Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years...in a nutshell

My New Year's Resolution is to write little blogs more often than write big ones not so often. But before I start that...I need to recap end of the year stuff.

Thanksgiving was weird this year. Don't get me wrong, my mom and older sister came to town and that was AWESOME! But we didn't see Travis' family at all and as much as I didn't miss the driving from one end of town to the other and having to eat TWO Thanksgiving meals, I still missed seeing them. SO to any of the Stanleys reading this, I missed you. Silly, I know, especially because we see them a few times a month anyway but it still got to me a bit. Anyway, we had about 20 people at my dad's house and ate some YUMMY food!! I made my first turkey ever and it was dang good. I also made my homemade mac n' cheese (from scratch), which is super yum. Oh yeah, I also made some tasty deviled eggs. We had three turkeys and TONS of stuffing. I was so grateful to have my mom and big sister there. They are so wonderful and Cole loves them so much, so it's also nice to get a break while they play with him. My Aunt Libby was here with her husband and two kids and just before she arrived at my dad's she competed in a triathlon in Arizona. She is amazing. She just took up running a few years ago and now is a triathlete!! Crazy cool. Oh yeah and she's also like 50 (or somewhere around there). My Uncle Neil came down from Oregon and it was nice to spend some time with him too. Travis, Cole and I took him to see the dolphins and tigers. I'm not sure who was more excited...Cole or Neil:) Cole LOVED seeing the tigers. He growled at them constantly and cried whenever we moved to see another enclosure, until he saw another animal in it:) He was a bit confused by the dolphins until he really got a good look at one, then he was in love. He screamed wildly every time they swam by. Everyone thought he was adorable and hilarious...of course:) Travis, Cole, my mom, Sarah and I went to see Louisa be an elf at the Springs Preserve. She was also in a little play there. Cole got his picture taken with Santa and from there on he was obsessed with Santa. He started to say Santa over and over again. It pretty much became his favorite word, other than snowman. Louisa was one of Santa's helpers and she was great in the play:)

After the craziness of Thanksgiving was over, it was on to Christmas, which proved to be one of the most stressful Christmases I have ever had. I planned ahead, did all of my shopping relatively early and even started my crafty projects early and it still came down to the wire. I finished a bean bag for my BIL, Josh, CHRISTMAS MORNING! It was a 50" beanbag and it was pretty dang rad, if I do say so myself. I also made 3 32" bags for a fellow blogger named Stephanie. She even put pictures of them up on her blog. I think things on Christmas were so hectic for me because on Christmas eve as I was finishing the sewing of the beanbag, Travis was SUPPOSED to be wrapping all of the presents and stuffin ghte inner liner for the bag. He, uinfortunately neglected to do any of this and fell asleep on the couch. I checked on him twice and reminded him of all of the things that needed to get done and he fell asleep afetr each time and did NOTHING!! So, needless to say, we were running around like mad men in the morning trying to get everything finished, so that we could leave for Travis' parents house. Once Travis accepted that it was all his fault, we stopped stressing and just laughed at how lame we were:) Cole got lots of clothes (which is exactly what I needed for him). He also got a dancing Brobee, which he LOVES and dances along with it daily:) He got a big bouncy castle from my dad and Gail. Some coloring books, cars, trains & tons of other stuff:) Travis got me a Nintendo DS, which is so much fun! He got me all of the brainy games, like spelling, crosswords, sight training, etc. My sister Lou got me GUITAR HERO for my Wii!!! It is one of the funest things I have ever played. Honestly, I'm addicted. I got a pressure cooker from my dad and it is the most amazing cooking apparatus I have ever used in my life. Cooking entire meals in one pot in half the time is my way of cooking. And so far we have cooked the best tasting food I think we've ever had. I've made about 5 meals in the thing since Christmas and have yet to not love it. We went to the Stanleys' for scones Christmas morning. Exchanged presents and got to talk to Travis' younger brother Josh, who's on his mission in Puerto Rico. Then it was off to my parents for more presents and an AMAZING dinner. We had veal shanks (sp?) and mushroom risotto. It was one of the best meals I've ever had.

New Years was uneventful and I rang it in by kissing Travis on the cheek while he was passed out in bed next to me. The best news came from Sarah Barlow in the form of an email!! She is having a Biggest Loser contest of her own and everyone who participates puts in $20 and whoever loses the largest percentage of weight loss will win all of the money. So far the winnings are up to $600 and it is SOOOOO mine!!! In early November my dad had a little scare and had to have surgery. After he was recovered, the doctors told him to start losing the weight. So, we decided to start up a gym in his home. Louisa, my dad and I are the only members and we call it "Fitness Club" and we meet every day of the week (minus a few days during the Christmas holidays, when things were INSANE!) and do some type of work out. So far we do a Taebo video, trampoline video, step video, yoga video, tai chi video, eliptical, spin bike, Bowflex machine, free weights and walking outside. So, we always have something fun to do and we don't get bored. Usually we do circuit training, which is 6 minutes each on at least 5 things and then we do the entire Taebo video. So, it's pretty convenient that I just entered Sarah's competition and I'm already working out everyday. I'm still working on the food part but so far, since the 1st, I have lost 8 pounds!!!! Where's my money??!!!!