Gun Slingers

You know how EVERY family has its

"THING"

that they "do" and that others "know" them by?

I think if you have learned

ANYTHING

about our family from reading our blog...

you can probably figure out

that our family has several "things" we do!

During winter months...

we love to go shooting together as a family.

During spring months...

we love to go fishing together.

During summer months...

we love to go boating together.

During fall months...

we access the temperature at any given moment and then decide to do one of the above!

So when my sister and her family came into town during winter break it was NO surprise that we choose to do our

family "thing" with them.

With Ron unable to shoot and Christopher working...
our BEST shooter of the day was
this girl...
RACHEL!

She even had the boys dumbfounded with how good she was!
No need for a second shooter
with this girl around...
just more proof that we really are a family that
has learned to SHOOT

and that it truly is our FAMILY "thing!"

A little friendly Jarvis competition

We enjoyed so many gorgeous temperatures during the month of 

DECEMBER

that we couldn't wait to get outside

and soak up the SUN

and to enjoy a little friendly Jarvis competition.

(Jarvis is my maiden name.)

Let's just say it is in our BLOOD to enjoy a little "friendly" game

of just about any sport or board game out there!

Including:

 Katie and Aunt Donna playing volleyball.

 Everyone playing baseball.

I'm sure we could even find a little competition with the sand sculptures that were made!

On New Year's EVE we played a mean game of 

KICKBALL

and half the neighborhood came out to join in the fun.

 And if that wasn't enough we headed to the church

for an even MEANER game of

DODGEBALL.

And when I mean MEAN...

I'm talking in the literal sense!

This was a serious game of Dodgeball!

With Ron's arm still in the cast I had him play

BODYGUARD

to these two cuties!

 But the real competition began when these two

GIRLS

showed us some of there dance moves:

 No one else stood a chance!

I love Sarah's face in this one!!

We enjoyed EVEN more competition with a night out

BOWLING--at Flipside!

 Where we enlisted our "long lost" Jarvis cousins to

join in the competition!

After the joy of spending so much time with family...

and reminding myself

why I love where I come from...

I couldn't help be thankful for those that have gone before me,

to pave the way for that

JARVIS

competitive streak

that after this last week I found out

was still ALIVE and WELL in all of us!

January Blues...

Can't believe my kids started there

2nd week of

school today...

after our amazing Christmas break.

 {Katie, Kylie and Shayla playing at the park during winter break}

I love how in the month of December that we pretty much put aside our "normal" routine...

and create an even "busier" routine with

holiday parties, dance recitals, musicals, shopping, caroling and spending the majority of our time and energy

with family and friends.

 {JT was such a great little boy...we loved him so much!}

 {Kylie made us all laugh when she told us she doesn't like to kiss Johnny 

because he has a boogery nose!}

 {Cade and Jacob are inseperable. 

When Jacob heard they were going home he told me he instantly he was already bored!}

So when January rolls around it is hard
 NOT 
getting the January blues.

I guess for me it is knowing that I have to get back to normal...

doing those things that I had put off to do until

AFTER

the holidays!

 {Aunt Donna loves to tease...that's a true JARVIS for you!}

So this is what I've tried to catch up on just in the last week...

paying bills...

calculating the AMOUNT of money spent on and over the holidays... (sigh, gasp, sigh again!)

laundry...

cleaning...

organizing the linen closet since every blanket in the house was used...

cheer booster treasurer duties...

EFY, girls camp, scout camp, cub day camp, summer vacation dates must be decided and paid for...

exercising all those calories away from those "extra desserts"...

editing pictures so I can blog...

visiting NANA because Ron also has to go back to work...

church responsibilities that were ignored...

cultural celebration practices begin...

and this is just the beginning!

So in order to fight those January blues...

and the LONG LIST of things to do...

I remember the amazing memories

that were made in December!

{We loved having Donna and Robby's family with us for a whole week.  There is truly nothing like family and cousins for the holidays!}

BACK to school...

Dare I say this is a very

BITTERSWEET

moment for me tonight...

to say that we are only a few hours of sending our kids

BACK TO SCHOOL!

We have had so many amazing experiences over these last 2 weeks,

and it is hard to believe it is over.

During this time I had SEVERAL amazing Christmas gifts. I thought I would share them tonight as a reminder of 

the JOY I felt this holiday season and why I feel a sense of sadness that it is already over.

1.  I got to celebrate Christmas DAY with my four children and husband.

Family is always FIRST so for me so a FULL day with them is the best gift I can have.

We started the day opening presents...

with everyone being "happy" with the gifts they received.

Ron loves anything Duck Dynasty!

 We eventually spent the day at the movies...

and as tradition would have it we finished off our Christmas festivities with dinner at 

DENNY'S.

Everyone got along...

everyone was happy...

and I felt like I scored the best Christmas gift of all!

2.  My sister and her family showed up December 26th!

I'm always grateful for FAMILY...

so to have one of my siblings come to visit is a great gift!

We did soooo many things and I took pictures of ALL of it 

so I will post more on their visit another time!

3.  We made some AMAZING new friends who we grew to LOVE and who we felt we had known for years!

Having great friends is a special GIFT since great friends are like family!

In fact we love them so much we went shooting with them, 

had an outdoor MOVIE night,

spend most of our New Year's EVE day with them full of games and a barbecue,

and lastly a day at JUMP STREET with all our kids!

4.  Speaking of FRIENDS,

we love our friends we have known for years and having Ron off this last month has also given us a chance to meet up with

A LOT of them.

We love our friendships with so many great people who enhance our lives so much...

and I totally regret NOT taking single picture of our time with them but they know who they are and we LOVE them so much!

Thank you LYSY'S and LETNER'S for your amazing friendship!

Now we must MOVE on,

as is LIFE,

but I will always remember the holiday season of 2013

and the many amazing gifts I received!