thomas and i were talking tonight about the year that is about to end, what was good, what what bad, what was hard, what was easy. the hard list was long this year. the easy list was short. i was a bit discouraged when i sat down to craft this post, thinking that difficulty had dominated this year. but as i searched my photo files i found that the good was abundant and that the good was always there; my delightful kids, my wonderful husband, and the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. those constant goodnesses i tend to take for granted until i realize how hard it would be to deal with the difficulties without them.

“Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he has been robbed. The fact is that most putts don’t drop, most beef is tough, most children grow up to be just like people, most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration, and most jobs are more often dull than otherwise. Life is just like an old time rail journey ... delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride.”

― Jenkin Lloyd Jones

this boy doesn't hug often, so when he does, it's a treat.

inadvertent cat sweater sunday

easter sunday antics

the highlight of the year: reagan's baptism

i ran a few races.

i told this girl to pull her pants up 54,324 times.

i thrifted some gems. both of our dresses are vintage and cost me less than $8.

our baby got married and we felt that our dad was near. we love the temple.

“It's been my experience that you can nearly always enjoy things if you make up your mind firmly that you will.”
― L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

does this post need words?

shopping with scarlett. she is not opposed to spending a lot of time trying things on in the dressing room. and then dancing in them. you've always got to be able to dance.

always funny.

dance recital awesomeness!

"One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star.

Friedrich Nietzsche"

well, good news mr. nietzsche, we have enough chaos to birth the rockettes so stardom is imminent.

i wanted to paint this door.

so, i ate a bunch of chocolate chips...

and i did.

i used a gel paint for a high gloss finish but the actual paint was a total pain. the finished product was what i wanted, but if you look closely, it's not a smooth as i would have liked and there are a few visible brush strokes even though the paint is advertised to not show brush strokes. i plan on replacing the gold hardware with silver and adding a kickplate. i know that gold is all the rage these days, but i just really like silver.

then as i was finishing up, blythe fell down the front brick stairs but the only thing that hit brick was her face.

later in the month, my mother flew in, heather and daniel drove up from florida and my little family drove to north carolina for thanksgiving with my uncle sherman and family.

heather and i ran in a 5k. but we had to wait a bit in the car before it started. there's not much to do when it's 24 degrees at 7am in the morning when the race starts at 830, but we kept ourselves occupied.

(heather, me, cousin cami)

it could have been one of my best races ever if it weren't for all the dang slow people with strollers WALKING the course. i made some new friends that day.

board games were popular.