Bringing 2010 To An End

When I have finished this post, I think I can finally consider myself caught up. I have made a promise to myself that I will not get that far behind again. Hopefully I can stay on top of things. It’s no fun blogging about stuff that I can barely remember.

It seems like our Christmas Season was a bit hectic this year. I didn’t even get any baking done, so therefore, we did not give out any neighbor gifts this year. I find myself thinking that we didn’t focus on the more important things, and we let the hustle and bustle take over. So, note to self, try to make next year a little more special.

A few days before Christmas, Hannah was playing at a friends house and totally smashed her finger between two exercise weights. It looked awful, and was definitely something that I worried about. Luckily the doctor was able to take care of it in the office, and patched her right up. She worried so much about having to get stitches or that something might be really wrong, but in the end she loved all of the extra attention.

My mom and dad came for a visit on the 23rd. It’s always exciting when they show up with giant bags full of presents. My dad got out the video camera and took tons of videos of the kids. Tauna flew in the next day, and so we were only missing Sam. Hopefully we will get to see her sometime soon.

Our very own Christmas eve tradition is making graham cracker houses. Steve is the master carpenter and gets all of the houses glued together with hot glue. This year, he went above and beyond and made an extra large two story house with the leftover crackers.

 

Our other Christmas Eve Tradition is to let the kids open one present. They all know that they are getting Pajamas, and then a movie to watch. It makes them crazy that they never get to open a real present. I tried to get them to hold still for a photo of them in their new PJ”s, but it’s beyond impossible.

We all enjoyed our Christmas morning. I took more pictures than usual, so it is hard to choose just a few for this post. I will throw some in when and if I ever get around to making a blog book. Besides, there are not many people who want to look at pictures of other people opening presents.

We also have many pictures of the easy bake creations that were made later in the afternoon. I was happily taking a little snooze during the baking process, but was later informed that the chocolate cake was delish and the yellow cake didn’t quite turn out. I do not have wonderful things to say about the easy bake oven, however, it gives Hannah something to do.

All through December, I was worried that we might not have a very white Christmas. We did eventually get some snow before the magical day, so no worries there. However, the real snow came right before New Years. We had so much snow, that we had to snow blow 3 times that day.

Finally, our New Years Eve celebrations. We decided to forget about the easy bake oven, and go for some real cakes. The girls each made their own cakes, and then we tried out our new mini cupcake maker that we got for Christmas. We had cakes and cupcakes and frosting everywhere, but everyone had a great time decorating.
 

We spent most of the day watching our favorite movies that we got for Christmas, including Despicable Me which we probably watched twice. We finished off the year by enjoying the firework show put on by the neighbors as we drank our sparkling fruit drinks. It should have been hot chocolate, but I wasn’t using my brain.

So now that I am all caught up, I don’t know if I will have much to write about for a while. January is now over, and nothing much has happened. At least we will have Jack’s birthday in February.

Our Magical Downtown Family Night Adventure

This year, Steve and I did not get tickets to our favorite Christmas concert put on by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. So apparently the only other festive activity that we could come up with was to take the kids to see the lights at Temple Square. Most people enjoy this activity and highly recommend it to their friends. However, our sojourn to the big city was wrought with many trials and tribulations, so we are going to think twice before attempting this as a family ever again.

Our evening started out with Steve arriving home at around 6:00 pm. I was mildly irritated at the kids, and somewhat frazzled at the thought of coming up with something to fix for dinner. Since it was also a Monday, one of us was going to have to come up with some sort of Family Night Activity. Steve, who had just driven home from Salt Lake suggested that we pick up something to eat and head back down to see the lights. This was an amazingly kind gesture on his part, because who really wants to drive to and from SLC twice in one day?

So we loaded up the kids and headed to the gas station to fill up the car and our bellies with food from Wendy’s. It seemed like everything we did took forever, plus, the chicken sandwiches had mayo on them and since mayo is poisonous, we had to go back and get more sandwiches. By the time we headed out, it was around 7:00 pm

We decided that since there was a Jazz game, we had better not try and find parking downtown, so we headed to a trax station around Trolley Square. In our mad rush to get out of the house, we did not have time to familiarize ourselves with the way trax works these days. We showed up with nothing but plastic to pay for our tickets, but the ticket kiosk only took cash. So more time was spent traipsing through the area to get cash from the nearest grocery store. This was not such a bad thing, because as soon as we entered the grocery store, magical fairies called to the children saying, “bathroom, bathroom, bathroom” so at least we got that part out of the way.

After we finally boarded the next train that came along, we discovered that the (green) train we were on was headed south instead of north. So we got off at the next stop which was the Library. This is where Steve decided that no matter how hard we tried, we would never ever in the history of the world be able to figure out which train would take us to the lights, so we must just walk the rest of the way.

So around 8:30 pm, Steve and I along with Jonathon, Thomas, Hannah, Libby, and Henry & Jack in strollers, headed off into the night with the assurances of Steve who said he knew where we were and how to get where we needed to be. I did not have my doubts about being able to find the Temple, I did, however, wonder how long it was going to take us to get there.

I will not lie, I was not a good sport about walking all that way. Amazingly, the kdis did not complain at all. Well, maybe they did, but I wasn’t paying attention. I was lost in my self pity, thinking in my head what I was going to say to Steve later when he tried to make us walk all the way back to the car. This was not a happy thought, so I focused on the passing trax cars and tried to figure out which color we should take to get back.

Shouts of joy abounded when we finally saw a giant glowing Christmas Tree from afar. Our pace quickened, and we were finally there. It truly was amazing, there is no doubt about it. Every time we go there, I have to wonder how many hours must have been spent on stringing all those lights on every branch and twig. We wandered around for a little bit, and then everyone was ready to go.

As we were heading out, the kids were all wondering if we were going to stop and get a treat or something. We tried explaining to them that since it was after 9:00, there were not any places that were open. Plus, both Steve and I were preoccupied with trying to figure out which train to get on.

It was nice that there was a trax station not too far from where we were, and by now I knew that we needed to get on either a red or yellow car. So we waited and waited and finally we saw the train coming towards us. The only problem was that we were waiting on the wrong part of the platform. The train passed us and stopped further on down from where we were. We had to move quickly to catch the doors before they closed. We really had to scramble to get everyone and the strollers moved without loosing anyone. Somehow, in the commotion, Thomas got tripped up and biffed it on the pavement.

Steve was already at the train door, but looked back to see Thomas on the ground and was about to let the door close when It magically opened and more people got off the train. Thomas was up and on his way, but I had to make a split second decision. Jack had dropped my gloves and I wasn’t sure if I could to back and get them and still make it before the train left. In my mind, it was like a scene from the movies and I was moving in slow motion. I ran back, grabbed the gloves and made it onto the train just in time. In the movies, all the people on the train would have clapped for us. In real life, they didn’t but there were a couple of very nice gentlemen who stood up so that we could all sit down together.

We got back to the car around 10:00 pm. I could not have been happier. Steve felt bad and apologized for making us go through the whole thing. The kids were still whining about wanting goodies and treats. Me and Steve just wanted to get home, so we put our invisible earplugs in and ignored them until they all fell asleep. After that, it was a pleasant drive home.

So, if we do attempt this again in the future, at least we will know what not to do.

Fun Filled Fall Festivities

It’s always a happy time for me when the kids head back to school and stop yelling at each other all day long. Some might wonder if I would rather just keep the kids home in order to avoid the stressful mornings spent waiting in line at the school drop off area. Still it’s nice to have my days free of bickering, so I must endure through the agony of dealing with inconsiderate people who don’t know how to pull all the way forward. That’s all I have to say about that.

In October, Steve and Hannah went on a Daddy Daughter Activity for Achievement Days. Hannah was very excited about the whole thing. The girls got to make up special invitations for all of the dad’s, and they had to dress up for the special Masquerade Ball. They even learned how to do some ball room dancing.

For Fall Break we headed down to Phoenix to see Steve’s sister and her family.
It was actually an enjoyable mini vacation, and we are hoping that we will make
the effort to visit there more often. The only pictures we took during the whole
trip were of the kids half asleep in the hotel room.

 

 
For Steve’s birthday this year, I have no clear memory of what we did. I am pretty sure that we had dinner at one of our favorite restaurants. I don’t know what he got for his birthday, but whenever I ask him about it, all I hear is that we sure didn’t go anywhere fun like Disneyland. For the record, Steve likes to buy himself presents when it’s not his birthday, so sometimes his birthdays are a little bit of a let down.

Documenting the first snow of the year - October 26th.
It was such a beautiful night, but this picture isn’t even close to capturing it.

For Halloween, the kids pretty much wore that same costumes as last year, so I didn’t take pictures of the kids, but we do have pics of the pumpkins. Halloween was a very stormy night, and we didn’t get much trick or treating in because of the downpour.

Henry’s,  Jonathon’s,  Thomas’,  Hanna’s
Steve’s,  Neisha’s,  Libby’s  and  Jack’s

For Thanksgiving we made many plans, but none of them panned out.
So it was just us at home feasting on turkey.
Of course it was the best turkey ever, but I think we say that every year.

Our most time honored Thanksgiving tradition is making homemade
place cards. Hannah took on the job all by herself this year, and this is
what she came up with. I don’t think the picture can portray how cute they
looked with their little tiny feathers in the back.

And finally, homemade apple pie. It looks kind of gooey around the edges, 
however, that’s caramel so it’s a good kind of gooey.

Hannah’s 9th Birthday – Sept 2, 2010

 
Hannah usually has a great Magical Birthday Weekend because it almost always falls on Labor Day Weekend. It’s a good thing too, because Hannah always has high expectations. She has such a hard time coping when all the fun comes to an end.

Once again, she decided on a trip to the Kamas Pool – we checked first to make sure that they were for sure open, so as to avoid last years mishap of driving the whole way there to find pool closed. After swimming, we headed to the pizza/ice cream store. If this sounds familiar, it’s because this is the activity chosen most often by my kids for their birthday. The pizza is quite tasty and the kids love to stare at the bins full of ice cream and take forever to pick out their flavor.

 

Grammy also came for a visit sometime during the weekend and we had a little party. I went to great lengths to give Hannah a customized Taylor Swift cake. It was a lot of work, so no laughing. I created the picture on the computer by using one of Hannah’s favorite clip art girls. Then, I tried to recreate it in frosting – not so easy! She was happy with it though, and really that’s all that matters.

 
Right now, Hannah is learning and growing and testing boundaries. One minute, she can be the sweetest little girl who has smart and interesting things to say. The next minute, when she gets upset, the whole world turns upside down for us all. I have learned that she is happiest when she has a project or if she has some sort of responsibility. Boredom is Hannah’s downfall – she gets into so much trouble when she has nothing to do. She is a great helper with Jack and is always the first to volunteer to get him dressed, or put him to bed, or even to change his non stinky diapers. She is very creative and loves to draw and color and listen to music. There is never a dull moment with Hannah around.

August 17th 2010 – Neisha’s Birthday

 

My new resolution is to post something at least once a week. I think Sunday is a good day to dedicate to documenting family history, So it’s time to get caught up.

For my birthday this year we decided to take a trip to Disneyland. Just me and Steve. The kids were disappointed, but they got over it quickly because they got to spend time with Grammy.

The night before we left, Steve surprised me with cakes from a real bakery – something that I have been hinting about for years. They were so tasty! It’s a good thing that they were small cakes so that I didn’t have to feel guilty for eating all of the leftovers.

The next morning, we hopped on an early flight down to California, took a cab to the Hotel and then headed out to Disney. We thoroughly enjoyed wandering through the park without having to listen to kids whine about everything.

* * * Flash Back * * *

When I was a senior, Steve took me to my Prom. The Prom itself was uneventful, but the day after, he took me to Disneyland. The day was filled with adventure as we explored the park and talked about our favorite rides, and got to know each other better. We had such a good time, that we missed our flight and had to take a later one that routed us from Orange County to Las Vegas to Phoenix.

(Insert lost pictures here when you figure out where you put the box of old photos)

Since my entire existence is based on the consumption of deliciously tasty food, the day was made extra special with a lunch at the Blue Bayou. This is the restaurant that you can see as you are floating by on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. Neither of us knew what to expect as we ordered - Steve chose some type of steak, and I opted for something called a Monte Cristo sandwich. I had never heard of such a thing before – a ham and turkey sandwich dipped in batter and deep fried, served with grape jelly. I had my doubts, but the menu was New Orleans Style food, and this was really the only thing that sounded edible. I am happy to tell you that I chose wisely that day.

* * * End Flash Back * * *

What a delectable combination of taste and texture. I immediately fell in love with that sandwich. For eighteen years, I have searched unsuccessfully for a sandwich as good as that one. Other sandwiches claiming to be a Monte Cristo did not even come close to the awesomeness of the Blue Bayou version. We have been back to Disneyland several times, but have never been able to get a table at that restaurant.

So, for my Birthday, we made reservations. I was worried that maybe I had only imagined the greatness of my lunch that day and that it would be a bitter disappointment when I was finally able to bite into my sandwich.

It seemed to take forever, as we ate our way through the first course of soup and salad. Steve, who rarely tries anything new, opted for a chicken gumbo soup. I sat and watched with amazement as he ate the entire cup full of soup. His palette has grown so much since we first met.

When at last my lunch finally arrived, my fears of being disappointed by the built up sandwich were laid to rest as I took my first bite. It was just as good as I remembered it to be. The only problem that I faced was when I realized in my older age how utterly fattening a deep fried sandwich must be. But hey, it was my birthday, so I tried no to think about it.

It was hard for us to get going after lunch. Too bad there is not a sleepy time land to take a nap for a while. The problem that we usually run into, is that Steve is ready to leave when we have gone through the park and hit all of the rides. I, however, feel like we must get our money’s worth and stay until the kick us out. Again, since it was my magical birthday trip, we got to stay for the fireworks.

I love Disney firework shows. They are absolutely the best. It was crazy how many people were packed in front of the castle to see the show. It was like sardines. We ended up having to sit on the road, but It was still  enjoyable. I really didn’t want to leave, but I don’t think they let you sleep over.

It was such a great Birthday. Thanks Steve for spoiling me rotten.