Christmas Vacation

I've spent the last 2 Christmases in Utah. I've missed spending them with my family and was so excited to be back home this year. Unfortunately, my whole family wasn't together for the day, but I was glad to be away and be with some of my family. Gabby and I flew into Dallas which worked out great since I had my new niece, Averi Elizabeth to meet.

Gabby was very excited to meet her newest cousin. She loved holding her and sang her original songs as composed by Gabby.

Me, Averi, and Gabby before church

We spent a few days in Arkansas as well. It was great to be back home. My mom is quite the cook. She makes cinnamon bread wreaths every year to give to friends and let Gabby help her out a bit. They are to die for! Gabe and I could barely let my mom get them iced before tearing into them.

This was Gabe's first Christmas since getting home from his mission. He dug out a fun Christmas project from 2000, still a good fit! We had fun hanging out. He laughed at Gabby an awful lot though. I warned him that those traits he makes most fun of will be sure to turn up in his kids some day. Just ask Pam and Jenny!

My dad had me wrap one of Gabe's gifts one evening while Mom and Gabe were out. Dad didn't know where any labels were so he just had me go redneck and use a marker. Gabby was very offended that such a big gift wasn't for her. She found her own marker and tried to rectify the situation.

We drove back to Dallas on Christmas Eve. The weather prior to this picture was so pleasant. We even hit the 60's and I wore shirt sleeves. We even had a fabulous thunderstorm in Hot Springs on Wednesday night. It rained the whole drive down. Just before we made it to the Andersons, it began to snow. In Dallas, Texas. Y'all, my long-term blog followers, know my feelings about snow. I would have preferred that it stay warm, but it was cool to see how excited the kids and my Southern family was for it.

Gabby and I on Christmas Eve. Our family has the tradition of opening one gift on Christmas Eve before bedtime

Gabby had been worried about Santa finding her Texas. He came through and this was her Santa pile. We slept in this year until about 6am. My family, that is my siblings, have a tradition of getting up at 4am to open gifts. My parents could usually hold us off until 5am by insisting there was a fire going and they be served hot chocolate. I think that was always my favorite time when I was young at Christmas, the early hours of the morning just before the gifts were open. Marji was usually the first up and would wake us up. We'd run to the tree and I loved that feeling of magic from seeing all those gifts. Gabby is still a little young and I had to actually wake her up, but it was still great.

Gabby's main gift was a Nintendo DS. Madison has one and Gabby begs to play it every time she's over there. She was very happy to get the gift. In all honestly, it was a gift to me as well. Flying home was fabulous! She played her DS the whole flight. I actually was able to sleep and read my book. Gabby normally gets very offended if I sleep when we're flying and insists on seeing my eyeballs.

My parents gave me this gorgeous ring. I love it and am glad for some new bling! Still hate my hands though.

Gabby's Jingle Bell Rendition. Not knowing all the words doesn't stop her.

Gabby opening her DS.

We had a fabulous Christmas and I was glad to see my family and have a week off of work.

The Lists

We took Gabby and Madison to visit Santa last week.

Gabby gave Maddy the reindeer antlers a couple of weeks ago. They entertained each other while we waited in line.

I love how big Gabby smiled in this picture. What happened to my baby though? When did she get so grown up?

I had to laugh a the difference in the length of the girls' lists for Santa

Temple Square

Gabby and I went to Temple Square to see the lights on Friday. I didn't make it there with Gabby last year so it had been 2 years since she'd been. Gabby was really excited to go into the all the buildings there.

The North Visitors' Center has the Christus statue. Gabby was very impressed with it and the mural of the skies. Gabby has also taken up posing for her pictures. She wouldn't let me take any until she got her pose just right. We went and watched a showing of Luke 2. Gabby really enjoyed it. The sister missionaries followed it up by saying that they hoped we enjoyed the short movie. Gabby announced her approbation in a loud voice by saying, "That sure was a great movie!"

Gabby and I outside the temple

This was Gabby's favorite tree since it was all red and more cool poses.

Gabby has much cuter hats than this, but she stole this from me. That hat is actually about 8 years old. Her dad gave it to me after a trip to Yellowstone and then liked it so well, he took it over for himself. Gabby has since commandeered it since it is red and her favorite color and won't have anything to do with pink and purple hats. Hard to imagine where she gets her opionated nature from....

Changes....

A lot has happened since the last time I blogged. I'm expecting changes in the next year, how major has yet to be determined. My office is closing July 1, 2010 so I'm in search of a new job. I've actually been really stressed out over the past few months and I couldn't figure out why. I just felt like something was coming that was going to require me to make some changes. Now, that I know what it is, I actually haven't felt as stressed since I feel like it's something I can handle. I hate looking for new jobs, but it's not the worst thing in the world. It's not exactly what I would have chosen to happen, but I'm trying to look at it as an opportunity for better things. We'll see if I can even stay in Salt Lake. It's not the best job market here. I'm trying to explore all my options right now. I feel guided and blessed by the Lord and am honestly surprised that I haven't felt more stressed out about this.

Winter has definitely arrived in Utah. Gabby loves the snow in theory. We spend more time getting bundled up than we actually spend in the snow. I guess she's my child. Gabby doesn't last more than 5 minutes before she's ready to go inside because it's too cold. I never press the point to stay outside.

We had a fun Halloween. Gabby was Daphne form Scooby-Doo. It's her favorite show. We went trick-or-treating with the Baileys, Toregersons, and McCabes. It was a lot of fun. Gabby only likes two kinds of candy, M&Ms and Smartees so all the rest was left for me. It's kind of nice that Gabby won't eat any other candy.

I love her big smile!

I celebrated Thanksgiving with the same crew from Halloween. Gabby spent it with her dad. We had so much good food. I love Thanksgiving and I loved cooking for it. It's been a few years, since I did any cooking for it. I did the turkey, dressing, and a couple of pies. All the food was great and it's nice having a couple of extra days off work. Gabby and I got our tiny tree up and decorated. There is so much that I'm thankful for, but mostly that I'm just happy. Even with my life not being exactly as I'd choose, I'm still happy and feel so blessed.

We've been having further unwelcome adventures with rodents. There is an infestation of mice in the townhomes that we live in. At least on my street. My backyard borders a field and it seems all the field mice have decided to find warmer accommodations for the winter. I discovered our first house guest a few weeks ago while watching tv one evening. I was sitting on my loveseat and look to my right and there is a mouse a foot away on my loveseat with me. I screamed and jumped over my loveseat. I don't know why mice freak me out, but I hate them. I went and bought some sticky traps and hoped that it would find the de-con that Brownie did.

A few days later, I was in bed trying to go to sleep when I hear a rustling in my room. I hoped it was just the trash settling, but the next sound proved that there was a rodent in my room. I worked up the courage to turn on the light and investigate. I cautiously leaned over my trashcan and the nasty critter jumped up just at that point. I screamed because I am a wimpy woman. I then found a book, covered the trashcan and threw it out in the dumpster.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the only mouse that took up residence with me. Gabby spotted them around and her proposal was to capture them and keep them as pets. She even had a discussion with Whitey about it. I emphatically rejected the idea. Three more eventually were given a new home in the dumpster. Two of them came out and died in the open which I was glad they were dead, but I just don't like handling dead things. I seemed to be toughening up and was able to dispose of them without any drama. The third got stuck on a trap.

I hoped that was the end of it. I doubted seeing as most my neighbors caught more than four. The mice really freaked me out and I think I see them all the time. Unfortunately, I found another one in a rarely-opened drawer while I was trying to bake my pies. My built-up toughness had disappeared and I did a lot of squealing and hand wringing getting it out of the drawer. I was mentally giving myself a pat on the back for taking care of it myself as I threw it in the dumpster when a psychotic cat sprung from the dumpster scaring me like nothing else. It took about an hour for my hands to stop shaking. I scare a little too easy!

More Adventures with Gerbils

About 2 weeks ago, Browny and Whitey escaped from their cage. By the way, Gabby renamed the gerbils. They went from Sunny and Michael to Rainbows and Sparkles to Browny and Whitey. The base and bottom of the cage had somehow been detached and I had two gerbils on the loose. I stumbled across Whitey in Gabby's room one morning before work. Gerbils are fast and incredible jumpers. I spent 1o minutes cornering Whitey, Whitey jumping 4 feet in the air, me screaming and jumping just as high before I gave up and went to work.

We had Madison over for a sleepover that night. While the girls were upstairs playing, I heard a scratching of little claws in the intake vent in the kitchen. I got my drill out, took off the vent cover, and found Browny behind the vent. I put my hand in hoping she'd crawl into it and make it easy on me. She bit me instead. I retrieved my collander and herded her into that and took her back to the cage.

Gabby and Madison were quite impressed with my gerbil catching skills and decided they would find Whitey. They were Gabby and Madison, Mystery Detectives. They even came up with a song. They began their search by finding clues of gerbil poop and chewed up paper. Before I knew it, the girls were screaming that Whitey had just run into my bedroom. I grabbed Gabby's butterfly net and the chase was on. The girls scared her from underneath my bed and I captured her with the net. Gabby and Madison, Mystery Detectives, were thrilled with solving their first case.

After these adventures, Browny just didn't seem to be herself. There were a few green pellets in the vent she was trapped in and I was worried that they were poison and Browny had eaten them. Thursday evening, my suspicions were confirmed when I discovered Browny's corpse. I am a big fat wimp about somethings and dead animals is one of them. Gabby was downstairs and I didn't want to bring her attention to the fact that Browny was dead. I was trying to find something to get her out of the cage that was disposable and wouldn't relieve me from any direct contact. I finally found two popsicle sticks and a dryer sheet box. It still wasn't easy as rigor mortis was setting in and I couldn't get a good grip with the sticks. I kept at it and finally got the body in the box and out to the dumpster as quick as I could.

I came back inside and realized I'd left the cage open and Whitey was jumping around the room. The trusty net was still out and I quickly captured her and put her back in the cage. I then went and threw up. That dead gerbil just really grossed me out. They gross me out alive.

So Gabby was oblivious to this adventure and realized a couple of days later that Browny was gone. I explained to her that she died and had eaten some bad stuff. Gabby was very sad that Browny was dead. She wanted a new gerbil. They tell you at the pet store that gerbils do better when they have a friend. Whitey and Browny got along great. They always snuggled and never fought.

We finally made it to Petsmart yesterday. Gabby picked out a cute little black gerbil she creatively named Blacky. We took Blacky home and introduced her to her new home and Whitey. Whitey was not at all pleased. She chased that little gerbil all over the cage. We'd obviously been feeding Whitey well and she was almost twice as big as Blacky. I figured that Whitey was just trying to show it was her cage and they would eventually be able to peacefully live together. Gabby was very amused by their roughhousing.

This video shows that it seems like they could get along ok. They were just sniffing each other out.

This video shows that Whitey isn't taking any crap and that gerbils have surprising jumping abilities.

I could hear the gerbils squeaking and chasing each other most of the evening any time I cam upstairs. Gabby had gone to bed early, but ended up in my bed later on in the evening. I went to check on the gerbils and Blacky was bleeding and barely moving. Her stomach was all bloody. I had no idea that gerbils were so vicious. Whitey tore her up. I found 2 more popsicle sticks and rolled Blacky into the box from Petsmart. Fortunately, Blacky wasn't stiff and I didn't throw up again. She's still in the box outside and I'm going to see what Petsmart return policy is for being tortured by another gerbil.

I explained to Gabby that Blacky was also now dead and it was at the paws of Whitey. Gabby doesn't understand why Whitey was mean to her new friend. Who knew that such little animals would be so much drama? Gabby wants a different kind of animal, something bigger. My reply was a firm and emphatic no! Seriously! What was I thinking?

We'll see how much long Whitey lasts and then I'm done with pets! Given the fight in her, I'm figuring we'll have Whitey for a while.

Angry and Sad Faces

Gabby and I went to the pumpkin patch yesterday. Gabby picked out 2 pumpkins and instructed me on their carving once we got home. She was quite clear that she wanted one with a sad face and one with an angry face. Apparently, jack-o-lanterns can't be happy. We had a fun evening carving the pumpkins and Gabby was pleased with the results.

Gabby wouldn't pose for too many pictures. She was more interested in taking them. She's such a little photographer!

My camera has a 'candle' mode and this was the best shot I could get. I don't have such a steady hand.

Gabby took a dozen pictures of me with the pumpkins. This is my angry face.

My sad face!

What's Goin' On!

I totally lost my blogging mojo! I'm hoping to get it back and keep y'all updated with my oh so exciting life. My life isn't at all exciting but it is flying by. How is it October? Anyway, we've been busy as always. I went to Dallas sans Gabby over Labor Day weekend for birtday and the BYU vs OU game. It was a fabulous weekend away with my some of my family.

Marji made me a delicious Jello cake. How is it possible that I'm 31? I don't think it is possible so I'll continue to stick with 25!

I planned this trip back in April. When we were getting the tickets, we decided to splurge it get good seats. Our expectations were incredibly low for BYU showing up and playing a good game against Oklahoma. I was hoping for just 1 or 2 good quarters. As y'all know, it was a phenomenal game and BYU came away with a major win. We had 8 row seats in the endzone and they were worth every penny. I screamed myself hoarse. Seriously, I could barely talk for 5 days. It was the best game ever! I'm so glad I went. The stadium was amazing as well. I even got on the biggest jumbotron in the world! It was pretty cool. Unfortunately, BYU had to go and lose to stupid Florida State, but they're still ranken and who knows what the rest of the season will bring?

Gabby and Madison are taking a tumbling class together once a week. They started in September and seem to really be enjoying it. Pam and I switch out taking the girls so I have a couple hours free every other Wednesday which has been nice.

Gabby and I went to the circus with Jen and David a couple of weeks ago. It was really great. Gabby loved all the elephants (still her favorite animal), but her favorite act were the dogs with tutus and all their tricks.

I loved the circus, too. It's amazing what people can do and what they can train animals to do.

My parents came to visit us last weekend. The kids were so excited to see their grandparents. Mom even brought some crafts for the kids. It was really great to have them out here.

They also brought tickets to General Conference. I went with Mom and Dad to the Saturday morning session. It's a wonderful experience to be in the conference center. I love how the atmosphere changes when President Monson comes in. All conversation ceases and everyone stands while he takes his seat. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir is simply amazing as well. I just love conference and I was just overwhelmed by so many wonderful messages. I'm so grateful for modern prophets and apostles who so powerfully witness and teach of truth and the gospel of Jesus Christ.

So that's what's been going on!

I Love Florida!

Gabby and I spent a wonderful (and much needed) week in Santa Rosa, Florida over the last week of August. We met the Andersons and my brother Gabe. We shared a fabulous house and a fabulous time. Originally, we had thought it would be my whole family like we did 2 years ago. For a while, it didn't look like anyone would go at all. Marji and I got to talking and both our families had the time, the house was available, so we made it happen. I was so glad as it was coming up on 2 years since I had any beach time. I know, that's not that long, but I really LOVE the beach.

I am happy to sit at the beach all day. Give me some sunscreen, a good book, a couple cold Diet Dr. Peppers, Red Vines and I am one happy woman. I read 4 books over the week. It was all so wonderfully relaxing. Gabby and Thomas played really well together for the most part and it was nice that they could entertain each other. The waves weren't ever too rough so the kids could safely play in the ocean. With school having started, it almost felt like we had the beach to ourselves. We really didn't see too many other kids. The kids were always done with the beach well before I was ready to head back to the house. We did a little bit of shopping at the outlet malls in Destin, some go-carting, but really it was all about the beach!

Gabby took right to the beach. She's had a love/hate relationship with the beach over the years and I think the hate portion is officially over!

She wasted no time getting in the ocean

There's a dead crab in that net. That was the best we could catch

Isn't she the cutest 5 year old ever?

Gabe was great about playing with the kids. We were the only ones who hadn't seen Gabe since he got home from his mission in June. It was great catching up with him. Gabby was quite taken with Uncle Gabe.

That's Gabby way off in the distance. I love how big the beach is!

This was with Marji's much nicer camera. Gabby is tickling me with a feather

The house even had a pool in back. Jim throwing Gabby up in the air

The sandcastle built by me and Gabby. Thomas was itching to destroy it. It lasted a good hour.

Gabby took care to make sure the seagulls didn't disturb us. I think she got "idiots" from my road rage.

Gabby's 5th Birthday Party

We had a swim party for Gabby on Saturday. With the busy month we're having, I kept it simple and just had it at our pool. We invited the Baileys, Torgersons, and Nevers. There were 9 kids between the 3 families, so it still felt like a party.

Gabby, the Birthday Girl.

The Little Mermaid Cake, courtesy of Harmons

We did a pinata, which was Gabby's favorite thing at the party.

Gabby received lots of great presents and was so excited for each one

Gabby blew out her candles after we sang Happy Birthday. She then said that we had to put all the candles on the cake and do it again.

Being her birthday, we complied.

Throwing down some watermelon and David making a cute face



The videos speak for themselves! It was a great day and we had so much fun celebrating Gabby.

Busy, Busy,Busy!

What a month! I think superheroes have it easy compared to moms! We do it all without the aid of any super characteristic, unless you count dogged determination and a little bit of crazy for taking on as much as we do. I don't know why I've been thinking about that. I considered Batman, but he has super wealth to support him. I sure don't! But I'm working on it.

One thing that kept me busy in July and the first part of August (in addition to all the running) was completing everything for a promotion at work. Nothing was terribly difficult, I took some online courses, some training from our trainer, and studiously studied a 14 chapter book to pass another test. I also had to be meeting or exceeding all of our fun goals. I am proud to report, I received my promotion, an increase in pay, and am now a Senior Claims Representative, not just a mere Claims Rep. We'll take a moment for the oooh's and aaah's subside.

I actually am really happy about it. I enjoy my job the majority of the time. I'm in a good field where there can be a lot of opportunities. It also helps that my co-workers keep it fun, too. FYI, I'm a medical claims adjuster. In a nutshell, I handle medical claims for auto and home injuries. A lot of it is monotonous, but there's the claim here and there that's interesting and challenging. Some of it can be really sad, too. I've been taking advantage of overtime opportunities as well. I feel really blessed to have a good job and to have found it when I did.

Gabby and I are meeting the Andersons and Gabe in Florida next week. I couldn't be more excited or ready for this vacation. We will be dividing our time between the beach, pool, and outlet malls. I'm also hoping for massive quantities of sleep. Gabby is very excited as well, but seems a little disappointed it's not 12 days. She's decided that's the appropriate length for a vacation. That's another way that I'm very blessed, to be able to take such fun trips with Gabby.

We're having her birthday party this Saturday. I'm keeping it very small and low-key but it should be fun. There are plenty of other things keeping us busy, but those are the major highlights!

Provo River Half-Marathon

I ran the Provo River Half Marathon this morning. My coworker, Gina, talked me into signing up for it earlier this summer. It's the same race I did 2 years ago. Training for a race while being a mom and working full time is a hit-and-miss affair. I didn't feel nearly as well prepared for this one as I did the last one. My 10 mile run a couple of weeks ago didn't go well at all. For me, walking at all means it didn't go well and I had to walk a mile or so. I didn't get any runs in this week either which made me slightly nervous.

The race began at 7 am, though the website and emails said 6:30. I got up at 3:45am, picked up my friend Mindy, and drove down to Provo. We got there around 5am and got our numbers and chips. FYI, each runner is given a chip they put on their shoe. The start and finish have pads that record your exact time by the chip on your shoe when you cross it. Love technology! I think there were around 2000+ runners.

We found Gina and got on the school buses that took us up the mountain to the start of the race. Our poor driver didn't exactly know where he was supposed to go and we had a bit more of a scenic ride than expected. Fortunately, we were so early, it didn't really matter too much. It was a little after 6 when we got up there. We got off the buses to a summery 45 degrees. It was so stinking cold for August! It was not that cold 2 years ago. I think I heard on the radio that it was new record low for here. That global warming is working out great, isn't it?

I digress! We immediately got in the very long line for the porta-potties as we'd been guzzling water prior to the run. We then waited for the start with goosebumps and shivers. About a quarter to, the truck came through for our drop bags. This is a trash bag with your race number and name that you put anything that you don't want to run with but wanted to have before the race, such as jackets. So the 3 of us were really cold and really ready to start running.

The gun finally went off and we waited for the crowd to move. Hence the use of chips, it can take a few minutes to actually make it the start with such large crowd. We got moving and I went off on my own. Once I started running, I realized my hands were numb from the cold. They regained feeling after a couple of miles. The first 3 miles felt like nothing. It was fairly steep descent and I think the numbness helped.

As the road leveled into a more gradual grade, my knees, especially the left one, began hurting insistently and intensely. My right knee bothered me some when I first started running this summer and it gave me problems 2 years ago, but never the left. It reminded me of the original version of The Little Mermaid. In the story, The Little Mermaid is given legs, but is told that every step will feel as if she is stepping on knives (or maybe glass). She was willing to endure the pain for a chance at true love. So each step felt like there was someone was stabbing at my outer knee with a screwdriver causing pain to shoot up to my hips. The pain would increase anytime the grade changed, especially to uphill.

Though true love wasn't on the line, my personal competitiveness and drive was. I knew if I stopped at all, I wouldn't be able to start again. So I kept going, hoping the pain would dull or go away. Mile 4-6, I was having doubts if I would even finish, the pain even brought tears to my eyes. I thought about giving birth and I made it through that and that pain was far worse and that lasted way longer so I persevered. Besides the stabbing pain in my knees, I actually felt really good. I managed to enjoy some of the gorgeous scenery of the river and mountains and tried to forget about any discomfort. I was surprised how quickly the time was passing and that I was maintaining a good pace.

By mile 8, I knew I would be finishing the race. I was accustomed the shooting pain in my knees and it thankfully wasn't getting any worse. I'd glance at my watch and tell myself that I had far longer to go than I really did. For some reason, that helps me when I'm running. More people were passing me than I was passing, but I just kept plugging along.

We came out of the mountain trail and I knew we were close to the finish, but I had no gage for how close. The course wound all over the place at the end 2 years ago so I actually thought it was further than it really was. I picked up my pace as much as I could. Before I knew it, I turned a corner and there was the finish line 20 yards away, I saw the finish line and managed to have a final sprint to the end.

It was pure agony to stop as I knew it would be. My legs were jelly and shaking while the chip was clipped off my shoe. I finished the race in 1:56:55. My goal was to finish in under 2 hours. That's about 8:55 mile pace. I finished 653 overall. I think there were 2000 or so runners.

Even with the pain, it was exhilerating to do the run and just finish it, no matter the time. I hobbled to the watermelon table reveling in my accomplishment. I love the power of the mind over the body. I think that's my favorite thing about running. Your body is screaming and pleading to stop or slow down, no more, and through simple will and determination, you make it keep going. I love how we can train our bodies to do something that seemed so unlikely in such a short space of time, too. Theres's just something about being a part of a race that can't be had in any runs on your own.

My knees are still killing me. I try to walk with bending my knees as little as possbile so I've got a cool Frankenstein gait going on right now. I'm really wishing that I didn't have stairs at my house. I feel great when I'm not moving...I'm hoping that a good night's sleep will take care of most of it. I'm already looking for the next race to run and seeing about improving my time. Let me know if any of y'all want to sign up with me!

Anna and Franella

As we were leaving church today, Gabby told me she had a new friend named Anna. I replied,"That's great, is she in your class?" Gabby answered, "No, Mommy, she's right there." Gabby was pointing down at the ground at her shadow. She then told me that my shadow was named Franella. I have no idea where she comes up with these things! Gabby took pictures on our walk to and from church. She took 90 pictures. Gabby took pictures of everyone we passed whether they agreed to pose or not. She wants her own camera for her birthday and I think she may very well need one!

Gabby's shadow, Anna

My shadow, Franella. Franella and I carry Gabby's Sunday bag, my lesson bag, and my purse, hence the odd shape!

Gabby has been asking for rain boots forever! They were finally on clearance at Target yesterday, so I bought them for her. She thinks they are just the coolest shoes ever. She is really eager for it to rain so that we can go on a "rain walk." She tried to wear them in her bath this morning as well. She was also upset that I didn't have any rain boots to wear to church today. I don't think I could pull that look off quite as well as Gabby does.

I don't think Hello Kitty boots would tie in with this dress.

Anna and the new boots, Gabby's favorite subject to photograph now