My poor, sad, neglected blog. I guess the holidays took a bigger toll than I expected. So here is a brief overview of life as of late just to bring you up to speed...

I started a "new" job (about 4 weeks ago). I am no longer taking phone orders at Cabela's but am now a barista (and cook and waitress) at a local coffee shop. There were a few weeks there where they were in a serious bind for help, and so I was working several mornings even before I would go in to the Chamber office. It got REALLY tiring, but has quieted down now. So, theoretically, my schedule is now to work Chamber Monday - Thursday and Coffee Shop Friday and Saturday. Not ideal, but it'll do. And I'm enjoying it more than I thought I would, so that's a bonus. The other HUGE bonus is that it's only 2 blocks away (one block closer than the Chamber office, even) which has been awesome. Mom and dad have been busy with other things, so there have been some days where Nicolas has been left in charge of the "little ones" when I was at work. He's done a great job.

So new job aside, things keep right on chugging on. As much as I enjoy the holidays, it's nice to be beyond them a bit, too. December was really BUSY at times, but good overall. The kids are doing great and we had a great time sledding and snowboarding on Christmas Day. I'll post some pictures soon. But I just thought I'd write a quick note to say that I'm still alive and kicking. For those of you who know about Facebook, you'll find that I'm much more likely to send a note or check in there lately, so feel free to look me up there as well.

My mom decorated this cake. It's so stinking CUTE! It is any wonder I have what I call a "Domestic Inferiority Complex"??



David and his friends enjoying some boy-type silliness. How do you know you're at a boy party? "I'm gonna shoot you with the (nerf) gun!" says one boy... "Yeah! Hit me in the penis!" says the other boy (neither was my child, by the way). And yes, that's Nick in the back. He wanted to help with the party because (and I quote), "I've never met any of David's friends." Awww.



And it wasn't ON the exact birthday, but this picture just cracks me up.    

No, I promise I'm most certainly NOT pregnant OR getting married, so just stop that train right there, people.

What I'm talking about is our new "friend." I call him Biff (so named after the jerk from the "Back to the Future" movies). Biff started moving in when Nicolas turned 13 and has now officially taken up residence. Biff is the rude, surly, grumpy, moody side of my normally sweet, thoughtful and funny teenager. He sneaks up on you when you don't see him coming and BAM, suddenly there he is in all of his teen-angst glory. For example, Nicolas can be sitting there, right as rain, but when you mention the unfinished homework or the dirty clothes lying on the floor, suddenly out jumps Biff!

Now, let me quickly clarify. OUR Biff isn't nearly as rude as movie Biff. He just tends to be VERY touchy and will slouch off and pout at the drop of a hat. And, thankfully, he's usually pretty quick to disappear once he's had a few minutes to settle down. Oh, and he also has the appetite of a horse.

Sigh. Guess the teen years have arrived. Hooray?

           Well, the trip to California couldn't have been much more perfect. The weather was fantastic (if not a bit warm for the first few days), the crowds were small (for the most part), there were no serious glitches in the travel or hotel rooms, and we plain and simply had a great time. I'll try not to get too carried away with the pictures:

It was a trip of "firsts"... Em and Dave had their first plane ride.Nick had his first when he was three, but didn't really remember it, soit was almost like a first for him, too.


The first day was spent hanging out at the hotel pool (flanked by bushes shaped like Disney animals) and shopping. We were all fascinated by the Lego store. David later got an Indiana Jones set from Aunt Julie and Uncle Scott.

       

Disneyland was all decked out for Halloween and fall. It was actually very pretty (I LOVE fall). The whole family (from left to right): David, Dad, Emily, Mom, Nick, Me, Julie. My brother, Scott, was taking the picture. You'll see him later.

       

I didn't take as many pictures as I would have liked at Disney, but the lines were so short, that we spent most of our time hustling from ride to ride rather than picture-taking. My sis-in-law said that in all her years of going to Disneyland, she can't remember the last time she spent so little time waiting in lines. YEEHAW! Emily and I went on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. Emily drove. The picture below is are-enactment, just so you know. Nick and Dave spent much of their time with Papa and Uncle Scott (my bro) on the Indiana Jones ride. Nick thought the ride was so cool that Uncle Scott bought him this hat. It was even cooler when Scott got one, too.

    

Thursday was our day at Sea World. In his own words, David could have spent "two days" there. Here are just 2 of my favorite pics (I took way more than that, believe me)...

    

Friday we spent the day at the beach. It was a little cooler and the water was pretty dang cold, but that didn't stop the kids. They had a ball. Again, I took a ton of pictures, and these are probably some of my favorites of the kids ever.

    

    

Saturday was Universal Studios. Again, more pictures than I can share here, but a great day. It drizzled a bit, but that helped keep crowds low for most of the day.

     

    



Sunday we ended up attending Crystal Cathedral, as it was only 5 minutes from our hotel. I won't discuss the theology presented, but the building was spectacular and it was an interesting experience for the kids. We flew out Sunday at 2:45 pm and due to bad weather, had to land in Colorado Springs instead of Denver. However, we stayed on the plane and they got us to Denver about an hour and a half later. This caused us to spend another night at Scott and Julie's (they had arrived home on an earlier flight), and we drove home on Monday. All in all, a fantastic trip. I never could have done it all on my own, and it was so great to have the time with my parents, Scott and Julie. Not to mention, my parents helped a TON financially. It was just so amazing to be able to have such a great vacation. We are blessed!!

PS - For more details and a few more pictures, check out my Facebook page!!

Take this post with a grain of salt. After working for 16 hours on an extra-pay project for a work-related contact, I lost over 2 hours' worth of work and was up until 1:00 am last night redoing a  large chunk. Argh.

However, all of that aside, life is good. I had a request for a job update, so I thought I'd best post just a bit about things in general. Work, for the most part, is great. I honestly do love it. Things are getting a little nutty this fall between all the groups revving back up, and some advance planning and advertising for things to come. It really makes me wish it were a full-time gig because it should be. However, I'll have to deal with that one later... because...

One week from today we'll be heading for Colorado and, on Tuesday morning, on to Los Angeles!!! The kids, mom, dad and I will be meeting my brother and his wife (an LA native) for 6 days of non-stop California excitement. We are all SO excited! We'll be doing Disneyland, Sea World and Universal Studios while we are there, so it will be quite a whirlwind of activity. However, what is so cool is that, while all the kids are excited about everything, each kid is a bit more excited about one particular park. For Emily it's Disneyland and the princesses. For David it's Sea World, where he can actually TOUCH some animals. And for Nick it's Universal Studios where he can see stunt shows and all the behind-the-scenes movie magic that he loves. Yes, I did intend it this way, but it's very cool that they are truly jazzed about each park. So that's about the biggest news for now!!

On a slightly sad note, I think David suffered his first migraine headache yesterday. He's still having some after-effects today, but is doing much better. Prayers that he'll feel great for our trip (and in the mean time) would be appreciated!!