We have a teenager in the house!

It is hard to believe that we have a teenager. How about a year in review plus birthday tribute at the same time?

2013 proved to be one of the best years of Eden's life. As you can see she is one flexible mama and is in love with dance. Dance here, dance there, dance everywhere. On the kitchen counter, at the lake, in the wilderness, at the park...she loves to move. One thing we love about it is her ability to live a well balanced life. She joined the ranks of the Young Women in 2013 and was able to participate in baptisms for the dead the same week. Additional highlights from the year:

received superior rank in her flute federation
audition and won a place in Symphonic band as a 7th grader
graduated from 6th grade and received the... (2 awards that I can't remember the name!)
switched from The Point to High-light dance. She has never been happier...anywhere...
participate in the stake Trek which proved to be a life changing experience for her. Walked 32 miles in the heat. Developed a love and testimony of the pioneers and has had a thirst for genealogy ever since
ran a 24th of July 5k in under 30 minutes
got a cell phone...yay!
great big sister and an amazing daughter. Here's to 2014!

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Let's just call this paybacks

Dave got the heads up this morning that we were going to have a couple of "special" talks on reverence today as the Stake Presidency was a little concerned about how loud our sacrament meetings have become. I thought ~ great, let's prep the kids ~ I told them that they were to be on their best behavior, no snacks, no toys, no talking, you get the idea... The meeting went pretty smooth until the Bishop got up. He very tenderly started talking about how important it is that we teach our children about the sacrament...it was at that moment that my family fell a part. Eden and Luke started fighting and Liza and Tucker started screaming---did I mention we were on the second row? I grabbed Luke and put him in a body hold and motioned for Dave to get Tuck and Liza out. Dave left with Liza and Tuck (so I thought...) and next thing you know, Tucker is up on the stand running back and forth behind the Bishop. My sweet friend sitting next to me jumped up to get Tuck, but he of cours

Child Rearing Race

My visiting brother from Utah and I were left without spouses for 4 days. This wouldn't have been such a big deal, but our kids had already been together 24/7 for 6 days and our boys couldn't think of anything better to do than fight. I don't know about you, but 1 entire day of fighting is enough to drive one mad--now times that by 4. Near the end of the week(and our rope) my brother and I had a heart to heart and posed the question~what in life could be more mentally difficult than this? The only thing I could think of (now remember, we'd just run the Ragnar) was running a marathon. Someone once told me that if you could mentally get through a marathon, you could get through anything. So, I put it to the test...I ran a... OK , not a marathon, but a 1/2. Raising children and running difficult races are so much the same. They both require so much of you emotionally, physically and mentally and yet the end reward is so gratifying. I can't express the joy I felt yester

Facelift

It is time this blog gets a facelift! I know it is not "in season" but I don't think I want to update my widgets for at least another year. Dave and I just got back from a weekend cruise with some friends on the NCL. We got a small taste of what a real cruise was like and that was all it took. We are already planning the next, much longer one. It might be 10 years before we do it, but it is fun to plan nontheless.

The Collings Family

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