Christmas part 1... aka BS (before sickness) ...

Here is how we roll in the desert for Christmas...

awesome.

1. Next year I will do this.
2. I do not have a pool.
3. I live in the rainy NW.
4. scratch #1

B.S.
we celebrated Christmas with Brad, Lan & family...
it was a wonderful time.
little did we now how wonderful.


everyone got matching pjs...
okay the kids got matching pjs as per tradition...


we were well enough to play games...
and smile...


the tweeners...


the pretweeners


the 2nd and 3rd graders...


new duck gear

and more gear...
yes... we love our ducks.


toy story cars...



my awesome bro and his lovely wife... with cousin Natalia


the girls :)

it was great while it lasted :)
the next morning my brother left...

but we all got sick within a few hours of his leaving.
and then my cousins left (to hopefully avoid this bug)

posts to come...
Christmas AS (after sickness)
La Quinta
Disneyland
Natalia bday
Coluccio Christmas

wow have I ever gotten behind.

Buzz, Woody, and an {adorable} 4 yr old...

this is jack...

he is 4.
i love him...
and think he is the cutest most adorable boy ever. period.

he started his bday with a swim with his bf sis em



he loves woody.
and wanted a toy story birthday
(thank goodness for mom since the last 3 were Cars...)


he told me exactly how he wanted his cake...
and of course since I love him
I made it that way...
even though there was NO chocolate.

What?
okay... mr. cuteness also helped me



melt my heart...
I can barely stand it.


and it only took 4 birthdays to learn how to blow out a candle...

then we opened presents...
and you know he just had to get this

to go with Woody.

I didn't get a photo..
shame on me,
but on the night of his bday (27th)
Jack slept with one arm over buzz
and one over woody.

precious & priceless.
worth every penny on a silly toy...

I can't believe that my little man is 4.

thankfully he is in no rush to grow up
"I not be 4 years old momma"

"well, what are you?"

"I three."

"momma, hold me."

"okay buddy"

Sicko Update...

well...
Christmas was delayed...

my mom fought valiently
and started puking today.
that means we are a perfect 15 for 15.

Josh's aunt started up last night...
she lives a mile away...

and his mom isn't feeling so good.
so apparently even after you're done being sick you can infect others.

Jack had his birthday..
but insists that he is still 3 years old...
(after the presents of course)

Josh and I had a date night to celebrate our anniversary 2 weeks late.
(or maybe just to get out of the sick house)

My camera got sent back to Canon today.
yup
it died....

again.

and while yesterday was FABULOUSLY sunny.
it rained today.

I thought that California got it's share of rain...
like last week???

anyway...
my next post is going to be wonderfully upbeat...
this was just the "sick" version.

The Morning After...

I would like to say the morning after...
But unfortunately we are still continuing the battle of barf...

My poor 93 year old Grandma got it last night... at the same time as Sam.

I thought things were looking up this morning until I heard from my brother that his entire family of 5 got it as well... and they took 2 flights home yesterday....

and then Jack and Josh started up again.

I hope this ends soon.

The sun finally came out and it is 70 degrees outside and where are we???
inside...

I guess it could always be worse, but at this point I am hoping it passes through the house before Jack's birthday in 3 days.

On the other downside... my cousin and his family are leaving before it is too late..
That makes me sad.

update

It's official.

Sam is now puking.

5 of the 7 people in my family are hugging toilets...

Things are truly not looking good.

May your Holidays (NOT) be full of this...

36 hours ago...

Jack started throwing up.
a few times in the night...

I didn't really think too much of it.

Until today.

When Josh took a 2 hour nap and I went to see what the deal was...
You don't want details...
but he had gotten a more severe version.

My cousin and I left to run to Marshall's...
and all &%$@ broke loose...

My phone rang and my mom said this when I answered...
"McKenna just threw up... can you get these cleaning supplies while you're there?"

at Ross a few moments later...
ring ring...
"Sydney just threw up"

at Target a few more minutes later getting supplies...
"Jack is throwing up again"


this is a scene from an hour ago...

and as I type this I have gotten up twice to help one of my poor suffering kiddos...

and just a moment ago Sam said
"mom my tummy hurts..."

"honey... your probably going to throw up"

"I don't want to throw up"

"Sorry babe, we don't get a choice in these matters..."

and then there is this little boy who for the last 2 days has only wanted me to hold him.


I have a [bad] feeling about Christmas Eve...
and the rest of this night for that matter...

Rainy So. Cal

It's raining.

I am in La Quinta...
you know the desert...
Palm Springs...

I think it is supposed to be like 70 degrees at least in the winter...

Nope.

I haven't been on my computer much.

My awesome brother and his family are here...
our kids have been swimming, playing, putting on worship shows about Christmas...

Oh yeah and how can I forget???

We spent 2 days at Disneyland in the POURING FREEZING rain.

I broke a dryer at the hotel trying to dry 16 pairs of shoes...

Anyway.
I also celebrated 16 years of marriage.

I guess we didn't really celebrate yet...
but I hope that we will be able to before vaca is over.

Just wanted to let you know what is up in my corner of the world.

Scenes from Alaska Air...

Yesterday I was lucky... super lucky...

I got to travel with these 3 cuties via airplane...

I must first tell you.. I scored awesome prices through Alaska...
and it was a direct flight...

But alas Alaska Airlines is not Southwest (which I love)
and they charge you to ship your bags...

so me and these 3 cuties lugged 4 21" roll on totes + 4 backpacks on the plane.

Trust me when I tell you this...

EASIER SAID THAN DONE.

and security was no cake walk either...
Let me just say that I was super thankful to actually get to my seat.

I think one of the flight attendants saw that I was dripping sweat
(I may have actually been leaving a trail of water behind me I'm not sure)

anyway...
He lifted THREE of my bags up above while I pushed and shoved and stood on someones seat to get my one overstuffed bag up...

did I mention that I fit 4 wks of stuff in that small bag?
just so you know I will be wearing the same outfit everyday...
so if in future photos you think,
"didn't she wear that in yesterday's post?"
I will likely answer "yes, yes I did."

anyway.

My kids were awesome (once we actually got on our delayed flight)
they watched a movie...
ate a snack...
drank some juice & Sprite...
and squealed in joy when we started to land.

Jack was yelling things like this...
"Mom I just farted" (true story)
"Mom I see Papu's house" (I believe we were at 20,000 ft at this point)
"Mom, mom, when do we blast off?"
and telling any passenger who would listen...
"I going to California today."
"Woo Hoo we're going down!"

and many more... that somehow have slipped my mind.

when I woke up this morning at 6:30am I thought to myself if we had driven I would just be arriving here after driving all night....

I am glad we flew.
Even if I left a pile of sweat down the airplane aisle.

p.s. when we were getting off the plane Jack says
"Where is the pilot?"
me: "he is flying the plane from the front"
"where"
me: "When we get off I will show you, maybe he will still be there..."
"okay"

we proceed off the plane...
and the pilot is at the door...
he tells Jack to wait he has something for him...
a picture of the alaska plane that has Mickey Mouse on it...

that is when Jack pipes up...
"MICKEY IS IN MY BACKPACK!!!!"
turns around and sure enough Mickey's head is poking out the top of his bag...

it was one of those priceless mom moments when you know in your mind that you will always remember that moment...

Oh yeah I almost forgot.
It was 78 degrees here today...
I wore a tank top and shorts.
It was fabulous.

Book Club @ Judy's

Oh how I needed Book Club...

Seriously... how awesome is Judy?
I felt like I was on the East Coast at Christmas...

and I've never been there!























The reveal...


from our world traveler...


after dinner...
and the reveal...

it was time for the annual Christmas Book Exchange...
White Elephant Style.

It was a blast.
I love to read.
I love my friends at book club...

Crazy how over the course of 1.5 years we have bonded closer...
some more than others... but it is like we have become family.
We said last night that after reading this travel book...

we would all need to take a trip. hmmm. I'm game!

P.S. Today was a LONG day. I drove to Eugene to go to the Dr. with my mom... and it poured ALL the way there... and ALL the way home...

But on a GREAT note, my Canon 40d arrived back from the service center... and it works!!! Can't wait to start taking pictures with it again :) and thanks to my friends who provided us dinner the last two nights. It was GREATLY appreciated.

{alive}

Yes.. I am alive.

Tonight was book club and I needed it...

To laugh,

talk,

eat,

smile,

discuss...

and not think of all the things pressing around me.

I LOVE Book Club!!!!

I actually have photos, but I am going to bed.

Tomorrow I will drive to Eugene to go to the Dr. with my mom.

It will be my second visit with one of my parents to the Dr. in the last 2 days.

Making it through each day with all your love and prayers.

Hopefully I will have something on the bright side to post...

like photos from tonight...

but it can wait until I sleep.

Just wanted you to know...

I am here... I am alive...

Little man + Swim Test

A couple months ago during a family meeting Josh told the kids that they could pick anything that they would like to focus on and we would do our best to help them get better at that thing...

We gave them 24 hours to decide and they couldn't tell their siblings.

Sam chose basketball...
Emma chose basketball...
McKenna chose reading new chapter book series...
Sydney swim lessons...
Jack swim lessons...

Today was testing day...
Jack came to my room this morning in his swimsuit...

the test wasn't until 1:50pm

Him and Syd were so excited they couldn't think of anything else ALL day.

Upon getting to the pool...
He met the teacher, got into the pool, and did what she asked..


it was stinkin adorable.

Lessons start in January after vacation.

Walk & Knock - 2010

Yesterday was Sabbath...

It was also Children's Church...

and Pathfinder Walk & Knock...

and The Civil War...

I might also add here that it was SUNNY!

This is a VERY helpful thing on a Walk & Knock Sabbath!

So, as you can imagine this was a busy, busy, day for me & many others.

This is the 3rd year that Brenda & I have been hauling girls through our area to collect food for the North County Food Banks.


We get the same 4 every year...
I think they are glutton for punishment! ;)


back at the school unloading all of the food...

or making crazy faces in this instance.

Co-Counselors in action...


I can't complete this post without giving a shout out to Janet...

Seriously you rock... you lifted the spirits of these precious girls...

They were bummed that they didn't get to sing carols to you this year
(they were rehearsing between houses...)

but when they saw this...

yep... you were the bomb! (mom) :)

and just so you know... can you please put more cookies in next year???
those little piggies INHALED all the cookies and poor Brenda & I only got a couple...
(I know you are feeling sorry for us!)

THANKS for making Walk & Knock even more fun than it already is!

After finishing our route... unloading food... packing food... and posing for the annual walk & knock photo... kids lined up to get their donuts from KK....

this was Emma's...
I'm thinking it was a good omen for my Ducks...

(Friday Update) Toys for Tots

Friday it was time for the annual Toys for tots field trip...

this is my 5th time on this field trip.

I must say that it is one of my favs!


enter Target...

quite possible one of my all time favorite stores.


shop till you drop...

or until you spend the $35 our group got to spend...


up to the register to ring up our purchases...

and how awesome is Target...
they waived the tax...

after we shop...
we stop at the fire station to drop off the gifts...

and this year our very own Marc Patchin
was able to show us around the fire truck...
(I apologize in advance for the photo... hoping to have my beloved Canon 40D back this week... and no more blurry or 1/2 a second too late photos...)



then back on the bus...
praying that all those toys will go to boys and girls in need this year.