Merry Christmas

We were up and ready to open gifts at 6 am! Not to bad I was actually the first one out of bed (not really sure why?I think I have grow accustomed to the sleep deprived, zombie feeling!) Malerie was awake in her bed and Braydon was just getting up, we woke Keaton and Kiley up and had to drag dad out of bed! It is so fun watching the kids come downstairs and see all the gifts under the tree and see what Santa brought them. I love the magic and excitement of kids on Christmas morning. The kids draw names and exchange gifts every year so we let them do that first and then they checked out the stocking action. The girls scored bikes from Santa, and are looking rather sporty on them especially in their cute jammies!! Santa hooked Braydon up with an Ipod touch and Keaton a Nintendo DS and Indiana Jones game! We also hooked the family up with the Wii fit which is one of the funnest games ever. Can you say SPOILED!!!! It was such a relaxing, fun morning. We spent the rest of the morning playing with their new loot and putting things together etc! I made some yummy, homemade waffles with all the fixings which we practically had to force feed to the kids because they were to busy playing to be bothered to eat!

Later in the day we got cleaned up and made our way over to Aubrey's to visit the Wright side of the family and see Missi and her kids and G&G Wright who came down from Utah for the Holidays! We don't see them very often so this was a special treat! Aubrey's house was toys and game central. They scored a wii fit also so everyone had a turn trying to beat the high scores!
Aster spending a few hours with them we headed to Uncle Darins house to have some dessert and see the Perkins Cousins.
What a full day and it truly couldn't have been nicer! Most people are relieved when it's over but I am one of those weirdo's that gets sad. I love the Christmas season, all of the traditions, the special feeling we have in our hearts, the magic, family, everything about it! It comes and goes way to fast, but I guess there's always next year to look forward to!

Christmas Eve

We have been looking forward to our Christmas eve for weeks now. We have discussed and planned our menu. The kids are excited to open their Christmas PJs and watch The Christmas Story like we have for the past few years. I'm not really sure how exactly this became a tradition but everyone (especially Eric who's a big fan!) really looks forward to it! We kind of had a mellow day at home, did some baking and just hung out with each other. After making some last minute deliveries we came home the kids unwrapped their pjs and we got our food assortment ready! This year we had our mini chimis, taquitos, rice, beans, chips and salsa, crackers, meat and cheeses, chips and dip, fresh veggies, and sparkling cider! The kids wanted to go to bed at 8 pm after the movie was over and we said no way. We didn't want them up at 3!!! I think by 9:30 we were all pretty tired and anxious to get to sleep so Santa could make his deliveries!! It was a fun night and it makes me so happy that the whole family values and loves our traditions so much!

Wright Family Dinner

Sunday, December 21

We have been trying to do better to get together for family dinners at least once a month! This month Kory and Leslie hosted at their house. We decided to go ahead and do a nice ham Christmas dinner. It was delicious followed up with pie and ice cream. The best part about our get togethers is watching all the cousins play and goof around. The little boys (Jace, Kyler, Keaton, Garret, and Grant) were having a pretty wicked wrestling/boxing match. It was good entertainment. We also did our gift exchange with the siblings that were here. (We missed our Utah siblings, sorry you couldn't be here!) We played some games which for protection purposes shall not be named but it turns out I'm not to bad of a player!! Becki was able to get this darling shot of all the boy cousins, we are just missing Dyson. That is one good looking group of future missionaries!

Parent of the year award??

Friday, December 19th

Eric and I are hoping to be contenders for the parent of the year award and after this weekend we should have it in the bag!!! Just kidding but we definitely deserve some kind of prize!
One of Kiley's really good friends is moving to Washington and Kiley really wanted to throw her a going away party. Somehow she was able to talk us into it and even convince us to let them invite boys from their class as well. Kiley was very helpful in getting ready and honestly I wasn't sure that very many kids would come with it being the holidays and everything. The party I would say was quite a success judging by the noise level and chaos!!! We had like 24 6th graders at our house for about 3 hours and we were very entertained watching them. Eric had fun teasing the kids, singing, dancing and embarrassing himself and Kiley. The kids seemed to have had a good time but I can't say that we will be doing it again real soon!!!

The day Eric's parents have waited a LONG time for!!

Saturday, November 29th
Russ and Jen are tying the knot today, forever and ever!

The sealing was awesome of course. Jen was a beautiful bride and Russ couldn't have looked happier! I absolutely love being together with family and friends in the temple, there aren't many things better than that. We are so happy for them and the knew life they are starting together.

I stayed after to help Jen G. take their wedding pictures. It was rejuvenating to see 2 people so in love and happy, it's contagious!! The reception was a good time. It was like the worlds biggest family reunion. It was unbelievable how many people were there and how many of them we knew. It is a small, small world. The kids really got a kick out of the Italian Soda bar. I think they went back like 10 times each (sorry!). We had fun dancing, socializing, and catching up with family we don't see often enough! Thanks Russ and Jen for sharing your special day with us and making the holiday weekend so memorable!! Welcome to the family Jen!!
Again I was so distracted that I didn't shoot enough pictures luckily Jen got some good ones that hopefully I can get from her!




After the reception we scooted home and tucked in some really tired little people and one big person and I went out for some for some more girl time. Jen was having a girls night and they invited me along. It's funny because they have all been friends for a long time, they were in young womens together and have stayed close through the years. A couple of them I met through Jen years ago but others I have met through other channels and have become good friends with (again it's a small, small world!) We did some serious laughing and really had a good time I think I called it quits around 2:30am it had already been a sleep deprived weekend and church was going to come way to early! But it was a good ending to a great weekend!

Black Friday Addict

Yes I have a problem, yes I can admit it , and No I have absolutely no intentions of seeking help!!!
I really can't explain what the attraction is for me. It is definitely NOT the crowds, or rarely the "GREAT" deals, or standing in ridiculous lines. It makes no sense whatsoever, but I do love Black Friday shopping. I think for me it is just the tradition of it and I HATE breaking tradition.

This year was a little different with so many stores opening at midnight. So after getting home from the movies Thursday night, I tucked Eric and the kids in and headed up to Toys R Us to get in line (around 11pm). There wasn't a single thing in any of the ads I had to have this year and I vowed to myself not to buy anything that wasn't on my list (No buying something because it was a great deal or because I got up at the crack of dawn so I might as well to make it worth the trouble!) I got in line and waited for Stacey and Rachelle to show up. We worked some team work and charm magic and made it out in 40 minutes which was a miracle considering they had a whopping TWO checkers for a couple hundred customers!!! What the heck were they thinking seriously are times so tough they couldn't afford more then TWO checkers!!
After that we headed to the mall to Aeropostale but got lucky when we found that their were quite a few stores already open. We wandered for a bit till Rachelle and Sydney decided they were to tired to go any further. Stacey ran them home while I hung with Jessica and Janey at B&b works. When Stacey got back we headed to Denny's for a gourmet breakfast. By the time we were done it was about 3:30 am. My original intentions were to be gone for a couple hours but surprisingly I wasn't all that tired yet! We all headed for home but at the last minute I decided to swing by Super Walmart by my house, another group of friends were meeting up there at 4:15 am. Why not? It was really surprisingly quiet, I found a couple things on my list pad for them and put them in my car about the time Jen and her crew go there. I will forever have the image of Jen being buried in a pile of psycho people physically fighting over Xbox systems burned in to my brain. I really didn't know whether to laugh or call 911 because I didn't think she was getting up!! After Walmart we all headed to Target and about half way through that store I finally lost steam and called it quits. I was a little sad not to finish it out but I did pretty good! I climbed in to bed about 8:30 am for a power nap.

I slept for a few hours then got up to get ready to go to dinner at Russ's house. Cecil, Linda and the four brothers and spouses (future spouse) and Jens parents and siblings enjoyed one of the best Mexican food dinners I have ever had! It was fun getting to know Jen's family, Russ won't have any problem feeling at home with them. It was like the two families were cut from the same mold and it made it even better that they knew each other from the past!

Thanksgiving Festivities

(I really stink at this journal keeping business, always a day late and dollar short!)

As an adult you would think I would have better coping mechanisms and realistic expectations but alas I don't. I still really cling to child like ideals of what I "think" or "wish" the holidays were still like. I haven't figured out how to not let life's challenges and struggles cloud my enjoyment of them. They come and go so fast I feel like we don't get the full value out of the time and energy we put in to trying to make them special. I hope before the kids are out of the house I will have figured this little challenge out and just learn to enjoy the moment and just take each year as it comes! and know that it will never be perfect.

With that being said this year was special with wedding excitement. It kind of helped to draw out the holiday magic a little longer. Thanksgiving morning we spent at home peacefully getting ready and puttering around the house. We headed over to have dinner at Uncle Tom and Lorna"s house early afternoonish. Most of the Arizona Thacker clan was there along with the Perkins portion! One of my favorite parts of the holidays is having lots of family around. I really enjoy watching all the cousins having fun together.The boys (Dallas, Dylan, Matt, Mason, Braydon & Eric played basketball) The girls (Kiley, Kelsey, Malerie, Megan, & Kamryn) jumped on the tramp and ran around doing what girls do?? Keaton, Max and Miles just tagged. It was nice to see cousins from out of town. We enjoyed a fabulous feast that could have fed a small army, and some of us ate waaay to much (it wasn't me!) Right before we were ready to eat we got a huge rain storm, followed by some wicked hale. After dinner when we were all to fat to move we just lounged around and visited for a while. It was a nice afternoon with family. Thanks to Tom and Lorna for hosting, it's always more enjoyable when the mess isn't at your house!

Later on that evening Eric and I, along with Darin, Carey, Russ, and Jen snuck out to see 4 Christmas's, it was a good laugh. Every year I vow to be better about taking pictures on Thanksgiving and every year I drop the ball. It seems I'm to distracted to remember!