Christmas in Cali

So my old roomie, Kim, thought she was the last one on the planet to post about her Christmas, but I beat her good!

We traveled out to Mission Viejo and San Clemente, CA for Christmas. All of my immediate family was there visiting my Grandmother and my Aunt. We loved seeing everyone and FINALLY getting a full family picture taken. We also enjoyed running on the beach, playing with the kids, going to the park, swimming in my uncles pool, digging through all of my grandmother's very cool things, and of course- not sleeping. We enjoyed 12 hours of travel on each end (with three young children) as well as a three hour time change that didn't kick in with my kids until the day we returned home. 4am in California is very beautiful!!! It also ends us up with a lot of sleep deprived children!!

We really enjoyed a fairly quiet and relaxing Christmas. We did a live nativity on Christmas eve- as you can see, Connor makes a great Donkey!! And for those of you who haven't heard, this Mary (my newest sister-in-law) really is carrying a child!!!!

And my kids were supposed to be the three wise me. Dylan ended being a shepherd and Ashlyn was the donkey's care taker (dad) and Corbin, well he was a spectator!

Our kids were in Heaven having their cousins around. Dylan especially loved his cousin, Kylie. They were literally inseparable and I think he cried when we left.

I love when my sister, Carrie, red Curious George's Christmas and all the kids were SILENT!!!! She is the best. We sure will miss you!

Connor has put an official ban on traveling. So if anyone wants to see us, you will have to come here (I think the weather was warmer here than in CA!!!!)

For New Years Eve we went to a friend's house for a little party. We eat our hearts out as well as played games galore. We made sure to get home early to be rested for our flight to New Orleans the next day (another reason for the travel ban.)

So now that the holidays are over, you can continue to enjoy reading about ours!

100th Winner

Well I didn't even have to guess which post sweapt the winnings (and by far). So out of all the 100 posts, this is everyone's favorite: Enjoy it again or for the 1st time.

To me this was hilarious- especially Ashlyn, but you will have to judge it for yourself. This is our self made "wrestling mat" and it gets used daily. Now that we have it I don't know what we would do without it.

2009

So here are my New Years Resolutions:
1. Make two meals a week from scratch
2. Finally take out my belly ring
3. Limit my blogging to 3 hours a day
4. Go to Church once a month
5. Help put the kids to bed every night

6. Get my warts removed off of the back of my ears
7. Finally quite picking my nose
8. Stop staying up all night and blaming my tired eyes on Corbin
9. Start exercising
10. Stop making Connor wash the dishes EVERY night.

And you thought I would tell you my real New Years Resolutions, then I would feel accountable to you for all of them!!! Actually #10 is a real one. Connor does most of the dishes- isn't he great!

All Cooped Up

Sadly I can say I don't think I have left my house for three days unless it was straight to the doctor and back. With us all being sick and the weather being wet, we have had to get pretty creative!! This is what we were up to yesterday...

Luckily it was as much fun as it was 10 years ago!!

Best supporting Wife

With all those movie awards I decided I need one too. So I gave myself the best supporting Wife award and this is why...

Yep, I went to the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans with my die hard Utah fan of a husband. And here I am even sporting a Utah shirt (don't worry, BYU is still my first love.) I have never been to New Orleans before but it was gorgeous. Here are a few pictures mainly of the French Quarter- one of the many amazing bands we heard, one of the many beautiful tour carriages, the classic beautiful building, General Beauregard's home, the Cathedral, the convent, the trolley, the flea market's abundance of Marti grass apparel, the holocaust memorial, and the old fashion ferry.

Then for the game day fun- tailgate party, Corbin decked out for the game, at the game, fun with the band, "super fans" dressed as an "incredible Ute fan" and Ute Indian, and all of us (Connor's Cousins and us) around town.

I saw a little shop that was named:

I mean doesn't a name like that draw you in? Even for the items they sell.
It was a great trip, but it ended in another strep diagnosis for me (as well as an ear infection.) You didn't think I could get it again did you!!! But Corbin got it the worst- he has and ear infection, strep, and cutting not one, but TWO teeth. Poor guy. We are officially SICK (no pun intended) of traveling, so y'all will have to come see us instead. Next post will be Christmas and New Years I promise.

Happy 100th

Can you believe it!! And just in time for the new year!!

In celebration of our 100th post...

Y'all get to pick your favorite post and vote in your comment. I'll calculate the totals with my mathematical talents and announce the winner in an NEW up and coming post. And for all of you who haven't read the winning post can read it, and for all of you who have get the honor of rereading it!!! (Cause I know y'all love it.)

Babe

The gal we call babe is my silly, cute, and strong willed little Ashlyn. I love this girl, she is a little party waiting to happen. But she has also "turned 2." There are moments she drives me C-R-A-Z-Y!!! Our arguments are mostly the normal terrible two stuff except for the clothes! She is terribly picky, only wants to wear either her jammies or one of her two favorite outfits. She changes her clothes at least 5 times a day and I can never even begin to guess what she will want to wear. So if you have any words of wisdom for me, please let me know!! I am a little desperate.

This is a picture of Ashlyn's fairy wings that she got from a Chick-fa-A party night. They were having a buy one get one free meal night along with a clown who painted faces and tied balloons. She never wanted to take them off.
Lately I have been loving her "pirate face." She will try to close just one eye and say "arggggggggg." Very cute! I could go on and on about all the wonderful things that come out of her mouth and about every little thing she does it so cute. But there is not enough room here for all of it. But I do want to put all her clothes in a pile and have a bon fire!!!!!

We love Nini and Poger

A bonus to moving around the country at least gets Connor's parents out to see us on a regularly basis. We are glad we can help them see more sites around the country. We love when they get to come see us because it feels like a vacation at home!

Connor and I finally got to go to the Temple TOGETHER. Rog and Co got to go as well. We traveled over to Durham to see Duke and UNC as well as the Life and Science museum. We also had the entire I-MAX theatre to ourselves for a showing of Madagascar 2.
(Duke's Cathedral)

My favorite part was watching the kids with their Nini and Poger. They truly love them so much and didn't want to do anything unless they were there with us. They fought over who got to sit next to them, or ON them!! We want them to know how much we truly love them!!!

Polar Bear Pose

I have been enjoying my weekly tennis class since we have been here in Raleigh. A gal in my ward found us a great coach who has played in Wimbledon. Connor has been a great coach in the past, however, my lessons were few and far between (both getting away at the same time was a feat.) It has been nice to play consistently and with other ladies in the ward/area so that I don't get too frustrated. Connor was sceptical about my ability to improve in a large class- but we went and played once together and he was VERY impressed. At least now I might be able to somewhat play with him before I get too old to stand on my own feet!

I also love having some time away with the girls. My coach has a thick Jamaican accent and all those once familiar tennis terms sometimes get confusing. It is now starting to get cold and we play at night so we have called ourselves the Polar bear pose. Our coach runs us around the court well so we can stay warm.

Thank DC

We met our awesome friends from Cleveland, the Ellsworth's, in Herndon, VA for Thanksgiving. Because of $ and time we had to skip out on the Thompson gathering in Utah this year. But boy did the Ellsworth's deliver!! We had a great time at Kristin's parents house in VA. It was almost half way between us (shorter on our end, he he he.) The kids were all very entertained (and not by us) because they each have their bestest friend ever in this great family, and I do believe Corbin fell in love with Kaitlyn at first sight!

Kristin's mom is the next best thing to Martha Stewart, so you can only imagine what Thanksgiving dinner was like (with my addition of Sweet potato casserole and a layered jello- a king family fav.) And to top it all off we had a shmorgishboard of pies to choose from, that lasted all weekend long! So are the pie eaters next to their choice of pie- chocolate, cherry, lemon, pumpkin, bannana cream and cheese cake!


The day after we caught the tail end of a near by parade (just enough) and headed out to see some sites in DC. It was perfect and the kids had so much fun sharing it with their friends. We saw the Lincoln memorial, Washington monument, the Vietnam Veterans memorial, Korean War Veterans memorial and finally Rainbow pool (WW2 Memorial.) So here we are in front of all the states we have ever lived in! Sad isn't it????

We played games and laughed while the kids played forever. We also enjoyed jumping on the trampoline, Connor's story telling skills, custard and Five Guys burgers, and all making friendship bracelets that matched!!!

We were sad to leave, but I guess it is always good to end on a good note! We just hope there will be a next time!!!

Thank you, you guys!!!

Turkey Trot

So who of you have done your turkey trot???

I did mine on Saturday in Pinehurst, NC (the golfers out there might recognize this place.) I was lucky enough to be able to do it with a couple of gals from one of the wards in my stake- beats doing it alone.

This 1/2 marathon felt much better than my last one, however, there were more hills. Most the time I was either running up a hill or down a hill. The view was gorgeous but the weather was a little chilly (high of 42.) I was very happy when I beat my last time for a 1:46! I felt pretty good about that!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

VS.

I know for many of you this was a big game. But at our house it is even bigger!!! As you know we are a divided family, or I guess I could say there is ONE faithful follower and ONE that turned to the DARK SIDE. Connor can barely stand that it is so difficult to watch his beloved Utes play football (out here we don't get the Mountain) and it is heartbreaking. I stand by quietly, knowing that my alliance is right and we will prevail (well, maybe next year.)

So congrats to the Utes! But the Lord's School still ROCKS!!!!

Poline Fun

We are really enjoying our trampoline (or poline and Ashlyn calls it.) Dylan is my dare devil child who can do all the crazy tricks, and no one taugh him, he just figures it out. But here is a new trick I bet none of you have seen yet! (His last try, before the flips, are his best- so hold out.)

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

By the time Dylan is done he looks pretty silly

He also really loves to play dodgeball and tag, and is very good at them- those who know him might understand what I mean!
And When Ashlyn even looks at the trampoline she looks pretty similar


Who wants to come jump with us?

New Toy

Don't ask me why but this...

has not left Dylan's side for the last few days. It is amazing what it can be... mainly a sword but also a broom. He even keeps it tucked in his pants like a warrior. He even tried to sleep with it. And then at least 20 times a day he asks if I would fight with him, and proceeds to shove into my hand a...

and gets this for Ashlyn...

And you can only imagine how that goes.

I tried to hide it hoping that he might forget about it (out of sight, out of mind) but it doesn't work. I actually hid it from myself one of those times. Him bugging me really jogged my memory!

We watched this recently...

which could be the culprit, but we loved it and I highly recommend it!

Here's to basting fights!

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