the one about the Jazz game

Well, I am glad to be home. We left on Friday afternoon for Salt Lake, and got home Sunday night. We went to a Jazz game on Saturday, and really that was all we did. Brett couldn't go, so Quayd and I rode out with Gleneita and Talia. We had our own room and just hung out. Talia went snowboarding on Saturday and Gleneita rested all day so Quayd and I swam, walked to the mall and eventually walked to the game. It was really quite boring. But also nice to get away and relax. Gleneita and Talia shopped all day yesterday, but I am poor, so Quayd and I just walked around the mall. Anyway, it was a nice weekend, but I am sure glad to be home!! Don't tell him this, because I don't want it to go to his head, but I really missed Brett. I was so glad to come home and be with him. He said he missed me too. So much, infact, that he couldn't sleep without me in bed with him. He had to stack pillows up where I usually sleep and scoot up next to them. Sweet huh. I feel bad saying this, but I actually slept better this weekend than I have in weeks. Sorry, Brett. Quayd and I had our own beds and slept like logs!

We went to Build-A-Bear before the game and Quayd made a cute bear with a Jazz uniform, and named him Jazzy. It is super cute and he had a blast making it.

We also had dinner at Panda Express which is one of Quayd's favorites!


The Jazz played the Boston Celtics. It was such a good close game, but they eventually lost. Dang. But it was exciting and intense. Quayd got pretty bored watching, so thank goodness he had Drake to hang out with. He also played with CJ, Rhonda, and Braden.




Well, it was a nice weekend, so thank you Grandma and Grandpa Galley, for the tickets.

the one about Christmas; finally over

I sound like such a total scrooge. But I don't care. I am super glad Christmas is over. I love love love it. Don't get me wrong, but by the time you buy all of the gifts, go to all of the parties, get all of the groceries and build yourself up for this great grand gala affair, it's over. Just over. Done. It is so hard not to get wrapped up in all of the "Christmas Crap." I just get overwhelmed and stressed out. I worry that I got this person to big of a gift and not a good enough gift for that one. It just gets to be too much, so I am so thankful it is over. I tried super hard this year to think about Mary. And I sure did. It made my Christmas a little bit more special, I think. I thought about it so much, infact, that whenever I look at my nativity and see her holding her precious baby boy, I kinda get a little tearey eyed. I will be forever grateful for those feelings I have enjoyed this season.

On Christmas day night, I stayed up late and took down all of my Christmas decorations. Except for one. My beautiful nativity set. I couldn't stand to part with it for a whole year. So this is how it looks in my living room right now. It is on the back of my piano. And that is my spoiled rotten cat, Skeet, sleeping in his favorite spot. Infact, I think on my Christmas Eve picture of Quayd's stuff, he is laying right there too. Anyway, I left a little bit of garland and a few white lights. It is as beautiful as ever. The other decoartions I have right now is my winter stuff. I have a bunch of blue, white, silver, snowflakes and snowmen. My brother and his wife gave me this cute decoration for Christmas. It is big letters that say WINTER. This is the top of my TV right now.

I got some gifts this year that really made my heart swell with joy! I got the KitchenAid mixer that I have coveted for YEARS!!! It is the Artisan Stand Mixer and it is red. It was also on Oprah's favorite things list for 2007. I think it made Mandy's list too! I am so excited. i also got some cute clothes, my fun WINTER letters, an oil difuser that makes my home smell like a dream, and a super cute Christmas thing Quayd made for me at school. I already packed it away though so I can't post a picture. I suck. I should leave it up all year because it is darling, but it is Christmas-ey and I couldn't handle Christmas stuff anymore. It is without a doubt my favorite gift this year. Well, I guess it is my 2nd favorite. (don't tell Quayd!) But can you blame me? I mean, look at this thing!!!

One of our favorite Christmas traditions is our annual trip to SLC with all of the Galley's to see a Utah Jazz game. The tickets are our gift from Grandma and Grandpa Galley each year. Our game is Saturday night and Quayd and I are riding with Gleneita and heading out tomorrow. (Friday.) Brett has been taking a fire inspector class and his test is Saturday, so he can't make it this year. The only other time he can take his test is in March and it will be right in the middle of the EMT class he is taking. He is sad to miss it, and I am sad too, but oh well. I love to go and just because he isn't going, doesn't mean I am going to miss out! I am so excited to relax, read a book, hang with my boy, catch a sweet game, and spend some great quality time with a bunch of my favorite people in the whole world. Don't worry, I will take lots of pictures and blog all about it.

I have one last picture and story to share. Brett's little brother, Cory, and his wife had a sweet baby boy in June of this year. Branson. He was born with cleft lip and pallate. He just had his first of MANY surgeries about a week before Christmas. Here are a few pictures of him at Christmas. I just can't believe how amazing he looks. He is the SWEETEST baby you have ever met. He is just so mellow and never makes much of a fuss. I just love him, and look at those big beautiful blue eyes! Is he cute, or what?
This is him before. Still so sinking cute!
And here are my sweet little nephews on the Lane side at Gleneita's on Christmas morning. Quayd, holding Branson, Beau'D and Kelby.

the one about Christmas Eve

So here I sit, unable to sleep on Christmas Eve. I think I am more excited that Quayd. Ok, probably not. But I am so excited for him to see his stuff. I couldn't sleep, so I got up to peek and see if Santa had come yet. He did! This is what he left for Quayd. Let me tell you about a few of the things he asked Santa for. (He is so funny!) He really wanted an electric pencil sharpener. I just thought that was so cute! They have one at school, and he just really feels like we need one at home. Last year, he was the same way about a Chi-a Pet. He also wanted some Chevron cars for his collection, and there are a few new Disney Cars, cars that he didn't have and he wanted those. He also wanted some Legos and a pirate ship. So it looks like Santa brought a Lego pirate ship. Way to go Santa! I love the wood fire truck and guns. Quayd will totally think that Santa made those special in his workshop.

So there you go. A sneak peek at what Santa left for my Quayder Bug.

We had a great party tonight with my family. It is our tradition to do a big Christmas Eve thing. It was at my Grandma and Grandpa's and Brandon, Danette and the boys came, and my mom too. We had a delicious dinner; turkey, ham, my famous funeral potatoes, rolls, green bean casserole and some other goodies. Then we exchanged gifts with Ga and Pop. I am SO excited!!! I got a super nice KitchenAid mixer. I have wanted one for years, and I finally got it! YaHOo! My sweet Grandpa built a Lego table for Quayd. I was going to buy one, but mentioned it to him, and he was excited to build it for "Bubba." (That is what he calls Quayd.)

I had some drama today with some of the things I ordered for Quayd online. I ordered it weeks ago and payed extra for 2-day shipping. I won't go into the boring details, but it had been on the delivery woman's truck for several days. She just hadn't got to it yet. ERRRRRRRR!!! I was so mad! It got me all upset and flustered. I spent my whole day trying to track down this dang box. So finally at 6:00, and with a little help from my hero, Kristen, I got the package. It was not delivered to my house though, Brett has to meet the delivery truck at the Maeser 7-11. Kristen totally saved Christmas for me! A big shout out to her. I knew her brother worked for this shipping company and with a little help from Kandice, we talked to Kristen and she talked to her brother. Thank you so much Kristen. Really. And you too, Kandice. And Janice & Talia, thanks for driving around looking for the truck for me. I love you all so much!

After I had all of that stress, I was just so worked up and I started to think about how different Christmas will be without my Father-In-Law. I started crying and I just couldn't stop. I feel so terrible that we will still be doing our fun family stuff, and he is down in a cold snowy hole. I do know that it is just his body in that awful hole, but it just makes me so sad to think about.

Then in the middle of that big breakdown, my mom called me and asked me to come over to her house that she had a special gift for me. I went over and she gave me the greatest thing. She knows how sad I have been about losing my ring. She wore my Grandma's ring when she was married to my ex-step-dad, Ray. She still had the ring. She talked to my Grandma and they decided to give it to me. I love it. It's not MY ring, but it is the next best thing. It is so me. It is actually sorta similar to my ring. It fits me perfectly. I don't need to have it sized or anything. It is very antique looking and I just love it. I am so happy. Of course, that really set my emotions into over drive again, so I seriously cried for most of the late afternoon. Then when I got my package I finally settled down. I am still feeling that quiver thing in my throat you get when you have been crying. But I am feeling better. Tomorrow will be interesting.

When we came home from our party, Quayd frosted some cupcakes for Santa. He thought Santa might be getting sick of cookies, so he wanted to leave cupcakes. Yes, that is a parrot beside him. He really wanted Squakers McCaw for Christmas, and my Grandma gave it to him. It is so funny. Annoying, but funny. Pop was so funny at our party tonight. He was holding Squakers on his arm and talking to it and it would totally talk back. It was hilarious.

It is such a pretty night tonight. It is snowing a lot. But not like blizzard snow. Just peaceful, gentle, beautiful snow. I love it. I love Christmas and I am so glad it is finally here. This sounds a little scrooge-ey, but I am SO ready for it to be over. As I was staring out into the beautiful winter sky, I thought of Mary. On that quiet night. Giving birth to the most special baby in the world. It must have been the most spiritual thing ever. I wish I could have been there. Thank you, sweet Mary. Thank you to my sweet friends and family who read my blog. I love you all so much. Your love and support means everything to me. Merry Christmas.

the one about the fallen angel

This is my friend Alison's little girl. This picture is hilarious. I nearly fell over when I saw it on her blog, so I totally stole it. I had to share it with you. It is precious. I love kids!!!!!

the one about the Galley party

Oh my heck. Our Galley family party was so much fun. It is always so much fun when we all get together. Rhonda was in charge this year and she had a GREAT idea! We had an ugly Christmas sweater/outfit contest. I made elf costumes for Brett, Quayd and I. They were kinda cute. The only picture I have of us all together is this one of the Lane family. By the time we took this picture, Santa had already come by and brought PJ's for the kids, so Quayd was half elf, half pajama. And I was the only one still wearing my awesome shoe covers. I worked so hard on them, and they were so cool! As you can see, not all of us were as excited to dress up as others. It was so fun though. Gleneita had a lovely sweater and spandex combo, Talia looked like a hostess at a restaurant, and Brynn.... well, Brynn.... I don't even know what to say about Brynn!!! she had a tree skit for a skirt, and HUGE bow in her hair to accentuate her big bangs, and to top it all off, she had lingerie over the whole ensemble.

As I mentioned, Santa came. Quayd was so excited to see him! He ran right up and gave him a huge hug. No fear in that boy! By the way, Quayd is pretty sure that was the real Sant because his beard was kind of yellow-ish, like real hair. Not bright white like the special "Santa Helpers." I think he is right.

We had a wonderful roast beef and mashed potato dinner. It was heavenly. We also played some games. This is the kids playing a fun little game.

Now, I know I have a few faithful readers from the Galley family... so these pictures are for you. The rest of you can look too, and just laugh at our crazy outfits!!! The first picture was my personal favorite.... Rhett. He looks like some hottie from the seventies. And this is Grandma Galley and Rhonda.
This is Amy and her husband McCade. Don't be fooled by his face. He was SOSOSOSOSOSOSOSO excited to dress up for the party! ;)
This is Gleneita with her cute sisters. From left to right, Michele, Marcie, Gleneita, Rhonda and Deanna.
This is Rhett's wife, Emilee. Not the most flattering picture of her, but she is so cute and fun!!!
And Ty and his adorable girlfriend Kelsie.

It was such a great party. Thank you Rhonda for all of your hard work. I love you, really. I am so glad I am a part of this amazing family. I have NOTHING bad to say about my in-laws. I am just so thrilled that they let me be a part of their fun stuff. They rock.

the one about Quayd's friend party

On Saturday, some of my friends and I decided to do a little party for our kids. They drew names a few weeks ago and we set a $15 limit. Janice was in charge of pizza. Tari was in charge of drinks and paper goods. Holly made her delicious sugar cookies and frosting so the kids could decorate their own. Kandice did a super cute game and I had stuff for the kids to make ornaments. They had so much fun. It was such a great idea and I hope we do it again. For years and years to come. It was good for the kids to have a special party just for them. Quayd and I are so blessed to be surrounded by such great friends.

the one about Quayd's Christmas program

I'm so sorry to have to be the one to tell you this, but your kid(s) aren't the cutest in the world. Because mine is.

Oh my gosh. Quayd's program was AWESOME! He did such a great job. This was has part. "J is for Jesus, the Christ child so dear. We celebrate his birth on Christmas each year." He practiced and practiced so he knew it was perfect. And it was. He was precious. I am so proud of him. And get this... there were so many people there to support him. Brett and I, my mom, Brett's mom, Ga and Pop, Grandma and Grandpa Lane, Aunt Debbie and Ricci and Brynn and Beau'D. I loved it. How lucky is he to have all of that support. He is such a special boy.

After the program, most of us went out to lunch. We had Quayd's favorite, Chineese.

This is his whole class.

This is his best buddy, Raymond, and this is his "crush" Brinklee. They are both such cute kids. Raymond is a smart, handsome, funny great kid. I am so glad they found each other. Brinklee is GEORGEOUS! And she is a total sweetheart. I talked to her mom today and we are going to set up a play date over the Christmas holiday for these two. We need to have Raymond over again too. He is great. Quayd's other best friend is Tate. He wanted to give all three of these kids a Christmas present, so we got them a neat swirly lollypop from the cute little candy store in town. Anyway, it was a great day. I am so proud of my big boy. I love watching him grow and get so smart! I think his family likes him too. My Grandpa, Pop, and Grandpa Lane were both grinning from ear to ear during the whole thing. I can't tell you enough how great he was. He is so special. I am so glad to be his mom.

the one about my nativity set

I know I have already posted today, but I wanted to talk about this too, and thought it deserved its own title and entry.

I have never had a nativity set of my own. Mostly, because I have known what I want and wasn't willing to settle for less. And the one I want, the willow tree set, is WAY to expensive for me to justify buying.

So the other day, I was out Christmas shopping and saw this one. I LOVE IT!! It looks alot like the willow tree set I have coveted for so long, but it was super lots cheaper. I do feel like I had to settle, but I am perfectly happy about it. I totally love this awesome nativity! Isn't it beautiful? I put it on my kitchen table so I could sit there and stare at it. I do it everytime I go into the kitchen. I just look at it and think about how it must have been that night.

I love to think about Mary and how she must have felt knowing she was carrying the Savior. I love the song, "Mary did you know?" Did she know that when she kissed her baby boy, she was kissing the face of God? And that he would one day walk on water, and heal the sick, and die for our sins? Our primary president asked me to help her in sharing time this coming Sunday and bring a Chrismas item or something and tell the kids why I love it so much and how it makes me thankful for Christmas. I instantly knew what I was going to do. I am going to take a baby picture of Quayd and now that I have a new nativity set, I am going to take the piece of Mary holding her precious baby. I am going to tell the kids how much I love Mary and her sacrifice. That being a Mother has made me realize just how much Heavenly Father and Jesus love me. I went through a big ordeal getting my baby boy here, and I am grateful every single day for the whole experience. My son is the most precious gift I could ever ask for.

Quayd asked me the other day what I want for Christmas, and I told him that I already have everything I want and need. And I do. I have a great husband who loves me, I have the knowledge of the Savior, I have a great family and in-laws, and I have the most perfect, wonderful, beautiful, amazing, smart, awesome son in the world.

And now I have a beautiful Nativity set.

Merry Christmas to me!!!

the one about tampons

OK, don't be alarmed by my title. This is not going to be anything gross. So keep reading...

I was looking online a few months ago and somehow came across a website where they made crafts out of tampons. I was looking around the site and giggling a little bit about the funny things they made. So a few days ago, I was thinking of something clever I could do for my friends and remembered the funny crafts. So then I wondered what I could do on my own... I pondered and thought about it for a couple of days and finally came up with this. I made some for a few friends and some of the friends I have made while substituting at Quayd's school. I gave them to everyone that was involved in the "condom" incident. By the way, I guess the teacher put the condom in an envelope and sent it home to the kids parents!!! Anyway, the tampon was quite a hit. I am quite proud of myself. I made 16 and I just give them to whoever I happen to see, so if you didn't get one, please don't be offended. Maybe I could make one every year and they could become a series. I wonder if Halmark is interested in adding them to thier "Keepsake" collection. Here is another picture of all of the ones that I made.

the one about our gingerbread house

Brett was in SLC for some work training for a couple of days, until tonight. Well, last night, Gleneita stopped in to say hi to Quayd and I. I was just throwing some dinner together so we invited her to stay and eat. We had one of our favorites, which is one of her favorites, too. Macaroni and tomato juice. Weird, I know. It is one of the wierd things that Quayd and I love to have when Brett is gone. Brett is super picky and very difficult to feed. Anyway, Gleneita was thrilled. Then we got talking about cookies, and I told her about one of my VERY FAVORITE cookies ever. They have peanut butter in them, and Brett despises peanut butter, so it is another one that Quayd and I love when Brett is gone. Gleneita thought they sounded good, I had the stuff to make them, so we just made a batch. Then we ate a good share of them while visiting and laughing! I had also promised Quayd we would make a gingerbread house. I bought one of those kits from Wal-Mart because he had wanted one so badly. If you know Gleneita, you know that she is not very crafty. Bless her heart! (you can say anything about anybody as long as you end it with, "Bless her heart.") Anyway, we talked her into staying and helping us. We seriously had so much fun. Us girls had no patience for the dang thing, so when I was trying to hold it together and she was trying to spread royal icing, she suggested a glue gun. WHO KNEW?!?!?!? Guess what? It totally worked. We knew we weren't going to eat the nasty thing anyway, so why not!?!?! It was funny. I broke out the glue gun and we got all of the walls together, then turned Quayd loose on the decorating. He did great, I think. He wanted a "Q" for Quayd on one roof panel and a "C" for Christmas on the other. Then he loaded it up with all sorts of candies. It was probably a "had to be there" evening, but it was such a blast. I love my mother-in-law so much. I know it sounds weird, and I am not even sucking up thinking she might read this. Trust me, she couldn't find this thing on the internet if you paid her!!! she is not very computer savy. But seriously, I love her to death. I am so happy when she just pops in. She is great!

Here are a few pictures of our fun adventure!




Oh, and since I brought it up, here is the recipe for the best cookies EVER!!!! And don't try to make them for Christmas, because I already am. Ne Ner Ne Ner. And look, they are even cute!
Chocolate Kiss Peanut Blossoms

sift together:
1 3/4 cup flour 1/2 tsp salt 1 tsp. baking soda
cream together:
1/2 c shortening 1/2 c peanut butter
mix both together, and gradually add:
1/2 c sugar 1/2 c packed brown sugar
creaming well, add:
1 unbeaten egg 2 tbsp. milk 1 tsp vanilla

beat everything well. shape into round balls and roll in sugar. place on baking sheet and bake at 375* for 8 minutes. remove from oven and place an unwrapped Hershey's Kiss in the center. press gently.

Seriously these rock! be sure to let them cool well before stacking them, because even thought you don't bake the kiss, it gets crazy hot and takes a long time to cool completely. but they sure are good to eat when they aren't totally cooled!!! let me know if you try it and what you think.

the one about Kayler and our sledding adventure

Last Friday, Kandice's cute brother, Kael, got married. Kandice asked me to help with her sweet little Kayler while they went to the Temple. I was so excited to have him. I will admit, he is a handful, but he was SO good! I had so much fun with him. Quayd was at school, so it was just the two of us. Basically, if you keep him with snacks and cartoons, he is happy. He totally loved those Candy Cane Hershey's Kisses. I was tickling him a little and here he is drooling them all over himself! I had to make a cake for a dinner our ward was providing for a funeral, so I was a little busy in the kitchen for awhile. He just sat on this stool in front of the T.V. watching Barney. Like I said, if I kept his treat supply full, he was happy! He was so much fun and I am so glad Kandice asked me to help her. She is so good to help me, so this was a great way for me to BEGIN to pay her back. Kayler is such a cute baby. He has the funniest personality. I can't even explain it, but he looks so sweet and innocent, but he has this little naughty streak in him. Except he is really not that naughty. I just love him! And i kinda love his mom too! ;)

On Saturday, we took Quayd on his first sledding adventure. It is so much fun now that he is old enough to do those kind of things. Brennen spent the night on Friday night, and Brett promised them a sledding trip at the golf course. So we got up bright and early and had waffles for breakfast. Brett and I needed to run to Wal-Mart,so the boys stayed at Brandon's for a little bit while we gathered everything for our trip. While at Wal-Mart, I ran into my friend Roberta. She is Quayd's best friend fron school, Raymond's mom. I asked her if we could go pick Raymond up and take him with us. They were so cute and had so much fun. It was Brett and I, Quayd, Brennen and Raymond. We got pizza, had hot chocolate and donuts and sledded our butts off! Here are a few pictures.