Yup! Were going on another cruise in February (this time with the kids)! We were able to get an amazing last minute deal that we couldnt pass up. We will drive to San Diego on February 6th and be back home around February 14th. The cruise goes to Cabo San Lucas and Encinada. FYI... the weather in Cabo today is sunny and 80 degrees! Today in Utah the high will be 36 degrees with a chance of snow on Monday - we are out of here!

RoadHome Charity Project

Last Monday we woke up early and loaded up our truck, trailer and back seat with all the donations we had been purchasing and collecting all year and headed to Salt Lake to drop them off

at the RoadHome.

We left the house before 9:00am and the snow was just barely starting to fly. We made it to the RoadHome easily but on our way back we hit a major storm system!

It took us quite a while to get back home then we

spent the rest of our day shoveling over a foot of snow and helping out several of our neighbors try to keep up with it all.

We were able to donate over $700 in sleeping bags, numerous hygiene products, clothes, coats, socks, blankets makeup & diapers. F.Y.I. The Radio-thon raised over $633,000 for the RoadHome this year. A huge thanks to everyone who helped purchased and collect items for this very worthy cause. We are looking forward to doing it again next year!

(for more information about the RoadHome you can visit their website at www.theraodhome.org)

My Blogging Hiatus is Over!

As some of you may have noticed, I have not updated my blog since Halloween. Thanks to a brand new (much needed) computer, I am now back in the blogging business!  To the right are some slide shows of the BYU and TCU games and below is a post from late fall that I have been meaning to post for several months now.

GRATITUDE...

As most of you now know by now, later this summer I got Mono (a.k.a. Glandular Fever or Epstein Barr Virus).  The Doctors didn't know I had Mono until 3 months after my first symptoms appeared in early August.  Now almost 5 months later, I can say that I feel like my "old" self again.  There were times when I was not sure I would ever feel the same, so for me to say that I feel "normal" again is a huge victory!  There is something wonderful that happens after you recover from a trying illness.  Anyone who has experienced a prolong illness will know exactly what I am talking about.  It's called GRATITUDE.  I have an overwhelming sense of gratitude for everything these days.  I have a new appreciation for so many things that almost everyone takes for granted such as our health, our families and our jobs.  It is said that Love and Gratitude are the two strongest emotions that someone can feel.  I truly believe that.  I have a new appreciation for people who live their lives in constant pain or health issues.  Every day I interact with people who live in constant pain.  Some have arthritis and others are battling cancer.  Many people endure surgery after surgery and live in constant pain.  Most of these people have jobs, families and hobbies and try to live their lives as much as normal despite their health problems.  I admire their strength and determination to not let their health issues determine their quality of life.  If I had to pick one thing that I am the most thankful for it would be the ability to think clearly and rationally.  I know that sounds like a strange thing to be thankful for but for nearly 3 months I was completely unable to concentrate or follow through with anything that required any amount of thought or concentration.  My brain did not work properly and my actions and emotions were greatly exaggerated and affected in a very negative way.  In all seriousness, I feel like I got a taste of what it's like to be mentally ill (unfortunately, my husband and kids can vouch for that because I was very irrational and crazy at times)  I want to publicly thank my husband and kids for putting up with me during my crazy moments.  I know they were very concerned at times and I am sorry that they had to put up with my very irrational behavior.  I now have a new appreciation for many things and am so thankful for my health and the ability to live my life to the fullest.   

Christmas 2008

Last year I had such a bad attitude about putting up my Christmas decorations up. I hated the fact that I would spend a bunch of time putting it up just to take it down a month later. In fact, my sisters and Mom took pity on me and snuck into my house and put up some decorations for me. This year, my wonderful husband and kids put the tree up for me while I was at a Christmas Dinner (which they know I hate doing). I saw the tree as I drove up into the driveway and it made me so happy! When I came into the house I started to go to Mike's bedroom to see if he was still awake and I heard a voice from the front room say "Mom, we are hiding" then out they came from behind the couch and tree.
Thanks boys! I love you! I have enjoyed the Christmas seaon this year, I have so much to be thankful for. I have enjoyed reflecting back to my childhood and when my kids were little. I love thinking about the memories and stories behind each ornament and decoration that fills our house. We have kept things simple this year and have been looking forward to taking our sleeping bags and other items to the Road Home on Monday (see Adam's Rants & Ramblings about more on that).
Here are some pictures of the boys boxing up some of the items. I will post more pictures soon as we load everything up and take our stuff to Salt Lake.


Here are some pictures of my favorite ornaments.
AJ & Mike's Kindergarten photos - aren't they cute!


The X-Mas 1993 ornament I made our first Christmas together and I was also pregnant with AJ at the time. It seems just like yesterday!