Becky's New Year Resolution #2

My other New Year's Resolution was to run the Ragnar.  A sweet woman I visit teach needed one more for her team, so I joined in and started training.  The Ragnar is a 200 mile relay race across Arizona.  My first leg was in the afternoon, it was a hot 7.2 miles.  But I did it! No walking and no puking, so I took it as a win.

My second leg was at one am and was only four-ish miles.  That one was the most fun, it was kind of cool to run along the interstate in the middle of the night.  I made Julie come get me at two a.m. and grabbed a quick four hours of sleep, I just couldn't sleep in the van. My last leg was in the afternoon and was hot, but was only another three miles and change. 

Our ten-member team was running for a sweet girl in our ward, Evelyn, and her fight against cancer.  

It was a great way to see more of Arizona and meet new people.  While it was a hard road, I'm so glad I did it!

Becky's New Year Resolution #1

I had two resolutions this year.  The first one was to be selected to give a "TedTalk" to my College at their bi-annual faculty meeting.  I put together a proposal and it was accepted! I was one of two people chosen.  I gave the presentation for the entire faculty; it focused on integrating multimedia into the classroom.  A little scary, but fun!

New Years Hike

For New Year's Day we hit the trail! Thunderbird Mountain trail to be exact.  One of McKay's New Year's Resolutions was to hike this mountain, so away we went.

Don't be fooled.  This didn't last long.

After much whining, mostly by McKenna, we made it to the top!

Loren wanted to get out more this year as well, so it was a two-fer.

I love this baby girl--even if I had to carry her up the mountain.

Butterfly Pavilion

During Christmas break I took Mom and the kids to the Butterfly Pavilion. One of my clients was so kind as to buy us a family membership for the year.  This is the only picture I got of McKay, he did not like the butterflies (but he did enjoy feeding the sting rays).

I'm not sure she even noticed there were butterflies.

The butterflies loved Logan! Apparently you should wear light colors if you want to attract their attention.

This may be one of my all-time favorite pictures!

I love that there is a butterfly on her and she doesn't even realize!

Holiday Fun

I may not have any pictures of Chess Club, but I did get some of McKay playing with Grandpa! They played to a draw, I'm pretty sure on a technicality.  

I think they played six to eight games over the week.  We also hit Star Wars!

McKenna used any excuse to dress up for the holidays.

Or dress up as a present.

My favorite storytime of the whole year is the gingerbread storytime, I wake up early to register the kids.  This year was McKenna's first year to go, and I was so impressed that she actually finished decorating before she wanted to eat candy.  Okay, let's be honest, I ate the cookie.  It was delicious.  McKenna ate the candy.  Win-win.

Christmas fun

Christmas morning was so much fun! McKenna woke up to a new slide from Santa, and she went nuts.  I wish I had a video, she was so happy playing with it.  

The boys also had a great time, as there were plenty of toys and games to go around.  Logan finally got Minecraft, so we lost them for most of the day.

This year was special because we had my entire family here! The boys got to play with all of their cousins; it was great to have everyone together.

McKenna got into the spirit! 

So cute I had to add two!

Party Time

After the violin recital we rushed to the church for the ward party.  I was participating in a skit (hence the skirt), but it was fun to watch the show and have some snacks. Plus, how cute is she?

Logan and McKay also got a pic with Santa, although McKenna would have nothing to do with him.  I think this may be our last "magical" Christmas (but I have said this the past few years)!

Violin!

Every year we let the boys register for one sport and one club (art club doesn't count because it has such a small registration fee).  It has always been soccer for the sport, but they usually shake it up for the other activity.  This year Logan surprised me and asked to start learning the violin.

We bought him a cheap violin and threw him in! While he still sounds like a beginner, he did have a recital and performed some rousing renditions of Hot Cross Buns and Mary Had a Little Lamb.  He is just so darned cute!

(McKay chose chess club--but there were never any meets to take pictures).

Fall Art Show

I love Anthem Archway. They have an excellent art teacher and every year we have the chance to go to an art show and see what the boys have been up to. 

Not only do they have art in class, they also are part of the art club.  They have come home with oil paintings, water colors, and sculptures. 

This one was my favorite of the night, McKay's rendition of Hijemi Castle in Japan.

Christmas Shenanigans

We like to hit every possible (free) Christmas event in the area.  This year there was a little Christmas carnival by the outlets.  I grabbed Julie and we headed off.  What this picture does not show is that somehow McKay talked the nice old lady helping that he needed two bags of candy to fully complete his house. Of course he was the only child with that much. Stinker!

This kid played by the rules!

We also got some face-painting.  Surprise--McKay got a panda!

And, shocker, Logan got a cat.  

This little girl just loved jammin' to the live band.  Still rockin' the princess crown!