Christmas Eve

I have been bugged by enough people to post my Christmas pics. Since my sister called me today telling me she had issues with my blog because Christmas wasn't posted and it was New Years I thought I should probable take care of it. So here we go.

We spend Christmas Eve at my parents house every year. This year we were lucky enough to have Grandma D and Grandpa Owen here from Utah. It was loud and crazy as usual but also very fun. The kids have so much fun playing together. With 10 kids 9 yrs and under there is NEVER a dull moment
The anticipation was of opening up the gifts was killing the kids.

They waited patiently for dinner to be done and then is was on. Wrapping paper, toys, clothes, etc was being thrown around and yells and giggles of excited was all we could hear

Do you blame them Grandma and Grandpa spoiled them like CRAZY!! Owen and Ethan got a lot of fun stuff. Owens favorite was these

Dino Lego, that was until Christmas day when dad and Owen spent all day putting the Dino together was on the last leg to find out the they were missing 2 leg hinges. Not a happy boy and I am NOT talking about Owen!! They went back and were replaced with other Lego sets. Owen said that if one of the boxes were wrong they were all wrong so no Dino Lego's at our house.

Thanks Mom and Dad for a great Christmas Eve. Thanks for the gifts, you love and your example. Your love for your family never ceases to amaze me. You are the BEST. We love you!

What are Skinny Shoes???

The only thing Owen wanted for Christmas this year was Skinny Shoes. What are skinny shoes you ask, well after chasing kids around school trying to look at there shoes without looking suspicious, starring at the boys shoes at the bus stop, I finally figured out what they were. A lot of people have been wondering the same and if he got them. Seriously do I look like an idiot, its the ONLY thing he wanted and you question if I delivered, I mean Santa delivered. So YES he got them and this is what they are. Old school Converse All Star Low tops. If I would have know there were going to be back in style I would have kept mine from like 15 years ago. He was counting the days until "Skinny Shoe Day" I couldn't believe how bad he wanted them. When he woke up he went racing in the front room looking for them. Hes a hard one to please last year it was a Giant Candy Cane, this year Skinny Shoes, I can only imagine what next year will bring, all know is I have one happy boy with his Skinny shoes and NO he will not be wearing Skinny Pants with them.

Owens a Ladies Man

Right on our street there are a ton of kids Owens age, the only problem is they are all girls. Well that is not a problem to Owen. He plays around the clock with these cute girls. He is quite the ladies man and thoroughly enjoys himself until they want to play house and he has to be the Dad and call his wife Ellie "Sweetie" he doesn't go for that.They love to race down the street from our house to the Inmans and for some reason it never gets boring to them

Oh to be a kid again. I enjoy watching them so happy without a care in the world. What a cute bunch of kids. We are very lucky to have such great neighbors. Girls, Boys, we don't care and either do they

Owens Letter to Santa

Dear Santa,

(a.k.e Converse shoes)

Such are hard one to please!!

Temple Lights

We took the kids to see the Temple Lights. The weather was perfect, the company was the best and the atmosphere was beautiful. I love to see the temple this time of year.Owen had the best seat in the house
I was trying to take a picture of the boys but I kept getting this silly clown instead

The night was perfect until Owen decided to barf up Burger King chicken fries all over the car. Oh the joys of being a parent!!

My Monday night Date

About a month ago my sister invited me to go see The Forgotten Carols by Micheal McLean with her and her friends from work, I quickly jumped at the chance and was really excited to see it. Since then things came up with her schedule and she wasn't able to come so Stewart said he would come with me, then he got called into work so he wasn't able to go either. I was starting to think it was me that no one wanted to go with. Well I ended up with the best date on Monday. Not only did we see an awesome play but we sat behind the cutest parents and grandparent ever.Me and Bekki outside the Orpheum Theater

My Mom, and Grandparents

Us with the star himself Micheal McLean

If you haven't seen this show it is a must, It really reminds you of what Christmas is all about. Thanks Bekki for coming with me. I had a great time as usual, but next time we really need to get seats like the old people :)

Santa

We had a very fun visitor tonight at our house, all the way from the North Pole.

Ethan wasn't very fond of him

And Owen couldn't believe "It was really him"

All the cousins except for Ethan and Alyssa who were screaming and crying and Austin who couldn't make it , oddly enough Santa even brought a gift for him, he must be really good this yearNow does Santa have the coolest ride or what, he took them each for a ride in it
Owen was in heaven

As you can see Ethan still wasn't too fond of him, but it makes for a funny picture

Its great to know friends from the North Pole it sure made for a fun night.

Thanks Santa

I love Christmas Time

I love Christmas decorations, there is something about bright lights and colorful ornaments that just makes me smile. I keep telling Stewart that I am going to keep up the Christmas Decorations year around :). We have been reading the kids a story out of our Christmas book every night and after the story they play with the train under the tree. They were playing so good and loving on each other I couldn't resist a photo opportunity

If that is not the sweetest thing EVER

What cute boys I have

It looks like Owen has Ethan in a headlock but really he was just loving on him
Last night I went to check and make sure the lights got turned off and this is how I found Santa. He looked as if he had gotten shot

Long night huh!! I feel your pain Santa, only 9 days to go and the Over rated day we call Christmas is OVER!!!!!!!

I do live Christmas I just feel like it is a little over rated with all the gifts and money people spend to keep up with the "JONES", well folks theres not much to keep up with, let me save you some money stop now the competition with the Jones' is really easy this year :)

Prayers Needed!!!

I have know Justin since elementary school. He is one of the kindest, funniest people I know. I haven't spoke to him in years but have kept in contact through the blogging world. He got married last year to Susan, she was diagnosed with Colon Cancer in June of this year. She has fought the fight with all her heart and strength. She has given her all but is losing, she knows her time here are earth is short but is not giving up. My heart aches for her and her pain but also for Justin and his loss. You can read about her journey on their blog click on it on my side bar Justin and Susan and please pray for them and their families.

(At the ASU vs. U of A game this weekend durning the 3rd and 4th quarter they will be doing a tribute for Susan of the big screen.)
UPDATE

Susan's battle with Cancer ended last night. She returned home to be with her Heavenly Father last night 10/5/2008. My heart aches for Justin and those family members who are mourning her loss.

Thanksgiving weekend at the cabin

We went to my parents cabin Thanksgiving weekend with my Mom, Dad, Jason, Grandma Lois, Lynsey, Jim and Austin. It was a full house but we had a really good time. It was colder then crap but we had fun. Grandma Lois came and spent Thanksgiving with us so she wasn't alone. It was great to have her here with us as well.We had a camp fire and made smores. Ethan and Austin only cared about the chocolate and Owen only cared about catching the marshmellows on fire
Me and Grandma Jim and his little ducklings
Ethan was obsessed with riding the vroom vrooms even though it was 30 degrees outsideWe let Owen and Austin stay up late one night and watch a movie. Austin had his first experience with Popcorn. What a deprived little kid :)
Stewart, Jim and Jason went "spotting" one night what ever that means, but they were acting like a bunch of little boys with their guns.
Owen and his Uncle Jason

Thanks Mom and Dad for a great weekend. We had a blast as always.

What an Experience

Back in July a girl I use to work with lost her sweet little girl Kamber to a tragic accident. She got a group of people together to run the Turkey Trot in Kamber's memory. She had the cutest shirts made as well. I have never done any type of run before but I couldn't turn down what turned out to be such a great experience for such a great family. So I took one for the team and signed up.

I was really excited to be doing this with my sister as well but also very nervous because I am not a runner and my sister is. I have been running in the mornings with Ethan to prepare but nothing major. I had the best experience, it is amazing the thoughts and emotions you go through when you are running.

Here are a few of mine:

Mile 1: Got run over by some stupid women stroller driver

Mile 2: Saw the most inspiring man running with a prosthetic leg

Mile 3: Got tripped by yet another stupid women dog driver

Mile 4: I was running past my car and was contemplating jumping in it and not looking back until I saw the cutest little family it was Kamber's Dad and sisters hurrying to meet Jen at the finish line. It brought tears to my eyes and gave me a much need reminder of why I was there and who I was doing this for.

Mile 5: Contemplated playing in oncoming traffic

Mile 6: The longest mile of my life, It felt like it went on forever.

Finish: Such a rewarding feeling of accomplishment, with the thought of "Am I going to be able to walk tomorrow"? going through my head.

The over all experience was amazing, I would do it again in a heart beat. I am so glad I was able to do it and do it in Kambers memory, what a special day it was.

Here is my proof that I actually did is since some knuckle head stole my Turkey Trot shirt, I mean seriously who does that especially on Thanksgiving. Oh well I have the memories and those will last a whole lot longer.

Thanks again Jen for putting this together and for being such a great example of strength to all of us. I am sure Kamber was jumping with joy seeing you run for her today.

Thank you Lynsey for convincing me to go even though you kicked my butt :)

So I am sure you are all wondering what my time was, well its none of your business :) j/k

My goal was to finish in 1hour and 30 mins. and I finished in 1 hour 24 mins. so I met my goal :) For all of you crazy runners laughing at my time, I never claimed to be a great runner

So any one up for the London Run?

Thanksgiving was great this year. I have so much to be thankful for but most importantly my husband, boys and our health :)

We should have taken the plane!!!

Today was Owen's field trip to the Tempe Art Center to see The Velveteen Rabbit. I was lucky enough to go as a chaperon. This morning Owen asked me how we were going to get there, I told him we were all going on the bus his response was "We should take a plane we would get there faster". If I would have known what was about to take place I would have agreed.

Here is Owens class all piled on the bus excited as ever Mrs. Soosai outside the bus about 5 miles from the school after the bus BROKE DOWN. Yes that is right, we had about 100 5 year olds piled on the bus and it all of a sudden it stopped. One little boy Yelled out call 9-9-1 :) they will fix it, and Owen said "See we should have taken the plane" when neither of those were really options we waited for another bus. In the meantime we decided to find humor in it. We pulled out the cameras and decided to have a photo shoot. Mrs. Soosai is such a great sport!! Once the bus got there we had to transport all the kids onto the next bus. Needless to say we were late for the play. I am glad it broke down right before entering the freeway not on it, that would have been a disaster.

This is Autum and Owen I think they have a crush on each other. They sit at the same table and they are always together.

Not really sure what was going on in this picture if I didn't know better it looks like Owen is looking for some lovinThey were pretending to be sleeping. It was so believable with those big smiles on their facesThe play was really cute, as least what we saw of it. I had a great time and I am so glad I was able to go. I really enjoy my time with Owen and his friends and Mrs. Soosai is awesome. I couldn't be happier with her.

Thanks Owen for letting your Mom come and be apart of your school experiences and for thinking your mom is cool even when you are with your friends. I hope it will always stay that way even though I know deep down it wont. Oh well I will enjoy it while it lasts.

So Owen you were right we should have taken the PLANE!!