Price & New Year's Eve

Since both Eric and I had almost two weeks off of work for the holidays we decided we would go to Price for New Year's. We left Saturday, December 28th at about 7:30 a.m. We stopped at Cabela's on the way, but didn't find anything. Eric was hoping to look at a hunting backpack, but they didn't have it. We got to Mary's at about noon, then a little while later we took the kids swimming at the Price pool. Mary called a girl that she crosses at her crossing guard job to join the kids. Marissa, Zoie, and Travis also met us at the pool. The kids love to swim and it is a nice way for them to get rid of some of their energy in the winter. They swam for about 2 hours and then we went back to the house for some dinner. We were debating what to do for the night. Travis invited Eric over to his father-in-law's for the UFC fight. Larry had bought the fight for the evening. Maisie was busy playing with the girls, so I thought I would take Parker to the movie at the last minute. We had to rush out of the door to make it to the show on time. We went to "Walking with the Dinosaur's." It was a pretty good movie. About 10 minutes into the movie, I got a call from Eric. Apparently, I had walked out the door with his coat which had his wallet and keys to the car, so he couldn't go to Travis's. He was not happy at me. When we got back to the house, Travis had come and got him so he could still watch the fight. Parker started complaining about his ear's hurting. I figured he had swimmer's ear. He went off the diving board almost the full two hours we were at the pool. I decided I better run to Walmart and get him some stuff for his ear's so we weren't dealing with this in the middle of the night. It took a little while for him to calm down and finally fall asleep. The next day we put the drops in his ear's again and then he was fine the rest of the trip.

Sunday, December 29th, Eric and I went to the Vea farm to visit family. We stopped by Uncle Jerry's, but he wasn't home, so we went over to Aunt Francis'. Mary brought the kids up to visit Aunt Francis and Uncle Tallee. We stayed for quite awhile and then we went over to Cody & Lexi's. They ended up feeding us pork chops.  We didn't stay too late since both Cody and Lexi had to work on Monday.

Monday, December 30th, we went up to the farm again to try and catch Uncle Jerry and Aunt Bonnie. We really wanted to visit Uncle Jerry. Recently, he was diagnosed with some type of throat cancer. He is on the mend and looks pretty good. He said he is finally starting to feel better, but lost quite a bit of weight. The kids stayed with Mary and then she brought them over to Cody's a little while later. We didn't know how Uncle Jerry would feel about having rowdy kids around. It was really good to visit with them. Bridget, Ray, JaSalene, Rylee, and Raygon ended up coming over to Cody's. It is always good to see them. We had a great time visiting with everyone. Again, we didn't stay too late since Cody and Lexi had to work the next day.

Tuesday, December 31st, we didn't do a whole lot during the day. It feels like we wake up and then we wait for breakfast to be brought to us and then pretty soon her comes lunch. Mary loves to cook and is really good at it. It is no wonder I gain weight over the holidays. In Price we sit around and eat way too much. We went to a early dinner at Farlaino's. The waitress was giving Eric a hard time cause he didn't want to order anything except for water. She brought him a plate with a little piece of lettuce and a couple tiny carrots. We got a good laugh. We got several invites for New Year's Eve and tried to hit all of them. We stopped by Diane and Phillip Lodeserto's for a bit. They are good friends of the family. Then we went to cousin Josh & Jodi's. I am glad we got to see them. Now that we all have kids and they are growing up, we just don't get to see the cousins very often. We stayed there until about 8:30 and then we went to cousin, Patrick & Celeste's. Patrick and Celeste are so fun. We love spending New Year's Eve with them. Patrick is a mortician and he had is apprentice, Tanner, and his girlfriend Marki, over to. They were really cute and fun. Both of them are also EMT's, so they were on call. Tanner ended up getting called out to transfer a pregnant woman from Price to Provo. He was really bummed he had to leave. Marki stayed and hung out with us. We watched a movie and then rang in the New Year with good company. We didn't end up leaving until about 1:30. We were all tired by the time we got back to Mary's. It was nice to fall into bed. 

Wednesday, January 1st, we had a hard time getting up. I don't think we all got up until about 10. By the time we ate breakfast and packed our stuff, we didn't leave until about 12:30. We got home just before 4. We did laundry and unpacked. I ran to the grocery store to get a few things. I had to be back to work on Thursday. Eric and the kids got two more days off. I loved the holidays, but was glad to get back into a routine.

December 26, 2013

We ended up over at Sallie's again. It is so nice to have such a great neighbor and friend. She is like family to us. Sallie, me and Maisie went to the movie Saving Mr. Banks. It is a movie about the story behind Mary Poppins. I think it was a little over Maisie's head, but she still enjoyed it. It was a bit long, but overall really good. We stopped and domino's afterwards to pick up pizza and sandwiches for a late dinner. I think the main reason why I gain a little weight over the holidays is I am completely off schedule. I work much better when I have a set schedule. 

Elves

Christopher, Christina Marie, & Mittens weren't very exciting this year. Maisie and Parker actually weren't as excited about the Elves visiting our house as much this year. They may or may not return next year. We will see. Here are a few tricks they had up their sleeve this year.

2013 Christmas

Christmas morning is always an eventful day. We wait until the kids wake up. This year they didn't wake up until 8:30. We decided a couple of years ago that Maisie and Parker would take turns opening their gifts. This way we all have to watch each other open their gifts and it takes a bit longer than just tearing into our gifts. They were very excited with what they got this year. Maisie got an Apples to Apples dice game, clothes, earrings, dork diaries book 1 and diary, ipad case, TV and tv stand, PJ's, rainbow loom. Parker got UNO dice game, marbles for his marble solitaire board game, three Ninja Turtle lego sets, lego play mat, 2 shirts, sticker book, Ninja Turtle underwear, ipad case, pj's, headphones, TMNT shredder, and a box of lego's. I got a set of cooking pans, and a nice tripod for my camera. Also, pj's and a Christmas outfit. Eric got a metal detector, a shirt, pj's and two investing books. We had a great time and everyone loved their gifts. It took us a while to get going with the day. Parker had to put together his lego's and we told him he couldn't take them to grandma's. We went and said hi to Sallie and Jerry before they headed up to Idaho to visit Ken's mom and sister. Then we got ready and headed over to my family's to spend the afternoon. We finally got their about 1:30. I love the holidays and just relaxing and spending time with family. Some of us girls did our nails with Kelsey's new shellac stuff. My mom cooked a great dinner. Turkey, salad, rolls, and pumpkin pie. After my parent's opened their gifts, we went over and visited with my grandma and grandpa Hendrickson and gave them their birthday calendar that I have gotten in the habit of making them for Christmas and they look forward to receiving it every year. They have a lot of birthdays to keep track of. I believe it is close to 130 and they still send birthday cards to everyone. It was great to visit with them. We didn't stay to long cause the kids were anxious to get home so they could play with their stuff. 

I had off work from December 20th to January 1st. Eric was off from December 23rd to January 4th. It was great having all those days off for the holiday. One bad thing about it though, is we stay up way too late and sleep in way too late. It takes a lot of adjusting to get back on schedule.

Christmas Eve

Eric decided that he wanted to start the tradition of deep frying a turkey for Christmas Eve. Little did we know it would turn into quite the ordeal. The night before Christmas Eve we decided we better start preparing this thing and make sure we had enough oil. We put the turkey in the pot and then filled it with water so we knew how much oil we would need. Well I had bought a 4.5 gallon jug of peanut oil from Sam's a couple of days ago, but as we were filling the bought with water we soon realized we weren't even close to having enough oil. We put the turkey in a brine which was kosher salt and brown sugar and water. So Christmas Eve morning I went to Sam's to pick up another jug, but they were out. So I ended up at Walmart. They were almost sold out, but I was able to get 3 more gallons of oil. It was a little more pricier than Sam's but I figured at this point we had to cook they dang thing. 

Sallie and Jerry came over at 1:00. We starting the oil at about 1:00 and by 2:00 it was up to temperature. We put the turkey in and the cooking began. It took another 15 minutes to bring the oil back up to temperature and then it had to cook for about 35 minutes. It looked so good when Eric pulled it out. He was so proud of himself. It was a pretty dang expensive turkey, but it tasted really good. We also cooked yummy potatoes, yams, and a veggie tray. Sallie also brought Eric's dessert. The dessert has been named after Eric since it is his favorite. It is hard to get him to share it. We enjoyed the evening listening to music, watching a movie, and playing games. We opened out pj's and they left about 10:00 and then we went to bed.

Maisie's 11th Birthday

I can tell that Maisie is growing up. She didn't know what she wanted for her birthday. This is partial my fault, because I spoil her rotten. When you have everything you want it is hard to think of things that you want. I told her I didn't have anything for her birthday and that turned into a big two year old fit. I was partially kidding, but it was partially true. I realized that everything I had bought for her was for Christmas. I asked what she wanted and she couldn't think of anything, but she wanted to be able to open something. I took her to Kohl's to pick out a coat. She didn't want a coat, but I didn't know what else to get her. She finally was happy with getting a coat for her birthday. On her birthday, I gave her a pair of boot slippers that she had seen in the black friday ads. She didn't know I had gotten those, so she was happy with that surprise. 

For her birthday party, she invited her friends Sadie and Olivia to go swimming at Mountain Crest. They swam for about an hour then we stopped by McDonald's and got hot cocoa and then they decorated cupcakes as owls. They are such silly girls. They enjoyed the rest of the evening hanging out in her room. Laughing and giggling.

Regina's 40th Birthday Party

December 14, 2013

Regina invited me to her 40th birthday. It was the most amazing adult birthday party I have ever been to. It was a themed birthday party and everyone was asked to wear a costume from either the Wizard of Oz or Oz the Great and Powerful. I was the wicked witch of the west. I thought my costume ended up being pretty cute. I wasn't sure how to make my face green so at the last minute, I used eye shadow. She served a yummy dinner which was chicken, orzo, salad, rolls, and yummy cake. She then hired a local magician to perform for us. I never quite understand magic. It just amazes me how quick they are. Tom, her husband, was the photographer. He had set up a cute Oz background and was sure to get everyone's photo. We played a trivia game and then opened gifts. She got some amazing things. Then the dancing began. I had a great time and it was fun to visit with old daycare parents that I just don't see any more. Regina is such an amazing person and she deserved such an amazing birthday party. 

Parker being a goof

December 13, 2013

Parker can be such a goof ball. He loves to dance and sing. If we turn on the music, he's a dance. He allowed me to take some photos of him dancing around. I love that he still let's me take his picture.

Parker gets in trouble

December 11, 2013

Parker had a really rough week. I got a call from Susan at the school. She said, "I had a little problem with Parker today, he needs to talk to you." My first thought is oh great, what did he do now. Of course, he gets on the phone and is crying and can't talk. It took a minute for me to get out of him what he had done. Apparently, he was running in the hall way and Susan asked him not to run and he turned around and with his hands said, "Blah, Blah, Blah!" and kept running down the hall. She had to go get him and bring him to the office. I can not believe my sweet little Parker did this. I was so embarrassed. When Susan got on the phone, I apologized and told her I would talk to him. Well when I picked him up, I was very upset. It took me awhile to calm down. We later had a talk about respecting others especially our elders. Sometimes, I think, Parker likes to do things to try and make his friends laugh. I told him he doesn't need to misbehave to make his friends laugh or to keep friends. I grounded him from his ipad for one week.

Then later that night, he was in his room, cause he knew I was mad. I here him telling Maisie, "don't tell mom." I go barging in there, "don't tell mom, what?" They both stare at me with fear in their eyes. "Tell me now." Maisie hands me a grocery bag of lego's from my mom's. Apparently, he took them from my mom's without asking. We had to have a little talk about taking things that are not ours. Doesn't matter who's house or who's stuff it is. We do not take things that are not ours. He cries and tells me he didn't know. Yeah, whatever. So he got grounded from his ipad for another week. I told him to look at the Christmas count down. 14 days til Christmas. I asked him how many days there are in two weeks. "14". Guess what, "you get your ipad back on Christmas. I will just wrap it up and you can get it back for Christmas." He was not very happy, but I was so mad at this point. The ipad was the only thing that I knew would torture him. He has become so addicted to that thing that it is driving me crazy.

Then Friday, when I go to pick him from after school club, one of the after school club teachers comes up to me and says. I need to tell you what happened today. Oh great! So apparently he walked by another volunteer and hit her on the butt. OMG!!!! I looked at Parker and gave him the evil eye. He had know idea why I was mad at him. I told him why he was in trouble and the whole ride home I could tell he had know idea that he had even done anything wrong. So again, I took him to his room and we had a talk about what is appropriate behavior and what is not. We should not be touching people in inappropriate ways. Our bodies are our's and we shouldn't allow others to touch them. I had to calm down from this one and use it as a teaching moment. I could tell he had no idea he had done anything wrong. The next week the school counselor also had a little talk with him and I think that helped. 

It was a rough week, but we made it through. I think a lot of it is anticipation for Christmas. I remember Maisie having a rough time in first grade. I think at this age they are trying to learn their independence and what is appropriate and what is not. I guess it is all about growing up.

2013 Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving at my families this year. We wish we could do the traditional every other year thing, but we have to work around Eric's schedule and if he has enough time off to go to Price. This year he only had Thanksgiving and Friday off, but had to work the weekend. Since Eric got off work Thanksgiving morning, he took a nap and then came over a little later. My contributions this year were green bean casserole, shrimp, brussel sprouts, chocolate pie, and pumpkin fluff pie. We had a great Thanksgiving feast and enjoyed time with the family. The ladies planned their shopping adventure. It ended up being me, Shanna, Kirsten, Misty and Kyle. Jason & Chase went to Walmart and then went home after that. This year there wasn't much to go after. I was trying to find a good deal on a TV for Maisie for Christmas, but wanted to make sure I was getting a decent TV. We started at Walmart at about 5:00. We didn't get too much there other than sheets and a few other small items. Then we went to Shopko. I still was after TV, but didn't end up getting one there. They handed out all the tickets before we got there. We had to stand in line for about an hour before they opened the doors. Kyle was so willing to run about a block to 7-11 and got us all hot chocolates. I ended up with a couple of shirts. Kyle and Misty went home after Shopko. Misty had to work early Friday morning, so they didn't want to be out all night. We went to Kirsten's house and re-looked at the ads. There just wasn't much out there this year. We stayed up for awhile and then decided to take a little nap. We didn't get much sleep, but a little helped. We got up at about 5 and Shanna and I went to Ogden. We went to IFA for some slippers Maisie wanted and then Big 5 for a ping pong table for my mom and then Rite Aid and Walgreen's. Nothing too exciting. I think I have decided that I don't like Black Friday shopping anymore. It just cuts too much into Thanksgiving and we don't get to enjoy hanging out with family. We didn't get any leftovers and we had to shove one piece of pie as we were rushing out the door. I just hate that they keep moving the time of the sales up earlier and earlier. My parents are so kind to volunteer to have the kids sleepover every year so that we can go shopping. In return, we pick up a few things for my mom. This year she really wanted to buy outfits for three girls at her school that just don't have any clothes. We were able to find full outfits for the three girls and kept it under $100. 

I went and picked up the kids from my mom's and was home about 11:30. Come to find out, Eric decided to do a little Black Friday shopping himself. I couldn't believe he got early and went shopping. He said he couldn't sleep so decided to go see if there was any great deal he couldn't pass up. He ended up getting me a vest from Sportsman's Warehouse. 

Sallie's dad was here for the week of Thanksgiving so we spent some time visiting with them Friday night. He brought his girlfriend LaRue with him this time. They are great people and we enjoy spending time with them and visiting. 

November 10 - Dylan and Luke's Pics and dinner

November 10, I took Dylan and Luke's pictures at the Brigham City train station. Luke was such a character and several times told me what he wanted to do for the next picture. Dylan is just a typical teenage boy that does not want his pictures taken. They turned out really cute though. Kirsten invited the kids and I over for dinner. She cooked a yummy lasagna and breadsticks. Kirsten is such a great cook. Parker and Luke get along so well and love playing with each other. We didn't even know they were there. They just went down stairs and played. Until they wanted to listen to the song "What does the Fox Say." A very corny song, but is really popular right now. Maisie enjoyed hanging out with Kirsten and I enjoying girl talk. She is a total girl and eats it all up. It was great hanging with them and enjoying a lovely Sunday evening at their house.

Bar J Wranglers

November 9, 2013 I took pictures of my good friend from high school, Sara, son Zaine. She wanted photos of Zaine with a horse. So I borrowed my dad's horse Cheyenne and Kyle and Misty helped me out with the horse. They turned out really cute and it was fun to do something different. My dad had called me earlier and asked if I wanted to go to dinner and the Bar J Wrangler show. It was my mom and dad, Shanna and Jason, and Kyle and Misty that went. We had dinner at El Parrall and then went Bar J Wranglers at the Bear River High School. It was a lot of fun. I haven't ever been, but I would definitely go again. We left Spencer home with all the kids. Spencer is always so willing to watch all the rug rats.

November 8th

November 8, Maisie got invited to go and stay the night at her friend Iris's house. So Parker and I did a little bit of shopping and then went to the movie, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2. He really enjoyed the movie. He loves going to the movie. Maisie had a great night at her friend's house. They spent time in the hot tub, which Maisie always enjoys doing. She keeps trying to talk us into getting a hot tub. Maybe one day. She was having so much fun that on Saturday I had to pick her up on our way out of town to Bear River City. She just was not ready to come home. She loves hanging out with friends. I think she is getting to the age that she is going to start doing a lot more things with friends. I am not sure I am ready for that. I love having my kids home.

Halloween 2013

Maisie and Parker decided to both be Raphael from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I was so excited when I found a girl tween Raphael. Maisie looked so dang cute in it. Parker loved being a ninja turtle again this year. I wasn't complaining. I didn't have to buy another costume. It has become a tradition to go to the Bear River City trunk-or-treat. Eric doesn't really care for the trunk-or-treat, so he stayed home. Because he has been sick he wasn't the happiest camper either, so we left him home. It was a little cold, so we didn't do any other trick-or treating. We went to my Hendrickson grandparents and than went to my mom's for soup and dirt pudding. That also has become a yearly tradition that the kids and adults look forward to. All the hunters except for my dad came home to spend Halloween with their kids. 

We stopped at Sallie's to trick-or-treat before going home. She loves seeing the kids and had a special full size candy bar for them.