In Between!

We had a great week between holidays! Well I did. Dave had a huge project at work that went "live" on the 27th and has been working 12-18 hour shifts every day with one really horrendous 21 hour shift. So he has been persona non grata (does that mean not there) since the 26th. Having him work on Saturday and Sunday last weekend was very strange. It makes me kind of lose track of what day it is!

We had a great day of sledding with the cousins! The best part about it (for me) was we finally got to hang out with Sara! She was feeling well enough to venture out!

Andrew and Claire Sam and Alex after a great wipe out! Jonathan trying his hand at snowboarding Lauren hates B. Rad. She was not happy about him taking her down the hill!Aaron and Joe on a run! Jonathan and Adam getting ready to race. Adam won. Every time.

We also had a really fun night (thanks to Haley) at the Tru Golf Simulator! This thing is incredible! It sells for somewhere in the ballpark of $50,000 but it is truly amazing how true to life it really is! I am just as bad at the simulator as I am in real life so it must be real! It was fun to golf the Pebble Beach course with the fam! We also discovered that Alli is a natural golfer! Her brothers couldn't stop raving! My older 3 boys came and got some lessons from the Pros (B Rad, Andrew and Mitch)

Here is the view from the green looking back on the spectators! The hecklers in the crowd! The hecklers on the green! The boys watching how it is done!Mom! Alli addressing the ball "hello Mr. Ball!"

It was a really fun night for us all to be humbled by our lack of golfing skills!

Christmas Day! And Night! and the Next Day!

Christmas Day was busy and wonderful! We did Christmas at home with the boys first and surprise!! Santa only left one lone gift on the floor this year and it saidthen inside was another box for Alex, and then one for Jonathan and so on and so forth (not that Aaron is "so on" and Josh "so forth" but I just didn't want to type the whole thing out). That worked (said sarcastically)! In Josh's box was a clue for Joe to go find and then Alex and so on and so forth (no I didn't skip Jonathan.) The final clue led them to another box which they unwrapped together!

Dave got a Wii!! I mean the boys got a Wii! They were thrilled!

They then unwrapped their presents from us... underwear, socks, books, "Mom always gives the same things!" and movies, games, toys "Dad gives the cool presents!" They needed socks and underwear in a bad way I promise!

We headed over to Mom's for Fish Breakfast at about 2! We should really rename it Fish Late Lunch! My Grandmother's family came from Wales and it is a Welsh tradition to have Fish on Christmas. Much to my husbands dismay. He often tries to convince us that he was from Italy and we should have pizza or something better than FISH! Unfortunately the boys agree with me!
We opened presents and went to Grandma's for fun with the extended family. After about an hour it started snowing in earnest so we had to cancel going to Mark and Brittneys for the Rollins family party. We missed seeing all of them and the fun there. We did follow Mitch home to make sure his car load got home safely. There was quite a bit of slipping and sliding but everyone made it back safe and sound!
Lucky for us we got to go to Dave's parents the next night for another fun party. It was nice to visit with them and Nate and Paul also! We are lucky to have such a wonderful extended family to celebrate the holidays with every year!
(I forgot to take my camera to all the parties this year!) sorry!

Best Man Ever!

Dave, aka, BME was born 40 years ago! His birthday was celebrated among all the hustle and bustle of Christmas Eve! However, I have done all these birthday tributes all this year and would be very negligent if I ignored his just because it is thrown in amongst the BUSIEST TIME OF YEAR!

So without further ado. I present to you "Ode to Dave"

Dave is a catch!

Dave is a find!

Without his contacts

He is blind!

~

I did not know

I could not tell

Having him for a husband

Would be more than swell!

~

Many called him quiet

And some thought him shy?

They looked at social Kelli

and then asked her Why?

~

He cooks the dinner

Does the dishes!

He cleans the toilets

Whenever I wishes!

~

To save the earth

He rides his bike!

Twenty-one miles!

In the dark I don't like!

~

He rarely complains

He sometimes pouts

He often annoys

And almost never shouts!

~

On those rare occasions
when we actually fight
He usually always tells me
He's sorry and I'm right.

~

My boys were truly blessed

To get him for a DAD!

A more amazing father

Is rarely ever had!

~

He makes me laugh
He makes me smile
He holds and comforts
When life hurts for a while.

~

He is not perfect

Don't get me wrong!

His love for the U

Is way too strong!

~

His stubborn streak

Is a mile wide!

His fear of spiders

Makes him run and hide!

~

His faith is strong

His heart pure gold!

And now my sweetie

Is really, really old!

Christmas Eve!

WARNING: This is one of those "I don't write in my journal but I want to remember" entries! Please do not feel required to read all the posts I will be doing tonight!

For Christmas Eve we had a wonderful program put together by Sara who wasn't able to come because she got sick for Christmas this year! Haley and Alli kept it together and we had a terrific night although we missed Sara immensely. I know at some point we ate dinner but I can't tell you when exactly! We also had a talent show that started with Aaron, Jacob, Kass and Conner playing some songs on the piano. Then Josh played a number on the viola and Tayler, Kimber and Kass danced for us. Adam, Jonathan, Sam and Alex sang "The Christmas Song" by the Chipmunks. Very funny. Then Ethan, Sam and Alex did performed "Once There Was a Snowman". Haley had them learn Jingle Bells on the chimes and they did a bang up job! The highlight of the talent show was Mitch and Jenn performing "B. Rad the Big-headed Rencher" to the tune of "Rudolph" HIGH Larious! We opened the cousin gifts which was, of course, very exciting! Then the kids put on the Nativity and then we read from Luke 2. Joe was a little gray sheep who somehow got to ride on the Mitch Cow! Afterwards we sang Christmas carols and waited for Santa to ring his bells. He rang them right on time and this year he left a sack full of presents on the porch. His little elves, we will call them, oh, um, lets see, Alli and Haley. These little elves had stolen, sneaked and borrowed wedding pictures from all the couples and put them into a beautifully bound book for each of us. The title page had a little thought from my dad about each couple. You can't read mine in this picture very well but it says:

To my first born

in the wilderness

and to the man who

dared to ask for her hand.

Love you two,

Love, Dad

It was an emotional moment for us (cough, cough, Tricia, cough). They came with a touching poem that Haley had found about Christmas from my Dad's point of view this year. It was a thoughtful and perfect gift! Thanks Alli and Haley and Dad and Santa!