Tuesday, January 13, 2009



I know that you've all been on pins and needles for over 2 months... constantly checking my blog... hoping and maybe even praying that I will post. And I realize that each time you are overcome with disappointment, because once again, you have no idea what I am doing, what I am feeling, what I am experiencing. You're lost without me, right?? Well, to all my dedicated readers out there, I sincerely apologize for my absence. I am sorry that I put you through months of torment, and I promise to make it up to you.............Man, it's so hard to be sarcastic in writing.... hopefully you are all aware that I'm really not that vain to think that you even care what has kept from blogging.... oh well!

I'm not even going to try and catch up on the past.... the idea of doing that completely overwhelms me! So although I know you want every single nitty gritty detail, I'm only going to give you the readers' digest version for your own safety!

Halloween - Josh dressed up as a white ninja/Storm Shadow from GiJoe's... although there were 2 potential characters, there was only 1 costume, since they basically looked the same! Caleb and Brooks were baseball players, and Caleb thought it was too fun to wear Josh's baseball pants! Me and Mike even dressed up for the ward Trunk or Treat as Todd and Sarah Palin... just in time for the election! I thought it was fitting since I'm from Alaska and a Palin supporter... and Mike, of course, is my "first dude!"

Thanksgiving - we didn't host it this year... but spent the day with Mike's family and had a great time. Josh got to shoot a little 22 rifle for the first time. He still talks about it!

Starring roles - For the ward Christmas party most of us had parts in the Christmas Nativity Play. Josh was a sheep, Mike was Joseph, I was Mary and Brooks was Baby Jesus. Caleb cheered us on in the front row! Mike was not exactly happy about doing this, but he was a trooper to dress up and act the part. And Brooks did so great and "no crying he made".

Christmas - We were lucky enough to have my entire family come from Alaska and Iowa to spend 2 WONDERFUL weeks here in Virginia for Christmas! We added up to 14 with everyone.... 7 adults and 7 kids! Needless to say there was never a dull moment around here! Here's just a few of the things we did! Played Wii, played tennis, went miniature golfing, the kids acted out the Christmas story for our traditional Nativity Christmas Eve, rode the train at the mall, rode bikes and scooters in the driveway, went out to eat at Olive Garden, made gingerbread houses, watched a few movies, played Apples to Apples and laughed sooo hard, had family pictures taken, opened a "few" presents, played a lot of Rock Band, and just had fun being together as a family!

Brooks' Blessing - while my family was here, we blessed Brooks in Sacrament Meeting. the night before, I remembered I still hadn't bought his blessing outfit... so at 5:30pm, after a couple hours of playing tennis, and without taking a second look in the mirror, I bopped on over to Buttons and Bows for some last minute shopping. It was obviously dark outside, so when I walked in the store, it was very bright in there... especially with those non-forgiving flourescent lights. I was on a mission... so I bee-lined it straight for the blessing outfits and started thumbing my way through them, only to realize that my hands were very dirty... and I had dirt under a couple of my fingernails... This looked really bad in contrast to those perfectly white, delicate little outfits. The sales woman, complete with her own manicured nails, came over to ask me if I needed help. All of sudden it was VERY obvious that I was fighting a cold as i managed to say, "no thank you." I was just hoping that snot wasn't dripping down my face... I was having trouble finding something that didn't look too "girlie"... (instructions from Mike)... and it was getting close to closing time, so 2 more times, the sales people kept trying to help me. Finally, I accepted their help, and she asked me when I needed it by. It was just a tad embarrassing when I had to admit that I needed it by the next day... and she smugly replied, "I had a feeling you were going to say that!" Whooo-eeee... I felt like a loser at that point... rugged and ragged, trampling all through the store trying to find a special outfit for my son's special day 20 minutes before the store closed.... COULD THIS BE THE THIRD BABY BLUES, OR WHAT??? Oh well... everything turned out fine.... the outfit fit perfectly, he didn't cry during the blessing, and it ended up being a special day, despite the rough start!

2 days after my family left - I had to teach the lesson in RS... somehow I managed to get through it....

A week ago - Caleb and Brooks both got strep throat... but we're on the mend and sleeping through the night again! Thank goodness!

May not seem like much, but it's all enough to wear a mom of 3 out... Now, 3 weeks after Christmas, and i still haven't taken down my Christmas decorations! Mike keeps asking when it's going to get done... and I keep saying I'm not touching a thing until he brings down all the boxes from the attic... so who knows, we may be celebrating Christmas til Valentine's Day!

Here's a few more pictures......

visiting with Santa at the ward Christmas party.

we went miniature golfing...and they just HAD to climb up on these rocks!