2009, What's New!?!

Happy New Year everyone!  I knew I wouldn't be blogging during the holidays.  Too much going on to take the time to sit and do it, along with everything else.  I don't even really have a lot of time today, but I thought I would squeeze in a quick note about our holidays, along with some new pics, so that I don't have this nagging at me.

The Monday before Christmas, we took our family's annual trip to Temple Square to see the lights.  What a beautiful adventure this always is.  The children really enjoy the festivity and they are also always keen to talk about the Savior's birth.  I am happy we have this tradition and that we are blessed to live so close to Church headquarters so that we can do it every year.  My camera didn't have a memory card in it so I wasn't able to get pictures for you all.  I guess that means we take some next year.  I really am such a dork.

Christmas was wonderful!  We had my parents, sister Denise and her family, and brother Jeff and his wife Jen for Christmas Eve dinner and we had a great time opening presents, eating Honeybaked ham, and reflecting on the year together.  There were some really funny moments of note.  Denise's boy Roman, who is 7 weeks older than Logan, is just getting good at walking.  Logan is getting good at cruising.  So, while Roman struggled to walk around, Logan struggled to use Roman as an object to cruise on.  Sort of a mobile cruising device, if you will.  Watching the two of them struggle to remain upright and balance each other was a lot like watching a couple of Navy guys on shore leave coming out of a bar at the end of the night.  "Hey!  Hold me up man!"  "I am holding you up, hold me up!"  It was pretty funny.  Very cute too.  I hope my little analogy doesn't turn into a reality for those two, they are close in age and I am afraid that they could end up being partners in crime down the road a few years.  Logan, of course, was fascinated with wrapping paper.  He spent most of his present unwrapping time playing with the wrapping...

After Denise's family went home to see what the Elves brought them in jammies, my mom and dad, Jeff, and Jen, and the rest of Me Hardys found Elf gifts in our beds!

 After opening them to find a haul of awesome pajama wear, the boys bathed and showered and went off to bed and we stayed up a while playing Texas Hold 'Em and watching Jeff kick our butts.  Jeff and Jen stayed over Christmas Eve and we woke up early Christmas morning (the older boys were up at 5:00 am but we made them wait until 7:15 am) to fresh snow and Santa's haul!  Grandpa Bruce and Grandma Dorothy joined us for the festival of present opening and "passing out" because the gifts were so good.

They moved on to Denise's to witness her present festival around 9:30 am and we cooked a big breakfast and spent the rest of the day playing with new gifts, reorganizing old toys, cleaning up wrapping paper, and contemplating the Savior's birth.  

I love our family traditions because each Christmas Eve night we watch a short video on the Nativity and read the passages in Luke that describe the circumstances of Jesus' humble birth.  What a story!  To think that the greatest human being to ever live, and our personal Savior was born, like we are, to a woman, in a stable and slept in a manger of straw.  I'm sure it wasn't hay, hay is much too scratchy...unless it was grass hay, then maybe.  Anyway, somehow, for me to consider His birth in such a way causes me to feel hopeful that maybe I may be able to be more like Him.  Such a time of hope Christmas is.

After Crazy Christmas, we settled in for the 3 day preparation for Jeff's 9th birthday.  I can't believe my child is 9 years old.  He's super tall too.  He's up to my shoulders these days.  How in the heck did that happen?  Jeff lost the opportunity to have a big friend-invite birthday due to some behavior issues at home and school but we had lots of fun anyway.  Todd's parents (Nana and Papa, Lorna and Rick) came up to visit just for Jeff's birthday and what a great time we had!  After Jeff went scrambling around opening his multiple gifts (and "passed out" some more due to their fabulousness), we had a big breakfast at home and then went to Fat Cats for pizza, bowling, and arcade gaming.  Jeff went crazy.  I bowled the game of my life.

It was a good birthday for both of us.  Jackson is quite the bowler too...who knew?  Logan doesn't do so well.  Actually, he kind of sucks.  After a while we took off his bowling shoes and took the ball away and occupied him with other pursuits.  I'm kidding...Logan didn't bowl.  The afternoon of Jeff's birthday involved going to Barnes and Noble and picking out some new books (he reads at a 6th grade level) and going to dinner at Tepanyaki.  He loved it!  We had a great time.  My parents were there, Todd's parents were there, and there were the Me Hardys.  It was so much fun!  A more apt celebration for a special 9 year old boy was never had.  We love our Jeffrey and are so grateful for him.  I am sure, after his birthday celebration, there is no doubt of that.

We took another quick trip to see the Zoo Lights at Utah's Hogle Zoo on December 30th.  We went with Nana and Papa.  We all had a great time seeing the animals in fresh snow and marveling at the great job the zoo does making this event one we are definitely going to add to our yearly holiday traditions.  Rick and Lorna had recently been to San Diego Zoo and, if you've been you know that it is the BEST ZOO EVER, but I think Hogle Zoo impressed them with the Zoo Lights.  Way to go our little zoo!  In addition to this event, Logan got his first hair cut, and his first "being mobile" war wound.  You can see both here...our poor little carpet-rashed baby!  He's gonna be walking in days.  I am terrified!

New Year's Eve was spent at a party with our neighborhood plus at our dear friends' Brad and Stacey Jackson's home across the street.  We had so much fun eating grilled Bratwurst and Chicken and playing Texas Hold 'Em.  It was a lot of fun to ring in the New Year with neat friends and their abundant children.  At midnight, we set off some of Brad's impressive collection of illegal fireworks.  We brought 2009 in with a BANG!  It was funny to note that my horses are all completely conditioned to the fireworks now.  Living across the street from Brad has made the well-prepared for hunting, bombing, strafing, and general war use.  What a bonus!  I don't think any of them even opened an eye to see what the noise was about.

As we moved into the New Year, our beloved University of Utah Utes beat Alabama (yes, ALABAMA!) 31-17 in the 2009 Sugar Bowl in New Orleans on January 2nd.  This means that they end their season 13-0, undefeated, and some of those games were against super tough teams.  We are so proud of our Utah Utes and await the verdict...will they get the #1 ranking they deserve, being as they are the ONLY undefeated team in the nation?  It's not likely, but it may, at least, cause the "powers that be" to reflect upon whether the current system for Championship College Football is working...I can only hope.  It was a great game and I love my Alma Mater!  One last note, Utah governor John Huntsman Jr. declared January 5th Utah Utes Day here in Utah.  How cool is that?  BYU doesn't have a day...  GO UTES!

Today, as I sit and relay the highlights of the last two weeks and our holiday and birthday celebrations, I have one last bit of not so good news.  Todd lost his Grandma Mary Lou Hardy this morning.  She has already been fighting off several different ailments over the past year and has been gradually deteriorating in her health.  It has been hard to watch such a strong, independent, and vibrant woman struggle with the ravages of time.  The day before Christmas Eve she suffered a fall when visiting Todd's aunt and had a serious head injury as a result.  Since she was in Salt Lake when she fell, we were able to see her regularly through out the holiday weeks as she struggled with her injuries and existing conditions.  Unfortunately, her health was poor enough and her injuries severe enough that she wasn't able to fight off a serious lung infection and ultimately passed with pneumonia.  We are so sad to see her go.  She will be greatly missed!  It is times like these that I am so grateful that we have the Gospel of Jesus Christ and that we know our families can be together forever.  I have no idea how people get through these times without that knowledge.  We will  be attending her funeral in Alamo, Nevada sometime within the next week.  I ask that you consider Todd and his family in your prayers and that you all remember to enjoy your loved ones while they are here for when they are gone, they will be missed!

Well, that's it!  I hope you are all having a wonderful New Year!  I hope you enjoyed Utah Utes Day and that you realize what a great team they are and that you just go ahead and join the fan club!  My New Year's Commitment this year is to get myself back in shape.  I am physically stressed with post-baby weight (and then some), too much worrying, and yummy (yet not so good) food.  I commit to get my body back to healthy and liveable and I challenge you to take on growth yourselves in this new opportunity 2009.   May you all be blessed with health and abundance this year!  Much love to you all!!