New Year's Eve

We decided to lay low this year and spend New Year's Eve at home hanging out with the kids. We brought some Cafe Rio home to eat, watched a whole lot of movies and even ventured out to get some Gingerbread Shakes from Red Robin. Everyone made it to Midnight and we had a blast. I cherish these moments together knowing that the kids won't always want to just hang with us. Happy New Year's.

What Do You Get?

What do you get when you combine busy holidays, messed up schedules and parents always on the run? You get a very tired 2 year old who can't even stay awake long enough to finish dinner. After we stopped her twice from falling off the chair Brett ended up feeding her and she still couldn't keep her eyes open.

Merry Christmas 2009

Merry Christmas to all our friends and family. Christmas always seems to be a little chaotic and this year was no exception. We were patiently playing the waiting game for items to be shipped-not knowing if they were going to be here in time and doing shopping for back-up items-just in case. Who knew that Ariel was the popular baby this year and there wouldn't be one anywhere in the state of Utah and then at the last minute we would end up with three of them. We had been so busy with life and baby blankets Christmas crept up on me this year. We scaled way back this year and I had a twinge of guilt but I didn't overspend and I also had to keep reminding myself that we went to Disneyland 4 weeks before Christmas too. The kids didn't even notice and neither did I. We spent a day filled with family, food and too many lemon bars. It was the best Christmas ever. We lounged around the house and the kids played and the adults did too. McKade got Scrabble for Christmas and that kept the adults and McKade entertained for much of the afternoon. It was nice to focus on the reason for the season this year and not worry about who didn't get what. Merry Christmas to all-we love you!!!!!

Christmas Eve

Christmas is upon us again. Every year on Christmas Eve we go to the movie with my dad and his girlfriend, Joanie. This year the kids have been dying to see, "Alvin and the Chipmunks-the Squeakquel". I thought it was super cute and so did the kids but all the other adults hated it. Oh well-it's being together that counts-right?
After the movie we headed over to Terra's for soup and breadsticks, Christmas story and new PJ's. It's fun just hanging out and letting the kids wear themselves out before the big day.

Our Christmas Service Project

Today was the day we took the blankets into the kids to have them tie them and later deliver them to the University of Utah Hospital. We were worried we might not have enough time to get them all tied and ready but those kids proved us wrong. They were so eager and so excited to get these ready for those babies. We were able to take them up to the hospital this afternoon and deliver them to the nurses from Labor and Delivery. What a touching moment it was. The kids sang "The Holly and the Ivy" and then personally handed over those blankets that they had tied. As we were leaving I watched one of the nurses hand over the first blanket to a mom and baby just being discharged from the hospital. It certainly solidified the reason for the season. Seeing the true meaning of Christmas through the eyes of the 5th grade kids brought tears to my eyes. I hope this is something they always remember and when they think of Christmas they think of the giving and not the receiving.

Blankets

We received enough fleece to make 59 baby blankets. Wow!!!

The Nutcracker

I have been wanting to take Brynlee to The Nutcracker every year since she was born but I knew that there was absolutely no way she would sit through it and the tickets are pretty pricey. The Mountain West Ballet puts on their version of The Nutcracker and it is considerably less expensive and it is put on at a Middle School. When Harlee caught wind of us talking about it she said, "My go?". How can I say no to that. The ballet was very good and Brynlee sat through all but the last 15 minutes. When I asked her if she wanted to dance like that someday she said, "No mom, I don't like Ballet". She is my jazz dancer through and through. What a fun way to spend an afternoon with my girls. Thanks to Terra for the fabulous idea.

A Labor of Love

As room mom for Trevin's class his teacher had asked me to plan a Service Project for their Christmas party this year. We talked about doing something for Primary Children's but then Grandma piped up and asked if we would do something for them. We asked each parent for a donation of fleece not knowing how much we would get. The parent's in this class were very generous and the amount of fleece that was donated was amazing. We needed to get the fleece cut into the size of blankets before we were able to take it into the class to have the kids tie it. This was definitely a labor of love.

Brynlee's BFF

Brynlee's dance studio had a PJ party for Christmas this year. Brynlee was able to invite a friend and invited her new BFF from school, Sydnee. The funny thing about the whole story is that Sydnee's mom was a good friend of Denice's growing up so we knew that our girls were destined to meet each other. They had a great time and are already planning their next play date.

Hawthorn Academy Christmas Program 2009

The kids had their Christmas program at school tonight. It was so much fun to be able to hear the kids sing songs that they have been practicing for months with their music teacher. I don't think they have ever had a true "music" teacher. Each grade sang two songs and then all the grades except Kindergarten sang "Feliz Navidad" at the end. The 4th graders started singing it in Spanish and then everyone else joined in at the end. It was a fun night and a good way to feel the Spirit of Christmas.

Jr. Jazz

It's basketball time again. Both boys are playing again this year. Brett and Shaun are the coaches for Trevin's team again. We were able to put a team together with most of the kids Trevin played football with and a few others he has played with before. McKade gets the short end of the stick again and we were a little worried about where he was going to end up. He was lucky enough to get put on the team with the little brother of one of the kids Trevin played football with and the Assistant Coach was one of Trevin's Assistant Coaches for football as well. They both played really well. Basketball is so low key and mostly it's just to get them up and out during the cold winter months.

Old Friends

That's not a very good title. Yes we go way back but I refuse to admit that any of us are getting old. Anyway, thanks to the wonderful technology that we call Facebook I was able to catch up with some old friends from my Freshman year at Utah State. I have kept in touch with Michele throughout the years but the other Michelle, the one on the right neither of us has seen or spoken to in about 15 years. We were able to coordinate a get together for lunch today. It was so fun to catch up and laugh about how crazy we were and how much trouble we got into. It's amazing how time almost seems to stand still and we can pick up right where we left off. Thanks girls for the fun afternoon and let's not wait another 15 years to do it again.

Winter Dance Show 2009

Brynlee's Winter Dance Show was tonight. She was in two dances this year. One was with the girl's on her team and the recreation girls that come on Monday nights. The other dance was their Hip Hop routine they are going to be performing at competition. This is one of three routines they will be doing at competition. The Christmas dance was super cute and Brynlee was smiling and having a great time. I don't have any pictures because my camera can't take good pictures with the lighting inside the auditorium. I was super excited for the Hip Hop routine. I have seen them practicing and knew it was going to be so cute. Cute isn't even the word for it. Those girls rocked the place. There are only 5 girls on the Younger Mini's team and the brought the house to their feet. They got the loudest applause of the night. I can't wait to see how this routine does at competition in March. Way to go Mini's!!!

Black Friday

We were fresh off our vacation and ready to hit the stores. We set up a sleepover for all the kids and Grandma and Pa's house and we were off. We hit the Outlet's in Park City first because The Children's Place has such an amazing sale. Our next stop was Toys R Us but when we pulled into the parking lot we changed our mind. This was the last stop for Terra and Clint because Terra had to work on Friday. Next we headed to Walmart and at this point it was about 2:30 in the morning. Amy and I staked out our place in line at Walmart and Denice and Brett headed to Target. My original plan was to just have Walmart price match everything but there was one thing they didn't carry that we had to have. After an hour of waiting in line at Walmart to pay after they opened at 5am we were off to RC Willey. No luck on one of the items there but we did walk away with another great deal. Our last stop was Shopko and then home for 2 hours sleep before we had to go get the kids. I can't believe we haven't been doing this for years. I am looking forward to next year and having all of us there.

Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving Day marked the end of our Disney Trip for 2009. We woke up early to get on the road in hopes of beating the traffic. It didn't work. It took us 5 hours to get from Anaheim to Las Vegas. This is normally a 3 1/2 hour drive. This also messed up our plans for a Thanksgiving Dinner and we ended up eating at Burger King in Las Vegas because everyone was so hungry. Oh well. I am so grateful that we were able to spend this time together as a family. I am also grateful for our health and employment. Without either of these we would not have been able to take this trip. I am so grateful for my husband who works so hard for our family and I am grateful for my kids who make me crazy and so happy all at the same time. I don't know what I would do without any of these. I am grateful for a warm house to sleep in even if I don't love it and for a car to get me to and fro. Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Disney Trip Day 5

Today was our final day at Disneyland. It was also the hottest day so far. We ended up purchasing hats and flip flops because it warmed up so quickly. We started the day out by standing in line at Pixie Hollow to see Tinkerbell. The line the day before was an hour wait and I didn't want to wait that long. I think this was the highlight of Harlee's trip. She absolutely loves Tinkerbell. We knew the park would be crowded because of the holiday being the next day and we were right. We spent most of the day at California Adventure where the crowds weren't as large. By the time 9:00 rolled aroud we were all exhausted and everybody's feet hurt. We called it an early night as we all agreed we had done and seen everything we wanted to. This was by far one of the best Disney trips we have been on. I think 4 days was perfect. I didn't feel like we had to hurry and we got everything done and then some. I am sad to see it come to an end but we will be back. The kids are already asking when. I think next time we will visit for Halloween.