Christmas Vacation

So we had a very lovely Christmas. Very eventful!

On Wednesday after work my family got together for dinner and the kids opened their presents. It was nice having everyone together.

Thursday morning, we left for Casey's grandmothers house in American Canyon. We have not been there in a few months and Casey really wanted to see her for the holidays. We enjoyed watching Christmas movies with grandma that evening.

Shortly after waking up and getting ready on Friday morning, family began to arrive at grandmas house. It was wonderful to see everyone and surprising to see how grown some of his younger cousins are now. We sat down to a fabulous feast around two o'clock and enjoyed each others company. By about five the house was cleared out with the exception of my little family , grandma Joan and Uncle Jerry. We again watched great Christmas movies and snacked on leftovers.

Saturday the kids and I got it together and left to visit some good friends. We started with the rather amazing Super Walmart in American Canyon (tee hee, we don't have such large stores in our little corner of the world). We headed from the store to my friend Amber's house. It was so great to catch up with her. She has a son that is a few months older than James and a daugter a year older than Destinee. The kids were anxious to visit as they grew up with her kids. Amber also has two younger boys who I had yet to meet. They were quite adorable and very entertaining. I even had an offer from one of the little guys to move in with them. After spending a good five hours with them it was time to depart. I had one more stop before heading back to grandma's house. And though it was hard to say our goodbyes I believe it is one of many future visits. I then took the kids to another friend Glenna's house. She was so glad to see us and we were glad to see her. We visited and goofed around with her, her husband and son for a few hours. Toured their beautiful home, they are weekend warriors and have put so much work into their property. After sitting down to dinner with them and watching the boys play Wii, it was time to say goodbye yet again. I had a curfew of 10:00 pm at Grandma's house and I better not be late because it was too cold to sleep in the car and too far to get home - LOL! Once I arrived at grandmas' I was greeted by Casey's cousin Spencer, who I have not seen in several years. We all hung out and chatted until it became late.

Sunday morning, we woke up, cleaned up our belongings and messes. Hugged and kissed our family then ventured back home. Once we arrived home and unpacked the car, we visited my mom and Lui to tell of our adventure and then stopped at my ex-sister-in-laws house to see what Santa brought to the little ones. Now I am home and gearing up to return to reality and work tomorrow.

All in all it was a wonderful time and I hope you had a fabulous Christmas too!

P.S. Family pictures are in and will be posted as soon as I get them scanned!

31

In my 31 years of life I have learned the following:

The past - the past is full of several memories both good and bad but never the less they are the makeup of the person you are today.

The present - is just that, a present. A present that we take for granted all of the time. We spend our time thinking of the future; whether it be tomorrow, next week, next year or several years from now.

The future - unknown to us really but we have wishes and hopes for what our future will hold. Sometimes we take steps to get to the future we desire and sometimes our future just happens to us.

My past has been a great book of lessons both joyous and terrible. My present, though as many, not the exact picture of my desired present, is still pretty grand. My future only time will tell but I look forward to watching my children grow and reach for their dreams. I hope to have grandbabies a loooonnnggg time from now. I want to grow old with my husband and take several adventures on the way to our rocking chairs.

Happy Birthday to me and if your reading this you are a special part of my life. You have been part of my past and present and are sure to be part of my future. Thank you for being in my life.

Kids say the darnest things

I was talking with my friend Amber yesterday about blogging and told her that sometimes I am way to negative to write a blog. Among the ideas she gave me was the fact that with her little ones she always has a good story. I decided that this would be a wonderful time to reflect on my kids as babies.

James is now fourteen years old but here is a blast from his past: He used words like doning (doing) and bummer. He used to make his Nana and I watch invisible movies on the windows of parked cars. He liked to say hi to anyone walking down the street. Let me set the scene for his classic story: he had the Buzz Light year and Woody toys from Toy Story and one day he misplaced one. Here is his exact quote "Mom, I lost my Buzz but I still got my Woody." Poor kid, we were rolling on the floor laughing and he had no idea what was so funny.

Destinee who is twelve was quite the little flirt as a little one; some things never change. She loved to dance even to the sound of the vacuum. She said things like "Wood Life" (Word Life, said by John Cena on wrestling), I do for I love you and I not talkin to you. And she always said she would live it up like Mary Kate and Ashley.

Fast-forward to today, my son says wise-crackin remarks all the time and my daughter rolls her eyes and stomps her feet as she goes off to her room.

Isn't growing up a grand experience for all involved!

A Mother's Love

A mother's love is the staple of life; a mother brings life. She is a teacher, a nurse, a cook, a friend. She walks you to your classroom on your first day of school and cries when she says goodbye. A mother stays up late to wait for you and wakes up early to make sure your favorite jeans are washed. She holds your hand to cross the street and takes pictures of all your events. She kisses your boos-boos and talks to you about your first crush. A mothers love makes you the person you grow to be and endures many heartaches. A mother should see your first step, the day you are married, the day you have children. A mother should never be the first to say goodbye. You make her whole world and without you a large part of her will die.

**I wrote this for you Auntie Veronika, on 12/17/06, the day we lost Brandon. I love you

Family Pictures

So today we went to take the first family photo we have had since it was just me, James and Destinee. I know, I know, long time coming, right? Well let me tell you! I spent most of my morning getting everyone ready to go- what do you want to wear...ok let me wash it, did you eat something, did you brush your teeth, fix Destinee's hair, James leave your sister alone, Destinee leave your brother alone, everyone stop fighting!!! Then we get there early for our 2:00 pm appointment to find that there was a large family in session and another family waiting ahead of us. We patiently waited as the line grew larger and larger. About an hour later, it was our turn! The process went well but while we were looking over our photo proofs there were little ones screaming in the waiting room, a woman came in yelling about how behind they were in the schedule and one of the two photographers headed to lunch (the other had just returned). So one person taking pictures, customers backed up to about six appointments - I will be lucky if I can ever schedule my family again. Hopefully the pictures will be a cherished memory of this wonderful event! Merry Christmas everybody!