Year in Review

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Since it's the last day of 2008 I thought I'd do a year in review for the Saling's. It won't be long but I wanted to just sit and think about all that has happened in the last year.
January: We Larry and I went to UT and picked up Kaitlyn and Kira for a couple of reasons. There was an unforseen event in their lives that we needed them but also to have them with us as my mom passed away. It was so nice to have our whole family together and with her just before she passed away. I'm glad they got to know her and be there for her funeral. Grandma's cancer came quickly and took her away early but we know she is in a better place and getting everything ready for the rest of us. We miss her and think of her every day. Kamden turned 2 and continues to go nonstop everywhere.
February: Kira turned 8! She had to wait till June to get baptized so we could all be together but she celebrated her big day and then went to Disney World. Kira went back to UT but Kaitlyn stayed with us for a while longer. It was nice to have her with us and nice that Kira could be with her mom.
March: This is a quiet month as there are no birthdays and I can't remember anything happening.
April: Kaijsa turned 15 and got her Driver's Learners Permit. She has been practicing ever since. She is actually becoming a good driver. I also had a birthday but we won't speak of that since I'm getting older and have hit the fun milestones.
May: Kaitlyn turned 11 and has been counting down till she turns 12 ever since. She can't wait to go into Young Women's with her sister and to Girls Camp. Kinsee Belle turned 1 and has continued to be a joy and a fast learner. She picks up on things very quickly.
June: Larry had a birthday and the girls got out of school. We drove to UT and got to see some family and have Kira's Baptism. Although it was a short trip it was nice to see everyone and let the family see the kids. We came back to TX and relaxed this year.
July: The girls went to UT for their time with Janet. Kaitlyn decided to stay out there and try the country life down in Southern UT where Janet moved to be near her family. Kaijsa had Girls camp and loved it.
August: We spent the month getting ready for school to start and started to get ready for Christmas as all the birthdays were now over.
September: I took the kids and went with my dad and sister to Missouri to see my Grandparents. They hadn't seen Kamden since he was born and had never seen Kinsee. It was a short trip but nice to see them. We don't see them often enough.
October: Hmmmm I think this was the month Kaijsa had her appendix removed and was diagnosed with Crohns. She is doing well and has caught back up in school for all the days missed.
November: Larry went to spend 3 weeks in UT with family. His baby brother Chris got married to a cute gal and he was able to be there for the event. He was also able to spend time with his grandparents and family to just relax. He had a rough year with his health and it was nice for him to be able to hang out and relax with family and friends. He had a great time and we missed him tons. He came home just in time for Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving was quiet and spent with my dad and sister. Kaijsa was with us and from this point on we counted down till Christmas when we'd have Kaitlyn and Kira too.
December: School break began and we picked up Kaitlyn and Kira for Christmas. My brother Drew with his wife Heather and their kids McKenna, Miranda and Graeme came out to TX. We all got together for our first Christmas without Grandma. We had a great time together although the time together was short. It was a great week full of events I've already posted about. Kaitlyn has decided to stay with us which we are excited about and Kira will go back to Janet just after the new year. We will miss her but want her to be happy.
And now the year is over. We have been blessed with family and friends who love us and help us. We are so grateful for all of you. We are blessed with health and a warm home. We are blessed with the gospel in our lives and the knowledge that was we remain faithful and live righteously that we can be together with those we love forever. We are blessed with a little bundle of joy to be placed in our home and with our family this coming year. We are looking forward to having him/her with us. We are also praying that this will be the year that we can be sealed together as a family forever. May the year ahead be full of joy and peace. May our eyes and hearts be opened to the blessings we enjoy and the miracles we experience. May our faith continue to grow and our love for each other grow deeper as well. May this new year bring all of you those things your heart desires. We love you all and hope to see some of you this year!
Happy New Year and Good-bye to the Last Year!

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Christmas Time as a Family

As you look through the pictures you will see some of us while we're all bowling. The kids did great and the adults did ok. What matters most is we had a great time. We had fun helping the little ones and just having fun. I forgot how much I enjoy bowling and how much fun it can be as a family activity. There are other pictures of us at my Dad's house. He has a great backyard that the kids could play in once the weather warmed up some. It was still too cold for the pool but they looked at it and dreamed of getting in it. The kids explored in some of Papa's wood/toy pile and made forts, they played T-ball and rode around in the wagon. It was great to have them outside playing and it wore them all out. We had great food and we all took turns cooking which was nice. We also went and looked at lights but I didn't post any of those. We visited my mom's grave and laid some holiday decorations on it for her, Christmas was one of her favorite holidays. I'm so grateful we were all able to be together this Christmas and to just love one another. Time together as a family is so precious and doesn't happen as often as we'd like it to. I was able to have all last week off of work which was nice and have started back to work this week. Wow is that tough. I sure do love vacations. May the new year be one full of joys and blessings. Now that Christmas is behind us we'll start the 6 months of b-days and getting ready for the baby. I'm sure the time will go by quickly. I hope to be able to see some of you during the coming year but if we don't get your way feel free to come down to TX!

Christmas Time

I'll have to talk more about the slide show and our time together as a family in a little while. I'm just getting ready to go to a movie with my sister but wanted to post some family pictures of our fun time together. I know there are quite a few but we got a new camera for Christmas! Thanks Papa! We love it and just keep taking pictures. So take your time and enjoy going through them. We've had a great time together and wish it could last but we all have to go home sometime. Real life just isn't as much fun as it should be when we all live so far apart. We are glad you could come out Drew, Heather, McKenna (Mac), Miranda and Graeme! Thanks Papa and Jen for letting us all use your house and yard. Love you Larry for being the great Uncle and Daddy. I love to watch you play with the kids. You are wonderful! More details on everything later! Hugs to everyone and almost Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas

It's been a while but we've been busy with family, friends and Christmas. We picked up Kaitlyn and Kira last weekend and the time is going by way to fast! It has been great having our whole family together. We will definitely notice the empty space Kira fills when she goes back to UT next week. We have another week with her though and that is fantastic!
We have had a busy week of visiting and playing with family. I'm going to post our Christmas pictures with this one and then work on the family time pictures soon. I don't want to do everything at once and that have a while to the next. Maybe if I space them out that will keep y'all interested.
This was the first Christmas without my mom. It was hard but we felt her with us. My brother and his family came out and so that was nice to all be together. We don't get together very often so when we do it's great. The cousins got to play with eachother and get to know one another better which I love. I want them to be friends and hope they can see each other just often enough to be that way despite the distance. Santa came to our house and the kids each got several things they wanted and I'm sure a few things they didn't. hehe. Tradition is that they get books, for most that is fine although I do have one child that isn't a big reader. We got them each a Church book and a fun book, they got journals to keep their memories and thoughts in, some make-up, jewelry, clothes and a bigger item. Santa was good this year and we all loved our gifts. We also got to exchange gifts with our other family members and that is fun too. I love to give gifts and see their faces when they open them up. Giving truly is better then receiving.
We drove to the near-by lake and looked at the Christmas Lights they had displayed. There are over 3 million lights and they were amazing. I'll put some pics of those up later. We love driving around and looking at lights. It's especially fun with little ones because they ooh and aah over them and it truly brings in the Christmas Spirit. Christmas is for kids and to remind us to be childlike.
Larry and I sang in the Ward Choir for Christmas Sunday and that was fun. It was nice to sing with him. He has an amazing voice. We didn't get snow but it did get pretty cold here in TX. I don't mind though, snow is pretty but can be such a pain. I had the week off from work which was amazing but will have to start back up tomorrow. It will be so hard working nights again when I've been able to go to bed early. I'm one who needs my sleep.
I still have yet to get my Christmas cards/letter out but still have the intention to do so. Please don't think we forgot about any of you, we haven't. I will send it soon, although you'll get more information by reading this blog then the letter.
Merry Christmas to all our friends and family. We loved getting letters, cards and pictures from all of you! We hope to be able to keep the Christmas Spirit with us throughout the year and to remember to serve/ give more than receive. We love you all and are grateful to have y'all in our lives. We are well and will post more later...

Tomorrow

Tomorrow we get to pick up Kaitlyn and Kira! We are so excited! I think we have everything ready for them and our Christmas together. Unfortunately we've had some interference from another trying to ruin the holiday but all will be ok. We have this major trial in our lives and pray that someday hearts will be softened and friendliness can be seen. Until then we'll keep praying and hoping for a miracle. But enough of that. We are going to see the girls and have our Whole family together for Christmas. We are missing my mom but know she is with us in spirit. I will take as many pictures as possible and try to take some time to post but please be patient with me. I'm still having trouble figuring out the new computer and how to transfer my pics from the camera to the computer. UGH... I will update and when I do y'all will be bombarded with pics and stories! Merry Christmas and welcome home Kaitlyn and Kira!

Just thinking...

I don't have much to say but wanted to create a post anyways. We get to pick up Kaitlyn and Kira on Saturday and we're pretty excited. We're still figuring out where to put everyone but we'll be ok. We're just going to enjoy our family being complete while we can. We're always so sad to see them go. Kaitlyn is going to stay with us but Kira will return to UT. Maybe someday....
TX has turned cold and I miss the 70-80 degree weather already. I guess it does make it feel more like Christmas.
I made fudge the other day. The same fudge my mom always made. It has to sit for a week or two so I'm still hoping it turned out ok. The mixing beaters tasted good when I made it. hehe The sugar cookies didn't turn out so well. Oh well.
I think we're finally ready for Christmas. I think I need to let Santa know that a few more stocking stuffers might be needed but then I think all is good.
I'm not sure the Christmas letters will get out in time but I'm trying. Hopefully soon they will be mailed. Please be patient with me. If they don't get out in time...Merry Christmas to all!

Visiting Santa Claus

So to avoid long lines with Santa we skipped out of Church early and went to see him at the mall nearby. I know, horrible of us, but we only had to wait a couple of minutes vs a couple of hours this way. Plus the kids were already dressed up. The dumb thing is that the mall, if you take your own pictures, will only let you take 2. So this year Kaijsa didn't get her picture taken. I think we may just have to do it in shifts so they don't remember us. hehe. With 5 kids and we want them to each have their picture with Santa you can't just take 2 pictures.

This is a picture of Larry with Kinsee Belle and Kamden while waiting in line for Santa. They had the area decorated so cute.

This is Kaijsa's best friend Rachel. We couldn't ask for a better best friend for her. Rachel is fantastic and her family is awesome too! We not only corrupted our own family but we included Rachel this year. We love you Rachel!

Here is another picture of Larry with the little ones. The excitement in seeing Santa was great, until they got there...

Here is a cute photo of Kaijsa with Rachel. A rare photo with Kaijsa as she doesn't like to get her picture taken. She's so cute though.

Even Mrs. Claus was working this day. She was a cute and led us to her busy hubby Santa.

They made us feel rushed even though they weren't that busy so this is the picture we got with Kamden. He has a silly smile on his face but we did good with him. He asked for a Race Car and Race Car Track. Kam has always been good with Santa or other holiday people/animals. Kinsee...well...

I know as Kinsee Belle gets older she'll get better so for now I truly treasure these precious moments of her freaking out. I just laugh. I think it is cute that she is screaming, bad mom huh. She is normally not this way so to have her screaming is funny to me. She was so excited a minute earlier and did fine as soon as I grabbed her after the photo. We'll see how it goes next year. It was fun to take them and when we get Kaitlyn and Kira maybe we'll go again so they can get their pictures done too. You are never too old to sit with Santa.

Bethlehem Revisted

I'm going to post a bunch of pictures individually this time because I'm still trying to figure out our new computer. Macs are so completely different from PC's and I'm so computer dumb that this will take me some time. But I must say I do love the new computer and it is a lot of fun. It will do some pretty amazing things. It's a great family present this year. Kaijsa and Larry have been having a lot of fun on it and that is great. They are so funny.
This past weekend was the annual Christmas Event called Bethlehem Revisited. We took Rachel, Kaijsa's best friend, and my sister Jennie with us. It was cool that night but it is always so much fun to go see. They do a great job. The town of Waxahachie has built a small version of Bethlehem in the town and every year at Christmas time for 2 weekends in December they tell or actually re-enact the Christmas Story from Luke. People from all over visit, thousands every night, and many from the surrounding communities volunteer to become citizens of Bethlehem. We love going and the kids do too. We go get Hot Cocoa afterwards and then just enjoy the start of the Christmas season. It's a great way to start the Holidays by remembering the true reason for this holiday season.

The kids were able to pet sheep, goats, and chickens as well as see the donkey that Mary and Joseph ride into Bethlehem and the camels the wisemen bring with them. They loved the animals.

This is Jen, Kinsee, Larry and Kamden trying to get warmed up by the fire the Shepherds had in their field. They actually do keep a small flock of sheep to keep the story real.

This is Kaijsa and Rachel in the marketplace with a merchant, i.e. one of their friends, trying to sell them bread. Too much fun. These were a couple of the pictures, the others didn't turn out very good since the camera I use now, ours was stolen, doesn't have the best flash. But oh well. It was fun to go and Kaijsa and Rachel are thinking of volunteering next weekend and possibly next year. My sister, parents and I served there one year and it took a lot of time but was fun to do. Merry Christmas to all!

Computers

I love computers when they work but when they don't what a major frustration they become! It looks as though our family computer has decided to die and it's not even very old. So I'm writing this from my work computer and won't be able to do as much till we either A) get ours fixed or B) buy a new one. So for the time being...this is the last post for a bit since I can't download pictures to this computer. I may be able to rant and rave some but nothing too fun. Sorry, we'll try to get this problem fixed and quickly as it is the holidays and lots going on. Merry Christmas to everyone! I was hoping to get my Christmas letter out soon but again I need a computer to do that with and can't on this one so...they may be late coming but they will come. Later for now...