas for the first time. And, yes, we went to the M & M store!!! We had a wonderful time and it was so fun to spend Thanksgiving with family. We are looking forward to spending Christmas at home with our family. We hope to do some reflecting, some relaxing and lots of laughing and memory building.