~2016 Came and Went~

I am ashamed to say I did not write one thing on this blog in the year 2016.  So here is a recap!

Some of the fun things we did in 2016 in NO SORT of chronological order: 

• Traveled to see Mckinley play to Vegas
• Traveled to see Mckinley play all over Utah
• Hayes played city soccer for the first time and it was a riot! He scored a goal the very first game and then never scored again.  He would run sideways and look at all the fans more than anything it was hilarious.  He was a hell of a goalie!  He would dive on the ball and run out and tackle it before kids had a chance to score.  
• Soph turned 2 and started talking in full sentences really early.  She was potty trained in 3 days and then had a relapse.  I'm not sure if it was due to me having little baby Murphy, or that I didn't want to risk her having an accident in my new home, but nonetheless she is in pull up for a bit now.
• We moved out of our home into a storage shed, then flew to South Carolina!  That was so fun and not as hard as I thought it'd be.  My kids did excellent on the long plane rides.  We went to see Charlie the alligator and went swimming and it was so fun to see Randee Trevin and Russell.
• Once we got back from South Carolina we moved into Tricia's rented apartment!  Then we moved everyone into her new home she built.  THEN 4 months later we moved into our new home we built!  Building a home was one of the highlights of 2016 for me.  I enjoyed the entire process.  I want to do it again soon.  
• We did lots of fireworks this last summer and spent most of our days playing in the dirt hills (which are now house lots) Hayes loves playing with Chesney and Cabrie.  
• Murphy was born October 20th!  He was 7.11 and 19.5 inches.  My biggest baby yet.  He has a hard time pooping, but we got him on a probiotic and it seems to be helping a lot. 
• My sister had her twin girls Joy and Layne I think 8 weeks early!  My mom flew out there to be with her for a couple months which was hard, but oh so needed.  While she was gone Chels and I got together as often as we could and she came to help me when I had Murphy.  
• We went to Gardener Village and ate Thanksgiving at Trish's house with just our close family.  
• This year we've taken the kids to see Moana, Trolls, Kung Fu Panda 3, Sing and a few more; but these were the highlights!  
• We went to Kangaroo Zoo and Lowe's Extreme Airsports and my kids had a blast!  
• We've gone tubing in the snow a lot and Hayes loves it! He is a riot.  
• Hayes did and continues to do well in preschool.  He loves little readers academy!  He is learning letters, sounds, numbers, shapes, and colors.  He comes home almost every day with a new song.  
• My friend Lauren has helped A TON with picking up and dropping off while I've had a new babe.  I'm so grateful!! Kylee my sister in law has helped a ton too.  
• Hayes is still obsessed with the Ninja Turtles and could sing the entire Shell Shocked song by Wiz Kalifa!  We have TONS of dance parties and he and Soph just go nuts I love it!  Her favorite song is Can't Stop the Feeling by none other than JT!!!
• Sophee has the biggest lisp ever and is super smart.  She loves to get a rise out of her brother and steals his toys and runs because no-one can catch her and she knows it.  She walks around with a phone, baby, and purse and I think she is imitating me!  She loves to put on "pretties" which is lipgloss.  She will ask me every single day to "pain ma nailssss" and "do ma her".  So we paint nails and do her hair.  She loves getting all dolled up, but then the next minute she is right there hanging with the boys like the best of them!
• Murphy is a little chatter box and is starting to giggle.  We blessed him January 1st and it was a special day.  Jace always does a good job!    
• Over the summer the Brinkerhoff girls went to the Dixie Chicks concert which was a BLAST!  Holy cow it was awesome.  We bought tickets a year prior so that was fun to look forward to.
• After 0-6 with school counseling interviews I got a job at 4 weeks post baby.  It didn't seem like a blessing then, but with the help of family and friends it has been such a blessing. 
• Jace and I celebrated 6 years together!  Wow does time fly.  Especially when you are having fun.  We've come a long way as a couple!  We've been through so many high's and low's and there is no-one else I'd rather do it with.  
• Gram and Pop came to sleep over and we went to build a bear for the first time ever!  Soph did a Poppy the Troll and of course Hayes did Leonardo.  
• East and Eryn and Chels slept over for the first time too when I had Murph.  It was so fun!
• Hayes was the only sunbeam to remember his entire part during the sacrament program.  We worked so hard to memorize it and he nailed it!  "This year we have learned to prepare now to be worthy to go to the temple by living the gospel standards" yeah it was a hard one!  Some kids got up there and were like "Jesus loves everyone" and they were older kids!  Hayes got this one and completely killed it. Everyone loves him at church and preschool because he is such a sweet heart and such a good kid.
• Soph is warming up to nursery.  It depends on the day, but most days I am in there with her.  I know this won't last forever and one day she will be off and running with her free spirit and wild at heart attitude and I'll miss these days, so I try to really be in the moment with her.  Sassy, spit fire, independent, confident, Sophee Jo (sodee doooe as she would say).
• Jace had ankle surgery right before we had Murph.  It was super stressful and his recovery was a little rough, but we got through it.
• Jace also picked up a ton of home health!  He is killing it at work right now.  I hope that always stays the same.  He works so hard and is so exhausted by the end of the day, but we love him for it. 
• We bought a lot of fun new furniture and decorations for our new home!  It finally feels like home.  It is so exciting to just have a place to call our own that we did and paid for all by ourselves.  
• We also paid off our car and bought a 2011 Ford Explorer through an auction that could not have worked out any better!  We got it for half it's going rate, with a little hail damage, and it is fully loaded with only 50,000 miles on it. STEAL.  We fixed some of the hail damage, you can still see some, but it is as the saying goes "it's what's on the inside that counts!"
• We have yet to take our kids anywhere super cool, mainly because we don't have a ton of free time or time to take off, and also it's so expensive!! Hopefully 2017 can bring about a fun trip or two.  Even if it's just camping.
• Hayes went on his first hunt with Jace.  He woke up at 4 am and everything! He sang songs on the radio the entire ride to Filmore and then ate an entire bag of twix with Uncle Gene while he told him all about his life.  
• Soph dislocated her arm so many times, the doc finally taught us how to pop it back in place!!
• All the kids are where they need to be with their milestones and nothing makes me happier.  

Life is great and this is a pretty messy update, but rightfully so.  The last year was crazy!  Lots of fun, lots of change, lots of love.  Bring it on 2017.  We are ready for you!