Cheeto's Birthday Weekend

The boys sure thought that Cheeto wasn't very excited for his birthday. The just couldn't get that Cheeto didn't need to have a decorated cake with Spiderman, Carolina Panthers, something on his cake. Cheeto simply requested a German Chocolate cake. Easy enough for me. However, some of us don't like the coconut pecan frosting, so we left a couple of slices at the end for those of us that don't like it. Looks yummy doesn't it! (sarcastic!)

Kelson with the gift bag on his head!

Patiently waiting for Daddy to open his presents.

Ready, get set, OPEN! Cheeto gets a little over dramatic for the kids when he opens presents.

Thanks buddy for the shirt!

Kelson found this at Walmart. He was so excited he found a gift for daddy's birthday. It also says Carolina Panthers down one of the sleeves. That was Kelson's favorite part.

Work & Play
This weekend was nice. Friday night started out kinda rough. The boys had a primary activity which set Cade off because there was a movie night at his school that he was more interested in. Of course, he went to the primary activity. Saturday was COLD! Well, we thought that was cold. It was Cheeto's 33rd birthday. I told him his birthday present from me was my taking him to the gym. He didn't think that was a good present. As we were getting ready, Kelson comes to ask me who's all going to the gym. He and Analise go with me almost everyday of the week. I told him that Daddy and Cade were going with us. He said, "Daddy, that's crazy! Daddy doesn't like the gym!" I just started laughing. Of course Cheeto didn't find him very humorous. After we got home from the gym we got cleaned up only to go help Mom, more like Kris move Mom's new bedroom suite. After which, Cheeto took the boys to a birthday party and I stayed home to get a few things done and give Analise a nap. At 4:00pm I went to pick our babysitter, Hannah, so Cheeto and I could go out for his birthday. Oh, did I mention that it started snowing at about 1pm and didn't stop until around 8:00pm. It was great but it was really wet so it didn't stick too well. Cheeto and I went to the Olive Garden, his favorite place to eat. Kyle and Becky had given us a gift certificate for Christmas. Is it cheating taking him out to eat on his birthday with our gift certificate? It was still snowing at the time but we decided we better run to Costco to get milk, bread and cheese for the week. It was a good thing we went when we did because as we walked in there was a big sign saying closing Today at 6pm because of weather conditions. It was 5:35pm by now. We were going to go bummin' around some other stores before going there. After Costco we headed to Target to get Analise more treats for rewards for going to the bathroom. She is doing well BTW. Still having problems getting the "yuckies" down, but we are still trying. We went to Mom and Dad's to take over some ingredients for Sunday dinner. We went to their room to check out their new bedroom set and find out they had bought a flat screen television. The other TV was huge and wouldn't fit on their new dresser. Isn't it funny how spending on one thing cause a domino effect on more spending? Cheeto hates when I paint because he gets nervous thinking I'm going to start redoing curtains, pillows, rugs, etc just to match the paint. Well, I always want to do that. But I have been very good lately! REALLY GOOD! We got home from our date and watch the Bourne Ultimatum. GOOD MOVIE! We really enjoyed the Bourne Trilogies. Sunday morning we find out that pretty much no other ward in the stake was having meetings except for the Summit ward. Our Ward! We thought it was dumb they even considered canceling. Of course we would have enjoyed the day off, who wouldn't? But we didn't even see a puddle on the road- not a single drop of water. It was cold, only about 25 degrees- but road conditions were better than they had been for days. They were dry. By the time we got home the only evidence we had snow was in the shadows. The boys were pretty bummed they didn't really get to play in it. We had Cheeto's birthday dinner and cake after church. The kids were wild and crazy which frustrated us so we came home and watch Ratatouille. The kids had seen it so many times that they lost interested quick so we turned it off and watched NFL Playoffs. Neither one of the teams we wanted in it won! We can't stand the Patriots, so I guess we can still "hope" that New York will steal beat them in the Superbowl. I have doubts- but still hoping. OH... there was another thing Kelson did that made us all laugh. As we said prayers Saturday night (still Cheeto's birthday), Kelson was asked to say the prayer. In his prayer he said he was thankful that Daddy turned "his" number and was grateful Daddy had a birthday. Cheeto turned 33 and that his Kelson's favorite number. We think it's because We have some pictures of Merrill Hoge, player for the Steelers, aroudn the house and of course, at Cheeto's office. The other thing was was that night when I went to check on kids before I went to sleep I found Kelson lying on top of his covers in nothing but his underwear and undershirt. I asked Cheeto if he had gone to bed in PJ's. Cheeto said that he had. I couldn't find his PJ's anywhere around him. They were in his drawer. The next morning when Kelson came to wake me up I asked if he had his PJ's on. He said yes. I asked why he slept in his underwear. He said, "Because Mommy, I want to be like Daddy!" Where did he come from? He can say the funniest things!

Craziness

Work & Play
This week has been crazy! But who's isn't? I officially started potty training Analise. I'm too cheap to buy diapers anymore. She's going o have to adjust to her mother's insanity! She's actually doing well. She doesn't tell you she needs to go yet, I just have to remember to take her and she usually goes each time. It's when I forget and go hours in between that we have the accidents. She's only had to "yucky" accidents. Considering we have been going for almost 5 days now, I think that's pretty good. Kelson and Cade are enjoying the benefits of her going to the bathroom as well. I give her Starburst's when she stays dry and goes in the toilet. The boys cheer when she does because she shares her reward with them. Wednesday I experienced my first "Spinning" class at Gold's Gym. My sister, Erin, told me they were of the devil. I don't think those were her exact words, but that's pretty close. I was anticipating my legs and butt to be sore the next day, NOPE... it was more bruised bone from sitting on the seat. They said that it really takes 4 or 5 classes to get use to sitting on the bikes. MAN... are they serious. I said I would try a couple of more times. But that sitting was brutal. All of this for vanity! We got snow yesterday. Well, a dusting of snow. The boys were disappointed because it rained/sleeted the rest of the day. Cade enjoyed the day out of school. They are on a 2 hour delay this morning. My Enrichment Knitting class was postponed last night because of the weather conditions. I was really thankful for that, I wasn't feeling the best and needed some rest. Cheeto has been studying/working like a mad man this week. Tomorrow is his birthday and I am commanding him not to do either. Commanding- not really. More of forceful asking! We have a dinner date set up so that is something to look forward to.

Arellano Update
Lettie emailed me and said they are closing on the 28th of January! She said they are moving then but Kris thinks they are going to wait until Saturday the 2nd of February. Sorry- Kris, I don't believe you for a second. I believe you will have enough moved to at least sleep and shower at your house before 5pm on the 28th.
Christensen Update
Mom and Dad are getting ready to fly back to Florida for their trip with Alyssa and Jeff. They are also in the middle of re-decorating their kitchen. Mom is healing well. If she just takes it slow and rests lots!

Out of the mouth of a child!?!?

This happened Saturday, but something reminded me of it and I just remember to tell Cheeto last night. I thought it was funny enough to write down. I woke up Saturday thinking that this was the first Saturday in months that we didn't have several obligations, well, I didn't have any except a date with the gym. Cheeto always had EQ stuff on Saturdays, his last Saturday was no different. He had an appointment with missionaries in the morning and one with new EQ President, Jeremy Swindlehurst around 1:30pm. Lettie called just as I was walking out to the gym asking if I would go wtih her and Mom to look at furniture. I was feeling crapping (same old, same old) but still really wanted to go. Cheeto said go ahead. I took Analise and he took the boys to the office to finish up so mailings. I was suppose to have been back by 1:30pm so Cheeto could go to Jeremy's. Well, by noon I knew I wasn't going to make it on time. This didn't make Cheeto the happiest camper. I told him the boys would be fine if he would just let them take the Leapsters and headphones. As soon as I got home just after 2pm, Analise and I went over to switch cars and pick up the boys. We weren't in the car a minute when Kelson asks to play the playstation. They had gotten in trouble with it earlier and the week and had been banned from it. I asked Kelson if he had asked daddy and if it was Daddy that promised to let them play it. Kelson's reply, "Mom, you are the boss of the kids. Daddy is the boss of you. So what do you think about the playstation idea?" WHAT!!!! Daddy is the boss of me. :) Funny kid! It still makes me laugh. You have to know the way Kelson talks to understand how funny this is. He talks in the sweetest way that makes almost everything cute!

"Free At Last, Free At Last..."

Work & Play
Again...I'm supposed to be studying...but I had to take a break and share MY latest news.

With apologies to Dr. King (Happy Birthday, by the way), I couldn't help but think of his famous words when I first got the news a couple of weeks back that I was going to be released as EQ president. It didn't take long for me to start feeling guilty, first for having the insensitivity (what? Cheeto insensitive? come on...) to compare a calling in the church with the plight of African-Americans, and second, for being excited to be released in the first place.

Then I realized that the emotions were perfectly natural. Alot like coming home from a mission. I've heard of people who said "I didn't want to leave." They lie, but they are also telling the truth. It's one of those strange paradoxeseseses (whatever). As exciting as it is to be "free" from the mission rules (or in my most recent case, free from the responsibilities of my calling) you really don't want to have to leave. I thought I was ready to be released, but then when the Stake President said the words in priesthood meeting on Sunday, I got a huge lump in my throat and wanted to say "please don't release me."

It also reminded me of the feelings of shortcoming that I had leaving the field. To be honest, I feel that way about anything I do, but the feelings seem especially poignant when it comes to people's salvation. After the mission I remember thinking "If I had just worked a little harder, sacrificed a little more I could have made a bigger difference." I had the same feelings Sunday, but the big difference this time was that it wasn't just ME who had to sacrifice...it was my family too. It's one thing for me to expect a little more sacrifice from myself, and another to expect more from my family. It's just not fair to expect it from them.

I also couldn't believe how quickly the time went. When I spoke with the Stake President when he warned me that they would be making the change, I told him that I was disappointed that I had only served for 2 1/2 years. For some reason I had in my mind that it was a calling that a capable president would hold for 6 or 7 years. I don't know if he was just trying to make me feel better or not, but he kind of chuckled and said "my experience in this Stake tells me that you served about the average amount of time. It is a taxing calling and it is hard to expect young families to deal with it for much longer than that." I will take his statement at face value. It makes me feel a little bit better, anyway.

Anyway, sorry for the semi-serious tangent, which isn't a normal theme for this blog. But I felt like I needed to write this down somewhere. This is my "journal" after all.

Arellano Update
Since I got a little news today, I'll share it.

Lettie & Kris are getting REALLY close to moving into their new house. They bought a fridge this weekend and have their interest rate locked in. Just a few more weeks and they will have the keys. Everyone around here is excited for them. I'm curious to see how long it is before Cade and Kelson start bugging to spend the night. I give them 1 day. As a matter of fact, the day we are moving them in, they will probably start asking.

I called Marcos at about 5:30, and he was still at the office!!! That probably doesn't mean much to anybody else, but it does to me. The guy makes an incredible amount of money (think Terrell Owens or Tiger Woods...and thus far has done about 40 hours of work (total) in the 5 months he's been working. I was excited for his first "late night." I'm sure there are plenty more on the way.

Christensen Update
I talked to Sky the other day for a minute. He told me that the Patriots were the biggest bunch of cheaters in the world and he hopes they lose their next game by 824 points. (Ok, he didn't say that, but I did talk to him. Love that guy)

FOOD:

I know you'd be disappointed if I didn't share, so here you go:

Breakfast: About 10 maple frosted mini-wheats (what was left in the box), a small bowl of frosted flakes and two pieces of toast with nasty ol' "spray on butter" (fat free, no less!) that Shena uses on her popcorn sometimes. Our usual Brummel and Brown spread was all gone. Just not the same with that aerosol butter.

Lunch: A cheeseburger on pita bread. Ever tried that? My first time. It was interesting. Came with the regular cucumber sauce that you get on a gyro. I think next time I'll just go with the regular ol' gyro instead. I like the lamb meat better than the beef patties. French fries, Mt. Dew.

Dinner: Shena sat down with the kids on Sunday night and made a menu for the week. Let all the kids pick out what they wanted for dinner. Tonight was Analise's turn. I missed exactly HOW she requested this meal, but somehow Shena blamed it on her. We had eggs, cheese and bacon bagels (HUGE bagels, by the way) and milk. My family loves breakfast for dinner. I don't because it just doesn't fill me up. 11 pm - 2 am, breakfast food is great and one of my favorites, but for dinner it just isn't enough. I'll have a big piece of cake and a large glass of milk when I get home.

ANALISE turns 2!

Wow! Where does the time go? The past two years have really flown by. This time last year, I remember thinking the past 2 weeks have taken forever (When I was sick and in the hospital). In fact, I almost missed Analise's birthday last year due to pancreatitis. This year was much differently, thankfully! My parents were in town until Wednesday, January 9th, so we actually celebrated her birthday on Monday so they could be here to celebrate with us. It's not very often Mom and Dad are here to do so. Cade and Kelson have often had birthday parties in Idaho because we have been out there, but rarely are my parents in Greensboro for their birthdays! I wasn't going to go all out with balloons, party hats and such. All day, Kelson kept telling me, "MOM!! It's not a party without balloons and party hats!" Where did we get him? :) I was struggling with what kind of cake to make her. It's much easier when they can tell you EXACTLY what they want, ie like the boys do! Analise has a fedish for flip flops. And the way she tries to say flip flops is adorable. So, guess what kind of cake she got? Yep, good guess! FLIP FLOPS! Pink ones. I did the best I could with what I had on hand. I thought it turned out ok. Analise loved taking everyone to the fridge as they arrived for her party to show them her Flip Flop Cake. She was so excited. I was glad she liked them so much. It was a great party. Better than last year, I would have to say! I have started a tradition where I make a slideshow video of the kids from the last year. Cheeto's work has a projector so we blow the video up huge on a wall. It makes it fun for everyone to look back on how much they have grown up in a year. I don't get the time anymore to make cutsie scrapbooks, so this will have to do. Friday, the 11th was actually her birthday. We decided to leave the air mattress blown up from my parents visit and have a slumber party. Cheeto and I opted to just go to our own bed but the boys thought it was great. We watch Ice Age 2 The Melt Down and had Analise's favorite, Pop Pop (popcorn). Grandma and Papa A came over. Cheeto had a basketball game that night so he left right after the movie and the rest of us went to bed.

Kelson hitting the work force

Kelson has been bugging Cheeto to take him to work with him for days now. About 2 days ago, it was around 4:00pm, Kelson comes out in the living room dressed up like he's going to church. I asked him what he was doing. His reply, "I'm going to work like Daddy." So of course, yesterday morning, he wakes up and asks Cheeto to actually go to work with him. Cheeto agreed to take him hoping it would be so boring for him he would immediately would want to come home. As Analise and I were waving good-bye from the top of the porch, Analise lost her balance and fell down the steps head first. She hit one step with her chin and shoulder ending up on her back in the bushes. Scared both of us! She's ok other than a scrape on her chin and shoulder. She moved on pretty quickly. I went to the gym while Kelson went to 'work' and just picked him up on my way home. He was grinning ear to ear. Said he could stay all day. Crazy kid.

Disney World was fun. Not much in the way of awesome roller coasters. The day started out at 30 degrees without the wind chill. Cheeto, Kyle, Becky, and Sky didn't really care so they left early and still went to the park. The rest of us wanted to go to the stores to find some warm clothes. A couple of days earlier my sister, Erin, found SEVEN jeans for $25. I couldn't believe it. I wanted to go back and get me a pair. I'm vain, I know. Sky didn't know the tickets we bought were two day park passes and had thrown his away at Epcot. So we were a ticket short. Mom was more than willing to give hers up. She was tired and needed to rest. So mom and dad took Erin, Ryan, Andrea and me to the drop off. It was noon when we got there. We found a place to eat and started picking lines to get in. We did the Monsters Laugh Floor with Mike Wazowski. They interact with the audience somehow. They flipped the lights on Cheeto and of course he starts being Cheeto, ie. dancing and pulling faces. A couple of more attractions later it was time to meet Mom and Dad at The Rain Forest Cafe. That was a cool place to eat. It was cool. It had a crazy atmosphere. (See pictures) Ryan and Andrea didn't want to go back to the park but the rest of us kids did. So Mom and Dad took Andrea with them and the rest of us hopped a bus back to Magic Kingdom. We did some more rides and then headed back to the castle watch the fireworks. After trying to take pictures at night for 30 minutes and it being 10 minutes after 9pm they announce, "Ladies and Gentleman, due to technical difficulties the "Wishes Nighttime Spectacular" has been.... Delayed." Phew, we were relieved when the said delayed and not canceled. After 2 more announcements like this we decided to get the in the Haunted Mansion. They said even if the fireworks started right now we would still make the end of them because the ride was only 10 minutes. Well, we come out of the ride and see puffs of smoke in the sky. OH... were we upset. I think they seriously cut the show in half because of the "technical difficulties." We missed it! Oh well, We then went to Pirates of the Caribbean. After the that, Sky said he had to Splash Mountain one more time. Kyle and Becky were the only ones crazy enough to follow him. FYI... it was still less than 40 degrees outside. Cheeto, Erin, and I just started watching the evening light parade. The kids would have really enjoyed that! Cheeto had to do Space Mountain even if it were still a 70 minute wait. Becky waited with him and the rest of us went back to finish our souvenir shopping. It was past midnight before we even left the park. WOW... what a day! We had a great time! What an awesome trip. Cheeto and I packed up the next day with Mom and Dad and headed back to Greensboro. We got back around 7:30pm. The kids, with some help ;), made us a Welcome Home sign and had balloons blowing from the porch. What a sweet surprise. We are home now and it's taking some adjustments getting back to being parents again. The kids really missed us and are a bit clingy and talkative. It was fun and we are really glad we were given the chance to experience such a great vacation with my siblings!

Epcot 2008

Wow! We were warned that it would be cold, but we had no idea it was going to be THAT cold. It is Florida. Yes, it was freezing! Sunny, but freezing. The temp never got about 40 but the wind chill made it about 30-35 degrees. None of us brought clothing for freezing temperatures. We tried not to let that spoil our day. We did well planning Epcot for that day because at least we were walking in and out of shops and shows instead of being at Universal and having no where to get indoors. We got there and did the Epcot rides and shows like, Test Drive, Honey, I Shrunk the Audience, The Land, ISTC Experience. Epcot International was awesome. It would have been better if it were about 20 degrees warmer. It was a pleasure to go in and out of all the shows just to get warm. The epcot ride was fun. Mom, Dad, Cheeto and I were gyped. The show that creates your future turned off on our cart. Bummer for us! We ate dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. YUM! We were all so tired from shivering all day that we came home and went to bed!

Universal Studios Florida

WOW! Having fun is exhausting! The family is a bit divided when it comes to amusement parks. Half of us are die hard thrill ride seekers and the other half is just content to walk around. We spent 2 days and both nights there. The first day there were so many people when we first got there at 10am. So on Monday we decided to get there by 8am. We rode more rides that morning than we did all day on Saturday. Sky, Kyle, Becky, Cheeto and I were the thrill ride seekers. Our favorite was The Hulk, Jurassic Park and Revenge of the Mummy. We even got Ryan on it once. Cheeto and I found Spiderman and had to get a picture taken with him for our boys. We brought in the new year there as well. Yes, I, Shena, stayed up until midnight. It was actually 2am to be exact. We all went to the movies about 8pmish and then hung around and waited for midnight. The thrill seekers sought out more rides and the rest hung out in the City Walk. They had some great bands, Foreigners, and B52. They warned us that the traffic would be impossible unless we hung out longer and left after 1am. Mom was tired so Dad took her to the car to people watch. All the kids went to Twister and Revenge of the Mummy again. I couldn't believe I was still walking around the park at 1:30am. We had a great time! I love amusement parks! It's so much fun going with adult siblings. We still have had our childish moments, but we got through them and had a blast!

Sunday, December 30th, we decided to try to keep the sabbath day holy and not too much partying and such. The night before Sky, Erin's husband, got real sick, later we found out it was strep throat, so Erin and Sky didn't go with us to church. As we drove in the church parking lot we thought there were a lot of cars. When we walked into the building we soon found out it was a stake meeting to reassign ward boundaries. It was funny because one of the guys we saw at Universal Studios Horror Make-Up show was sitting about 5 rows in front of us. Never would have taken him to be a member. Craziness! We came back to the rooms and ate lunch and decided to take a drive out to the beach. It was awesome. It's a great site to see the ocean. Mom had a good time finding seashells for one of her many collections. Kyle and Becky pointed out a jelly fish, the kind that bit Tanner when they were here last January. Becky scared us all and smashed it with her shoe. Cheeto was very romantic and wrote Cheeto loves Shena in the sand. Becky was a bit jealous that Kyle didn't do the same. So she wrote Kyle loves pina coladas. We had some fun. Just wished Sky had felt better to come play with us!

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2007!

Idaho Christmas Party

Christmas Sunday

Whassup!

Analise and her Christmas dress. I was so pleased with the way it turned out. I had never tried to mix patterns before. She would twirl in it when I tried it on her. Funny girl!

Kelson said she looked like a princess. No we didn't adopt! Cade's friend, Jathan, stayed the night with us and just joined in the family picture. I thought it was cute that he wanted in on the family picture. Analise isn't really picking her nose. However, we are in that stage and we catch her doing it constantly! YUCK!

Kiss my 'S'

Funny story! I was laughing so hard. We, the kids and I, were on our way home from Costco this afternoon. I was just driving just tuning out the noise coming from the backseat. Then I hear, "Kiss my a**." This of course got my attention. I started to listen more. I looked in the rear view mirror and saw Kelson signing the letter 'S' in front of Analise. He was wanting her to kiss his hand signing the letter 'S'. Then Cade joined in with, "Kiss my 'L'." I just started laughing. Obviously Kelson has heard the real thing somewhere else and evidently doesn't know that it means.

Navigon Christmas Party

We went to Cheeto's office party today. Cade passed up watching the Polar Express in his pj's and drinking hot chocolate at school to go to this party. In the past the boys haven't been real keen on the idea of sitting on Santa's lap. This year, Cade wrote a letter and had it all prepared to give Santa. Kelson of course had to be like big brother. Cade wrote the letter at school. He brought it home and showed it to me but said nothing about bringing to the office party to give to Santa. It was such a crazy morning. I'm blessed with great in-laws that saved me some time. Mom and Dad went to check Cade out of school while I finished baking and getting the other 2 kids ready. When I met Cade at the office the first thing he said to me was, "Did you bring Santa's letter?" Long sigh..... NO! Cheeto, being the great father he is, went back home to find it. Cade's letter said that we didn't have a wreath on our door, but we did have sign saying Merry Christmas. I don't know why he thinkis we HAVE to have a wreath on the front door. He also said he wanted a Spiderman SORRY game that was at Target. When Santa started to read it he first said Superman. After all the kids had talked with Santa. Cade ran back to Cheeto's office to get the Spiderman PJ's he had changed out of for the party. He then showed Santa who Spiderman was, just to make sure he didn't bring the Superman one. I don't think there is a Superman SORRY game. It was kind of funny! What kids do sometimes?!?!?! Analise wasn't standing by us when Santa first walked in. She broke out screaming in tears when he said HOHOHO! She was so scared of him. As long as I held her, by the end she would give him high five. But she had a death grip with her legs on my waist. She was funny! Kelson was the first kid to visit him. He wanted to make sure he got his letter first. He just wrote the word Batman. Nothing else. I'm not sure what that means. The kids are getting so excited for Christmas.

One of Cheeto's clients sent this to him for Christmas. The kids couldn't believe how big it was. I must agree with them!

This is Analise's latest knitted hat.
I had to take a picture for my knitting sister, Erin.
I made it big this year so she might get 2 seasons out of it.

9 year Anniversary - Charlotte Bobcats vs. Utah Jazz

We got a really good deal on Bobcats tickets. 4 tickets for $25. We couldn't pass that one up. The game was on our anniversary so it worked out perfect for a date. We took the boys with us. They were so well behaved! Cade & Kelson were going for the Bobcats and Cheeto and I were going for the Jazz, of course. There was a lil' trash talking going on between the 'boys'. Kelson was funny when he found a row with a "K" on it. All he wanted to do is sit in that seat because in his mind K is for Kelson. We had a blast. It's nice the boys are old enough so we can take them to such events. We don't do things like this often so it was a treat for the kids as well as for me and Cheeto! Bobcats won by the way! The boys took advantage and were rubbing it in. Cade offered us a last chance to change our minds who we were going to cheer for. Funny Kid!

Mmmmm. Good Cake!

Who needs a spoon!?!?! Analise was all about this cake. I can't believe I let her just have at it. That is so not like me!

Ward Christmas Party

There is a child of ours that loves to participate in such things! There was no way Cade was going to do the Nativity Play at the Ward Christmas party, but Kelson was so excited. He made me laugh. Anytime anyone would ask him if he was excited to be a 'sheep' he would get so upset and inform very sternly that he was NOT A SHEEP, he was lamb, like the Lamb of God! He listens very well in primary! What was so funny about the whole thing is that so many came up and told me how gracefully he crawls. I laughed right out loud. Kelson pretends he's our pet dog most of the time. Once you pet his head he'll turn around and go to someone else. It's quite funny. He made a perfect 'lamb'.

This is just 4 adults trying to entertain some kids after dinner. We pulled out the camera and of course they all say cheese! Except for Cade, I had to force him to smile! Literally!

Mommy's Chocolate Pretzels

I had bought some chocolate dipped preztels the other day. I had opened the bag to eat a "couple" while my kids were napping. My 2 year old girl woke up and wanted to watch "Signing times". I went back to mound of Christmas sewing projects. About 15 minutes later, she walks into my sewing room with a chocolate go-T. I said, "Analise, what have you been eating?" She shrugs her shoulders and says, "Good." I asked, "Did you find mommy's preztels?" "UGH?" "Will you show me?" She then takes me to the garbage and shows me the EMPTY bag of pretzels. SHE ATE THE REST OF THE BAG!!! I was so sad. Then I realize what a bad mommy I was to be sad that she ate MY preztels and not worried how bad her tummy ache was going to be later!

HOLY MACKERL!

Kelson and the Talking Elk!

Caswell Christmas Lights

Can you believe that this is a man's yard? His house is like a double wide trailer home. I don't mean that ugly, he has a nice yard that has a paved path that you walk around and a bunch of little cabins to display all of his Christmas collections, anything from Mickey Mouse, dolls, Santa's and the boys favorites, TRAINS!!!!

I STUCK!!!

Flu Shots

Holiday Market Set Up

Thanks to Marilyn Arny, I had a pretty nice set up at the Holiday Market. The appointments came flooding in afterward. It was well worth my time!

Halloween Pics

We made it through Thanksgiving!

I realize I'm late in reporting our Thanksgiving happenings. We had an enjoyable holiday. Cade still thinks we should have gone to the beach this year for Thanksgiving. (FYI... in case some of you are wondering why he wanted this. It's because we rented a cabin in the Asheville, NC mountains last year. Both sets of grandparents spent the week there with us. We also went to the Polar Express last year. So to Cade, dinner at home just didn't top last year's Thanksgiving. Oh well, he has to learn that we don't get it all all of the time!) We did have a great day though. This year, Nola really split up the cooking list, which was nice. I enjoyed adding some of my family’s Thanksgiving tradition dishes. My family always makes 7-up salad. It's a jello salad. I thought most Mormons would have at least heard about this salad. Nope, my family must had made it up. Most that tried it said it was good. Matt and Tia Jolley decide to come down and spend the holiday with us. I was glad that Nola's house was kinda of crowded, because that meant that Matt and Tia stayed with us. It was fun for Trae to play with the boys, and of course, Analise loved to watch and play with their new baby, Kira. We don't ever have company. It got me to really clean out our office. We bought a pretty good sized air mattress to go camping last spring- so we set it up in the office for the them. I hope it wasn't terrible for them. But it did work well, in the sense, that they had their own space. One of these days, we'll have a room for guests. We just haven't a had a huge need for it yet. That afternoon we kept up the Christensen Tradition Craft. Wednesday, Cade comes up to me and asks, "Mom, so what are we doing for our craft this year?" I thought, craft... OH CRAP!!!! I had forgotten. I'm so glad he remembered! (that's why we have kids!) Cheeto came home early from work and we made a mad dash to Micheal's to get the necessary supplies! We made ornaments. They turned out really cute, btw. I bought clear glass craft ornaments, fun christmas paper, and some ribbon. We cut the paper into short strips and rolled them up to fit in the top of the ornaments. We, I, then wrote everyone's name on the front of the ornaments. They really were cute. It was nice because there was no gluing or painting involved. The mess was very minimal. That night, Tia highlighted my and Lettie's hair. Lettie wasn’t sure about it. But it turned our really cute. I had decided I was going to wait to Christmas shop until I looked through the Black Friday adds. Cheeto got me interested in a WiFi printer, since I have a laptop now, printing has been a problem. I found the one we were looking at at Circuit City. I was so excited. It was only $20 off in the add. I thought, $20 is still $20. They opened at 9pm the night of Thanksgiving. Lettie wanted to look at a laptop they had. So Cheeto, Lettie, and I went to Circuit City. The line was ridiculous. I had no idea Thanksgiving shopping lines were so crazy. We decided to try it. Lettie, didn't get her laptop, but we found the printer. I was about 5th in checkout line and it still took forever. I thought, "this is for $20 bucks!" Well, I get up to the checkout and he hands me a $50 rebate receipt. I was stoked! I got the printer for $60. It was normally $130. That made the wait worth while. We got home about 10:30ish. Tia was debating whether to get up early and shop the next morning. We really didn't see anything in the adds to get us to a store bright and early. We did decide to try Target. They had a deal on $4 DVD's. We got there and was home in less than 30 minutes. We then got ready to go the Craftsman Classic out at the colisium. Lettie got strep throat and felt pretty crummy the rest of the weekend. Marcos brought home his Wii and bought a new game called "Guitar Hero." I got home from the colisium and the rest of my family was engulfed in this game. Of course, I got sucked into it! I had to break for a couple of impression appointments that afternoon and an MRI. Who schedules MRI's on Saturday evenings? That's another story. I came home from the MRI, ate dinner with Cheeto and went right back to rockin' the guitar. We are so lame! It is fun though! We decorated our Christmas tree Sunday evening. I had to think of DeDe when I was unpacking it all. Last year, DeDe came by and insisted on helping me get it all packed and put away. I had gallbladder surgery problems for about a month, and she was an awesome friend and helped me get Christmas packed up! I had to smile as I was unpacking it.
I went to my MRI follow-up Monday. The results were good news in the sense that no surgery is required, yet. I have Burcitis. It's just a collection of fluid in the Burca sack. Dr. Supple injected another cortizone shot, against my will. I really don't enjoy them. Cheeto was giving me the look, "we're not leaving until you get the shot!" I was in a lot of pain last night, but feeling much better today. I'm getting much better rotation tonight. My biggest problem is sleeping. I fall asleep and get my arm over my head and then it wakes me up because it's throbbing and doesn't want to go back down. They gave me a sling to sleep in that basically ties my arm to my body. It seemed to work some. I'll probably wake up fighting my arm one of these nights.
Today, was fine. I had another impression appointment. I like that I'm finally getting some work. I think I'm starting to get more optimistic about the whole thing. I don't think I could keep up with this load all of the time, but if it's seasonal I can deal with it. Cheeto is studying like a mad-man to get ready for his test on the 21st. Cade is still enjoying school, Kelson wishes he was in school, and Analise just rules the roost. They all have us laughing and crying constantly! :)

Shhh....I'm Studying

Work & Play
As my final words to the world..."I love you all." As soon as Shena reads this post she is going to kill me. I'm at the office and I'm supposed to be studying for a "CLU" test. And it upsets her when I spend more time here than I should (that's about every day). But my eyes were getting droopy and I needed to do something else for a bit. I made a quick check of our blog and realized that it's almost been a month. I don't want to upset our fan (Lenny: Hey, wasn't that our fan?). You know who you are.

I won't get into details. Here's the long and short, in run-on sentence, poor punctuation and total disregard for uppercase style...ignore all punctuation from this point on...wait this point...ahh...how can I get you to look past the part where I type "this point" to the end of the last three dots...yeah, do that...from this point on...surgery? no luck, doc didn't find squanto - shena recovered, but still having pain when it rains mainly on the plains in spain - a handful of memories is rolling along purdy good, had a holiday market booth a couple weeks, cheeto says it was a smashing success, shena pessimistic, but has no time to blog - introduced ornament hands to the repertoire just for holiday market and sold a bunch of those, very popular - will have done about 100 hands as direct result of holiday market before christmas is here - cheeto working like his family depends on it, right, they do - working hard to build a client base (since you are reading this, who do you know that was recently married? recently divorced? recently had/adopted a child? recently won the lottery? recently won a large cash settlement from the doctor who performed the lobotomy? was recently maimed by an exploding duck?...here's my card, I'd like to talk to them) - boys both played soccer this fall, it was a weekly competition to see who would score more goals between the two of them - analise is learning how to get away with as much as possible by flashing (her smile) - spent time traveling...one weekend in atlanta, another in buena vista, va (home of southern virginia university, the fighting mormons (i think) & headquarters of east coast operations for pinnacle security - if you need a good summer job, let me know, I know a guy) - looking forward to vacation...one week in orlando, fl with the christensen side of the family, sans posterity, (can you say "hello pleasure island"?)...i'm going to show them what i've learned from 'dancing with the stars' - shena and i are still addicted to some of our shows...house, heroes, lost, the office, dancing with the stars, biggest loser, cops, the first 48, i'll let you figure out who watches what show - happy to see my steelers winning games, if you ignore last week vs. the ny jets, and having my heart broken as i watch my panthers get worse as the year goes on (hey vinny, shady acres called, they want their walker back) - enjoying all the new blogs from friends that have recently sprung up... ed & dede plummer, matt & tia jolley, nathan lindsay, aaron & lauren johnston, jimmy & becky adams - what else? now you remember why you liked it better when shena posted...she doesn't ramble and is much less self-centered.

Llano Update (Cheeto's Brood)
I think I've done a good enough job up there for now.

I know most of you hate that I do this, but I'm going to keep doing it...because I like to read it myself. This is MY journal, after all. I glanced back at a posting or two from a while back and saw what I ate. Very interesting. When I think about it, I will be posting my meals. Not to gross you out, but because I like to see the kind of crap I eat. Someday I'll be able to look back and say, "you know what? I think my colon was JUST FINE, until [insert date here]. That was the day I ate [completely disgusting, carb filled, trans filled, whateverelseisbadforyou filled] for dinner. That was what did it. "

So...

Breakfast - more like brunch today...10:00 or so - mini almond joy bar, mini baby ruth (all courtesy of Coit Slack, my little buddy. He went through his Halloween candy and essentially said "one for me, one for mommy's friends at the office (mfato), one for me, one for mfato").

Lunch - corn tortillas with melted shredded cheese (about six of them)...good for the heart I hear, A&W root beer

Dinner - straight mexican, baby....pintos with cheese, on flour tortillas, chicken guiso (meat cooked with vegetables for you whiteys out there), caffeine free coke.

Treats tonight - hmmm...haven't gotten there yet. But I think I hear some hostess cupcakes calling my name, along with the obligatory glass of milk.