In the last year...

-Dave has gained...well, I don't know how many pounds. Let's just say he gained some much-needed weight.
-I've lost 45 pounds.*
-We gained an awesome baby.
-Mabes lost her first tooth.
-We gained a minivan.
-I lost my preschooler.
-I gained a kindergartner.
-Dave lost a crappy job with a demeaning boss.
-Dave gained a great job with a great boss.

We started the year with hope that things would get better and the somewhat silly resolution that this would be our year (dammit), and it has been. I'm not quite ready to say good-bye to 2010, but I'm hoping to make 2011 another great year.

*As of 10 days ago, I was quite proud of myself for losing the baby weight and then some. I've since gained back at least 10 pounds. Considering the amount of ice cream, fudge, See's, red meat, and In-n-Out I've consumed, I'm thinking that's a conservative estimate. Totally worth it, though.

Why yes, I *do* have a blog

Do you ever think "If only I didn't spend so much time online, my house would be super clean and organized." Guess what? It won't happen. You'll find other ways to use your time. But you might make the best fudge you've ever tasted.

It's just been a busy month. Add to that the fact that for some reason blogger keeps causing my wireless router to crash, I haven't been able to post anything or read and comment on any other blogs. A quick summary, with hopefully some pictures to follow at some point: We spent Thanksgiving with Dave's family, we decorated (somewhat) for Christmas, Annabelle is better than Mabes about keeping off the Christmas tree, I was called as Primary President, Mabes has declared herself the smartest and fastest kid in her class (beating out Vaibhav, Vedant D. AND Vedant S.), Annabelle is starting to stand on her own, I finally finished The Sunne in Splendour (the last 100 pages took forever, as it was getting pretty depressing. Spoiler alert: Richard III dies), and I made some very delicious fudge and toffee.

The Primary thing has been particularly challenging. I'm trying to get everything organized and ready to go for the new year before I leave for Christmas. This is difficult, as I'm not the most organized person to begin with. But I'm learning, and thankfully I have awesome counselors to hold my hand and pull up the slack.

Last night we had our Ward Christmas Party. It was a Polar Express theme, so all the kids came in pajamas. We got to take our picture with Santa:

(Yes, I look really tired. Because I am really tired. And I pretty much felt like I had strep when this picture was taken. After lots of home remedies, advil, and a haircut at a salon with massaging shampoo chairs, I'm feeling much better.)

And then decided we needed one of just the girls. Annabelle isn't a fan:

I love this picture so much it hurts.