I'm finally posting again!

So I realized that it had been a long time since I had posted and figured I'd better write something before I have no readers at all! Not that my writings warrant all to stop what they are doing to see the latest in my super exciting life, but I enjoy the connection I feel with my friend and family that read along.

I have had a ton of thoughts of things I should write about over the last few weeks, but now feel overwhelmed with how to catch up. So, I have decided to write a little synopsis of what we have been up to.

We had a delightful Christmas eve at my sister, Danielle's house. It has been a tradition of my family to get together for finger foods, games and a present exchange on Christmas eve. My children look forward to this time to reunite with their cousins and I love feeling the closeness of my family. Kelsey and I got coupons for Wicked tickets, Allen got some homemade bullets that he can't wait to shoot, Jordan received an MP3 player, and Jayden got a Lego set that he and Jordan put together right away.

Christmas day also brought the blessing of our usual tradition of having my parents come over. The kids are not allowed down stairs until Grandma and Grandpa come over. This year was a little unusual, however. We were able to sleep in till 8a.m., then Allen and I got up to let my parents in and move the new trampoline we had shipped to their house in and positioned, and we still had to wake the kids up. Guess they had too much fun with their cousins the night before!

Jayden was thrilled that Santa had given him just what he asked for.....a skate board and the protective gear to go with it. Kelsey's big news of the day was that she finally has an American Girl doll (Kit) to join in and play with all her friends who have owned them for years, and Jordan received the penguin he asked Santa for (guess you should be careful what you ask for.....you might just get it!)

My parents got Allen and I just what we wanted.....emergency preparedness items. All the while, I had a great time snapping way too many photos with my new camera lens. Allen also surprised me with a statue I had seen on our last trip to Hawaii, that I had really wanted. I love it and love that he remembered I had really wanted it! What a great surprise!

Our dog, Maddie even had a good Christmas. I had decided to get her a little dog bed of her own. She was so funny! She loved it and parked in her new bed all day. It was fun to see she liked it!

The day after Christmas, Danielle, Shaundel, Kelsey and I headed down to th Pantagous Theater to try for the Lottery Wicked tickets. Unfortunatly, so did 200+ other people and our chances of getting the $25 tickets are not looking so good! (We tried one more time last night, but with even more people there this time, we have decided we will go see it in San Fransisco the week of Kelsey, Shaudel, and my birthday. We convieneintly have conscutive birthdays and the kids have that friday off of school that week. It will be a great trip to look forward to!)

Saturday brought on a trip to Arizona to visit our good friends, Mike and Connie Thornock. We had a great time playing Rock Band (the big hit of the weekend) and playing games. We also went on a outing to a miniature golf place called CrackerJax. The golfing wasn't too great, but the batting cages and gocart rides were a big hit!

New years eve was a lot of fun, as well. Kelsey was invited to an American girl sleepover party with Afton and Amelia. Vicky made an incredibly fun night for the girls that Kelsey still talks about daily!

Allen and I were invited to a murder mystery party at the Hughes home. I had never been to one before and I ended up liking it more than I thought I would. We had a fun time getting a chance to visit with friends, meet new people, and enjoy the incredible spread of food! (Shopping for 50's style gangster outfits with my mom before hand was a lot of fun as well. I found two new outfits and Allen picked the shiny red one over the pock-a-dot dress I bought)

New Years day brought on painting. I had bought Allen a sleep number mattress for Christmas, so we thought we better paint our room before we installed the mattress. I am sad to announce that the painting didn't go too well! I don't want to wine too much, so just know that after a day full of prepping and painting....I really don't like the results and wish I hadn't taken on the task. Oh well, at least it is fresh and clean and we did manage to fix and cover the dry wall repairs from years ago. One step forward....two steps back! I don't quite have the energy to take on another full day of painting, so I think I am just going to live with it for now....I THINK?!?

Well, since it is already the 7th and I still have my Christmas decorations up, I suppose I had better go "undecorate" my house before the kids get home from school. I sure wish their break had been two weeks longer! I could have used more time with my kids!