Seeking... motivation

Another thing that I loved about 2011 was that I was able to lose around 15 pounds!  I was doing great keeping track of my daily calories and working out at least 3 times (more often 4) a week.  However, when we went to Utah in November I totally fell off the wagon and have been struggling to get back on ever since.

I don't know what I'm looking for or why I'm posting this really... I'm just curious if anyone out there in blogland is dealing with similar feelings and seeking support or motivation as well.  Maybe we can figure out something we can do in all our different parts of the world to encourage us all to get our healthy lifestyles back on track.  It would have to be simple since I'm doing all I can to get my house ready to sell... which, by the way, is about the most stressful thing EVER!!!

Let me know what you think.

2011's Top 11

Since its still January, I figure I can still get away with doing a Best of 2011 blog post... I guess its my blog so I can get away with whatever I want!  I was thinking of our best moments of the year and thought it deserved a moment of looking back... so, I give you... 

The Balti Palace's Top 11 Moments of 2011!

In chronological order.  Click on the link if you want to refresh your memory on our memories.

#1: The February Freeze

 It was perfect being iced in with my 6 favorite people in the world.

 Just check out this sweet baby boy.  Time sure does fly!

Oh, I can't forgot the project that happened during the storm... demoing the bathroom!  I realized that I never posted after pics... not to fear, I will soon (because I'm sure the world has stopped for some of you).

#2: Our Trip to Nauvoo!

Oh, this was such an amazing trip! We had so much fun with family!!!  Ali just posted on her blog about baby Ruby's first birthday (CRAZY!) We sure miss living near family, but definitely appreciate the special times we get to spend together when we do.  And in such a fabulous place is just awesome!

#3: Bryant's Baptism!

What a pleasure it is to be Bryant's mom.  Its just a treat!  This was just a special day for our family.  So wonderful to see him make a righteous choice to get on the path back to our Heavenly Father.  And it was so perfect to share it with our families that were able to come and be with us.

#4: Celebrating 10 Years of Bliss with Ethan

What a lucky girl I am to have such a (enter any number of superfluous adoring words here) man as my husband. Looking forward to the next rest of forever with this guy.

#5: Ringing in the ripe old age of 30

Ten thousand, nine hundred and fifty seven days old.  Whew! Glad I made it.  And my sweet, sweet husband showered me with love, gifts, and a surprise party to boot!  I am so blessed.

#6: Birthday Party of the Decade!

Since we were in Utah and we were celebrating two birthdays, Levi's and Bolton's magic birthday.  We  decided we needed to make it the best party ever.  Luckily, all our families joined us so it could be.

#7: Rock On Super Date

I can't think of a time I've been so giggly, embarrassed, silly, proud, happy, fun all in one.  My siblings totally rock.  What a blast!  I just realized that there was never a full blog post about this date in all its glory.  I must share the details... but for now enjoy this awesome shot of the group.

#8: Laser Vision

Ethan got one step closer to actually becoming Super Man when he channelled his laser vision super power.  He's been seeing more and more clearly every day since.  This is quite possibly the most lasting and impactful (totally a word) event of 2011.

#9: Swimming... and more Swimming

The kids and I swam in our pool as much as possible this summer. It was so exciting to see how they each became more comfortable and confident in the water (I got a lot better too!).  We'll miss it this summer, since our Realtor advised us to not put it up.

#10: Boston

How can I possibly choose just one photo to commemorate our amazing trip? Do you remember how many pictures I posted about it?!  Let me remind you with these, these,  and these.  And let's not forget these.  What a remarkably fun time we had!  It was so great to be a couple and to be in such a lovely, historic place.  A few highlights of the trip... touring Beacon Hill together, The Constitution, and Cannoli!

This trip is also where we learned that Ethan was selected to do the VA residency!  Our next adventure that we will embark upon this summer!

#11: Thanksgiving and a Wedding

We sure are blessed to be able to see our families as often as we do.  November's trip was a real treat for a double whammy of Thanksgiving and a Wedding!  A definite highlight of the year!  We love our families!

Well, I'd say we had a flippin' awesome kind of year.  Thanks for indulging me and my fun post. It was a lot of fun to go back and see all these great memories we've made in 2011!  Here's to making the Top 12 of 2012 even better! 

Shirley Temple

I recently bought some sponge curlers and 9 am church this year brought the perfect opportunity to try them out.  We had to put one in Sunny Day's hair too (her Newborn Pony from her cousin).  I thought she would pull at them and I thought sleeping would be a battle... I remember hating sleeping on those things! But she did GREAT! 

 When the kids all got up Levi could resist no more and had to start taking them out of her hair... such a stinker.  ;)  I didn't get a great "after" picture, but this one show how beautiful she is.  And, on a different note, it illustrates how she feels about Ranch dressing...

Ethan said, "She looks like our own Shirley Temple."  She has a cute little voice to go with it.  I really need to post a video of her talking, she has the funniest little accent.  We sure love our gorgeous girl!

Happy New Year!

Oh, I love the start of a new year.  I love setting goals and making plans for the upcoming months and year.  I feel like 2012 is going to be a great one.  We have some fun adventures on the horizon and I am excited!

We rang in the new year playing Hide and Seek in the dark with the kids until bedtime.  Then Ethan and I folded laundry while watching Psych until about 5 minutes to the big hour.  Then we kissed and said goodnight, we're real party animals. :)

I've been playing catch up on the blog and have posted a BUNCH of our fun from December.  New posts go all the way down this page and then one more "Older Posts" page.  There are some real gems in these pictures, so you don't want to miss them (at least if you're our grandma)!

What do you do to stop the Post Christmas Blues?

I can't be the only one who feels the let down after the big day, can I?  So to fill the time since Christmas we've been keeping busy.  Ethan is blessed to have the week off, so we're making the most of our time as a family.

First we went to look at TVs to look for a better deal in town... didn't find anything, but our new TV got shipped pretty quickly.  The kids were enamored with the 3D TV at Sears.

Ethan put some of his new tools to good use, finishing the back patio railing.  It is looking so good. I'll post pictures of it soon.

We decided if we were in Utah we'd be getting together with family and playing games, so why not have a game party with our Texas family?  We invited a bunch of people to come the church to play games.  We set up the wii.

We watched movies.  We ate pizza.  And the grown ups even got to play some games.  It was a lot of fun!  We're blessed to be surrounded by good people.

We told the kids we'd take them to Texas Roadhouse during the break from school.  So on the 30th we headed out to lunch.  We got there around 1:30 and realized they were closed until 3!!! So we went to the park and played, talked with the prairie dogs, and enjoyed the sunshine.

Then at 3 we headed back to Texas Roadhouse.  The kids all earned free kids' meals from their good grades so we were able to do it pretty cheaply.  Our waiter was the best we've had in ages, the food was exceptionally good, and to top it all off when we stood up to leave, a gentleman wanted to shake Ethan's hand because "those are 5 of the best behaved children I've ever seen" when Ethan asked incredulously, "really?!" a woman across the aisle piped in, "I agree!"  Boy I tell you what, nothing does my mothering heart more good than comments like that.  Way to go kids!

By the way, the kids' meals were huge!  They all had leftovers, enough to serve as another meal, so it was an even better deal than we originally thought!