taking a look back

It's New Year's Eve, and I've decided to take a look back at the past year.  My photos are one of the few things that are actually organized in my house.  My iphoto program makes it easy to take a look back.  So, here's a look at the year through pictures.

Here's a picture of my NVP and me at the first National Meeting of the 2009 year.

In January, I was also the director of the Miss NWOSU pageant.  We had a spa day for the Stars and Contestants a week before the pageant.  This is a picture of my niece at the spa day who was one of the Stars.

Also in February, Arbonne had a road tour for the new FC5 product line.  Here I am with two of my upline NVPs in OKC before the presentation began.

Braylon had his Valentine party at school in February.  Of course, Brickman did, too, but I couldn't make it to both parties, and it was Braylon's turn for me to go to his class.  The next day, he performed Bala-Vis-X at the Wellness Center.

In March, we had the Mercedes Test Drive Day in OKC.  I took three awesome girls with me to try test drive a Mercedes.  I think that everyone picked out their favorite one.  I know that I did!  Maybe I'll get mine over the next year?!

The boys went fishing with Papa, and Brickman caught his first fish in March.

That first fish caught started an obsession with fishing.  Over Spring Break, we took the boys camping at the pond.  The boys set up their first tent (with our help, of course).  The day started out really nice but the night turned freezing cold, so they didn't even sleep in the tent.  Instead, they slept in the camper with they're Nonnie and Papa while Jerad and I slept in the very cold tent.

Also in March over spring break, we went to the zoo with cousins.  It was definitely a day well spent!  We had lots of fun spending time together.

At the end of the month, our area had a blizzard that came and went quickly.  It snowed 22 inches in a matter of a day, but because it was so late in the season, almost all of it was melted within a matter of a day.  The boys had great fun having snow ball fights, sledding, and making snow tunnels.

In April, the boys had their Easter parties at school.  I was able to make it to both of their parties.

We had Easter with the cousins, but it was too rainy to do an egg hunt outside, so we did it in the basement instead.

The Easter bunny came by Nammie and Bumpa's house before the flashlight hunt started.  It's always tradition to do a flashlight egg hunt on the evening of Easter.

It was Archer's birthday in April, and all the kids got together for a Star Wars party.  They went home with homemade light sabers and busted the Death Star and discovered it was filled with candy.

Brickman entered a poster contest and got third place.

Braylon entered his first science fair with "Will citrus juices work as invisible ink?" as his project.  He loves science, and he loves spy gear, so he mixed two of his favorite things.

I went to Las Vegas for the first time to the National Training Celebration for Arbonne.  Although I was sick much of the time, I had a blast.  It's always uplifting to spend time with like-minded people who are working toward the same goals as you.  And Arbonne always puts on a good party.  David Cook performed at the end of the celebration.

In May we went to see the Lion King in OKC with the entire family.

Afterwards, we grabbed cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory.  It was packed, so we went to the mall to sit and eat.

 Hadley celebrated her fifth birthday in May with a princess party.

Then Brickman celebrated his with an American Idol party.

In June, I finished my responsibility as the Miss NWOSU director during the week of Miss Oklahoma, and Amanda took over.  I'm glad it's over for me and know that she'll do a fantastic job.

We also had season tickets for the Music Theatre Wichita for the starting in June.

In July, we celebrated Independence Day at the family pond.  The kids had an incredible time riding the sea doo around the pond.  It was the boys' first time to ride one.

It was time to change chisel points and the boys wanted to help.  It was their first time to really help out on the farm.  Braylon enjoyed the work, but I think he enjoyed the pay more.  I loved taking pictures of four generations working together.

Before the end of the summer, we went to Alabaster Caverns with cousins.  We didn't really take a vacation through the summer, but we realized that it doesn't take driving for hours to have a little get away.  The kids enjoyed it just as much as if we had driven somewhere many miles away.

The boys met their new cousin Ella on the last day of July.

August brought on the first day of school.  The summer didn't seem to last long enough, but the boys were excited to go back to school to see their friends.

Braylon's birthday was also in August.  He wanted a pool party this year for his birthday.  I'm considering doing that from now on.  I didn't have to worry about a mess to clean up or entertainment for the kids.  It's just a matter of whether or not the lifeguards show up to open up the pool.  (Ours were late.)

September took us back to the pond for a Labor Day get together with family.  The boys really enjoyed swimming in the pond.

September was also Libby's birthday.  We celebrated with a sports party.

September also brought on a new project for our family.  The boys now have chickens to take care of.  The chicks came by mail on September 17.  It was quite a challenge the first couple of weeks to keep them alive, as they are so fragile, but we came out ahead with only losing two.

Brickman was asked to be the crownbearer for the Miss Cinderella pageant during the NWOSU homecoming festivities.  During this time he met Miss Oklahoma Taylor Treat, who he now claims as his girlfriend.

The next day he got to ride in the homecoming parade with the flower girl.

Homecoming also brings one of Jerad's favorite times of the year.  He gets to play in the alumni band with his brother and all of his buddies from the college days.  He misses playing his tuba so much.  Times like this give him the opportunity to go back in time.

For Halloween, we were a medieval family.  This was one of the most difficult family costumes to make, but it was also the most memorable and impressive so far.  Everyone loved our costumes.  But most importantly, the boys loved their costumes.  We'll have to see what we come up with next year.

Brickman performed in a Poetry Cafe at school.  He chose a poem to recite in front of all of the families who came to watch him and his classmates.  His poem was Alphabalance by Shel Silverstein.
Balancing my ABC's takes from noon to half past three.  I don't have time to grab a T or even stop to take a P.
I didn't know if it was appropriate, but his teacher approved it.  :)

Thanksgiving brought the sisters together again which meant that all of the cousins got to play together.  That is the boys' favorite time when they get to spend time with their cousins.  I never get asked if it's time to go yet.  They're always having too much fun and feel that we leave too early.  In fact, they normally want to end it with a cousin spending the night.

We went to Guthrie to spend Thanksgiving with Jerad's extended family.  We took the annual family picture for Nammie and Bumpa's Christmas card.

And here we are at Christmas!  The boys always know that they'll get a new pair of pajamas on Christmas Eve.  This year (because I didn't have them wrapped yet) the boys decided that we needed to have a scavenger hunt in the house for them.  So, I hid them and played the hot and cold game until they found them.  Maybe it will be a new tradition.  I guess that depends on how on top of wrapping I am.





I guess that sums up the year.  It's been a good 2009, but I'm excited for the next chapter starting in 2010!