Year End Wrap Up

I finally have Internet again so I can update.
Still kickin' around. Life has been pretty crazy the past month, and then some. We ended up staying with family longer than we expected. We can never thank our family enough for putting up with us taking over the house...eating all your cereal...

The boys seemed to always be digging in the cereal cupboard. Always wanted to be carrying around a box of cereal.
We spent one evening walking around the temple, enjoying the lights.


All ready for church

Just when we thought life was finally going great we had a momentary set-back. We had a place to live, we were eager to move in and begin this next journey in our lives. We loaded the moving truck on a snowy winter day a week before Christmas. Jake drove the truck. I drove the car. We each had a boy with us. Jake was following behind. We had been driving for about 5 hours and were just preparing to pull off the exit to our new home. I began to slide on a thin black sheet of ice and was quickly in trouble. The car careened down a slight embankment off the side of the freeway. Went through a barb wire fence, smashed into and launched up on top of several propane tanks. Tipping me sideways. I had to laugh at Kaleb's initial reaction, he looked at me with the most perplexed look "Mom, Ow! Why you do that!?" Pretty soon he was screaming and I was shaking like a leaf in autumn. Some kind gentleman were almost immediately at the car pulling Kaleb out as Jake came running down the side of the freeway. Not too many minutes passed before a whole armada showed up. Police, ambulance, firetrucks. My best guess is that when I called 911 and they heard, "baby in car, propane tanks" It was best to send everyone. We didn't know if the tanks were full until we got hold of the company that owned them. Thankfully they were empty. Another blessing I realized later; as the car headed toward the tanks I hit a slight rise which launched me up. If I had hit the tanks head on I know things would have been a lot worse. I am so grateful no one was seriously hurt. We were able to eventually get to our apartment and unload the truck. We had some wonderful local family that showed up with dinner and helping hands to get the job done. We also met new friends that night as a neighbor jumped in the truck to help. His wife toted me over to their apartment so the boys could play and get to know her son, same age as Kaleb. For the the negative of the night, there was so much positive. A kind tow truck driver hauled our car to the apartment so we could unload it before he took it away. And always, amazing family.

The next day Jake's mom and dad were there with a car dolly to haul us and our mangled car to their house.

We still enjoyed a fabulous Christmas. It was full of laughter and a lot of family.

We spent Christmas Eve at my parents house. I set the table for 32. That's just immediate family. This is what you get when there are 8 kids, plus spouses and nieces and nephews.

A stocking for everyone. From grandma to the newest baby, Ana


Only a few weeks old
From oldest grand-kid to youngest 22 years difference.

We like to go all out for Christmas Eve dinner.

Silver punch bowl, finest china, cloth napkins, crystal goblets. And the food, oh my! Just the appetizers included shrimp, artichoke dip, cheese and crackers, plus some.
One of my nephews looking very classy.

Mom and a sister preparing the feast

Brother-in-law and daughter
My parents may have 7 bedrooms in their house but now that every kid has a family it's not enough. Two of the sisters arm-wrestling for the last bed.

A sister and her daughter

Christmas morning the presents were stacked knee deep.

My sister and her daughter

The boys seemed to finally understand the fun of Christmas. Ripping paper - hurray!
We made it to the next house in time for another belly bursting delicious lunch, dinner? And more wrapping paper ripping.

Jake got me a shotgun! Can't wait until we can get warm weather so I can go try it out. I don't think it would be much fun standing in the snow. I have a hard enough time as it is shooting straight. Add to it a shivering body, not going to work.

Two of Jake's sisters made a bargain with a friend. If they wore ugly Christmas sweaters he would play his soprano saxophone. They quickly grabbed some tape and wrapping paper and whipped some up, very Project Runway. It paid off, we got to listen to some fantastic music.

Xander with his Great-Grandpa


The 4 grand babies got matching pajamas. They weren't too happy about us trying to take their picture. Fruit snacks, always the best bribe.
And just because I think this picture of Xander is hilarious.

My sister-in-law, her husband, and their son.

The next day the grandsons went to church in matching outfits. They looked very stylish and handsome!



Jake and I left the boys with Jake's family and went to a bed and breakfast to spend our New Year's Eve. They had a 7 course dinner that started with Cocktail Hour at 7:00 and dinner from 8-midnight. During cocktail hour we asked for a Sprite and they had to go hunt one down. As the night got closer to morning those around us were starting to jump up and chicken dance to the live music. A glass of whine with every course will probably contribute to such things. As the hour and minute hand came together we all rang our provided cow bells, and held up our glass of champagne - pear cider in our case. Good riddance 2010...bring it on 2011!
The innkeeper pulled a Swiss alp horn (I'm sure it has a real name) from the wall. Jake got to put his lung power to work and bellowed out a powerful tune.

Unfortunately my camera battery was dead so I was only able to get this one picture. No, I don't know who that random guy is standing in my picture, and yes, the innkeeper is wearing lederhosen, the whole outfit to-boot. All the guys had those green hats, us ladies had a pine-bough crown. It was all very fancy.
Here's Kaleb modeling Dad's hat the next day.A few days later Jake was dropped off at the airport. He was able to find a shuttle that went straight to school. Due to car circumstances the boys and I had to stay for another week.
I finally got everything settled with insurance and was able to buy back our totaled car. Dad didn't take long fixing our car up so it was able to transport me and the boys home.
Jake had most of the boxes unpacked and organized...oh so sad I missed that (NOT)

The boys don't like the cold too much. It only took one trip to realize the park isn't worth it in the winter. The snow boots were a bit difficult to get through the holes in the swing. And not to mention pushing the swings when I am knee deep in snow.

I emptied out the beach sand and found another use for the buckets and shovels.

We're settling back into a routine. The boys loved helping me make bread.

Home sweet home. I love having a home, being together as a family again. Everything is going great so far. Jake is enjoying school and doing very well. I am enjoying organizing and settling us in. Love getting back into a routine.