Christmas 2017

Well, Christmas has come and gone and so has 2017 (almost). We had a great Christmas at home, with my parents here to help celebrate.

Here are a few of the highlights.....

Of course we've already been to see the new Star Wars movie, The Last Jedi. I don't have a picture of that, but I do have a picture of the boys opening their new X-Wing drone!

And this is basically the best gift opening face ever.....

What was inside the box, you ask? The LEGO Saturn V Rocket. A replica of the same one that launched Apollo 11 astronauts toward the moon in 1969. So of course it has 1969 pieces. And it's over 3 feet tall!

C's favorite gift was easily a new 3D printer. It's the only thing he really wanted, and he even helped save up to help pay for it, because those things aren't cheap!

I have to say, it's pretty awesome! His first project was this cute little lucky cat.

Of course, the best part of the day was getting to Skype with Ethan in Florida! He has just over 5 months left to go on his mission, and he looked and sounded great!

It was a wonderful day spent with family. Here's to a wonderful 2018!!!

Where in the World is Elder McCollum?

I know I haven't posted many pictures of E serving his mission in parts of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia, because......well, he doesn't send me many pictures.

However, he does send enough for me to do a quick recap of the places he's been the last 18 months. Starting in Thomasville, Georgia, home of CSU football coach Mike Bobo.

On this particular occasion they were cleaning up after a tornado.

Next came DeFuniak Springs, Florida. A little closer to the beach, and the place he ate raccoon for the first (and hopefully last) time.

I'm not 100% sure where this next photo was taken, but let's just say it rains a lot in these parts.

While serving in Pascagoula, Mississippi he got to visit an alligator farm.

Back in Niceville, Florida, the beaches along the Emerald Coast are beautiful!

And now he's in Quincy, Florida. A tiny rural town about 30 miles from Tallahassee. With just under 6 months to go, he has made lifelong friends, served so many people, and had countless amazing and wonderful experiences.

Oops! I Forgot!

I was going through my phone deleting old photos when I realized, to my horror, that some of those old photos had not seen the light of day.

It's okay, I only forgot about a few important things. Like the first day of school.....

His first day  of  school was the same day as the solar eclipse.

 His was not.....

 I also forgot about that time we went to a football game at the fancy new college stadium.

I should probably also mention the time I took T's senior pictures.  Which I'm pretty sure I just did for my firstborn, and he's like, 20 years old now.

And last but far, far from least (this is really embarrassing), there was that time C became a teenager. To think, the evidence was almost kept hidden on my phone forever. 

Also, if you forget to buy candles for the birthday cake, there's an app for that.

May the force be with you.

San Francisco!

Although it pains me to take a vacation without E, we decided to spend a few days in San Francisco last week. The kids have never been there, so it was fun to show them around such a great city!

We started off taking a tour of the city on this refurbished trolley car on wheels. It was an awesome way to get a feel for what we wanted to go back and visit on foot.

They even stopped at the Golden Gate Bridge so we could hop off and get a picture!

Of course, Chinatown is a must when visiting San Francisco. 

Everyone was impressed with the Palace of the Fine Arts. It's enormous! Look how tiny they are!

C really loved seeing the sea lions at Pier 39. And T was thrilled to finally find something with his name on it.

The Alcatraz tour was really cool. I highly recommend it!

We ate way too much seafood, chocolate and pastry, but thankfully walked off most of the calories getting to Lombard Street, Fisherman's Wharf, and more.

And just when we thought it couldn't get any better, G found socks featuring his dear Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau!

He was 16, Going on 17

This guy turned 17 today! Which means in one short year, I will have two adult children.

I hardly feel like and adult myself most days. I'm certainly not old enough to have adult children!

But seriously, T is one of the best kids I know.

If I never said a word to him, he would still get up every morning and go to school, church or work, do all his homework, get good grades, be nice to people, stay out of trouble, run the Robotics team, help others, be super responsible, show up on time, say "thank you," and "do you need help with anything," remember every single thing he has ever seen, heard or read..... 

and patiently explain Schrödinger's cat to me, no matter how many times I ask. I ask a lot.

Happy Birthday T!!!