What happened to 2010?!?

I can't believe it's 2011!! Life is so crazy! We had a super-wonderful 2010. As much as I would totally LOVE to catch up and blog about the whole year, it's a fantabulous idea, but not realistic in my world. I do hope to keep up this year. (I even updated the pictures to our latest and greatest, that we took for our Christmas cards.) Wadman 2010-in bullet points:

*Took our annual ski trip in February and we AMAZED at how well the kids are doing!

*Brian and Jaimee ran their 4th Half Marathon

*J played his second season of baseball on the Angels. Loved it.

*B finished up her year of dance and although she loved it, decided it was not her "thing".

*Both B and J had an amazing year of school with WONDERFUL teachers.

*S and Jaimee made it through 3 year old Preschool unscathed :)

*We played hard over the summer. Lots of swimming. Friends. Did I mention swimming?

*Went to Utah for the Heaps/Tolman Family Reunion. It was so nice to see everyone!

*Started another year of school. Excited for a year of hard work and great accomplishments!

*J played a season of flag football and has decided that FOOTBALL is the best thing EVER!

*B started playing the clarinet in the school band and loves it!

*S and Jaimee began the 4 year old class of preschool. Totally excited. (just in case your wondering, Jaimee is an assistant/teacher at Sophie's preschool- a really GREAT preschool!!)

*Found out S had 8 cavities!!!!!$$$$!!!!

*We went to Disneyland for 4 days in October and had an incredible amount of fun. SO.MUCH. FUN.

*B got her braces off. She's sooooo happy.

*Brian and Jaimee got to go back to Utah in December for Kaitlin's wedding. It was a quick trip but a really great trip.

That sums up our 2010. Hope your year was amazing. Can't wait to blog about 2011!

Dancing Queen...

B had her Christmas Dance Performance on Saturday December 19th. She had decided a few weeks before the recital that she was going to stop taking dance after the performance was over. She had so much fun during the performance that she decided it was worth all the work and is continuing on (much to my absolute delight!!). Due to other people having their cameras and taking great photos, we have a few to share. Both Brian and I and the kids came to the 3p performance along with Grandma and Grandpa and Mike and Amy. Mike totally embarrassed B at the beginning of one of her dances and yelled her name really, really loud. We did bring our camera to that performance, but only shot video. Our camera does not take good pictures in the dark. I am kicking myself for not getting a group photo of all who came to support B. She felt the love, that's what is most important!

Here we are with Julianne and L after the evening performance.
This is my favorite dance that they did to "Feliz Navidad". It was so cute!

They had a great time dancing and singing. I think that is what we love most about this particular dance studio. They do singing AND dancing and incorporate it all for the performance. We can't wait til June!

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree...

Every year, day after Thanksgiving you can find our family up in the mountains searching for that perfect Christmas tree. Its a fun thing we've made into a family tradition.
The kids look forward to it. A lot.

For the past 4 years, (I think?), we've been going with Brad and Julianne and their family. I actually remembered my camera (I know- miracles STILL happen!). Here's a few pictures we captured on our tree cutting adventure:

We've narrowed it down to a science...or maybe have just ran out of patience in our old age! Here's our plan of attack:If we don't find "the one" in the first 30 minutes, we settle for whatever looks some-what decent! Fortunately, this year we lucked out, and found a great one in a short period of time. It was about 30 feet tall, but we only have 9 feet of space in our house. You do the math!!!

Here's Julianne with her little one, aka Bruiser! (I say that with complete love and adoration for the little guy!)

This picture is TOTALLY out of order. But, oh well! On the way home, we ran into this crazy hail storm driving through Citrus Heights. So, we thought we'd document it. It looked like it had just snowed!

J hanging out with his cousins. Not doing too much of the looking...

B and L - they are sooo cute together. Good buddies from the start!

Here is Julianne with the kids. Brad and Brian are off cutting trees down. In fact, our tree fell on that exact spot about 3 minutes after we took the picture. Phew! It was a close one!

We love our little Christmas adventure into the mountains. It starts the season out just perfectly! Thanks to Brad and Julianne for enduring with us in our craziness. I personally LOVE a fresh cut tree in the house. So beautiful. Its beginning to smell a lot like Christmas!

Good family. Good food. Good times.

Now that we survived the holiday craziness (but very good-ness), I feel like I can finish blogging 2009!
So, here we are at Thanksgiving. We hosted Thanksgiving dinner with the Wadman side of the family. It was our first attempt at cooking the bird. And, I can officially say I feel like a grown up now. Cooking a turkey will do that to you, you know...

Here I am in all of my glory- early in the A.M. Thanksgiving morning. Just me, Brian and the bird. All went well. Thanks to Brian for taking such wonderful pictures!

B had fun helping me set the tables and do some minor decorating. We had about 20 people over in our little family room/kitchen area. Who says you can't feed the masses in small spaces. This is how we fit everyone in! It was cozy, but very nice.

In our family, every November we do a "Gratitude" tree. Each week during family night, we add things we are grateful for to our tree by writing on paper leaves. It was really great to sit as a family and have discussions about what we are so blessed with in life. I write out exactly what each person says and put their names on the leaves so that we can each see what everyone is grateful for. We are so blessed in our life. We have so many things we are grateful for. But here are a few we were especially grateful for this year.

This is what half of our dessert table looked like. We were still missing about 5 more pies. Amazing, I know. I always over plan for dessert. We had enough food to feed at least 50 people!

You can't tell with this pillow in front of her, but Amy has a baby growing in her tummy (as my kids would say). S was OBSESSED with little Garrett. She kept rubbing Amy's tummy and asking all sorts of questions about the baby growing in there. Well, as time is rapidly approaching for his arrival, we are all very anxious to meet baby Garrett!

Here we are grubbing on all of our yummy food. It was a great day to spend together. We all really enjoyed it. We even had a visit from the Manners Police, if you can believe that! (Thanks to Dave for that!)

We are so grateful for all of our family and friends who love and support us so much. It was so much fun to host Thanksgiving! Now that I feel like a grown up, we'll have to do it again...in a few years! It was a really great motivator to get my house cleaned up too. A win-win situation. Good family. Good food. Good times.

Goodness Gracious...

Well, I totally forgot to blog about the braces. Yes. B has braces. She got them on in October. Crazy, huh? I loved this picture. So, here she is in all of her glory!!!

It was really rough for the first few months. But FINALLY I think her mouth has sufficiently adjusted, i.e. gotten over the foreign objects that have taken over. I swear with her appliance thing in there, she totally had to re-learn to even swallow. Although, it came close to driving us all mad, she has now taken to eating decently normal again (she hasn't quite jumped back into eating chewy meats...we'll give her a break for what she's dealing with!!).

A funny...

I've been running around like a chicken with my head cut off for the past week...for many reasons we won't go into.
Late this afternoon, as I was enjoying a freshly baked sugar cookie, I remembered I needed to move our dog, Sadie into the garage before it got too cold. With cookie in hand, I got my coat and grabbed a doggy biscuit out of the cupboard (we use it to bribe Sadie into listening to us) and headed out the back door. As I walked out the door, I instinctively took another bite of my cookie. But, to my surprise, it wasn't the cookie that I put in my mouth. Yeah. I ate the dog biscuit!! It was hard not to fall on the ground laughing as I spit it out on to the grass.

It was funny.

I've never been so distracted with life-stuff, that I've eaten my dog's treats before. I guess there's a first time for everything.

13.1 miles of the pain you crave...

This is the group of us that did the Run the River Half Marathon on November 14th. Starting from the left- Brian and Robin Gibson, Julianne (my SIL) and me, and Becky and Terry Weaver. Notice the medals. We all wore them very proudly while we ate our victory lunch at In and Out Burger.

It was fun, but actually my most painful half marathon. I think I pushed myself way harder this time. It paid off. I was hoping just to cross the finish line, and we (Becky and I) actually ended up beating our old time by 4 minutes- YEAH!!

It was really great running and training with you guys. Can't wait for the next one. Hopefully I'll be able to walk normally by then. Seriously. Even after a 20 pound bag of ice in an ice bath, I was still in pain and it took a good week to feel human again. OUCH! But, its like the logo for the marathon my brother Todd ran in June- "26.2 miles of the pain that you crave". Crazy, but very true..

mine should read- 13.1 miles of the pain you crave.

totally WICKED...

The first weekend in November, Brian and I went with the Webb's and the Weaver's to see a great musical! It was Terry's birthday so we went to San Fran for dinner then walked about 100 blocks from the restaurant to see WICKED. So fun! I have to say, its at the top with my favorites now...it was really good. Even Brian really liked it, and that's saying A LOT. It gives you a whole new perspective from the Wizard of Oz movie- that's for sure.

So Proud!

We have a few things to "brag" about. J was chosen as Student of the Month in his class in September. Pretty awesome!! The teachers choose students who are excelling academically, getting along really well with classmates, also who don't have any behavior issues. J is a really super kid and he was so surprised to be student of the month. They don't find out until they get called up during the assembly. Lucky for us, his teacher emailed a few days in advance to give us the heads up. I personally enjoy his old man smile...


On October 30th, during an all-school assembly, B and 2 friends sang a song in front of everyone! What I love about this is not that she sang and sounded great (she did, I am biased), but that her and two of her friends thought up the idea and asked their teacher (they are all in the same class), and the principal. They basically made all of the arrangements and practiced every day to make sure they sounded good. I'm afraid every teacher at the school heard them sing in a private concert at least twice! Just so you know, they were dressing up for Halloween/Sports Day at school. So, that is why they look the way they do... (B is the one in the middle).

I do have a video, but I'm having trouble uploading it (its a really big file). So...I guess you'll have to come over to my house if you want to see the video because I've lost my patience with trying to upload it!

Happy Halloween!

Ok. One day I will get used to blogger. But until then, you'll have to handle my un-organized posts. I typed up some stuff and then added the pictures...so, here are the pictures, you'll have to scroll down to get the info on them...sorry!

S at her preschool party

S is dressed up as Pumpkin Spice (I don't know, that's just what the package said...)

Here is Mulan...

and a very scary skeleton...Yikes!

What a bunch of cuties!

We love Halloween! It was a great weekend. We got to celebrate at school parties, and a party at church, and then trick-or-treating. I have picture of Sophie at preschool, and then a few of the kids before our ward Halloween party at church. I don't have any of trick-or-treating because...well, I don't! We went with the big Wilhelm clan. It was really fun to be with friends we've known forever, and we just feel like part of the family (it does help that my sister really IS part of the family!) We ended our Halloween night by stopping off at the Weaver's house for a post trick-or-treating gathering of food and friends. We got there early and left before most others came. Our kids were so tired and ready for bed by 9pm! Can you imagine?

Apple Hill and Pumpkin Patch

In October, we went to Apple Hill with Heaps family that were in town for Ben's wedding. It was a great place to go and spend time together. My picture taking skills are lacking, and I realized I did not get pictures of everyone there- LAME! But, here are some of my family with a few cousins.

Wilhelm family, our family and one Olson...

S petting a pony

B riding a pony with cousins

J on his pony

S and A, one of her favorite cousins...

B and L

We took this picture with a few of us while we were waiting for others to arrive. We always have fun at Apple Hill and we go every year. We were excited to go up there this year with more family. Can't help eating all the yummy apple treats they create up there. I think that is why I like to go!

S and I went on a preschool field trip to a pumpkin patch that same week. It was fun to go with Jody too! Here are a few pictures:

Here's Jody and I on the hay ride...S is in the black and white striped sweater on the side...

S and E picking their pumpkins to take home.

I think Fall is my favorite season. I love the weather changing, I love the colors of the leaves. I love the smell of fires and cider and pumpkins...I could go on and on! It helps me get ready for my favorite time of year...CHRISTMAS TIME!!! Hopefully soon, I finish catching up on my posts so that I can actually blog about Christmas on time!

A Heaps Wedding...

On October 17th, my not so little brother, Benny Boy (as he is affectionately known in our family) got married! He scored in the spouse department (so did she, Ben is a super guy!!). Shannon is amazing. She has passed the test of the Heaps family. Its a rigorous test, I tell you. Not many pass. I'm kidding. There's no test. But she fits into our family like a hand fits a glove. 3 points that I make:

The first time she met a large group of our Heaps family together (it wasn't all of us) she did not freak out at the sheer number of people around. Lets face it. That ca be scary for anyone! In fact, she jumped right in the mix- helped cook, talk, played with the kids, etc.

Second, her middle name is Leone. Not very common, right? Well, my mom's name is Cleone! Can't you see the coincidence?! Or is it...

Finally, she can handle Ben (and I say this with all the love in my heart) and all of his stinkiness. She's amazing!

Shannon has many other amazing things about her. I could go on and on. Just know that we love her and we are so happy for both of them! Here are a few pictures from the big day (in no particular order. Thanks blogger!):

I love this picture. Shannon's face says it all. Ben just got slammed with cake!

Myself, Ben and Jody- AKA (in the Heaps family) as the "three little kids" not to be confused with the "three little pigs"!!

Some Heaps cousins bustin' a move...

What little cuties!

Ben and Shannon with Ben's siblings (2 are missing. Marilee is serving a mission for our church in Puerto Rico, and Kelly was dog sick, along with her whole family, and had to stay in Utah).

I wish I had pictures of Shannon's family. They are really great too! It was fun to meet them and hear stories about Shannon growing up. She comes from great roots. It was a beautiful wedding. I'm so glad I got to be there and support them.

Kindness begins with me

I just have to say that I'm surrounded by amazing people! I cannot begin to express to you how grateful I am for the amazing people in my life and what I've been able to learn from them.

I've always wanted to be that person who sees someone in need and just KNOWS exactly what to do to help out. I feel like the lame one who stands on the sideline watching someone struggle, wishing I could do something, but not knowing what that is. And in all of my lame-ness, I end up watching other people help out and serve (which is great to see, I learn a lot by watching others!!) I've just always wanted to feel like I could help someone in need and know that I'm doing some good.

I've learned a few things over the past year about kindness and showing love for others ( I've learned this in all of my spectating that I seem to do...).

First, never suppress a generous thought. If you think, "I should really do.... for (so and so). " Do it. What harm could come from doing a kind deed?

Second- you don't always have to ask "What can I do to help?" Most of the time, you will get an answer like "Oh, I'm fine. I don't need anything." Just do SOMETHING. If you feel like someone could use a hand up or just a helping hand, do something.

Third- when someone does ask for help- DO IT (if you possibly can!). Obviously, within reason. Why say no if you can possibly say yes? My husband would battle me on this because I do have a hard time saying no when asked to help, to the point of getting overwhelmed at times. I feel like there's got to be a balance...still working on that one.

Thank you so much to all of my friends and family for helping me learn! I could go on and on for hours about people who have been amazing examples of service to me. But I won't. I will tell you of two recent events in my life when someone has touched my heart when I really needed it. September was a rough month in my life, for many different reasons. It was really really tough for some people that I love dearly. Anyway, I made a comment (on Facebook, of all places) that my heart was hurting. That was all. I received a knock at my door later that night to find a sweet friend standing there with a pan full of heart shaped rice crispy treats and a hug. She didn't push me for more information, she just said she loved me and handed me the pan. Made my heart feel a bit better, not so heavy and sad.

Kindness does that, you know. Even in the form of hugs and heart shaped rice crispy treats.

Last month, I (gasp!) got sick with a yucky cold/flu. Not just sick, but beat-down sick. (Side note: Moms should not be allowed to get sick!!) Anyway, my super-duper sweet sister in law called me up one day and told me she was bringing my family dinner. And sure enough, she showed up with home made chicken noodle soup and warm rolls for my family to eat so that they didn't have to suffer through another night of mac'n cheese and hot dogs. THEN she proceeded to write me a note about how loving and thoughtful I was! HA! It made my week. She took the time to think about me, and I can't begin to describe how she made me feel (underneath the sick- yuckiness!). I hope she knows how much I love and appreciate her!! (In all of my lame-ness, I'm afraid I fall short at expressing that!)

You know most everyone has been touched by countless others who are really just angels living here on earth. I love this quote from Elder Holland. He talks about angels that live right here on earth.. "some of them we walk with and talk with- here, now, everyday...Indeed heaven never seems closer than when we see the love of God manifested in the kindness and devotion of people so good and so pure that angelic is the only word that comes to mind."

My mom, who is one of those angels, would sing a song to my family growing up "Kindness begins with me." It runs over and over in my head more than I'd like sometimes! But hopefully it is something I can be, more often.