Merry Christmas 2010

Oh Christmas, Oh Christmas how exhausting you are to me! This year was so crazy with my dad being the hospital and all we had soo many places to go. We started Christmas with my mom on Christmas Eve because that is the only time we can make the most of it. This year was a little different we had it at our house and it was kind of crazy. After everyone opened gifts Branden and I went up to the hospital to visit with my dad for a little while as he was getting better. That evening we went to a Candle Light Christmas Eve Service at our church which was amazing. My friend Tiffany sang the most beautiful song, we took communion together and just praised the Lord for Jesus. We had an amazing time!

Then we went to Branden's grandparents house which is a Christmas Eve tradition and we had the most wonderful Christmas Dinner with all his family. The kids got to open presents and then we played a game to get our presents. This was the first year we did this, and I have to say it went pretty well I don't think anyone got their feelings hurt and everyone had a good time. We sang happy birthday to Jesus and all went to wait for Santa to come.

Christmas morning was so fun! Santa had made a huge mess in Papa and Nana's game room and left soot everywhere and some presents just laying on the floor! Addison really enjoyed her car and kitchen and wasn't too interested in everything else because she had to open the present to find out what was inside. She opened the first couple of presents and got into it but after that I think she was tired of opening because she didn't open anymore presents the rest of the day. Kaleb on the other hand was in the opposite direction and wanted more presents to open, but he was very thankful for everything he got!

After Christmas morning we zoomed across town to my grandparents house and had Christmas with my family and ate lunch over there. This is the only time Kaleb and Addison had any kids their age to play with so we stayed as long as we could and they all played well together. Kaleb even shared his new toys with his cousin Lane and Addison and Hayden played dolls. It was so fun to see their little faces light up over the little things such as hand cuffs as you can tell!

Finally, we went to Branden's Mimi's house to finish off the day. Now you can see why I think it is so exhausting. We opened presents first of course and Addison got some really cute outfits and a pillow with her name on it that I just adore. Kaleb got his most favorite boots that he has been wanting forever that his best friend Canyon has and let me tell you it sent him over the moon! He got some other things too but those boots made his Christmas! We ate dinner and played games and even started a new tradition of family questionnaire that was really neat, in which case I tied with Branden's Aunt Sandra! YEAH!!!

By the time we got home the kids were exhausted and so were we and we all crashed and said HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS!!!

Thank you Lord for sending your son so that we may live an everlasting life!

Making a Mess, And Loving Every Minute

Oh the joys of having kids! This year I decided that I wasn't going to care about the mess but only that my kids had fun while making cookies. I did very well at just letting them be while they cut out and decorated cookies! We are going to make this a tradition that we all can enjoy, even if it means hours of clean up after they are asleep! We had a good time, thank goodness we started early it gave Addison enough time to work out all that sugar because she was more concerned with eating the icing rather than putting it on the cookies. Kaleb did very well his favorite part was putting on the sprinkles, I think we overloaded a few but that is alright!

He was very proud of the cookies he made Santa!

The Dreaded Family Christmas Picture

Well with everything that has gone on this month the family picture kept getting pushed back. We finally decided that we had to get it done or it would be New Years before our card got out. So we got everyone ready, I do have to say that we all looked very nice. Addison was just not feeling it though and decided that she wanted to pick on brother since he was standing under her. Needless to say we captured a few of her not so shining moments and finally got one half way decent family picture. Merry Christmas 2010!

First Official Race

Since the last week of September I have been training for the White Rock Marathon in Dallas, TX. This marathon benefits Scottish Rite Hospital and my friend’s son is a patient at the hospital.  My friends Brylyn and Natalie have been getting up in the mornings and training to run this half marathon with me. This is a first for all of us. To start the weekend off my dad was admitted into the hospital and I had to make a decision whether to miss or go and with some guidance I decided to go ahead. I was gone for less than 24 hours so I just hoped everything would be ok till I got back.

On Saturday,  Erin, Emmy and I flew into Dallas where Brylyn picked us up and we went and checked into our very luxurious hotel The Fairmont. After we checked in and met up with Jennifer a close friend who moved to Austin this past summer, we went and got our running packets from the expo. At the expo we met up with our friend CeCe who also moved away, so in a way it was kind of like a reunion. After the expo we went and ate a wonderful dinner provided by Natalie’s family and got to visit. Then we went back to our hotel room and all six of us stayed in the same room which as you can imagine was quite entertaining.

Sunday, December 5, “Race Day,” we all got up to some exciting ring tones and got ready CeCe in her “hohoho” socks and all. On the way to the race we got a little lost and then we found our way, little did we know that everyone else was running late too and there we were still in the car at 7:05 am and the race started at 8 am. As the cars were moving at a snail’s pace, people started getting out of their cars and running to the race because they were sure they would make it and I wasn’t sure we would. I truly wanted to get out because I did not go all that way to miss the race, but my friends convinced me not too. We were listening to Emmy’s iPod trying to get pumped up while deep inside I was thinking “we are going to miss it and I came all this way.” Somewhere in my thoughts I blurted out “I HATE MARATHONS” and it kind of lightened the mood and then all the sudden the cars started going. We finally made it to the marathon with minimal time to spare which was fine because we had to stand for an hour before we even got to start the race!

It was utter chaos how many people were running the race. Let me just say if I was claustrophobic I would have been freaking out.  After passing all the beautiful buildings and lavish homes I was on the home stretch and all I could think was I MADE IT. I finished a half marathon in 2 hours 37 minutes, which I think was pretty good for the minimal training that I did. My friend Erin finished before me and it was so exciting to have her there at the end! What a wonderful experience and I got a medal!