FINALLY we have our stolen computer back and running!

So, over Christmas break...while we were in Cali; our computer was stolen from our house...all doors locked upon return...nothing else taken or searched thru.  We didn't realize it was really missing for about 2 or 3 days cuz we thought it was misplaced- since there were no other signs of a break-in or robbery....anyway LONG, LONG story short we got it back ...it was returned to us by someone we know....it had been wiped clean of ALL of our files and pictures and even had a new windows operating system installed...the old one.  After HOURS upon HOURS of being on the phone with DELL- I FINALLY got a new Windows 7 OS disc sent to me.  And now we are almost back to normal.  Man, what a freakin pain it's been! Anywho...lots to catch up on...here are some of my favorite pictures from Christmas and Charlie's birthday.! 



OHH the drive (12 hours to San Jose)... at about hour 10 1/2
 I WANT TO DIE>



eating at the local dive...super awesome burritos!

Oakland Temple...

cousins, love it.

Never a trip to Cali without the beach...and what a fabulous day it was!!! We were so blessed.



p.s. sweaters and hats knitted by my MIL.  Love her.



Christmas Eve jammies...

He did it , blue bear came back and boy was Liam one happy fella...he held out hope that Santa would 'fix him up' and it paid off.  What a fun moment.

Uncle Dave was the kid's favorite.

what a great feeling for a kid...surrounded by a plethora of Christmas joy...

super easy pattern for these capes...Ruby and Liam love to run around as magical wizards...




Charlie's cake!  He loves bananas!

After birthday bath.




I want to go back~

 

Ruby loves, loves her aunt Kimby- and insisted on buying this necklace for her....hey, what can I say, the girl's got good taste.

Oh, I miss you California!!!  And all my loved ones there!

Simple Faith

If Liam can have this same faith that he portrayed as an angel in the Nativity Scene...

then maybe he'll believe this bear can be 'fixed' by Santa's Elves....

poor, tattered, 3.5 year old Blue Bear has seen his days...been thru many washes and sicknesses and long nights clutched in the arms of a boy....

packaging him up for the long hall to the North Pole...

I've arranged for the Post Man to pick him up tomorrow and Liam will hand him over. Then its up to 'believing' that he will come back on Christmas morning!  I think it might be enough! We shall see.

brave boy...

This little man got his tonsils out on Monday last week.  It's been up and down since; but mostly up.  He's done really well considering.  A couple of bad mornings though when he ran a low-grade fever and complained that his "mouth hurt".  I can't wait to have my happy go-lucky Liam back!  BUT -NO MORE SNORING!~ yeah!  Here he is in the waiting room giving me a 'thumbs up' for surgery.

The staff at Ogden Regional was so great.  They gave him a new bear and kitty stuffed animal (before going in for surgery) which he has not let go of since ...and a goodie bag of coloring books and activities afterwards and a new blanket to take home. 

He was only in the Hospital for 2 hours following surgery. Big change from the overnight stay that used to be the 'norm'.  Daddy came by to see him...



And so did Grandma Sharon - with a present! Thanks Mom.  Liam felt oodles of love during this not-so-fun time.  My question is ...his voice has changed, definitely a high-pitched tone; am I to assume this is permanent?  One of Ruby's little friends has this same squeaky voice..wondering if he's had his tonsils removed also.



Thanksgiving



Marty and his Dad -carving the fat thing.



We had a quiet Thanksgiving with Marty's Dad and his wife, Merry.  It was relaxing and delicious.  Merry did a fantastic job with all the fix'ins.



Oh, the whip cream...



They live in Manti...so it was a little bit of a drive to get there but the Temple is so beautiful!





In between our TWO Thanksgiving meals we took the kids to see Santa...and his beau.



On Saturday we had 'the meal' all over again at my parents house.  It's so nice for each sibling to have their own specific part of the meal - it all comes together so nicely and the tastes are all gourmet and unique.  Everyone is so creative and such great chefs!

My sweet grandparents were able to make it next door!  Such a big deal to have Grandpa venture out of the house!  Loved having them.

Charlie was a little upset at my Dad for trying to make him smile...he was scaring him instead.

My family is large enough now-we need to go to a church cultural hall to get our energy out and have room enough to move around freely.  It was a great after-feast activity.  We played tag with the kids, danced (break danced) with a strobe light and learned some line dances~ ha! It was great times.





How low can you go....







The competition came down to Ingrid and Marty.  Ingrid is like an all-out pilates/yoga pretzel chick.  You'd think she'd take the cake...but guess who won.



Oh yeah, Baby!







Who knew my husband could bend in such a way! Very impressed was I.



Tight...

Not all things are skin tight (like the jeans I just bought-on a mega deal) but our finances have been a little tight lately (with Marty starting up his own practice). I have always been a coupon shopper-not extreme, but definitely shop the sales. I always do my grocery shopping at Walmart...(I know Di, you hate this store but-) they will price match any sale at any gorcery store, so why not get everyones sales AND the things that are on sale at Walmart too! It makes me feel good to save money, esp. on things like food items.

Well the other day I went to Maceys because I had to get a specific food storage item for my MIL and thought I'd use some of their in-store coupons for other things that were a steal of a deal. I went thru the line and showed the checker my coupons in the ad. He told me not to worry about cutting them out and he would run them through for me. Well shopping with 3 kids sometimes is a real bugger. So I wasn't watching, and when I got back home discovered that he didn't give me the coupon price~! The whole reason I even bought the items in the first place! So I had to go back in and have them refund some of the money. Then 2 days later I was in Smiths for some of their 'in-store' coupon prices and SAME THING> they didn't take off the price. I had to go back in AGAIN and get a refund. This is NOT an easy thing to do with kiddos. And it's not a whole lot of money back but it's the principal of it. (One good thing about having to go back into Smiths Customer Service was I noticed that they sell Megaplex tickets for 6.50$!- I always wondered about where to get discounted movie tickets-sweet.)

Anywho...then I was at Goldenwest Credit Union to change something on my account (the checking account from which to pull from to pay our car loan) and they were going to charge me ten dollars to do it.  I asked 'why' the cost?  She said "let me check on that, I'm not sure".  She made a phone call right there in front of me and asked a superior why they charge that fee and if it could be waived.  The superior told her to go ahead and waive the fee.  So luckily I didn't have to pay it...I mean again, ten dollars is not alot, but what was the charge for!  They were just going to stop payment from one bank and start another....who's pocketing the 10 bucks?!  What my conclusion is...people make mistakes-like at the grocery store- you just need to watch as they check you out (cuz it happens alot).  And there are lots of little fees and costs that institutions try to pin on ya (I just saw a clip on the Today Show about this) that aren't really needed or the norm.  So... those of you trying to keep above water in this crazy economical time...be alert!