Top 14 of 2014

Looking back on 2014 and choosing just 14 things to post about in my Top 14 of 2014 was a little hard.  2014 was a great year for us. We made many new memories and we added another sweet little addition to our family, our little Tanner.  2014 will be hard to beat and here are 14 reasons to why, in chronological order.

1.  In March we took a family trip to the Hogal Zoo.  I had gotten word from the doctor that they were going to induce me on March 25th, so on March 21st Casey took a day off work and we took Mason to the zoo.  I knew I wanted to take Mason to do something fun before we were going to be cooped up inside for the next couple of months with a new baby.  Since Mason loves animals, I knew the zoo was the perfect place to take him.  Mason loved every minute of the zoo, but his favorite part was watching the big digger trucks renovate one of the zoo's attractions.  This was the last thing our family of three did, before we became a family of 4.   

2.  The best thing that happened to our family is 2014 was the arrival of our little Tanner.  Tanner was born on March 25th.  He weighed 6 lbs. 9 oz.  We have loved every minute of Tanner being part of our family and we are also so grateful for his happy personality and his big smiles.  We love our little Tanner Tot!!

3.  Casey did a lot on our yard this year.  Although we had hopes to get it completely finished, we still got a lot done.  Casey worked hard to:  pull out 3 very large tree stumps, he rebuilt our deck, got rid of 17 tons of concrete, and moved our large shed.  Our yard is still a work in progress, but were hoping to get it done so Mason and Tanner can play back their this next summer. 

4.  Phil and Shauna got married on May 31st.  They got married in the Jordon River temple then celebrated with a luncheon at Springville Art Museum.  This was the last sibling wedding for Casey and I, now all of our siblings are married. 

5.  The girls took a St. George trip at the end of June.  We spent most of the days swimming at the pool because it was so hot.  We had so much fun and I'm already looking forward to a girl's trip in 2015.

6.  The 4th of July is always a highlight for me.  It's one of my favorite holidays and this year didn't disappoint.  We had fun spending the time with family:  watching the parade, annual Crandall party, and watching fireworks. 

7.  Our little family took a small trip to St. George in August.  This was the first family vacation we went on with our whole little family, and we had a great time. 

8.  Mason turned 2 on September 16th.  We had a great day celebrating our little guy.  Mason is such a sweetheart and such a joy to have in our family. 

9.  Our family trip to Capital Reef was also a highlight of 2014.  It was actually the first trip we have taken with my entire family since...who knows when.  We had a fun time camping, hiking, and spending time with each other.   

10.  Because we had such warm weather all through the end of the year, we were able to go to the park clear into December.  We had such a great time spending days at the park with friends.

11.  Casey graduating, was also a highlight of our year.  On top of working 2 jobs, Casey went to school full time this last semester so he could graduate at the end of December.  We are so proud of Casey and all he does for our family.

12.  Watching Mason and Tanner grow has been bitter sweet, but also a highlight of our year.  We are so grateful to such healthy growing boys, but at the same time we wish time would stop in it's tracks so we could enjoy Mason and Tanner at these young ages a little longer.  They have both grown so much this year, but my favorite thing is watching them start to interact and play with each other.  Mason has really developed a soft spot in his heart for his little brother and Tanner sure looks up to Mason.

13.  Mason breaking his arm definitely wasn't a highlight of year year, but it definitely added an adventure to our year.  We are so grateful for such great doctors that were able to attend to Mason in such a kind way.  Mason's arm is 100% back to normal now.  You never would've guessed he ever broke it.

14.  Celebrating the holidays is definitely always in the top things we do each year and I think it's because we get to spend so much time with family.  Starting with Thanksgiving, then onto Christmas, and New Year's Eve, we had a great time celebrating each one.  Celebrating the holidays is always a great end to each year.

What a year!!  We hope 2015 treats us just as well as 2014!!       
 

December Happenings--2014

December went by crazy fast, as usual.  We jam packed our December with lots of fun and new traditions.  Here is a little of what we were up to during the month of December. 

Amy, Lin, and I went to the mall to help Amy pick out some clothes for her mother in law's birthday.  I had Mase in the stroller and he really wanted to get out so he could play with Ashley.  I told Mason he could get out as long as he stayed right by me.  He did pretty good for about the first 15 minutes.  We found Ash and Mase playing hide and seek under the clothes.  As we were purchasing our items, Mase took off running and Ash followed right behind him.  I quickly went after them.  They ran right into the elevator and the doors were closing before I hurried and pressed the open button about 100 times to get it to open again.  You can bet Mason was in BIG trouble.  He threw the biggest tantrum when I made him sit back in his stroller. 

Tanner's first time in the big tub.  He loves the tub, obviously.

One morning I forgot to gel Tanner's hair down with lotion after I got him ready for the day.  By about mid day, Tanner's hair looked like this. 

Eating breakfast the morning of the day Mason got his cast off.

Mason got his cast off.

Mason watching a movie on daddy's phone.

I went out Christmas shopping with my sisters.  We had such a blast spending time with each other.  We stayed out until about midnight because all the stores were open late for the holidays.  After all our shopping we went to 7-11 for a little treat and even had a Brother Fisher sighting.

I loves these boys.

Mason and Tanner in their twinner outfits playing together.  I love the sight of these two playing together.

Made a gingerbread house together as a family.  Mason loved eating the frosting and putting on all the candy then taking it off and eating it. 

One day Lin and I went over to Amy's to babysit the kids while she went on a field trip with Lydia's class.  Ashley loved holding Tanner for me.  When we would say, "do you want me to take him?"  She would respond with, "no I'm fine."

We went to visit Mer and Garrett for a little bit one night and Garrett made this Lego creation with Mason.  Mason loved every minute of building Legos with Uncle Garrett.

Mason got the flu (along with the rest of the family).  Mason loved sitting on my lap and snuggling with me. 

Tanner looks so cute in his winter gear.

We went and helped CJ and Bridgette pick out a real tree.  The boys loved being outside.  When they picked out the perfect tree they strapped it to the top of our car to bring it home. 

Mason and Tanner in their Christmas Sunday outfits.  Mason's nursery teacher sent me this pic of Mason in nursery on Christmas Sunday.  They got to frost sugar cookies and eat them.  Mason loves nursery!!

Casey graduated from UVU with his bachelors in Technology Management.  More to come on this later, but we are so proud of him and are so grateful for all his hard work in order to finish school.

On Christmas day is snowed pretty much all day.  So the Day after Christmas we took Mason to buy him some new snow boots.  He loves playing in the snow with Casey and he sure loves his new snow boots. 

Tanner with more crazy hair. 

We got so much snow over the holiday break.  Then to top it off, the wind blew so hard one day it blew so much snow onto our deck.  Mason sure was sad to see his bike and car covered in snow. 

Mason loves to help Casey shovel the driveway when it snows and for some reason he loves wearing this lava lava that Casey brought home from his mission.  

Aunt Bridgette made Tanner this Santa hat.  Tanner like pulling the string out of the top and eating it.

We had a wonderful December.  Now on to 2015!!!