Resolutions and nonresolutions

Rusty has been a very good boy this year. For a long time now he has been making efforts to exercise and eat right, but he decided that 2010 was THE YEAR. He joined an online support group called Transformation.com. They have a whole system to help you eat and exercise and make life changes. I have to say that he is doing awesome- even when I tempt him with mint oreo cookies :) ha, ha, ha.

Typically every January the kids and I take magazines and make a vision board/goal sheet to put in the front of our homeschool notebooks. Usually I have no problem choosing a few things to tackle in the new year, but this year I have drawn a complete blank. I lack any resolution. It sounds lame, but I'm the kind of person that doesn't make a commitment unless I feel relatively confident that I can keep it, and honestly I have no idea what the year will bring so I'm choosing to abstain from commitments.

I'm hoping when we get "settled" somewhere I will be able to regain my desire for self improvement and get back on track, but for now I decided I will simply support the more motivated member of our relationship in fulfilling his resolution. So I've taken Rusty's cookbook and planned meals and menus to meet his diet plan. We've had all sorts of new meals in the last 2 weeks. Also I'm not whining when Rusty stays at work late to "work out." See what a nice wife I am :) And I've only tempted him with cookies once.

Rusty said I shouldn't post his pre-pictures yet until he has some awesome post pictures to show his progress. So instead I'll post pictures of our cupboards and fridge- yes you read right. For some reason Rusty took pre and post pictures of our kitchen stuffs to prove that we bought all the "good" stuff. He said it was one of the group assignment, but I think he wanted to feel better about the huge grocery bill.

Our "Grand" New Year

The first day of a new year and we spent it enjoying the amazing scenery of the Grand Canyon. "Grand" seems like an entirely inadequate adjective to describe the majesty and beauty of this canyon. I had visited the Grand Canyon when I was in highschool, but this was the first time my family has been together. It was a different experience seeing the canyon in the winter. It was actually a great time to visit because it wasn't as crowded or hot as it is in the summer. Although the south rim was snowy the sun was shiny and it wasn't too cold. In fact the kids all started getting hot and shedding their layers pretty quick. I wouldn't say I have a fear of heights, just a fear of falling from heights. There were several times I had visions of my children slipping on some snowy edge and falling a loooong way to the bottom. I try not to pass my irrational fears onto my children, but I'm sure they sensed my concern as I constantly reminded them to stay back from the edge of cliffs. :)

We were lucky to share this experience with Adam and Cheryl's family who were visiting us from California.

It was so nice to have "big" cousins, aunts, and uncles to help with the little kids. Mike and Daniel were good sports and even carried Ben and Kate during some of the longer stretches. We were lucky that Grandma "B" (my mom's mom) had just made hats for all the kids for Christmas. It helped us all stay nice and warm.

I loved this picture of all the younger kids.I'm so glad that Rusty has such a good relationship with his brother Adam. It's always fun when they get together. Sometimes it just takes a brother to really appreciate (or even understand) Rusty's unique sense of humor. :)

Of course you can only look at beautiful scenery for so long when you are a kid. Especially with a winter wonderland of snow at your fingertips. The boys all worked together to build a snowman

and all of the kids took great pleasure in hurling snowballs off the edge of the canyon.

Of course Mike didn't settle for simply throwing snowballs off the cliff, he created mini snowmen and sent them to their doom into the depths of the canyon.

A Merry Christmas to All

I am always amazed at how little it takes to make a child happy. Each year I try to find the balance of getting the kids somethings that they want and will be excited about and keeping things simple enough not to reach overkill or boredom. After each child give their siblings a small gift (usually from the dollar store) and they open gifts from grandparents, and they get a gift from Santa, and from mom and dad. That is a lot of gifts!! We are talking about 10 gifts each! Plus any stocking stuffers. Luckily we were successful this year in reaching the balance, and with the help of my bargain shopping sister who took me to Kmart in July when all of their clearance toys were an additional 50% off and she had a 20% off that coupon we did Christmas without breaking the bank! I love it!Katie had a polly pocket Christmas- small and portable- my kind of toys Ben had a Lego Power Miner Christmas

Dallin received a few Megablocks King Arthur sets, but spent most of the weekend building this Struxx Dinosaur with his dad. I think the best gift for him was all the one on one time while they worked together.

I was worried Lauren would be disappointed with Christmas. She is at that in between age where toys aren't that exciting and everything else is too expensive. She has everything she needs and didn't really ask for much. She received craft supplies, a computer bag, and a computer game. Later when I asked her about her Christmas she said it was the best Christmas ever because all of the kids loved what she gave them and we were all happy, and she was completely sincere. She told me that now that she is older the excitement of Christmas for her is picking out gifts we will love. Lauren never ceases to amaze me. I'm so happy to see her growing and developing such a kind spirit. She does so much to bring peace to our family.

We missed being close enough to visit our extended family, but it was a very calm and relaxed weekend and it was a nice to do nothing for a change.

Ben's first tooth- or first gap, I should say

Ben is so excited after years of watching his older siblings lose teeth and receive money and months (nay, near a year) of nursing his own slightly wiggly tooth, he finally lost his first tooth.

In accordance with tradition it was Aunt Renee who finally popped it out with her magical dental floss extractor. She took out Lauren's first tooth as well. As you can see by the picture the tooth fairy at the Kevern's house is much more creative than the tooth fairy at our house and because it was almost Christmas Ben received a dollar folded into a Christmas tree.
To double the fun late that evening Dallin came out complaining his tooth was so loose it hurt. He must have been working it for a couple of hours in bed. Renee popped his out and he received a Christmas tree dollar too. We had been looking at all of the cool origami dollars their cousin Jake (Randy's son) received from the tooth fairy earlier that evening and I think Dallin didn't want to miss this opportunity for a more interesting tooth fairy visit. :) Thank goodness I have such a talented sister and brother.

A Christmas Poem

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.

Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree, I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.

My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem.
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eye when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.

My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.

A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

"What are you doing?" I asked without fear
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts,
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night"

"Its my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.

My Gramps died at 'Pearl on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers.
"My dad stood his watch in the jungles of 'Nam
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.

I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red white and blue... an American flag.

"I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home,
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat,

I can carry the weight of killing another
Or lay down my life with my sisters and brothers
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To insure for all time that this flag will not fall."

"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?

It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone.

To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust.
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us.

By Michael Marks, Christmas 2000

Las Vegas Adventures

Christmas in Las Vegas... You never know what you may "un-wrap."
It is 1 1/2 hours to Las Vegas from Bull Head City. We don't gamble, smoke, drink or even enjoy the glitzy shows, so you may wonder what else there is to do in Las Vegas. We managed to fill an entire day with lots of fun family activities, and there are still plenty of other options. You just have to dig a little to find them.

First order of business was to pay up on a family plan that fell apart in Baltimore. Ever since Kate read Fancy Nancy she has wanted to go to a "fancy" restaurant. I told her we would go to the Rainforest Cafe (which is about as fancy as I'm willing to do with 4 kids) when we were in Baltimore, but when we got there it was closed. Luckily there was one in Las Vegas so after much waiting and anticipation she finally had her day. She "dressed up" in all sorts of fancy stuff, but after lunch I convinced her to change so she would be "comfortable" (ie normal) at the museum.

We had a great time at the Rainforest Cafe and as a bonus they had a coupon on their website for December. The kids were thrilled to eat with fish, animals, and an occasional thunder storm.

After lunch we hit the Children's Museum- gotta love that free admission membership! Dallin amazed all the kids with his bubble making finesse. Having been to several museums with bubble centers he is a pro!This museum had a special "grossology" exhibit to learn about skin blemishes, snot, gas, etc. Not my favorite exhibit, but it was different. I'll spare you the gory details of what exactly Ben is supposed to be crawling over.Kate and Dallin spent some time in the Hurricane chamber. The picture doesn't capture the whipping hair and giggling faces- I should have used the video. :)The best part of the museum was the special science show. Rusty volunteered to help out and they made some yummy candy cane ice cream we all got to sample using liquid nitrogen. After the museum we went to Costco for dinner (and groceries of course). On the way home we drove through Sunset Park where the community has come together to put on a huge display of Christmas lights accompanied by festive music. I realize the pictures are weak, but you just can't capture twinkling Christmas lights in a moving car in the dark unless you have a better camera and more expertise than I do. Oh well it's the memories that matter.

Last time we visited Las Vegas the kids were a couple of years younger and kept commenting on the smoking and immodest pictures so we had decided to avoid stopping or visiting. Although there is still plenty to avoid, we actually had a great time. Who knows we may even go back :) Well at least to Costco.

Christmas trees and calendars

Part of the uniqueness of this holiday is that we don't have all of our regular Christmas stuff with us. This means no artificial tree, none of our ornaments, stockings, nativity, nothing. We were starting from scratch. The kids thought that this was a good excuse to buy a "real" tree this year. In our marriage we have only had a live Christmas tree once. We were living in Camarillo, CA and there is a cut your own tree farm that we visited. It was dark, dirty and not as much fun as it sounded. After pricing the pre-cut vs fake ones we invested in a fake one that has been the standard since. This year we decided to do the real one again. After buying the tree, the stand, the skirt, lights, ornaments, tinsel, a star, stockings, aspirin (the tree guy told us to put it in the water for the tree?), etc (a good portion of which we bought at the dollar store) we spent nearly $100 on decorations- SHEESH! I miss having the old standard stuff around.

Of course we got home and realized we were supposed to cut a 1/2 inch off the tree so it could drink water. Yeah? with what? We considered using a kitchen knife and then I decided I needed to go introduce myself to the neighbors. Luckily they had an old rusty saw that did the trick more or less. Once we got it all decorated it really began to feel like Christmas. I love the magic of a Christmas tree. It's been nice not having to barricade the tree this year. Because all of our ornaments are cheap dollar store ornaments and the kids are older I haven't had to move the ornaments to the top. Now if we can just keep the tree alive until Christmas. :)

One of the "projects" Lauren tackled most recently was to design a 2010 calendar. Initially I didn't realize what she was doing, so she created it from scratch using Microsoft word to input tables and researching holidays. She imported pictures and graphics the whole thing. Then she wanted to print. I took one look and knew it would use up at least 2 ink cartridges and then we would have to bind it. Sooo... instead I showed her how simple it is to go to Costco.com and drop in a few photos, personalize the dates and for $10 (plus shipping) a calendar. I felt bad she did all that work, but it was a good learning experience. :)

To complete her calendar Lauren wanted a Christmasy picture of the family. Because we don't really know anyone here and it seems weird to ask complete strangers to come take a picture of us we were going to go to Walmart and have a family photo- besides it would be nice for the family Christmas card. After pricing it ($200 for the copyright release) we decided to forgo that option. Instead we put the little timer function on our camera to use. VOILA!! One family photo complete without any copyright restrictions.

We initially bought cheap Santa hats for everyone, but somehow we mysteriously lost one in the waiting. Lauren was devastated and in tears (she really wanted this picture to be just right), but after some gentle persuasion and practical insisting we were able to pull it together. We even let her take a picture of mom and dad with Santa hats to make up for the loss. Of course Katie insisted on having a picture with mom too. I love my Katie Bug!