Christmas, Insanity, Creeping and Lots More

It's been very busy around here!  We've had home improvement projects going on, we've been away from home, we've had company, we've been living everyday life, we've celebrated Christmas and lots more.

I'll try to catch up in chronological order.  First off, the snow.  We got LOTS of snow at the beginning of December and my girls enjoyed every inch of it.  Even Lucy enjoyed it for a little bit.  It got to where we had a routine going- dress up in their snow get-up, play hard and get cold, come in and drink hot chocolate.

 It was also extremely cold for a week or so.  After that cold spell it became unseasonably warm.  You'll hear no complaints from us about temperatures in the 40's and 50's.  Sending Addie to school when it's -10 degrees and she's wearing more clothes than I thought she owned was not my idea of fun.

Next up, our failed attempt at a Christmas Card.  We snapped a few quick pictures at the beginning of the month and I ordered what I thought to be a super cute card.  I waited and waited for them to arrive and nothing.  I finally tracked them down in California.  They were coming from Utah but thanks to the Postal Service they took a HUGE detour and ended up arriving on Christmas Eve.  Rather than try to explain my late card to every person, I decided to skip sending them out.  A lady at the Post Office told me I should send them out next year.  I told her that sounded great because they would be done but my kids are growing like weeds and it would look a little off.  Here's our picture.

If you were expecting a card and wondered if I forgot about you, I didn't.  Next year.  I promise.  We have a whole box of them and I just don't have the heart to throw them out yet.

The girls got to have an early Christmas with Aunt Jeanie and Uncle Kenny.

Are you familiar with the art of creeping?  Looks like we had our very own creeper that night.

We received lots and lots of baked goods and sweets during the holidays.  One of those yummy treats was a container of delicious caramels from Aunt Jeanie.  I caught Lucy helping herself one morning.

She also adores the creeper, ahem, Baby Alive she was given.  I have been surprised how much attention she gives it and how she tends to it.

Some of you know that I love Denise Austin.  I've been using her work out videos for about 9 years now.  Well, one morning Addie saw me working out and wanted to get in on the action.  I found a video called Fit with Kids where Denise leads a group of kids through some fun exercises and Addie got right in there and stayed with it.  It was just a matter of minutes and Kimber was in on the fun too.  They have asked a number of times to workout since and have enjoyed every second of it!

Christmas Eve FINALLY arrived.  I'm not sure who was more excited, me or the girls.  I always try to have my wrapping finished before Christmas Eve but it just didn't happen this year.  Jared took Addie and Kimber out for a few hours and I wrapped my brains out.  I finally finished just as they walked in the door.

Jared's family has a tradition that we are carrying on.  Each Christmas Eve they light "Santa's Runway " with luminaries.  It was bitter cold outside so the girls helped for a few minutes but Jared ended up finishing the job himself.  

 We had a yummy dinner and a Christmas program of sorts and then it was all about the fun of Christmas.  The girls got to open a gift from Jared and I which was new jammies. 

Then it was a visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus.  Lucy hated Santa and didn't want anything to do with him.

Amazingly, we had the girls in bed and asleep by 8:45.  All we had to do was wait for Santa to arrive.

Addie woke up at about1:00 am and was ready to go.  It took about 30 minutes but we were able to get her settled back down and asleep.  I remember the feeling of excitement I had when I was a kid and told her all about while she fell back asleep.

We are still lucky enough to have kids that don't wake up insanely early.  We finally woke them up at 7 and that was because we had to get moving.  Church was at 9 and then we had to rush to the Valley.

The girls had a great time opening presents (what kid doesn't, right?) but in all the commotion I only got a few pictures.  

After breakfast we rushed to get ready for church.  Getting a picture of them in their dresses was exhausting.  Lucy was loving the candy from the stockings and wasn't about to part with it.  I guess you could say this picture has "character."

The day after Christmas was spent in the Valley visiting family, going through Jared's Grandma's jewelry, eating an awesome meal my Dad made with his new smoker and most of all, just enjoying the beautiful weather.

Next up, Insanity.  On the 28th of December I started a new workout program (appropriately) called Insanity.  My sister in law told me about it and I decided I wanted to take on the challenge.  It's a 60-day workout program that if followed correctly pretty much guarantees results.  It's the kind of workout where you are dripping sweat and pushing yourself constantly.  As of today, I am 23 days into it and as badly as I hate it when my legs feel like they are filled with lead and my core is burning beyond what I think can be healthy, I love it!

You start the program by doing a fit test so you can track your progress as you retake the test every two weeks.  I would be lying if I said that I didn't want to puke my brains out and that I didn't drink almost a gallon of water in the 25 minutes it took to complete it the first time.

Everyday is a major challenge and it takes some serious dedication as I am now working out intensely six days a week.  But I have to pat myself on the back because I have never missed a day (with the exception of taking a day off to recover from a pulled muscle and one day that we were out of town) and I have seen a huge improvement in my ability to take fewer breaks and make it through the 40 minute workouts with more endurance.  I'm also starting to notice changes in my body. 

I am going to do five weeks of Month One instead of the four it calls for because I want to make up for lost days and then I'll rev it up during month two.  I'm not doing this for a ripped stomach or to train for a marathon or something but more as a way to get toned up and push myself. 

Enough about that.  Now for something I've been waiting for a long time to do.  For Christmas Jared got me new counter tops!  Yay!  New counter tops also meant painting our cabinets.  It was a very long and very messy few days but I am so happy with it!  I'm saving the before and after pictures until the backsplash is complete but I'll just say that my kitchen has finally left the 70's!

On January 3rd, my little brother, Taylor, left for the Army.  It was a rough week for him after arriving at Fort Sill while he was in reception but once he made it to basic training things got much better, for him and the family.  After his training is complete he will head to Texas where he will do his medic training.

On the 6th of this month we finally had our first break.  My girls were with a babysitter while Jared and I were on a date when I got a frantic call from Addie telling us we needed to come home because Lucy was bleeding out her nose and mouth.  I talked to the babysitter who seemed calm and had things under control.  We hurried home to find Lucy with a broken nose and black eyes beginning to form.  I'm not sure if I felt worse for Lucy or the babysitter.  She felt so bad and I kept reassuring her it was a total accident and if she knew Lucy then she would be surprised that this was the first break after all the falls she's taken.  And like a good blogger, I didn't take any pictures.  Can you believe that?

Last weekend I had a Doctor's appointment in the Valley and on our way our of town hit Uncle Kenny's 70th birthday party.  My niece Karen took my camera and snapped some pictures of the kids playing around at Rockin R' Ranch.  The kids had a great time running around and Jared and i had a good time socializing with the company.

Last of all, Jared turned the big 3-1 this week.  It was a wonderful day-he got to go to get up early, spend the morning driving from here to there getting things together for his day, go to work, come home and rush to get ready to go to dinner, go to Bishopric meetings where they sent him home when they realized it was his birthday and finally opened gifts and had cake at 9pm.  Sounds awesome, right?

Jared's birthday means I get to make his favorite cake, Hungarian Sponge Cake.  It takes a lot of work and has to be done just right so it's not a total flop.  Thankfully Kimber was there to help me out.

 The frosting is Jared's favorite part of the cake.  I guess it's Lucy's too.

At one of the grocery stores here I can buy butcher paper for super cheap.  My girls made a 10 foot long banner for Jared for 50 cents.  They had a great time coloring it.  I'll have to get it back out and take a picture of the completed project.  It's was too cute.

Phew!  There's a HUGE catch up on us.  It's been busy but lots of fun.  Tonight the girls are having a pajama party with pizza and popcorn.  I'm off to make preparations.