All that other stuff!

I promise this is the last post about our trip!! I know it's a doozy, but I didn't post for three weeks while we were gone! What were you expecting when I got back, really? :)

Besides Christmas and New Years, there were plenty of activities filling up our time in between!

It's become tradition for some families from the "Y" to go riding in the desert the day after Christmas. I like four wheeling as much as the next guy (well maybe not that much) but even better is just eating and visiting with everyone. I must be a true girl.

Don't know what happened with this picture splitting... but I just loved hanging out with my adorable younger sis, Marcie.

Kan Jam anyone? It was a blast teaching my friend LaRee about this game. If you know LaRee, you know she is a shaken can of soda ready to pop. Before she even knew all the rules, she'd be screaming REBUTTAL!! and exclaiming how fun it was. It had been WAY too long since I'd seen this girl.

LaRee is on the left and Julie is on the right. I was so excited to spend some time with them.This may be one of my favorite pictures of our trip. The sunset, smiles, Kan Jam in the background, haha. Collin sure loves his Mema!

We saw a few movies too.....
Here we are at Alvin and the Chipmunks, the Squeakquel! Oh, how thrilled I was to finally see this movie! And oh how unthrilled Trav was. From the moment I saw the first preview I knew I was in love. It had me from Squeakquel. Remember my adoration for animals acting like humans? Sigh. We also saw The Blind Side. Seriously good movie. I would own it. It made me want to be a better person and gave me faith in the humanity of others. The last blockbuster we hit up wasn't so great, Avatar. I'm disappointed in myself for seeing it in the first place. When I heard it cost $300 million to make it, I was sick. Just a reminder how ridiculous and unimportant Hollywood is. My reasons for disliking this movie are threefold. #1- Too Stinkin' Long!! I must have looked at my watch 10+ times. #2- I don't appreciate Liberal, tree hugging agenda's fed to me, especially from Hollywood. #3- Call me a prude (and I know I am) but just because you have a flat nose and a tail, doesn't make you any less human-like, and therefore inappropriate to watch running around in loin cloths for three hours. Roll your eyes, but it's the darn truth! Ok, I think I'm done venting, back to happy thoughts of chipmunks singing "All the Single Ladies!" :)

On New Year's day, we went out past Johnson Ranch, (yes, far) to go shooting with Trav's family.

I must say, I enjoy shooting a gun.

The kids "camp" was set up across the road where Grandma kept a good eye on them :)

My, I have some handsome boys.

Other celebrations included some birthdays....

Craig turned 9. I walked up the stairs that morning to find Trav wrapping him up as a present.

And my mother-in-law turned... well, I'm not too sure, but she celebrated a birthday! That morning we took family pictures at Freestone park and that night we played Bunco. The night before we got together for a progressive dinner. This is the picture we took at Reddin and Karen's house. Trav's brother and sister got back from missions this past semester so this is the first time the whole family has been together again for a few years!

The Saturday before we left, I went to lunch with my sisters and mom to Cracker's and Co. Mmmm. So yummy. I'm so blessed with an amazing mom and awesome sisters. I could sit and talk with them for hours and hours. And we did. :)

Then, on the last Sunday, we got to see our newest nephew, Rusty, be blessed. Such a beautiful blessing and family!

Hmmm, they must be sisters or something.That night, both families gathered for some dessert and... what's that in the background?

Oh, ya, Kan Jam. The brothers-in-law vs. fathers-in-law. Trav looks pretty nervous.

Well, besides all the {scheduled} activities, we still found some time to be silly.....

Or maybe we were just going batty from all the fun...

Ok, listen up if you want to hear about a seriously fun game! Carrie gave it to us for Christmas and it's only for those willing to make complete fools of themselves. It's called Quelf and crazy times were had by all that played. Including: Trevor putting 5 ice cubes down his pants, me trying my darnedest to lick my elbow, then licking someone else's, Paula pretending her chair was a toilet and making the appropriate noises.... you get the picture :)

Ugh, can't be another Kan Jam picture. Just wanted to point out the firepit that was needed for that awful 50 degree night. :) To be honest, by the end of our trip, I really did think that was chilly. It only took three weeks to lose my tough skin!

Impromtu game of Speed. Even mom joined in the fun!

Got to hang out with the fam in the nursery for a couple of weeks. I was cracking up when I saw the latex glove for snack time. All the kids got a squirt of hand sanitizer before eating too.

Collin had fun playing in his new Sunday duds.

Time with gRaNdMa!

We were loving having the grandma's around to help out with Collin. My mom is very {organic} and Collin was pampered with homemade soups, organic baby food, and all natural lotions and oils.

But sometimes we would come home to this....

I think the basket ride was the funniest. Of course she just walked around with him in it. Once we got there, Trav had more adventurous ideas of actually riding the bike. My mom couldn't watch.

I really don't know how we could have had a better trip. I wouldn't have traded it in for the most exotic, expensive vacation you could find. I think you truly learn to appreciate your family when you don't have the luxury of being around them all the time. And we have some really wonderful families. Thank you all for the fun times and good eats. We are blessed! (And I am officially done posting. You're welcome.)

Happy New Year's Eve!

New Year's Eve will always be one of my favorite holidays. I know that is in great part due to my mother. Even when we were little, and living primarily in an old folks neighborhood, the clock would chime midnight and we'd drive around the block screaming our heads off, banging pots and pans. I'm sure they loved us there. Any chance to stay up late and act crazy and my mom will be first in line. We played games at the Evan's for the first part of the night, then put Collin to bed and spent the rest of the night at my parent's house. We thought it would be fun to teach them how to make California rolls. Everyone except Austin was game. If you're wondering who the guy on my right is, that's my adopted brother Steve. Well, he may as well be adopted :) And the girl on my left was his lady friend for the night, Karin. :)

I think he likes it!

When 12:00 came, we counted down with Dick Clark then ran outside to scream. I ran around blowing a whistle and yelling Happy New Year... my mom got in the car parked out front and laid on the horn... Marcie and Austin crawled on the roof to watch the fireworks... my dad watched on.... Trav ran inside to check the baby monitor... and Steve got a call and talked on the phone. Boo! When I ran out of breath, I reached in the car and blasted a ghetto song and Karin and I had a ball dancing in the front yard. So fun. I wish I could celebrate New Year's every night. Well then we all split off to attend various breakfast parties. Trav and I met up with Chase, Shalyse and another couple for waffles. When we got back, I thought of what we were doing at this time LAST year....... remember this folks? Ya, me too.

So this year, we just HAD to do a little of this...

Don't worry, we weren't alone. :)

I'll take a hot tub any day over freezing my patootie off at Times Square.

Happy 2010!

Meeting Santa and Christmas Day!

So it was about this time in our vacation that my camera battery died on me. When I went to charge it I realized I had packed my video camera charger instead of my regular camera charger. GRRR! This posed an interesting dilemma. I love taking pictures, not for the aesthetics of the picture, but for documenting purposes. However, I often think... would I enjoy the moment more if I wasn't so worried about getting a picture of it? I believe the answer is yes. Soooo, I tried my best to forget about pictures and rely on other people to to capture the moment. Easier said than done! I felt like my left arm was missing, not having a camera for two weeks. I guess it worked out ok, except that upon leaving, it took hours to copy everyone's pictures, request pictures through email, transfer them to my computer and organize them chronologically. Next time, I'll just remember the right charger.

*

After missing "Breakfast with Santa" in Buffalo, it suddenly struck me that- oh my gosh! I need to take Collin to see Santa!! A couple days before Christmas we finally got a chance to head to the mall. Santa started pictures at 10am. We walked in right on time. We were welcomed with a line that was 2+ hours long. Double GRRR! We lasted all of 5 minutes before giving up.

I was perplexed. If the mall is so stinkin' crowded, why don't other stores step up and provide a Santa?! Well.... that's when Trav's brother told us they take their kids to Bass Pro Shop to see Santa. Why not? Animal carasses always get ME in the Christmas spirit. It actually worked out great. Not so crowded AND they give you a free picture. That's right, free. Not $20-50 like the mall charges. I think we'll have an elk in every Santa picture from here on out!

I was getting all ready for a show when we set Collin in Santa's lap. Nothin'. He acted like he was pleased we had plopped him in the fat man's seat. So much for a funny pic. We met Trav's friend, Chase, there with his wife and kid, Kael. Kael was terrified of all the animals in the store. Smart boy, I think.

Again, Collin looks amused at best with the evil animal he's straddling. Funny boy.

Well, besides meeting Santa, you just HAVE to go see the Christmas lights at the temple to truly get ready for the big day. We left Collin with Grandma, thinking we would do the lights again and take him. Well, that never happened, so I guess he'll just see them next year. Bad parents.

We went with my sister, Marcie, and her boyfriend, Austin.

Ok, Christmas Eve..... awful, awful, awful. I woke up that day with a horrible stomach bug. Couldn't eat all day. I spent most of the day in bed. I hobbled over to the Evans (well, hobbled to the car) for their Christmas Eve program and loathed all the people eating the delicious food and enjoying their night. Sorry, it's true. :) Each family is supposed to have something to present for the program. We are major slackers and have failed each year. Trav rendered a verse of "Must be Santa" with actions courtesy of Collin. Way to go boys.

Time for the cousin nativity! Collin got passed up for baby Jesus by sweet Adele. His calling was a shepherd boy. I wish I had a picture of his getup. He wore an arm rest cover on his head. Didn't last long, but it was pretty cute. Wish I had a picture. Sigh.

After we put him down to bed, we went back to my parent's house to watch A Christmas Story. Just love it.
I couldn't sleep from pain and hunger and about 1am I could feel the pain start to lessen. Hooray! A 24 hour bug. So I got out of bed and wrapped some presents, finally hitting the hay about 2:30am. I guess that's fitting for a parent on Christmas Eve.

We woke up to a fabulous Christmas morning thanks to my parents and, well, Santa. I have a 9yr. old brother that still believes in good 'ole St. Nick, so we get to keep that belief alive and well. I just love Collin's face in this pic. Could a kid be any happier?

Grandmother came over to open presents with us.

We aren't a "rip and tear" kind of family. Opening presents is fairly orderly. Stockings first. Always a DVD. We got Bolt, and Julie and Julia. Collin got Baby Einstein.

This next pic is classic because it has David holding his prized gift. Hot Wheels. David is 17. He was quite disgruntled this Christmas when my mom told him she didn't have time to shop. She gave him his money and told him he could go buy what he wanted and she would wrap it. Where is the fun in that?! (I think it's the ideal situation, but whatever :) I think he felt his childhood slipping through his fingers so do you know what he went and bought? Hot Wheels, Legos, and a kid game called Don't Break the Ice. And he was beyond thrilled when he opened them. ( A few nights later we walked into the basement to find him and his girlfriend assembling the Hot Wheels track and exclaiming how hard it was to put together :) I just love David.

We gave my mom pics of the three grandboys.

Shelley's sister in law, Breanna, took them. I'm in love.

For the past couple years, my mom has organized a scavenger hunt for us married kids to get our Christmas money. This year she mixed it up with a Jeopardy Game! It was really fun. The categories were: Out and About, The Church is True, Mom the Sharon, and The Oil Man (meaning, my dad).

We ended up pretty much tying and then the "banker" was generous and gave us the money for the bonus question even though we both missed it. Do YOU know all four streets that border the Mesa Temple? Ya, I didn't think so. :)

I think I'll always refer to this Christmas as {The Year of the Kan Jam}.

Trav and I ordered the game, Kan Jam for both our families and I think pictures of us playing it dominated all cameras.

It's a frisbee game that was invented just north of where we live in Buffalo. So it's kind of popular on the east coast. It doesn't look like much, but it's pretty addicting. So if you want to be cool like us (haha) just ask us where you can get one :)

After scarfing down traditional biscuits and gravy for breakfast, we spent some time at Trav's parent's house, then headed to Grandma Ann and Grandpa Jess's house for a late lunch

and to see what books awaited us!

Then back to the Evans for the evening. (We feel a bit like a ping pong on Christmas) My mother in law is amazing and sews everyone new pajama bottoms every year. I know you can't see mine, but I promise, I'm wearing 'em!

I was on the ball with coordinating our outfits.

We truly had such a wonderful, marvelous Christmas! We felt really lucky to be able to spend time with both families. We were spoiled rotten and can hardly wait 365 days to do it again!