First off, I missed my mom's birthday. I missed making the cake, singing loudly and off-key with my nephews and I missed giving her a great big birthday hug. That is the first time I have not been there for a family birthday party except for when I was in college. :( It was really depressing. We did Skype, so that eased the pain a bit, but it was so hard not being there. And just a few days after that was Thanksgiving. WIERD not being there with my family. So strange. Luckily the Singers, a family in our ward, invited us over for dinner and games. That was a lot of fun and so great not to be alone!!
For those of you who have been in our "inner-circle" for a while, you know we have had the money to buy a flat screen TV 2 or 3 times and have had to spend the money on repairing the car, buying a new fridge, etc... it seemed like anything and everything that would prevent my hubby from getting that TV happened!! Finally, this Black Friday, we jumped!! Best Buy LOVED us this year!!!
Before: The TV/VCR combo we got as a wedding gift from my parents almost 12 years ago!!
For informational purposes, the VCR player has not worked for at least 3 years thanks to the munchkin. At my last check, I saw a plastic hotdog, 2 pens, a few crayons and a Barbie head inside the VCR! Wonder why the thing doesn't work, huh?!?
After: Isn't she lovely?!? LG 47" HD LCD TV. Hanging above the mantle even!!! My first mantle EVER!!! I was annoyed in the beginning that my very first mantle was completely overtaken by this monstrosity, but how can you be angry at something so beautiful? We also bought our first Blueray player!! :-) (On a side note, yes, that is Yoda on top of our tree. No, that is not sacrilegious!)
The day after our life-altering, mantle-stealing day was SUPER FUN!!! The short story: Ken and I were replacing the toilet in our master bathroom. We put it in the tub to drain out water so we didn't get our gorgeous new carpet toilety, Ken tipped it to drain even more water, the lid from the tank fell, it hit the floor and shattered into lots of sharp pieces, one of which flew at my foot and sliced the top-side clean open. It happened sooooo fast. If you can stomache it, here are some lovely pictures!
Yes, that is a flour-sack towel and painters tape. We couldn't find the duct tape! ;)
All cleaned up and ready for stitching. Isn't it a beauty? Frickin' toilet...
The stitches - really funky looking, huh?? It's called a "mattress stitch" and it allows for the pulling of the skin without creating a divet when it's completely healed! So glad she did it that way!! Life got a little crazy after that. Getting munchkin to and from school was only made possible thanks to the hubs, neighbors and crutches!! I couldn't wear a shoe because of where the stitches were so it made things 'interesting'. But luckily, I have AWESOME neighbors and friends!!
We were able to fly to Cali for Christmas with family and friends. It was unbelievably awesome to see our family and friends again!! Peyten has missed her cousins so much it was almost heart-breaking. To say that we had fun visiting and giving as many hugs as we could is an understatement! We got to hang with a few friends while we were there as well - so good to see them again! Here's just a very few pics of our trip, can't possibly post them all!!
Peyten's Christmas dress!! She's just such a beautiful little girl!!!
My brother giving her a great big bear hug!!! This pic serously makes me cry every time!
This is the ornament that my parents bought for Peyten's first Christmas!
Look at those beautiful blue eyes!!! She is growing up so darn fast. :(
The 3 Amigos at Bass Pro Shop with Santa! Tristan, Talon and Peyten! We miss those crazy cousins!
The Oakland LDS Temple with their Christmas lights. I wish my camera didn't suck, it's so beautiful and you really can't see anything in this picture. Just know- it's heaven with palm trees and a view!! ;)
That's the clan! Freezing our tooshes off at the top of the temple!!
Not the best pic ever, but it's the one I have so it's awesome!!!
This is my parents tree!! So one side of the tree was facing the window, another side had a chair right next to it, so the two remaining sdes were inundated with ornaments by the kid-o's!! It was perfect!!
Before we knew it our Christams trip was over and we were home in time for a very LOUD New Years, Texas-style. Man, these Texans know how to do fireworks!!! I realize the laws in TX and CA are very different when it comes to fireworks, but DANG!!! From about 8:00 pm until maybe 2:00 am it was non-stop fireworks. And not the cheap kind that pop - I'm talking the BIG ones that shoot up in the air and boom! It was some serious business!! Despite that, we had a relaxing New Years!!
That's about it! I think we're all caught up. Peyten is continuing to adjust in school, the new ward, etc. She is making friends quickly which is awesome - now we just need to set up play-dates with these kids!! Ken is less stressed here and his commute is half the time it was in Cali, so he's doing great!! He is the Varsity scout leader for the ward so he's learning the ins and outs of scouting, basketball, merit badges, basketball, projects and basketball!! ;-) I joined a book club and am doing storytime for P's class every week. I'm also the Activity Days leader at church, which means I work with the 8-11 year old girls! It's the best job in the whole church and I love it! My partner is a little nuts, but she's "ok"!!! ;-) (Did you catch that Darla???) ;-)
Until next time - which I promise will not be in two months!!! :)
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