Christmas...times four!

Let me begin by saying, I LOVE having more than one Christmas celebration! You get to see all of your family and have loads of fun!

The weekend before Christmas, we went down to Oklahoma for our Christmas there. We drove down Friday night, had Christmas with our cousins on Saturday night, had Christmas with our family Sunday morning, ate at PF Chang's and then drove home. It was a short, but long, weekend. It is always really disappointing to have to leave so early and spending eight hours in the car over the span of 2 1/2 days is exhausting! Nevertheless it was awesome!

The Sunday night that we got home from Oklahoma, Josh, Bella, Dakota, and I had our Christmas. It was wonderful! I love having stockings for the girls and I love, love, love watching Josh open a gift that he had no idea what it was. I got him a Tony Moeoki Chiefs jersey. It is sweet, if I do say so myself. He got me a portable, remote control heater. Awe-some! I am always cold so this works out really awesome! Bella and Dakota got a pheasant and a duck to chew up as well as treats and busy bones.

Tuesday before Christmas, we had our Perkins' Christmas. I am always in awe of their Christmas tree and the beautiful wrapping underneath. My mother-in-law is a Saint for taking so much time making it all look perfect! We ate delicious pot roast and "better-than-sex" cake! We opened gifts as a family with his parents and Brad and Julie. We did good this year, both in giving and receiving. We welcomed Julie into the family by teaching her what we do when people ask for a giftcard from us. We go into the store and buy the ugliest wierdest thing that we can find...and then video tape her when she opens it. She was a good sport and we all had a big laugh! Welcome to the fam Julie! :)

On Wednesday night, we packed up the car and drove to Lindsborg for Christmas weekend. We did lots of eating and game-playing which is what I love about coming home! I also got my hair cut on Thursday and got bangs. Yep, real, honest-to-God bangs. Well... really she just cut some hairs shorter on one side and I can pretend they are bangs. Baby steps, here. Anyway, our Christmas day was packed with opening gifts at my Mom's house Saturday morning with the Ledge and then driving to Salina to meet up with our ENTIRE family. Seriously, it is chaos. Brandy and Tyler were the only families not there. We greatly missed them! We had a white elephant gift exchange (next year we are changing that to a dirty santa exchange) and played games. Someone broke out the Wii for some "Just Dance" competition. It was fantastic! I am officially adding it to my "I want" list. Sunday we finished off our jam packed weekend by watching the Chiefs play at Kendell's house and even got to Skype with Brandy!

We had an absolute blast and feel so lucky to have gotten to spend so much time with our family this past week. Next up? Ski Trip to Breckenridge! (and so you know, I skipped New Year's Eve on purpose...I mean, really, do people still go out???)

Pics coming later-promise.

Artie's Legs

I love Glee. No, really, I LOVE GLEE! In case you do too and you watched the amazing show tonight, Artie's legs were a huge shock in our house! This is what I do on a daily basis at work. It is amazing because that device is not even available to us in the United States! It is so incredibly exciting to see it on TV and I am sure we'll all be getting calls about it from Gleeks around KC. Just so you know, it really exists. It really is called the reWalk. And really is about $20,000. Yikes!

Thanksgiving Recap

Since I haven't actually posted about Thanksgiving...here you go. About 2 weeks late.

Upon arriving in Broken Arrow, OK we ate some ribs and ocra! YUM. And then went to the gun range to shoot Dad and Josh's guns. I was a little hesitant about pulling the trigger at first. Stage fright, I guess. But after a little coaxing, I did... and hit the bullseye. No really, I came really close!

For some reason, I didn't actually take any photos of the beautiful meals that were cooked that day. We started our Thanksgiving at Josh's Granny's house with all of his cousins and his parents and brother. It was a beautifully delicious and I even volunteered to bring my step-mom Millie's awesome home-made stuffing the next year. Whoops! I guess I will need to practice before then! Pressure is on!

After lunch, we headed back to my parent's house, where I again failed to get pictures...except of the homemade apple pie that I had made the night before. And of course, I had to embellish with OU letters for the upcoming game that weekend.

It had become a tradition for my dad to take my cousins to shoot off rockets and while we were there for Thanksgiving, we got to come along. There was some *minor* drama to get the rockets shot off, but we did it. And the little man? Yep, he had a blast too! We only lost one rocket. Say, Dad, did you climb the roof after we were gone?

On Saturday, we drove down to Muskogee to see my brother and Granny. We do not get to see them nearly as often as we would like, so it is a really special time when we're there. Plus, my Granny ALWAYS has a bowl of candy setting out. Just...for...me! Well, that's what I tell myself anyway. Here is my brother with the little man. His teeth were hurting so bad and we're pretty sure he was making that face because he had just made a surprise for Uncle Buddy!

He even left a little in there for Granny, but she didn't seem to notice. He is getting too big for Granny to hold him so she propped him up on the table for some help. Again, Ledger, making the embarassed-cause-I-stunk-up-the-room face.

Our Thanksgiving was awesome as usual! We always love our trip to Oklahoma and enjoy our time with family! Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving too!

I got a call today...

from FRANK MARTIN!

No, really! It said something along the lines of... "Hi, this is Frank Martin, and I am calling to PERSONALLY invite you to the game in Kansas City against UNLV on Tuesday, December 22nd at the Sprint Center...." Yep, he said "personally". I'm in. Thanks Frankie for the invite!

Fear the Beard, Rebels, Frankie has you in his sights!

Challenge...Failed.

I have been miserably sick the last few days, and even lost my voice. This is no excuse. So, let me give you a breakdown of what I am most thankful for in this Thanksgiving holiday time. And I agree with Brandy, I am most thankful for God and everything that he has provided for me.

7. Fridays - Okay, so this was a comp out. But I am thankful for my weekends and my time that I can spend how I would prefer - with my family and friends.

6. Jobs - Even when we are having a horrible day and we can not wait until the time to go home, we have jobs, income, health insurance, and at least mild security. These times, we must be thankful for our jobs and being able to provide for our families and still being able to live the life we want.

5. Sports - yeah, I know. However, sports are a huge part of my life and my relationship with my husband. If I did not love football and baseball so much, I doubt we would have ever survived. In the same sense, I think that if I had not loved sports so much, I could have gotten in a lot of trouble in high school...God knows I tested my limits.

4. Health - though currently, I cannot hardly speak and my head feels like a giant pimple waiting to be popped, I am in good health. I have family who are battling sickness everyday and I can only hope and pray that they get better.

3. Friends - I would have died without my friends. Growing up, in high school, and in college, my friends have always been there for me. I wouldn't have lasted a minute in high school without Angie. Really, I would have been masacred. She knows what I'm talking about. Today my egg basket is full and remains complete with my friends in it!

2. Family - Besides the relationship I have with my husband, my family is by far the most important thing in my life. Though my family would be classified as dysfunctional becuase my parents are divorced, I could not have wished for a better family. With this divorce came two extra parents, two extra siblings, and loads of extended family.

1. Josh - well, what can I say? He is my best friend and my constant entertainer. I feel lucky and blessed everyday that I found him and convinced him to be my lifelong partner!

Challenge...Semi Accepted?

So my sister challenged me and my other sister to a "Thanksgiving" challenge. This would be to "Give Thanks" for something specific each day until Thanksgiving. I feel excited that my sisters will be blogging every single day until Thanksgiving, but extremely weary of my own ability to complete this challenge. So, for this particular instance, the challenge is accepted...for now.

I am thankful for Fridays. No, seriously. God created them just for me. It is extremely difficult for me to manage to get through Mondays and Tuesdays. Wednesdays are when I can barely see that glittering light at the end of this dreary tunnel. Thursdays...a freaking tease. And then there is Friday. The day that I can jump in my car at about 5:30 pm (well, okay, more like 6:30 pm) and can either drive to see my family, friends, or my amazing little puppies! Either way, I am headed away from work and into two days of HOME!

Welcome November

Friday night was a REALLY exciting night for us Falcon football fans! We beat Shawnee Mission East in the first round of the playoffs! It was a close game, with the final score of 28 to 24! Next week, we play at our home field against Olathe North. This will be an extremely tough game, but I have faith in my Falcons! GO OS!

Well, not only did we not win $128 million in the lottery, but we struck out on our Broadway musical, CATS. We were not impressed with the musical. So not-impressed, that we left at intermission. Yep, we are those people. It was boring, people. Seriously. Ask Mike...

Because we left at intermission, we got to see the end of KSU kicking the tail off those stinking Longhorns! Woo hoo! K-S-U-WILDCATS!

Man, it always feels good to beat Texas. Sorry Alex, all Texas schools deserve to beaten by the Cats! :)

Today, we spent the day running errands and preparing for November. How, might you ask, do we prepare for November? Yep, buy Christmas lights! :) Josh is pumped. Trust me.

And just because I am sure I won't blog again until this upcoming weekend, I am wanting to say Happy Veterans Day to all of the military men (and women) in my life!

Thank you... for all you have done and everything you continue to do to make our country free! I am so proud to be an American and it is because of you!