Finally!

I know I am quite late in posting our Christmas and New Year's photos. But, we had such a wonderful Christmas and had a nice family New Year's, so I thought I would post the pictures. Our Christmas was much different this year as we were in our new house and we had guests over. My mom and brother stayed over on Christmas Eve and then we had a big family breakfast in the morning. I actually loved having them there. Maybe it will become a tradition. I did realize though, just how much work Christmas is. I was up till about 1am finishing things and then got up at 6 to make sure Santa had come. I definitely realize how much work it was for my parent's and am so greatful for all they did.

Our attempt at gingerbread houses-

Parker checking out what Santa left.He was not too sure about the hat at first, but as you can see, he later loved wearing it. Opening baby sister's clothes.Parker got new boots and a shovel from Santa, so he immediately had to put them on. He wanted so badly to go out and shovel and didn't understand why I wouldn't let him go out dressed this way! Building a snowman and shoveling with Grandpa Gardner. And although he had snot crusted onto his face (Parker not Grandpa), he did not want to come in! (If you are wondering why my dad has an orange vest on, your guess is as good as mine.) Gotta love my father!
Although Kory thought he might die if he stayed home for a New Year's, he actually enjoyed the night. Kory said he hadn't stayed home for New Year's in over 15 years and I could tell he was a bit antsy. I thought it was about time that he enjoyed a quiet evening at home and I didn't feel like doing anything other than staying home and having a nice dinner and watching the ball drop. I am a pregnant pooper I guess. I even had to have a nap before midnight rolled around. I guess I am getting too old! Anyway, here are a few photos of our holidays...

Banging pots and pans for the New Year. I tried to tell him if he turned the spatula around it would work better but he wanted to do it his way.
He was not too sure about drinking out of this glass at first, but as soon as he tasted the cider, he was ok with it.
Toasting to the New Year.
And lastly, a picture of me and by round belly at 29 weeks. I am definitely becoming large and in charge!

HOLD ON!

This is just a random post, but I thought I would share.

So, two nights ago I was driving home from work after having a somewhat crappy day. It was dark out because I left work later than I normally do. I was lost in my thoughts as I was driving, when I changed to my good ol' light FM 100. Kory makes fun of me for listening to this station. Anyway, Wilson Phillips came on. You know the song, 'Hold On'. Well, without even thinking about it, I turned the radio up and began singing along. I was singing so, so loud. At one point I even found myself doing hand motions. "Someday somebody's gonna make you wanna turn around and say goodbye. Until then baby are you gonna let them hold you down and make you cry. Don't you know!"

Oh my goodness, I am so glad it was dark out and that I was in our truck. I can just imagine what people would have thought if they could see me.

Anyway, the point of this is, it made me feel so much better. After the song was over I started laughing because I had realized what I had just done. So what, I am a big nerd. Don't even tell me you don't sing along to this song! There just aren't songs like these anymore!

Trying to Catch Up

I kept telling myself that after my school semester ended in December, that I would get caught up on my blogging, but with the holidays it just didn't seem to happen.
So, I am going to attempt to catch everyone up on our happenings with the next few posts.

I am going to first start with our Thanksgiving adventure (I will try to make this as brief as possible)...

As most of you know, Kory's dad left for Arizona in October to receive a bone marrow/stem cell transplant. We heard from Kory's mom the week of Thanksgiving and she informed us that Zed wasn't doing well. At that point, she didn't think it was necessary to have the kids all come out, but we waited to hear. Wednesday arrived and Kory spoke with his mom. Things weren't looking good and she had asked the doctor's if she should get her kids to Arizona and the doctor said yes. So, the day before Thanksgiving Kory was on the phone booking plane tickets for him, his sister Chelsi and his brother Brady. At the point I wasn't planning on going but we all weren't really thinking clearly. We just knew we needed to get the kids all to Arizona to be with their father. Kory called me at work at about noon and told me that Kristy and Jason were driving and asked if I wanted to make the trip with Parker. Of course I wanted to go, so I rushed home and packed our bags.

We all met together for a family prayer and off we all went. The three of them flying and the five of us driving. We all crammed into Jason and Kristy's Subaru--Parker and I, Boston and Kristy and Jason. It was a tight fit, but it was really the only way. I was the lucky one who crammed in the back with the two carseats. Oh man, I felt like a hot dog or something. I had a thought that I needed to buy a portable DVD player for the boys, because I knew they would need some entertainment over an 11hour drive. So, we stopped at Sam's Club, I bought the players and what a blessing it was. Those boys watched Rudolph repeatedly and although we were tired of hearing it, it was better than hearing two upset children.

We decided to stay the night in Vegas because it was already midnight and we were all so tired. So, we made our way to Sam's Town hotel and lugged the boys in. I was carrying Parker through the casino to our room. He was asleep on my shoulder and as we walked through the casino, with all the lights and noises, he picked his little head up and with an excited voice said, "Are we at Chuck E. Cheese's?" I laughed so hard. I said, "No, but this is an adult form of Chuck E. Cheese.

We arrived in Phoenix on Thanksgiving afternoon and went straight to the hospital. Kory's sister Melissa had flown in too, so they were all there when we arrived. We had been receiving word though that Zed was doing better. When we got there he seemed quite weak but he wanted to be wheeled out to see Parker and Boston. Parker didn't really know what to think. Grandpa was bald and had a strange mask on. He knew it was his grandpa but it was a little strange. As the days passed, Zed slowly got better and better. From the day we left to the day we got there was a complete 180 degree turn for him. He still had a long ways to go but was doing so much better.

Lannis and Kory went shopping and prepared a Thanksgiving dinner for everyone. We were all together for dinner and that was so nice. Although it was not how we had all planned to spend our Thanksgiving, I don't think any of us would have had it any other way. We would do it all again if needed. We had more to be thankful for on this day then on any previous Thanksgiving. So many prayers were offered on Zed's behalf and so many people fasted for him. The doctor's couldn't explain why he ws recovering but we know why he was... I also think he needed to see his family. I think that made a big diference to both Zed and Lannis. What a blessing it is to have such a wonderful man as my father-in-law and as the grandfather to my children. I pray that he will remain gaining his strength and that he will continue to improve.

So that is our story. We rented a car on the way home and made the trip in a lovely Pontiac with both Brady and Chelsi. It wasn't a bad ride for me this time though-I had the front seat.

Here are a few photo's of our adventure. Sorry for such a long story!