I guess I kinda dropped the ball!

Well..........it's been a loooonnnnngggggg time! The last part of 2009 was kind of hectic and hard, but here we are -------- we made it through standing strong!!! :) From September through the end of December, Jeff had to work out of town in Las Vegas! Uggghhhh! In a way, it was a good opportunity because the money in Vegas is better than here, but we sure did miss him at home! And while we were extremely grateful for the work, we would rather be home all together!

To help make things not so bad, we went to stay with him the first part of October. We stayed for 10 days and it was so nice and fun to be together for that length of time. It was nice too, because we were able to make a fun trip out of it for the kids as well as ourselves (even though Jeff still had to work). My sweet sister Krishelle made the road trip with me and the kids so I wouldn't have to drive alone! She stayed for 3 days and then flew back. It helped sooo much to have her there and we had a lot of fun laughing and having headaches from the kids together! :) It took us forever it seemed to get there because of the numerous potty breaks and food breaks we had to make for the kiddos, but seriously was sooo fun! When we got to the hotel/casino that Jeff was staying at, the kids were really excited to see him and to be there - me too!:) It was hillarious because as we unloaded the car, Jeff, Krishelle, and I all had our arms full of bags, pillows, blankets, etc..... even the kids helped and had there arms full. So what was funny was all the people in the casino, that we had to walk through, were looking at us like we were crazy because of how ridicuous we looked and I'm SURE this was running through all there minds "oh my gosh! those people have 4 kids!!!!!" Well then we get to the escelators and WOW - how embarrassing! There we were standing at the top with everything stacked in our arms, and now we have to get all this stuff down - and the 4 kids! I think Jace and Kamree started crying because they were scared and by the time we made the attempt to get on the stupid thing with the kids, I think we just about killed ourselves! We looked soooooo stupid! I would probably laugh if I was on the other side watching - it was THAT ridiculous!

Anyway, after that tramatic experience, we got settled in. It was perfect because the hotel room was already paid for! What a great opportunity to have this cheap trip!:) We got there on a Thursday night, so the next day we just relaxed and had a good time going to see Hoover Dam, and on the way there took a tour at a chocolate factory. Later, we walked the strip and ended with the water show at The Bellagio - which the kids absolutely loved! It was a nice day! And man did we get more and more looks from everyone onthe strip! Seriously? Has nobody there seen a family of 6 before??? The famous line of our trip was "You guys sure have your hands full! hehehe." Ya, that got OLD! And as always we had tons of people ask if Jace and Kamree were twins - most of the time the answer was "YES".

The next day (Saturday) we were so excited! We had planned to surprise the kids by getting up super early, load them in the car, and make the 3 hour drive to Disneyland! The kids had no idea! So, they slept most of the way there which was nice, and then as was got up to the gates, Kaylee and Jace were sooo happy! And then there was our funny Kamree! She was sitting in the back seat and had been singing for at least the last hour of our drive. She was in her own little world - staring out the window as she sang! I had to look at her, call her name for her attention and say "Kam! Look! Where are we?" She stopped singing, looked up, and in a non-impressed voice said"Disney-land!" We could not stop laughing! Once we got parked and into the park, her excitement finally kicked in! Such a funny girl!!! What a fun day!

The rest of the time there we spent relaxing, swimming, shopping and just having a great time! When it was time to go, my amazing mom flew into Las Vegas just to ride home with me - again, so that I wouldn't have to travel by myself with the 4 kiddos! Again, we had a really fun time coming home! We stopped in St. George to grab some quick dinner and it was sooo funny, cause when we got back on the road, we ended up going through all the little towns like Hurricane and Laverkin (?) We got on a road that we though would lead us to back to the freeway, but instead had the opportunity to explore these towns in the pitch dark! At one point, in Laverkin, it was sooo dark , no lights anywhere and we were surrounded by hills. Kaylee was in the back seat and all the sudded says " Mom and Grandma, I'm scared! And I think I just saw someone running by the car with a dark face and waving their hands!!!!" We had to try not to laugh! It was sooo funny! I had to laugh when my mom looked at me after and said quietly " Well we're scared too!" And we both started laughing! Finally we found the freeway, and again that roadtrip took longer than it needed to be! At one point, Jace had dumped his Sprite with ice down into his seat, and about 10 minutes after that had happened, he said "Grandma, my bumb is really cold and its burning!" We had to find a gas station, dump his seat out, take off his pants, and put blankets all around him! Toooo funny! It was such a fun trip, and I'm so glad we were able to go!

In Novemeber, I was able to go back myself and stay for about 4 days with Jeff! We had so much fun! These times are so fun to be able to regroup and just have a break! Jeff came home the week of Christmas and has been home since then -minus one short 4 day out of town trip. We are feeling like things are back to normal and are so grateful for that! This year and future years are going to better as far as the "out of town stuff" goes! He should be able to be here and stay busy! :) Things are deffinately better being able to be together as a family! I am so grateful my husband and all he does for our family! He is such a hard worker and I love him so much. I am also so grateful for my kiddos! They are the most adorable kids ever! :)