Day 366 {Last Day of the Year!!}

Bringing in 2009 on Orange Grove Blvd., once again!! (shouldn't this be Day 366??  hmmm, I must have mislabeled somewhere!)

Day 365

...and so the rose parade journey begins!

Day 364

From Angel to Demon is 0-60 seconds..(fun day tubbing in the snow up in big bear)

Day 363

Had a party for Jim's southern "San Diego" region.  6 Administrators, all their families and the Old's family!!  I've never seen so much food!! What fun it was to get to know the families and watch all the kids interact!  Craziness, but fun!  (I took the picture 1/2 way through the clean-up as it was 11:30 p.m.)

Day 362

I DID IT!!  Being the completely needle phobic, I have never gotten a flu shot!  I almost didn't do it, but I remembered just how deathly sick I was in the beginning of the year and thought I couldn't go through that again!!  So I mustered up my strength and went into Ralphs and the pharmacist was as gentle and kind as could be.  I didn't even feel it! Now I'm wondering why I was so scared in the first place.

Day 361

I'm not usually one to brave the after Christmas chaos...but this year the shelves stilled seemed pretty full so it was worth stocking up for next year!

Day 360 {Merry Christmas}

The "AFTER" picture!  

Day 359

The annual "Grandma's Christmas Eve P.J.'s" photo with all the grandkids (minus 3 who are in Korea).  {I don't know if it's ironic or not, but they all have DEMON eyes!}

Day 358

There's nothing better than opening up christmas cards from friends, new and old!! (made good use of my oversized ceiling tile this year)

Day 357

Really??  I just had to wait till the Monday before Christmas to mail packages.  What was I thinking?

Day 356

We had a last minute youth fireside at our house last night.

Day 355

Our "White Elephant" friend..(wink, wink)!! (Thanks Jen for a fun party!)

Day 354

Skyler's really excited to sing in his holiday program...(that, or he can't wait till his piano recital  tonight!)

Day 353

Last minute rush to finish making all the teachers gifts. (thanks lisa for the soap idea! I told you I'd take it apart and figure it out!)

Day 352 {Happy actual "Birth"day Joshua}

Day 351

Was anyone else as addicted to this show as I was?  Weren't the transformations absolutely AMAZING!!!  I'm just so glad vicki didn't win-I'm happy with her weight loss, but she was mean!!

Day 350 {Happy Birthday Dad!}

We made a "Giving Tree" to share with a good friends sister, who is battling cancer right now! Helping those who need a little encouragement and are struggling is what this season is all about!!  I truly hope our boys understood and felt the joy it is to serve one another.  "Because I have been given much, I too must give!"

Day 349

Driving home very late after attending a performance of "Handel's Messiah" in Huntington Beach.  Random picture, yes!

Day 348

Today was a perfect day!  No obligations!  NO soccer games, no church assignments, no birthday parties, no home projects, nothing..so we spent the day as a family and went to lunch and to go see BOLT.  It was so perfect, I didn't even bother my boys with pictures..so today's picture is of the great picture wall Jim put up for me a couple days ago.  It feels so good to have them out of the closets and up on the wall (it's only been 7 months).  Our pictures are our ART!

Day 347

We had Skyler's soccer team Christmas party here tonight!!  I loved filling up our house!  I feel many more parties to come.  We had at least 45-50 people..noisy, but festive!!  Oh what havoc 9-11 year old boys can make!! Upstairs was a disaster but they all said it was the best party ever, so it was worth it!

Day 346

Our dear friend Terah went through the temple tonight and we were there to support her!!

Day 345

If 1 tree is good, 3 must be better!  

Day 344

Went shopping today...dropped a boat load of money at this store!

Day 343 {Happy Birthday Rob}

I nearly killed myself, but I got the lights on!!  (It took all blasted day, but I wanted to surprise Jim when he got home from work!)

Day 342

I love the colors of Christmas..

Day 341

Went scrapbooking tonight at Julie's house..I love all her vintage christmas decorations.

Day 340

Our Christmas PROM picture (from Jim's work party this Friday).

Day 339

Bottoms up, Cheers! I seemed to down my fair share of AIRBORNE today!  A weekend without kids, I just won't tolerate being sick!

Day 338

Big Day..all 3 boys got haircuts at the same time.  I usually break up the madness but I just bit the bullet and it all worked out fine!

Day 337 {happy 38th Jim}

Every party has a pooper...the nightlife is just not for Jayden.

Day 336

Let the countdown begin!  {I think we need 3 because it's a fight everyday to see who gets to open the window and eat the chocolate!}

Day 335

Yes Jim, you are our SUPERHERO!

Day 334

Forget Black Friday/Saturday..we decided, last minute, to take on a project..the powder room downstairs. {Actually this is entirely Jim's project..he chose to be the foreman/designer}

Day 333

Do you remember when a giant box provided you endless hours of entertainment?

Day 332

All ready to go!  All 135 of them![Happy Thanksgiving..I forgot my camera so I have no turkey shots!]

Day 331

Not a happy little turkey..it's been a long morning (and it's only 9:30 a.m.)

Day 330 {Happy 40th Birthday Mike}

To Kristen's absolute surprise, she had a GIRL. (I still don't know how she could go 9 months w/out knowing). Sweet little Tatum Elizabeth was born last Tuesday by surprise c-section, to join her 2 little brothers to the family..Kristen, you did good, she is a love, and you look amazing by the way!!

Day 329

We're needing a little of this today!! (Jim got his MRI results back and he reherniated the disc that he had surgery on last year..he was less than pleased with the result and even more depressed with the future outlook of his back)

Day 328

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...(just the bones of the operations, the decorations will come after Thanksgiving)

Day 327

Our ward put together a girls flag football team..with only 2 practices under our belt, we battled another ward (Butterfield Stage Babes) and kicked their pink butts (21-7)!!  Winning comes at a price though-my body is sore!!!  My body just doesn't do the same things it did 20 years ago!!

Day 326

What were you doing at 12:01 A.M.??  I was with what seemed to be the population of Temecula at the midnight showing of twilight! Go HERE for another take on the night. (too bad my flash didn't work very well in the dark theatre)

Day 325

Gearing up for a very long evening!  

Day 324

Ryder's daily ritual!  He must have order.

Day 323

CALGON, take me away!!

Day 322

Someone (who will remain nameless) did not listen to his wife every time she mentioned that he might want to wear his retainer.  So, that someone had to get their bottom braces put back on.  I don't like to gloat (yes I do) but I TOLD YOU SO!!

Day 321

How excited was I when I was going through my XM and found that HOLLY (the Christmas song channel) was already on the air.  What a great day!  It's never too early for Christmas music. FYI:  the $5 Christmas c.d. from Khol's is actually pretty good..I bought it yesterday. I'm a sucker for a good deal.

Day 320

Congratulations to the bride and groom!!

Day 319

This was a great weekend.  Our close friends, Dan and Mari, went through the temple Friday night and then were sealed Saturday morning.  Seeing as it was a weekend event, Jim and I got a hotel room right next door to the temple (to make life easier). The mini bar proved to be a great temptation.  I had, staring at me through this little window all night the enticements of chocolate.. I don't think I'd ever seen a mini bar with a window.  Hyatt, I commend you for your efforts, but I resisted the $5.00 bag of M&M's (which weren't even king-sized!)