2014 was a pretty good year for all of us.  We all survived, and still like each other, so I am going to count it as a win.

Aaron: This year Aaron did the unthinkable and stayed at his job for over a year.  As of right now he is at almost 1.5 years, and his wife has demanded he remain there until she has her baby because it has excellent benefits.  Like paying him dollars and such.  For Christmas he received a smoker from Santa and a cool book on curing and smoking meats and looks forward to opening his own fancy salami and other cured meats shop shortly.  He was happy to build the largest snowman in the neighborhood after the first major snow, putting all other neighborhood dads to shame.  Aaron’s other major accomplishment this year was reaching 2.5 years of living in the same place, which is the longest he has lived anywhere ever!!!

Kelsey: This year Kelsey did what she seems to have been doing continuously for the past almost 7 years.  That’s right, growing yet another human and complaining about how horrible it is and how stupid she was to do it again.  She really is grateful but is not good at expressing that sentiment.  Kelsey read probably 2 or 3 books and 2 or 3 magazines so she considers it a pretty productive year.  Oh, she maybe made some quilts too.  Kelsey’s 2015 resolutions include having a baby and never getting pregnant again.  And also keeping everyone alive.

Harmon: In October Harmon managed to turn 6, despite his wishes from age 2 on to never get older.  He seems to be taking it in stride, as birthdays seem to yield more precious legos than he can afford from his day job earnings.  Harmon has started Kindergarten at the closest school we could find, our house.  He loves it, and so does his teacher and classmates.  When not building/fixing/thinking about/watching or creating reviews about legos, Harmon enjoys playing outside for hours (heat or snow) and playing all sorts of games with Sammy.  While you shouldn’t brag, this is my blog (and I will do as I please!), so I will add that Harmon is ridiculously smart, sweet, sensitive, and we love him to death.

Sammy: In December Sammy reached the ripe old age of 5.  Sammy has an infectious smile that saves her from trouble on many occasions.  Sammy loves art of any kind and can be found doing projects for hours on end.  One of her favorite activities besides drawing includes cutting paper into teeny tiny pieces.  I think it goes without saying this is not her mother’s favorite activity.  Sammy is a great big sister and is constantly playing with/tormenting Allison.  Sammy is also known for her fierceness, both against members of her family, but also in defending her older brother from “rude kids” in play areas at fast food restaurants.  She is awesome and we likewise adore her bright personality and love her to death.

Allison: If there was ever a better age than 2 I wouldn’t believe it.  Allison (who coincidentally turned 2 in November) is a wild maniac who enjoys doing somersaults off the couch, running through the house in her underwear, and destroying whatever her siblings build.  She also enjoys keeping up with the chatterboxes in the house, both in amount of words uttered and decibel level.  Allison’s favorite thing is Michelangelo the ninja turtle, whom she affectionately calls MikeyAngelo.  Allison loves reading books, going outside for walks with her daddy, playing stuffed animals with Sammy, and trying to get in the middle of whatever Harmon is doing.  She is a good eater, and we hope someday the older kids will learn from her.  Allison is super charming and keeps us laughing.  I think it goes without saying that we love her to death.

Baby #4: He is a boy.  His hobbies include having the hiccups and making his mother cry with pain while expanding her rib cage with a vice.  Luckily he has funny heels that tickle and if he doesn’t stay in too long he may be forgiven.  He should appear in the end of March, but his mother suspects he will wait until April 1st because that is just funnier.

We are blessed.  The End.

[12:24:41 PM] Aaron: Rush Limbaugh: Success is getting paid to do what you love doing. Whatever you want to do first thing when you wake up in the morning is what you love.
[12:24:51 PM] Aaron: Should we sign you up for some sleep experiments?

Kelsey’s 24 in 365*
1. Eliminate all unworn/ill-fitting clothes
2. Read 25 books
3. Finish surprise quilt (I can’t say who for, in the off chance they read this)
4. All photobooks finished up to 2013 and Allison’s 1st year book.
5. No restaurant eating for one month.
6. Learn a new skill
7. Assemble a car first aid kit.  And put it in the car.
8. Baby books up to date
9. Shoot and develop one roll of film
10. Finish 5 already started sewing projects
11. Read 2 books in Spanish
12. Work on Ecuador book
13. Visit 3 temples I have never been to before
14. Can something tasty
15. Learn a new song on the piano
16. Send 12 pieces of real mail
17. Sort/get rid of extra toys
18. Send birthday cards to nieces & nephews.  And maybe siblings and more.
19. Have a super fun party.
20. Blog 14 times
21. Build a front entry bench
22. Get dressers
23. Watch an old movie that I should have seen already
24. Save up for a new heavy duty sewing machine

*All activities may be substituted for taking a nap of 1 hour or longer duration.

Aaron’s 14 in 2014
1. Make a quilt (I said I didn’t want to learn computer programming, and how would he like to make a quilt?  Apparently a lot.)
2. Pay off our car
3. Make an abridgment of The Hobbit to be read as bedtime stories
4. Get in shape
5. Make jerky or smoked meat
6. Go to the temple
7. Go surfing
8. Find a delicious new restaurant
9. Do something super fun with each of the kids
10. Climb a mountain
11. Plant a garden
12. Make a new friend
13. Camping.  Real camping!
14. Send Kelsey to the spa.

The end.

Dear Server Company,

I think it’s really rude you shut down our entire server because of a supposed bad spam comment on this blog.  What’s more that you are making it almost impossible for Aaron to retrieve our lots of information and hosting on the server.  I’m pretty sure we were paying you to keep track of our stuff, but what do I know?  Also thanks for the heart attack that my blog was probably gone forever.  You should really come up with a better plan if you don’t have good enough security on your own servers.

(Sticking my tongue out),
Kelsey

Aaron: You just love Facebook because you are a voyeur.
Kelsey: I prefer the term stalker, thankyouverymuch.

1. When Aaron found out that I had never read Lord of the Rings he decided he would read it out loud to me.  At first I thought this would be really lame, but I actually really like it (we are almost done!) and today as I was driving on the freeway and saw the license plate “nawzgull” I felt totally culturally literate.  (I can only assume that nazgul was already taken)

2. Aaron is totally honest.  Two weeks ago when I said “I can’t believe I am 5 months pregnant” he replied “I know, but you look 7!”  At least I can count on him to tell me if this belly makes me look fat.

3. Aaron likes to do ridiculous stuff with the kids.  For example last week he wanted to drive to the mountains and tie ropes on the kids and tell them they were rock climbing.  And so we did.  And they loved it.  And didn’t fall off the side of the mountain either.

4. Aaron overlooks my extreme ridiculousness.  Recent example: I brought home an oversized spinning round chair thing from a second-hand store, ripped off all the old stinky fuzzy fur covering and recovered it with fabric and a staple gun and Aaron just smiled.  (Photos of chair coming soon)  Also I bought a reel mower instead of a gas one and after inquiring about the price he complimented our efforts of lawn mowing.

5. Aaron really likes frozen Hershey’s bars.  I realize that this one is not that interesting but I blame the fact that I got distracted by the Comcast guy digging up our yard to bury our internet cable.  The silliness of it all almost made me think I was in Ecuador again.  More interesting facts about Aaron later.

(Aaron’s defense: “You bought all these clothes!”)

Aaron: I brushed my teeth.
Kelsey: Congratulations.
Aaron: When was the last time you brushed your teeth?
Kelsey: Rude!
Aaron: So last week?
Kelsey: No! Today. Midday.
Aaron: Not one of those 10 second brushes like I saw you doing on Sunday before church.
Kelsey: Those are touch-ups!
Aaron: So last week?
Kelsey: Rude!
Aaron: How many times do you think you have brushed your teeth this year?
Kelsey: *thinking*
Aaron: So 3 before we came to Ecuador, and that’s it?
Kelsey: No! I was counting!
Aaron: Sure.
Kelsey: Like 48.
Aaron: Sure.
Kelsey: Rude!

8:20am: Take taxi to military hospital. Ask where x-rays are. Go to x-rays, get directed to appointment desk/waiting line. Get told to get x-rays first, then make appointment, but first pay for x-rays at other window. Go to other window, get bill, go to another window to pay. Return to x-rays. Taken immediately.

8:50am: Return to appointment desk/line and show that I have Aaron’s x-rays. Told I can’t have appointment with doctor recommended by first doctor, but I can come back at 7:30am tomorrow to get in line for an appointment. Eventually I am told that I could see a different doctor, or rather I can get Aaron a number in line for the 3pm doctor. I leave to ask Aaron what he wants. He says whatever is fastest. I return to appointment desk/wait in line and talk to a completely different person. This person tells me that I could see the doctor who is currently there, which is neither the 3pm doctor, nor the doctor I initially asked to see. I am told to go pay at the pay window (no stop at the intermediate window this time) and they will give me my number (for my place in line.) I do this and get number 9. It is now 9:15am.

9:16am: Find office of doctor and ask everyone else who is waiting what number they are on. Two. Take kids to get snacks while Aaron waits.

11:15am: Beyond happy when it is finally Aaron’s turn. Tell doctor about Aaron’s feet, show him x-rays, he checks out Aaron’s feet and determines he needs some nerve help. I don’t fully understand all that he says, I am thinking Aaron is getting an injection like the first doctor says, but then we are sent to the pharmacy down the hallway. We wait outside the doctor’s office while he sees 3 more patients.

12:30pm: Doctor gives Aaron some “nerve treatment” in his mouth, wherein he pokes him several times with a needle filled with some sort of anesthetic. This gives Aaron no relief, but makes us all smile when Harmon instructs “be brave dad! Don’t cry!” (He didn’t cry.) Next the doctor wants to see Aaron’s foot again and proceeds to jab him over 20 times in the leg, ankle, and foot. Each time he asks “does this hurt?” and Aaron says, “yes it stings” so the doctor keeps going, because he is not looking for stinging, he is looking for nerve pain! The doctor runs out of juice in the needle setup and decides this “randompuncture” as Aaron has termed it is not working. We are sent away with no concrete diagnosis, but an order for fasting blood work tomorrow.

Tomorrow we will get up first thing and get blood work done, followed by a trip on Wednesday morning back to the same doctor. Really, I can’t imagine why Aaron doesn’t like doctors. It’s not like it was a big deal or anything…