Love, love, love this picture!!

So here we are in January of 2016! Can you believe that your baby brother will be home in FIVE MONTHS! It was so great to chat with him and see how much he's grown spiritually. 

But we have a new, wonderful year to fill with family fun and wonderful memories. We are still trying to figure out a good time to visit everyone this summer so that Brady can reacquaint himself with his growing family! We'll let you know as soon as we have solidified dates. 

This year your dad and I have set a goal to pay off this home no later than March of 2017, earlier if we win the lottery! Just kidding! But we are making double payments now and  hope to continue until this house is officially ours! Why are we doing this? Well first because we have been instructed by our church leaders to get out of debt! And your mom and dad really, really hate to be indebted to anyone! So this is our main goal for 2016. 

How am I making this a reality? Well, first it helps that I'm working right now. I was telling your dad that we could have probably paid off the house earlier if I had worked when you children were young, but I am SO HAPPY that I didn't. It was such a blessing to be at home when you were home and I so appreciate your dad working so hard to make that a reality. But now I am able to work and so I am helping by paying the extra on the mortgage. And there are also a few extra things I'm doing. Little things maybe, but they add up. Like this:

1. We got rid of cable and we have Netflix only. Again a huge thanks to Jordan and Ginanne for our Roku! I love getting all the extra channels for free, including BYU!
2. I'm making more bread and using whole wheat in my loaves. Nothing beats homemade bread and soup for dinner! It also helps to have a wheat grinder.
3. We've started to use our drying rack during the winter to dry our clothes. We use the outside line during the Spring, Summer and Fall. And dad makes our laundry soap. Win-win!
4. Dinners out are becoming fewer and fewer. And the fact that so many restaurants are having problems with their ingredients being safe makes this another win-win.
5. Of course my commute across the park to work has made my gas portion pretty nil. Love that!
6. I'm already planning what we'll have in our gardens this year. And I'm hoping to utilize the areas around the house for veggies instead of flowers.
7. I found a great list of questions to ask yourself before you buy anything on a blog called www.LittleHouseLiving.com. There are 8 questions which include 'Do we have something else we could us?' This reminded me of Patrick making a chicken feeder from items he already had around the house. Good job bud! So check out that list if you're interested. They're called the Spending Initiative Questions!
8. I love our composter and I just know it will help our garden to do even better.

I know this probably sounds boring and mundane but we are so excited to pay off this house and hopefully be able to help you kids more, or spoil the grandchildren more! 

The guidance we receive from our church leaders will lead us to safety and peace. I truly believe this! Stay faithful, stay close to the Spirit and be obedient to the leadership of our church and you will forever be joyful!