Totally Awesome 80's!!!

My cousin threw an 80'S themed party for her husband's 40th birthday last night and John and I went and had a blast! There was tons, tons, tons of food, vintage coke bottles, 80's trivia game, guess the 80's movie clips, guess the 80's songs and a DJ and moving rainbow lights. There was even a Run - D.M.C. act (by the birthday boy and some of his friends) and some break dancing. We all got a good laugh out of the styles in Jim's 1988 yearbook. It was classic. Everyone was dressed up and it was fun to see all of the great costume ideas. John and I had some fun ourselves pretending to be 80's rockers (I guess you could say that John was Def Leopard style and I was Cyndi Lauper style).

I borrowed the wigs and leg warmers from my good friend Jeanie, John's shirt came from my work friend Christie and then I cut and stonewashed our skirt and jeans from some old clothes in our closets (thats why they don't look that great - I know nothing about stonewashing). I cut up an old sweatshirt for my top. All in all I only spent $3.00 for our look and it was fun to feel a little crazy for a night!

John was a good sport. Dressing up isn't his thing but he'll do it for me. I thought he looked hilarious!

You can't tell but I literally have a 1/2 inch of eyeliner on my eyes.

The drink of choice - 98 cents at Walmart.

Blog Book!

YAY! Here is my completed blog book. Since I don't scrapbook I plan on making one every year. It was way easy and I am grateful to have some memories published. If you want to do it go to theblurb.com and they will download everything for you from your blog (thanks for the tip Brooke). It's great!!!

Flash Basketball 2010

Luke started basketball a couple of weeks ago. He loves it! He's one of the smallest players among the 1st and 2nd graders that he plays with but he holds his own really good. It's rough playing against taller, bigger boys. He's getting a lot better at defense and it's a lot of fun to watch him run up and down the court. All the kids are so aggressive this year and I am afraid someone is going to get hurt. But they are so funny to watch. Everybody just wants to steal the ball. Luke made an awesome 3 point shot last game and so now he only wants to shoot 3 point shots. We have to keep reminding him to dribble in towards the basket. I love to watch him play. He is so darn cute!!! Every now and then he pulls a fancy move and dribbles the ball under his leg. He's always done it when I'm not ready with the camera but everybody in the gym just laughs. Last time when he did it he completely lost control of the ball and sent it out of bounds so I don't know if he'll do it again.

Eternal Families

I just want to say that I am so grateful for the knowledge of eternal families. Life would be so much harder without that knowledge and without the knowledge of the whole gospel. I have been thinking about my dear friend all week. On Monday she delivered her sweet baby boy only to have him taken up to live with Heavenly Father one hour after he was born. She's known for a few months now that this day was coming. Her baby could survive while attached to the placenta but had a lethal condition that would not allow him to live long on earth. He came to earth to receive his body and meet his family - the greatest family a person could ask for - but was needed in Heaven for reasons our earthly minds can't fully comprehend. It is comforting to know that they will all be together forever as a family someday. I know Heavenly Father is with them at this time and that he loves them and will help them through the hard times that are sure to come. My heart goes out to them and I will continue to pray for them. I love you Brandi!

Good Holiday!

I hope everyone had a great holiday season! We had a nice, relaxing, good time spent with family and friends. And while I am so thankful that it happened and thankful for all of the good memories, I am also excited to get back to a normal, routine life. Some of the memories that weren't captured on film included sledding at the school, ice skating, bowling and sleepovers with cousins. Not to mention Natalie straining or spraining her neck as she looked over to check her alarm clock on New Year's Eve morning - and it still hurts something terrible. Being the forget- -the- camera person that I am I don't have a lot of pictures but will have to maybe post some more soon if I can. Here are some pictured highlights:

We had the Chamberlain family Christmas party at Josalyn's on December 23rd. We had a yummy dinner and reenacted The Christmas Story. The cousins exchanged gifts while the adults did a white elephant gift exchange and played steal. John ended up with a bowl of candy (as if we needed more candy). I got a cute Santa house with a great potato peeler. Some of the other gifts included were a pair of underwear with a pantyliner, red lacy lingerie, a pair of boxer shorts with lips on them, a sex education book, and squeezable dog cheese. I won't mention who contributed what but it was a fun night.

The grandchildren reenacted the Nativity with costumes and all. It was really cute even though there were some little ones who decided they didn't want to be in it after all. I was proud of Luke for being Joseph because he gets nervous in front of people. I told him to pretend it was just like wearing a Halloween costume and it worked.

Kaycee was the narrator

I love this picture of baby Ty as Jesus. . . .

and this surprised look on Crew's face. Aren't they cute babies?

We had the Bastian family Christmas party at our house on Christmas Eve. We had dinner and a program including talents performed by the grand kids, reading of The Christmas Story from the Bible and the reading of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. Our tree was huge and beautiful and wonderful. John outdid himself when he chopped this one down - and I am sad that I didn't ever take a picture of it. It was a little tricky performing in the front room because of the size of the tree but we managed.

We ate way too much Honeybaked ham and twice baked potatoes but we enjoyed each others company and relaxed. At the end of the evening the cousins exchanged gifts.

Santa found his way to our house on Christmas Morning and the kids were happy to see what he had brought. Everyone in the family got spoiled yet again.

Luke is showing off his new stunt and dunk Hot Wheels track

Kaycee received the American Girl doll, Julie, that she's been wanting. I have to say that they really are beautiful and good quality dolls.

One of the best parts of Christmas was that Grandma and Grandpa Bastian and Aunt Misty got to sleepover at our house (now that we have a guest bedroom). It was so fun to share Christmas morning with them. Here grandpa is trying on his new 4-wheeling mask.

All in all it was a wonderful Christmas!!!

We Survived 2009! Bring it on 2010

Wow!

Looking back at 2009 it was a challenging year for someone like me who doesn't like to be taken out of her comfort zone. It was a year that brought about a lot of changes for me and my family. I feel good about how we've grown through our experiences and that makes me happy.

Memorable moments of 2009 include:

-the loss of 2 great people in our lives within a week of each other - Grandpa Lu and Brittney Drakulich. We are so grateful for the time we knew them on earth and the influence they had on me and my family!

-selling our house 2 weeks after we put in on the market, moving a month later, and living in my brother's basement while we wait (and bite our nails) for the bank to approve an offer on our house.

-Kaycee starting piano

-Kaycee and Luke moving to the early schedule (A track) school time

-Luke starting all day 1st grade (Natalie realizing that she no longer has any "babies")

-John leaving the 3rd ward bishopric after 3 1/2 years of service and then waiting 6 months to get 2 new callings in our new ward (11-year-old boy scout leader and high priest teacher)

-Natalie getting called to be Enrichment Leader (whoops! the official new term is Relief Society Meeting Leader - why on earth do they keep changing the name? I don't get it)

-Kaycee performing her first solo dance

-Luke starting basketball

-Natalie teaching preschool 3 mornings a week. It has been an adjustment going back to work even part time but I love having my own little class. They are the cutest ever!

-Keeping up the blog up for almost a year now. That was a goal of mine. I think I'm going to make it into a book for my family for memories sake. I'll let you know how that goes if I ever do it.

Happy New Year everyone! May 2010 bring happiness and peace to all of us!!!