The Annual Epistle of Exaggeration and Outright Falsehood - 2018

I've noticed a trend.

No, not the trend that it's always published on New Year's Eve.

Not that I take fewer photos every year..... (that needs to change.)

Actually, I think it's getting less thought and effort and is shorter every year.

But WE GOTTA DO THIS OR ELSE WE HAVE TO ACTUALLY MAIL CHRISTMAS CARDS TO PEOPLE!!!! Heaven forbid.


SO HERE'S OUR RECAP OF 2018!!!!!!!

We did lots of stuff:

Eclaire went to SoCal on Choir Tour!

Two Grandpuppies joined the family!

We saw Mr. Bones! 

Thing Two and his Lovely Wife bought a house! (sorry, no pic of house, but this was my housewarming gift for them)

We went camping in Idaho!

Some of the braver people also went river rafting!

Eclaire went to Prom! 

 

She also got to see HAMILTON!!!!!!!

We said goodbye to the old Provo High School.

Luke Skywalker taught grandpa how to play video games.

We said goodbye to our old mini-van. 

I made my first quilt! for our 30th anniversary. Yeah, that should have had a picture, but we didn't really do anything except be thankful that he has not killed me for 30 years now.

We saw dinosaurs.

AND WE GOT A NEW BABY SISTER/DAUGHTER/GRANDDAUGHTER dpending on your perspective. She is so very wonderful.

Con-man and Luke Skywalker even like her. 

Someone had a birthday.

And went to Crystal Mountain Pony Con.

Then there were a whole bunch of birthdays.

And thing two got a motorcycle so I can die of worry.

Han Solo started medical school and he and Screamapillar now live much much closer in Idaho!

We got a temporary new dog who was a delight to have around! 

We said HELLO to the NEW PROVO HIGH! to start Eclaire's senior year. 

And Luke Skywalker is doing a lame attempt at education. I think. 

More birthdays!!!!

And Panda-baby learned to smile.

It was a pretty harrowing year in many ways. We are thankful for things that were lost which were found again. For close calls that came out okay. For blessings in such abundance that we wonder why we were considered worthy. We are thankful for all that we learned this year, but hope to have fewer hard lessons to learn in 2019...

We wish you all a happy and healthy new year in 2019, may the Lord bless and keep you!

With love, 

The Insane Roper Family

The Annual Epistle of Exaggeration and Outright Falsehood - 2017

Happy New Year!

But before the new year, we really gotta talk about the old year. You know the one, 2017. The one where all that stuff happened and I didn't tell you about it? Well, now's the time and this is the place.

Let's start with the little one. Eclaire. She was up to fantastic shenanaginses and was our world traveller this year. She went on Trek in Wyoming.

She went to Girls Camp

She turned 16 and got this crazy idea that she was old enough to date and went to Homecoming.

She also was in a PLAY! Phantom of the Opera!

(that's her bottom left in the gold mask)

She went to Teen Author Boot Camp again, has continued writing SO VERY MUCH, continued her Hungry Bulldogs club at school, and scored SO high in her writing assessments that she nearly got kicked out of special needs. She did all mainstream classes this fall, has really struggled and will be going back to SpEd math so she can give her sanity a break. She is awesome and we love her!!

Jake has been hiding from everyone this year. If I can find a photo it will be a miracle.

 90% of photos I have of Luke Skywalker, Con-man is on his shoulders...

Oh - he did leave the house to go to Comic-Con

 He drove a sum total of two times.

And he went bowling. He had SUCH a good time.

He's taking a class at Institute and is supposed to be taking online classes, but he's been so busy with the napping and playing video games and carrying Connor around on his shoulders..... Oh, and that's right, he has a legit job where he makes pizza. He's loving Brick Oven and hiding in the kitchen making dough. I've tasted his work, and it is GOOD. Keep up the good work, young man.

Screamapillar and Han Solo are still living forever away. He's busy trying to get into med school, and she's is completely fixated on toddlers - seriously. She teaches Sunbeams in Primary, coaches Tiny Tot Soccer, and teaches almost full time at a local pre-school. So maybe they should have one of their own? Prolly not yet, because then she'd hate all those jobs. They came to visit a few times this year, and we wish they lived closer.

Thing Two and his Lovely Wife dontinue well. They are both gainfully employed and loving their work. Thing Two is in Marketing now, which means he moves product. Lemme share him moving product:





They go camping and hiking lots and lots and he has a new photography page (and he's REALLY REALLY GOOD!

Thing One and Hot Latin Guy are up to no good. They have raised a holy terror in Con-man, He's never safe unless he's on someone's shoulders (see Luke Skywalker, above). Thing One toils away endlessly in pursuit of electronics, and Hot Latin Guy really wants a new job he doesn't hate for a company that will pay him on time. 

Most photos I have of the Con-man are out of focus because he rarely holds still...

Hubby and I had an eventful year. I did a gig as a personal chef. It was so much fun!

and hubby had a lovely colonoscopy...

 I had three surgeries, two major falls involving broken bones, and still managed to do a 5K in July. If this post is boring, it's because I had a partial knee replacement last week and it is currently trying to kill me. Maybe if I took some painkillers this would be more interesting? Probably. Hubby's eventful year had him changing jobs so that he might live a little longer because he actually likes his job and the people he works for now. In fact, he's happier than he's been in five years. This is a good thing. 

Running out of steam now. Here's what else happened:

 Debbie's family came to visit

We had a fantastic family reunion

 Josh got married!

Ana got married too, but I missed it because surgery.

 Diane went to the temple!

 El Guapo and Felicity had a new baby!

There was other stuff, but I don't have anything left to write with, I gotta move before I die of frozen knee. We hope 2017 was as good to you as it was to us!

Happy New Year - go out and have a wonderful 2018!