Christmas 2009

This year we traveled really far for Christmas. We packed up the car with kids, gifts, and the dog to make the trek to my parents house 30 minutes away. Before we got there we stopped at Ben and Rachel's house to give them there gifts. She actually got me a book of my blog. It is the BEST and so thoughtful! I can't believe she did that for us. It has motivated me to keep up with this blog for journal purposes. She also gave my kids family home evening kits. So now all the kids do is pull out one of the scripture stories and we discuss it. So easy for us but I know it took her a lot of time to make.
We stayed a while there and then headed to my parents house. Kevin and his family spent the night to. For dinner we had tamales and soup. Forgive me Pamela I can't remember the name of it. We had a fun Christmas Eve and the kids went to bed around 9:30. Shea, Madi and Ellie slept downstairs in Laura's room. Carson slept on the floor in my old room and Matt, Lacey and I slept in the bed. I worked the night before so I only got 4 hours of sleep on Christmas Eve so by that night I was exhausted. That night the adults stayed up till about 1:00 am. My poor dad and brother had to help put our "stuff" together. But there was the movie Benchwarmers and gooey Flarp to keep us laughing. Flarp is a wonderful noise making putty! It had my dad laughing so hard that night! It is not Christmas until someone gets a farting toy!

The next morning the early riser was Madi at about 5am but we all stayed asleep until about 7:30. Poor Lacey woke up at 2:30 with bad diaper rash. I felt so bad for my brother and his wife sleeping next door and praying that Brody wouldn't wake up for them.

The kids got Zhu Zhu pets and other toys this year. The were the most excited about the Zhu Zhu pets. Brad and Kim came over just in time for breakfast. We had my mom's traditional goulash for breakfast. I enjoy this more than Christmas dinner or any Christmas goodies. We had fun opening presents and just chilling. My parents gave us sheets. My mom told my dad to get "Beech" brand and he ended up giving us silky slippery sheets. So funny! We returned them and go the Beech instead. They gave Matt a gift card. We also got the perfect brownie maker, a tote bag and a really nice letter from my parents expressing there gratitude to us along with something else that they were way to generous on. In the afternoon Matt and I got a Christmas nap! We also had our traditional candy car races to.

We went over to Matt's parents house about 5:00 for prime rib dinner. It was so good. This year I brought Texas Roadhouse rolls and they took forever to cook so we were a little late. Matt's parents gave him a photo book of his childhood up to his marriage. It took a lot of time to make and we will cherish it forever!! I guess we forgot our camera and didn't take pictures. I will be better at this next year. So we had a good time at his parents house then headed back to my parents to pack up and to go home.

On the way home poor Lu Lu threw up all over herself the car an her car seat. YUCK!! Later that night Matt got up and started barfing as well!! Poor thing. I was too tired to help him and I had to stay in bed with sicky poo Lacey. I finally went downstairs at 4:30. Laid him on the couch covered him up and told him to calm down and go to sleep. He doesn't do well with being sick! He finally fell asleep! What a weird ending to a wonderful Christmas!

Holiday Happenings

Tonight it is raining cats and dogs here. My Relief Society Meeting was cancelled tonight so I thought I would do some blog catching up.

Shea's Turkey Trot. We were able to go and watch her and eat lunch with her. She was so happy I could go and eat lunch with her.






Glendale Glitters Performance
Shea performed at Glendale Glitters this year. She had a lot of fun and it was the perfect night.

This picture was from a Nursing Home performance.


We also attended the Surprise Party. They had rides (which were a rip off), weird carnies and hot air balloons.
This is Shea a little freaked out by the lady who was working the ride!






We also attended our ward Christmas Party. They had a night in Bethlehem. We were encouraged to dress the times. But Shea was the only costume I had time for. I should have just put a sheet over my head and called it a day. There was a wonderful program and the booths and games ward members made were fantastic.

Matt and I were able to get away to Vegas for our anniversary. Jody watched my kids. She had a great first night. Lacey had her wrapped around her finger. She kept smiling and being cheesy so Jody wouldn't put her to bed. Jody also carried her around all the time and Lacey taught her sign language for "pick me up!" The second night Steve Jody's fiance was there. He said that his boys have gone into witness protection for a few years after a weekend with my kids. Carson threw up Saturday night and he ended up sleeping with them.

We stayed at South Point Hotel. It is off the strip and out of the rush of the strip. Of course Matt was in heaven because there just so happened to be a basketball tournament going on at the hotel and college basketball players were everywhere. On Saturday we got a couples massage and saw a movie at the movie theaters in the hotel. We didn't do much shopping or anything. We just hung out at the hotel and relaxed. We went to the Coach outlet store but I resisted getting a purse. Matt got me a pink sapphire necklace, earrings and ring set. He went to Jareds. I love them! I gave him a membership to massage envy a new wallet and a shirt. Trust me he loves the massage!! He gets a massage a month now.

For dinner Friday night we went to the RIO seafood buffet. I was in heaven. We went at about 4:30 because we didn't eat all day. We felt like the early birds in Sun City. On Saturday we had reservations to a restaurant at the Palms hotel. BUT we just wanted something familiar and quick. We went to Macaroni Grill at about 4:30 again. We are getting old. We had a good time away but it is always good to get back home.