Too many kids in the bed...

Too many kids in the bed,

I scratched a behind that wasn't even mine,

Too many kids in the bed!

Credits for these lyrics: Brooke Woolums Speer

My Old College Roommate

Hopefully, Brooke you will get a big kick out of this. Jeron has had a hard time adjusting to bedtime since we got home. He just sobs at bedtime and wants to stay up late. The last few evenings he has crawled into Ashlin's bed with the other two. Ashlin has not loved this. She suggested we buy some kids for Jeron to snuggle with at night. While this might help Jeron transition, we are pretty sure it's illegal.

Let is Snow!

Ashlin ran up to me, pointed out the window, and said, "Mommy look it's snowing!"  My heart was so happy.  I said to myself please keep this up where there is no school tomorrow.  Boy am I in tRoUbLe......I have not even been to class yet and I am already wishing for a cancelled class!  No luck by the way only a few flurries!

We're Home!

We made it home yesterday safe and sound!  Of course, not without a little frustration.

We left Logan early due to the weather.  We were leaving just as we had arrived....with lots and lots of snow.  We did manage to have a yummy lunch at Red Robin. 

Our original flight was schedule to leave at 4:30 pm  to Denver, have  a short layover, and arrive in Little Rock at 10 pm.  We got our luggage checked in all 4 bags and our car seats.  We thought we were incredibly lucky 1 bag was over by a couple of pounds and they said it was alright.  We had Shawn's mom there just in case, our bags were overweight.  We went through security no problem.  Shawn went to check on our flight it wasn't listed.  Uh Oh!  So, he went to the gate.....yep it's delayed by an hour.....our layover was only an hour.  We weren't sure we could brave another sprint through the Denver airport especially when it was quite likely we would not even make it.  United's solution was to stay the night in Denver on our dime of course, leave at 6 am Wednesday morning for Chicago and then fly to Little Rock.  There was no other flights to Little Rock until late Wednesday evening.  After our flight was delayed even longer, we were finally able to get on a flight to Dallas with another airline.  We stayed the night at Auntie J's and Uncle Ronnie's (they only live 20 minutes from the airport) and flew out the next morning.  14 hours later than expected, we arrived at our home with a sigh of relief.  Amazingly enough our luggage made it to Little Rock Tuesday night and was waiting for us when we got here.  

Shawn's mom was so sweet to take us to the airport in the nasty snow.  On her way home the freeway was closed because of a wreck.  She didn't make it home till much later than expected.  She had her own adventure as well.  

We are very thankful for the play areas in the airport which helped with the stress level immensely.....the majority of the time anyway!  There was some older girls playing with Ashlin and one of them walked up to me and said Jaxon is distracting us after being there for 3 hours I told her deal with it he's not hurting you.  It's probably a good thing their parents had ditched them.  They might have been slightly annoyed with my abrupt response.  

We are also very grateful for those who helped us along the way listening to our adventures, turning up our heat, picking us up, and so on and so forth.  Although, it was quite stressful getting to Dallas.  It is always a joy to see my Aunt!  She is the best and always takes good care of us!

A Mayan Adventure

Yesterday, we drove to Salt Lake and had dinner at the Mayan Adventure restaurant. The restaurant is spread over three floors and resembles an ancient Mayan temple in a tropical rainforest, complete with foliage, thunderstorms, and a few talking animals. There's a waterfall cascading 35 feet into a pool along with cliff divers! The kids absolutely loved it! Jaxon kept asking for the waterfall today. We got great seats.....Close enough we got quite a splash from one of divers.


In case you were wondering what came of the ring incident. They repaired my ring and then gave me the option of keeping it or getting a new one (they no longer carry they style I had). After much debate, we decided to get a new one. Shawn said this is the style he wanted to get me originally....of course he could have said that to make me feel better. We did keep the wedding band and had it welded to the new ring. We wanted to make the band thick and strong. One wedding ring breaking in half is enough. Thanks Jenae and Michelle for all of your help getting our original reciept to us to make the exchange possible!

Cherished Friends!

We were so fortunate to be able to visit with a few of our favorite people during this time in Utah. It's been 3 years since we have been able to visit....way too long!

This is Sarah. She was one of my favorite student's from San Diego. They moved to Utah a couple of months before we left San Diego.
We really loved her family. They were so good to help out with our kids when we needed someone to watch them. We use to love to got out to Saturday afternoon lunches with them.
This is Brooke, one of my college roommates. I actually convinced her to come live with us in San Diego for a summer. She met her husband during this time.
I met Amy when I worked in the psychology department on campus. She is so creative! She helped me tons with my wedding.
This is Deneil, one of my first friends I made in Logan. We both worked at A&W. She use to walk up to me when I was taking and order from a cute guy and saying something that would embarrass me. She loved to watch my face turn red!

Thanks for new fun memories and being my friends through the years!

Merry Christmas!

We had a very nice Christmas. It was the first time in 3 year's that Shawn's parent's and his siblings have all been together. Needless to say Shawn's parent's home was crowded with love and treasured memories. In addition, it was also brimming with good news. Shawn's brother and his wife are expecting their first child and Shawn's sister was just recently engaged. We were able to spend a little time with her fiancee. He survived laser tag with the brother's. He is definitely a keeper.

This year the kids were even more excited for Santa than ever. They got lot's of fun things from Santa as well as family. We will be mailing a huge box home. We would never get it all on the plane.

Jeron loved everything. I think his favorite thing was to play with his siblings toys. Aren't they always better?
Here is Ashlin with a huge smile on her face. She loved her jewelry boy her brother's got for her. It has a ballet dancer and plays music!
Jaxon was thrilled. Uncle Cade and Aunt Andi got him an Indiana Jone's hat and whip.....what more could a boy want? He also got Indiana Jones underwear and legos for him and Dad to put together. He loves his Dr. Jones!
Here is Jaxon with his Dad and Uncle Cade. They were wearing their outback hats from their parent's Australia/New Zealand cruise. Don't they look like they are ready for an adventure?

The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree:
the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other.
~Burton Hillis