Friends

You know those friends in your life that you've had for (what seems like) ever?  I have a couple of those.  We only see each other all together about twice a year now.  But, it doesn't take long to get into our old rhythm.  The three of us couldn't be more different now.  Married, single, in relationships.  College and graduate degree's, different states, jobs, circle of friends -different lives completely.  They think I'm better than I am, and I probably think higher of them then they think of themselves.  I think that's what good friends are for.  Neither of them read my blog, but if they did, I'd tell them that I'm glad they're still in my life, and hope they always will be.

*This is where I'd put a picture of the three of us -if I could access any of my pictures.  Hopefully soon.

2011 Recap -without pictures.

We had a small (hopefully) problem with our media drive that houses ALL of our pictures.  It crashed.  I know we should have backed them up, and believe me, when it is finally returned to us (and we are $200-$1,000 poorer) I will do just that.  So, for now, I'm going to do my traditional year end review without pictures.  I have to re-find all of the pictures anyway when I make our printed books, so I suppose I'll just leave it like this on the blog.

January
Our blog went private -so I felt like I could share a few more personal things.  Mostly things about Justin.  Since he has more than a few jobs and other ventures he was always afraid of putting too much on here that was available for everyone.  He actually accepted his commission for the Navy the month before, but by January  it was official and he had his first drill weekend as a Naval Officer in the Reserves.

We had our first mini family vacation with Kate.  It was a Hardcastle family snowmobile trip.  The first night was great.  The full day we were there was a different story.  Grandma Hardcastle's machine ran into Justin's.  A first-responder snowmobile, ambulance ride to the hospital, then a ride to McKay Dee hospital with me and Kate, and finally emergency surgery ended that first day.  My dad had to settle up with the resort (that wasn't a pretty site) but got to the hospital right after my mom went into surgery.  She still hasn't recovered 100%, and might not -too much nerve damage.  It definitely took a second seat to her issues later this year though.

February
Kate's blessing and pneumonia for Hyrum.  Justin and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary.  I'm not sure if we truly celebrated, a new born and a sick 2 year old probably kept it a little low-key.

March
I turned 31.  Gulp, no hiding the fact that I'm in my thirties.  (Now I'm nearly 32).  Hyrum said goodbye to Buddy.  It was pretty rough for a while, but now he doesn't even remember his best friend.  It was warm enough for a few trips to the park and zoo.

April
Kate became somewhat mobile -started rolling.  We started toilet training with Hyrum.

May
Jodi and Trevor got married.  Kate started eating solid food and Hyrum had the time of his life meeting the REAL Thomas the Train and going for a ride.

June
Family pictures.  Sometimes I wonder if I give my friend Terra too much credit from Magnifique Photography.  Then I have another session with her, and I realize I don't.  She's amazing.
It was finally summer.  We couldn't get enough time this summer, our little back yard, parks, the zoo, anything to get outside during the day.

July
Zoo, sprinklers, fishing, camping, Lagoon, digging in the dirt, and airplanes.  It was a little boy's dream.  We took full advantage of the summer.

August
More camping.  A visitor from Brazil.  More trips to the zoo, the park, and singing in front of a Senator for Harvest Days.  Grandpa Hardcastle was called to be the bishop, and Justin was missing for 2 weeks.  He happened to be in Rhode Island during Hurricane Irene, which just so happened to go through Rhode Island.  A few days without power but they survived, and so did we -without dad.

September
Kate's crawling -and just like her brother- she doesn't stop for anything.  She also figured out how to climb. Oh, how I wished for a baby that was content to stay on the ground for a few minutes!
Mom had her weekend off -going to Swiss Days with the girls.  We had a weekend vacation with the Gough's in Park City and another weekend in Jackson Hole with the Hardcastles.

October
We had our annual Hardcastle Pumpkin carving contest.  Dad won again.  Wonder what he'll come up with next year.  Hyrum dressed up as a train -or a train conductor since he couldn't carry the train around for long.  Kate was a fairy princess.  They both got WAY too much candy at Mimi's work and Grandma and Grandpa's ward trunk and treat.  Luckily most of it ended up in my piano candy bowl.

November
It's a wild ride from November until after Christmas every year.  Kate started walking.  Hyrum turned 3. Both kids slept over at Grandma and Grandpa Lafeen's for the first time while dad and I went out with the Goughs to a nice steak house.

I received my Young Women's in Excellence award (as a leader) and was released from the Young Women's presidency later in the month.

We had a new nephew born (on 11/11/11), Konner Marley Gough.  We got a free dinner on Veterens' Day.  Two Thanksgiving Dinner's and a birthday for Justin.

My mom had a scheduled back surgery to repair and remove a few disc's which proved far from routine 2 weeks later.

December
My mom ended up back in the hospital with an infection at the incision site. She ended up with spinal meningitis, had another surgery to clean out the infection and stayed in the hospital for nearly a week.  After all the antibiotics, not eating or drinking because she felt so sick and some anti-inflammatory's for pain, she ended up back in the hospital because of impaired kidney functioning.  She was out after another week and seems to finally be on the mend.

Justin had to be in California for a couple of days for work, and at the last minute I decided to go and meet him there -for one evening.  Bryan and Haley stayed with the kids, and I flew out at 10am one day and was home by 2 pm the next.  I spent most of the day in Disneyland (by myself) but met Justin there for a few rides and fireworks.

Little Miss turned ONE!  With the help of a couple of friends and 3 nights work we had a great cake.  Thanks to technology my mom 'attended' the party via facetime on my parents new iPad's.

We survived another Christmas.  This one was just as busy, but I managed to enjoy it and not get too stressed out by all of the places we needed to be and people we were meant to be with.  Hyrum really enjoyed being with his family and didn't mind all the new presents either.

New Years Eve?  Well, the day was spent trying to organize and clean (we're trying to make a dent in our basement so we can work on getting it finished this year).  And tonight Justin and I are on separate computers, mostly watching a movie, and with any luck will be asleep by 10:30.

Here's to 2012!

Christmas 2011

I believe our Christmas will always be pretty hectic and busy, but this year there was far less stress than I've felt in past years, so we must be getting the hang of it.  We don't get to see everyone, and we'd like to spend more time with each family, but we manage to spread our holiday cheer the best we can!

We made Christmas sugar cookies for Santa earlier in the day, since we weren't going to have any time later in the day.  Hyrum had me write the letter, and every time we asked him what he wanted to say, he kept saying he wanted to say Happy Birthday.  

This year we started at Grandma Colleens with Scott's family.  We had a yummy dinner and a lot of play time with Grandpa Lafeen.  Colleen managed to save just about every toy any of her kids ever played with, and since they were built and made in the 60's (when they had sharp corners -gasp) they are still in great shape!  It's quite the collection.  

After Colleens we headed up to spend time with the Goughs at Cindy and Lon's.  More cousins and toys -the kids favorite.  The adults enjoyed a delicious prime rib dinner, one of them was smoked for who knows how long, it was amazing.  We stayed as long as Kate could handle and then came home and put the kids to bed.  No nap and a TON of playing by Hyrum worked well for our bedtime routine.  Hyrum laid down and didn't stir even once.  

Christmas morning came and we had our little family's Christmas.  Santa brought the kids camping chairs and water bottles.  Along with a few small toys for each of them and Diesel train for Hyrum.  He put in a last minute request for that one that he must have got in time. Hyrum got a movie and a MP3 player from us and Kate got a new book, which she loves.  That girl loves having books read to her.  

Dad got a t shirt and a dress shirt with a tie.  Not very fancy, but, it matched what I wore that day to church.  So, the real present was the fact that I let me match me for the day.  

Mom got a Nook tablet.  I didn't think I wanted one, but it's pretty cool.  I think I will get a lot of use from it.  Justin also got me a gift certificate for a couple of mani and pedi's.  

There was a family gift that had been on our 'get after Christmas list' that Justin got a day earlier.  A new TV -that replaced the one that a certain 3 year old broke- and a wall mount.  To hopefully prevent the same fate for the new one.  Even better, we finally figured out how to get an HD picture on our HD tv.  Man, everyone looks a lot older!  

We needed help at church since I was playing for all the musical numbers and Justin was narrating the program so we invited Scott, Denise, and April to come along.  We did presents and a quick breakfast before church.  Hyrum was (of course) spoiled by Grandma and Grandpa Lafeen.  A couple of Thomas the Train sets and a Car's 2 set.  Along with a few more cars/trucks and a few PJ's.  Kate wasn't left out, a doll and little people van, along with a playskool walk/ride and some cute clothes.  

In all the hustle and bustle of the morning, I misplaced my memory card -so the rest of Christmas day is without a lot of pictures.  

We went to Dave and Lisa's right after church for brunch with the Goughs.  We had a yummy meal and did a few presents.  We also did gifts at Mimi and Papa's after the extended family left.  We're all going to California in February for our christmas gift, and we're all super excited!  A stop over in Las Vegas on the way down and back, a day in Disneyland and the Living Desert with a few extra days of hanging out in Palm Desert and the pool.  Very exciting.  

From there we headed over to the Hardcastles.  We did presents with them, the kids got toys and clothes and a few games and Thomas dvd.  Hyrum and Kate got Woody and Jessie pj's.  Hyrum had to put on the Woody shirt immediately and wore it the rest of the night.  Justin and I finally got our own sleeping bags (so we can stop borrowing my parents every summer), new sheets, some warm gloves, new clothes (that I had on) and an emergency flashlight and lantern.  We all chipped in and got my mom a canvas picture of the Temple and my dad got a couple of dumbbells and a new case for his iPad.  My parents 'gave each other' iPad's a month ago for their official Christmas gift.  But, as usual, my dad surprised my mom as well.  The two of them will be going to Vegas in February to see Celine Dion in concert.  

From there most of us went to Sally and Greg's for dinner.  Kate had had enough, so Justin volunteered to stay home so she could sleep.  Gordon and Matt couldn't make it, but the rest of us went for a delicious dinner and presents from Grandma Hardcastle.  She made all the little kids their own personalized quiet book, which were really nice.  

  

We slept over at the Hardcastles and Justin and I even got to go to a movie with friends while my parents watched the kids on Monday.  It was a very busy but fun holiday weekend.  It hasn't changed much in the last few years and I don't expect it to change in the next few either.  We never seem to get to spend enough time with family, but we do our best to get to everyone.  Plus, I think the kids love seeing everyone, so I'm sure we'll keep it up!  

Twas the week before Christmas

Twas the week before Christmas and nothing went right.

Ummm, I was going to attempt a clever little rhyme, but it's not happening, so I'll just tell you.  

Neighbor gifts this year were found on Pinterest.  The 'black coal' rice krispies wouldn't get dark enough, despite using half a bottle of Wilton black color. The first batch would not get anything darker than a dark purple.  It was a very nice purple, but didn't look at all like coal.  And the 2nd try?  I burnt the marshmallows on the bottom of the pan when I walked away to see what Hyrum was doing.  Luckily I caught it just as it started to smell like smore's.  Had to throw it out.  

Our fireplace hearth, on the other hand, did take the color very well the next day when Hyrum climbed up on the counter and stole the food coloring.  Along with his shirt and a few rags we tried to scrub the black off the stone.  

Sunday night we had a different color show up in Hyrum's eye. Technically it was red, but more commonly known as pink eye.  Luckily we started antibiotic drops the next day, so he's good to go by now.  But, that left us pretty much quarantined since Sunday, good thing I was done Christmas shopping.  

Kate's teething.  Which, really isn't too bad this time around.  Just makes her a little more whiny and clingy, making it hard to get this house clean.  

And finally?  Although I haven't had much to complain about with our current cable service (our 3rd one in 3 years and by far the best service and customer service we've had thus far), but I do now.  I've been told by a few different representatives that the technology these guys use is pretty archaic, compared to what's out there now.  The box often freezes and needs to be restarted, and will sometimes freeze at night, when no one is around and we miss recordings.  Not a huge deal.  This week it quit responding to the remote.  Yes, I change the batteries.  Even though I knew it wasn't the batteries, it still worked with the tv.  Even trying to change the channels on the unit itself wouldn't work.  

I called the customer service line around 4pm on Monday.  I got their after hours service. I asked what their hours were, and was told they were open until 5, but they must have a large call volume.  I left a message and was told they would call me back shortly.  I'm not sure what they consider 'shortly' but about 20 hours later I called back, still unable to use the cable box.  (Thank goodness for netflix) I left another message, and exaggerated a bit and told them it was the 3rd (not 2nd) time I had called.  This time I did get a call back a few hours later.  We tried an update and she tried resetting the unit remotely (losing all of our recordings), with no luck.  She did feel the need to mention no less than 5 times that I should make sure the cable button had been pushed on the remote.  I know there are people out there that need to be told that, but seriously?  I've called you twice, went without service for a couple days, AND the box doesn't even respond when I use the  buttons on it.  It's not that simple.  

So today, the first day all week where Hyrum isn't contagious and we could get out of this house, we're waiting around for someone to bring us a refurbished DVR.  With a new remote.  And hope that we get to use the service we pay for.  

In other, less ornery news, Christmas is almost here, and we're all getting pretty excited around here!  

Elf on the Shelf

Thanks to Pinterest (a lovely site that is now responsible for nearly all of our dinner recipes and a great many crafty ideas) I learned about the Elf on the Shelf.  There is a book and a movie, but I'm not sure which came first.  Basically, we adopt an elf, give him (or her) a name and the elf hangs out somewhere in your home during the day -keeping an eye on all the little ones around, and at night, fly's back to the North Pole (magic is involved, of course) to report on the the kids naughty or nice status.

I have decided that our elf will start visiting us after we are done celebrating Kate's birthday every year, so he doesn't get the earlier start that many other families have.  We read the book and chose a name for Family Home Evening this week.

When we asked Hyrum what our elf's name was, he replied, "Hmmm, I don't know, what is his name?" This was his answer several times.  He then started talking a bit of jibberish and something sounded like Hatter.  Justin and I looked at each other, and decided that was his name.  Hatter the Elf.  (Hey, it's better than some of the suggestions in the book, and we were convinced he would share a name with a certain number 1 engine).

So, Hatter has been sneaking in every morning and we've managed to get a few pictures of the sometimes strange places he likes to place himself...

 Day 1 -hiding out in the Christmas Tree

 Day 2 -Having himself a seat on the L from Lafeen

Day 3- This one was on top of the blinds on our french doors. 

Day 4- Trying to fit in with the Little People.

Observations

Within a few texts and phone calls you can rope your child-less brother and sister-in-law to come stay with your kids for a day.

27 hours still counts as a vacation.  No kids.  Weather was warmer.  Free breakfast at the hotel.  Oh, and Disneyland.

After the sun goes down it's cold in December in California.  Colder than I remembered from when I was there 5 years ago at the same time.

Don't trust your husband when he says your flight is around 11.  It might be at 10:20.  Approximately 20 minutes after you arrive at the airport.

Theme park's aren't too bad by yourself.  For a couple of hours.  Then it get's a little boring.

Even getting fewer hours of sleep in a hotel is still more refreshing than a full 8 hours with kids.

You might come home after being gone for 27 hours and your daughter wants to stay with her aunt, not  you.  I don't actually mind, I'm glad she had fun.

People dress if full marathon gear and run in the Salt Lake International Airport.  Maybe not people, but one lady did.

You can listen to almost an entire (900 page) audio book while walking around Disneyland by yourself.

If the airport shuttle only has you in it, the non-english speaking driver will wait until more people come.  A long time.  And then finally decide they have to just take you.

Sometimes those GREAT online deals work.  1 day park hopper pass for $45!

You miss your kids after being gone a day and will really look forward to seeing them.  Everything goes back to normal within an hour or two.  And you're ready for another vacation!

Spontaneous

This is not one of my strong suits.  I like schedules and routines.  I get anxious when things don't go to plan -even small things.  I remember a spur of the moment trip over spring break when I turned 21.  A friend was going to St. George and Las Vegas -and it was going to be a super cheap trip.  Vegas on your 21st birthday?  Even for a non-drinker I didn't want to pass that up.  I got rid of my extra shifts at work and left.  It was an awesome week.

But, usually I'm much more responsible and a bit slow to make decisions.

Except for yesterday.

Justin found out earlier in the week he needed to go on a 2 day training next week in California.  While making travel arrangements he realized he'd be 5 minutes from Disneyland.  A short discussion later and I was texting (and even facebooking) to find someone to watch the kids for a day.  Literally, one day.  We found a flight where I'll leave at 11am and get home the next day at 1pm.  Haley and Bryan are going to 'play house' and stay with the kids for about 24 hours.  With a little help Tuesday morning from Shondel.  I'm getting pretty excited.  The kids will get to stay at their own house -which helps, and I get a full 24 hours away.  In Disneyland.  Where the high will be 68 degrees.

Maybe I should be spontaneous more often.