Friday with Friends

And I again took NO pictures. Really, what was I thinking? But we had such a fun day I can't pass up blogging about it. My dear friend Renee moved up to Utah 3 years ago and every time I go up there I make a point to go see her. My friend Jackie, who is also good friends with Renee, and was also in town (the one who's daughter ended up in the ER and with pins in her arm), came up to Renee's too so we got to spend the day together. Renee lives up in Heber just like 10 minutes from my Aunt and Uncle's cabin. The kids have all known each other since they were tiny (I met Renee when Leah was 3 weeks old) and even though they don't get to see each other that often, they always jump right back in to playing with each other just like old times. Paul was feeling better by then and so it was nice for me to have him there to help watch the kids. Me and Jackie and Renee chatted for hours and before I knew it, it was almost 5 pm. So we said our goodbyes and headed back to our hotel in Sandy. But not without stopping at good ole' Cafe Rio on the way. I can't go to Utah and not go to Cafe Rio. It's SO yummy! I did manage to take pictures of that. Sheesh...I think my priorities are a bit messed up. My mom and stepdad met us at Cafe Rio with Blaike (Ty and Heather were back at my mom's packing and Kamron had caught the flu bug. It went through their whole family too. I guess they have Leah to thank for that. Oops!) 

My Birthday

Of which I took NO pictures. Not a single solitary one. I can't even believe it.

So my birthday came. I told it not to but it came anyway. The big 34. It's kind of depressing. Thirty four sounds so old. Like mid 30's old. My goodness....my mom was a grandma at 38. That's only four years from now. Now I didn't have kids young enough to be a grandma in 4 years, but STILL. The thought that I even could is depressing.

Anyway, I'll get over. I should just be glad that I'm alive and well and still my feisty self.

It was a great day though and thanks to FB and texts, I felt extremely loved. My mom watched the kids for me that day and me and Paul got to go out with my cousin Brittany (who is like a sister to me) and her hubby Marcin (who I totally love). We ate at CPK and then sat around and chatted forever. Finally we got up and headed to see a movie. "Sherlock Holmes".  It was REALLY good. I never saw the first one, but now I'm thinking I need to go back and watch it. 

My mom gave me the best gift ever. She scanned a bunch of my baby pictures and made it into a digital book. I loved it so much I cried. And I don't like to cry. It made me realize how glad I am that I do this blog and make it into books. I know my kids will cherish having them to look at one day. At least I'm hoping they do.

The Cabin

Wednesday was the BIG day were all going to get together with my Aunt and Uncle and their kids. My Uncle's parents bought a huge 6,000 sq ft. cabin up in Heber (Timberlakes actually) and had rented snow mobiles for the day. We got up early to head up there and spend as much time as possible. After getting ready though I realized Paul was in NO way possible feeling well enough to come. So I got the kids all ready and headed out without him. It was sad to not be together, but I think he was glad for the day to rest and try and get better, and I didn't want to miss my chance to see my family. The house was amazing. It had two full kitchens, two big lofts (one they had put a bouncer in), 5 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms and multiple living room areas. It was so fun to hang out and chat with my cousins and their kids. My kids had a blast riding down the driveway on tubes and I even got to go on a quick snowmobile ride around the back roads up there. 

Beautiful Cabin!

Leah and Kylan

Ava (Chelsea's little girl) and Khloe

Brenda, My mom, Me and Carter taking a ride on the razor.

Hanging out with some of the family.

Brenda, Khloe and Chelsea

Family Fun Center & the Movies

After getting some much needed rest we were up and ready to go. At first we talked about going to Gardner's Village ( a favorite for me), but after thinking about it, we decided the kids would be bored to tears there and thus we would have no fun. So we chose a "Family Fun Center" just five minutes from my mom's house. Ty and Heather got in at 4 that morning, so we took their boys while they tried to rest. The kids had a blast. For ten bucks they could play unlimited for 3 hours. They tried rollar skating, but when that proved to be too difficult, they got scooters and rode those around the rink. There was an arcade, a bounce house area, a jungle climbing area, foam ball blast zone, laser tag and pizza. They had a great time. We ran into some friends that live down here in Burbank. Their daughter had just fallen while skating and had to be taken to the ER. She ended up with pins in her arm and a splint that will be casted later. Poor little girl. After that I was glad my girls weren't interested in skating. 

Here are the only two photos I took. 

That afternoon, Paul started to not feel well (the flu bug had been through all of us. I guess it finally was his turn.) So he went back to the hotel with Brandon (who wanted to stay with his Daddy) and I took my girls and Ty and Heather's boys to the movies to see "We Bought a Zoo", while my mom watched Carter. Totally cute movie. Probably wouldn't have taken the girls if I had known it had bad language in it. It was a little old for Leah anyway. But overall, they had a fun time and were just happy to be at the movies. And for $6.00 a ticket, I was ready to go to another one.

The Midnight Drive

Or I guess I should say the 11:00 pm drive. So here's how it all started. Like I said, Paul mentioned at 10 o'clock, when I was still packing up, that he wished we could just go ahead and leave. I looked at him half crazy, but then started to think about it. I have friends that do it all the time. They talk about how great it is because their kids sleep the whole time and the trip goes by faster. So we thought we'd give it a whirl. We knew we would be tired, but if we traded off driving, maybe it wouldn't be too bad. I told him I would need about another hour to finish packing and then we'd get the car totally loaded up and then put the kids in it. So right at 11pm we had the car totally loaded. I went up to get the girls first while Paul got Brandon. Brandon transferred no problem. Hardly woke up when we put him in his car seat and then got all snuggled into it (as much as one CAN get snuggled into a car seat) and fell right back to sleep. Leah came down pretty well, but Ashlyn, in her half alert state, was resisting. I sent her down with her blanket and pillow and all she kept saying is that it wasn't morning and she wanted to get back in her bed. I brought Carter down and he seemed to transfer pretty well and I thought once we got moving, that he'd fall asleep no problem. 

Well, we got down to the car and realized Ashlyn had gone back up to her bed. HA! So Paul went back up to get her and I grabbed the last few items. All the sudden we hear Brandon screaming. I was like no, no, no. So I ran down to the car thinking he woke up and was freaking out about being in his car seat, but no, he was screaming because Carter had thrown up ALL over himself and his car seat. One might think, well, let's just bag it and put the kids back to bed and wait till morning. BUT being that he is the fourth kid, we just pulled him out of his seat, Paul took him to clean him up, and I cleaned up the car seat. By 11:28pm we were pulling out of the garage. And yes, our car smelled like throw up the whole way there. 

The kids settled down and most fell asleep pretty well, except for Ashlyn who was now wide awake. I drove for the first couple hours or so and then traded off with Paul on a dark little exit where the kids would be less likely to wake up. I tried to sleep in the car, but it wasn't very comfy and I was worried about Paul (it was the dead of night by then). And every time I looked back at Ashlyn she was still awake. Paul drove until he just couldn't anymore (a few hours at least), so we got gas and a little while after, we traded back. I got out of the car to switch back and it was FREEZING! Like 9 degrees outside. We were DEFINITELY not in CA anymore. Haha... Anyway, Leah woke up from time to time and the boys made noises here and there, but for the most part they slept. Ashlyn....not so much. We were making great time though and after one more driving switch (I barely lasted an hour and a half that time) we were almost to my mom's house. It was only 8:00 in the morning by that time. The kids were all awake now, and so we stopped at McDonald's for breakfast and a bathroom break. Paul and I were completely exhausted. We pulled up to my mom's house just after 10 am, but with the time change it was only 9am so the whole trip took 9 1/2 hours. That's a new record for us for sure! But was it worth it....in the girls words, NO! 

We hung out at my mom's house for a few hours, had lunch, tried to rest a little (didn't work so well) and went to our hotel to get cleaned up. We ended up staying at the hotel for longer than we thought we would because Carter fell asleep on the floor in the living room next to Paul (the hotel had no crib for us). We headed back to my mom's for dinner. Hung out for a bit and then went back to the hotel for a good nights sleep. It wasn't until the next day that I felt like a normal human being again. I'm not sure we'll do that again. Although on the way home, when the kids kept asking how long before we got home, we thought well maybe the night driving wasn't so bad after all. Haha...but really I think next time we'll try leaving at like 5 in the evening, so that we get to my mom's by the middle of the night, transfer the kids to their sleeping places and then hopefully get a few hours of sleep before morning. We'll see. I have no immediate plans to go back as of right now.

Resolutions

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not too good at making or keeping New Year's Resolutions. Last time I made one, I broke it just two months later (remember my no soda resolution? Yeah, probably not because it didn't last too long. I think I made it to the middle of February. Who knew I loved the stuff so much.) But this time I'm going to do more whole self resolutions, instead of just picking one vice and trying to get rid of it. Because let's be honest, I'm a mom of four little kids who doesn't drink coffee. Sometimes I need a little caffeine to get through my day. Does that make me a bad person? I don't think so.

My friend Beth is awesome at making resolutions and she always seems to keep them too. So I'm going to follow her example and try to be a little better myself. I loved her list. You can check it out on her blog if you'd like. I'm copying some of her ideas even, because let's face it, we are both moms of little kids. That gives us much to have in common. So, here it goes. Wish me luck.

For me personally:

  * Keep up with the Relief Society Manual lessons. Meaning, read them even though I haven't been in RS for so many years I have lost count (I'm NOT complaining. I LOVE primary.)

  * Keep up with my blog (it's totally my children's scrapbook) and finish two blog books this year.

  * Utilize my 18 remaining spin classes before they expire and do my aerobics DVD at least twice a week. 

  * Drink more water, LESS soda (I didn't say NO soda. Haha)

  * Read 6 books this year.

For me as a mom:

  * Continue monthly one on one dates with each of our children.
* Pray for patience and the ability to yell less (I hate yelling. I hear myself doing it and it makes me sick. I can only imagine what my kids are thinking.)

  * Play/read/interact with my kids more. I'm really good at taking them places and doing things, but when we get home I go off and do my thing and they do theirs. I need to work on taking some time to interact with them at home more. (Well, I guess I'm talking about the girls more. The boys still demand quite a bit of my attention. Haha).

  

For me as a wife:

  * Go on at least two dates a month with Paul.

  * Be more patient with his calling. (That's gonna be a hard one at times.)

Home Improvements:
*Replace the kids closet doors with new mirrored ones.

I think that's probably good for this year. I better not overwhelm myself. I'll end up doing none of it. 

Christmas DAY

We will start with Christmas Eve, of which I took VERY few photos. Ty and Heather came over that night for dinner of burgers and hot dogs (yes we grilled out on Christmas Eve. I know...I'm crazy. It sounded good. And it was!) We hung out and chatted for a while. The kids ran around and played. Except Leah kept complaining that her stomach was hurting. I kept thinking she had eaten too much candy. Well, I was wrong. About 7:30 pm, she threw up. Ty and Heather left. We got her cleaned up, got the house cleaned up and tried to settle down for the night. Needless to say it was not the evening I was hoping for. *sigh* Oh well, I guess I have next Christmas Eve. 

We did manage to make and decorate some sugar cookies to leave for Santa. (Don't worry, I threw all the cookies that Leah touched, in the garbage.) Then I watched my traditional "The Nativity Story" and went to bed. Luckily all gifts were already wrapped and everything was ready for Christmas morning. No staying up late for me. Santa was coming. I had to get to bed.

Kids decorating cookies. The boys didn't last too long. Shocker! 

                                     

This was when Leah really started to not feel well. Poor thing.

Little Kylan playing in the wrapping paper.

Cookies for Santa. Yay!

And come he did!

Carter got a new music activity center and Brandon got an awesome Optimus Prime Transformer.

Leah got the Barbie doll and carriage she wanted, and Ashlyn got another American Girl Doll. 

This year I decided to wrap each of our kids gifts in one kind of paper. That way the kids could easily find their gifts in the morning. It worked out quite well. And they were so cute about it. Even Brandon could help hand out gifts because he knew what paper went with which person. I think I like that idea.

In all the commotion of the evening before, we didn't have the kids open their new jammies. 

Ashlyn was quite excited to see her "My American Girl" doll that she had requested from Santa. I can't say she was really surprised though. She knew she had been a good girl all year and was fully expecting to get what she asked for. 

And now this sad little face is not the face of a girl who didn't get what she wanted. It's the face of a little girl who is QUITE upset that she isn't feeling well. I felt awful for her. What could be worse to a five year old than being sick on Christmas morning. She could barely muster the energy to be excited for her gifts. The poor little thing. She mostly just laid on the couch and had Brandon bring her her gifts.

Carter was much more interested in his toys this Christmas than he was last year. 

Granted, he was only 7 weeks old last Christmas.

This was one excited little boy, who probably didn't deserve a new transformer from Santa for all the fits he's been throwing lately. I guess Santa decided to cut him a little slack though since he is just three years old, and it's hard to be three I guess. He had Daddy tearing in to the box in no time.

The one and only picture of me on Christmas morning. So no matter how awful it is, it has to go on the blog for posterities sake.

Mustering a bit of energy to be excited for her globe piggy bank.

It was all too much effort though and pretty soon she crashed.

But Carter still had plenty of energy so he kept on playing....in the trio blocks box. 

Ashlyn is one VERY lucky little girl and got a Kindle Fire from her Pop. She LOVES to read, and her Pop knew that, so when he won one at work, he thought he'd pass it along to her. She didn't waste anytime having me download a few new Magic Treehouse books for her to read. 

Brandon got a few other transformers from us and one from Ty and Heather, so he was in Transformer Heaven.

And he wasn't about to share. (Poor little Carter. I keep telling Brandon that he better be nice to his brother because one day he's gonna start fighting back.)

Carter playing on his new pirate ship from Uncle Steve.

And here's my poor little sick girl. She wanted so badly to get up and start playing with her toys, but she just didn't have it in her and fell asleep sitting up in her chair.

 Since it was Sunday, we had Church. But since Leah was sick, I stayed home with the kids while Paul went to church by himself. He had to speak that day and so there was no staying home for him. I was sad to miss his talk. I spent the rest of the day packing up for our trip to Utah the next day. Well....it was suppose to be the next day. But about 10 pm that night Paul thought it'd be a great idea to just go ahead and leave and drive through the night... So we did. Stay tuned for our exciting trip details.