Thursday, December 17, 2009

'Tis the Season . . .

I've decided that this. . . blogging. . . is a great compromise! T.R. HATES annual Christmas letters, I LOVE them. So, here we are ;) Only the people who WANT to read this have to, instead of feeling compelled.
So, only read further if you REALLY feel like you want to ;)


We've had some fun adventures this year! A long awaited trip to Disneyland, a much dreaded (by me, anyway) Pioneer Trek, and some "FUN" (?) remodeling inside and outside our house! T.R. continues his work as the best attorney around - which is actually how some of our remodeling came to be! We now have a new shower in our bathroom that once housed only a tub, and a NEW KITCHEN. Completely new. We're talking gutted . . . for almost 7 weeks!! It's kind of fun to have people willing to "trade" their services as payment for attorney fees!
Does anyone know a good Nanny in need of legal work?!
He also continues his service in the bishopric - - and, sometimes the bishopric work coincides with the attorney work ;)
I spent the first part of this year AGONIZING over the fact that I'd be going on the Pioneer Trek with our youth! I AM NOT AN OUTDOORSWOMAN. at all. period.
T.R. was excited to go, I was NOT. But we both survived - he survived my CONSTANT complaining and worrying, I survived the dirt, bugs, WIND, sleeping "under the stars" *HORROR*, WIND, the 5+ hour school bus ride, WIND, and the walking. I didn't mind the walking. But, I'll NEVER, please heavens above, NEVER do it again ;) Famous last words, I know. Somewhere in the middle I threw in a few friend's wedding flowers, and painted the front of the house. It looks SO much better now that it's not seafoam/army green.
AND, we celebrated our 12th anniversary!

Tommy is now 10 1/2. He is the reason for the above mentioned Disneyland trip! We promised him we'd go when he was 5! oops. It was ALOT of fun, but now I'm wondering how we're EVER going to top that birthday present?! Tommy still LOVES to read, and his expanded vocabulary that has come as a result of reading so much has actually gotten him in some sticky situations . . . but that's a post for another time (if you haven't already heard the "cleavage" story!) He also loves to sing and is in the school and ward choir! He's learning to play the piano, and was invited to play on a "COMP" soccer team this year. His team did quite well, and I'm not going to lie . . . it's MUCH more exciting to watch kids play actual soccer and not the "AYSO-everyone-crowd-around-the-ball" soccer that we all know and love! He's a good kid and has kept the sense of humor he started out with! Let's hope it carries over into the not so distant
TEEN YEARS!! *GASP*

Joey continues to be our Gentle Giant! He's 9 now - and only about an inch and a half shorter than "big" brother! They wear the same size clothes, and are only half a shoe size different. So much for the FABULOUS hand-me-down situation we enjoyed for so long!
Joey is very sweet, and quiet, and always concerned about others feelings. . . well, with the possible exception of *little sister*!! He's been reading the Harry Potter books, and LOVING them. Thank goodness! It's hard to engross Joey in a book, but Harry came through for us in a major way! Joey loves being a cub scout and is also learning to play the piano. He is thinking he wants to try baseball this spring, instead of soccer! It'll be basketball soon - - I'm quite sure of it!
Ms. Anna will soon be 6. She is in Kindergarten and LOVES it! Our school began all day Kindergarten - PERFECT TIMING- just this year! And from day one, I could tell that this would be NO PROBLEM for Anna! She rules the school - and it'd be hard to do that if you were only there for half the day ;) She's reading really well, but still enjoys watching TV best!
Anna is an absolutely FABULOUS big sister, and adores Sara. The feeling is mutual!


Sara will be 2 the end of March, but today was mistaken as a 3 year old by a lady at the grocery store!! oops. Yes, she's a gentle giant, too! She is calm and cuddley . . . so much so that her fabulous nursery leader finds herself "cuddling" with Sara most of the time, or in other words, holding her so she doesn't freak out ;) Yes, we're working on it!
Sara's ABSOLUTE favorite things in the whole world (besides her brothers and sister) are Sesame Street (ESPECIALLY Abby Cadabby and Elmo) and the music of Glee!! She is a die hard fan of both. We're talking the jump-in-front of-a-bus, take-a-bullet-for kind of devotion! This, I've decided, is not a bad thing! Because of her deep devotion to Sesame Street, she can not only sing the alphabet song. . . but can name the letters when asked! They don't even have to be in ABC order! CRAZY, huh?! And, because of her love of Glee music. . . she knows the difference between Journey (da-da-da) and Neil Diamond (ba-ba-ba)! Perhaps we have a star in the making?!

So, there you have it!
Hope this Holiday Season finds you happy, healthy, and basking in blessings!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Looking Forward . . .

. . . to another great year!
Happy New Year!




Monday, December 7, 2009

Quiz . . .

Can you guess who made this one?!
This one?!

This one?!

And this?!

The main theme of the night. . . Let's see how much stuff we can CRAM onto a paper plate!! What doesn't make it on the plate - - GOES STRAIGHT TO THE MOUTH ;)
Oh, Christmastime. How we love thee!!
Just in case you were actually curious about whose is whose . . . they are, in order from top to bottom. . . Joey's, Anna's, Tommy's, Mine! T.R. was out hanging the lights, then listening to an insurance salesman, so he missed out. Bummer. He did manage to get some candy to his mouth, though!!