Feliz 2012! Resolutions, anyone? (a rare Glenn post)

I haven't posted here in forever and apologize for it, but I think our "large" following will forgive me. :)

It has been an incredibly busy, but wonderful year. I thought I'd give my highlights and some resolutions. Shall we?

1. Arrival of Zach Russell Walker. We were ecstatic to receive our fourth child into our family on 8/3/11. He wasn't just the biggest of the four (8 lb 7 oz), didn't just take the longest to arrive (1 day before 40 complete weeks which Claudia had never gotten to), and hasn't been the only one to somehow pull out the blue eyes from his parents' very brown eyes...but he is a very special addition to a very special family full of great kids. His older siblings have been great and have received him with love and open arms. He's a chunk and a half (18 lbs at 4 months), but he's full of smiles (along with some grunts).

2. 8th Anniversary. Yeah, this happens every year, but it's a wonderful time to remember the greatest day of my life: when I got married and sealed to my gorgeous, awesome wife Claudia in the snow-coated Salt Lake City Temple. Still don't know how I am so blessed to have her. I luckily had the day off from work and after the kids went to sleep I made a fancy dinner for the both of us which turned out pretty tasty. :)

3. Nick's Progress. She's a great reader and is making out to be a great writer...maybe someday like her Grandpa Jim. She's doing excellently in first grade and in spite of some girl-relationship drama (really? this early? who would've thought), has made some good friends and is a darling at home. She helps her little siblings out all the time (great big sister for Hanna, especially in what I'll describe below) and is full of love for her family and others.

4. Ian's Progress. He started pre-K without a hitch, and was happy to be going to his big sister's school. It's only for a few hours a day, but he loves the environment and getting to come home on the bus (which drops him off right in front of the house...nice work, babe). He's learned those essential basics from school (he already knew most of it) and continues to be his chatter-box self. :) He has a best friend at school with whom he exchanges stories about Transformers, Star Wars, and varying super heroes. He might've gotten those interests from me. :) He's a great son, and though he struggles with being consistently obedient, he is a sweet brother and son and is doing better every day.

5. Hanna's Progress. She has officially surpassed that last, insufferable barrier of toddlerhood: potty-training. My incredible wife, while still adjusting to Zach's recent arrival, put the proverbial foot down and fought through the tears and accidents and marathan bathroom days (at least she liked reading in the bathroom). I haven't been much more than a slightly involved bystander in that step in all 3 of them, so my wife gets another trophy. :) It's such a huge step. I'm always telling people that you can finally breathe a little easier (figuratively and literally) when they're potty-trained. She is a doll and our toddler princess...and a diva. :) We love all of them so much, they're all very special and we feel so blessed to have them.

6. Grandma and Grandpa's Visit. After a long abscence (we had been to Utah before starting residency when Hanna was still a newborn), we got to reunite with my parents here in San Antonio. It was more of a relaxed visit, we only briefly went to a [closed] Alamo where they treated us to a Subway dinner, but the connecting with the grandkids was fantastic. Grandpa got taught the art of the Star Wars Legos Wii game from Ian ("are you listening to me, grandpa?") and learned the importance of General Grievous (of said series) to our little Ian (great job, Dad). My dad and I got to commiserate over 2 BYU losses on t.v. (painful to even bring up), and my mom got to snuggle with newborn Zach. Having them here for Zach's blessing made a memorable day even more special.

7. Primos and tios (cousins and aunts/uncles). We had many great visits during the year for different occasions from Claudia's side of the family and were always happy to have them in our home and see our kids play well together. Birthdays, holidays, and long weekends were even more eventful thanks to their visits. Our kids are slowly picking up some Spanish along the way with this (they understand it but won't speak much). We're happy to have all North America in the family (Canada, U.S., Mexico) and the thorough and deep culture they all bring.

We had many other special events, but those were the most salient. Yes, I just used "salient."

Resolutions (mine). Gotta write them down somewhere to make them count, right (measurable and specific,as well if I remember correctly)? I've put some thought into them and hope to define them much better. Though a great year, as most, there were many things I'd love to improve this year and into the next. I'm not trying to impress, and some of these might be obvious or already part of your routine. I just want them to be part of mine (in many aspects, again). Here goes:

1. Temple attendance once a month.
2. 100% home teaching every month.
3. FHE every week.
4. Date night or "talk night" once a week with my wife. Get out of house for one of these at least 2x/month.
5. Night out with one of my children once a month (rotating basis)
6. Pass my mock oral and written boards for anesthesiology (did it last year, but it's supposed to get harder)
7. Study 30 minutes every day for work.
8. Go to gym 3 times a week. Regain abdominal anatomy of yester year. :)
9. Write in journal once a week.
10. Finish D&C and Book of Mormon this year.
11. Travel somewhere as a family this year that requires us to stay there at least for a few nights.
12. Be more patient and understanding (no road rage, yelling, arguing). It doesn't happen often but I want it to be pretty much never.

There you go. 12 for 2012.

Happy New Year and Feliz Año Nuevo!