Family Pictures

We had family pictures with my whole family in August. The photographer just sent them back to us. Here are a few of my favorites of my little family. Enjoy!

Mean Mama Bear

I am feeling like a mean mama bear. I left Hailey at her soccer game with a neighbor watching her for about 20 minutes. When I returned, I pulled up just in time to see a kid on her soccer team bumping her and then pushing her to the ground (there is not supposed to be any contact with other players at all). He knocked her down again about a minute later. Her coach was on the field and politely asked him to be nice. Didn't happen! He did it AGAIN and AGAIN. Then another boy knocked her down, then my neighbor's little girl knocked Hailey down also (all because they saw the first little kid doing it and thought it looked fun). I was FURIOUS! Hailey was laying on the ground sobbing, so I hurried out to the middle of the soccer field, picked her up and then walked to the sideline. I don't think I have ever wanted to hurt little kids (and their parents... mostly their parents) like I did last night at soccer. Seriously, who lets their kids push down other little kids repeatedly? I felt a little bit guilty, yet justified by telling her to push him down the next time he tries to push her down! Yes, I am mom of the year :). I would have liked to have taken the high road and talked to the kid's parents, except they disappeared immediately after the game, maybe it's best that I didn't talk to them after all, I probably would have not been very kind. How do you politely say, "Don't mess with my kids unless you want to get hurt!!!"?

Hunter Funnies

My neighbor dyed my hair dark for me on Tuesday. After it was cut and styled also, Hailey (3 1/2 yrs old) said "Mom, you're a freakin' rockstar" Yes, I saying freaking and rockstar a lot apparently. I think I better start watching my "freaking" language! :)

Yesterday as I was getting ready for work, I asked Brooklynn (age 6) to get me a towel for when I jumped out of the shower. Brooklynn quickly brought back a beach towel. I told her that a regular towel would be fine instead, to which she replied, "Mom, this beach towel is bigger so it will cover you better since you are enormous. She has a point, but can I say OUCH!

My girls keep me laughing (and self-conscious) :)

Soccer Season Begins...

Brooklynn had her first soccer game today. In her league, they have 1st-3rd grade boys and girls clumped together. The older kids definitely dominate the field, however, I think she did exceptionally well for her first game. She was timid in the first half, then at half time I "coached" her a little (I am neither confirming nor denying the possibility that I may or may not have bribed her with bubble gum to be aggressive and go after the ball). She was more aggressive and actually went after the ball in the second half, it's amazing what a small bribe will do. :)

Hailey's game was rescheduled so they had another "practice" instead. In said "practice" the kids were taught to kick, throw and trap the ball, play goalie, etc. What the kids actually did at practice was sommersaults, pick flowers and grass, spin in circles, kick the ball occasionally, and more sommersaults. It was hillarious! I attempted to assist the coach with the drills, but it didn't help the kids with their attention spans. What do you expect from 3 and 4 year olds? They were having fun and looked adorable!

For the next month or so, we will be busy with four soccer games a week and two practices. I am thinking that I may not have thought out this whole soccer thing when I signed them up, or maybe I just didn't know what I was getting us in to. As long as they have fun and get exercise, then I think it is worth it. I can't believe my kids are old enough to play!

Basement Makeover

While I was at my family reunion, Nate was busy working on our basement. In 1 1/2 weeks (and with the help of a couple of friends, Adam and Tim), he finished the majority of the basement, working on it after work and on the weekend. He did an amazing job. It looked like a completely different space when I returned home (I call it an Extreme Basement Makeover). Now it is the home of his sister, her hubby and their 4 kids while their new home is built.

The basement has one bathroom, two bedrooms, kitchen, laundry area and a family room. The kitchen needs some work, to say the least. He installed a large base cabinet for the kitchen sink (more cabinets to be added when we can afford them), the counter top is mdf... but it's livable conditions. They have their own fridge that they brought from their old house, but we didn't have a stove, which makes it difficult to feed a family of 6. I was talking to my friend after YW's last week and one of the other leaders showed up. I told her I needed to go look on ksl to find a used stove. It turns out, she actually had two in her basement, one gas and one electric. She told her husband he needed to get rid of one of them. Luckily, he had been busy and hadn't had the chance to throw out the electric one. She was happy to have it out of her basement and wouldn't take any money for it.

With my friend's help, we delivered it to Kylene and Jon that night. Kylene (my sis-in-law) was ecstatic. Three of the four burners work, as well as the oven. She is so happy to be able to fix regular meals again. In Kylene's words, "Christmas came early this year."

Next goal... cabinets!

It's About Time For An Update...

I think it is about time I updated my blog since I have not done so for nearly two months. June and July have been full of happiness, heartache, and everything in between. Some of the most significant happenings include the tragic death of my niece, my father-in-law in the ICU, family reunion in AZ, Brooklynn turned 6, and a new church calling for me. I am posting everything separately, so you can read my cliff notes above, or read details in the next several posts.

Check back later for pictures. :)

Family Reunion Time...

The girls and I just returned from a family reunion held at Camp Silver Creek in Arizona (Snowflake/Taylor area). We made a "quick" visit to Dead Horse Point. We enjoyed the beautiful scenery and took lots of pictures there, then traveled on.

In Snowflake, we enjoyed BBQ's, a parade, swimming and more before the big reunion started. While there, I learned of the death of my niece and then my father in law being hospitalized, I was a wreck. I stayed in Snowflake, but it was a hard decision to make.

At the reunion, we enjoyed it all... getting reaquainted with family from near and far, the barrel train, volleyball, softball, carroms, canoeing, swimming, zipline, yummy food, etc.

We celebrated Brooklynn's 6th birthday. We had a tea party, danced to music and then painted the girls' toenails. The girls all seemed to enjoy themselves. I am so grateful for my Brooklynn. She is such a sweet little thing and I am so grateful she joined our little family.

After the reunion ended, we packed up and headed for the Grand Canyon. We enjoyed a lightning show when we arrived and then slept in the parking lot in our camp trailers. We toured the park and took lots of pictures. I highly recommend going there if you have not already done so. We traveled on to the Glen Canyon Dam, took more pictures, walked around a little and boy was I jealous of all the boaters out on beautiful Lake Powell.

We made it home safely and the girls and I were so happy to see Nate after 1 1/2 weeks. We had a grand adventure, but there truly is no place like home.

In Loving Memory of Annie Jones

Some of you know my niece, Annie Jones (on Nate's side). She was in a tragic car accident and died instantly. She truly is an amazing person. I will miss her beautiful smile and fun loving attitude. Here is a link to her obituary.

http://ads.heraldextra.com/articles/2009/07/21/obituaries/346046.txt

One of my favorite memores of Annie is going boating with her. When Nate and I were still pretty newly married, she and her brother, Mike, along with my brother, Spencer, came boating with us to Yuba. It was still pretty early in the year and the water was chilly. She was the first to jump in and did so willingly. She was quite impressive on the kneeboard, took everything we could dish out on the tube, and never stopped grinning from ear to ear. She is one brave young lady. That is how I will always remember her, the girl that hangs on tight, and takes whatever comes her way with a smile.

I am certain she is in the arms of our loving Savior now and she will continue to go about doing His work. Annie, I love you and miss you. You will forever remain in my heart.

Mini Drill Camp

My girls participated in Mini Drill Camp at the high school. It was 3 days long (1 1/2 hours each day), and then were invited to ride in the float with the Drill Team. The girls had so much fun and want to do it again next year. Brooklynn and Hailey are the cutest little dancers (in my biased opinion).

Youth Conference

I was recently called to be YW Secretary in my ward. For my initiation, I went to Youth Conference. It was a 3 day Youth Conference in June. I was able to join them for the last 2 days. The youth had a car wash to help raise money. They raised quite a bit of money to help pay for the expenses. The first day they went to see pioneer homes, then went to Raging Waters. On Friday, I met up with them at the State Capitol Building for a tour (it is much more interesting as an adult, last time I was there I was in elementary school).

After the tour, we ran back to our Bishop's Sister's house (where we had set up camp) and ate an early dinner. We took dinner to the homeless shelter. Half of the youth and leaders served dinner to the homeless people and the rest of us played games with the kids after they had eaten. It was an amazing experience. The food we brought stretched a LOT further than it should have, they had enough to share with the women and children's shelter after feeding 108 people at the family shelter, and still had leftovers to put in the fridge for them to snack on. If you ever start to feel sorry for yourself about not having everything you want, I highly recommend taking some time to serve there. I think all of us came out of there with a greater appreciation for the things we have and take for granted. After finishing there, we had a fireside, then played games and went to bed.

Saturday morning, we had a little morningside where we shared pioneer type stories, most were about pioneer ancestors, but some even included stories about their parents. We cleaned up and went and played "flour ball" (nylons filled with flour... the more holes and runs, all the better). The kids loved it and so did all the leaders. We all came home looking like pinatas... sweat and flour caked all over us. We played, gave service to those less fortunate, laughed, cried and bonded. Overall, it was a very successful and memorable Youth Conference. We definitely have a great group of youth.

Hailey Did It Again

Hailey cut her own hair again, she must be 3 or something! Luckily, this time was not as drastic as the last. She cut a little more off the side. I had been wanting to try something a little different on her anyway, so it was a good excuse to take her to my neighbor, Paula. She has a salon in her basement and is very inexpensive. She was able to work Hailey in that afternoon and she definitely worked her magic. She has more of an A-line cut now with a "back stack." Whenever someone compliments Hailey on her cute hair cut, she says, "Thanks, it's a back stack."

I really liked the old cut, but I LOVE the new cut. Paula is amazing!

FYI: Paula is running a summer color service special, Buy one, get one half off! (meaning, take a friend and go get a new do for summer and split the cost). Like I said above, she is very inexpensive and does a great job. If anyone is interested, let me know and I will give you her number. :)

Kindergarten Graduation

Brooklynn has graduated Kindergarten! We have been busy with all the end of school year fun...Spring Fling, class parties and now Kindergarten Graduation. This was her teacher's first year teaching. I was a little skeptical at first, but I have to say, she was FABULOUS! Brooklynn absolutely loved her and she really pushed the kids to excel. Brooklynn is "happy and sad" about graduating. I totally understand the feeling. I am happy to have her home with me all day. She is such a sweetheart and definitely keeps things exciting around our house.

Just For Fun

I decided to try out these curlers from Sally's. My sister has them for her girls and really likes them. The first round didn't go so well for me, but the girls and I had fun playing around with their hair anyway. We will have to try round two when I am actually home in the morning to see what it looks like. :)

Memorial Weekend Camping Trip

I haven't posted for a while, so I thought I would catch you all up on what we have been up to. For Memorial Day, we typically are camping. This year was no exception. Here are some of the highlights from our adventure to Chicken Creek.

Riding through the stream bed

Brooklynn, Hailey and cousin Madison picking the wildflowers

Brooklynn and one of her very favorite cousins, Madison

Me, Julie (sister), Aliece (mom) and Michelle (sister)

Muddy Girls! Everyone was muddy from riding on the 4 Wheelers.

The crew... Brooklynn, Madison, Hailey, Caleb and Ally

Brooklynn showing off her flexibility.

Brooklynn, Grandma B. and Hailey

Hailey Bug

Musings About American Idol

I am a huge American Idol fan! This is the only show that I follow (ok, I follow The Office as well) I have been watching American Idol since the finale of the first season, and have been watching ever since. I have managed to even hook my husband on it. I am not going to lie, I have even called in and voted (just not this season). Michelle and I even texted probably 100 times between us one night, but realized after the fact you had to have AT&T for your text to go through, oops :) Here is my review...

I was sad to see Allison leave tonight. She is an amazing singer. I can't believe she is only 17. She will definitely go far in the music industry.

Adam: Adam has an amazing voice and can hit notes that I didn't think was humanly possible. He is an amazing performer, but his style is a little too dark for my tastes.

Chris: What a handsome face. He doesn't have the strongest voice in the competition, but he is very appealing with his looks and his sweet songs. I am pretty sure when he sings the love songs, he is singing to me. Don't tell my hubby ;)

Danny: Oh Danny boy... I think Danny has a fabulous voice. The judges did not like his rock song, I thought he was awesome until the last 10 seconds of the song. I am a big fan.

My predictions for the finale: Adam and Chris, with Adam winning of course. I would definitely buy cd's from Allison, Chris and Danny, and that is saying a lot. I don't buy many cd's. Although I did splurge for David Archuleta for my birthday.

BTW, did you all see Daughtry's performance on the results shos? He is amazing. My husband bought his first cd when it came out and I LOVE it. I am sure we will be buying his second cd that is supposed to be coming out in July.

I know I am not the only American Idol fan... What are your predictions for the finale?

Bedtime, Shmedtime...

Tonight Nate and I fed the girls a late dinner, by late, I don't mean a little late, it was about 9:15pm. Now don't go calling DCFS on me, they did have a picnic out on the lawn about 4, so they did eat. After they ate, I wanted to watch American Idol, which we conveniently record on the dvr every week (there are way too many commercials if you watch it regular). The girls and I plopped down on the couch, snuggled up under a blanket, and began to watch AI about 9:30. I knew it was way after bedtime, but sometimes, I just don't care. Because of work, I am not at home most nights of the week to snuggle my girls and tuck them in bed. Nate asked me to please put the girls to bed... what a party pooper. Brooklynn protested that she just wanted to snuggle me. Ahhh, what a nice girl. We compromised and I tucked them in and laid down by them until they fell asleep. I know this is not the advice that you would get from professionals, but again, sometimes I just don't care. Nate likes to give me guff that they like him just fine until I get home and then they just want me... I don't see why that's a bad thing. I love my girls and I am happy to squeeze in any extra snuggling time I can. Before I know it, they will be teenagers, and they probably won't like me anymore. So I will enjoy today...

Anyone else want to join my bad mom club?

No Caffeine For You!

After I dropped Brooklynn off at Kindergarten this morning, Hailey was in need of a soda fix?!?

Hailey: Mommy, I thirsty. We need to go to da gas station and get soda.
Mommy: Sorry, bug, no soda for you. I will get you a glass of milk or water when we get home.
Hailey: No pepsi, no diet coke?
Mommy: You can have milk or water, sweetie, soda is not healthy for you.
Hailey: It not healfy for me?
Mommy: NO!

How is a 3 year old addicted to soda and caffeine? Her daddy. He is addicted to Diet Pepsi. He has been the responsible party in the mornings when I am passed out for a few hours in the morning after working my night shifts. Apparently, they have a "routine," school, gas station, home... and Nate has a hard time telling his little ladies "NO" anyway, especially when they do the infamous "Hunter head drop."

I think it is time to put a stop to soda...and I am pretty sure there is going to be one daddy and one little girl that will probably be going through caffeine withdrawals at my house. I realize there are worse things, but 3 year old little girl should not be asking for caffeinated beverages at 8:30 in the morning....ugh!

Disclaimer: This is not intended to bash Nate. He is a fabulous daddy, we all adore him at our house and he really is a "mostly" responsible parent, except for this soda thing. He was raised on Diet Pepsi...we'll blame his parents for this one :) We all have our weak spots, his is caffeinated beverages, mine is chocolate.

We Didn't Like That Salesman Anyway...

Do you ever wonder what a salesman thinks after leaving your door? I was sleeping soundly after working a night shift so this story is second hand.

Yesterday, the doorbell rang and my husband opened the door to find a salesman of some sort. My girls are not shy... at all! They proceeded to talk up a storm, of course sharing TMI! Since Hailey knows all about the birds and the bees at the ripe old age of 3, she decided to fill him in. Hailey proceeded to tell the salesman that she came from mommy's tummy and Brooklynn came from Daddy's tummy (if only it were that easy...). The salesman left without a fuss, I guess they scared him. :)

Since that visit, Nate has already spent over 3 hours on the eliptical getting rid of those "birthing" hips. :)

After... Hailey's New 'Do

At the salon, the stylist and I agreed that her hair needed to be cut short in order to fix it. She did a fabulous job and I love the new haircut. I was sad to see Hailey's long hair go, but I think the short, sassy haircut definitely fits her personality.

Before...

Hailey had been incident free with scissors...until now. Her hair was getting so long and pretty (I know... her hair looks really ratty in these pictures, but take my word for it). Brooklynn came running to me crying because Hailey had tried to cut her hair. So I went to talk to Hailey about picking on her sister when I saw her new hair design. I'm fairly certain the mullet is no longer in style and isn't coming back anytime soon, so I decided to let the professionals take over.

Who's Bright Idea Was This?

Over Easter weekend, my husband and brothers decided it would be fun to go for a ride. I thought it sounded like a good idea until I woke up and it was freezing outside. I bundled up, made some hot chocolate and off we went. It started raining on us as soon as we got out of the truck. As we rode, the rain turned to snow. It was quite difficult to see the trail, so we made our own trail. Nate's idea of looking for elk sheds on the trail was impossible with all the snow.

On the bright side, we were able to try out our new mule, George. He did fantastic, except when we tried to take him away from the horses. He is definitely a herd-bound mule, but I think that can be corrected with a little work. He has a great temperament and you can't beat what we paid for him... FREE! The guy that gave him to us even threw in a one ton bale of hay for us to feed him. We all had a great time, and I can't wait to try this trail again when we can actually see it. :)

Spring Camping Trip

These are some pictures from our Spring Camping Trip over Conference Weekend. We camped with two of my sisters, Michelle and Julie, and their families. My little brother Spencer and his wife, Lindsey, came out to visit for a day. It was freezing! The wind blew most of the time and we even got some snow. Thank goodness for the heaters in our trailers and also for hot chocolate.

We still had a fabulous time. We were able to watch/listen to Conference, play games, ride the 4 wheelers and motorcycle, eat smores and sing by the campfire, but most of all, we enjoyed being together.

Like a Tiger

Tigers are beautiful, majestic animals, right? Normally, if someone said I was like a tiger, I would take it as a compliment. When I woke up today, my shirt had lifted up a little bit and my stomach was showing. I hadn't noticed it until I saw Brooklynn examining the skin on my stomach.

Brooklynn: Mom, you look like a tiger.
Me: (confused)Say what?
Brooklynn: Yeah, you have stripes on your tummy like a tiger.
Me: (ugh!) Thanks, sweetie.

Yes, those beautiful "tiger stripes" are also known as stretch marks. Nate came to my rescue and defended my stretch marks, kindly telling her that she was the reason I had them. It's true, I was definitely NOT a super model prior to having kids, but at least I didn't have stretch marks.

Nate and I had a good laugh about it. It's a good thing I LOVE my kids, because selling them to the gypsies sounds like a good idea sometimes. :)

Warm Spring Days

Pinching Pennies

In effort to reduce our utility bills, we are requiring all members of our household to bath with a friend (or 2). We helped Gunner in the tub for this picture, but while I was at work on Monday night, Nate had the girls get in the tub, he said he heard them laughing and then a splash. Gunner had crashed the party. He looks like he is not enjoying himself, but he apparently enjoyed himself because he went in willingly today and sat right down.
Notice the disgusting bathwater? That is what came off the kids, mostly Brooklynn. They have been playing outside with the neighbor kids, and from the looks of things, they must have been rolling around in the dirt. Isn't it great being a kid?

Draper Temple Open House

Nate and I took the girls to the Draper Temple Open House last week. Nate and Brooklynn had both been a little sick and we were running late (as usual) and I was tired from working the night before, so I wasn't feeling very pleasant. I had almost decided to just give up and not even try to go. I am so glad that we made it. It is a beautiful temple. It seemed a little smaller than some of the others, but definitely just as special. During the tour, people were quietly whispering, but as we walked into the Celestial Room, it was silent. I think we were all in awe of the beautiful room and spirit felt there.
Brooklynn and Hailey were wonderful the entire time in the temple. When I asked Brooklynn what she thought about the temple, she said her favorite part was the sparkly lights, aka the chandeliers. I have to agree, they were beautiful. Brooklynn's 2nd favorite part was getting to ride the bus. That was her first time, and she loved it (when I was growing up, I was excited when I did not have to ride the bus). Nate's favorite part was the African Cherry woodworking. Hailey's favorite part was getting a cookie and her own little water.
It turned out to be a special day for all of us. I am so grateful for temples that give us the keys to be together forever.

According to Hailey

Hailey is a funny little gal. She loves her chocolate as much as I do. I had some chocolate in my car that I had intended to make little Valentine gifts with, but didn't quite get around to it. Hailey found the chocolate as well as a "few" wrappers. As she was looking for some chocolate to snitch herself, she says "Mommy, you a bad girl, you can't eat chocit, I eat chocit." I don't mind sharing chocolate, but don't tell me I can't eat chocolate, that is not nice. Chocolate does NOT make me a bad girl!

Proceed With Caution

Ok, I know this picture is disgusting, however, I am ok with that. I hope none of you readers have aversions to kids' mouths. This is poor Brooklynn's mouth. She woke up on Saturday morning with a sore throat. I told her to drink some water and that would help. Well for obvious reasons it didn't help. She was coughing and gagging a little bit, again for obvious reasons. The poor little lady's tonsils are swollen, her right is definitely worse. We took her to the Instacare that morning and she has Strep Throat. As far as I know this is her first time having it and she is handling it like a champ. This picture was taken yesterday after a few days of antibiotics and so is not quite as big as it was. Now she has a swollen lymph node in her neck too, which to me means her body is fighting the infection. She went back to school today since she should not be contagious after 24-48 hours on antibiotics (and she didn't want to miss another day of school or seeing her friends) She has been a happy, sweet little girl, even with not feeling so well. If only I could be so pleasant when I didn't feel well...

We Are Blessed

Some of you may already know this, but my dad was in the hospital last week. He had been having some problems around the time of Spencer's wedding. He was given a blessing, and gradually started getting better. He went to his PCP and was referred to a cardiologist. Three weeks later, it was determined that his problems weren't heart related. The cardiologist sent him to a pulmonologist. The pulmonogist's office sent him for some preliminary tests before the appt and found that he has a DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis) aka blood clot in his leg and Pulmonary emboli (blood clots in his lungs). This can be life threatening. He was immediately admitted to the hospital and started on blood thinners. The doctor told him he is lucky to be alive. I told him he was "fortunate", and he said "No, I am not fortunate, I am blessed... there must be more work for me to do."
He was released from the hospital a few days later. I talked to him today and he seems to be in good spirits and says he is feeling pretty good. I am so grateful that he has work left to do on this earth, I don't think any of us were ready to say goodbye. He is a special man and a great example to me! I know many prayers were offered and answered on his behalf. We all have so many things to be grateful for, sometimes it just takes a wakeup call to help us remember how blessed we truly are.

Valentine's Day

My husband asked me a couple of weeks ago what I wanted to do for Valentine's Day. All I wanted was a quiet evening at home. I have been leaving my family a lot lately for work volleyball and more work and so all I wanted for Valentine's Day was to stay home and spend time with them. We invited my in-laws over for dinner. My husband cooked delicious Chile Verde, ate yummy dessert, then we watched the BYU Basketball game. I got my quiet evening at home with my family. It was a great Valentine's Day. These are the tulips that Nate surprised me with on Valentine's Day. I love tulips, they are definitely my kind of flower. They are beautiful, then they die, shrivel up and then you can plant the bulbs in your yard and enjoy them in the spring, year after year.

Volleyball

I have been playing on a city league volleyball team. We finished our season last week. We won about half of our regular season games and then we took 3rd in the tournament. Our team played great together, I got some exercise, and made new friends. It was a lot of fun! Top: Me, Stacie, Emily, Heather

Bottom: Paige, Anna

Me and my pal, Heather.

Our husbands love it when we leave our kids with them and run off to play volleyball, ok, maybe they don't love it, but I am glad that they are both understanding :)

Spencer and Lindsay are Hitched!

My "little" brother got married! Spencer and Lindsey were married January17th. It was a beautiful, sunny (and chilly) day. I don't think Spencer noticed the cold though, he had a grin on his face the whole time. The reception was a lot of fun. There was a line and then dancing. My girls had so much fun spinning and dancing with Aunt Lindsey. Spencer is not a huge fan of dancing, but I am glad that he enjoyed himself anyway. He and my mom were so cute dancing!

Birthday Time! (December/January)

Hailey and I both celebrated birthdays within a week of each other. Hailey is the big "3" now. We had a little teaparty for her and invited 2 of her little friends and were lucky enough to have some of her favorite cousins visiting from Denver, so we invited them to join in on the fun too. She had so much fun wearing the birthday crown and blowing out candles. Who needs to open presents anyway? Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Michelle and cousin Ally even made a special trip down to see her. Thanks everyone!

I figured my birthday would be like every other one I have had since being married, very low key, without a lot of bells and whistles. We had a late Christmas Party with Nate's family which happened to fall on my birthday. I walked in the door and almost his entire family was there singing "Happy Birthday" to me, which was very sweet. We all ate dinner, hung out, had a great time. Then the birthday singing started again and Nate surprised me with this yummy cake. I say "surprised" because this is the first time he has actually bought or baked me a cake. He and his family made me feel very loved, and of course you can tell by the red eyes, I cried. Nate saved some money and even bought me the MP3 player I wanted. It was a very special birthday, even if I did turn 92! :)

Christmas Time

Santa made it to our house. My girls definitely deserved a visit from Santa, they were (and still are) good girls! They loved all their gifts, but some of their favorite gifts are their blankets and matching pillows from Uncle David and Aunt Carolyn.

Pre-Christmas Fun. We started our fun night by eating at Dell Taco for Taco Tuesday night, when their tacos are dirt cheap. We had my friend's kids with us (6 of us in all) and we all ate for $5. We let the kids play for a little while then we were off to see Santa.

We went to see Santa next. Hailey may have been threatened (by Nate) that Santa wouldn't come to our house if she kept going potty in her diaper. Brooklynn was scared that she would be affected as well, so she kept encouraging Hailey to go be a big girl. The threat worked and we are officially diaper free at our house.

To finish off the evening, we went downtown to see the Candy Window Displays. I have heard about them from my mom and others and decided we should check it out. We had a great time and the displays were definitely worth seeing.

(I realize that I am a little behind on my blogging, but better late than never!)

Go Steelers!

Our favorite NFL team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, won the SuperBowl last night. We grilled up some ribs and headed over to our neighbor's house for a party, decked out in our black and gold, complete with our girls in their little jersey's (I am not going to lie, I was thrilled to not have the party at our house this year). I had to leave to go to work toward the end of the first half, so Nate had to stay and cheer by himself in a room full of hostile Arizona Cardinals fans. Honestly, I don't think any of them really wanted the Cardinals to win, they just wanted to antagonize Nate (it worked). I know this seems really random to post this, but sports are a really big deal at our house and occupies my husband's time from August until January (February if he is lucky like this year) and I am excited because now I might get my husband back. Way to go Steelers!

How many lives does my car have left?

Maybe I should make this into a poll... it has one less as of this morning. I had to be at work at 6am this morning. As I was getting on the freeway, I saw some deer between the freeway and the on-ramp munching on the grass. That's always fun to see deer up close, even if it is in the dark. Fun, that is until one decides to dart in front of you as you are trying to accelerate to freeway speed. Why can't they just stay where they are, on the grass, eating? Needless to say, I hit the unfortunate deer. The deer darted off but didn't seem to be injured. I didn't notice any damage on my car either, however, it was dark so I will have to look again when it is light and have more time.
At the beginning of the month, my car ended up in my in-laws garage door (weather related incident) , which happens to be a very expensive, special order, garage door. Which is still out of comission. Luckily for me, my in-laws seem to love me still. They laughed about it at the time (and I cried), however, after 2 1/2 weeks of waiting for a new garage door, it can't be that humorous anymore.
Incident # 2 was two days later when I was on my way to work in some nasty weather. I left over an hour earlier for work than I normally do, hoping to make a quick stop on my way to the hospital. As I exited the freeway, my car hit a patch of slush and ice, I lost control of the car and slammed into the guardrail, then bounced off, spinning around completely and ended up on the opposite side of the exit, going the back forward but stuck in the snow. The sheriff came, then the highway patrol. The sheriff helped get my car unstuck, then had me go wait in a parking lot so the lazy highway patrolman could write up the incident. No ticket, just a lecture about how highway patrol are trained professionals in the snow, they are cool and know what to do if something like that happens, they are so much better than us little people,yada, yada. Ok, so those weren't his exact words, but that was the jist of it. I had to report the incident to my insurance and they said these guardrails are quite expensive if they make them replace them. Nate said that he heard of someone that hit a guardrail and the highway patrol charged their insurance $17,000. They (my insurance) said it will be a while before I get a bill from the highway patrol. My car ended up with only minor front bumper damage and I didn't see any damage to the guardrail, but the highway patrol said it was pushed about 6 inches, so I can't wait to see how much they try to charge me and my insurance for that. Needless to say, I was not impressed at all with the highway patrolman, aka "our public servant" that day.
In case any of you are doing the math, this is three, yes three, incidences this January for me and my unfortunate car (my driving record has been squeaky clean up to this point). They say these things happen in three's, so that should mean my luck is going to change, right? I hope so, because I am officially feeling like the scruge of January .... BAH HUMBUG!