Christmas Day

This year Christmas was quite eventful! We woke up not only to powerful winds but snow falling. We had no power as well, and no heat. Our furnace has been giving us trouble and with the hustle and bustle of the last few days, there has been no time to replace a sensor in our furnace. My dad is an expert in the heating/air-conditioning field and told us how to "rig" the sensor so that it would work, well, it wasn't working at all Christmas Day. We decided to run our two fireplaces and that actually kept the house pretty warm. We had a fun Christmas morning with candles lit throughout the house. We read a story or two from the Friend and read the scriptures. We drank our orange juice and waited for it to lighten up a little outside. As the snow fell, with no power, the kids started on their stockings. I loved Christmas as a child! My parents made the day so much fun! We had to line up from youngest to oldest, read Luke 2 and we also had to open gifts one at a time. My dad usually had a little treasure hunt for us with an envelope in the tree with clues to our final gift. I now understand how much fun it probably was for him as well! I loved watching the kids have fun with their new things. Yes, they are things, but it still is fun! Dan and I had to laugh all morning at their glee. I took a funny picture of Dan reading the instructions to Joe's new transformer...and Joe waiting in anticipation for him to figure it out. Christmas is seriously the most tiring day but the most joyous!

Later in the day I began to feel very sick. I was in bed the entire day with nausea and a headache. Later that night the kids were complaining of the very same thing. The next morning (today) we found that our fireplace downstairs was leaking carbon monoxide. Scary! We turned it off and aired it out and are all feeling much better! Carbon Monoxide detectors are so worth the money!

With more than a foot of snow on the ground and still falling outside, this truly was the most memorable Christmas! I hope your was all you hoped for and more!

Sledding

Oh my goodness, we had the most fun sledding on Tuesday with my brother Matt and his family (wife Steph, kids: Sammy, Parker, Aubrey, & Haven). They have a great park with perfect hills and we must of been sledding for about 2 hours! Here are the pics!

Steph and Abby

Steph and Joe
Rachel

Dan & I

Matt, Parker and Joe

Dan (head first)

Rachel

Matt watching Abby and Joe

The Kid Train (Sammy in front with Parker behind, Hailey, Rachel, Aubrey? Some kid hanging out with us at the park, we didn't even know...lol)

Hailey

Abby in Back, Sam in front, Parker standing

Adult Train Dan in front, Parker, Matt and Me

Hailey

Another Adult Train: Not sure who is in front, then Parker, Matt, Rachel, Dan, Steph

An Unexpected Day...

Now, I knew going into this day that is was going to be a long one...but maybe it was hormones or maybe it was the fact that I had too much to do, I don't know, it just started out not so good. Anyone who knows me will understand the fact that missing a day at the gym is like missing a day taking a shower. It just doesn't happen...LOL. So, because of my long day, I had to be at the gym at 5 a.m. Yes, I'm insane. I was home in time to make a quick breakfast and run out the door, still in gym clothes, to take Hailey and Abby to the dentist. Hailey is great at the dentist, very brave and grown up. Abby, however, was ballistic, stressing all night about this event. The girls had cavities. In all of our moving around and lack of dental insurance, we haven't been up to date on our visits, so now we're all paying for it ;) Abby is very afraid of anything new! We said a prayer before we left and told her with the laughing gas (those words alone freaked her out, even with lots of explaining), this would be a breeze. Well, for 15 minutes our wonderful dentist explained how he would help her feel happy with the laughing gas, that she would laugh and enjoy her movie and he would paint her teeth (NO SHOTS, she was assured), and it would be fast and painless. She sobbed and sobbed and wouldn't do it. Now, this is like worse than having your kids throw eggs in the grocery store, seriously, you'll never see those people in the grocery store again and you can go to a different store. It's no big deal, even tantrums in the grocery store weren't as bad as this. Abby is 8 and she is loud! She was not going to do it, NO MATTER WHAT! The dentist and I agreed she needs a pediatric dentist. My insurance doesn't cover much when it comes to pediatric dentists....retarded! The second we went back in to have Hailey finish getting her 1 filling, Abby was still sobbing loudly and saying she was sorry. You know, I'm sympathetic to the fact that the dentist is scary, really, I am! I hated the dentist growing up and we never had the option of laughing gas. I know it's scary but life is scary, we all have to muster bravery in order to just survive each day. Unfortunately Abby will not be eating candy at all for a while. Coming home to a messy house and 5 trillion loads of laundry and a grumpy hubby, cause the house is a mess and the kids aren't picking things up like they should, and I'm grumpy from dealing with a child who refused to get her teeth fixed and a huge upcoming bill for a new dentist, was just more than I could bare. It was officially not a good day.

Around 6:30 tonight Dan and I sat down with the kids to read Luke 2 and to watch The Nativity and read a Christmas story or two, to sing songs, and pray together. The spirit is invited into our home for the first time today. I'm warmed by it and find myself so incredibly grateful for my sweet kids, no matter how messy, how loud, or stubborn or afraid. They are unique and individual and I couldn't ask for more!

8:30 or so...a knock, kids opening door and bringing a big sack full of gifts downstairs. It is full of presents for the children and envelopes for Dan and I. No note or name on the tag as to who it is from. This is such an unexpected, kind and wonderful gift. Whoever you are, THANK YOU! This is yet another reminder to me of what Christmas is about...giving...and I have been given so much...words simply can't express.

Not Impressed...

So, am I the only one who was NOT impressed with the new "Twilight" movie? It was almost painful to watch...actually it seemed Edward was in pain. It made me...oh, what's Stephanie Meyer's favorite word...GRIMACE. Course, I guess he kind of was in pain, but I don't know, I just didn't think it would be that painful to watch (pun-da-dum-dum). I was expecting Mike (the kid with the crush on Bella), to be much more good looking, not such a doofus. Carlisle and Jasper were also not what I expected as well. I envisioned Carlisle as being sort of Italian or Greek but not Baywatch blonde...ew. I also pictured Jasper differently as well. I don't know how, he was just not what I thought he would be. I thought that Kristen Stewart was great as Bella! I loved Alice! I wasn't too impressed with Edward though. I mean, I didn't find him dreamy, but then again, maybe we all just have different "types". What did you think?

I don't know, maybe I need to see it again, just to be sure...

6 Years Ago Today...

...My sweet baby Rachel was born! She was the sweetest baby! She was very calm and gentle, until she hit 1...lol. She's super feisty but also still has that super sweet streak. I just love this girl! She has the green eyes that melt me every time and the most infectious giggle. It's the Ballard laugh, lawl! You get the Ballards (my dad's side) of the family together and it's like a room full of laughing hyena's, seriously, the funniest sound you'll ever hear. She has that laugh. She loves dresses, still, and has since she was born. If she could live every day in a dress, she would. She is very feminine and loves everything pink and sparkly. She loves to color, read and sing. She loves to tease. She loves to ride her bike, jump on the trampoline and help me in the garden. I'm so grateful the Lord sent this amazing little girl to me, I feel so lucky!

Texting

Who knew texting could be so dang fun?! I feel so young...'sigh'.

Thanksgiving Weekend

We had so much fun this last weekend! Dan's brother Dave & wife Lynette and their 5 kids came to stay with us for Thanksgiving. It was so much fun having Thanksgiving with the Johnsons! We ate and ate and ate and ate...lol. The kids just couldn't get enough of their cousins and we enjoyed spending time with Dan's parents and Dave and Lynette, we don't see them often! There are a few pictures of Thanksgiving dinner...then some pictures of all of us visiting Temple Square. It was a zoo, but we enjoyed seeing all of the lights! D & L and their family left Saturday morning :( We then celebrated another Thanksgiving with my family on Sunday night at Matt & Stephs home. I really like the two Thanksgiving ideas...more food for me and a nice break from the uber healthy eating schedule I've been on...haha! Can I just say Cheesecake is da bomb?! I think I am super grateful for...CHEESECAKE! Well I hope all of you had a great weekend, I look forward to reading more from you ;) (Chels, Kristi...that means YOU! hehe)

lol...sorry Emmie, I only got your beautiful eyes!