Welcome to 2008!!

Happy New Year!!

We had a wonderful Holiday Season.  The kids enjoyed many new gifts as well as visiting Grandma and Grandpa.  Evan got a new computer (really our old computer) and a camera.  Brayden got hokey pokey Elmo.  I recieved the rest of the Twilight books - New moon and Eclipse.  I read them within three days of Christmas.  I really enjoy them.  Josh got a new mouse for his computer as well as some speakers for his ipod. 

We also recieved some fabulous games.  We love playing games with each other as well as with our family members and neighbors. While at my parents house we were able to play a few games.  Ticket to ride Europe turned out to be a lot of fun - especially for Josh who won the first game.  Paije  came back on her second game to beat me by only three points!  It was a really good game.  I wasn't too sad that I had lost because I had been on a winning streak with the Starship of Catan card game.  That is a fun game also!

We also were able to count up our saved change from 2007 and go to Wal-Mart and buy a child's coat for their coat drive.  Evan got really attached to the coat we bought and wanted it to take home for himself.  We had to really talk about what service is and that sometimes we have to give up things we might really want to others who don't have anything.  I think he was ok in the end.  He doesn't still talk about it - which is a true sign of real impact.  Hopefully next year he can understand better.  

Since the New Year is now upon us we had our Family Home Evening on setting goals.  We have family goals, couple goals, and personal goals.  We also implemented a new reward system for Evan.  He gets a shiny white/clear rock for every good decision he makes and gets one taken away when he makes a bad decision.  He still has the option of time out if he chooses to throw a tantrum!  He can use the rocks that he earns for different things like - more computer time, a treat at the store, another movie, etc.  We really hope he gets the hang of it and eventually we will assign amounts to each item and things like a Zoo trip will be added for 20 rocks - or something like that.  As he gets older we will move into fake money, and then real money.  Our goal is to teach our children about finances and investments BEFORE they leave our home.  We'll see how it goes.

Well, 2008 should be a fun year!  We look forward to graduating with a Master's, deciding where to go for PhD school, hopefully buying a home, moving, starting PhD school, and electing a new President.  That, with any other misc. adventures that pop up, should provide for a very eventful year!  We hope all of you have a splendid year and achieve all the goals you have set for this coming year.  Happy New Year!!