I tweaked my knee about a week ago while running on the treadmill--and then again fell off of the sled over christmas weekend acting like a teenager. I am 35--and in my head I am still young--my body on the other hand is getting older--I notice those little things like those aches and pain your parents complained about at this age.
I hate the feeling that parts are not working as well as they used to--I am the type of person who likes to go go go--this whole knee thing has slowed me down. it really sucks
I called to get into to see orthopedics--the soonest they could get me in is january 14th--hmmm
hope i can walk until then..

sledding

we went sledding on friday at a little hill by grandma's house. all of the kids loved it except laken--he didn't want to have anything to do with all the clothing and the snow.

dan and my annual picture by the christmas tree--I should look back and try to find the past 4-5 years and post them too.

we opened presents tuesday night the 23rd at our house. the kids were soooo excited. we had junk food for dinner with as many candy and cookies as we could eat---

snow coming down

It is so good to be home
there is nothing quite like sleeping in your own bed, opening your own refrigerator, and using your own bathroom. it's just the simple things really
christmas was nice--it didn't start out so well
we left medford around noon on christmas eve to make our way to bend. it was snowing heavily for a lot of the way but dan grew up driving in this kind of weather so usually I have nothing to worry about.
we got pulled over for speeding of all things about halfway before we reached bend--dan was doing 66 in a 55. the officer didn't spare us a ticket either--147 smackaroos--already doubling our expenses..
we reached bend around 4:30--it took us about an hour longer then it normally would to get there. found out last minute--two of our nephews were going to be at christmas eve--that we didn't buy christmas presents for--so we stopped at ma jo's store and bought lottery tickets.
christmas eve included 16 of us--opening presents, eating, and watching the snow come down in huge flakes.....

we are heading off to bend tomorrow after I get off of work. forecast says we will be heading into freezing weather--it has been in the negatives there at night. brrrr--time to drag out the snow boots--don't think I've put my feet in them in 3 years
we always spend christmas eve at dan's mom's house--this will be number 6 that gemma, brecken, and I have been apart of. It is nice to have some family so close--not my mom or sister but people who we love and who love us. what a blessing to be able to spend time with each other and share christmas together.
My mom recently moved to Iowa--near my sister--it really seems like a million miles away. I miss them both the most around holidays. we spent so many holidays together--took them for granted at the time. One of these years we will all be together again.

we made christmas sugar cookies today. I bought a huge roll of sugar cookie dough and tons of sprinkles, sparkles, ect. the kids had a blast sadie especially--she decorated every last cookie until they were all gone. she wanted to make the cookies in her christmas dress but i managed to talk her out of it. whereas laken didn't want to wear anything while decorating cookies

snowman

sadie and dan made a snowman a couple weeks ago and used up most of the snow in the yard. the snowman still remains but is now lying on his side and most of his parts have fallen off. rarely do we get snow in this area but we sure enjoy it when we do....

neither of the kids wanted to get near santa but bribes of candy, cookies, and anything I could think of did the trick

it snowed today--on and off all day but it wasn't cold enough to stick. I know sadie was disappointed as she is bound and determined to make a snowman sometime this winter. We took the kids to the mall to buy gemma a few things at her favorite store Justice for christmas, and then let the kids run off some steam at the play area.

We decided to take the kids to Sharis for lunch as a special treat--

the rest of the day was lazily spent napping (laken and I) and lounging

sadie fell asleep in daddy's arms around 7

and you thought I was kidding when I said the kids are hanging on me all day long..

life has been or hectic and frantic lately--we drove to bend last weekend and stayed at the shiloh inn--saturday night. I had just enough thank you points on my expedia credit card to get a free room. the hotel clerk upgraded us to a room on the river--how nice was this free room!!! a fireplace, 2 comfy queen beds, and a pull out sofa. we also had a little table and chairs to play phase 10 on at the end of the night. staying in a hotel was a huge treat. grandma and papa so graciously kept sadie and laken overnight so dan and I were able to fully enjoy gemma and brecken.
My wonderful husband did destroy the toilet at one point and we had to have hotel maintenance come unclog the toilet--and in the process he broke the handle off the toilet--Lovely
we had to change rooms--luckily it was the exact same room only one door down
we went swimming in the hotel pool, ate at a local yummy pizza and salad bar buffet, watched a little tv, ate dinner at johnny carinos, and played phase 10--really just a wonderful experience.
in the morning we had breakfast at the hotel, went swimming again, ate lunch at carl jrs, and went to see city of ember at the local mcmenamins theater. the theater is filled with couches and comfy chairs--you can drink beer, wine, and mixed drinks while watching a movie and order tons of different food if you want.
we were going to stay one more night in bend but after we picked sadie and laken up--we decided to drive home and get the littles back into a routine. laken loves his routine......

laken is a funny little guy. recently he has been seen carrying his sister's purse around on his shoulder and last night he insisted on bringing his sister's my little pony with comb to costco with us. dan would love for him to sport toy guns and little cars in place of these things but look at who his favorite role model is----sadie!!