Sick Days

I truly have started to blog quite a few times in the last week only to be interrupted and never finished. It was a hectic weekend and I'm happy to report that I've almost finished my shopping but it's all the "other" stuff I am still plucking away at.

We're having Christmas Eve here with my family - and I mean FAMILY - it's my dad's side of the family - we always celebrate Christmas Eve together - but there are about 70 of us now. I haven't had it at my house in a few years but my husband, and my mom seem to think that we always have it because they say - "we aren't doing it AGAIN"? but I'm happy to do it - I would much rather have it at my house than not at all. My aunt owns a bus company so she decorates a bus and brings it and after dinner all the kids and some adults pile on and we look at lights and christmas carol while the adults back at the house sort the heaps and heaps of presents and tidy up some of the dinner dishes. I cannot imaging Christmas without the chaos of Christmas Eve - I'll be sure to post pictures. Mike & I are thinking of throwing a curve at the family too - (since my grandma passed away 5 years ago we're the only Mormons - well maybe the only regular church goers period) so I think we're going to make them participate in a live Nativity - I'll keep you posted!

Tyler had her Nutcracker performance - her best friends the twins shared the role of Clara - it turned out really nice - but am I glad it is over! I've been under the weather all weekend with a sore throat and cough - but there is not rest for the weary mom as you all know.... so yesterday I did a couple quick errands and took it easy - even fell asleep on the family room floor with Lucas watching The Incredibles!





My brother Brian drove in from Vegas for the weekend - the poor guy - he came to visit my other grandma and his friends but Friday night (after driving all day safely) he had dinner with us then went to a friend's house - then his friend drove Brian and they were going to another guy's house when they got into a bad car accident! His friend made a wrong turn and drove his car with my brother in it - into a cement pylon - it was so sad, they were all safe, the car had safety bags - but it was an ordeal - my brother went to the ER - so Mike went to get him because it was late and in scarry-ville - so he hung out with us until he had to leave early Sunday morning! Crazy



Tyler also had a huge project for school so her girl friends were over all day/night and did the projects here then spent the night and I got them ready for Nutcracker. We also had a party Saturday night for Mike's work friends - it was so fun

I'm trying to get all my shopping done early this week - my bday is coming this week and my pet peeve is when I buy someone else a Christmas gift on my birthday - I decided a few years back that I should only shop for myself on my bday! It is always hard having a near Christmas birthday - it's worse when you get a Christmas decoration for your bday - it's not like you can use it all year round! Well enough of my going on and on - hope you are all doing something fun today!

PS - Christina - we had to move hump day lunch day to another day - the kiddos aren't in school on Wednesdays - now it's kind of hit or miss....

Hump Day

This Wednesday is especially good and I'll tell you why:

1. It starts as late day - the kids go to school an hour later - so theoretically we get to sleep in
2. My turns to drive the carpool are over for the week
3. Tyler's dance classes were canceled for the evening - no driving around!
4. I get to go to a craft night tonight
5. Bunco is tomorrow night
6. My house was cleaned yesterday so today I can relax
7. Mike is coming home late so I don't "have" to cook dinner
8. Because of my bad shot reaction (and Ian's scary peanut butter reaction) we don't have shots this week
9. I did inventory and most of my Christmas Shopping is done
10. My decorations are officially UP!
11. (a late add in) It was 70 degrees today so I played baseball in the street with the boys and their friends! I think I threw out my back!

My cute man fixing the lights

Our traditional tree - I love the handmade or
personalized ornaments we have - fun

Linda and I made these homemade stockings about 8 years ago
and have added extras after each new kiddo -
hopefully she'll post a pix of hers too

Yikes

Where did the week go? I meant to post so many other times before but something was always coming up. Here are some of the random things I was thinking this week

1. My house looks like Santa threw up in it - I'm in that "I'm committed" to decorate state - where half of the stuff is out so now I have to finish

2. Dang it's cold outside! It is officially winter here when the temp is about 55 degrees during the day

3. Go put pants on! Those boys - they think it is summer - they constantly wear shorts and a T-Shirt every day - it's driving me bonkers

4. Turn down the Thermostat! Mike grew up in Utah, I grew up here (gas rationing, recycle everything, 2 min showers) Enough said...

5. Shopping - UGH - luckily the crowds haven't been as horrible as expected - however today is just the first day of December

6. Stop the ride - I wanna get off!! The first week back to school after a holiday is great - except you forget all the homework, pack lunches, carpool, dance/sports practices!

7. Go find your own food! Oh I forgot to plan dinner?

8. Dad, dad who? Back to late work nights and dinner meetings - oh well, at least he is in the country!

9. Only 24 more days!!?????? I need to cut my credit cards before the madness is out of control!

10. Thank Heaven for the Internet - I've been trying to grab things with free shipping

11. Gift Cards - the greatest invention

12. Wash Cycle - the constant state of my washing machine - how many clothes do the kids really own???

13. Return of the Cyclops! - had my allergy shot - not a good reaction....

14. Hooray I have my Christmas cards ready - bummer now I have to address them....

I meant to stop at 10 but I was on a roll - hope all is well with all of you!

I got Elfed!

This is so funny! Click Here - to see my bunch of elves.........thanks auntie nu!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well I have a bit of catch up to do - I'm sort of going backward though - this weekend was our annual trip to the city for Tyler's dance convention/competition. It's a bummer because it is always Thanksgiving Weekend - so we can't ever travel very far or if we do we have to be back right away. We shared a couple rooms with friends and had a good time. The girls dance all day and night and the moms shop and eat - I don't see anything wrong with that do you? This year the shopping was better than last year, not sure if it was the crowds or the company - but whatever it was I'll take it!!

Mike & the boys were terrific - they took down all the Christmas decorations from the attic, put up our 2 trees, and lights, put the lights on the house (although I was a bit nervous when Mike said Chandler was on the roof) and decorated outside - yeah me! Sounds like they had a fun weekend too.

We got back on Sunday and I went off to Hand Bell practice - we perform every year in our stake so it is really fun, but we practice every Sunday evening beginning in late Sept - it is always so worth it in the end....



Sadly the only pictures I have of Thanksgiving are of Linda & Chris doing Sing Star 80's. They are the Von Trapps of the PSP. It was a blast - but we forgot to line up all 14 kids for a cute Turkey day picture. We had a mix of family and friends - 22 in total so it was really nice. Surprisingly I didn't even take pictures of our food spread - it was delish....I also have a terrific video clip of Linda's dancing abilities, but I'm working out copyright issues with her staff to see if licensing is an issue......if she becomes incredibly famous because of my U-tube entry I want to make sure I can receive royalties into perpetuity.....



Here is a pix of our Annual B-day dinner. Mike & Linda's bdays are 2 days apart - we went to a fondue place - we tried out a new place - it was more of an oil fondue - beware - we like the broth kind instead....I almost got my eye burned by oil splatter - don't think we'll be doing this place again very soon. We had tag-a-long Lawson with us - but he was a cute 5th wheel - I'd take one kid over 10 to dinner any day!!

Yippee the kids are back to school!!!

Weekend Getaway

We did a quick get-away with the kids this weekend. We went a couple nights to Monterey - last year we took the kids and went to the Aquarium - they had a Great White Shark and they let it back into the wild - well another one got hurt this year so they got another one. I love the weather and the ocean so it was a fun trip.

Before we got to go though - we had a scare - my grandma wasn't doing well in the hospital and we feared for the worst - I dashed out there, the men were golfing so the kids watched themselves for a while until Linda picked them up for me - so she had all 10 little kiddies for a while. But grandma pulled out and is ok now - she is fiesty! I was planning on being there for about 2 hours but right when I left a new doctor came - he was fantastic!!! He took about 25 mins explaining things to me & my grandpa so I stayed - but the only bad part is the meter ran out so I got my first parking ticket!! Oh well, well worth it.

Ian is really cute - he was our tour guide - he got the map and directed us exactly where he wanted us to go. He wants to be an Oceanographer - he told us that last year and I thought he'd forget about it - but he always says it so we'll have to see! He led us straight to the Octopus first...


Before we got to the Aquarium though we had a nightmare time with our hotel - last year the hotel we stayed in - rhymes with Whyatt - didn't have heat until 3am - mind you it was between Christmas and New Years when we went last year. This year we thought - hummm, there are a lot of us we should get a Suite, so we went to the Embassy - when we got there - only one room left - a smoking room, when we opened the door you could smell the reeking without stepping foot inside. No Thanks. They called another hotel for us - said to come back the next night for free - and we had to pay for 2 rooms - unfortunately it was quaint, but it was near like a cute downtown walkway, apparently people like to sit at all hours of the night on the benches and TALK LOUDLY......oh well.

We had breakfast and then rode one of those bikes for everyone - poor Mike did most of the work - my hip was acting up so I'd just help on the uphill portions and rest on the other parts. It was fun though.


Later we took the kids to indoor miniature golf - they do the black light inside - it was super fun.

The next night we went back to the Embassy at 6pm...the room wasn't clean - it was the "presidential suite" whatever - so they were going to give us dinner so we said, okay, clean the room we'll go eat. Then they only wanted to give us 50% of the dinner, I told them to check - hellllooo - we have 4 kid meals and 2 regular meals - it was super cheap - we weren't buying filet mingon & lobster and wine - it was $60 - finally they comped us......but here is the kicker.....

wait for it..................we get up to "The Presidential Suite" - it has 3 rooms basically - a sitting room with a love seat and a TV, a room with a dining room table and couch & fridge, and the master bedroom with one king size bed....well the couches were couches and NOT hideaway beds!!! We only had the ONE bed for all 6 of us! So we still had to call down and get roll-away beds. What an adventure...the kids had a great time.


Well now we are gearing up for Thanksgiving. I'm so thankful for my friends & family and where we live - so many things we are blessed with....hope you all have a wonderful holiday.

Sydney

What a difference a week makes.....this week I'm schlepin' waffles out for whiny kids - last week I was sleeping in - in my lovely hotel room.

Here I am in Sydney Australia - note I've chosen not to post so many pictures with me in them, I've gained 15 lbs since my cycling accident - but am ready to start walking regularly and try to work out again at the gym - hooray!

I found Chinatown

I went on a Ferry Tour by myself - so I had to have some Japanese tourist take my picture. Out in the bay it started to rain really hard. But I still had fun.



Harbor Bridge & Opera House - just playing with my camera

These views are from my hotel room - it was gorgeous!!


Bondi Beach with my man - the only real "hot" day we were there.....

Like my new friends?? They had a huge Sculptures by the Sea thing going on - guess they do it every year so it was beautiful to walk along the coastline

Here we are at Bondi - eating Asian Tapas - we had to sit on cusions to eat, cute idea - not all that comfortable
One day I also took a tour of the Opera House - it is amazing - it actually has 7 different theaters - they can have 7 different events going on inside and accommodate a couple more outside! So I saw the Symphony one night - the Sydney Orchestra was playing Rachmaninov ........

My first day there - just off the plane

The Sydney Tower


So this is the pictorial story of my trip. I did a lot of touring - no shopping though - almost all of their stuff is imported - from China or the US so it was like shopping here, or rather Beverly Hills!!! Everything was Gucci, D&G, Ferragamo, etc and very very expensive - so I did a lot of window shopping.

We survived our extra day in Sydney because of our cancelled flight - there was a problem with the throttle - glad they figured that out BEFORE we took off and not after!

Well just wanted to give the update - the weekend was crazy. Our family sang "Love is Spoken Here" during the Primary Program - we are not the VonTrapps by any means, but when they asked me I knew we should do it because this would be the only time the kids would let us!! Mike practiced for a couple weeks - Ian sang the loudest so we put him in front. But it is a great memory for me.

Sat was all about sports and yesterday was our big Holiday HFPE & craft night - I was exhausted but we had about 45 women come - which is HUGE for our ward - I was really happy, unfortunately my friend Kim & I were left to clean up and we didn't leave until 10:30 - oh well - Hope everyone is well, I have a lot of blogs to catch up on!!!

Still in Sydney

Yikes - our flight was cancelled - it was too good to be true - we were able to get my seat upgraded with Mike's into Business class - sat for 3 hours on the plane and then they decided - mechanical issues - cancelled - they put us up in a hotel - no Sydney Opera house 4 Season's hotel - a ho-hum airport hotel - the kind you keep your socks on - so here we are - trying to stay up late so we'll sleep on the plane - oh well, better safe than sorry......

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LINDA & MOM

Happy Birthday Linda & Mom

Yes - my mom & Linda share the same bday - we have a good time celebrating usually but I'm sitting at my desk in my hotel room using Mike's computer - looking out over traffic because it's raining eating my room serviced breakfast (I never do that!!), but I still wouldn't trade my view - outside of my window is the Sydney Harbour and Sydney Opera House - I always pull the curtains in the morning because I can see it outside from my bed. If I get up and look out the window to the left you can see the famous Sydney Bridge. I'll post pictures when I get back. We head home this afternoon so I get to relive Thursday :) Enough about me, on to Birthday girls!

My mom moved to Sin City 9 years ago - just as we were getting started providing the grandchildren - I think she would want to move back but my dad is happy down there. My mom is very creative - she can sew anything - you only got a sampling from the kids Halloween costumes. My mom is very smart - she is a total Chinese Mom even though she doesn't speak a lick of chinese and was born here too - but it's always - don't waste this, save that - she always puts the kids or her family before herself - sorry mom - we're all turning into nying nying whether we like it or not :) I wish she'd take more time out for herself - pampering type things - and do things for her - but she'd say it was a waste of money. My mom is young - I won't say exactly but let's just say she is in her mid 50's. She is strong - my mom does the drive from Vegas to Cali by herself all the time since my dad is still working - I wouldn't - it's too long, I'd fall asleep. When I come home I'll post one of my only pictures of my mom with her beehive - now she keeps her hair straight & black - I actually don't like to stand too close to her - if you were looking quickly - I think you'd think she were my sister instead of my mom - much to her delight :) I love you mom - happy birthday!

Linda is one of my closest friends - I probably only have 2 I consider that close- since I don't have any of my own sisters she & Louise are it. I think life gives you certain people in your life that you need to help you along. We have always had a fun link - our husbands are the same age - and my 4 kids correspond to her middle 4 kids - of course back when she had Dallin & Bowen and I only had Tyler. We are the same age although she is older (ha ha - a month is still a month)

Here are a few things about her:
1. Linda is fun and she adds that bit of spice to my daily life that is fun - she loves to shop if you hadn't figured out on your own
2. She is a girly girl which is funny since she has all boys
3. Linda loves make-up which is good for me because I have no clue
4. She keeps me up to date on all the famous people gossip - she would win at Celebrity Charades (not Charades, but that know-it-all game)
5. Linda loves to shop - oh wait I said that already.

There are lots of other things - some things I'm still trying to figure out - I keep telling her to come travel with me but she keeps poppin' out kids - but I love her boys like they were my own and I love our family traditions we've been building for the last 11 1/2 years. I'm glad they moved over the hill with us after several years of driving back and forth. I just love calling her my friend, my best friend - Happy Birthday Girlfriend! I know those boys will treat you right :) Love ya - H

Happy Halloween!

It was a very fun and busy day - I'm glad I got some good pictures in the other day because between all the class parties and trick or treating with different friends I didn't really have a chance to get the kids all together properly.

Well tomorrow is the big day - don't forget me - my MIL & FIL are here to do the kids - I'm off on my trip to meet my man tomorrow - he's been in India all week - wish me luck on my 14 hour flight and don't forget me - I'll be back!!