Wednesday, January 02, 2008

So What Have We Been Up To, You Ask?

I'm so glad you asked. Let me tell you! (Sorry it's so long!)

Let's start with Christmas. On Sunday the 23rd, my sister, Shar, from SF came to town. We pretty much played games all day on Sunday & Monday (Christmas Eve). On Sunday afternoon, my sister, Kelly & her 3 kids came over to exchange gifts and have cider and Christmas goodies with us.

Kelly's kids - Taylor, Brianna, & Alec / My sister, Shar


My dad arrived on Monday. We went to 5:30 church. I really enjoy Christmas Eve service. It's fun singing all the Christmas songs. After church, we drove around and looked at Christmas lights (a family tradition). When we finally starving, we came home and cooked pizza from P*p* M*rphy's. YUM!

Christmas morning festivities began at 8 am. I'm sure the kids were up/awake much earlier! But I, on the other hand, enjoy and need my sleep! :) The kids were thrilled with their presents - mainly the PS*2 and Gu*itar H*r* that they received from us! We basically played that all day! I cooked a big meal of turkey, mashed potatoes, yams, green bean casserole, stuffing, pistachio salad, strawberry pretzel salad, cranberries, olives, pickles, buns, and of course, dessert - Milk Chocolate Cheesecake, for my dad & sister. Usually I also have my other two sisters, Kelly (and boyfriend & 3 kids) & Jodi (and boyfriend), to feed but they made other plans this year. Hopefully I'll have them back next year! It just didn't feel the same! We ended the night with a movie, I N*ow Pron*ounce Y*ou Ch*uck & La*rry, which we found out 10 minutes into the movie that it is NOT a kids' movie so the kids were sent off to watch something else! YIKES!!!


My Two Best Presents - My Kids


The Guitar Hero was a BIG hit!

My sister, Shar & Tanner

Hayley & I


Tanner & I
(Yes, I won!)


Dean & I

(I'm objecting to Dean winning! I was positive I did!)


Dean reacting to his win over me!

(Acting like a dork!)

Me imitating the dork!

The day after Christmas was depressing. I had to work. The last four years I have not worked but instead attended college full-time. I got used to having 4 to 5 weeks of vacation this time of year! That is the ONLY thing I miss about college! And of course, the summers off, too! I know, poor me! It's rough to be a grown-up! :) I'm definitely taking all of Christmas week off for upcoming Christmases!

Dean's sister, Jodi, her husband and their two kids (including the new baby, Campbell, who was born 3 days before Thanksgiving) were in town. We were invited over to Dean's mom's for pizza and visiting. Campbell is SO cute! I really enjoyed holding him.

This past Sunday, we took the kids sledding and snowboarding at St. Anne's Hill. I was SO cold! But the weather didn't seem to bother the kids. I bundled up as much as I could and we stopped by the gas station and I got the biggest hot chocolate I could buy but I was still frozen and miserable! Seriously, I have issues! (I sleep in flannel pjs with 10 blankets on my side of the bed - NO JOKE!)

Tanner on his new snowboard


Hayley taking her turn on Tan's snowboard



Now onto New Year's! This is the first time in a LONG time that we've actually had New Year's Eve plans. I guess last year we did get invited to Dean's sister, Leah, who lives in town (we were living in a hotel at the time). However, we were back at the hotel and in bed by 10:30 so I don't think that really counts! :)

This year, my department at work decided to get together. The party started about 7:30 at my co-worker's house at the lake. We had lots of munchies, drinks, and games! LOTS of FUN! We got home about 2 am and went straight to bed. However, my sleeping problems decided to rear it's ugly head. Although I was in bed at 2 am (way past my normal bedtime) and had been up since 6:30 am the day before (I had to work), I just couldn't fall asleep. I had drank caffeine-free pop all night at the party. I finally fell asleep about 4:30 am! Only to wake up at 7:30 am and could not fall back to sleep. I finally rolled out of bed at 9:45 because I figured I was not going to fall asleep. It was a VERY long day yesterday! Three hours of sleep is NOT enough! Last night I went to bed at 9:00, fell asleep about 9:30 and didn't awake until 6:00 am but then fell back to sleep off & on again until my alarm went off at 7:00 am! It felt GREAT to get a good night's sleep but I'm still tired today. It's crazy, people! Really! Who can't fall asleep after being awake for 20 hours?!?! Who can't fall back to sleep after ONLY 3 hours of sleep!

Isabel & Hayley playing a game of Twister



Dean & I


Collin & Jen
(They hosted the party)


Nick & Amy

2 Visitors:

Tracy said...

Well, it looks like you had a busy holiday season and had a TON OF FUN!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Amanda said...

Looks like you had tons of fun! Tell Dean that all he needed on that picture of his celebration is a mullet and a cut-off Kiss t-shirt to complete the ultimate rocker look