Good bye youth.....

Another year of my youth lost, and another year closer to the big 30!!!!  Hello wrinkles, gray hair, poor vision, loss of hearing, memory, bowel control, and all those other things I've taken for granted the past 28 years.  It didn't hit me until a couple months ago (seriously) that I no longer can pass for a 19 year old.  My butt is just not the right size and my boobs are not nearly in the right spot.  I am sad, a little bitter, and definitely not ready to get old.  And I'm sorry, 30 is not the new 20.  That is something someone older than you says so they can feel good about, well, being old themselves!! On a positive note, I was able to spend my birthday day in reno.  We stayed there overnight on our way home from Utah.  The breakfast was incredible at Peg's not so Famous Ham and Eggs.  I see why all the awards and magazine articles!!! And then my favorite, dinner at the Melting Pot with Danny and Misty.  This is the second year in a row we've gone for my birthday, and I love the tradition.  Nothing say's "happy birthday ya old fart" like some good fondu!  So, I'll be 30 in two short years...... wonder what I'll rant about then? We'll see......

Rat Man!!

So, I totally forgot to mention Jason and Casey's creation..... Rat Man.  Now some may say "why does the scary rat, monster, snowman have a cone on the top of his head?"  And to that I would answer, "I have no freakin idea!"  You know boys, they aren't satisfied until they show just how big of balls they have, er, can make. So came the creation of rat man, a "huge" success if you ask me.

Once there was a snowman....

The last thing we did while in Utah was visit my sister Karen and her husband Casey in Logan.  As we left the house to grab some lunch, the guys thought it a great time to play in the snow.  My hungry stomach had other ideas, but I wasn't going to be the mean mom who tells everyone to stop having fun and get in the car.  I love that before we left on our trip I ran around target like a crazy person (several times), and spent more money than should be legal on snow clothes, only to have my kids out "playing" in the snow once.  And to top it off, except for Makayla's bright pink boots, they wore none of it.  Hmmm.... lesson learned.  I was however proud of the awesome snowman that came to life, and glad to see everyone having such a great time. (especially Jason, since he hates the snow and all things cold!) What a fun trip!!!

New Years Eve

For New Years Eve this year we had an ugly sweater party at Sabrina's house.  The girls all went shopping at the DI the day before to find these beauties, while the guys took the kids sledding.   It was hidiously fun! 

To bad boys didn't think it was so great of an idea.  In fact they were pretty grumpy about the whole thing, thanks for the fake smiles though guys!!

Utah

So, the day after Christmas we decided to make a trip to Utah.  My old moto "If you can't afford to fly to utah, you can't afford to go to Utah" was out the door once I saw the prices for airline tickets that time of year.  Plus now I have to buy tickets for four.  So we packed into the car and begun our 10 hour drive, which turned into a 17 hour drive, because apparently my husband has the bladder of a pregnant woman in her third trimester!  We had a great time with ALL of our family who we only get to see about once a year.  One night we decided to take all the kids on a train (more like bart) to temple square in Salt Lake to see all the christmas lights and nativities.  It was beautiful, and the kids had a great time being around so many cousins.  It definitely felt like the holidays being in all that snow.  Love it!! 

Something funny about me.... I love to buy cleaning products! Notice I  did not say I love using them?  Just buying them. Whenever a new product comes out, I have to have it!! Well, this is my latest find.  It's called Holy Cow, it only cost $2.00 at walmart, it's all natural organic, and it's PINK.  Let's be honest, I am very susceptible to advertising, so the cute bottle is what sold me.  As it turns out, not a bad product.  My kitchen is sparkling.... don't get used to it!

Christmas morning

So, I really didn't get to many pictures on Christmas morning (this is about it).  I decided, instead of trying to get "a good shot" the whole time, I would just sit back and not worry about it.  Plus, there were presents with my name on them.  I couldn't just let them sit there while I took pictures now could I?

Cookies for Santa

Makayla made sure to leave out cookies and milk for Santa.  She even left the riendeer some carrots because "they do all the flying".  What a thoughtful girl!

Christmas Eve

This Christmas Eve we spent  at my parent's house, like we do every year.  It was a small crowd this year, but we had a good time.
The kids usually get jammies for a present on christmas eve, but since they had them earlier for our christmas card pictures, they felt it was a great idea to WEAR them on christmas eve.  I tried to get a picture of them before they changed.... no such luck!

Makayla enjoyed Grandma Swain's new "cat"

While Gavin enjoyed the piles of wrapping paper!

Christmas Sunday

The kiddos looked great in their Christmas outfits this year. I especially loved Makayla's dress, she looked so big in it, and $10.00 at ross, who doesn't love that?!