Happy Holidays!

Isn't it funny how up until Christmas, the whole red & green decor, Christmas lights, wrapped presents, and decorated trees are so exciting and fun...and starting the day after Christmas, suddenly they aren't anymore? I've been holding myself back since Monday to not take it down yet. (I kind of want to wait till I can do it by myself, once kids are back in school. But I might not make it, 'cause every day I see my decorations all over the place, I long for the "clean" feel of having it all put away.)

Anyway, most of us had a great Christmas. For the kids and myself, things went pretty much as planned. But not for Sean. He had the rotten luck of being on call the week of Christmas and New Year's both, including both holidays. Just as he walked in the door Christmas Eve to grab us and go see a movie, he was called back into work. The kids & I saw "The Tale of Despereaux," but Sean saw someone's heart attack.

He was called in Christmas morning at 4 am. Although the kids were all awake at 5:30, I sent them back to bed & to sleep, hoping Sean would make it home in time to see them open presents. I held the kids off till 7:30...and Sean made it home about 8:30. Missed his kids' Christmas morning.

I'll put my pics on later. I don't have them on my computer yet.

When my family was here for quiche and scones later that afternoon, Sean was called in again. Friday was supposed to be a day off of work, but he went in at 10 am...and I didn't see him again till about 10 pm. Saturday morning brought the 7 am phone call for him to go in, and he completely missed church Sunday because--you guessed it--he was working. He even got to go back in Sunday evening for a bonus round.

So, although I tried to do the best I could to make the holiday a merry one for him, unfortunately, the hospital had other plans, and this just wasn't his best Christmas year.

I think my kids would completely disagree with that: they each had a wonderful day. Jamison's favorite present was probably a new duffel bag (a camo one!) for camping, although the presents he's used most are a Nerf Wii game and a Sonic game for his Nintendo DS.

Raleigh's favorite present was a new DS of her own. She didn't ask for one, and probably wouldn't have thought she'd want one, but now that she has it, it's great fun. Her favorite game right now is her Nintendogs. (instead of the real puppy she asked for)

Tristan's hands-down all-time favorite present was a DS as well. He's been begging and hoping for one with all of his heart. He got a Mario game and a Pokemon game to go with it, and he's in absolute seventh heaven.

Sabra's favorite present was her dollhouse. It's taller than she is, and even came with real wooden furniture ("How do the elves make the furniture, Mom?"). It's absolutely darling, and even though Raleigh's too old to play with Barbies (just ask her!), the two of them have spent hours playing with the dollhouse and the two Diamond Castle Barbie dolls Sabra got for Christmas.

Sean understandably hasn't had much time to enjoy his Christmas stuff yet, but in my opinion his favorite gift will be his new iPod nano. It will make life much nicer to be able to listen to music or Conference talks, or books on tape, etc. on his daily train rides back & forth to work. Welcome to the 21st century! In a few weeks he'll probably like trying out a couple of new tools on Tristan's pine wood derby car. (Don't ask me what they are; I only know that once when we were in Costco Sean admired the set, so I went back & bought them later.)

I'm enjoying having a waffle iron once again, but my favorite gift so far has been Wii Fit. Everyone's having fun playing the games on it, and having fun getting fit at the same time. My thighs were hurting for 2 days after trying to do the lunges (and that was on beginner mode!).

So, all in all, it's been a good holiday season so far. It's New Year's eve, and I haven't heard from Sean yet, so I don't know if this will be a repeat of last week. Hopefully the call-in curse has been lifted and he can enjoy what's left of the holiday week & weekend!

Merry Early!

One thing my parents always struggled with me growing up was my resistance to change. Although I loved school, I hated the first day. I hated moving. I hated getting a perm in my hair. I hated anything with "new experience" as part of the description. To my credit, I think I've come through those changes pretty well, and have even developed something of a tolerance for change. Overall, I don't think the casual observer would have any idea that I came hard-wired with such a change-phobia.

My cell phone wasn't charging, and our contract had expired with Sprint anyway. We switched to Verizon & got new phones to go with it. Hallelujah!

My new phone



Sean's phone

That was during the first week of December. Cha-ching!


Then, our suburban's problems started multiplying (see earlier blog). We sold the Suburban, and just one week ago got a brand-new (to us) one! It's pretty sad when your dream car is a Suburban, but I love it.



This is the black one, but ours is light silver and just like it (although because of all the snow lately, it's kind of a slushy, salty color on the outside). It's an '08 Suburban with all the bells & whistles. Our kids love the built-in DVD player; Jamison's favorite feature is his ability to plug headphones into the jack in the back seat and listen to his own radio station instead of his parents' outdated stuff.

Cha-ching! I love the car, but hate having a new payment.

Then, last Friday, my iMac crashed. Saturday I took it into the Apple store at The Gateway mall to have their technicians work their magic. Unfortunately, I was told that magic came at the price of $1000 to replace the logic board that comes with the video card which was broken. So I walked out with a new computer instead.




Cha-ching! Don't get me wrong, I love my new computer. But I would have been happier if my old one would have lasted another year.

I feel completely overwhelmed by all of the new things in my life. I think the change monster is re-appearing inside of me. A phone would have been enough, but a phone, a car, and a computer fill my plate completely. I'm almost dreading tomorrow, and hoping that Sean doesn't surprise me with anything too surprising. Luckily we have to share the new car payment, so I think I'm pretty safe in that department.

If it doesn't work out that way, I'm sure my parents and Diane will understand if I call them crying. After all, I cried every first day of school my entire life (even into college), so why should they expect anything different?

Party Hearty!

I'm slacking on the party updates!

Last Monday (12/15) was our annual Kids' Christmas party with Sean's parents & siblings. This year was our turn to host the event. We ate soups, veggies, breadsticks, fruit & doughnuts for dinner--all very yummy. The Big Elf himself appeared and brought new pajamas for the kids. Then we played a few games and had a great time. It was lots of fun!










Sabra, Raleigh, Tristan & Jamison with Santa



Sean & Barb

We played a fun game where Grandpa & Grandma put on these red union suits and buttoned them up. The grandkids were divided into teams and had two minutes to stuff as many small balloons into their grandparent's suit as possible. One memorable experience was Tristan grabbing balloons out of Grandpa's suit and stuffing them into Grandma's. Maybe that's why Grandma won?!



The two "stuffed suits" hugging each other!

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Last night was the party on my side of the family. Since Mom & Dad are on a mission in Palmyra and several of my siblings live too far away to come, we only had four of us sisters there, along with our husbands & kids (although the "kids" total is only 6, including Louis, who is a junior in high school). We decorated gingerbread (actually, graham cracker) houses. I have no idea how many years we've been doing this, but am very proud that we can now pull it off fairly smoothly without Mom! Everyone brings candy and graham crackers, we melt sugar to glue them together, and then decorate with usually white, but sometimes yellow, royal frosting and as much candy as will fit! (The color of frosting depends on who buys the shortening, and whether they get Butter Flavor Crisco or not.)


Diane bought plastic cake-decorator bags. Don't let my earlier bragging fool you--if it weren't for the bags, we'd have been pretty incompetent rolling the waxed paper without Mom!


Anthony & Paul working on their creations


Lynette is making a car! The creativity around here is astounding!



Rachel's new-found calling in life: stirring the sugar









Jamison(when asked why he wasn't decorating): "I'd rather EAT my candy!"
Raleigh: "My favorite candies are the Creme Savers!"
Tristan: "Did I drip burning hot sugar on you again, Anthony? Oops!"
Sabra: "I'd cover the whole thing in marshmallows if they'd let me."

We had a great time. The countdown is on...Christmas Eve tomorrow!

More November Stuff

On Nov. 13 Sabra had a second eye surgery for her lazy eyes. According to the doctor, things went well. We have a follow-up appointment in January to see if her vision is corrected.


Sabra in the car driving home after the surgery. She kept her eyes shut because they hurt for about 24 hours.




Thanksgiving was great; we spent it with Sean's family, at his brother Joe's house.



The Saturday after Thanksgiving everyone who could on my side of the family went to Chuck E. Cheese. It was kind of a last hurrah for us to celebrate my nephew Joey leaving on his mission to Ghana, Africa. It was fun; the kids all spent tokens like mad and had fun collecting tickets to trade in for prizes at the end.

Aunt Lynette with one of the twins, Veronica



Aunt Diane with the other one, Roxanne



Jenni's just chillin'



Maddie, Megan, & Raleigh



Janie



Carrie



Sarah, Janie, & Sabra



Jenni played a little skee-ball



Mark, Megan, & Tristan



Katie, Joey & Diane



Mark & Sarah and their family stayed with us, and we had so much fun playing with cousins and getting our fill of the baby twins again!



Sunday was Joey's farewell. That was another great day. Joey gave a wonderful talk on the atonement, and we had a great spread at their home afterward.

Thankful

I am so thankful for my life and the people & things in it: my wonderful husband, my great kids, both of our families, our home, friends, our new baby grass, Sean's job, my two jobs (arranging travel and substitute teaching), the gospel, my calling, warmth, electricity, food... and so many other things.

But I am not thankful for my car.

If Thanksgiving had occurred two months ago, I'm sure my '97 Chevy Suburban would have been on the aforementioned list. After all, we bought the 4-year old SUV in '01 with only 20,000 miles on it and haven't had to do much other than do regular maintenance since. We did have to replace the tires in the spring, which cost a pretty penny, and Sean learned how to replace the serpentine belt (I believe that's the correct term) over the summer. But all in all, it's paid for, it provides four window seats for my four children, and it gets us from point A to point B, at times pulling a trailer or boat as we go.

At least, had Thanksgiving been in September, that would have been the case.

I started getting worried while driving on the freeway one day, when the Check Engine and Check Gauges lights came on for no apparent reason. But the next time I drove it, the lights were mercifully absent and I thought nothing of it.

Those two lights continued to pop on and off randomly, it seemed, and of course never while Sean was driving, for a few weeks. But then one day while he was at the wheel, he said, "Look how hot the temperature is!" (a gauge that I never check) and "Now the Check Engine and Check Gauges lights are on."

He filled the water & coolant, and I was again at ease to have a faithful car. But about a week later, the temperature gauge was soaring and engine lights came on. We took it to Jake from Jake's Radiator.

Jake and our Suburban developed a close relationship over the next couple of weeks. He would have it in his shop for 1-2 days and pronounce her good as new. We'd take her home and drive for a couple more days and then she'd overheat, so it was back to Jake to save the day. One day I called AAA from my house to tow her to Jake's in Bountiful (15 miles), so that she wouldn't overheat on the way there.

After parting with a few hundred dollars, Sean pronounced that he was done with Jake. The problem was most likely due to a cracked gasket of some sort, or some other engine trouble, rather than the radiator or hoses themselves.

Sean bought a case of coolant, and we figured that every 2-3 days we could handle filling the water & coolant, at least till after the holidays, and then figure out whether to fix it or buy something new. Last Saturday he filled it. Sunday I drove it to & from church (he was called into work), and then panicked Monday morning as the temperature gauge soared through the roof on my way to sub in Syracuse.

For me, that was the last straw. Luckily Sean had taught me where to fill up the places that needed filling, and had left a bottle of mixed coolant & water in the back. I filled it up before the drive home that evening. After that I refused to drive the Suburban. I was not waiting till after the holidays for a decision to be made.

Last night we talked to the car expert, our back-door neighbor, Mark. He heard the details, checked the oil, and said, "You are driving a time bomb. Your coolant is leaking into your oil, and the engine could seize up at any time. If that happens, you might as well donate it to the junk yard because nobody would pay a penny for it." He said that as far as Suburbans go, the '97 was the Year of the Lemon. After that year, they scrapped most of the parts and started over because they had so many problems. Mark said he's shocked that we have gotten 120,000 miles out of it--he would have expected half that. And the fact that we've never had to replace the transmission, he said, is a total miracle. (His sister had a '97 Suburban and had to replace the transmission 20,000 miles into it.)

Glad I refused to drive it since Monday.

The new plan is to clean it out today and get it to Mark (who sells cars, besides knowing a lot about them) to sell "as is" at the auction. Then we'll have him start looking for a new one.

This Thanksgiving I am not thankful for my '97 Suburban and its problems. But I am incredibly grateful for the seven years of miracles that apparently has kept it running like a top. I am very humbly grateful for the angels who have kept the transmission going, and who have kept the engine from seizing up every time I got behind the wheel these last two months, while I have been oblivious to it all. I am grateful that we asked questions, and have a great neighbor who can help us when we need it.

I'm praying that the angels help it get to the auction.

Sabra ready for the first day of kindergarten a year ago

Halloween!

We carved our pumpkins the Monday before Halloween for family night. That's always a fun tradition.

For Halloween, Sabra was a bride (or, as she describes it, a "wedding girl.")

Tristan was a Grim Reaper

Raleigh was an Autumn Fairy

and Jamie wasn't really anything because he's in jr. high now. He was a football player for our YM/YW carnival that we put on for the primary kids. And Halloween afternoon he went over to help some empty nesters in our ward who put on a "Boo & Chew" weenie roast for everyone they know on Halloween night. He was an army guy for that.

We even went to the mall to visit my sister Jenni before beginning the neighborhood rounds. (In all the years she's been there, it's the first time we've made it to visit her on Halloween night.) Jenni was a nurse, complete with scrubs and nurse's hat: She, of course, was delighted to see us.


It was a fun week of ghoulish partying! And we're glad it's over.

Green Fuzz

Three weeks ago, we planted grass seed in our front yard. After a week of anxious waiting and watering, we started to see green fuzz! We were all so excited; it felt like giving birth to our new grass!


A week later saw us watching Jamison's playoff football game, seeing our sprouts start up in the front, and bringing more loads of topsoil to spread on the back yard.

A week later saw us watching Jamison's football game in the rain, and then hurrying inside to wait for another day to plant the back.

Last Saturday saw us watching a football game in the snow, and then hurrying inside to wait for still another day to plant the back.

Today Sean took the day off, and the kids are out of school for fall break. We actually planted seed in the back yard this morning. Although the secondary water (sprinklers) is turned off now, we don't mind hand watering if it means more green fuzz.
Sean & Jamison planting the seeds

Me hand-watering



I'm already anxiously awaiting the sprouts in the back yard! I keep hoping that if I look out there often enough, I'll somehow help it come up quicker.

So here's to green fuzz and no more winter mud being tracked in!

Fifteen years ago...

Fifteen years ago Wednesday (Oct. 15), Sean & I and our parents met at the Salt Lake temple at some early (dark) hour of the morning. We were sealed at 8:30 am by the president of the Salt Lake temple, Spencer Osborne.

Following the wonderful sealing with lots of family & friends present, we had pictures taken on a rainy October morning, and then went to the Joseph Smith Memorial building to see the new movie, "Legacy." Our wedding breakfast was there at the Joseph Smith building.

We went to our new home-to-be in Kaysville to pack for the honeymoon, and then back to the church where the reception was held in Bountiful, for pictures and a long but fun night of seeing friends & family come to congratulate us.

It was a wonderful day. And it's been a wonderful fifteen years! We couldn't have foreseen all of the events of our lives, but mostly we couldn't have known of the richness of our life together. I love my husband dearly, and am so thankful for the events and people who helped bring us together! I couldn't have asked for a better husband for me!

Jamison's Birthday

Happy #13, Jamison! October 7 was his official intro to being a teenager.

It was fairly anti-climactic, actually. Since it was a Tuesday, he spent the day at school, was home for about 1.5 hours, then went to football practice and straight to young men's. We finally had birthday cake at about 9:30 pm, once everyone was home!

His favorite gift was a Nintendo DS. And so far, other than him complaining about a huge "crater" zit on the side of his nose, teenager-hood has been pretty much like pre-teenagerhood!

A description of JAMISON:

Jolly
Always teasing
Mr. Outdoors
In 7th grade
Shayla is his girlfriend right now
On the ball with football!
Never tired of fishing

We love you, Jamison!

P.S. He thinks he's taller than me, but that's not allowed yet. I'm sure we're the same height. And as long as I can wear heels, I've got him beat!

Fantastic Fall

I think I've mentioned before that fall is my favorite season. Just a few of the things we've been up to so far....

Football Frenzy
It feels like a frenzy, indeed. Every evening (except Monday) the boys have 1.5 hour football practices. It would be easier if they were at the same place and happened at the same time, but alas, they aren't and don't, so Sean & I are perpetual chauffeurs between the hours of 5 and 7:30 pm. The payoff is watching our sons play football every Saturday.

Tristan's on a first-year coaching team, as well as most of the boys playing for the first time. They've struggled for W's this year, as their final game is tomorrow and they've yet to see more points for their team than the opposing one. Although most of the season they've seen very few first downs, and even fewer points on the board, I think Tristan's enjoyed it. After seven straight weeks of this, he's missing his free time, though, and will be glad for a break after Saturday.

Tristan began the season starting on the offensive line, and ended it by starting on the defense. He's an X-man, meaning that he's on the line, blocking and tackling. It's been fun. Yea, #46!

Jamison really lucked out last year, his first year playing in Layton, to be on what we feel is the best team possible. And out of four teams his age, he managed to land on the same coaches' team this year. The coaches are excellent, great examples of teaching and coaching--and the added bonus is that they know how to win games! None of the opposing teams have scored a point against them yet this year. They haven't had a very hard schedule, unfortunately...tomorrow will be the test, as they play Morgan, the most challenging team so far this season. (Morgan beat us last year, so our boys are ready for payback this time around!) And since his team is undefeated, they will go to the playoffs as either the first- or second-place team in their division. We're excited for the next few weeks--hopefully we'll see a mini-bowl win from them!

The most notable difference between last year & this is the weather. Last Saturday for the first time all season we had some off & on rain, but otherwise it's been sunny every week. Last year it snowed two Saturdays before Oct. 1!

Jamison has played on the line as well--one of his coaches told us he's the best blocker they have! He's played both offense & defense, and even got to carry the ball in the Logan game, and nearly scored a touchdown. Yea, #41! (My picture taking is sorely lacking. It wasn't till I started typing this blog that I realized I don't have an pics of Jamison playing this year. Good thing he has a few more games to go!)

*****

Canning Craze

For the last couple of weeks I've been canning salsa. Since we have no garden yet, we've bought all the stuff from local farmers and I've put it up. There's nothing like homemade salsa! Yum! Although it's very labor-intensive, it's soooo worth it!




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Yard work

We've been spreading the top layer of premium topsoil across our soon-to-be grass areas. We want to seed our grass--we've had several neighbors try it with great success. Hopefully we'll get the seed down soon. Have you read about our life of nonstop football? We're lucky we have a spare minute for anything else!

*****

Subbing

I've been substitute teaching every Monday, which becomes more fun each time I go. The kids are great, and it's fun to be teaching again. However, I'm so glad I'm not doing more than just subbing! It feels so wonderful to walk away and not have to plan the rest of the week, or grade papers.

I've also subbed in a few other classes. So far, so good. Again, it's nice not to have any more responsibility than one day for them.