Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

Grandma and Grandpa gave us a gift card to Chuck E. Cheese's for Christmas. We wasted no time using it over the Martin Luther King Day break. When our kids know there is a possibility of making a Chuck E. Cheese visit, we don't hear the end of it. They had such a fun time! It had been years since we had last been, and it was nice to have our kids be just a few years older. More time actually playing, and enjoying the games. Not as much stress about someone getting too far out of our sights. Except for Walker that is. He ran away at any chance he got. With a big sneaky grin on his face. We had a nice lunch time visit. I tend to avoid Chuck E. Cheese's at night, the crowd gets a little rougher.

Walker was a fan of the pizza.

And the blue lights under this game.

 He loved riding on the rides with Georgia. But got a little too confident after a while, and kept standing up on them and yelling really loud. So we had to put an end to the rides.

Thanks for a good time! And now, it has gotten far too quiet upstairs while I loaded this post. So I better go do damage control! I wonder what surprise awaits me? I lead a life of such intrigue and mystery!

Baby, You Should Be In Pictures

We have had some brushes with fame here at our house!

Just kidding. That is a massive exaggeration. But we have had some fun little experiences that I want to remember.

First. The boys made the cover! Of a very small local magazine that is. You can just barely tell it is them, with how bundled up they are.

Top right hand corner.

And second. Walker and I were asked to be in a marketing commercial for Adult and Child Therapy. This is where Wally and Walker have been going to speech and physical therapy. Walker was actually discharged (hallelujah!) two weeks ago. Goodbye Torticollis! Lets hope that it sticks! Walker did go to therapy there for almost an entire year, so I guess they figured I would have a lot to say. I basically just held Walker and rambled on.

They said I was a natural at blabbing. What do you know?!

 So we will be seen on tape at local fund raising and awareness events.

Us in front of the green screen. I asked him if he was going to put us standing at the top of a volcano or somewhere cool. Nope. Just in front of the Adult and Child logo.

Walker was a good boy until just the last minute, but the producer said he thought it was cute how Walker would scream out. Okay, works for me! Oh, and you may notice, no glasses on Walker. He has turned on us, and suddenly WILL NOT wear them! I don't know what to do. Stinker.

You gotta start somewhere, right! I don't see this leading to fame and fortune, but it is fun to make the memories!

Dude, Sounds Like A Lady

All of you wives out there can no doubt relate to the little experience I am about to share.
It all begins with the need to get something taken care of ASAP, and your name not being on some financial account or another, and ends with you impersonating your husband, and getting called out on it. Just every day stuff right?

The other day I was trying to gather some financial information on an account that Del has through a previous employer. I did not want to call and bug Del at work again to make the phone call to figure this all out, because I had already pestered him enough that day about another account, and he made it pretty clear he did not have the time. So I thought, I'll just do what any honest and compassionate wife trying to save her darling some time would do... call and pretend to be him.

So that is what I did. I was put on hold several times and asked all the security questions about three times. All of the answers were quick to come because, well, I know the answers. All the while my kids are screaming in the background yelling, "Mom, MOM!!!" And I am shushing and shooing.

Finally, a very uncomfortable sounding man comes back on the line and says," Sir, I have to say that you have an exceptionally female sounding voice, and I am not comfortable giving you this information."

I am mouthing "NO WAY!!!" to the ceiling and laughing silently. I am a terrible lier. Especially when it comes to being outright asked. And I was tempted to just blurt out "Okay, okay! This is his wife! And I am not up to any sleazy shenanigans! I am just trying to take something off his plate!"

But no. My pride got the best of me, so I put on my most manly sounding defensive voice and said, "Well, what do you want me to do? This is my voice."

The guy was yet again, not fooled, and told me that I needed to send a letter now, because he was flagging the account with an attempted hacking thingy, and they needed to compare my signature. Oh wow, have I made a mess. Now poor Del not only has to spend the time doing all of that, but his account is flagged with  "Either crazy ex-wife is snooping, or this guy has a seriously unfortunate feminine voice."

I called Del and fessed up and he laughed, and laughed, and later he laughed again.

Then we decided that when he sends in the letter clearing his name, (or mine.) he needs to dot the "i" with a heart.

XOXO

The Holidays 2010

The past month has been a whirlwind! We managed to pull ourselves together for a trip to Utah to see family for Christmas. That means early prep and wrapping for our Santa visit at home. He comes the Saturday before Christmas, because he knows we usually go to Utah and it is too hard to haul our entire family's worth of presents back. We got all of the Christmas parties and school programs in, and off we went! I flew with wild Walker, and Del did it again! He drove with the three older kids all by himself. I have to admit that my nerves would not make it. He is amazing! And the kids just love it because they know they get to spend a night swimming at a "fancy hotel, eating fancy pizza with dad." to quote Wally. He even made it with a bump in the plans when Wally suddenly had an attack of horrible pain in his stomach, and they had to pull off in a small town in Iowa to see a doctor. Wally ended up being fine, but I am sure it wiped a lot of the energy out of Del.  And the next day he had a devastated Will on his hands when it was realized he left his blanket behind at the hotel. Del stopped back on the way home and rescued Blankie. They are all some good road trippers!

I only had to hold it together for a little over four hours on the plane while Walker tried incessantly to touch the kind man lucky enough to be seated next to us. It was a huge relief to score a first class seat on the way there. We were in coach on the way home, but I can't complain because Walker slept practically the entire time! What a champ!
We were only in Utah for what seemed to us the blink of an eye! It was actually a week, but that flies by when you are hitting all the family get togethers, seeing some friends, having dinner with work people, going to both the BYU and Jazz basketball games, attending a temple sealing , getting kids to cousin sleep overs,  lunches with sisters, having meetings with financial planner guys, lots of basketball playing for Del, and just running around! But we like it like that! I do however feel like I may have left my brain there, because my head still does not feel like it is on straight.

Georgia at her school Christmas program. This girl HATES to have all eyes on her. She was so nervous while all the parents were arriving, she sat and ripped her shoe apart with anxiety while everyone filed in.

I almost forgot to write down her Christmas wish. All the kids took a turn hugging a plush star toy and saying what they wished for this Christmas. As the star made it's way around the circle, all the little girls would say a doll, or a jewelry box, or something else girly, the boys would say an action figure or something along those lines. When the star got to Georgia, she said without hesitation,
"A monster truck!"
It got quit a laugh and the man behind me said, "A little tom-boy. She must have brothers."
Bingo, Mister!

I was pathetic when it came to taking pictures Christmas morning this year. This is all I got.

Wally and Chomper the dinosaur. Very exciting. However, Santa forgot to tell me and Del that Chomper makes all kinds of rude bodily function noises.

We went to the Planetarium at Gateway with my two of my sisters, Emily and Lauren and their kids.

The kids walking on the moon.

The BYU basketball game with Del's family. It was a lot of fun! we hung out in the nose bleeds with the cousins.

My best friend Christy had a baby! Sweet little baby Ivy. Too bad I met her at Arctic Circle. With them living in Colorado, and us in Illinois, sometimes you just have to be happy to see someone, even at a fast food place.

We were invited to attend a temple sealing in the Oquirrh Mountain temple. Beautiful! And so many more things that words don't do justice to. In our faith we believe that to be married in this life, and after death in the next, we must follow certain guidelines to be worthy to enter a temple and be married there by the proper authority. It is always a privilege to witness one of these ceremonies.

Del's Mom and Dad.

Whew! I finally got it all up! We headed back to Chicago on the same day a huge four day long snow storm hit the Salt Lake Valley. Del woke up and left very early, and was lucky to make it through Parley's Canyon before it closed. He was able to get ahead of the storm! Yay! We had a nice little break from the everyday, and a Merry Christmas with family!