January 11, 2011

• Surprisingly...I had a few extra minutes a few days before Christmas.  I sat down with the intent of backing up my pictures and updating this blog before all the hubub of Christmas and New Years.  Just as I started, my computer shut off on its own, emitted a strange odor, and refused to turn back on... motherboard and just about everything else FRIED!  I had only had the machine a little over a year.  Brian has someone working on a new one for me.  It's a process though as we wait for parts to be ordered and come in.  I am hoping and praying that my harddrive and backup harddrive are unscathed.  We have been unable to access either one yet.  If they are toast along with the rest of the machine there will be no pictures for the past year.  I can't even think about that until I know for sure.  In the meantime I have 5 photo shoots sitting on my camera waiting for me to process.  It is scary how much of my life is on that machine and how much I use it to keep organized, for my calling, and to earn extra money through my etsy shop.  I am suffering.  On a positive note there are other things around the house that are getting attention including some much needed purging of filing cabinets etc. 

  So backing way up...this will be a wordy update with pictures to follow in the upcoming weeks (hopefully!)...October end.  We enjoyed a Halloween bash with our ward where the kids loaded up on treats.  This year Weston was a skeleton, Charlie a pumpkin, Rosie a vampire princess that didn't have fangs, Serra a vampire with fangs...To this event I wore Brian's old Monk costume.  I was quite hideous with a bald head...the kids were cute though.  Brian took a week off work the same week Serra had several days off school.  We headed northto spend Halloween and the days following with family in Logan andIdaho Falls.  We left before the crack of dawn on the the last Friday of the month and arrived in Logan just in time to get dressed up for the next Halloween party.  This one was at Mom and Dad Arnells with all Brower and Arnell cousins invited.  It was quite a crowd.  The kids wore their same get -ups and I switched it up with a very fat ballerina costume so Brian could wear his Monk costume.  We had a great time.

  The next day was not Halloween but was celebrated as such in Utah since the real deal was on Sunday.  Definitely a plus for our kids.  If we had stayed at home we would have been passing out candy instead of collecting.  Brian spent the entire day and into the night helping Dallas work on his kitchen.  He missed the trunk or treat that night with Julie's ward and I could not handle all the kiddos on my own for trick or treating so they missed out on that opportunity.  They were a bit disappointed as was I.  But we were tired and they had plenty of candy so we headed back to mom and dads and got the kids to bed.  In my fat ballerina costume I thought it odd that someone mistook me for Julie.  Julie was not pleased. 

  Sunday morning we took our time and packed up.  We headed even further north to Idaho Falls.  We spent the next few days with Eric and Tracey's family and Grandma and Grandpa Gee.  The Gees moved up there last spring and have a great new place with a great guest area in the basement.  It was nice to have room and know in the evening we weren't bothering grandma and grandpa.  We don't get to see the Anderson cousins all that often but you would never know it as the kids seem to pick right up were they left off.  I hope we are able to get up there again before too long.  We spent the day near the temple letting the kids run and took some pictures and at a nearby park.  We barbecued Monday evening with everyone.  We had to take off Tuesday morning and drove all the way home to Vegas that day.  Back to school for Serra the next day. 

  And November was upon us.  Life has been so crazy busy the last few months but I am having a hard time thinking what in the world became of November.  So I guess it's on to the highlights.  Remember I use this a journal for my scrapbooks so there are some things in here that you may not care about.  As the kids get older we are trying to teach them the real meaning behind a lot of the things we celebrate.  As Thanksgiving approached we tried to impress on the children how blessed we have been.  There are many around us that are struggling.  Nevada and Las Vegas in particular has been the hardest hit in this country with the housing crisis and economic down turn.  On top of all that troubles our tourism based city, even the President of the US discouraged businesses to bring conventions and meetings to Las Vegas which caused countless cancellations andput an even greater strain on our tax base.  All around us the signs are glaring and disturbing.  Abandoned homes, empty store fronts, businesses closing right and left.  Our jobless rates are reported at about 15% which doesn't include most of the self employed contractors that have closed their businesses or are seriously underemployed for lack of available work.  It is estimated to be closer to 20%.  We are in the middle of a vicious cycle that is going to take years maybe even decades to climb out of.  In the midst of all this Brian was able to get hired for an amazing opportunity...Community Ambulance is doing remarkably well, and growing amazingly fast.  Although Brian has been extremely busy and stressed we feel very blessed to be sitting in the position we are.  As we were planning on attending Thanksgiving with family which was basically going to be a giant potluck we felt we could certainly afford to provide a dinner for someone else.   The kids and I spent a few hours putting together all that was needed for a sizable feast.  We had contacted our Bishop earlier the week before and asked him if he knew of a family that could use this.  He let us know he had the perfect family in mind.  For our family home evening we delivered the boxes to our bishop.  He took it from there.  I was amazed a how excited the kids were about this and how they didn't even care to know where it was going...only that a family was going to have as good a Thanksgiving as we were where they may not have been before.  So with that we made our rolls to contribute to our Thanksgiving along with some for a friend of mine.  (18 dozen later...)  It's a good thing that was all I had to make. 

  Thanksgiving was in Ceder City this year with all Arnells in attendance except for Maren and Daves family.  We drove up that day and back late that night.  It was a fun day.  I stayed in the house not liking the cooler temps outside which didn't seem to bother the kids or big boys.  Dallas had to 4 wheelers that kept all of them occupied out of doors.  The food was delicious but I didn't take the opportunity to nap as I didn't want to miss out on anything. 

  Friday we were back in Vegas making final preps to leave for California.  We were ready pretty early and waiting on Julies family so we went ahead and got up all the Christmas decorations.  Julie's family showed up a little later than we expected but in time to eat a little andthe kids to run around a bit.  Saturday morning we were up and out the door by a bit after 9.  Gary's family had spent the night with Jeff and Maren and we met on the highway.  Julie and I had a great time texting the whole way down.  Lost Sheep to Bo Peep...over.  This is the trip we have been planing for nearly 2 years.  Money's saved from flower sales etc...

  We made it to Long Beach a little after 2? and headed to the aquarium of the pacific where we spent the next few hours.  It was pretty crowded but the kids always love fish related things and cousins.  We checked into our hotel just down the road from Disneyland and Julie and my family hooked up for frozen pizza, salad and garlic bread.  Our rooms were pretty great as far as space goes....full kitchen and 2 bathrooms were a bonus for sure. 

  Sunday Gary's family headed north a bit for their own family adventure while Julie's and ours stayed behind for a bit more of a relaxing day.  We thought the kids would enjoy playing in the SAND at the beach while we sat and watched them.  We thought wrong.  Within minutes they were all soaked so they ended up in their suits even though it was a bit chilly and windy.  They had a blast until the wind got to be a bit much and started to sand blast them.  So we got them dressed and took them to get some lunch.  Mmmmm Mexican food.  If I remember correctly they went swimming back at the hotel and then we had Lasagna with Julie's family and then an early night.  Brian and I weren't overly impressed with our bed and didn't sleep too well, but the kids all did which is most important. 

  Monday - DISNEYLAND HURRAY!  - It took a while to get all the tickets squared away for us as we had free vouchers for the volunteer promotion we took advantage of.  We met up with Gary's family and spent most of the day with them.  I can't remember all the details of the next two days.  We spent a bit of time withboth families although Serra was disappointed it wasn't more.  We were able to go on nearly everything we wanted once and some favorites 2 or 3 times (Pirates)  Weston has been asking to go see Jack ever since.  One of our favorite Disneyland traditions is eating dinner the second day at the Blue Bayou  which is the restaurant you seen on the Pirates ride.  It's a nice chance to sit down and take a load off after 2 full days of Disney.  It's a bit on the pricey side but we worked it into the budget.  We were able to catch the parade and fireworks at Disney the first night and the World of Color show at CA Adventure right after that the same night.  We sure had a great time and the kids can't wait for the next trip...but we're still pooped and can't imagine it will be too soon.  The trip back was uneventful and a nice rare opportunity for Brian and I to have some one on one time.  (The kids were all passed out in the back)

  While we were in CA I got a phone call that Serra had been accepted into the charter school  we applied at.  She finished out the week at Aggie Roberts and said her goodbyes and started at SilverSands Montesorri  the following Monday.  What a fantastic change this has been for her.  She is in a 1st-3rd grade class of 30 students.  There are 2 teaches in her room.  The kids are given 10 tasks they can work on throughout the day in whatever order they want.  She has done amazingly well.  She is very self motivated and is really blossoming in this environment.  We don't have the tears every night, the nervous mornings, etc...that were plaguing her the past few months.  It seems to be a great fit for her.  She loves her teachers, likes that she gets to mentor younger students, and is excited at the end of everyday to report to me how many tasks she completed.  The biggest bonus for me besides a much happier child is less homework.  Her old school has a must have homework policy which was always a bunch of busy work that didn't have much to do withher school work.  It took tons of her time after being in school for over 6 hours.   She has much more time in the evening to spend time practicing piano and doing things she wants to do.  We plan on enrolling Rosie there for K next year as well. 

  December - The week following our return from CA was a whirl wind of holiday parties.  We returned on Wednesday.  Friday night was Brians work party.  It was at very nice Italian Joint that overlooks the entire Las Vegas Valley.  The food was AMAZING!  Many enjoyed embarrassing themselves with Karaoke.  Brian received some much deserved accolades, and we even danced a little which is pretty rare.  Brian pretty much planned the whole thing and I was mucho impressed.  Very nice!  The next morning was our ward Christmas party.  It was pretty low key and not much to write home about.  A bagel and some juice, a silly 12 days rendition, and see ya at church tomorrow.  The following Wednesday was the RS Christmas dinner.  It went very well.  We held it at a members home, I was able to assign out about half the food.  Ham, hassleback potatoes, a delish spinach salad, rolls, apple bread with butter sauce...and about 30 minutes of songs from various ladies in the ward.  I had to put a song together last minute as I had 2 cancellations.  Breath of Heaven is an old standby and it went well.  We had a lot of positive feedback and so I felt good about the evening.  I look forward to the day when I can go to these activities again and just sit back and enjoy them.  The benefit I suppose is when you are in charge you get to do what you want. 

  It was so nice to have all those parties out of the way so I could concentrate on finishing up Christmas and enjoying the season.  I don't remember enjoying Christmas as much as I did this year for a long time.  It was so nice.  I was able to write a Christmas poem family update and send it out to about 125 people with a picture.  I was able to get everything wrapped and under the tree before Christmas eve.  We were able to take the kids to see Santa and get a cute picture.  We were able to take the kids to see the lights at the botanical gardens at Ethel M's.  I even squeezed in 4 photo shoots (still need to be worked on).  And we were able to have a really nice Christmas Eve at our home with Jeff and Brian's folks.  I brined 2 turkeys which we were able to enjoy for the following week.  We had an abbreviated reading of the Christmas story as the kids were a bit unruly. 

  Christmas day we woke up around 7-8 (our kids aren't lunatics and let us sleep).  Brian and I were up first.  I made egg burritos and blueberry muffins.  We ate breakfast and opened our stockings from Santa.  When we were finished we opened up all the rest.  It took a few hours as we took turns.  The highlight for the kids were there own little machines.  Nintendo DSi's for the big girls and a Leapfrog for Wes.  Brian got a really nice wallet and a new suit (which needs to be exchanged since I screwed up the size) Brian hit a home run and got me a bike.  We have also had fun with a new karaoke machine and a new little garden gnome now protects the garden.  I since have purchased a bike trailer andtake the kids on extended trips around nearby neighborhoods.  Great fun though a little saddle sore as I get used to a bike seat again.   The rest of Christmas day was spent at the Andersons munching, napping, and playing with new toys.  A very nice day. 

  Our next and last activity for December was New years eve.  We had an Ugly Christmas Sweater Party.  We invited a few families.  Everyone brought an appetizer to share, a white elephant gift, and wore ugly holiday sweaters.  We had a great time with the gift exchange, and played a few games.  Everyone stayed until 2011 which surprised me a little since almost everyone had little kids.  The kids were VERY tired and cried themselves to sleep in sheer exhaustion.  New years day was glorious.  I spent the day in my pajamas and watched movies.  I told the kids to feed themselves and I took the day off.  HA!  It was great. 

  January - Since Christmas Brian has been busy with work and finishing up his EMT class as well as a hospital rotation and one with Henderson fire as well.  I have been trying to declutter but as birthday's and Christmas move through is seems we just seem to collect more stuff.  We have way too much stuff and one of my goals this year is to downsize in that area considerably.  We aren't allowed to do yard sales in our neighborhood so I guess DI will be the beneficiaries of things not worth selling on Ebay. 

  We got kicked out of our church building since it is now the new mission office.  We are struggling a bit with the new building and getting the other 2 wards to share space.  They have had the building to themselves for many years.  There have been some frustrations as we try to schedule activities.  The Relief Society was assigned the 2nd Wednesday of each month.  We are competing for space with 2 wards Young Men Young Women groups.  They take up the whole building each week.  We were able to get them to compromise this month only to get a call from one of their bishops (today, Tuesday) telling us to move our activity to Thursday.  We have 50 or so ladies signed up for Wednesday evening for Visiting Teaching interviews and they want us to reschedule?  Sorry.  We are all going to have to give a little.  The same bishop who is in charge of scheduling the building actually wont even return my e-mails anymore as I try to arrange things.  Very frustrating. 

  One adventure this week was when I took the car in to have the breaks done.  They told me an hour.  4 1/2 hours later... I had 3 little kids with me.  We walked to the store to the park...probably about 2-3 miles worth throughout the day.  I had to make emergency arrangements for Serra to get picked up from school as my van was still up in the air at the appointed hour.  I was very miffed and squeaked enough to get some free stuff.  Still...very annoying. 

  Saturday the 8th was my B's birthday...the big 36.  I took the kids out of the house for a 3 hour bike ride while Brian relaxed.  He spent his day relaxing on the couch....something he hasn't done in ages.  At 5 I brought over 2 baby sitters and took him out.  The first stop was a to a foot reflexology place where we had our feet worked on for 45 minutes.  He was very skeptical but I think he liked it.  I have a really hard time with gifts for Brian.  He usually just gets the stuff he wants so it's hard to come up with things to give to him.  So he got his feet rubbed by a little Chinese woman.  We then went to his favorite restaurant for an enormous slab of prime rib.  The Golden Steer....oh so tasty! and the atmosphere is awesome old Vegas.  After our bellies were more than full we saw the movie True Grit, a remake of an old John Wayne western.  It was really great.  An awesome evening and I hope a happy birthday for Brian.  Today is Mr. Weston's birthday but we celebrated yesterday since he doesn't really know the difference and Brian has his last class and final tonight.  Weston's cake was a dinosaur mountain (bundt shaped hill)  with dinosaurs all over it.  He got a new manly scooter for our bike rides when he's not in the trailer, a helmet, and lots of dinosaurs and other goodies from cousins and grandmas. 

  If that's not enough of an update you are out of luck.  Until August...JK

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