Christmas 2010

Like I said earlier, I have most definitely not been in a picture-taking mood and sadly that was the same for Christmas... I knew I would regret it later, but at the time is still wasn't enough motivation to pull my camera out of it's bag. I took a couple of pictures Christmas morning, but that's it.

And I was right, I really do regret it.

Anyway, we had a great Christmas break!

Ally's last day if school was on the 21st... unfortunately we got almost two feet of snow that day. We told her she could stay home, but of course she didn't want to.
Alex trying to dig us out.

The we went to her school to see her sing her Christmas song.

Then we came back and about an hour after that it was time for me to head back to her school, since I was in charge of her class Christmas party... but the roads were just too bad to drive on. Luckily we only live a couple of blocks from the school... but man did I get a workout! Remember it was almost 2 feet deep? So I had to trudge through it, carrying Devin because it was too deep for him to walk in, a backpack full of treats for Ally's class and a present for her teacher. I really wasn't sure I was going to make it!
Here is a picture of what my sister helped me make for presents. The small one is for Ally's teacher and the bigger one was for Alex's step-mom.

(My sister made one for Ally for her birthday as a scripture carrying case... now I just want to make me one!!!)

Alex's birthday was on the 22nd and he had it off work. (He actually had Dec. 22-27 off which was incredible!) But my parents came for dinner and watched the kids so we could go see TRON... Alex liked it, but I was SO bored and it felt like it would never end!

On Christmas Eve we do our usual extremely busy day. We woke up and Ally helped clean the entire house so she could open a couple of presents. He, he, he I love that tradition!
Devin had a fever for 2 days before (and was up all night which added to my exhaustion and no-desire to take pictures on Christmas Eve). He got an extension to his railroad set from Ally and while he loved it, he didn't feel well enough to do anything but this:

(See the blanket in the picture? He got it for Christmas Eve from us... it's his "dump truck blankie" and man I already hate that thing! He was never attached to a blanket before but he is obsesses with that thing now and won't go to sleep without it! Why did I ever get it for him!?)

By noon we were out the door and on our way to "Aunt" Kristie's house, to celebrate with Alex's side of the family. We had fabulous food there and it was fun to see everyone... but time was too short and we had to hurry and leave to go visit my side of the family. Again, the food was too yummy and we had a lot of fun, playing Bingo, opening presents, and drinking the traditional red and green Sprite. The grandkids all opened their matching pajamas too. The we left really late to head home to wait for Santa.

This is the first year that Ally knew there was no Santa bringing her presents... I wasn't prepared for the little sadness that accompanied her realization. She is just growing up too fast and I still want her to stay little.

Christmas morning my parents drove down to watch the kids open their presents. They were thoroughly spoiled, of course, and it was great. Ally wanted to rip through her presents and Devin took forever because he wanted every new thing opened and played with before he could move on. Ally's favorite was her new skateboard and scooter and I'm not sure what Devin's favorite toy from Santa was... maybe the package of M&M's... no, he loved it all and played with all of it. The we spent the rest of Christmas day relaxing at home and letting the kids play with their presents.

I end with the few pictures I took of Christmas morning, and while I do regret all the pictures I missed, I am still very thankful for the magic of Christmas that I can feel without an actual photograph to remember it.

Some Family Pictures

I've been kind of in a picture taking rut, too busy, too tired and just not in the mood. But here are some family pictures:

All of My Parents Grandkids

I couldn't post this earlier, because I gave my parents this picture as part of their Christmas present, but here is a picture I took of all 8 of my parent's grandchildren. Devin refused to cooperate and I had to crop him in from a different picture, Cameron put bunny ears on his sister Emily and I had to smooth them out, the background didn't reach far enough and I had to paste a new one in... so it is way too rough, but here it is anyway:

The Cute Jensen, Pickle and Peterson Kids!

On Thanksgiving, I took pictures of all of my nieces and nephews (on my side) and my kids. Look how flippin' cute they all are!

Cameron (my sister's oldest... will be 17 in a few months) who is a master on the swim team!


Next come's Cody, who is 15 and on his high school basketball team (my brother's son):


Then my brother's second son, Neal, who just turned 14, and is one of the smartest kids I know:


Just 4 days after Neal was born, comes my sister's daughter Emily, who may be extremely beautiful and popular but is an absolute sweetie:


Then comes my sister's youngest, Nathan, who will be 12 in a few months. He is one of those kids that just radiates warmth and happiness!


Then comes my brother's youngest, Kaylee who will be 12 next summer. She loves to talk but more importantly knows how to really listen.


My kids bring up the end of the grandkids.

Ally, who just turned 9:


And, then comes Devin, who trails really far behind at 2:


And that makes up my adorable family of nieces, nephews and of course my own sweeties!

Thankful

Last month was the month to be thankful. I hate how November is kind of a crazy jump from Halloween straight into Christmas. It's even crazy for us because we have immediate family members with Birthday's on the 11th, 13th, 15th, 19th, 21st, 25th and 29th... add all that up to a crazy month.

November was an ENTIRE month of pure sickness. You know it has been a bad month when you get a text from your mom every morning asking who is sick that day, and you can never answer "no one". I *think* we may have a pause in the sickness, but I can never be too sure.

So, I really wanted to find ways to celebrate this beautiful time of year and really remember what it is about... being thankful. I found an easy way to do this. I created a big poster and wrote "I AM THANKFUL FOR..." on it. At least every day we each try and write something on it. True, there is "nyquil" and "no one threw up today" on it, but those really have been things to be thankful for this month. It has been really great to see how everyone checks it out and loves to see what we write.

I took this picture mid month, so it got even fuller by the time the month was over.


I really am so very thankful for all the many blessings in my life!!!

Nine

Dear Ally,

Today you turned nine years old... Nine years and nine whole months you have been in my life. What a blessing each precious second has been to me. We've spent a lot of time lately talking with you about the past, our past. From talking about your seizures as a baby, to the time you left Scooby in the Tucson airport and we finally came clean that it was in fact a new Scooby and the flight attendants hadn't really mailed him back to us.

I will never forget my first moments with you alone. Daddy was gone and even the nurses had disappeared. I remember stroking your soft, fuzzy, dark hair and looking at your big dark eyes. I remember feeling scared, not knowing what to do with something so tiny and so completely mine. But those few moments of fear quickly got lost in complete wonder at the tiny fingers curled around one of mine and the fact that you were mine... and then the wonder disappeared, and it was just you and me, and I finally knew what unconditional love meant.

You've always been mine. As a toddler you were forever attached to me and I wondered if I would ever get a moments peace from you... but those days are gone. You are still mine, but as you are constantly with friends, playing on your own, going to school so many hours a day, I sometimes wish you were the toddler that would scream if I was ever a few steps away. I never understood how hard it is to let someone grow up. Sometimes you probably wonder why I come into your room to listen to some music with you, even when you know I really can't stand The Jonas Brothers... it's simple. I'm still a little too attached, and even if I can't scream when you're too many steps away, I sneak in ways all I can to just be near you.

You are the most amazing nine-year-old I have ever met. Yes, you are beautiful and smart, but you are also the most caring, sweet and tender-hearted too! Your compassion and patience for your brother is amazing, and your hugs can make the whole world seem right again. You are honest, and amaze me how you always try to do what is right. I know you are only nine years old, but you are one of the few people I can really count on.

So, please be patient with this mom that still wants to hold your hand, and hug you when you leave for school every morning. I am not quite as ready as you are to let go, but I am trying. You have made me so proud of you and the beautiful young lady you are today.

So, Happy Birthday, my not-so, little one.

Love,
Mom

Another Weekend of Parties

It was another busy, crazy, fun weekend for us. This time we were celebrating Ally's birthday. On Saturday, we had a few of Ally's closest friends come over for a party. She wanted to have a Halloween/Birthday party... interesting. Anyway, we invited everyone to wear their costumes.


The pictures are from a game of candy corn catch. The girls threw the candy corn and their partner had to catch it in the pumpkin. This was Devin's favorite game! He sat underneath them and tried to catch as much candy corn as possible that dropped and eat it.

We also did a mummy wrap with toilet paper.


We played some more games and then we fed the girls pizza.

Then it was time to open presents.

Then it was time for cupcakes and ice cream.


Ally had a lot of fun!!!

On Sunday morning around 4 am, Ally came into our room saying she didn't feel good... and then proceeded to throw up all over our carpeted floor... the last thing she had eaten was orange jello... just sayin'... So, we get her all settled with a bucket and scrub the floor and I am thinking I am going to call all of our family and cancel her party later... but she doesn't throw up again and feels fine. So we figure she just had too much sugar or something... the party is still on! (and I am extremely thankful because I had already made her huge cake and it takes me HOURS to do it!)
We gave her the option to open her presents from us Sunday morning or wait until her actual Birthday on the 11th... what do you think she picked? Of course she wanted to open them!



Here is Ally in the outfit and boots we got for her:

We didn't go to church... we weren't still sure at that point if she was actually sick or not, but then that evening our family came over and she opened even more presents!


Then time for more cake (made to Ally's specifications) and ice cream.

So, that was our fun weekend celebrating a beautiful young lady!!!