Ten for Tuesday 12.30.08

This has been a fun, crazy week! I'm so tired! This week's post will probably be pretty boring for most of you, so feel free to skip if you want. I still need to put it all down for memories sake.

1. On Tuesday night Reed and I had a meeting with the stake presidency, and Reed was called to be the 2nd counsellor in the bishopric. I am not kidding when I say that I was shocked. Not because I don't think Reed is worthy or capable of the calling. He is. I just simply was not expecting it. He had just come up on 3 years as Elders Quorum President, and I thought they were going to release him---he'd get a little break for a few weeks and then get a ward calling. I thought there was no way I could make it to church with all three boys by 8:30 am, and this was going to be perfect timing. He would finally be home before church to help! Hah! I should have known better. Reed was sad to think about being released as Elders Quorum President because he really loved the calling, but I think he's excited to be able to serve in a different way, and also to learn more from our insightful bishop. I'll still be on my own as far as getting to church on time in the morning, so wish us luck!

2. This was the week of parties galore. On Christmas Eve we had dinner at Reed's parents' house and Becky gave the boys new pajamas! They were so excited. Their mom has always been MIA when it comes to making pj's, so it was so nice of Becky to make these for the boys. They were very excited to have a present to open early.

After dinner the place to be was Great Nana's house for the nativity program, presents, hors d'oeuvres and talents. So fun!

Ty got to be a wise man (more like wise guy---someone forgot to tell him that Santa only brings toys to the kids on the "Nice" list), and Michael got to be a shepherd (although I think he thought he was some kind of samurai warrior or something).

Nana and "Bampa" were the stars of the show. Bampa read the nativity scriptures and Nana organized 101 gifts, stockings and goodies. I don't know how she does it every year. She's the closest thing I know to the Energizer bunny. She works so hard to create wonderful traditions for the family, and I'm so glad she takes such interest in my kids.

3. Reed kept telling everyone that he didn't think we'd be up too late on Christmas Eve because we were pretty much ready before hand. Hah! Double hah! We actually did have most of the gifts wrapped early, but it still took forever to get everything out, assembled, and ready. Plus, we didn't get the kids down until about 11:00, so it made for a late night. I was snapping pictures of the tree before I went up to bed, and decided I wanted to remember how late we had been up, so I snapped a picture of the clock too. Reed walked in and was totally confused. "Why are you taking a picture of the stove?" "Because I'm so tired, I'm loopy. That's why."

4. The kids were more than a little excited for the big day. We caught Ty nearly at the base of the stairs 3 times that night around 1:30 or 2:00. Santa hadn't made his arrival yet, but his elves were working pretty hard by that point. They just about got busted.

5. Christmas morning, of course was a blast. I was so excited about the gifts we were giving to the boys. I knew there would be some surprises they weren't expecting. Michael and Ty both got Leapsters. Neither of them knew what it was when they opened the package, but they've been glued to the things ever since. I think Blake's favorite thing about the whole thing was eating suckers from his stocking for breakfast.

There were also quite a few surprises under the tree for me this year. I don't know how Reed was able to keep so many secrets from me this year. He's definitely on my nice list this year!

6. The day after Christmas we all stayed home. All day. I slept in and took a long bath. AAAHH! Can I do this every day?

7. Saturday we had Reed's family party and made the long snowy drive up to Eden. It was beautiful. . . if you like snow! The party was at a church, and all the boys had a lot of fun playing ball in the gym. I was too busy inhaling Aunt Janet's cheese ball and Becky's Carmel puff surprise (whatever it's called, it's delicious!).

Blake became an all star at finding the treat table at every gathering we attended this week.

This is my sweet little niece Natalie who moved away several months ago and doesn't remember me. I can't get her to say a word to me! I'm going to have to start bribing her with presents.

8. Sunday was the party for my Mom's side of the family. We're always in tight quarters when we go to Aunt Katherine's house, but she's an excellent host and it's always fun to see everyone---especially Grandma who doesn't venture very far from home these days.

9. Monday was our wedding anniversary. 8 years of wedded bliss! I had honestly considered bagging the celebration this year because I was too partied out. Maybe we'll have to start celebrating our anniversary at the half year mark in June instead. Anyway, I'm glad we made plans, because we had a really great day together. We dropped the kids off with Reed's parents and we got to spend an entire day together without kids! Very cool. It's been so long since we've had time to just hang out. Here are the highlights: jewelry shopping (yes, you heard me right), Macaroni Grill, Joseph Smith Memorial Building (We saw the Joseph Smith movie for the 1st time, and it was a beautiful film.), Temple Square lights, Cafe Rio, Parcheesi (he won), baseball (I won), golfing (he won) and boxing (I won---and am sore) on the Wii. Oh, what a fun, fun day. And I can't think of anyone else I'd rather spend an entire day with!

10. Okay, enough about all the partying. Let's get down to some serious business. . . we found critter tracks in our backyard this week, and the neighbors have been complaining about voles and raccoons. How on earth do you get rid of pests like that, and how do you know when it's safe to let the kids outside by themselves? What a pain.

Well, this is my last 10 for Tuesday of the year. As you can tell, I've been busy, and tired. I've been thinking about last year's New Years resolutions, and this years resolutions, and unfortunately they are mostly the same. I made some pretty solid progress early in the year, but my bad habits have been creeping back up on me. Honestly, I can't remember the last time I went to bed before midnight---and I have seriously been inhaling the holiday goodies. This really is a great time of year to set goals for me because once the holidays are over I am so desperate for change that I am highly motivated. As for right now, the week is still young and we have more exhausting adventures ahead. So, I'm going to enjoy the moment and think about goals next week. Stay tuned!