Tidings of Joy

After donning our gay apparel, braving the ungodly cold, and singing our Christmas fa la la's- we are back! And unfortunately, so are the extra pounds and the (all too familiar) double frigg'n chin. Darn you baked hams, homemade caramels, pies (in all their magical splendor), casseroles, cheese balls, cookies, rolls, nuts, soda, cakes (I'm salivating. I'm drooling for crying out loud!). To everything chocolaty, sugary and addictive: Go away and stop tempting me with your ugly, greasy, obese fingers! Oh, how I hate to love you. This relationship is unhealthy and it needs to stop now! And by "now", I mean 5 years ago.

Other than the gluttinous indulging (and lest we forget, that crazy-even-too-cold-for-Eskimo-weather), Christmas was fan-titally-astik. I mean it. Just peachy. Here are the highlights in (you guessed it) picture form.

This is just a cute little family photo. We don't have many of these, but Christmas miracles happen and POOF, we wound up with this gem.

Will was able to spend time with his adorable cousins (aren't they precious?). The planets aligned and we were able to get a picture of all of them smiling. Baby Lola isn't exactly smiling, but she's not crying either. And that, my friends, is a bona fide victory!

I'm glad we found some time in between stuffing food in our faces to take pictures.
Cute grandparents. Cute grandkids.

Will's first snow experience. We were outside for literally 30 seconds before I said to hell with it and went inside. It was just TOO cold.

We spent Christmas with these cute little elves. Elf numero uno got an iTouch from Santa. Elf numero dos got two video games short of a hundred. And the adorable Elfette got everything pink, girly, sweet, cute and fluffy. I think Santa loves them more than Will.

This just isn't right. It's just not! SO many games!! At least he's promoting peace.

This is our little Will playing with the presents on Christmas morning. Isn't he cute?

Just in case you didn't think he was cute in the first pic, here's another chance to redeem yourself.

NEVER (and I mean it!) play games with your parents! This is what my dad answered for the first question on the card. He owes me a substantial amount of money to cover my therapy fees.

We played a whole lotta Bananagrams over the break. Justin's mom came up with this little goody all on her own. I'm so proud of her.

Hanging out with the Gramps that feeds him cookies, ice cream and who knows what else. And those are just the things I've caught him feeding Will.

The Master of Mind Flex (aka Jackson). Ah, this game was a Christmas favorite for all of us.

Grandma Great is one rock'n lady!

All I got for Christmas were my two front (bottom) teeth. Literally, that's all I got... other than the spoilage from Nani, Papi, Nana and Grandpa

Love these fine looking ladies! A girl couldn't ask for better BFFs... and a better wife for Will. Yes, I'm talking about you, baby Eden!

Notice the dark hair I'm sporting these days? (Thanks, Claudia!) I think I like it. I do. The one thing I don't (and I repeat DON'T) like about it is the fact that I notice my hair loss 90% more. It's depressing and downright alarming. I have a pep talk with my brush every morning. I say, "Hairy (there's nothing wrong with naming inanimate items), please be kind and gentle to my precious few remaining hairs". But darn that Hairy! He refuses to listen to me and I find myself standing on a carpet of mane instead of the cheap linoleum that once was our bathroom floor .
Oh well, I think I'll start saving it and make a wig for Will. His birthday is coming up.


Spending some "Quality" time with the sisters-in-law. We choose to interact with each other over facebook and instant messaging. We don't believe in using our voices to communicate. We are SO 2011, but my hair (in this picture) is so 2010.

Justin and Barry built a computer. It now sits in our living room and gets plenty of love from the J-Dawg himself.

These little kiddos are my nieces and nephews. They are the funniest bunch of kids I know. And if you thought you knew crazy, you don't! Not until you spend some time with my family. It's loud, chaotic, irreverent, fun, and downright insane. I love it! I LOVE my family. I always laugh the hardest when I am around them.

Take this video for example. It was frigid cold on this day. It doesn't stop us, though.

These are a few of my favorite things

Cereal in Tupperware

AND

Gas Station Hot Chocolate


Beverly Hills Houswives

AND

Mochi Balls from T. Joe's

Brown paper packages from Amazon.com (2 FREE day shipping)


THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS


Chuck-A-Rama Dinners with bottomless Orange Bang




Pickles and String Cheese and samples from Costco





Flying home for Christmas on jetBlue buddy passes




THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS


Black Friday shopping with my sister Kiersten




Will's little smiles AND head rubs from Justin


Warm Cali. winters that never see snow

THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS!!!

I've seen weirder

Remember when I blogged? I don't. Too many moons have come and gone since I've taken to that old past time called blogging. I make no excuses other than... nope, no excuses.

So, to make it up to you, I'm gonna post some awesome pics. They are all photos that were taken on my cell phone. I came across them while cleaning out my photo album. Enjoy!

No dressing room no problem!
What the hairy man trying on shirts at the Costcos!?! No hot dog for me. I lost my appetite.

Making cookies with my sweet and innocent nephews. Who made the booby cookies? Shannon?

The best cookie Barry's ever had

I always have good intentions when I buy spinach, but it always ends up looking like this.

This is how we have fun. Normal, right?

Damn dog!

Sweet dog
(This is when we used to let him in our bed, back when we loved him as a child)

You do it to yourself, Utah.

I'm pretty sure this CAN'T be safe.
(If you don't know what I'm talking about, look at the tree. Yes, it's a car seat!)

Here's your sign

Save a horse ride a hog, I guess

Went to lunch with a friend from grade school. She brought this picture and I couldn't resist, I took a picture of a picture. How did our mothers let us leave the house looking like that? Sad thing is, (I'd like to think) we were the cool girls- fanny pack, cut-offs and all. I'm the one in the green with the lesbian haircut (thanks mom).

How does Heavenly Father send his precious children down to my family? Must be hard for him.

I took this photo in front of our church in Utah. Chalked it up as a Utah thing until I saw the license plate. Crazy breeders are everywhere I suppose, and their vans are in LDS parking lots all over the world (but mainly in Utah, lets be honest).

Again- you do it to yourself, Utah.


Imagine my shock when I read this quote in a random candy shop in LA. It's a great quote from the (LDS) prophet Harold B. Lee. However, I'm pretty sure he wasn't referring to candy when he said this.

It's just not Thanksgiving without finger holes in the rolls. My nephew had to add his special touch. Kids do the weirdest things.


Speechless. Thanks, Kiers.


In Australia we learned very quickly that "Root" is a naughty word. Some would say it's equivalent to the vulgar four letter f-word we all know. Yep, that one! SO, when I saw this van days after moving back form Australia, I had to laugh, then take a picture.


Do they have babysitters for adults? My oldest sister needs one.
If you're ever in Walmart and you see a cement pole in the middle of the aisle and you don't know which way to go to get around it- Choose the left! Most people with brains do. But then again, it's Walmart... and it's my sister. Hope the Walmart cleaners didn't mind cleaning up the paint chips left behind from trying to unjam the shopping cart that my sister jammed in there. Here's your sign, Shannon. Here's your sign.

Speaking of signs...
This is a great one that can be found at the cannery in SLC.
If this doesn't scare the bejeegers out of you, I don't know what will.
And if I didn't know any better, I would've thought the picture at the top was of a man getting punched in his groin/baby maker. Ouch!

AND last but not least

Huh?
Classic Walmarts
(This one wasn't on my phone, but thought it was great nonetheless)