A sad time...

This week has been a sad time for my family. Last Friday (the 22nd), my cousin Steve was seriously injured in a car accident. The doctors did all that they could, but there was severe brain damage and swelling and he passed away on Monday. Christmas Day will never be the same for our family, especially within his immediate family. We went to the visitation on Wednesday evening and the funeral home was literally standing room only. There was a line all the way down the hallway of people wishing to pay their respects and let the family know they care. Thursday's service was very touching. Steve will be greatly missed.

Happy Anniversary to Us!!

Adam and I were married 13 years ago today. I can't believe it's been that long already. We don't have anything special planned for tonight, but we'll probably go to dinner this weekend. Our ski trip that we're planning is for our anniversary. So, we'll continue to work on those plans and figure out where we're going and spend some time together in the meantime (hopefully). Time together isn't always easy with the schedules we keep, but we try our hardest. Anyway, Happy Anniversary Adam, I love you!

Christmas Morning

Okay, now for the pictures from Christmas morning. Santa brought too much to our house, as always. It's as if he forgets what all he has planned for us and brings more. We're very thankful for all that we receive, though. Believe it or not, we have to wake our kids up on Christmas morning. Each year, I think "this will be the year that the excitement will get them up early" but so far, it hasn't been. I got up around 7:45 and we woke the boys to open their gifts. Even when we told them that Santa had been to our house, John-William and Michael didn't want to get up. Jackson was bright-eyed and bushy tailed, though.














In addition to the clothes (jeans, shirts, pajamas, robes) and shoes, the boys also had lots of books scattered under the tree.












There was also a bike for Jackson and a trike for Michael (didn't get a picture of it, apparently). John-William had refills and new shapes for his creepy crawler maker.





The boys also got Gameboys (which should help when I need to take them to Jazzercise with me) and video rockers to make it easier to watch TV in the playroom (for them and us, those rockers are much more comfortable than the floor I've been lying on out there!) and other various games and toys. Here they are in their robes, sitting in the video rockers with their light sabres that Santa brought them since Daddy introduced them to Star Wars.






We also had visits from Ninny and Grandma and Grandpa yesterday. Ninny just came to see what all Santa brought for the boys since we had already opened gifts at her house. Grandma and Grandpa brought gifts with them. The boys each got a scooter and some other fun things. Grandma and Grandpa also got to meet Riese for the first time.

Adam's Christmas Present

Adam and I agreed that we wouldn't buy much for each other this year. We lied. A couple of months ago, I started planning how I could get his Trans Am repaired for him for Christmas, without him knowing about it. That isn't an easy task because it sits in our yard, under it's cover and it would be very noticeable if he came home and it was gone. Especially since that happened a few months ago when we "stole" his car for April Fool's Day!! So, I couldn't exactly take it and expect him not to notice. However, he was gone for 6 days earlier this month when he had a conference to attend in Nevada. While the boys were in school that Monday, Adam's dad and I took the car to the repair shop. I hid the car cover in the basement and hoped that the boys wouldn't notice that the car was gone. They didn't!!! I couldn't believe it, but it was gone for 4 days and they never knew it!! The car got the work that it needed (a new carbeurator, new starter and other miscellaneous items it needed) and my dad and I brought it home that Thursday afternoon before the boys got home. I parked it where it had been, we covered it up and hoped that no one would realize anything had happened. Fast forward 2 1/2 weeks -- I finally let Adam know that his car is running again on Christmas morning!! He knew something was up because he didn't have much under the tree (mainly books, since he spends a lot of time reading when he can't sleep) and I told him that one of his gifts hadn't gotten here yet, that it would be late. While he was in the shower, I ran out and uncovered the car, moved it into the driveway and put a bow on it. I turned music on in the living room so that he wouldn't hear the car running when he came out of the shower. As the boys and I led him into the dining room and playroom, he looked out the window and saw that the car wasn't in it's spot. As he asked, "where's my car?" he heard it and said, "is it running?" You see, the car wouldn't idle and that's why he couldn't drive it very much. So, the fact that it was sitting in the driveway running (by itself, no one's foot was on the gas), was the indicator that the car was fixed!! He was very happy!! Here's the car:





And here's Adam sitting in the car, grinning like a kid on Christmas morning. Oh yeah, that's what he was, wasn't he??

My Christmas Presents

Adam didn't agree to his end of the bargain, either. We're planning a trip out west to go skiing sometime in the next few weeks, so we agreed to not get much for each other for Christmas. Well, neither of us kept that agreement. He has paid attention very well lately. He knows that I love warm, comfy pajamas when it's cold outside and he got me 3 sets of pj's. I also had a couple of shirts and fleece pullovers that I picked out when we were shopping one day. My main gift, though, was an exercise bike. Don't worry, he wasn't telling me that I need to lose weight or anything. In fact, I've been telling him that (about me, not him). And, I've been working hard by going to Jazzercise and walking and jogging here. However, when it's cold or raining, it's hard to find the motivation to go outside and jog. And, with our busy schedules I can't always make it to Jazzercise. So, the bike is the perfect solution. We looked at exercise equipment when we were Christmas shopping one day, so I'm really glad he was paying attention!! And, it's really a gift for both of us. He used the bike yesterday and today. Hopefully, it will help me lose weight and it will help him reduce his stress level and sleep better. It should be great for both of us!! I thought I had taken a few pictures of it, but apparently I only took one and it's really only of the handlebars. I don't feel like taking another picture and downloading it right now. You get the idea, though.

Other Family Gatherings

There were also gatherings with our family on Saturday and Sunday, but I stayed home with Jackson since it was Adam's side of the family that was getting together. Of course, he doesn't take the camera to take pictures like I do, so I don't have anything to post from those. But, Adam, John-William and Jackson had lunch at his parents' house on Saturday with his sister (Sandy), brother-in-law (Jonathan) and niece (Taylor). Jackson and I were sorry we couldn't be there, but we really didn't think anyone wanted to catch the flu!

On Sunday, everyone gathered at Uncle Mickey and Aunt Margaret's house for her annual dinner and gift exchange. There are always too many people there to try to list them all, but everyone always has a good time! We were sorry to miss this one, too, but once again we didn't want to pass along the flu. Hopefully, we can be there next year!

More Pictures from my Parents'

Of course, blogger wouldn't let me post all the pics I wanted to from my parents' house Friday night. Maybe this new version of blogger will be better. Here they are:

Merry Christmas!!!

I've done a lot of updating tonight, but haven't had time to post pictures from this morning yet. I thought I'd get to it, but wanted to update with prior happenings first. I will work on it tomorrow, though. Right now, I just wanted to say

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Christmas at my Parents'

For 18 years now, my family has gathered on Christmas Eve at my parents' house to exchange gifts between siblings. Even though my brothers and I were still living at home then, my sister was living on her own. So, beginning then and every year since (except the two years I was in California -- I wasn't there, but everyone else was), we all exchange gifts on Christmas Eve. That's also when all the kids get their gifts from Ninny and PawPaw. This year, my brother (Troy), sister-in-law (Amber) and nephew (Grady) are out of town for Christmas, so we got together on Friday evening instead of Christmas Eve. Jackson was sick with the flu, so his visit was delayed until after Troy, Amber and Grady were gone. Since they were about to be traveling, we did our best to not expose them to the flu. So, we opened gifts with them and let Grady have his gifts and then Adam and Jackson joined the rest of the family after they left.

Christmas Parties at School

John-William and Jackson both had parties at school before they got out for the holidays. Michael and I were able to attend both parties, though John-William didn't make it to his own party. He was sick with the flu and missed all 3 days of school last week. We made goodie bags to take to their classmates, though, so Michael and I delivered those and brought home John-William's goodies from his party. Jackson's class was very excited -- imagine 20 kindergarteners who had a visit and gift from Santa that morning followed by fruit, cinnamon rolls, cookies, candy and other party goodies. John-William's party had a lot of the same foods, but it was much more calm. After all, they're second graders now and much more mature (ha!). Each party was nice, though, and we had a good time even though John-William wasn't there.

Jackson and Michael enjoying Jackson's party:

















Jackson giving his teacher her gift (followed by a kiss!)













Michael and I delivered John-William's gift to his teacher. He also enjoyed telling her about Riese.

A new member of our family

Well, it isn't the new addition to our family that we were planning a few months ago, but we have added a baby to our family. A baby dog, that is. His name is Riese (that's German for "giant") and he is a miniature pinscher. He is two months old today and he weighs about two pounds. We got him last Saturday. He is cute and sweet, but a lot of work, too. He isn't completely housebroken yet (he was only paper trained when we got him, but we've done a lot of work in the last week!) and he doesn't sleep through the night yet. His longest stretch of sleep is about 4 hours, so we usually keep him up until we're ready for bed so that Adam can get a little sleep before he wakes up. That's right, Adam gets up with him each night. I was very reluctant to get a dog, especially a puppy, mainly because of all the work that comes along with it. But, Adam assured me that he would get up with the dog when he wakes at night and he has been. He takes him out to "go potty" and then comes back in to get back to sleep. The last couple of nights (except last night, of course, since Santa was coming), John-William has gotten up, too, and slept in the recliner with Riese. It's good because Riese sleeps longer that way and Adam gets to go back to bed to sleep. But, I'm afraid it's going to spoil the dog and get him used to having someone sleep with him in the recliner after he wakes up. Obviously, it won't continue when John-William goes back to school, but we're trying it for now. We'll see what happens.

Christmas Lights

Our annual tradition of the boys lying under the tree once all the decorations are on.















We also decorate the outside of the house, each year with a few more more decorations than the last. I took pictures at night to get the full effect, but I'll just post a few to see.

Our walkway is lit with snowmen and penguin lights.


We also have a 3'-4' spiral light tree and icicle lights (which you can see in the picture above), a blow-up Santa without any lights (which means he doesn't show up well, but he was in the picture with the boys in an earlier post) and an 8' blow-up Santa that is lit, so he can be seen a little.

Christmas Decorations

Our tree went up in the playroom this year and I took lots of pictures. However, my camera being what it is, they didn't come out real well even though I thought I had lots of light. I did get a few good pics, though.

The boys decorating the tree:

Every year, I try to get an ornament with the year on it. This year, I got this one since we made s'mores over a campfire with Gigi when she visited in November.

This year, Jackson placed the angel on top of the tree and Michael got to plug her in and light her up.

Christmas Parade

We had the local Christmas parade recently and the boys had a really good time. There are always lots of entries from local businesses and Shriners' Clubs from all over the state. Once again, my camera didn't behave well. I only have a few pictures that came out well enough to see and some of those weren't so well. But, you get the idea.

John-William, Jackson and Michael standing outside at the parade:

Jackson and Michael got a better view perched atop Adam and Tommy's shoulders.

John-William wasn't on anyone's shoulders and it's hard to tell it's him, but it really is (I promise).

And, of course, you can't have a Christmas parade without a visit from Santa. Prior to the parade, we attended a gathering at the high school and Santa came in and talked to all the kids. He asked the boys if they had been good and what they wanted for Christmas. During the parade, he spotted us on the street and even called their names from the fire truck!!! Needless to say, they were very impressed!

Family Pictures

We took a family picture for our Christmas card this year. My sister Tina took our cameras and took some very nice photos of us together. I'd like to share those, one of Tina and the boys and one that I took of the boys outside with our blow-up Santa, also.