So Long 2010!

This has been a wild and crazy year for us. Many great things happened for us in 2010, and I am looking forward to all 2011 will bring!

JANUARY~ Tristan turned 9, and entered the Bear den at Scouts. Tristan and Jasen competed in 3 wrestling tournaments. Cahl and I completed a laundry list of projects around the house.




FEBRUARY~ February was a pretty quiet month for us. We went to 3 more wrestling tournaments. Jasen's class had a performance at school. Cahl and I started remodeling our master bathroom. Cahl and Tristan went hunting in Texas the last weekend of the month.





MARCH~ Tristan's older football season started, and he played 4 games this month. I sewed a crib bedding set, and finished the nursery. Tristan earned his Bear badge at Scouts. I turned 26. My wonderful friends threw me an amazing baby shower. Cahl and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary.




APRIL~ We celebrated Easter this year by welcoming our baby girl! Brinley was born Easter morning, and she's incredible! Tristan's older football team played 3 games, and Jasen and Tristan's younger team also began their season this month playing 2 games. The older boys received their 2nd trimester awards at school. Went out to Lake Mead.





MAY~ Cahl's family threw us another great shower. Tristan took 2nd place at the Pinewood Derby. The boys' younger team played 2 games, and Tristan's older team played 4 games, taking 3rd place for the season. We went to the cabin for Memorial Day.







JUNE~ Jasen turned 7. The boys played 3 football games, ending the peewee season. We were able to take an awesome family trip to San Diego with Tristan's football team to compete in a National tournament. His team placed 5th out of 16. We had an absolutely incredible time!




JULY~ Took our annual trip to Salmon. Our computer crashed and we lost 3 years' worth of everything. Went to the Atomic testing museum, miniture golfing, and bowling.

AUGUST~ Tristan and Jasen's 3rd trimester awards at school. We got a hot tub! End of the football season party. All 3 boys took swimming lessons most of the month. Cahl turned 29. Hunter got his library card. Tristan began 4th grade, while Jasen began 2nd grade.



SEPTEMBER~ Hunter began preschool! Tristan's football season started, and he played 1 game. We went to the San Gennaro Feast. Jasen began a season of soccer, and he also played 1 game.






OCTOBER~ Baby Brinley turned 6 months old,and started sitting by herself! Jasen lost his first tooth. Cahl and Tristan played in a kickball tournament at school. Jasen played 5 soccer games, and Tristan played 4 football games. Halloween was fun. My best friend and I went on a girls trip to Cali.









NOVEMBER~ Took the kids to the old Las Vegas Mormon Fort, Mt. Charleston, and the Clark County Museum. Cahl and I had date night and went to see KA. It was amazing! Brinley started standing up on furniture, stairs and people. Jasen played 2 soccer games to end the season. Tristan played 4 football games, also ending his season. Jasen wrecked his scooter and banged up his face. We went tree hunting in Caliente.






DECEMBER~ Went to the Springs Preserve. Tristan had his first Honor Choir performance. Brinley began standing unassisted. Our house got re-piped. We got another dog, Mason. Hunter turned 4. Took Hunter and Brinley to the Magical Forest. Tristan and Jasen's 1st trimester awards at school. Went hiking on Christmas Eve. Had a wonderful Christmas. Had an even crazier Christmas night, when our bone-headed neighbors shot our house!









So it was a fun filled year. Mostly ups, with a few downs. But altogether another great year has passed, and we are looking toward next year with optimism and can't wait to see what surprises it will bring!

Christmas #2

We had Christmas #2 tonight, over at Mike and Diana's. We stayed home all morning, cleaning up the mess from last night. That took about 3 hours, and when it was all done we got ready to go. Almost the whole family made it, and it was nice to see everyone that lives out of town. After a wonderful dinner and chit chat, it was time for gifts. The kids got many new games and toys, and Brinley got even more clothes! The kids and I came home around 8, while Cahl stayed behind to play cards. It had been a long day for all of us, and the kids were all asleep within 30 minutes of being home! It was a great time, and we're so thankful that we live near such an amazing, fun family!

Brinley loved Simba

Seeing whose the tallest. I think Cahl lost, even though Mikey is standing on tiptoe!

New baby

What family gatherings usually look like

Best Present Ever!!

Hunter with his new adventure vest

Adventure!

So tonight was a regular night. After dinner and playing, we put the boys to bed around 8pm. Cahl, Brinley and I were downstairs watching tv. Brinley fell asleep and I was getting ready to take her upstairs to bed, when just before 9:30, we heard a loud popping sound. It sounded like glass breaking, and we thought maybe a picture had fallen or a light bulb had exploded. We thought it had come from the front room, so we went in there and checked all the lights, pictures, the lights on the tree, even the windows. We didn't see anything wrong, so Cahl went to check on Tristan's science experiment in the garage. He came back and said nothing was wrong in there, so he headed up stairs to look around. All the sudden I heard him yell "Holy shit! Marci get up here!" I ran upstairs and he was in Tristan's room. There were two holes through Tristan's wall, about the size of quarters, and the picture hanging on the opposite wall was shattered. That picture was hanging above Tristan's bed, so his bed was covered in broken glass. We went into Jasen and Hunter's room and there was a bullet hole through the window!!!!! I was still holding Brinley as she slept, so I took her into our room and laid her in her crib. Then Cahl and I woke up the boys and I took them all downstairs to watch cartoons in the living room while Cahl called the cops. I went back upstairs and got Brinley and brought her down to her playpen to sleep instead, because I didn't feel very safe having her upstairs. As Cahl was on the phone talking to the cops, our neighbors came over. They were the ones who had shot at our house accidentally. Turns out, our neighbor's daughter's boyfriend who lives with them was showing his friend a gun, and the friend fired it without anyone knowing that it was loaded. The bullet came out their wall, through our window, through the next wall, and through the opposite exterior wall. In total, it traveled through 1 window, 3 walls (2 of them exterior) and 2 bedrooms. Needless to say, we were less than impressed! Luckily the cops came quickly and checked everything out. They talked to all the neighbors, and Cahl. They also took a ton of pictures, and I did as well. The window has several holes in it, there are 2 main holes through the next wall, and one hole in the next wall that goes out of the house. The second hole that would have gone outside hit Tristan's headboard. The neighbors all apologized to Cahl (since he was outside and I was inside with the kids). The dad who owns the house said he didn't even know there was a gun in the house. The guy who owns the gun said he had no idea there was a bullet in it. He said it was for home protection. It ended up being a 30-06 rifle. And of course the guy who shot it apologized. Now, I am not a very angry person. I get mad, and sometimes I even get pissed off. But never, in my whole life, have I ever been as angry as I was tonight. Cahl had to keep telling me to stay inside. After everything died down, we put the boys to bed on the couches. We didn't want them upstairs since there was glass and chunks of drywall everywhere. So tomorrow brings a lot of cleaning up, but thank God no one was hurt! It could have turned out so badly, and I am so thankful that it didn't. Hopefully next time my neighbors won't be so STUPID when handling firearms. And for the record, I'm still pissed.

Our initial view of the window, Jasen's room

The wall opposite the window, Jasen's room

The back side of the same wall, Tristan's room

The picture that was hanging above his bed, and glass all over the bed

The wall opposite the window, in Tristan's room. This hole is where the picture was hanging, and the hole goes outside the house.

Tristan's headboard, about 12 inches from where he was sleeping

The bullet hole in their house

The window has several holes in it

Outside view, but not a very good photo

Christmas

Our Christmas was great this year! The kids made out like bandits, and Cahl and I did too!

Tristan got clothes, legos, books, games, movies, and from Santa: a new shotgun!!


Jasen got clothes, legos, books, games, movies, art supplies, light sabers, and all new bedding. From Santa he got a new 22 rifle!!


Hunter got clothes, legos, books, games, movies, (I'm starting to notice a pattern here!), all new bedding, and from Santa: a new bike!!


Brinley got clothes, dolls, a big teddy bear, and a hippo shape toy from Santa.


Marci got clothes, perfume, jewelry, a book, gift cards, chocolates, and a NEW PHONE!! Cahl surprised me with a brand new Droid (with one for himself too!), and I am so excited!


Cahl got clothes, bullets, a book, The Pacific miniseries, socks (his favorite!), and a new phone too!


We also got movie passes for the family, and so after all the fun had died down, we took the kids to see Gulliver's Travels. It was a cute movie and the boys all loved it. Brinley slept through the entire thing!