Why I refuse to celebrate "x" mas

This post is kind of a rant....so if you don't like rants...STOP READING!  With Christmas come and gone this year I am a little behind on this post.  I have been thinking about ALL season.  I am constantly hearing "Merry x-mas" or seeing people write Merry x-mas".... I DON'T CELEBRATE X-Mas!!!  Sorry, I just don't!  I believe in Christ, when it is time to celebrate the birth of our Savior, I celebrate CHRISTmas.  I love Christmas.  I love the feeling in the air, I love the service that is freely given, I love seeing the nativities, I like certain Christmas music.  I don't like Christmas shopping, some Christmas music and I am so not a fan of FORGETTING what the holiday is really about.  So if you are a "Merry X-mas" wisher.... I would rather you didn't wish me a Merry anything!  Tell me Merry Christmas or nothing at all.     Ahhh, that feels better.  Sorry for the rant.  I hope you all had a Very Merry Christmas!!!

November

What can I say about November, except I am SOOOO glad it is over!!!  We had some high points in November that I really enjoyed.  But for what seemed like all of November I was sick and just wanted it to end.  The first week of November, I found myself in the ER with kidney stones.  IT WAS HORRIBLE!  My back always hurts so I didn't think much about how bad it was hurting.  But one morning I woke up and thought my insides were exploding and that I was about to die!  I called my wonderful brother who diagnosed me over the phone and told me to go the hospital.  Once I realized I wasn't dying, I started to wish I was.  At least then the pain would stop!  The pain that came with it was so bad that I was always sick to my stomach.  Then there were the pain pills they gave me, they made me even more sick...but I didn't have the pain.  So I felt like a Zombie for the first part on November. 

Nick turned 9 in November!  For his Birthday get away he wanted to go bowling and have the chocolate fountain from Golden Corral.  So we ended up going to Rock Springs the Saturday after his birthday.  He got the chocolate fountain, and was disappointed.  We ended up going to a movie instead of bowling.  I didn't get any pictures of this, I was still in my zombie phase.  But I did get a couple shots of him the night of his Birthday.  I didn't have a party cause Ted was at work.  Nick did get to choose what his Birthday breakfast and dinner were. Want to take a guess at what was for Dinner......

He drew a map on his shirt so that I could find where to get his dinner!  That kid seriously cracks me up sometimes! 

After Nicks birthday I felt ok for a few days and then right before my birthday....Yep  I had another kidney stone attack.  When I went to the ER the first time they said I had already passed some and I had several more to pass.  YAY for me!!  I took more medicine that made me sick, but took away the pain.  Ted had been planning a "surprise" birthday party for me.  I kind of knew what was going on, maybe not all of the details, but I knew there was a party in the works.  I hinted to Ted that if we had anything planned for that weekend, he was scheduled to work and we should change the plans.  He ended up cancelling the party but didn't TELL everyone.  So while he was at work and I was laying around getting over my most recent Kidney Stone issue.  I was very surprised when my Mom and sister Jennifer came to my house!!  They were almost to Kemmerer when they finally were able to talk to Ted and found out that there was no party.  I am glad they came.  We talked until late into the night and had a great visit.  They had to get up and leave early the next morning, so it was a very short visit, but I loved every minute of it!!  The next week was Thanksgiving.  We went to Utah to spend it with my family.  I was feeling a little off, but but loved spending time with my family.  On Saturday morning, I wasn't feeling well at all.  I was hot, then cold, then hot..... you think I would know what that meant, but I didn't.  I was confused at why I was so hot, then cold.  We went to Park City and did some shopping then on into SLC.  We had some more shopping to do, then went to visit my brother Daniel and his family.  We planned on going to Temple Square to see the lights and get a picture taken for our Christmas card.  That day it hadn't been too cold, so we were hoping for a warm evening at Temple Square.  NOPE, it was so cold.  FREEZING COLD.  And there were about a million people there.  So not our best Temple Square trip, but we did hurry and snap some pictures of the family. 

Do we not look thrilled!!

We went back to my brothers and spent the night.  I was still either really hot or so cold that I couldn't stop shivering.  We got up the next morning and drove home.  I slept the entire way, once we were home I went to bed.  It was then that I realized....oh I have a fever!  No wonder I am hot or cold.  I ended up back in the ER on Monday.  I think Ted was sick of listening to me complain.  I had a double ear infection.  And one heck of a chest cold.  YIPEE! Once the Antibiotics kicked in and my fever broke....it was Wednesday, the last day of November and I remember thinking... OH I AM SO GLAD NOVEMBER IS OVER!  

BOO!

Here are some of the troops filing out of the house.  Chrislyn and Daxton didn't stop to pose!

Carson was a old time gangster, Micalyn was a witch (with a dislocated elbow!) and Nick was the Devil....

Here is a shot I got of my little Lamb, Chrislyn.  SOOOO CUTE!

The kids were really excited about their pumpkins.   I didn't buy any candles to put in them, but the glow sticks I bought the kids to put on their costumes while trick or treating some how ended up in the pumpkins!!

Mica's Birthday Trip!

 For Mica's birthday we asked her what she wanted to do and she said "Go to Yellowstone!!"  So the weekend before her birthday we kept them out of school on a Friday and left bright and early for Yellowstone.  Mica was soooo excited!!  She had been waiting for this a lifetime, or so she said.  She had been to Yellowstone before, but she was about 6 months old and didn't remember any of it. 

 Our first stop INSIDE the park was at this waterfall.  I should have done my homework better but I think this is called Lewis Falls...

 The Birthday girl, giving a cute pose for the camera!

 Carson had gone on a fieldtrip to Yellowstone last year in the 4th grade.  He loved it and very excited to share what he had learned with his family.  It was fun having our very own "tour guide" for the trip.

 Waiting.....

 Waiting.....

 "There she blows!!"

 The kids made sure that I took pictures of everything they wanted to see.  I ended up with hundreds of pictures of the beautiful Yellowstone landscape.  I ended up buying them their own disposable cameras so that they could take their own pictures.  If I ever get them developed I will post those too.  Though the cameras didn't last long with the kiddos behind the shot!  They were all out of pictures within a couple of hours :)

 Chrislyn LOVED it!  She was such a good traveler and was really good about all the stops.  I would say she traveled better then the rest of us on this trip. 

The Girls....

 Dad's girl

 The boys....

 A woman offered to take our family picture and true to form....Chrislyn stole Carson's glasses in the middle of the picture! 

 This picture was so funny!  Nick wanted to give the peace sign, Carson did NOT.  So Nick would put up his hand and Carson would push it down.  Finally Nick just said "Just let there be peace!  for ONE picture"  There was a carload of people that overheard and burst out laughing.  Carson let him flash the peace sign.

Not the best picture, but this elk was less then 5 feet from our vehicle.  I had a really bad migraine at this point.  So Ted was driving.  He stopped in the middle of the road, handed me the camera and said "hurry get a picture of him"  I couldn't even open my eyes so I grabbed the camera and shot!  I was lucky to get this much of him.  I wish I had it on video, because right after this, he bugled!

We ended up staying in West Yellowstone.  We got a little "cabin" just outside the park.  Ted couldn't understand why I wanted to see a bear out in the wild at Yellowstone (which didn't happen) but was VERY upset to find out that a bear was in our campgroud!!!  It was a restless night for me I was up listening for any sound.  I didn't hear anything, thankfully and the second night I was able to sleep much better!  On Sunday we went to the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center in West Yellowstone.  It was so much fun!  I didn't mind seeing those bears and wolves at all :)

We had lots of fun, and I am enjoying the new tradition that we have started.  It began with Carson, we are now taking our kids away for a weekend near their Birthday.  Carson Chose to go to Utah, Chrislyn didn't have a choice, I chose to stay home :(, and Mica chose to go to Yellowstone.  I am loving the time with family and hope that this becomes a great memory for them as well.

Our Yearly Zoo Trip

I had thought that our yearly trip to the zoo would be in Denver this year. We went to the Denver zoo a few years ago and loved it. I wanted to take the kids back there again. But we just didn't have enough time. So one day, we found some time to sneek to SLC and back. Quick trip...2 hour there, 2 hours at the zoo and 2 hours back home! But we were able to go while they still had there Jurassic Park exhibit. The kids really liked it. Chrislyn, however, LOVED it! She was soo CuTe!!!! Every animal she saw was an adventure. She saw Zuri, the baby elephant, the look on her face was priceless. I told her "thats a baby" she got this look on her face, wide eyes, rounded lips and said "ohhhhhh! Baby! Big Baby" ha ha ha! So Awesome!!

hmmmm.....not sure how that worked out, but I have all pictures of Dinosaurs and NONE of the animals that actually live at the Zoo!  Oh well, the kids still loved it.  And maybe next year will have time to do Denver....and Hogle zoo!

A taste of Summer

Our summer seemed to fly by this year, maybe it had something to do with the fact that it felt and looked like winter here until JULY!  The boys (Ted, Carson and Nick) went to a couple of car shows.  Ted let the boys have the camera.....

And when they have the camera, I end up with about 50 pictures of different cars, engines, tires, etc.  Here is the truck that Ted and the boys entered:



This Ford belongs to Uncle Robert.  He built it and it has been staying nice and warm in Ed and Sherry's garage.  The boys (ALL of them) came home happier then they are on Christmas morning.  The truck got an award.
Carson in particular was very excited because they went to a park that day and there was a TANK!  What else would you expect to find at a park?!