All Caught Up!

It's January 1, 2011 and I just spent a week updating five months of the blog. I know the entries aren't as detailed as they could be, but my new year resolution is to stay on top of things this year!

Christmas Eve was on Friday this year, so both John and I had the day off. Keeping with our new tradition, we took all the change we saved from the year and went to Nickel City (formerly Nickelcade). And I guess because it was Friday, everyone else decided to go as well. It was crowded and noisy, but we had nearly 3,000 tickets at the end of the day and the kids had a good time, which is all that matters. I got to wrapping, deciding I didn't want to wait until night, and was done and had the house clean and was in bed by 9. Of course, I couldn't sleep so I was up until about 4. Just two hours until the kids would open the door!

Christmas was wonderful. Griffin had wanted an assortment of Nerf guns (I know, no Star Wars toys) and I had purposely saved those until last. He was gracious with every gift, but you could see the disappointment building in his eyes. And then, with no presents left, I directed his attention to the bags behind the chairs and his face lit up. It was totally worth it. Although smaller than usual, the best part was talking with Ian. He was supposed to call between 9 and 10 a.m., but jumped online to tell me that he would be a couple hours late. And so we got to "chat" online for about 90 minutes before he was able to call. And then we talked for 90 minutes, so we got nearly three hours of visiting!

He sounds great. His cadence is a little different, but there's no accent. He didn't trip over his english or spanish. He is struggling a bit with some companion issues, but is on the right path to taking care of them appropriately.

That afternoon, we went to the Elliotts to enjoy wings and other good food. Griffin and Liam both got Nerf guns, so they had a battle. I stayed in comfy clothes all day and didn't cook. I saved the Butter Chicken for the next day, holding firm to my not cooking on Christmas Day tradition.

John and I celebrated our 21st anniversary by doing nothing. We'll be saving our dinner for tomorrow night, but have already purchased the steak and other delicious food with the Costco gift card. In fact, that day we "enjoyed" quite the snowstorm/blizard and didn't go ANYWHERE!

The girls and I spent December 28/29 "like-ing" the Wal-Mart Fighting for Hunger campaign. Wal-Mart would donate $1 million to the food bank of the city with the most support. And this is one determined state! I can't even guess how many entries we did and how many we liked, but as of yesterday at 5 pm, it looks like SLC won by nearly 1 million votes! The final winner will be announced January 5.

For New Year's Eve, we went to Kim's, something we haven't been able to do for a couple of years. Since the rest of the kids had other plans, it was just our family and Kim. We went and saw "Tangled" in 3D and then, well, ate and ate and ate. We tooted our horns at 10 when the ball fell in New York, and John went to bed. We also watched "Inception," a movie I can't wait for Ian to see, and ate some more. She sent us home with enough food to last a week and I spent the rest of the evening catching up!

And now, I consider myself caught up! Happy New Year! Farewell 2010. Here's hoping 2011 is the best year yet.

Now it's Christmas Eve

Today was another busy day, especially at work. Since interest rates have fallen, we are refinancing mortgages like crazy and it leaves little down time for much of anything. Ian was able to go caroling with the student council at the hospital, and the others were under orders to prepare the house for Christmas Day. We also took advantage of the break in between storms to try to get some of the ice broken off the driveway. (Two days ago we had 13 inches of snow; we're expecting another 14 tomorrow.)

In the front yard of one of our neighbors. Notice how much snow is still on the ground around it!

As a reward for their good work, I took them to the Nickelcade for a couple of hours. Everyone seemed to have a really enjoyable time there. (Mom, notice the jacket Maggie's wearing?)

We came home to make chili, finish cleaning, get Christmas pajamas, and for Santa to disappear into the living room to begin wrapping presents. I finished by 8 o'clock and am now waiting for everything to quiet down. (I know, silly me.)

Merry Christmas (Eve), everyone! We love and miss you all, very much.