How did I get so behind?!?!

Hmm..... so how do I ever actually catch up with this blog!?!? It's important to me. It's my only way about journaling about my family (especially since I then print them into books) so I want to keep up with it. I am a little OCD, so when I get behind, I lack motivation because I don't feel like I can just start off blogging about current life until I catch up everything from the past, so then I get overwhelmed so I ignore it some more, and the cycle repeats and repeats. Some reasons I have failed to blog is there are subjects I know I need to write down but struggle to even talk about much, but then there are so many good things that are easy. So here goes to trying to include a little of both, or at least what I can make myself do.

Here's the easiest way I can think of to get myself started. Our 2013 Christmas letter! It will help me remember what has happened since I last blogged and I can fill in the holes and add pictures from there. So... since I actually did blog up until Dan's birthday, I am going to include everything in the letter up until then in this post. I will then use the paragraphs about events after that for future blog posts.

 

Christmas 2013

Dear Family and Friends,

We are trying something a little different this year, so bear with us! The Crandalls have joined the electronic world and we are sending out an e-card this year instead of our usual  “old school, snail mail” approach.

What a fun year we have had! Dan and I absolutely love having a feisty little walking and talking toddler in our home! The adventures of parenthood have definitely begun and we love it.

With every year, life always has challenges, but we know that with those challenges, we become stronger, and closer to our Heavenly Father. This year being no exception; we have felt true JOY, the joy that only comes through the comfort of the Savior, as we have trusted in Him. This Christmas season, we hope that you find the true spirit of Christmas in your home. We invite you to watch this short, video (it’s only 3 minutes!) that has helped inspire us to strive to do so ourselves (just copy and paste the link into your web browser).

https://www.lds.org/youth/video/the-christmas-spirit?lang=eng&cid=email-shared

As President Thomas S. Monson, of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, said, in order to find the true spirit of Christmas… “We only need to drop the last syllable and it becomes the Spirit of Christ”. 

Last but not least, our Christmas letter wouldn’t be the same, without us telling you a little about our year!

Some of the main events of our year have included:

·         In January, Dan started his first semester of courses to become a seminary teacher. He loved every minute of learning how to better teach the gospel of Jesus Christ. Although, he is no longer in the program, it was an amazing experience for him.

·         In February, little Miss Daphne turned a year old. We had a fun little Daffodil themed party for her, as she loves yellow and her nickname is daffodil. Everyone thought she would dig right into her cake, since she is quite the messy eater, but she was very careful at eating it as she didn’t want her hands to get yucky. Her daddy and grandpa had to show her the ropes of how a cake really should be eaten. To say the least, the two of them thoroughly enjoyed eating her cake for her.

·         In April, Dan turned 30!!! Sierra had lots of fun throwing him a surprise “30 Years down the toilet” birthday party. While most people would be embarrassed (especially by the blown up photo of him as a little boy wearing a football helmet on the potty), it appeared that Dan enjoyed every minute of it!

-To be continued.....