December 31

Steph--I forgot how to label my pictures! I'm going to have to call you and have you tutor me....

Friday night K & I went out to eat using a gift certificate he received from work. It ended up being an expensive meal. The meal itself because since we had the gift certificate we each ordered a meal (often we share one) and we also ordered an appetizer. It was yummy and CE and J especially enjoyed all the left over prime rib and ribs we brought home! But before the meal, since there was a long wait, we walked over to JC Penney which was having a 60% off clearance on all their Christmas gifts. K couldn't resist (and I didn't protest) we purchased both an electric keyboard and an electric guitar. They were $59. each which we thought a good deal. They of course aren't deluxe quality, but definitely well worth the price. The kids are enjoying them both. It will entertain them while we wait for our Wii to be fixed. Yep, the great Christmas gift started having problems the first day, by the second we knew it was defective. We called the store we purchased it at and of course, they had none in stock and didn't know when they would. I asked if they could take our name and call us when one comes in so we can exchange. But no. That is against policy to hold aside a Wii for a customer, even if the one we purchased from them is defective. Thanks Best Buy. So Nintendo is coming to the rescue and having us send it in for repair or exchange. We are waiting on the shipping label they are sending us, so it will be a while before the kids get to play Wii again. What a bummer. They had a great time with it while it worked. The other electronics is now like their big Christmas gift!

So last night my two youngest and I played the game of LIFE and Yahtzee. We all like to play games, but for some reason we just don't play that often. It is a new year's resolution to play more games with the kids, so instead of waiting until the new year, last night I just asked if any one wanted to play. The youngest jumped at the chance and we had a good time. J spent the weekend up in Huntsville with his grandparents and working on his Internet class. He got an extra bonus because Darwin's family went up Sat. night and he attended a stake dance with his cousins and had a great time. Darwin brought him back home last night when we were about done with our games.

Missing pictures

So, my pictures didn't show up! They downloaded, the site said they were added, but yet no pictures. So I am going to try one more time before I finally go to bed. I am very tired, maybe that is why I am having trouble. I hope someday I get the hang of this blogging thing!

Surprise

First, picture Gomer Pile. "Surprise, Surprise, Surprise!" I am finally adding to my new blog page! Now, be patient, I am an amateur--but I will give it my best shot! First off, I did try after getting back to Utah from Las Vegas where my brother and sister-in-law set me up this blog page. But for some reason (possibly it is that ding-a-ling in me that keeps creeping out) I could not log into my page to add anything! But again tonight, on a whim, I decided to try it. And wa-la! Here I am! It is after midnight and I should go to bed as I need to leave with J at 7 am. Life has been very busy around here lately. With Christmas, my new job (yes, after 19 years I am back in the work force--part-time anyway), and J's full-time treatment for depression (currently a day program from 7:30am to 5:00 pm daily) which include mandatory sessions for the parents (3-4 hrs a week)---it seems I am not getting anything done.
I gave K the camera this morning while I video taped, to take pictures of the kids with presents. So, I only got two pictures. It isn't really his thing. (Although he does love scenery photography.) We thought we did pretty good with the Santa gifts. Our family stuck with the tradition I grew up with and Santa always leaves the gifts unwrapped an a cushion on the couch or a chair. So he knows which cushion to put our gifts on, the kids leave their stocking there. Well, this year Santa bought a big gift for the whole family. He didn't want to leave the cushions empty, so he also filled them. I thought he did pretty good despite the meek budget and was able to get some practical in (socks, clothing etc.) as well as some fun (dolls, stuffed toys, DVD's, CDs etc). The "family" gift(s) were wrapped under the tree. The kids didn't even look there, because Santa doesn't leave anything under the tree. (We unwrap all the family/friends gifts on Christmas Eve at the conclusion of our "program" so by Christmas morning their are only Santa gifts on the cushions.) Despite thinking Santa did a good job on the cushion stuff, there was very little excitement. CD (the youngest) and T were the only that showed any enthusiasm at all! After about 10 min. of the kids quietly going through their items, K asked, "So are you done?" J answered "Yea." Then he added, my stocking had dental stuff in it and no candy. It always has candy!" K told him Santa left a communal candy bag (because the stocking were full) under the tree. He lit up and went to get the bag. CD followed and spotted gifts. "Hey, there's a present under the tree! Hey here's another one--There's lots of them!" After discovering that there was no name on them, we figured that meant they were all for the family. J unwrapped the first and let out a loud cheer. CE jumped up screaming and gave J a huge hug then ran and gave K and I a hug. The present was a Wii System. CD opened the next and J and CE both jumped and shouted and CE hugged us again. It was Guitar Hero III. The CE opened one that got L and CD excited--it was Dance, Dance Revolution. (T is the only one that doesn't care much about games - so her cushion was filled with a bit more) Another gift had the Wii play, one was a remote charger, one an extra nun chuck, and another 4 "used" Wii games. (Funny how Santa bought "used" games!) They include a flying game that J and K will love, and Monster Truck driving game which is fun. The boys were sooooooo excited, CE couldn't stop hugging me all day. L and CD are excited too, just not to the comical extent that the boys are. T, we hope to convert. We hope to have her try the Bowling tomorrow, (or today since, technically it is the 26th) since she loves to bowl. So that was our morning.
We went to my in-laws for the evening, taking my dad with me. I climbed in the van to head home and what I saw was comical to me so I asked for the camera to take a shot of the six people and a dog crammed into the 5 spaces available for them. They all had gifts and food and stuff on their laps---it was real funny. Of course it was to me, since I was sitting in the spacious front seat! The camera was behind the back seat where no one could get it since there was no room to turn from side to side, so I didn't take the picture. Now that I am on this page blogging, I wish I had it! I should have braved the freezing cold breeze and popped the trunk. Of course, if everything fell out, I'd be in a pile of mess!
We enjoyed our ham dinner and our leisure visit, including a viewing of Rachel's gift, "Bourne Ultimatum." I will try to load a few pictures that I took. Unfortunately, that is all I took, and I don't think any are "post" worthy. But I'll try to post them anyway. Hopefully it won't be a month before my next post! Merry Christmas!

Christmas on Thanksgiving

Grandpa with all of his grandkids

CE, always playin'


L tickling the ivories

CD sings her heart out

T sharing her talent

J does 30!

Since we were all together for Thanksgiving (and we won't be for Christmas), we decided to celebrate Christmas early. We had our first annual cousin gift exchange that we intermixed with the "talent show". CE claimed the only talents he had weren't available (his football team, his violin, his skateboard--etc.) J said he didn't have any and when his uncle suggested he do push-ups, everyone chanted until he got down and did 30. K was in the back room with a bad headache and missed the whole show, yet claims he heard every bit of it. It was so fun spending the holiday with my entire family.