San Antonio

About a month ago I went with my parents and brother and sisters to San Antonio, Texas.  San Antonio isn't new to me, I've been there many times. My dad grew up in San Antonio and his family lives there, so it was always my summer family vacation as a kid, and it was the first real vacation that I took my kids on. I love San Antonio. This trip wasn't all fun though. My dad's only sister, my Aunt Patsy, passed away at the young age of 65 and we went down for her funeral.  It was great to see my cousins and My uncle Jimmy, but we really missed aunt Patsy. I'm so grateful for the plan of salvation and the knowledge that there is life after death. It sure makes times like this easier.  Even though my "Texas family" is far away, and we don't keep in great contact, I have always felt a special connection to them. When we do get together it is like time hasn't passed and we always have a great time.  This trip wasn't any exception.  The funeral was hard and sad, but we were still able to enjoy each others company. I'm so glad that we were able to make it.  

This first picture is my parents, my siblings, my uncle Jimmy, and my cousins, Kathy and Troop. (The waitress at Denney's was very kind to take this picture for us.)

Here is my cousin Kathy and her cute family. It's hard to get a serious picture of Greg, but I think we did it. Good photography Melanie.

This is the kind of picture Greg usually takes.

This is my cousin Troop and his cute family. It was great to be able to meet his sweet fiance and her two kids.

It was just like old times as kids. We all crammed in one little van. Having a broken arm, I always got a good seat. Nobody made me squish to much.

After all of the funeral stuff was over we took a trip to the famous San Antonio river walk. It is always a fun place to visit. Here are my parents on the river walk. How sweet!

My sister Janet went home early, and my brother Bryce wasn't able to cone at all, but this is the rest of my siblings and me at the river walk.

We got a little carried away with the pictures.

We had to wear cowboy hats in Texas. Well at least try them on.

My dad and Troy were getting bored of our silly picture taking on the river walk.

We didn't make it to the Alamo this trip, but we did go to the Alamo cafe for some delicious Mexican food.

I do hope I make it to San Antonio again soon. Next time just for a vacation. I also can't wait for my cousins to come to Utah this summer.

Happy Happy Birthday!

Two of my favorite people had birthdays this past week. My wonderful husband Wyatt turned  35, and my darling little Brynli turned five. We celebrated their birthdays together at Grandma's house and then Brynli had a little friend party. It's kind of fun to have two birthdays together. I know Wyatt likes to share his Birthday with Brynli, and Brynli thinks it is super cool to have a birthday the day after her dad's. Thanks to aunt Melanie for making the cakes. She always does such a great job.

I can't really believe that Brynli is five. Time goes by so fast. It seems like once they turn five they grow up so fast. Brynli is such  sweet girl. We love you Brynli. Happy Birthday!

Pretty in Pink

Well it may not be that pretty, but I am loving my new cast. My wardrobe has doubled (since I can now fit most of my clothes over the cast) and I can straighten my elbow. Happy day!

To old to snowboard

A couple of weeks ago Wyatt and I decided to take our boys snowboarding at The Canyons in Park City. Wyatt and Kamryn both snowboard and it was Derek and my first time. I haven't been skiing for about ten years so I thought that I might as well learn to snowboard since the rest of my family snowboards. Kamryn had gone off with his friend Austin, and Wyatt was going to teach Derek and I a little bit before he left us by ourselves. We got my snowboard rented and went up the gondola. We hadn't gone ten minutes when I fell, put my hands back to catch myself, and broke my wrist. I hiked up the hill (it wasn't that far) and rode back down the gondola and found the first aid trailer. (Brynli tells everyone that I did a backflip on my snowboard which is a much better story than the real one).  Wyatt and Derek snowboarded down the mountain and met me at the bottom. It was a pretty lame day of snowboarding for all of us. Derek did a great job and had a great time, the little bit he got to go. So instead of snowboarding with Derek like I should have been, 

I ended up here in the first aid trailer getting my arm casted up.
I broke it pretty good as you can see in this x-ray.

This week I got to have surgery and get some nice hardware put in my wrist.

So now I'm sitting at home learning how to do things with one hand (at least I broke my left wrist and still have a good right hand). I have been lucky to have a wonderful husband, family, friends, and neighbors.  I have had so much help with my kids, with meals, with laundry and house cleaning, and just a lot of people checking up on me. Thanks everyone for all your help. Hopefully I'll heal quickly. I think I will stick to skiing next time,  I must be too old to snowboard.

Family statistics as of January 2009

My friend Amyjoy tagged me and I thought it would be fun to list the statistics of the Wyatt Mansfield family est. 1996

Years Married:  12 1/2

Apts/homes lived in:  2

States lived in:  1 (We've only lived in one city)

Wards attended: 2

Cars owned: 5 plus 1 boat, 5 motorcycles, and 3 snowmobiles

Traffic tickets: only 2 I can remember (both Wyatt's)

Colleges attended: 1

Degrees earned: 1

Callings held--Wyatt: 4, Michele: 9

Paid jobs--Wyatt:1, Michele: 3

Hospital stays: 5

ER visits: 6 (all Wyatt)

Years pregnant: 3 (sometimes it seems like much more)

Kids: 4

Nieces and nephews born: 17 (20 total, 3 were already born)

Trips out of the USA: 3

If anyone wants to keep track of their own family stats, consider yourself tagged.

Family party

I know that Christmas is long over, but there are a few things that I wanted to  get on the blog. The Koltermann family Christmas party is always looked forward too. This year we were really excited to have grandma and grandpa home from their mission. We always do a live nativity with the kids. This year it was Brynli's turn to be Mary and Derek's turn to be Joseph. They were pretty excited about their roles. Sadie was a pretty crazy wiseman, and Kamryn really got into his shepherd's costume. He and Britnee made their beards all by themselves.

Grandma Kathy also likes to give the kids a chance to show their talents. She asked that at least one child from each family do some kind of talent. My kids each wanted to be the center of attention. First Kamryn played a couple of songs on the piano, one was a duet with Grandma.
Then Derek wanted to recite a poem that he learned for his Kindergarten Christmas program.
Then Camille sang, and Shaelyn sang and we all thought that was the end of the talent show, except Sadie. Sadie thought that she needed to sing. She wanted to sing the "ducky song". I didn't even know what she was talking about, but she went up and sang a song about a duck. It sounded a lot like twinkle, twinkle, little star, with the word duck in their every once in awhile. It was so cute. She was pretty proud of herself. 
Then Brynli couldn't be the only one of the family left out, so she sang "Jingle Bells". 
Then, in keeping with tradition, all the kids sang "Rudolph" and "Jingle Bells" with grandma's props. They all fight over the blinking nose, so we sang it a few times. Then the cousins exchange gifts and have a great time playing with each other. 

Traditions are such a great part of Christmas, and we all love the traditions of the Koltermann family Christmas party. 

Christmas Day

We had a good Christmas day. Grandma & grandpa Mansfield, andgreat grandma and grandpa Denney came over Christmas morning and watched the kids open  their presents. Everyone was excited with everything the got and had a lot of fun. Then later we went to grandma & grandpa Mansfields for a great dinner and more presents. Derek got sick, poor kid. He sat with a bowl in his lap trying to stay awake and watch everyone open presents. It's not fair that any kid has to be sick on Christmas. Sadie had so much fun on Christmas, that she still keeps asking if Santa can come again. She likes getting presents. Anyway here are a few pictures of our Christmas day. They best part was spending the day together as a family.