MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS! WE HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR. I DIDN'T GET CHRISTMAS CARDS COMPLETED THIS YEAR.

WE ARE SO GRATEFUL TO OUR SAVIOR AND HIS LIFE. IT IS SO NICE TO REFLECT UPON HIS BIRTH AND LIFE THIS TIME OF YEAR. WHAT A WONDERFUL EXAMPLE AND TEACHER HE IS.

WE HOPE YOU ALL ENJOY YOUR FAMILIES AND REALIZE THAT YOU ARE IMPORTANT TO US. WE WISH YOU THE VERY BEST THROUGHOUT 2008.

:)

Fantasia

We lost a dear member of our family yesterday. Fantasia was my very first horse. My dad bought her for me when I was 4 years old. We were watching the Riverton Parade on the 4th of July and some kids went by us on ponies. I looked up at my dad and said, dad I want a pony to ride in the parade. The very next day my dad went and bought her. Is that spoiled or what? She taught all of us how to ride horses. I rode her in the Riverton City 4th of July parade the year after we got her and my sisters did several times as well. That first year I rode in the parade if I remember right my dad lead me while he rode on his horse.

The following year my sister Hilerie was old enough to ride so she rode Fanny and I had a new pony named Sasha, my dad had to work. I remember riding in the parade kind of sad that my dad wasn't there to see us. We got to the corner where the parade route turns by Dee's (not there anymore) and there was my dad standing and waving. He told his boss he needed to go see his kids in the parade and left work. It was great.

Fanny also went on many horse back rides in the mountains. Ali also had the privilege to ride her. It was really fun to get pictures of her on my very first horse. She has been retired for 3 years now. She was really old for a horse - 34. Once we (my siblings) were all to big to ride her we would take her with us in the mountains and turn her loose. She would just walk on the trail in front of us like a dog. We love her so much and it is hard to let her go. We love you Fanny! We miss you already.

Paint Project

Ali was very helpful this last weekend. She helped me paint Zach's room. I was a little apprehensive because I coudn't talk Zach out of the color orange! I decided to do the color he wanted. I can always paint over it. I am happy to finally have another room painted in our house. I have a lot more to do, and I must say...the orange doesn't look so bad. I think I am going to like it.

Breakfast with Santa

This morning was a treat for Zach. He was able to have breakfast with Santa at school today. Everyone in his class got to wear their PJ's. All of the kids were excited. I went with him for the fist half hour. It was great. Alicyn wanted to skip her classes today and go with him. Oh, if you're wondering...he asked for the same two items. Nothing more. LOL! I love it!

Visit with Santa

Zach asked Santa.....wouldn't you know it....for Car Mountain and a pack of "Cars Movie" cars.

Ali on the other hand....a nice long list - including a puppy (again).

Festival of Trees

One holiday tradition in our family is going to the Festival of Trees (minus Dave, he doesn't like crowds). We love to go and see all the beautiful trees, wreath's, gingerbread houses etc. Not only are we supporting a great cause but we have a really fun day together.

Lots of Crafts......

Calling one of Santa's Elves at the north pole.

Ali and Zach love kids corner.

This year Ali had a manacure.

One of their very favorite things is the giant bubble. They have a kids swimming pool with a stool in the middle. They stand on the stool and the booth worker pulls a hula hoop up around them and they are inside a giant bubble and get to blow big bubbles.

There are yummy treats and goodies and all kinds of crafts. We usually spend a good 5 hours there.
The past few years my best friend Joanie has been going with us. We would walk down an isle to see the trees and then switch over to the opposite isle. Zach kept going back over to the side we had just walked down, yelling Joanie, look at that one wow! We would say, Zach we just saw that one isn't it cool. He would say no we didn't. There are so many amazing trees every year!

I am also happy to say....I didn't lose sight of my son, not once... this time anyway.

Ratatouille Gingerbread House

Whinnie the Pooh & Friends Gingerbread House

Shrek at his Swamp

Putting up the Tree

We love Christmas, and putting up our tree is one of the highlights of this time of year.

More on Best Friends

Last night my mom gave Zach a can of sprite to take home with him. Zach and I were putting his seatbelt on, he held up his can and said mom, "I am going to save some of this for my BEST GIRL!" I said you are, who is your best girl. He said with a grin "ALI!" My heart melted.

Best Friends

This morning as we were getting ready for our day. The kids were eating their breakfast and talking. They were being kind of silly so I told them they needed to eat because we had to get Ali to school. Ali has been off track for 3 weeks. They have absolutely loved the time they have had together during this break. After I said that they needed to eat, Zach asked me if he is still 4. I said yes Zach you are 4. He went on and on about how he didn't want to be 4 anymore. "I want to be the same age as Ali". I know he was saying this so that he could stay with her all day. Ali, being the little mom that she is tried to explain that he doesn't want to be her age. She said to him "once you are in the big school you don't get to do the fun things that you are doing in preschool right now". I just sat there and enjoyed listening to them.

Zach is only wishing that he could be with his sister more. They sure love each other and enjoy playing and helping one another with different tasks. This is a great blessing to me, as I have worried that they wouldn't be good friends. I never had a brother, so I don't know what it is like to grow up with one. I see that my kids are truly blessed to have each other. Although I would like another baby, a sister or a brother for them. I am very lucky and blessed to have the two greatest kids on earth in my house already. I still cross my fingers that Dave will have a change of heart one of these days. Time is passing though and Zach is getting older, the gap between him and a new baby would be a big one.

Church

Every morning at about 4:00 am Zach has been coming in our room and climbing in bed with us. I have been to tired to make him go back to his room, so I just slide over and let him climb in next to me. I actually do enjoy this cuddle time that I get to have with him, as I am sure that he will grow out of that quicker than I would like.

Yesterday, at 8:00 in the morning we were lying there in bed and I said "Zach we need to get up now and get ready for church". He got his whiny voice and said kind of ornery, "I don't want to go to church, church gives me the hiccups!". Just they way he said it was the funniest thing. Dave and I got a kick out of that one.

I am waiting for next Sunday....I am sure Dave will try and use that excuse next.

Zachary's "Car Mountain"

The thing that Zach wants for Christmas the most is "Car Mountain", as he calls it. It is really called, Radiator Springs Mountain Challenge Track Playset. I wasn't going to get it because I got online and all the reviews about it were just awful. There wasn't one good comment. They all said it was junk and doesn't stay put together, not worth the money etc.

Yesterday, Zach said, "mom when is Santa going to bring my car mountain". Dave asked him, "Zach what if Santa doesn't bring it?" He looked at Dave and said with a stern voice. "HE WILL BRING IT." I said, "what if he doesn't Zach", and he said..."then I will be really sad and I will cry, but I know he will bring it." He has asked me about that car mountain every single day since he saw it in the Toys R Us, toy book back in October. The car mountain and a pack of cars. That is all he wants.

I decided I better go get it. I asked the cashier at Toys R Us what the return policy is and they said, just keep your receipt. The cashier also printed 3 receipts for me so I won't lose it. I thought that was nice.

The reason why I am deciding to get it....
My little sister Adrienne wanted a Strawberry Shortcake doll for Christmas one year. My grandma saw one and picked it up for my mom. My mom was looking through the things that she bought, and decided that she had bought enough gifts for us, and that the Strawberry Shortcake doll wasn't needed after all. She gave it back to my grandma so she could return it and get her money back. She didn't set it out for little Ade.

Christmas morning came and we all opened our gifts. Adrienne searched and searched for her doll. She never found it. She cried and cried, ALL day long. The other gifts that she had received didn't matter, all she wanted was that doll. We all tried to get her to play with the other new toys. Well my mom called my grandma and asked her if she still had that doll. Luckily she hadn't taken it back to the store. My grandma brought it out to our house the next day and my mom threw it behind the couch. Then she asked Adrienne to help her clean up a bit and low and behold....look what had been behind the couch the whole time. Santa must have dropped it in putting the gifts out.

SHE WAS THRILLED! Made her Christmas after all.

So even though this "car mountain" is cheap and not worth the money. I can't break my little boy's heart. I can't have a STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE REPEAT.

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

TAGGED!! What you may not know about me.....

I have been tagged....

This was harder then I thought it was going to be. Here we go.

1. I have substantial hearing loss in my right ear. This is due to ear infections when I was young and the scar tissue build up. I have a hearing aid, which I no longer wear because I have been able to adjust pretty well, and read lips when needed.

2. I can do 7 back flips in a row on my mom and dad's trampoline....well, I haven't tried for at least a year, so maybe I should put something else too. I caught a 700 pound skate while fishing in Ninilchik, Alaska. (A skate looks similar to a sting ray)

3. When I worked at the hospital as a certified nursing assistant I wore a beeper or pager....

• My work description included:
• Staffing the hospital each night for the graveyard shift.
• Helping every department in the hospital when they were short handed.
• Taking patients to have X-Ray's, CAT Scans, MRI's & Ultrasounds.
• Making up dinner trays for patients after the kitchen closed for the day.
• Assisting during a code blue (cardiac arrest or some sort of emergency)
• Assisting with intrasil's, which is an IV that goes in the forearm to a valve of the heart.
• Giving newborn babies their first bath :)
• PUTTING DECEASED PATIENTS IN A BODY BAG AND TRANSPORTING THEM TO THE MORGUE IN THE BASEMENT OF THE HOSPITAL
• Among other duties...to long to list them all

It was my 21st birthday, I was kind of sad to have to work. I received a call from the emergency room nurse. He told me that he had a person who passed away, and asked if I would come and take the body away. I finished up the task I was working on and proceeded to the emergency room. I had been doing my job for almost 4 years. I had many experiences with bodies, and feeling the person's spirit with me. Sometimes it felt like they were walking by me to see where I was putting their body, things like that. There were occasions that I felt a little creeped out, so I would ask the nurse who took care of that person to come with me. Then I wouldn't be alone etc. While doing this for so long I had many conversations with nurses who talked about bodies moving after the person passed away etc. All very interesting to me. I even started to read about postmortem.

When I arrived at the emergency room the nurse said he would go with me to the morgue. I of course didn't argue that. I was happy to have company. We went down the hall and to the "special elevator" through the operating department. The doors shut on the elevator, we started to go down. I was facing the body with my back to the door. The nurse was at the opposite end of the bed. The body sat straight up & STIFF. I don't know what my face looked like. I didn't scream, or say anything. I think if the nurse with me would have grunted or jumped, then I might have jumped too. I couldn't find any words. After a couple of seconds...I am sure it was seconds. The nurse unzipped the body bag. One of my friends was inside. When we went back up in the elevator and the doors opened, there was a whole crowd gathered around to hear my screams as I couldn't escape this body in the elevator. I think they were disappointed. They were trying to scare me to death...hoping I would make a fool of myself. Needless to say, it was a memorable birthday and I won't forget it. It is so nice to have good friends. I am grateful for mine.

4. On my mission (Argentina) - I was in a city called Palmyra. It was a rural town. Lots of walking on dirt roads and some neighborhoods were a couple miles away. I had a greenie. I was senior companion and we were in a neighborhood that was poor. We had walked to a members house for lunch. It was maybe a 5 mile walk. After lunch we decided to knock on doors for some of the afternoon. We passed an older man that we always saw in the street. His beard was scruffy, had grey hair. He was carrying a 2x4 that was maybe 2 feet long. As we passed him, I told him good afternoon in Spanish, just trying to be friendly. He yelled at the top of his lungs and swung that 2x4. He whacked me right on top of the head. I never really understood why the cartoons always had stars going around in circles when they bonked their head. WOW, I knew why that day! I really did see stars. I turned to look and make sure my companion was alright. She was, and she was probably 1/2 a mile away. She just took off running and left me there. I didn't think she could run that fast. I had a pretty good headache so we decided to walk to a friend's house, who are members. When we got there, they checked out my head. I had a good sized egg. This family was one of the few who had a car. Eduardo, got in the car and went to the neighborhood to talk to people and find out about this guy that did this to me. Come to find out he was a little crazy. I was glad to find that out. I didn't take it personal. :) Maybe that is why I am a bit wacko now....a good bonk on the head.

5. Growing up I always wanted long hair. All my sisters had long hair, and didn't have any problem with their hair growing. Mine just wouldn't grow. It took me 7-8 years to get my hair to the length that it is now.

6. Quirky things....I had straight, flat hair until I became pregnant with Zach. Now it is wavy. Before I became pregnant with Ali, I hated blue cheese. While pregnant I couldn't stop craving it. I still really like it. I dated a guy for a little while (not seriously) and then he told me that he was gay. It never became serious & we stayed friends. Most of my friends growing up were boys. I was a complete tom boy! I could relate to them better. The girl friends I had were great, but not the same. (Luckily none of them will be reading this.) HA! I went to the state championship competition with my horse while in 4-H. Two examples of my favorite events are: The Flag race...you run your horse as fast as you can on this event...there are two barrels in the arena and they each have a bucket of sand on them. In the far bucket there is a flag on a dowel (usually). You run down around the barrel and grab the flag, run to the second barrel and stick the flag in the sand. If the stick of the flag touches the bucket or flips out you are penalized or disqualified. The one with the fastest time wins. Another of my favorites is the egg race. You hold a raw egg on a spoon and you have to do what ever they announce without dropping your egg. Run, turn, stop, trot etc.

Hopefully there were a few things you didn't know about me and they weren't totally lame. ;)

ARRRRG!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

We had two happy little pirates at our house. We had a blast on Halloween. I always take work off on Halloween to spend with my kids. First we went to Foothills Elementary for the parade. It was so fun to see kids that have been in our primary class over the years. It was also fun to see Ali's and Zach's friends parading around in thier costumes. After the parade Zach and I went to Ali's class Halloween party. We were in charge of a game. All the kids had a great time. Then it was time for Zach to go to school. I went back to school to have lunch with Ali. He had a Halloween party too. After school we went trick or treating at mom's work. The kids got the most candy there! WOW! Then off to Gram's house and Bette & Christina's, then to Aunt Flora and Uncle Sam's house for a bag of goodies and a traditional hot dog. Then off we went to Grandma Jeanne's for a few, and Grandma and Grandpa Colby's house. We were lucky cause Great Grandma & Grandpa Kalawaia were there visiting. WOW>>>so many stops. I was so tired by the time we got home. We missed the neighbor friends starting out so we went out on our own for about a half hour or so. We had a great time and lots of fun being pirates all day!

(If I figure out how to do a slide show this might look better....just don't have time to figure it out.....EVER!)