Well, after a few emails and my conversation today with Cindy I am guessing some may need an up-date to read with your morning coffee LOL.  Where do I begin?  The days are just passing by and one is slipping in to another.  This past week may have been the busiest of all.  I recommend you go grab that cup of Joe and make it a big one. 

MONDAY marked the arrival of my parents.  As I previously said they arrived early and were in time to catch just about every crazy event around here.  I think in this one week we tired them out.

TUESDAY we went to Costco to fill up on those necessities.  We literally filled that truck up and had things in our laps.  Then mom and I went out to complete Santa’s work.  If hating shopping was not enough, hating it during the holiday season just throws me over the edge. 

WEDNESDAY started with me realizing that Joey was lacking in the Christmas Department so Dsc_1438 Dad and I headed out to do more Santa work.  A trip to Wal-mart did the trick and can I help it that a Provo Craft Cricut jumped into my cart.  Merry Christmas to me, Merry Christmas to me.  I am ready to share those fonts Cindy!  Then we rushed home to wrap goodies and dodge off to the twins Christmas party.  It was adorable.  The kids all sang songs for the parents, had a gift exchange, and then had Christmas snacks.  Of course Micky wanted to wear the new dress that Aunt Susan bought her and although a bit over-dressed she loved it all the same.  I forced JoJo into a new shirt and pants.   You would think he was wearing a straight-jacket the entire time because while he was singing he was attempting to escape from it like Houdini.  They did have one song where they cradle a baby doll.  Micky held hers gently as did the other kids while JoJo rocked the poor baby back and forth while twisting it’s head around.  Gotta love him!  Click here to see some of the pictures.  Grandma and Papa enjoyed watching.  Dsc_1522_1It was so fun!.

Then in the evening Tyler had a band concert.  They did a combined concert with the  elementary, middle and high school bands.  It was very entertaining however after about two hours in those chairs I was ready to go home.  The nice thing was having hot chocolate & coffee with Victoria and Janine first.  Gotta love that girl time to relax you just a bit.  I also enjoyed the jarring Victoria gave me during the concert to wake me up.   Man-alive it was a long concert and being tired did not help me one bit.  We all finally got home at 9:00 pm!Dsc_1640

THURSDAY was the day of never-ending activities.  The day started with Tyler’s class putting on a holiday breakfast theater.   Tyler was "Jewish Boy #1" and did a splendid job depicting Hanukkah.  We then went home for a small break and then headed back to school at 2:00 pm for yet another band concert (I swear if I never hear Jingle Bells again it will not be soon enough).  Then school was over for holiday break.  One thing down!  But does my day end…….no way.Dsc_1657

In the evening Micky had her new gymnastic class. They moved her up a class and it was  amazing what they learn in there.  Watching the stretching along caused my mom and I to crinch.  She is new to the class but did a great job keeping up.  Plus she is in there with her friend Tess.  She just loved it and I was proud of her attention to what was going on.  From there I zoomed Tyler over to Basketball and then dropped off Micky and Mom at home.  I swear when I finally got home at 7:30 pm I just sank into the couch.

Dsc_1766 FRIDAY I worked from 7 am to 10 am and then came home for a family day.  Ever since Micky saw figure-skating on TV she wanted to go ice skating so we ventured over to the local ice skating rink for a day of fun (not so much fun if you ask Joey).  Pete also was on skates for the first time and was such a hoot.  He entertained us with his "triple axles" and figure "8’s".  He was also a moving freight training coming in for a stop.  They all did great and of course Micky was a complete natural.  JoJo was content sitting on the sidelines with Grandma eating his snacks.  But we promised him he could pick the next activity.  We could not get Micky to leave and promised her we would come back soon.  Tyler also did great.  This was his third time going and he had a lot more guts.  Click here for pictures of our skating adventure.  From there we hit Claim Jumper for dinner and all went home exhausted but the poker chips were calling our names.  I will not gloat about who won but will accept the accolades. 

SATURDAY I went out and photographed a beautiful family!  The twin’s preschool teacher hired me to do their family photos and it was an honor.  I always sigh a breath of relief when people like the photos.  It would be hard to take a bad photo of them because she has such a beautiful family.  Not only are they all beautiful but are just wonderful to be with.  and I am not just saying that Dearjohnfor a discount on next month’s tuition.  It was fun.  After that I literally wanted to take the day to just play with my Cricut (still not out of the box) and read this good book "Dear John" by Nicholas Sparks…..  Dad asked me about a trip to Home Depot and I suggested we put that off.  He has been tackling those odd jobs for us.  The second I said we just take it easy his bike pants were on and he was off on his bike.  I swear that guys moves at a snails pace but when you mention his bike he is off like a flash.  While Grandma had the kids out and about I managed to slip in a wonderful nap.  Now this has to be the most perfect day.  Pete is going to make dinner so that just caps it off.  After this week I think I deserved it.  So……….that kind of brings us up-to-date.  I told you it would be a long one. 

Tomorrow we look to spend the day as a family and feel blessed for all we have.  These busy weeks come and go for me but in the end when I can have just a moment to reflect on how lucky I am to be able to participate in these times I thank God for all I have.