Recap of 2008

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

I can't believe it is Christmas time already.
This year has just really flown by!

Well, I really feel like I cheated with Christmas cards this year. We usually send out picture cards. I always love to get picture cards and am disappointed when there is no picture with the Christmas card. So I apologize if any of you were disappointed when you opened our card and found no picture. I am just lucky that I was able to get them out before Christmas this year. (If you remember I didn't get any cards out last year and ended up sending out Happy Summer cards this last summer).

If you look under August in the Oldies but Goodies column on the right side there is a big summer update about our exciting adventures from the beginning of this year. Since then I have been pretty good about keeping this blog updated.

Here are some quick recaps of our year:

~ Camping in Hollister with Hansen's

(find out what happened to Kaulana's truck)

~ Hailey graduated kindergarten

~ Camping at Half Moon Bay

(find out what animal we were

able to get within feet of)

~ Camping at Olema with Huntley's

(find out what we were unprepared for)

~ Our very own water slide in the backyard

~ Evan decided he was ready to potty train at 2 1/2 AND did it

~ Max passed away

~ Evan started preschool, Hailey started 1st grade and Kayla started 2nd

~ Evan turned 3

~ Hailey turned 6

~ The kids got to shoot water out of a fire truck

~ Hailey was our soccer super star

~ Kurt and I celebrated our 9th anniversary

and

~ My mom has continued to be a trooper over the last year while battling liver cancer. She has been so strong and we have been so proud of her.

* * * * * * * *

Well, that is our year in a nut shell. Have fun exploring our blog and reading about our fun adventures. Feel free to leave us a comment if you feel so inspired!

And for all of you non-bloggers: you have got to try it! It is so fun and easy! I thought I was blogger-challenged until I tried it and realized how easy it was. I love finding out what family and friends are up to. It is such a great way to keep in touch; especially with family and friends who live far away! Start your blog today! Go to http://www.blogger.com/!

We hope all of you have a wonderful Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

Man, our house is cold!

Okay, so you need to know some info before I tell the following story. Kurt is an extremist when it comes to the temperature in our house; understandably so since he works outdoors and is exposed to extreme temperatures all day long. During the summer he will come home and crank the AC really low so we are all freezing and during the winter he runs the gas fireplace and/or cranks the heater way up til we are all sweating. I, on the other hand, am the conservist and think that if you are cold - get a sweatshirt or a blanket. If you are hot - sit near a fan. So needless to say, Kurt and I sometimes have thermostat battles.

One time during last summer he had come home and then a little bit later we left to go do a family activity. When we returned home at about 9 pm the house was freezing! He had set the AC to 68 and forgot to change it before we left. We had to put the kids to bed in winter pj's. It was hilarious! We laughed so hard. Well since then, he has pretty much left the thermostat alone.

So for the last week the kids and Kurt have been complaining that it is cold downstairs. I have even noticed that it was cold but being the determined one to conserve, I didn't touch the thermostat. Finally today I couldn't handle it anymore. It was just too cold! I went to the thermostat to bump up the temp and realized that the heater was turned off altogether! No wonder it was so cold in here! I had turned it off last week when it was sunny and the doors were open because the kids were running in and out and we were working in the garage.

So it turns out that both Kurt and I are thermostatically challenged! Ha ha! You just have to laugh!

A Wonderful Thanksgiving!

We had an amazing Thanksgiving. We were blessed to have 5 out of the 6 White siblings at our house. We had a total of 23 for dinner, 19 of which stayed with us for a few days. It was so much FUN!


We had:


April and Rick with their son Makana. Their oldest son, Kaulana, was not able to come due to his first baby due this week - we are still awaiting to hear of her arrival.


Margo and Greg with their 3 children. Their oldest, Brittany, was in San Diego celebrating Thanksgiving with her in-laws.


Paul was able to come with April.


Kurt and I with our 3 kids, who by the way, were in heaven with all their cousins here!


Jenny and Chad with their 7 kids.


We wish Jared and Dianne and their 3 kids could have been here but they live in Virginia.
Dad and Julie spent Thanksgiving in Utah with Julie's children.


Here are some pics of our fun time:

Eating delicious mandarin oranges

You have to love California weather - it was beautiful!

All 14 kids played outside while we cooked!

Uncle Rick and Uncle Greg checking the

turkey on the BBQ - delicious!

We were worried about seating because we

don't have 23 seats inside but the weather

was wonderful so the kids ate outside.

Our attempts at a family picture:

We are hoping that our niece, Jessica, got a better one!

We thank everyone for coming and making the journeys to our house. We had a great time and hope everyone else did too! We especially thank all those that helped in the kitchen! We couldn't have done it without you!