the one about a dorky Christmas picture

OK. Don't think that I am a total nerd.... but look at this funny picture of my spoiled rotten cat, Skeet. He is so funny, and grouchy, and old and morbidly obese, but I love him to death!

the one about the best Christmas gift.... EVER!

A couple months ago, Brett, Quayd and I were all at Wal-Mart around 9:00 pm. We had just gone to buy one thing and as we were leaving, we saw the electric blankets. Brett and I decided that we wanted one for our bed. Once we explained what it was to Quayd, he wanted one too. We didn't bring much money with us that night and forgot the debit card/check book. We only had enough money on us to buy one, so we got one for Quayd. We just never really got around to getting one for us. Fast forward to December 17-19th. Brett went on a hunting trip with his Grandpa Lane, so Quayd wanted to sleep with mom. We decided to bring his electric blanket into my room. I had no idea how wonderful they are! It was so nice and warm. His is only a twin size and he is quite a little blankey hog, so I only got a little taste of the delicious fruit. When Brett got home that Sunday afternoon, he was exhausted and wanted to take a nap. Quayd's blanket was still on my bed, so Brett was able to partake of the nice warm blanket too. We knew right then that we wanted one. BAD! We started teasing Quayd that we were going to steal his. It became quite the joke around here!

This year for Christmas, Brett and I decided not to buy each other gifts. We didn't really need anything and money was kinda tight this year. Quayd was feeling kind of bad that there were no gifts for us under the tree, except the things he bought for us at his school Santa's Workshop thing. We decided that since we were planning on buying an electric blanket for ourselves anyway, it would be a great thing for Quayd to give to us. However, we wanted it to be his idea! It took some creative thinking and planning on our part, but we were able to pull it off. We called Quayd's uncle Cory and gave him the scoop. Quayd was at his cousins and Brett and I were in town. We met up with Cory, gave him some money, and told him to go pick up Quayd. Cory told Quayd that he was going to take him shopping for a gift for his mom and dad, he dropped a few hints on what we might like, and Quayd totally took the bait. They came home that night and Quayd was so excited to go in his room and wrap it all by himself. Of course, he wanted us to open it right then, but we made him wait to give it to us until Christmas. From that night until Christmas morning, we still kept teasing him about taking his blanket. He would giggle and say things like, "You are going to LOVE what I got you for Christmas!" One day I said to him, "I get so cold at night. I wish I had an electric blanket to keep me warm." Quayd ducked his cute little head and grinned from ear to ear. It was so awesome! I know it sounds silly, but his excitement over OUR gift made this Christmas SO MUCH FUN!! On Christmas morning, of course he was excited to see what Santa brought, but immediately put his gift to us in our laps and demanded we open it right away. His face was priceless!!! It was so fun to see him get into the giving spirit. We put our blanket on our bed first thing and he still asks us everyday if we like the gift he got for us. We do, by the way! It is wonderful. But even if it were crappy, it would still be my favorite gift. :)

the one about Quayd and Santa

Wednesday night was the Fire District Christmas Party. It is a big party for all of the fire fighters and their families in all of the fire departments in our county. It is a pretty fun party. They had AMAZING food! It was all dutch oven food. SO GOOD! Anyway, Santa was able to stop by and Quayd was pretty stoked! We have been asking Quayd for weeks what he wanted for Christmas and he would never really give us a clear answer. It was always things like, "toys for my puppy," or "I don't care." So when we found out Santa was going to be there, we told him he better get thinking because this would probably be his only chance to tell him. Right before Santa showed up, Quayd told me he was going to tell him that he wanted an AirSoft gun. It is similar to a BB Gun, but it shoots little plastic pellets. YIKES! Brett and I were surprised that he even knew what it was. I didn't know, I had to ask Brett! Anyway, before we had time to tell him to rethink his wish list, Santa walked in the door and Quayd ran to get in line. We were kind of dumbfounded. When it was Quayd's turn, I took this very high quality picture with my cell phone, then we couln't wait to hear about the visit he had with Santa. Get ready..... this is FUNNY!

us: "Quayd, how was Santa?"

Quayd: "good."

us: "What did you tell him you wanted?"

Quayd: "An AirSoft gun."

us: "And what did Santa say?"

Quayd: (looking very defeated) "He said, 'You'll shoot your eye out.'"




BaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What a GREAT and very funny Santa!!! Gotta love Santa, and you gotta love 'A Christmas Story'! We will have to see what Santa really comes up with.

the one about the golf tee candy

Oh my heck, Quayd is the funniest kid ever!!!

Last week at school was "Santa's Secret Shop." If you have school aged children, you know that this is a little store at school that the kids can buy gifts for their family members all by themselves, wrap them and keep it a surprise. Quayd came home with an envelope for money and a list to fill out. I wrote on the list that he could spend 3-5 dollars on Brett and I, buy something for his puppy and get something for himself. I put $13 dollars in the envelope. He came home with his little wrapped gifts and asked if he could open the one for himself. I said "yes." He was sitting by me, but I wasn't paying total attention to what he was doing, however, he was saying how excited he was to open and eat this gift. He tore it open and pulled the item out of its box. The next thing I hear was, "Ewwwwwww!!! This isn't CANDY!" He had pulled one of the tees out and tried to bite it. Of course, he had me attention now. I looked at it. Examined it. Then asked him why he thought it was candy. He said, "Well that is what the box said and I have been excited all day to eat it." Still puzzled, I pull the box out of the trash and this is what I saw. How cute is that!?!?!

the one about a FUNNY gift

I was cleaning my closet a few weeks ago and found the funniest gift I have ever received! A few years ago, Janice got me this t-shirt for Christmas and I LOVE IT!!! I am madly in love with Patrick Dempsey and she was able to finally find the gift that proves his love for me as well!!

the one about Christmas 2008

Phewwwwwww....... It's finally over.

I don't know what my deal was this year, but I just never really got into Christmas. We had an amazing time, everything was perfect, Quayd was spoiled, I was spoiled... seriously, everything was perfect. But I am SO GLAD its over.

On Christmas Eve, we always go to my Grandma's and have dinner and gift exchange. We have done it for as long as I can remember. I always look forward to it. We always have a great time, awesome food and perfect gifts. This year did not disappoint. We had turkey, ham, funeral potatoes, veggies, rolls, and lots more. My Grandparent's, Mom, Brother and his family and me and my family were there. Ten people total. Quayd got a bunch of those magnetic things. One set is even a roller coaster thing and he was in seventh heaven! He also got a mini table-top pool table. It is super cute!!!! I got a nice new digital camera. My camera has finally had it, so that is why there are no pictures. Anyway, it was great!! Probably the best gift was having my grandma home, and doing MUCH BETTER!!!!

After we got home, we got everything ready for Santa. We were all so tired, so we all went to be around 9:00. Quayd was so tired that by 9:30 he was sound asleep. Brett and I were crazy tired too, so we "took care of a few things" and we were in bed by 9:41. I don't remember anything after that until 7:00 am. Then we woke up to find this......

Quayd did well from Santa, as you can see. He got a huge dump truck that was clear full of goodies. He got a bunch more of his favorite mini airplanes, a globe, tons of space ships, a firetruck set, a gumball machine, a wii game, a Nintendo DS with 4 games and a bunch of other stuff. It is so hard not to spoil him. So instead of fighting it, we just go for it and spoil the crap out of him. He is such a good boy though, he deserves every bit of it. I am so excited, because Quayd and Brett surprised me (sorta) with and iPod touch!!!! I wanted one so bad and I was sure there was no way we could pull it off, but good old Brett came through for me. It is such a cute story. Last week, I had a NASTY stomach flu. I felt horrible and I had been throwing up and pooping for 2 days straight. I had asked Brett to stop and get me some Sprite on his way home from work. He came home and asked Quayd to go with him to the store. I really didn't think much of it. I just assumed that Brett was trying to get Quayd out of my hair so I could rest. Later that night when Brett was in the shower, I was putting stuff away that he had bought at Wal-Mart. in a bag of goodies, there were some brand new ear buds, pink. I thought it was weird but I didn't want to say anything in case it was a surprise. I seriously LOVE surprises and I love to be surprised. (However, I HATE to be startled, so don't ever try to surprise me by hiding and shouting, "SURPRISE!" That would just take all of the good stuff out of the surprise.) So Brett gets out of the shower and comes into the kitchen and says, "Oh. I got these for you. I know your iPod ear buds hurt your ears." That was it. I was like, "Bummer." Anyway, fast forward a bit.... The next morning, while I was putting on my makeup, I was charging this no-name brand mP4 player that Brett won at work. I had come to terms that I was not getting my iPod touch. Quayd walked into the bathroom and asked, "Mom, what is that?" I said, "It's sorta like an iPod." Then, so innocently, he says, "Oh. Like the one me and Dad got for you?" I just sat there. I asked, "Did you and Dad get me an iPod?" He got really upset, shouted, "MAYBE!" and ran out of the room. I felt so bad for finding out and even worse that he was upset that he thought he ruined the surprise. I never said another word and just pretended like I had no idea. I told Brett the story, and although he was disappointed, he agreed that we wouldn't tell Quayd about the mess up. So they wrapped it all up for me and put it under the tree. When Quayd gave it to me today, he was SO excited. (seriously, so was I!!!) He still has no idea that I knew and he was so proud to give it to me. I have played with it all day. I got all of the songs that I could ever desire on it. It is SO COOL!!!!! I love it. Thank you so much Brett and Quayd. I love it so much. It means so much to me that you would go to all that trouble to stash money and secretly buy it for me. Brett, I love you. You are the best!!

We were able to relax for a few hours before heading to Gleneita's. Brett had a nap and Quayd and I went next door to see what Brayden and Brennen got. They too, did well.

We went to Gleneita's at 10:00 am. This year we decided to draw names so it cut WAY back on the cost of gifts. We all still left with nice stuff and it was great. Talia took pictures for me since my new camera wasn't charged yet.
We were just relaxing on the floor while all the kids ran around us.




Isn't Branson about the cutest thing you have ever seen???





Cory, Quayd and Branson wrestled forever!! I don't know who had more fun.



Beau'D had this flat ball that he kept wearing as a hat. What a nut!




We had such a great Christmas. Tons of wonderful memories, laughs, gifts and everything else. I am so grateful for my awesome family, wonderful husband and beautiful son. I am also grateful that Christmas is over for a whole year.

Now, we are preparing for our annual trip to SLC to the Jazz game with the Galley family. We are leaving around noon Friday and coming home on Sunday. Wish us luck!!!

the one about some Christmas happenings

Holy crap. I am so sorry to all of my faithful blog fans that I haven't posted in 2 1/2 weeks. I think that is the longest it has ever been in between posts. I am super sorry. I have been so busy. Like so busy in fact, that I have barely had time to stalk all of you. So now that I have spent a few days catching up on all of your lives, I can catch you up on mine.

Quayd had his first grade Christmas program last week. It was so cute! All of the classes sang some songs together, but then each class did something alone. They were able to perform and make it more personal. Quayd's class did a puppet show to the 12 Days of Christmas. They went through the whole song with their puppets and it was SO CUTE! I don't want you to have to watch the whole thing, so here it is starting at 12 and going down. Quayd is "4 calling birds."

The crazy kid at the end is Quayd's buddy Rylan. He is a nut!!! We love him!

We also had Quayd's class party. I love to help with the parties and stuff, so thanks to my rockin' boss, I was able to leave work for awhile and go help.




Another big event was the Holiday Inn Christmas party. Of course, Tara and I planned it. We wouldn't have had a party otherwise. Tara and I pushed for it, therefore got stuck with it. It was ok though. We had lots of fun. We played BINGO and we even had some sweet prizes. Tara and I went to tons of local businesses and worked out some trades. They gave us gift certificates, we gave them a free night stay. That worked out awesome! We also did a white elephant gift exchange, pot luck, and an ugly Christmas outfit contest. There were only like 5 people that dressed up. Brett and I were 2 of them. I am sorry for the obscenity. Brett "grabbed something" right before the picture was taken, and that was the only picture we got. Yes, we are wearing sequined berets. This is Spencer's hot outfit. He totally won, by the way.
And here are a few more random pictures of the party.



We also had the Galley Christmas party the other night. It was fun, as usual. Santa came and brought all of the kids pajamas. It is always fun to see all of the Galley's and it is such a treat to have the Gardiner's come from Castledale. Poor Amy. She had some weird allergic reaction to something and started swelling and itching everywhere. Rhonda actually had to take her to the hospital and she had to stay over night. It was totally weird. Poor girl. If it is going to happen to someone though, it would be her!!!! Love ya Amy!!!

I don't want to go into details because my heart is totally broken over this, as well as Quayd's heart, but we no longer have Itty Bitty Kitty. She just couldn't get over the peeing on the bed thing. It actually got way worse. We tried EVERYTHING!! Anyway, I don't really want to talk about it so I never will again. Please don't ask. And DON'T bring it up to Quayd!!!!!! End of story. I do want to share these cute pictures of cute little Itty with her brother Winston at the Galley's house when I was helping Tara decorate her trees.



A couple of weeks ago, I was over at Aunt Debbie's decorating her tree. Quayd noticed a picture of Brett's dad. I just watched him, to see how he would react. He stood there staring for a few minutes, in silence. He didn't say a word, but went on playing. I didn't bring it up, but on our way home, he said, "Mom, can we go up to the cemetery and decorate Papa's grave?" Of course I said yes. We had bought some things to take up there, so we came home, got the stuff and headed to the cemetery. I am always so amazed at Quayd's reverence there. He gets it. He is such a special kid. We worked hard to decorate it just how Quayd wanted it. Whenever we go there, and its time to leave, Quayd always kneels down and tells Papa that he loves him. Its so awesome. This is our work. Obviously this was a couple of weeks ago because now we have almost 6" of snow on the ground! Our flags are still there from Veteran's Day. I am so glad that Quayd remembers his Papa. He was 1 day away from being 5 when Mike died, so really, he could have gone either way. I don't think it is coincidence that he remembers him so well. He even remembers a lot about the funeral. We talked about it in the car on the way home that day. So amazing. What a great kid. How in the world did I ever deserve him? Even though there are SO many differences between Mary and I, I always think of her at this time of year and how lucky she must have felt to be the mother of the savior. What a sacrifice she made. Being a mom is the greatest blessing ever, and like Mary, I was blessed with the sweetest, kindest most beautiful son ever.

Merry Christmas everyone!!!!

the one for my neighbors

Now, don't get me wrong here.... And don't think I am being a scrooge..... But after much thought, consideration, stress, and a list of pros and cons, I have decided NOT to do the neighbor gift thing this year. Every year I work so hard making treats, trying so hard to get them just perfect, then I spend even more time delivering to all of my wonderful neighbors. It gets to be overwhelming, stressful, time consuming and expensive. I had an epiphany tonight while I was cleaning my house. I realized that my house was a mess, I have been traveling and haven't even unpacked yet, I haven't had a minute to make a nice home cooked meal for just the three of us, let alone sit down at the same time and eat it, and my laundry is stacked to the celing, as well as my dishes. I was, however, excited to think that most of my Christmas shopping is done this year and my Christmas cards will be dropped in the mail on Monday. Then panic took over me as I realized that I hadn't decided on a neighbor gift..... ERRRRRRR.... So that is when it hit me. I really need to eliminate stress in my life, and that is one place I feel like I can do it. My main focus this year is my beautiful 6 year old little boy that is so excited for Christmas he can hardly stand it. He is excited to see Santa and even more excited to see what he is going to leave for him this year. I also want to focus on Christ and the sacrifice he made for us, as well as the sacrifice by Mary and Joseph. No matter what is happening in my life, I know the REAL reason for Christmas. And I will never forget that. So as I sat in my living room tonight thinking of all of these things..... I realized; I don't need to do a neighbor gift to have a great Christmas or to remind me that I have wonderful neighbors and friends who I love. I know who loves me and I know who my true friends are. So there. I don't need a treat to tell me that! ;)

Thank you for hearing my rant.

So to all of my friends, scratch me off your neighbor gift list and when you see us, tell us "Merry Christmas!" That is good enough for me and my family. We love you!!!

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 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.