January 2019

January... We had a fun New Years Eve party with our neighbors the Drakes and the Garlicks. We played games while the kids ran around and played. We had delicious food and rang in the new year with cheers and excitement. The next morning we had a fun breakfast my brother Chad and his wife Jessica hosted for all the Curtis cousins. It was fun catching up with some of my cousins I don't get to see often and all the new little cousins had so much fun playing with each other! One of the most Happy events this month was watching my sister Heidi get married in the Giblert Arizona Temple. I am so grateful she found Bennett and that they chose to be married. He is a lot of fun to have around and the make a great couple! It's always nice to be in the temple with family and we all had the best day honoring the newly weds! The following weekend January 12th our sweet Bailey got Baptized a member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. She had the brightest glow about her and it was a beautiful day! Jon baptized her and following that she sang A Childs Prayer with some of the other primary kids getting baptized and her siblings. Then she was given a blessing from her dad and received the gift of The Holy Ghost to be a constant companion and guide to her. The spirit was strong and I couldn't be more grateful for the testimony I see Bailey developing about the truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I also felt very blessed to have so many friends and family come to support her on her special day! After we had all the family and some friends over for a luncheon at our home. It was a wonderful day! After that the kids celebrated the 100th day at school and Bailey wanted to dress up like a 100 year old. Her teacher sent me an altered picture that she took in class of Bailey that made her look 100 years old. Too funny! Other happenings other than the normal and mundane. I mowed the lawn for the first time in my life and it was fun. I never had to growing up because with six boys there was always someone else to mow the lawn and they always preferred I stayed inside and cleaned the bathrooms with mom. Jon always likes to mow the lawn so I never had the opportunity, but since he broke his wrist I wanted to get it done so he didn't have to do it. The boys began basketball and are both learning so much and doing well. Wyatt especially can keep up with the older boys! I had a fun girls evening with Bailey and Sophia at Disney on Ice. We enjoyed having dinner together and then watching the spectacular show. It was a night I will always remember and I hope they will too. I always find that when we do things with the kids one on one or in smaller groups we get to chat and dive into some deeper conversation a little easier then when we are all together. It is refreshing and fun to make these dates happen with all the kids! We were sick with allergies and colds towards the end of January but still made some fun things happen. My mom brought over my nephew Jace she was watching and we had a fun picnic at the park, then we went on a long bike ride to see the parks and farm animals near by. It was a good day! Also Bentley started riding his bike to school at the beginning of January with a group of neighborhood boys. We were nervous about him doing this since I know boys an get crazy and not pay attention when they are together. Jon and I had a good talk with him about safety and rules and then we even had him sign a contract to agree to the rules and take responsibility for his actions. It has been pretty good and we only had to take away his privilege once since he decided not to come home after school one day and instead play in a near by retention basin with his friends. Being a parent is hard work because to some that is not a big deal but for me I wanted Bentley to know how much he had worried me and that he had signed a contract and promised to come straight home after school. He seemed to learn from the lesson and wasn't to mad at us for making him take the bus for a week. Well that about sums up our January.