Hello there!!

::WAVING:: to Stephanie - thanks for visiting. I haven't blogged in awhile...hmmm...since February? Really? I better get on that. Just thought I'd send a shout out to my friend who's stopping by. More blogging to come......

I'm back

Did you miss me????

I've been away for many reasons, some more complicated than others, but basically I was trying to get things back on the up and up before I went back to the wonderful world of blogging. So, here's my kids all grown up and heading off to college...ok, so I haven't been gone THAT long, but they have grown a bit since I've been on here.

Trever had his 1st Birthday a week before Christmas. We had a little party for him and he had a blast. His Godmommy (and my dear friend) Michelle made the trip down with her sister and niece - it was wonderful to spend a few days with them. My sister Patti and family also traveled down for the party which I honestly didn't expect - so I was really excited that they came. Papa and Gahma (as Brenna would say) came over as well as Auntie Chris and Jaden and some friends of our with their kids. I think Brenna had the most fun playing with all the kids since they were her age and Trever just watched and giggled at them all. It really was a wonderful 1st Birthday for him. The Big "hit" to the party was the boys throwing a sticky skeleton to the ceiling and jumping to hit it down with a blanket. Really - who needs entertainment when you have inventive kids around. It was awesome to hear all the kids laugh and enjoy themselves.

Christmas was good, not as hectic as it was leading up to be. Christmas morning was fun watching Brenna and Trever opening their gifts then proceeding to play with what the other one got. We spent the morning in jammies and enjoyed the day. Later on we headed to my parents house and had our Christmas with my side of the family. We played our dice game that has quickly become a new tradition. We did 1 round with everyone and then did an adult round after all the kids went downstairs to play. We had decided to not exchange gifts amongst "us kids" meaning me and my siblings and do the dice game. What a GREAT idea - we had such a fun time. There is always 1 or 2 items that are the "hot" gifts and it's so much fun to see who and what gets fought over. This year it was a GTO calendar. My brother-in-law Mike knew what it was when it was wrapped so he made sure he got it. Once unwrapped my other brother-in-;aw David went after it (the GTO man that he is) it went back and forth between them for a time...soon Tera got into it....then Mikie....the Jason and myself....then low and behold MY DAD gets up and takes it away from David...CLASSIC. We all laughed and really enjoyed it. I think that is becoming a huge favorite for us now and we're all looking forward to in again next year.

We traveled up to Minnesota for a quick visit and had Christmas with Jason's family. It was a couple weeks later than we had originally planned but the weather just wasn't cooperating. It was a good time and we all got some wonderful gifts. We took a picture of all the grandkids together and I think maybe 1 out of about 50 turned out. It's tough getting 5 kids to all look at the camera at the same time.

The new year came about with some changes. New plans and things to focus on with our family and a new outlook on our life together. There will be many changes this year. Some things are already set in motion and others will come throughout the year, but we're looking forward to 2010.

I do hope to get back to blogging more. Hopefully I'll have more to say to keep it going :grin:

See you all soon