No Rest for The Weary--And We Like It That Way

Our family enjoyed a nice two months with Nathan getting to sit with us. I'd like to say I got to sit next to him, but Cole pushed me down the pew every week. He never really got to sit by his daddy and he needed that time.

However, today we returned to the seating arrangement we had grown used to over the last 4 and 1/2 years. Our ward was bursting at the seams and today they created a new branch. Nathan was called to serve as a counselor in the branch presidency. I'm excited for him. As a naturally shy person, this will really help him get to know the members of our new area better much faster.

I also got a new calling. One that I'm very excited about. You know how much I've loved serving with the youth in North Carolina. They are the people I miss the most. I hope that isn't weird, but they were such a large part of my time, thoughts, and life in general. Today I was called to serve in the YW presidency. I can't wait to meet these girls and find ways to support the president.

Nathan and I are both excited to serve, but especially with the presidents we will be working with. They are wonderful people. We were invited to their house for dinner right before Christmas and they are going to be so fun to work with on top of the wonderful spirit we felt in their home.

In other news, the kids return to school tomorrow. Yay!
And Nathan and I start our training schedule for a 1/2 marathon in April. yay?

Actually we are both excited to get moving again. We've missed running and now there are no excuses. It's time to get into better eating habits as well as adopting a more active lifestyle. We're dragging the kids with us and hopefully by the time the weather gets nicer they'll be glad we did.

I've also been preparing for FHE tomorrow night. Today I asked the older kids to read the talk by President Uchtdorf so we can have a good discussion tomorrow night. I'm going to keep it general for the first lesson and introduce our first quarter focus.

Allowing Ourselves To Be Happy

We are going to pull out a piece of poster board and divide it into 6 sections (1 for each of us). Every night during scriptures we have to write down 1 positive thing from our day. The hope is that as we focus more on the good things in our lives we will become more positive and less porcupinish. Some of us are worse than others--oo! that was a porcupine comment. :)

Since my kids like visuals and making powerpoints (weird, I know) I'm going to share these pictures with them.

Happy New Year 2013!

The new year is starting well and on track. Nathan and I have signed up for a 1/2 marathon here in Arkansas in an effort to get moving after sitting still for so long. It's HARD! My body doesn't want to move.

We are also going to start some new family goals. Actually we're going to do a family Theme for the first time ever. Our theme for 2013 is...

No Regrets!

It's based on President Uchtdorf's Saturday Morning October 2012 conference talk, Of Regrets and Resolutions. Nathan and I feel its a perfect time to strengthen our family while encouraging our children to work toward their potential. It doesn't hurt that in doing so we will be growing closer to our own potential in the process.

Once a month we will have a special Family Home Evening based on the talk. There are 3 regrets covered and we will take a quarter of the year for each. The plan is to discuss the regret, talk about the distractions that keep us from obtaining it, and then plan specific ways to change that area of our lives so we will not have that particular regret. Some months will just be a "checking in" kind of FHE to see if we are still on track.

I'll try to remember to share the FHE lessons here as I get them organized. ;)

Finally, we mailed about 50 Christmas cards and letters this year but several came back undeliverable. I'm going to include our family letter here in case you missed it.

Counting our blessings, that’s our theme for this Christmas. 2012 turned out to be more eventful than we originally hoped. Here’s a quick list of highlights:

March—we bought a puppy! His name is Chewy, and he’s fluffy and oh so loveable.
April—family camping trip to Jellystone (lots of rain and memories). Charity signed a book contract, The Magic Wakes releases in February!
June—4 out of the 6 of us spent a week at Cub Scout camp
July—Nathan, Kiah and Charity went on a pioneer trek for youth conference
Aug—Girl’s camp, 2 birthdays, an anniversary, and a trip to TN
Sept—Anniversary cruise to Grand Caymans and Cozumel to celebrate our 16th anniversary Oct—Nathan accepted a job from Walmart and we started the moving process. Found buyer for home one week after listed house on the market. Said goodbye to our dear friends and family in Charlotte, NC—we love and miss you all!
Nov—We relocated to Northwest Arkansas (Bentonville) and started to settle in
Dec—Closed on our home in Charlotte and hope to enjoy our first Christmas in Bentonville

It has been a wonderful year full of so many blessings. We hope the New Year will bring as many wonderful blessings and memories as this year—we just hope a move won’t be involved. We love you all and wish you a merry Christmas!

The Bradfords