our Christmas/ New Years/ Wedding Vacation
Well, well, well. We made it through the holidays!
I, myself had a WONDERFUL time visiting family in Oklahoma for 10 days! We got there (finally) at 10:30 pm...
Christmas Eve. We got the kids in jammies and David put cookies and milk out for Santa. Thankfully, the kids slept in as long as we did. We were waiting to do family presents until everyone got there (on the 28th), but the stockings and Santa's presents were fair game. David was quite excited to see a Speed Racer Mach 5 car that flps! Alex was also pretty impressed by the little beanie-baby-type puppy in his stocking. (He is ALL about dogs, and even made friends with Sam- a BIG dog while we were there) He looked at it, kissed it, and gave it a big hug. SO cute! I, of course got Lindt chocolate truffles, and some awesome topaz jewelry. :) Jeremy scored a pretty awesome tie and all 3 Bourne movies. I may or may not get pictures up soon. If I do, I will put a few below this paragraph, and more on my facebook.
Later that week, Cindy and I went see if we could find a dress for her to wear to the wedding. We never did find one, but we got a yummy Thai lunch and saw Twighlight. Yes, I was thus introduced to the world of vegetarian vampires. I spent half the waking hours of the duration of our vacation reading all 4 books after that, and I've been somewhat obsessed for the past week or so. I'm sure it will pass! And even if it doesn't don't worry, sweetie. You're better than Edward. You actually exist. :)
December 28th. Our second Christmas was also great fun! Ryan and Claire had arrived from Salt Lake, and Cindy and I had a turkey cooking competition. She did hers her way (traditional, with stuffing in the bird) and I tried out a new recipe ( with a lemon juice /soy sauce/ dijon mustard marinade and stuffed with lemons, onions and herbs). I admit I tampered with hers and put some salt and pepper on it. I really probably shouldn't have done that. ;) I basted and basted. She basted a little- I think after she saw how dry things were getting cooking two turkeys at a time. ;) There wasn't a very clear winner anyway, though. Some people liked the white of one and the dark of the other. There was A TON of turkey to eat after that though. I think there was enough for like 20 people. Yep, lots of leftovers. Sean's fiance (and now WIFE) Jordan didn't get off til 7, and lived an hour away, so we had to wait until 8 o'clock to open presents.
David kept asking how much longer we had. I must admit that I had a hard time waiting too, though. So... we get done with dinner and get things cleaned up, and finally FINALLY, it's time to open the HUGE mound of presents. We are talking copious amounts of boxes and wrapping and bags and tissue, about 25% of which was for my two boys. The boys helped Papa pass all the presents out. Alex got it to the right person most of the time. Except he was scared of Ryan. (Seriously, he didn't want to be near him. He'd cling to me and cry if we got near him for the first couple days.) The boys got to open theirs first. David went through them pretty efficiently . Alex like to open them, but it took quite a bit of ripping for each package. Once he did get the wrapping off, he just wanted to play with the toy (particularly the rainbow colored xylophone from grandma, and the pop-up toy we got him). David and I helped him get to the other ones. They made out like bandits this year too. Cindy actually dropped about 6 boxes of Christmas stuff at our house on the way to California. Yes, 6 BOXES! I'm getting rid of half our current toys they never play with to make room. Jeremy got more movies, books, shirts and chocolates. I got pjs, books, movies, and warm vanilla sugar bath stuff. :) We gave Sean a Halo book, candy, and a variety box of condoms. The look on both his and Jordan's face were priceless. I will have to get the picture from Claire. I think he turned about 5 shades of red. :) Jeremy had also found the LAST Twighlight poster with just Edward on it to give to his Mom. That, too, was hilarious. I also quite like the shirt Sean got Jordan, that said "You are exactly by brand of heroin" (She is also a Twighlight nut).
December 30th, I got a haircut from Cindy's 2nd counselor in their primary, which turned out awesome! Jeremy and the boys were also with us, so we checked out some of the houses that are available in the Jenks school district area. You can get quite a bit more house out there than you can here. We still have to get our 2nd mortgage pretty much paid off before we can really afford to move though. Yay for tax returns that will pay off a good chunk of debt so we can start paying more on it!
New Years Eve was also quite fun. By this time we had like 11 people in the house. (All of Daryl and Cindy's kids and grandkids, and Sean's friends who were there for the wedding.) We played Bang, Monopoly jr and Signs - which is an awesomely fun game to play, but hard to describe in just words. Daryl also inspire a new card that SHOULD be a part of Bang! Dynamite Daryl, who spontaneously combusts whenever the dynamite card is played. My kids lasted until about 10pm. :) They didn't even wake up when we set off all the fireworks at midnight. (My in laws live on 35 acres, and they have a big pasture) It was FREEZING cold, but still fun to see them exploding overhead. Jeremy had some kind of death wish though, because he kept being the last one to light the things and waiting until the last possible second!
New Years Day was quite adventuresome too. Cindy, Stephanie, Claire and I set out making the bouquets and bouteniers for the wedding on the 2nd. They all turned out beautifully, if I do say to myself. Later, Cindy, Claire and I went to do some shopping for the bachelorette party. We went to like 5 different stores before we found things we liked and like the price of at Dillard's. Victoria's Secret didn't really even have much in the way of lingerie. I was somewhat disappointed.;) In the end though, we found 3 different outfits that fit different moods. For the party itself, we had DELICIOUS cream cheese filled chocolate cupcakes and went to The Cheesecake Factory. I'd never been to a Cheesecake Factory before. I am SO going to have to go there again. Maybe even just for dessert. SO GOOD!
January 2nd dawned, cold and windy. We bundled up and headed for Oklahoma City. On the way, when everyone was stopping for gas, we realized that we had left the bouquet in the cooler sitting on the counter, so Daryl and Jeremy had to head back to get it. All that fuss about not forgetting it and we go and forget it! An hour later, we dropped off the boys and Ryan and Claire at Pop's and Becky's house (who live, very conveniently, around the corner from the temple). Alex wasn't too sure of their little dog, Brandy. Of course, she wasn't too sure of him or David either. They all learned to play well together by the end though. Ryan and Claire were going to meet us back at the temple after the ceremony - Claire was taking pictures and all. :) The weather was supposed to warm up and let the sun out later that day. We were hoping it would be in time for pictures at the temple. It had after all, hit the 70s a couple of times that week already.
While warm weather was not meant to be that day (and we were all freezing, taking our coats off for pictures), I think the sealing certainly was. Things got started a little late, but it wasn't like we were in a hurry, because there was no one scheduled for the room after our group. Late or not, it was absolutely beautiful! The moment I walked into the sealing room, I started getting a little weepy with butterflies seeing the altar there, and the double mirrors reflecting into the eternities. Both Sean and Jordan were just glowing with smiles that seemed to be permanently etched on their faces. I was so excited for them! Especially for Sean though. We've been waiting a long time for him to find someone, and we were all ecstatic when he finally did! The blessing promised them through their obedience were powerful, and it was good to hear them again. I got through the whole thing with only one tissue. (And yes, that's a feat, especially considering I was starting my period. It probably helped that the sealer kept it fairly short and sweet) Before we left, Jeremy and I looked at our reflections in the mirror. I wasn't wearing a wedding gown, but I was still just as married and just as happy- if not more - than we were on our wedding day, 7 1/2 years ago. I've got such a wonderful man for a husband! I really do. I almost wished he would have been sitting by me, instead of being a witness, but I enjoyed watching him watch everything. He looks so good in a suit and tie! :)
Afterwards, of course, were all the pictures and we went back over to Pop's and Becky's for some snacks and visiting with Daryl's sisters and the Jeremy's cousins. Sean was even able to help his wife out of her dress! (considering the somewhat elaborate back, that is quite a feat, but none of us would ever let him live it down if he hadn't been able to do it without help) Alex now thought Brandy was the best thing in the house, and kept looking for her. It was really all very nice. I also got to read New Moon on the way back up... well until the light from the cars behind us wasn't enough to be able to see the page. :)
January 3rd. The Reception. I was going to go help decorate the Stake Center, but I had not done any tapping with Cindy. SO... Jeremy, Daryl and Ryan and Claire went to help out and I stayed home with the kidlets and tapped about a great many things with Cindy. I'm not really looking in the mirror and saying I love myself, but if I thought to do it, I could without cringing and hating every moment of it now. :) As far as setting up goes, the Primary of the one of the wards was having an activity that morning, so they had to do other errands, while they waited for the building to be ready. It probably helped that they left the chairs and tables out for them. We got there about 4:30 that afternoon and started getting other things set up. I did the centerpieces. They actually turned out very pretty. Cindy had a bunch of orchids still left over from the bouteniers and the bouquet. We cut them off, taped the ends with floral tape and put them in the clear glass containers filled with water. They floated and looked very pretty with the little flameless candles next to them. They also had a chocolate fountain with all sorts of yummy things to dip into it. The cake was pink and brown polka dots (not tacky - just cute). David called it a cow cake. They also had a little lit up arch in the middle, where they had the ring ceremony (which only made me tear up a little bit) Then the music started for dancing. I got about 1 and 1/4 dance with Jeremy. Most of the rest of the time, David or Alex, or both wanted to dance with me. I got tired of spinning David around and he told me he needed to have a talk with me. We went into the hallway and he told, in no uncertain terms, that when I danced with him, I needed to spin around! It was cute. Thank God for Karen though, for taking Alex part of the time. He like to dance just as much and was so cute in his little dress shirt and vest, spinning and moving his little legs. It was quite a fun party, if I do say so myself. They got some pretty cool gifts, too. Which reminds me, I probably ought to email them the list of gifts and givers, just in case it gets lost.
January 4th. Was. Very. Very. Looooooooooooooooooong. We wake up at 5:25 a.m. We get last minute stuff together, wake up kids at 6 a.m. and head for the airport with Daryl and Ryan and Claire. 6:50 we get there and check in. We go through security- where I have to give up my Victoria's Secret Forbidden Fantasy bathwash because it's more than 3 oz. and I don't have any way to get any more 3 oz containers. I was pretty upset... mostly because I should have realized it needed to go in the big suit cases Cindy was bringing to us, but also because it's just going to be thrown away. GAH! It was almost a full bottle! I got over it though. Well, I sort of did. I do suppose people go dumpster diving at the airport. I hope whoever ends up with it, enjoys it. Our first 30 minute flight to Dallas went pretty well. David and Alex still hadn't gone back to sleep, although Alex was starting to doze of when we landed. That pretty much thwarted that though. I've decided that I very much like having layovers at the Dallas Airport. They have a big variety of places to eat, and perhaps most importantly, they have a CHILDREN'S PLAY AREA!!! We had a 4 hour layover, and about 2 1/2 of those were spent letting our kids play. Jeremy slept on the flight there, so I had a nap while they were playing. The longer flight to Las Vegas was great. Both kids concked about 5 minutes after we took off. (This despite David's insistence that he was NOT going to have a nap) We didn't realize that it had left about 30 minutes late until we got to Las Vegas and they mentioned the time. I felt bad that our ride ended up waiting for us for an hour. We are ever grateful for her though! It was good to be home again. Alex was even smiling when we put him in his bed that night.
Wow. That was exhaustive. :) We truly did have a Happy Holiday though.
I, myself had a WONDERFUL time visiting family in Oklahoma for 10 days! We got there (finally) at 10:30 pm...
Christmas Eve. We got the kids in jammies and David put cookies and milk out for Santa. Thankfully, the kids slept in as long as we did. We were waiting to do family presents until everyone got there (on the 28th), but the stockings and Santa's presents were fair game. David was quite excited to see a Speed Racer Mach 5 car that flps! Alex was also pretty impressed by the little beanie-baby-type puppy in his stocking. (He is ALL about dogs, and even made friends with Sam- a BIG dog while we were there) He looked at it, kissed it, and gave it a big hug. SO cute! I, of course got Lindt chocolate truffles, and some awesome topaz jewelry. :) Jeremy scored a pretty awesome tie and all 3 Bourne movies. I may or may not get pictures up soon. If I do, I will put a few below this paragraph, and more on my facebook.
Later that week, Cindy and I went see if we could find a dress for her to wear to the wedding. We never did find one, but we got a yummy Thai lunch and saw Twighlight. Yes, I was thus introduced to the world of vegetarian vampires. I spent half the waking hours of the duration of our vacation reading all 4 books after that, and I've been somewhat obsessed for the past week or so. I'm sure it will pass! And even if it doesn't don't worry, sweetie. You're better than Edward. You actually exist. :)
December 28th. Our second Christmas was also great fun! Ryan and Claire had arrived from Salt Lake, and Cindy and I had a turkey cooking competition. She did hers her way (traditional, with stuffing in the bird) and I tried out a new recipe ( with a lemon juice /soy sauce/ dijon mustard marinade and stuffed with lemons, onions and herbs). I admit I tampered with hers and put some salt and pepper on it. I really probably shouldn't have done that. ;) I basted and basted. She basted a little- I think after she saw how dry things were getting cooking two turkeys at a time. ;) There wasn't a very clear winner anyway, though. Some people liked the white of one and the dark of the other. There was A TON of turkey to eat after that though. I think there was enough for like 20 people. Yep, lots of leftovers. Sean's fiance (and now WIFE) Jordan didn't get off til 7, and lived an hour away, so we had to wait until 8 o'clock to open presents.
David kept asking how much longer we had. I must admit that I had a hard time waiting too, though. So... we get done with dinner and get things cleaned up, and finally FINALLY, it's time to open the HUGE mound of presents. We are talking copious amounts of boxes and wrapping and bags and tissue, about 25% of which was for my two boys. The boys helped Papa pass all the presents out. Alex got it to the right person most of the time. Except he was scared of Ryan. (Seriously, he didn't want to be near him. He'd cling to me and cry if we got near him for the first couple days.) The boys got to open theirs first. David went through them pretty efficiently . Alex like to open them, but it took quite a bit of ripping for each package. Once he did get the wrapping off, he just wanted to play with the toy (particularly the rainbow colored xylophone from grandma, and the pop-up toy we got him). David and I helped him get to the other ones. They made out like bandits this year too. Cindy actually dropped about 6 boxes of Christmas stuff at our house on the way to California. Yes, 6 BOXES! I'm getting rid of half our current toys they never play with to make room. Jeremy got more movies, books, shirts and chocolates. I got pjs, books, movies, and warm vanilla sugar bath stuff. :) We gave Sean a Halo book, candy, and a variety box of condoms. The look on both his and Jordan's face were priceless. I will have to get the picture from Claire. I think he turned about 5 shades of red. :) Jeremy had also found the LAST Twighlight poster with just Edward on it to give to his Mom. That, too, was hilarious. I also quite like the shirt Sean got Jordan, that said "You are exactly by brand of heroin" (She is also a Twighlight nut).
December 30th, I got a haircut from Cindy's 2nd counselor in their primary, which turned out awesome! Jeremy and the boys were also with us, so we checked out some of the houses that are available in the Jenks school district area. You can get quite a bit more house out there than you can here. We still have to get our 2nd mortgage pretty much paid off before we can really afford to move though. Yay for tax returns that will pay off a good chunk of debt so we can start paying more on it!
New Years Eve was also quite fun. By this time we had like 11 people in the house. (All of Daryl and Cindy's kids and grandkids, and Sean's friends who were there for the wedding.) We played Bang, Monopoly jr and Signs - which is an awesomely fun game to play, but hard to describe in just words. Daryl also inspire a new card that SHOULD be a part of Bang! Dynamite Daryl, who spontaneously combusts whenever the dynamite card is played. My kids lasted until about 10pm. :) They didn't even wake up when we set off all the fireworks at midnight. (My in laws live on 35 acres, and they have a big pasture) It was FREEZING cold, but still fun to see them exploding overhead. Jeremy had some kind of death wish though, because he kept being the last one to light the things and waiting until the last possible second!
New Years Day was quite adventuresome too. Cindy, Stephanie, Claire and I set out making the bouquets and bouteniers for the wedding on the 2nd. They all turned out beautifully, if I do say to myself. Later, Cindy, Claire and I went to do some shopping for the bachelorette party. We went to like 5 different stores before we found things we liked and like the price of at Dillard's. Victoria's Secret didn't really even have much in the way of lingerie. I was somewhat disappointed.;) In the end though, we found 3 different outfits that fit different moods. For the party itself, we had DELICIOUS cream cheese filled chocolate cupcakes and went to The Cheesecake Factory. I'd never been to a Cheesecake Factory before. I am SO going to have to go there again. Maybe even just for dessert. SO GOOD!
January 2nd dawned, cold and windy. We bundled up and headed for Oklahoma City. On the way, when everyone was stopping for gas, we realized that we had left the bouquet in the cooler sitting on the counter, so Daryl and Jeremy had to head back to get it. All that fuss about not forgetting it and we go and forget it! An hour later, we dropped off the boys and Ryan and Claire at Pop's and Becky's house (who live, very conveniently, around the corner from the temple). Alex wasn't too sure of their little dog, Brandy. Of course, she wasn't too sure of him or David either. They all learned to play well together by the end though. Ryan and Claire were going to meet us back at the temple after the ceremony - Claire was taking pictures and all. :) The weather was supposed to warm up and let the sun out later that day. We were hoping it would be in time for pictures at the temple. It had after all, hit the 70s a couple of times that week already.
While warm weather was not meant to be that day (and we were all freezing, taking our coats off for pictures), I think the sealing certainly was. Things got started a little late, but it wasn't like we were in a hurry, because there was no one scheduled for the room after our group. Late or not, it was absolutely beautiful! The moment I walked into the sealing room, I started getting a little weepy with butterflies seeing the altar there, and the double mirrors reflecting into the eternities. Both Sean and Jordan were just glowing with smiles that seemed to be permanently etched on their faces. I was so excited for them! Especially for Sean though. We've been waiting a long time for him to find someone, and we were all ecstatic when he finally did! The blessing promised them through their obedience were powerful, and it was good to hear them again. I got through the whole thing with only one tissue. (And yes, that's a feat, especially considering I was starting my period. It probably helped that the sealer kept it fairly short and sweet) Before we left, Jeremy and I looked at our reflections in the mirror. I wasn't wearing a wedding gown, but I was still just as married and just as happy- if not more - than we were on our wedding day, 7 1/2 years ago. I've got such a wonderful man for a husband! I really do. I almost wished he would have been sitting by me, instead of being a witness, but I enjoyed watching him watch everything. He looks so good in a suit and tie! :)
Afterwards, of course, were all the pictures and we went back over to Pop's and Becky's for some snacks and visiting with Daryl's sisters and the Jeremy's cousins. Sean was even able to help his wife out of her dress! (considering the somewhat elaborate back, that is quite a feat, but none of us would ever let him live it down if he hadn't been able to do it without help) Alex now thought Brandy was the best thing in the house, and kept looking for her. It was really all very nice. I also got to read New Moon on the way back up... well until the light from the cars behind us wasn't enough to be able to see the page. :)
January 3rd. The Reception. I was going to go help decorate the Stake Center, but I had not done any tapping with Cindy. SO... Jeremy, Daryl and Ryan and Claire went to help out and I stayed home with the kidlets and tapped about a great many things with Cindy. I'm not really looking in the mirror and saying I love myself, but if I thought to do it, I could without cringing and hating every moment of it now. :) As far as setting up goes, the Primary of the one of the wards was having an activity that morning, so they had to do other errands, while they waited for the building to be ready. It probably helped that they left the chairs and tables out for them. We got there about 4:30 that afternoon and started getting other things set up. I did the centerpieces. They actually turned out very pretty. Cindy had a bunch of orchids still left over from the bouteniers and the bouquet. We cut them off, taped the ends with floral tape and put them in the clear glass containers filled with water. They floated and looked very pretty with the little flameless candles next to them. They also had a chocolate fountain with all sorts of yummy things to dip into it. The cake was pink and brown polka dots (not tacky - just cute). David called it a cow cake. They also had a little lit up arch in the middle, where they had the ring ceremony (which only made me tear up a little bit) Then the music started for dancing. I got about 1 and 1/4 dance with Jeremy. Most of the rest of the time, David or Alex, or both wanted to dance with me. I got tired of spinning David around and he told me he needed to have a talk with me. We went into the hallway and he told, in no uncertain terms, that when I danced with him, I needed to spin around! It was cute. Thank God for Karen though, for taking Alex part of the time. He like to dance just as much and was so cute in his little dress shirt and vest, spinning and moving his little legs. It was quite a fun party, if I do say so myself. They got some pretty cool gifts, too. Which reminds me, I probably ought to email them the list of gifts and givers, just in case it gets lost.
January 4th. Was. Very. Very. Looooooooooooooooooong. We wake up at 5:25 a.m. We get last minute stuff together, wake up kids at 6 a.m. and head for the airport with Daryl and Ryan and Claire. 6:50 we get there and check in. We go through security- where I have to give up my Victoria's Secret Forbidden Fantasy bathwash because it's more than 3 oz. and I don't have any way to get any more 3 oz containers. I was pretty upset... mostly because I should have realized it needed to go in the big suit cases Cindy was bringing to us, but also because it's just going to be thrown away. GAH! It was almost a full bottle! I got over it though. Well, I sort of did. I do suppose people go dumpster diving at the airport. I hope whoever ends up with it, enjoys it. Our first 30 minute flight to Dallas went pretty well. David and Alex still hadn't gone back to sleep, although Alex was starting to doze of when we landed. That pretty much thwarted that though. I've decided that I very much like having layovers at the Dallas Airport. They have a big variety of places to eat, and perhaps most importantly, they have a CHILDREN'S PLAY AREA!!! We had a 4 hour layover, and about 2 1/2 of those were spent letting our kids play. Jeremy slept on the flight there, so I had a nap while they were playing. The longer flight to Las Vegas was great. Both kids concked about 5 minutes after we took off. (This despite David's insistence that he was NOT going to have a nap) We didn't realize that it had left about 30 minutes late until we got to Las Vegas and they mentioned the time. I felt bad that our ride ended up waiting for us for an hour. We are ever grateful for her though! It was good to be home again. Alex was even smiling when we put him in his bed that night.
Wow. That was exhaustive. :) We truly did have a Happy Holiday though.