Ladies Night Out

I love to dance! And when my friend, Tracy, invited me to a ladies night out of appetizers and salsa dancing I was all over it. Of course I got Spencer's approval before I committed to going :) Tracy picked me up and we headed into town for appetizers at a sushi bar. I'm not a fan of sushi, but they had other great choices on the menu. We spent a couple of hours there talking and having fun until we headed to the Mambo Lounge. Aside from dancing in Mexico, this was my first time actually going to a Latin club. I didn't quite know what to expect, I asked Tracy all kinds of questions before we left to ease my mind about going dancing without my husband. To my relief it was completely harmless. When we got there I suddenly realized I didn't know how to Latin dance. Luckily, I was able to find some "teachers" and I must admit, I have never danced with so many little Mexican men before in my life. They were all very kind and friendly. I didn't feel like a piece of meat either. We had such a great time, so much fun in fact, that I didn't arrive home until 2:20 a.m.!!

Snowman Kit

A friend of mine found this adorable snowman kit online and gave it to my boys right before we had the big snow storm. It is so cool. The kit includes wooden pegs, a felt hat, scarf, and mittens. Building a snowman with Caylin & Megan was a good time, but watching the snowball fight break out afterwords was even better! I have never seen Cameron have so much fun playing in the snow before. He really picked up the concept of packing a snowball and throwing it full force at another person. Austin was a little handicapped this winter considering his arm was in a cast, but he still managed to hang in with the best of them.

He's a BIG kid now!

Our Ward has the best Nursery leader ever! For this reason I am so sad that Cameron has now graduated from Nursery, but only 4 more months until Andrew enters ... yay! To make the special entrance into Primary, our Nursery leader, Tamara, made the kids the most adorable graduation caps complete with their own certificate of graduation. They were so cute and so effective! Cameron came out of class with his head held high and so excited to be with the big kids. I am so grateful for wonderful teachers who go to such great lengths for my children! I may not be cut out for primary, but I sure appreciate those who are!

Our Holiday Season

I just love this time of year. I love getting together with family and friends and the feelings of gratitude that surround me during the holiday season! This has been a unique Christmas season though. In all of my years of living in the Pacific Northwest, I have never been able to say we had a "White Christmas." Well this year, we had a White Christmas!! For nearly two weeks we were inundated and had an accumulation of 18" or more of snow. It was a regular Winter Wonderland, and I loved it! Freeways and highways were closed, major medical facilities around the area were closed, church was canceled, and I enjoyed every minute of it! Our Christmas celebrations weren't hindered in any way due to the weather. We continued with our Ward Christmas Party at church and the kids were able to see Santa, except Cameron refused. He isn't a fan of seeing Santa. He only likes the presents Santa brings. Christmas Eve we were able to continue our tradition of bowling with friends and getting together for dinner with family. This Christmas Eve brought a new adventure for us as we ate dinner by candle light, due to a short power outage. This will definitely be a year to remember.

Christmas morning we hosted a family breakfast in our home. The food was great and the boys loved showing off their new toys and gadgets to their cousins. The afternoon was spent snoozing, playing games and putting together puzzles. Marie hosted both dinners (Christmas Eve and Christmas day) at her house this year and afterwords we played some games. I really enjoy having family so close, and having such a great level of comfort with each of them. The week between Christmas and New Years Eve flew by at an incredible rate of speed this year. Last night for New Years Eve, I had an obligation to spend a few hours at my church for our youth's New Years Eve party. I was also able to join my family at our friend, Rochelle's house, for some food, fun and games. We had a blast! Everyone, except Andrew, was able to make it to the midnight hour, and I was again impressed by how happy all the kids were despite how far past their bedtime it was. Cheers to a new year!

Happy Birthday to Spencer!!

Spencer, the boys and I are so lucky to have you in our lives! We want you to know how much we appreciate you and love you! You bring so much happiness into our household and we are grateful for all your hard work. We love you! Happy birthday to you!!

Can I really be that lucky?

I feel like I have had a run of back luck lately. It seems like I have spent more time in the Kaiser waiting room, then I have anywhere else. Between my strep throat incident, Austin's broken arm and Andrew not feeling well, we have made 5 trips into the medical facility in the last 2 weeks. Thank goodness for good health insurance!! Yesterday was the straw that broke the camels back though. 2 days ago, almost instantly, I had a fierce sore throat come on ... yet again. I really did not want to drive back into town, but I knew I had to. I wanted Andrew to get looked at while we were there because he just isn't getting any better either. I arrived at the clinic and had the throat culture done, but due to the fact that I just came off antibiotics, they couldn't tell me right away if I have it. I got a call this afternoon confirming that I do. The bummer part is everything has shut down early because of the heavy snow we are getting. So at this point I have no way to get antibiotics. (Boo...hoo!) With Andrew they found that he has an ear infection and we were able to get him on antibiotics so he should start to feel his normal self again real soon. As far as I am concerned, I don't know what the deal is. I don't know if my body is becoming immune to penicillin, or if I just caught it again? Who knows. I have an appointment with the ENT (Ear, Nose, Throat) doctor next week to talk about what to do next. I'm pretty sure they will want to remove my tonsils, but I am not looking forward to that!

How many cousins can you fit in a hot tub??

In this party... Eight! And, it was one crazy party. Thanks to Grandma & Grandpa for providing (and allowing) the fun! Thanksgiving weekend 2008.

Weekend Review

Friday afternoon, Spencer and I made a quick decision to spend the night in Lincoln City on the coast. He needed to check out a possible job site that he's hoping to get at one of the hotels and had arranged some free lodging for us. It was a short trip though. We arrived at 8:45 p.m. Friday night and left at 7:45 a.m. Saturday. The older two boys stayed the night with Aunt Marie and so we only had Andrew with us. Even though it was a short trip, I really enjoyed it. The car ride gave us plenty of time to talk and I just love road trips anyway. The hotel was right on the beach and with 65 mph wind, the waves were the largest I have ever seen at the coast. They were amazing, I could've watched them for hours!

Saturday evening was my work's Christmas party at Shelley's house. She went all out and prepared Prime Rid, salmon, shrimp, rice pilaf and baked potatoes. The food was fantastic! I really enjoyed meeting the spouses of our team and mingling with them outside of work.

Today, Sunday, has been fun. The snow started to fall this morning and by the time we got out of church, everything was covered in white. The boys made their way outside to play for a bit, but with not having the proper winter gear, Cameron didn't last long. The boys then came in and Spencer made them some mean hot chocolate. It didn't take long for the moisture to turn into ice and I've already received notice that school is cancelled tomorrow. I'm curious how long the ice & snow will last? I predict that the kids won't go back to school until Thursday. Ohh, the joys of living in the Pacific Northwest!!

It was bound to happen!

Don't let Cameron fool you ... he's 33 pounds of pure rough and toughness! And what happens when that 33 pounds flies through the air and lands on top of you? The result is a broken arm! Austin's broken arm. I knew sooner or later by the way those boys play, that an injury like this was bound to happen. It was just a matter of time. Well Austin at age 6 has now had his first real injury. Earlier this evening, apparently, Cameron thought it would be a good idea to jump and land on top of Austin, but when his full weight landed on Austin's forearm all fun went out the window. Almost immediately afterwards Austin started crying. It didn't take me long to notice that his cry was a sincere cry of pain. He told me that he heard a crack in his arm, but there was nothing visual to see or feel. Spencer took a look at it, and came to the conclusion that Cameron broke it. X-rays and a trip to urgent care confirmed that he did in fact break the smaller bone in his forearm which will require a hard shell cast. The nurses were so sweet to Austin and so impressed by him. When we brought him in he was Mr. Cool, saying it didn't hurt, which was a different tune then he was singing on the ride over. I guess he felt the need to "be a man." When the nurses saw him leave with his arm wrapped in a sling, they were all so amazed that he was acting as cool as he was. That's my boy!

The Bug Keeps Coming Back

Do I have a flashing neon sign hanging over my head that says, "She wants strep throat. Give her strep throat!?" Because that is how I feel! I have never met anyone more susceptible to getting strep throat then myself. Within the past year alone, I believe I've gotten it three times already. In fact, it's almost comical now. Anytime I get a sore throat it's just automatic for me to assume that I have it, because 80% of the time, I do. I can't figure it out. I am dumbfounded trying to figure out why I seem to be so susceptible to it? This afternoon, while talking to the nurse she said, "you know, it's not very common for adults to get strep throat as frequently as you do. I think you should talk to your doctor about this. Maybe you are a carrier of it or something." What the heck does that mean, that's not exactly good news?! I'm not worried about me being sick, but I do worry about the boys. I would hate for any of them to get it, especially baby Andrew. In the meantime, I will drink as many Burgerville Pumpkin shakes as I can get my hands on.