2010 Goals

"Goals are stars to steer ourselves by, not sticks to beat ourselves with"

• I read a talk from this last General Conference of our Church that struck me deeply. You can read it here but in it he talked about Temperance. Defined as moderation or self-restraint in action, self-control. We live in world of road rage and anger. I want to learn to be more in control of my actions and not react so quickly to situations, especially with my kiddos.

• I want to procrastinate less. So many times I think I need to do that...this year I just want to do it right then! I have so many half done projects. I want to finish more. I want to DO. Not INTEND.

• I want to lose 32 more pounds. I want to lose 28 of it by my birthday in June.

• I want to take better care of the house. This probably goes with the procrastination goal but I just want to feel like our house is in better control.
  

• As far as my new skill I want to learn this year I want to learn to shoot on full manual mode in my camera comfortably.

Its going to be a good year, I can feel it already!

New Years Resolutions 2009 Recap

I'm big on goals. I love the feeling of direction they give me. Goals for me are just dreams unless I keep myself accountable so here are my last years goals and how I think I did:

Goal #1: Keep up the goals I had last year
Kept at least 2...wish I remembered the rest :)

Goal #2: Obviously take off the baby weight. Not just Beckham's, but the 10 pounds from building our house and the 10 pounds that was left from Caleb. We really live in such a great outdoor adventure area so I want to do this with running, biking, and eating fresh and healthy. No crash diets, a healthier lifestyle.
Didn't get where I wanted to get but I still did pretty good. Since having Beckham I have lost 56 pounds. About 22 of that came off in the first 4 weeks, the rest of the 34 I worked hard for.

Goal #3: Relax and enjoy the good things in my life. I have so many blessing and sometimes I look to the future to much and this year I want to live more in the moment. I want to let go of the things that don't matter and hold onto and enjoy the things that do.
Did pretty good. Its something that takes a lot of reminding but I have played more with the kids, spent more time with them one on one and paid attention better.

Goal #4: Be more positive and less critical, especially of myself
Not so much. Still struggling- especially with criticizing myself!

Goal #5: The new skill I want to develop this year is photography
I'm learning! I have come a LONG way. I still have a lot to learn but I'm signing up for a couple classes and am excited to keep going.

Just about finished up my 2010 goals and will post those in a few days.

Something B-I-G is coming!

Oh my goodness...

I AM EXCITED!

I cant say much yet because I want it to be a a big unveiling but something big is happening here!


B - I - G

Christmas 2009

What a wonderful Christmas we had this year. Our Christmas Eve started out with our first annual sleepover in Mom and Dads room.

Where the boys sure made themselves comfortable!

In the morning we tried to get a before running out shot but Beckham wanted nothing to do with it.

The boys were SO excited for their new Geo Trax Radiator Springs set and extra Geo Trax expansion trax from Santa. They were in Heaven!


After we got everything wrapped up in the morning I had the boys bring out all of their Geo Trax and we made a Geo Town and it was AWESOME!


Seriously they played with it from about 10 in the morning until we forced them to bed!

We opened presents where they were spoiled even more...hot wheels, transformers, hot wheels launcher, books!

Daddy made us a yummy breakfast and
Beckham got caught with his hand in Santa's Cookie jar!

That night we were able to have the Dana's, the Rogers, and the Swensen Families over for a very yummy dinner!

Want to see what I got this year....I was spoiled.

The first I was expecting...he used our Credit card but it still didn't take anything away from it!


This was a total surprise though! A FLASH! Ive been having all sorts of fun with it!


Since Christmas was on a Friday this year it was great to be able to have a free day the day after.

It was an ideal day.

We woke up and played Geo Trax. We all had remote trains and played chase and crash with our trains. Then we played a few games of Candyland. I got ready and went and did errands by myself for about 3 hours!!!! What more could I want. I was spoiled more when John told me to go get myself some clothes. I really needed them but just to run errands alone was a gift! When I got home we loaded up and headed out on a bike ride to the park. Yummy leftovers and a movie were the perfect way to end the dreamy day!

Christmas Card 2009

Merry Christmas 2009!

We can hardly believe that another year has passed! Where is the time going? We are grateful that at the end of this year we can say that our family is healthy and happy. We love Hurricane and have really settled in making this home! This is officially the longest we have lived anywhere in our married years and hope to call it home for a very long time!

John continues working for Sunroc as an Estimator and Project Manager. Sadly with this economy he finds himself doing more estimating and less work in the field but we are grateful that he has a job! He has played fewer sports this year due to an ankle injury but hopes that will change this upcoming year. He coached soccer again this year and spent his Saturdays in the summer teaching swim lessons.

Lisa loves feeling that she’s back to full capacity and spending her days with the boys. She has started her career as a full time chauffer of children to their activities! She started doing Family and children’s photography and loves the new challenge. Between volunteering as the Treasurer for AYSO, volunteering with the PTA, helping in Caleb’s class, bus runs, and teaching Joy school she is BU-SY! She loves being a stay at home Mom and counts her blessings to be able to be home with the boys!

Caleb started Kindergarten this year and is excelling at school! He is learning to read and loves doing his “work.” He started Karate in the spring and loves it! That may have been why he started slide tacking when he played soccer again this fall. Caleb also joined the church choir with Mom which is really fun for both him and Mom! He is happy and kind and we are so proud of who he is!

Davis is so smart that we can hardly keep up with him. He remembers everything and loves math, numbers, and learning his letters and sounds. He loves to color and is obsessed with anything that has wheels…still! Davis was excited to start gymnastics this year and loves to put his backpack on when it’s time for his joy school! He overwhelms us with the funny and cute things he says!

We can’t express the joy we felt when Beckham joined our family on January 13^th and it hardly seems that just a year ago he was a tiny newborn. He is by far our busiest boy at this age and is everywhere and into everything! He crawls faster than Mom can find him and is just starting to work on taking steps! He loves to eat solids and is growing up way to fast! Most of all he loves to laugh at his brothers! He is so happy and content and our family would not be the same without him!

It has been a difficult year for so many. Through the economic challenges we are all facing we are glad for the lessons we are learning of simplicity and getting back to the basics. Homemade bread, evening bike rides, games with the family, and Friday night movies started out as ways to cut costs but we have found that they bring us so much joy just reveling in each other’s company. We are grateful to be reminded of just how much we truly have and how blessed we are to have each other. Together truly is our favorite place to be!

We are grateful for you all and how you have touched our lives in the past or in the present. May the Lord bless you all this year with peace and happiness!

All our love,

John, Lisa, Caleb, Davis, and Beckham Henderson

Viva Las Vegas!

That's right! Go Cougars! John and I headed to Las Vegas yesterday with our friend Adam for a quick trip to the bowl game where we were suppose to lose but instead we destroyed Oregon St!

Can you see the cold in this picture?
How about feel the raging wind!?!

Holy Cow it was WIN-DY!

They couldn't do the F-16 flyby because of it and instead they flew the Military Helicopters right over the stadium which was still incredibly cool (although I'm not sure that it was worth my sprint from the car because I didn't want John to miss the F-16's. He had to meet the guy with our tickets and so I parked the car way down the street from the stadium. Actually it was worth it- I love our men and women of the Armed Forces.)

In fact before the game they brought out the huge field flag and with the wind that banner was waving! In fact so much so that some of the guys holding it were being lifted off of the ground.


I almost cried when the BYU Band rushed the field and went down there to support the Armed Forces. Seriously it was so touching.


And for the record...the Oregon Band stayed in their seats :)

It was FUN! It was a FAST trip! It was WORTH it because we WON!

My Middle Child

When I sat down to write out our Christmas Card this year I had a hard time when it came to writing Davis' paragraph.

I was devastated.
I was sure he was being ignored as our Middle Child and I was that bad Mom!

I spent a lot of time thinking about it and came to a big realization. Caleb is much more like me, you never have to guess what he is thinking. I thought that's how all kids were since he was my first. Davis is more like John. He is content with keeping things to himself. He doesn't need for me to know and understand every thought and feeling that he has like Caleb and I. He captures you with his eyes and his expressions more than with his feelings and words.

How I love this little man! He is a challenge in a whole new way. You have to dig deeper with him. I have to pay attention to the subtle clues and read them.

He has everyone who works with him at Church wrapped around his little finger. Today I was chatting with a woman who doesn't know me well and I told her I had 3 sons. Somehow she finally made the connection and grabbed my arm suddenly and exclaimed, "are you Davis' Mom!?!" Proudly I said yes and she just starting gushing about how much she loves him.

He is a charmer!

Oh man, what a heartbreaker.
This kiddo is C-U-T-E!

How many times can a boy turn 6?

I use to hate the fact that Caleb's Birthday was in December because I was afraid it would be dwarfed by Christmas. But I have realized that he is so lucky that he gets to see all of our family during that time and lucky for him they all like to throw him parties!

Party #1- Jumping Jacks with is friends



Last year at Caleb's party we had Decepticon John. Well this year we had Jumping John! He chased them all over and the kids had so much fun trying to run away from him.



Party #2- Chuck E Cheese with Grandpa and Grandma Rober, Aunt Kelly, and Savannah


Davis was just a little freaked out...


Okay, REALLY freaked out!


Beckham on the other hand...well, the picture speaks for itself!



My Dad got a TON of tokens and I couldn't figure it out, but then I saw this and everything became clear :)


They also got Caleb a new bike for his birthday!


Party #3- Cake with Grandpa and Grandma Henderson


Thank you to everyone who made turning 6 special for Caleb.

Here a few fun things about Caleb at the age of 6:

• He is super sensitive. Not your typical 6 year old. He is nice to everyone and loves to make people feel included. He loves his "cuddlies" which are his stuffed animals.
• He is great at building! He got some Lego's at our early Christmas celebration and he has been building like crazy and he is so creative.
• He does not like to clean and can come up with a thousand reasons why he cant and when he actually does clean it comes with A LOT of whining!
  
• He loves games and right now he loves to play UNO and Candyland
  
• He has a good sense of humor and cracks us up with how witty he can be.
• His enthusiasm is contagious. He is so happy and when he gets excited about something he is giddy.

We love you Caleb!
You are an amazing person and I'm so grateful to be your Mom!

On Monday we were able to go to Sea World with Grandma Henderson while John played golf with Grandpa Henderson and then came over to meet us.


It was a B-L-A-S-T! It wasn't crowded at all, the weather was perfect, and Beckham did awesome. What more could we ask for!


John and I were talking about how in love with Sea World we are. There is something so fascinating about Sea animals and creatures.

We got to see the Seal show, the Polar Express 4-D experience, eat at our favorite Mama Stella's restaurant, look at the sharks, penguins, and we even found the Arctic exhibit which we have missed before. It was a gorgeous exhibit and I was absolutely mesmerised by the Beluga whales. They are so graceful.

We started out playing on the rides and I thought Davis would freak out like he did at Disneyland but he didn't and wanted to go on this Flying Fish ride over and over. Grandma was such a good sport!




While Grandma and Davis were on the Flying Fish Caleb went and hopped on the big swing ride all by himself. He was so brave and looked so tiny in this ride all by himself!


Davis would have nothing to do with the Polar Express 4-D experience so while John and I took Caleb to that Grandma took Davis to the Fish Aquarium and they went through it 3 times! He loved the fish! Grandma is good with all of the kids but she really gets Davis and he adores her! They have a special little connection.



After I convinced Caleb and John to go on one last ride in which they both got soaked...ha ha! We went home and had some awesome Mexican food with Grandpa! The boys ate up all of the attention!

Thanks again Grandpa and Grandma for a great day!

Updated: Today Caleb asked if he could go to his Grandpa and Grandma's house that live at Sea World.

The sweetest song

Today was our ward Choir performance. I love to sing and have wanted to join the choir for a while now but it just never seems to work out. I was determined to make it work this time but Johns truck wont fit all 3 boys to come home after church when the choir practices. I asked Caleb if he wanted to join the choir with me and he agreed but said he didn't want to perform. Two weeks ago he agreed to sing in the Christmas program with us.

Today when the choir stood up to perform, he stood by me clutching my hand. We sang and it was beautiful. I think I was more moved by the sweet little hand holding tight to mine than anything else.

After we were done with our first song and sat down he whispered to me,

"Hey Mom, that wasn't so bad."

It was a wonderful experience and I'm so glad that we get to keep singing together.

Each year we go to my parents house with both of my brothers families and we do an early Christmas. Grandma and Grandpa give each of the kiddos Christmas jammies and we fill stockings for each other. Of course we pass on my parents tradition of torturing them at the top of the stairs before they can come down.


It was fun to have it rain. It was a bummer as far as looking at lights is concerned because my parents neighborhood goes crazy at Christmastime.

The rain didn't stop the boys from playing some wiffle ball!

This makes John look like he pitches super fast...not to say that he doesn't!

It also didn't keep the kiddos from swimming in the Hot tub. Actually, it didn't stop Ashlynn and Caleb from going in the cold big pool either!

That night the kids dressed up to act out the Nativity.
Davis would have nothing to do with it!

But check out my little Wise man.

This next picture is awesome because when my Mom read "Mary brought forth her firstborn son" Ashlynn just let go of the doll in her gown and Baby Jesus went crashing to the ground.

Most of all I'm glad my kids get the chance to be with their cousins.
They LOVE their cousins and I'm so glad that they are all so close.

The weekend ended with the news that the Bishop was being changed in my home ward.

Want to see the new Bishop...

Batter up Bishop Rober!

He is going to be an awesome Bishop! I'm proud of you Dad!

Thanks Grandpa and Grandma for the great weekend.

Peace out!

Trouble-Chapter 2

As I was mother helping in Caleb class today he was passing out smarties for his birthday. He gave one to Katelyn first and then went to another table. The two girls at the table started complaining that he missed them and I said, "Oh, I'm sure he was just going along the outside and will be right back."

More whining from the two girls. Finally Katelyn threw up her hands and said,

"He went to me first because I'm his girlfriend!"

She even had the DUH attitude in her voice!

This is Katelyn at his birthday party.