OUR NEW YEAR'S EVE CELEBRATION

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL

(a week late).

New Years Eve is one of my favorite nights of the entire year. When else can you play games for hours and eat all kinds of deliciously unhealthy food and not worry about it? For New Year's Eve, Bishop Paul Hoggan (the bishop Brian is counselor for) asked our family to spend New Year's Eve with them. The other counselor (Craig Adams) and his family were invited too.

We ended up going to the Adam's home due to their two small children needing to go to bed early. We started with dinner and continued eating late into the night. Our children all get along and they had a fabulous time. They watched movies and played their own games.

The adults played some great games and the ladies enjoyed teaming up against our wonderful husbands. It all worked out great because we won some and they won some.

I could have played all night, but unfortunately midnight did come and the celebrating did need to be replaced by a few hours of sleep. I could have a game night every week. Any takers.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

After a month of hustle and bustle, shopping, parties, being a little stressed, the day finally arrived. The kids could hardly stand it on Christmas Eve. "Can we open a present?" they asked all day long. It was funny how the answer never changed but they kept asking.

One of our family traditions is that the kids get to sleep all together on Christmas Eve. They picked the boys room and scooted all the beds together and then Sammy brought her mattress in. (She is no dumby. Comfort is important.) They stayed up way to late, but missed Santa anyway. What a sneaky Santa.

Tradition calls for a parent wake up call no sooner than 6:00 am. In past years the kids have been prompt. This year their late night paid off for Mom and Dad and they slept in until 7:30. Brian and I enjoyed sleeping in. Maybe they will wise up next year and set an alarm.

Our first Christmas present was enjoyed in November when we took the kids to Disneyland the day after Thanksgiving. Because of that Christmas was smaller this year, but I think just as fun.

My big present this year was a new lap top computer. Yeah!!!! I was so

excited. Our other lap top is really slow and having problems. This one is just for Brian and I. Most especially so I can run my new Photoshop Elements that my brother Glen got me a killer deal on because he works for an Adobe company. (Thanks Glen you are the best.) I look forward to doing some fun scrapbooking with it.

The day was a much needed relaxing one. The kids watched all the movies they got. The boys flew their remote control helicopters (yes, and even broke them), we ate too much junk food (Yum, yum), and I even got a nap. What a glorious day. I hope you all had a wonderful day as well. Now we look forward to celebrating the new year.

THANKSGIVING CRUISE

I am finally doing it. I have written about our Thanksgiving cruise. I am not the most interesting writer but it will give you an idea of the fun we had. Happy reading.

This summer I challenged my children to practice getting along and avoid fighting with each other. I told them that if they could do it for 40 days we would take them to Disneyland. They did it and we planned on taking them to Disneyland over Thanksgiving break. Two and half weeks before our trip Brian and I looked into cruises leaving from L.A. We found a 4 day cruise that would cost about the same amount so we decided to do it.
Sunday, November 22 we drove to St. George. Brian’s brother, Larry, and his family came on this trip with us. We hooked up in Utah Valley and caravanned together to St. George. Brian’s parents came with us on the trip also so we met them at the hotel in St. George . Monday we continued our drive to L.A. and boarded our ship (the Carnival Paradise) that afternoon.

The kids were so excited. They had plans for swimming, but the pools didn’t get filled until the next day. Monday night was a little crazy with trying to figure out who was going to sleep in what rooms and finding our way around the ship. Monday night was not the most enjoyable night, but we sure enjoyed the food.

Tuesday morning I woke up before anyone else. I went up on top and ran around the small track they have. What a beautiful morning. We were parked outside Catalina Island just waiting for our time to unload. The air was cool and refreshing. It felt so good to be moving around outside. And then I got to watch the sun rise. Gorgeous. This was one of my favorite experiences on the ship.

The rest of the day continued to be wonderful. Breakfast was great. I will just say now that the food was fantastic. The food was a highlight.

We packed a bag with wet suits and snorkel equipment and headed off to Catalina. It is a beautiful island. The temperature was perfect. When we left home on Sunday it was snowing so we were really enjoying the weather. We found a place to snorkel, but the water was really cold. Brian, Steven, Sammy, and Braden were brave and went in the water anyway. Thank you RaeAnn and Kevin for the wet suits. They helped.

We spent the rest of the day at a sandy beach near the dock. Even though the water was cold, the kids had a great time playing. Grandpa rented a golf cart for a couple of hours so we got to take a ride around part of the island as well. We saw some gorgeous views.

Wednesday our stop was Ensanada, Mexico. This wasn’t a favorite stop of ours. It wasn’t a very pretty place, but we did enjoy the blow hole we saw. Apparently it is only one of three in the world. We did some shopping and headed back to the ship. Kylee, Aubree, and Josh spent the day in the kids club. Besides the food that was the best thing on the ship. The kids loved it and it provided free time for us adults.

Thursday didn’t feel like Thanksgiving, but we had a great day. This was a sea day so we ventured to the pools. The water in the pools was cold so the hot tubs were packed. There was one kids pool that was warm, but it was the size of a hot tub. The little kids were lucky enough to get in this one. We did some miniature golf, the big kids put together a treasure hunt, and we played games all together. We did get a turkey dinner. The turkey was delicious, but we sure did miss all the other homemade food. Don’t get me wrong. I am very thankful I didn’t have to cook anything. But, Thanksgiving is all about the family and homemade food. It was a wonderful day.

Friday we got off the ship and said farewell to Grandma and Grandpa. They headed back to Utah, but we surprised the kids and decided to take them to Disneyland for a day. We got there about an hour after it opened. It was very crowded, but I think we all really enjoyed it. The older kids got to go off by themselves. Thanks to walkie talkies we were able to stay in touch with them. Larry, Rachel, Brian, and I stayed with the younger four. We didn’t ride the big rides, but it was fun to see the younger kids get excited. The park was beautifully decorated with Christmas décor. I would have loved to go a few more days, but I am glad we got to do the cruise.

Saturday we drove home all day and arrived to our wonderful house at 11:30 at night. The kids did an amazing job driving in the car all day. We only stopped twice. It was a wonderful week and we are so grateful for the opportunity to take the kids on a fun trip like this. We are so grateful for Brian’s parents, Larry, Rachel, and their kids. We had a wonderful time. We would have loved to go with the whole family. Hopefully, someday we can do that.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAMMY!!!!!!

14 years ago today my life changed forever. I became a mother for the first time. My sweat, tiny, little Samantha was born. She was only 5 lbs 5 oz. She had stopped growing and so the doctor started me 10 days before my due date. It was an overwhelming feeling to see my little baby for the first time. I cried like I had never cried before (I was a little embarrassed after). As I was holding my little baby I noticed sucking marks on her hands.

14 years later she is still small for her age, but she is so full of life. Sammy loves to be busy and have fun. She is active and healthy. She is a leader who cares about others. She is responsible, helpful, and a hard worker. Sammy's love for the Savior has grown so much and she strives everyday to be like Him. She is a great example to me of faith and obedience. I love her so much and couldn't ask for a better daughter.

Some other fun things about Sammy:

*She plays the piano and has become quite good. I love to hear her practice.

*She is athletic and plays volleyball.

*She is a 4.0 student.

*She loves romantic movies, just like her mother.

*She loves to ski (super fast).

* She loves to be with her cousins.

*She is beautiful and so fun.

Love you so much Sammy. Have a fantastic Birthday!!!!!

NEW PICTURES

I am not a fan of school pictures. I really like the out doors for the backdrop to pictures. This year we had a lady I visit teach take the kids pictures. I think she did a pretty good job. I would love to learn to take good pictures. Some day I will invest in a good camera and take pictures of my kids myself.