CHRISTMAS 2008

Christmas Eve

Christmas morning

My little superheroes (my crowning achievement.....yeah, I made those...I know, I am SO SUPER crafty)


Gabe got the Spiderman tent he was hoping for. Although......funny........I haven't gotten a picture of him with it yet (you can see it in the background in the next picture). He was the only one who REALLY knew what was going on. He kept saying, "Where's another one I can open." Obviously there were too many presents for him to handle......next year we will let Santa bring his present and leave it at that. :)

Cael got a castle from Santa. It's perfect for him. He loves little things that he can hoard. He likes to line things up or stick them in his pockets. All of the kids are REALLY enjoying this one. Way to go Santa.

Isaac got a little plastic rocking "horse" in the shape of a dog. I don't have a picture of him on it yet. He wasn't really interested in the presents. He just wanted the food/candy. As you can see..........

He spilled some of his cereal. He is searching for it here. When he found a piece he would bend down and lick it up off of the carpet. It was hilarious!

I even joined in the fun.

Truthfully....it was total and utter chaos.

Cael was sick....although he looks pretty happy in most of the pictures ( because we had not given him ibprophen or eggnog yet.....not a good combo....especially when exiting the body).

The house was a total disaster and I was as cranky as ever.

Once we got over those few bumps in the happy road......things improved.

By the end of the day, Cael was feeling much better, the house had been somewhat restored to order, and I had mellowed out.

The day actually ended quite nicely.

Rob's parents and brother came over for a ham dinner. We got to enjoy their company AND good food.

I love FAMILY. There is nothing more important.

Tomorrow (Saturday) we are on our way to Utah to visit with MORE family. We are so excited. (Thank you! Thank you! for the plane tickets......1 1/2 hours of flying sure beats 14+ hours of driving......through snow storms!).

In awe......

I am in complete and utter awe at the generosity and thoughtfulness of others.

How blessed we are to be the recipients of such love.

In the midst of our Christmas Eve celebration we were visited, once again, by a Secret Santa.

A large garbage bag filled with SEVERAL presents and the makings of a holiday meal were left on our door step.

(Someone even called a few minutes after our discovery claiming to be a FED EX driver checking to see if our packages were delivered. I confirmed that something was left on the porch. I was then asked to go see what it was and the person hung up).

At first I couldn't believe it.

Why would someone do this for us? What makes us so deserving of these gifts? Who are these wonderful people who are filled with the spirit of giving?

I had a million questions and I wanted them answered.



Then.......humility overcame me and I was left with a deep sense of gratitude for these thoughtful people.



Thank you......

who ever you are.

Thank you!

I PASSED.......I PASSED......I PASSED........

I PASSED my Primary Group Exercise Certification Exams!

What does that mean? I am now a CERTIFIED aerobics instructor.

Still.......what does that mean? It means that I will now get paid $20 a class instead of $12.

Good news for us.

I have been waiting for over a month to find out and now I have. YEAY!

It should only take 2 more weeks for my wall and wallet certificates to arrive.

Oh well, at least now I know. FINALLY!

Hooray for me!

"....You'll blow up.....like my aunt Roberta"

Okay, so now that I have deleted my "fitness" blog.....you, the readers of my family blog, may have to suffer through a bit of food/weight/exercise talk every once and a while.

On that note......I must say that this last week has not been a good one for me........NOT AT ALL.

A battle with "self control" was fought and food came out the victor.

It all started last Saturday at our ward Christmas party......

Not only did I eat WAY too much food but I ate EVEN MORE desert.....then I came home and wanted something sweet to top it off.......what the heck!

Sunday night Rob and I made a 9x13 pan of brownies AFTER the kids went to bed. That is ALWAYS a recipe for disaster.........let's just say that there weren't that many left the next morning when the kids woke up.

Monday......FHE.....more brownies, marshmallows (which were for our game) and a sweet friend brought over a WHOLE plate of cookies.....which unfortunately were consumed far too quickly.

Tuesday we celebrated Rob's graduation at home.....and, I made him a cake....because he wanted one. That, as well, was GONE by Wednesday NIGHT!

Wednesday we drank hot chocolate to our hearts content along with the cake.

Thursday we made gingerbread houses with LOTS of candy.......more hot chocolate.

Friday, someone else delivered Christmas goodies which were really yummy. Rob and I went to Outback Steak house with his family....again, to celebrate graduation, they ordered appetizers and by the time our dinners arrived I had already consumed more calories that a person should have in one day. Yet........Rob and I still came home, after stuffing ourselves, and managed to eat a whole bowl of popcorn and MORE candy while we watched a movie

Today......alas, I started Christmas goody baking........that says enough.

I feel like I have completely lost it.

I don't remember the last time I have eaten this badly for such an extended period of time.

It STINKS!

I still have to endure another two weeks of it........

The only thoughts that console me now are that.........
#1 I do this every year and I haven't put on 100 lbs yet
#2 I still work out 1-2 hours a day
#3 I am starting out a few lbs under my "forever goal weight" so I do have a little wiggle room. Although I kind of like having those few extra pounds gone. It's nice.

So....if you plan on bringing treats by my house this year, know this.........my goal is to take a nibble and drowned the rest (after I beat Rob and the kids away).....it may be my only hope for self-preservation. Don't be offended.............it's just the way it is.

I could always try hypnosis. A girl on the TV last night swore by it.

I WAS TOTALLY CONVINCED! (He he he)

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Here are some pics of our first snow fall here in Spokane. It was perfect. It started snowing while I was putting up Christmas decorations the day after Thanksgiving. What a perfect way to usher in the Christmas season.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Now, this is what we woke up to this morning............

Make a Smilebox slideshow

So far, we have had 25 inches of snow (measured in our driveway before each shoveling session). Snow chains are required to get around on "the hill" where we live and the direct road that leads to our house is closed.

Needless to say, school was canceled (and all the classes at the gym too.....crappy).

Today was supposed to be Daddy day in Gabe's kindergarten class. The dad's were invited to come make gingerbread houses with the kids. In anticipation of the closure, I went to the store last night (only because I was already across the street at the gym) and got graham crackers and candy so we could have our own gingerbread house decorating party at home.



The kids had a great time. Gabe titled his house "gingerbread dance party." It's the one with the flat roof and all the "people dancing." Cael's could be titled....."eat as much candy as I can instead of putting it on the house (two for me....one for the house, etc.)."

All in all it has been a really fun day. The kids spent hours in the snow (at least Gabe and Cael did while Isaac was taking his morning nap) and loved every minute of it.

I am so thankful Rob didn't HAVE to go anywhere today. I would have hated to see him go out in this.

Another 6 inches is expected on Sunday.

We may never get out.......Our neighbor said, "see you next spring." He's probably right!

As long as we get out before next Saturday (when we will be leaving to visit my family in Utah) I will be happy.

It's a good thing I finished Christmas shopping early this year.