Looking Back...& Looking Forward

Wow, I really seemed to have dropped the ball with my blog. December is a very busy month and I really wanted to document all the fun & exciting activities that we have done with our family to end 2010. However, I seemed to have forgotten that we own a camera and did not document one said activity. Therefore, this will be a catch up and move on post for the end of 2010 and beginning of 2011.

My 38th birthday was on December 20th. Not one I was looking forward to. 38 is just that, 38. Nothing exciting or noteworthy. But I do have to say it was celebrated to death. I started my celebrations on Saturday, Dec. 18th with 3 of my best friends...Nancy Gonzales, Rhonda Trone and Nancie Lindblom. We had breakfast at Crackers. After we stuffed ourselves, Nancy and I went back to her house and I went "shopping" in her closet. Nancy has great clothes and although we have different body types, we wear the same size. She was cleaning out her closet and had a wonderful assortment of clothing for me to chose from. I brought home the cutest skirts and tops, plus many "in style" jeans that made me look way skinny....a total plus!

On Sunday I got to have the Primary sing to me and had many well wishers in the halls.

Then Monday, the official day.... I slept in till 8:30! I know that doesn't sound late, but in our house that is late. Once I was up, I was brought a Krispy Kreme donut with a candle in it and got the best "Happy Birthday, Cha, Cha, Cha" ever sung by my 5 boys. I did a little light cleaning during the day, while Joe took our bedroom apart and cleaned every bit of dust and yuck all away. Later Joe got our favorite babysitter, Jessica and we went out to dinner at one of my favorite special occasion restaurants, Brio, at the San Tan Mall. It was soooo delicious! Afterwards we went next door to the Barnes & Noble, where Joe had a gift card, and he let me pick out 2 books. A great way to celebrate my birthday with my best friend.

The following Wednesday, Dec. 22 I got to restart my Birthday celebrations. My good friend Heidi took me out to lunch at Chile's. And then that night I went out with another group of friends to The Cheesecake Factory. We did a little shopping at the mall afterward, well some of the ladies did shopping, I just walked around and enjoyed being out with great women. When I got home Joe asked if I was finally done celebrating my birthday. I told him yes, we can now focus on Christmas.

Thank you to everyone that helped make my uneventful 38th Birthday very eventful and fun!

Christmas! Did I take any pictures? NO. What? Not 1 picture of the great decorations in the house? Not 1. Not 1 picture of the kids with all the fun stuff Santa brought? Not a 1. Then I'll just have to paint a picture of words...HEHEHEHE. Yeah, right!

We spent Christmas Eve at my parents house with my family. Dinner of Tamales, rice, beans, enchiladas and all the makings. My brother Galen came from Snowflake with his wife Julia and her son Sheldon. Galen's kids were with their mom this year. Doyle, Jody and their kids were there. Christine, Sean and their 3. Denise, Cole and their 3 and the Macdonald 6 along with Grandma & Papa. It was quite a group all squished into Grandma & Papa's house. Loud the say the least. After dinner we opened gifts from each other. As siblings we rotate families, while Grandma & Papa get something for everyone. It was a nice way to celebrate Christmas Eve.

Christmas Day was all about our family this year. No where to go. The weather was a beautiful 72 degrees. Our boys woke us sometime around 7am. A lego set for Jacob, Bike for Tyler. Aaron got a Leapster 2 with games, Jared a Toy Story race car set that shakes and go's. Many presents including a Laptop for my schooling. We spent a relaxing day playing with new toys.

The day after Christmas, after church we loaded up the truck and headed up to the cabin in Heber. We spent a relaxing 2 1/2 days at the cabin. Fires at night to keep the cold away. I read books and we all played lots of board games. The boys enjoyed football and Frisbee outside with Joe. We took a trip Monday into Show Low and had lunch and went bowling. I had my camera in the car....but didn't take any pictures. Jared in those silly bowling shoes, hopping down the lane to Dad so he could take his turn. A memory burned into my brain. The cutest EVER!

Weather reports on Tuesday night had us worried. A cold front heading into AZ, bringing snow to the high country. We decided we would leave around 10 the next morning hoping to beat the storm. Tyler woke us at 7:30 and when I checked the weather outside it was already snowing. Shift into overdrive! We started getting packed up as fast as we could. No snow tires or 4 wheel drive on the truck could mean we would get stuck or slide off the roads. By 8:30 we were on the way home. Steady snow was falling and by the time we got to Forest Lakes it was already pretty bad. Not much snow but lots of ice. We slipped and slid through Forest Lakes, a near death experience as Joe tells it, and made it down the rim without an accident. It snowed until just past Christopher Creek and then turned to rain. We were happy to get safely home and celebrated with lunch at Fuddruckers.

Last night was New Year's Eve. We range in the New Year with our good friends, the Asay's. Take out from PF Chang's for the adults, with pizza for the kids. A rousing round of Sequence for the adults while the kids destroyed the Asay house. Then we all went outside into the freezing night to set off fireworks. Sparklers, snap caps and small level fireworks while we froze. Jared didn't make it with the sounds. Joe took him inside to be safe. Eventually I couldn't handle the cold and joined them inside along with Aimee and baby Tallin. Once the fireworks were all gone, everyone came in to warm up and enjoy brownies and ice cream. Then a game of Wii Smarty Pants for the adults, with the kids helping here and there. We went home just before 11. Jacob stayed up till Midnight along with me and Joe. We could hear all the neighbors setting off fireworks. It was a great way to celebrate the New Year.

So there you have it, a look back. Now on to looking forward. May this new year bring challenges that strengthen us, and experiences that bring us together. Happy 2011!