Candy Making Day with the Fam

We had our first annual Christmas Candy making day a week ago and it was awesome!  Thanks to all who came and shared with us, and for those of you who couldn't make it, here is a shot at what you missed and we hope you can come next year when we plan ahead a little better!

We started with some basic supplies.......Oh sooooooo much sugar and butter......

We had chief cooks.....

Who cooked and cooked......

We had chief mixers.....

Chief testers and tasters...... baggers ..... haha

And we came up with some real treasures............

We had little kids who played......

We had big kids who played......

And in the end we all had a blast.

Thanks Family.......I am looking forward to next year, and I promise I will be more organized and prepared and it will be even better!

Time Flies When You're Having Fun!

I can't believe it has been almost another year past.  It seems like I just wrote that it was a review of another year!  How it flies whether or not we are having fun, so we  may as well have fun right?

It has been an eventful year.  Let me see if I can recap some of it.

Work and more work of course.  Lay offs and re hires, changes, and so forth, all take place all the time in the work field, especially when the oil field is involved.  Major political changes which affect the economy, and which also affect our jobs and lives have happened.  Some good and some really not so good, but we roll with the punches and try to make the best of situations.

No new grandbabies this year, but we have had great fun with the ones we have.  Can't believe how fast they
grow and how much fun they have been. 

Xander is loving having sleepovers with me, especially when Logan is out of town.  We have some great fun together.  I miss not having Wyatt here every day after school.  It seems I hardly ever see him any more and when he does come over, he is such a grown up boy now that he mostly likes to hang with the big boys downstairs in the dungeon staring at screens, that fry their brains out.  LOL. 

Jax is finally warming up to me, I guess it is because Grandpa isn't always around, so he has to like me a bit more.  I keep the faith that as he grows, he will come to understand more that I am going to be his best friend.  Right now he loves his Grandpas the most, and that's okay too.  He is the cutest little bug, strutting around like he owns the world and he pretty much does.  He will be two in Jan, Wyatt will be ten, and Xander just turned four.  Crazy year with the little boys.

Fell asleep at his own birthday party

I won't talk much about my kids, as they don't like me sharing all that they have been doing, but Kyre is engaged to a super great guy, David, and Matt and Beth got married!  Yay for both of them.  So happy for them.  Tal and Jim are always buzzing busy around like a family of bees, and are working on getting foster kids in their home.  Some of the kids are in school, some working, and some enjoying life.  I sure can't complain.

We had a great time camping for two weeks this past summer.

Memories  - sisters

I love camping. I love it because being in nature is just the best. 

Memories - cousins

I love the mountains,  I love the peace, and I love the crazy fun that comes with throwing in a couple of family reunions into the mix. 

Oh ya......

I must admit that I am going to downsize my camper.  I really want to have one that I can pull or drive by myself when Logan isn't around.  I absolutely love my current trailer, but it is just too much for me to hook up and do all on my own, and I don't want that to be the deciding factor if I get to go camping or not.

Best friends were made

I tried it with just a tent one time and the first night was great, but we woke early to a horrific wind which had our tent pretty much flattened to the ground with us girls in it, and we had to take it all down and pack up in the wind before we blew away.  Not fun.

New friends were made

An experience though.  :)

Coolin off in the pool - it was super hot!

Good food was had by all.

That is what it is all about.  Memories. I love the quote from Og Mandino - 

“I am convinced that the greatest legacy we can leave our children are happy memories: those precious moments so much like pebbles on the beach that are plucked from the white sand and placed in tiny boxes that lay undisturbed on tall shelves until one day they spill out and time repeats itself, with joy and sweet sadness, in the child now an adult.”

Memories and fun were had by all.

 I love making memories, and I love remembering them. 

Some were on-lookers

I have many fond memories, and hope that when my kids are older, they will say they have many as well. 

Some were participants

I love spilling out the memories and allowing them to repeat their emotions within me. 

All were great memories!

What a treasure.  What a great legacy.

To making many more memories in the coming months and years - here's to you!  Remember what is important - always.

The Door Is Always Open

Welcome 2015!!

Never a better way to bring in the New Year than with family, good friends and yummy food!  Ended 2014 with just that!  And nope I didn't make it quite until midnight, but real close!  

We had the opportunity last night to do a little reflecting on perhaps what our mission statement would be if we had one, not just in our family but for us as members of the LDS faith, and it was kind of a cool thing to think about.  I couldn't pin just what it would be, but I knew that it had to do with loving and welcoming everyone regardless who they are.  We kicked around a few ideas, and then Jim reminded us of the one that he thinks of about us - "The Door Is Always Open".  Perfect!  He said that when he started coming around here, that is one thing that he was always told. We tell everyone that, regardless of who they are, and we really mean it too!  I guess I didn't really think of it, but we do.  We have always had an open door policy at our home.  The door is always open - La puerta siempre esta abierta!  I love Spanish! 

If you looked at Atwood's Front Porch, what would you see? 

 THE DOOR IS ALWAYS OPEN!

I think back through the years and it has always been this way.  We have learned a few hard lessons along the way, but one thing that we have always tried to keep the same is our open door policy, and I think that for the most part, each of our kids and their friends have felt at ease using this policy.  It is always a great feeling when an old friend shows up just out of the blue and pops in for a visit.  The door is always open, has stuck!

So perhaps for the New Year, do a little pondering, and see what might ring true for your home and family.  What do you want people to think of when they think of you?  How do you want them to remember you?  I guarantee they won't necessarily remember the things that they did with you, or at your house, but they will remember how you made them feel.  They will remember that at the Atwood house, the door was always open for them, anytime, any day.  

The Door Is Always Open!  

Siempre para siempre 

- always until the end of time!

Happy 2015