I hope you all had a great holiday season! We had the best!!! My family flew to Portland Oregon and visited our parents and siblings. We spent two glorious weeks in the Northwest, basking in the rain and overcast weather. It was so nice though seriously!
We started off visiting Loren's family, stayed at his sisters house. We had lots of great talks, and a ton of laughs. Our kids especially like their Great-Aunt Kim and the Great Uncle Dave! Actually, I think that since we have adopted the kids she calls herself the Aunt Kim the Great! Which is appropriate, she is great and the kids love them so much!
After four and a half days there we drove up to see my parents for six days, where we had such a great time visiting! I was disappointed that one of my sisters didn't make the short drive to see us, it was the 2nd time we have visited that she has not made an effort to come see us. My other sister Kristi was sick with flu like symptoms and so we stayed FAR away from her. Though her family kept coming over to Mom and Dad's to share the germs! We did not get sick so that all worked out well, we just kept the kids washing their hands and staying away as much as they could. Though despite that, we had such a fun time visiting and seeing everyone.
My mother and I went shopping on Monday the 23 and Tuesday the 24th on Christmas Eve. We got out early Christmas Eve, it wasn't so bad. We were gone a long time. I still had not wrapped all my presents. So when the family all left that night (about 10 pm) we (mom, Loren and I) started wrapping. Oh my gosh I did not think we'd ever get done. Mom kept bringing more and more out. It wasn't that much for each person it was just a lot of people. At 1:30 am. my dad woke up and he came out with us and sat at the dinning room table and talked to us while we wrapped. Loren got busy putting all the presents out, and we went to bed at 2 am...I knew we were in trouble, because my kids are notorious for getting up early on Christmas day, even though our rule is nothing before 7 am. This year, only Aubrey and Connor woke up around 5 am, so Loren let them go out and sit by the tree, and sleep/talk but not touch. Taylor had to be woke up at 8 am.
The very best present I got this year, was my mom surprised me with seeing my son, it really was like Christmas. I was so happy to see him. I just cried and gave him the biggest hug ever! I missed him so much, we had not really talked in 3 years. The kids all got his phone number so that they could Facetime him with their iPads, so he was so good to them. Money can not buy a Christmas present like this, I still get all choked up when I think about spending Christmas with my oldest son this year. I feel so blessed and so thankful to my parents for making that happen!
We left my parents the day after Christmas to head back to Loren's sisters house and that night we went to a awesome German Restaurant, I had not had German food in years and years, so it was so fun! Our kids went with us and they loved it...so we know that was a hit, can't wait to go again!
After we returned home (we flew out at 8 am Friday morning), we got back into the swing of things. We had a great New Years eve with fun things we did as a family. Now for the 2014 year, its a very exciting time to be alive.
This year, I did not set New Years resolution to lose weight, although I needed to, but what I did instead is set a goal to get my family healthier. I hope that in the process I will be able to lose weight too. I also want to get a job, and start working on paying off my student loans so we can get our family back out of debt. Student loans are essential to receive an education, but paying them back can be taxing on the budget. Therefore, my goal is to work hard for the next couple of years and pay them all off. Taking one and a time and knocking it down.
I hope you all have a warm, healthy and happy 2014! Happy New Year from my blog to you!
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