Holiday Goal

My goal during the holidays this year is to really try to enjoy them and not get too stressed out. To help me with that one of the things I'm going to try to do is wrap presents as I buy them. I went out shopping on the BIG DAY and again a little yesterday. So, this morning I set up my wrapping station (a corner of our crazy office area). I wrapped 9 presents. There's a great way to get in the holiday spirit. I love wrapping presents especially while listening to good Christmas music. It also makes the snow a little more bearable.

A great weekend

I love a laid back holiday weekend. We didn't really try to cram in too much and it was great that way.
Thanksgiving dinner was yummy but I do not recommend having it at 5:30 in the evening. Way too late. There's no down time to recover before having a pie. I don't think we'll ever have it again that late. On the upside of a late dinner it gave us time to have a family football game that I think will be a new tradition.
Friday's morning excursion went very well - got the one item at Toys R Us and it only took about 30 minutes. Then we were off to ShopKo for a few things and only had to wait in line for about 10 minutes there. Then came the big wait at Kohl's. We were there in line for about 90 minutes - taking turns standing in the line while others shopped. Got some great deals and cash back too.
To top it off, went to breakfast at Mimi's - YUM!
And then there was the BIG GAME! Talk about a rollercoaster! Paul, Justin and I watched it at my dad's. He was cheering for BYU and we were all for the U. My dad takes games like that very seriously and it was very stressful for him. We had to do all of our cheering silently so that he didn't kick us out (he said he wouldn't have kicked us out but we probably would have had to go watch on the little kitchen tv). And then Utah goes ahead with only a minute - man were we cheering!!! And my dad says it would be a miracle if BYU could score. Never count out a miracle with BYU involved. We just sat there in shock when it was over. Justin went home sick and depressed. Paul was on a high because that is his favorite kind of game - just plain old good football, nice and close and down to the wire. I was bummed that the Y won but so glad that Utah held their own and didn't get blown out.

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday. It's Paul's favorite. I love it because he is home and not even working from home.
The 3 big kids and Paul went out at 8 this morning for the ward Turkey Bowl. All had a great time and Brooke even scored the winning touchdown.
I stayed home with Jared and Kamryn and started on my assignments for the big dinner (green bean casserole, banana cream pies, jello salads - plain grape for the little kids, and little english muffin pizzas for lunch time appetizers).
We've already been over to my mom's for a little bit this morning. I went out to buy a couple of papers at 7:30 this morning and both Dan's and 7-11 did not have them yet. So I looked at my mom's and will get my own later.
One of the things my mom started a couple of years ago was having the kids go through the ads and make wish lists after the BIG DINNER. It's great for her and all the parents.
Are you going out tomorrow morning bright and early?

Reconnect

I thoroughly enjoyed my weekend away with my sweet husband. It's so good to get away just the two of us and reconnect. We loved sleeping in, walking together holding hands, eating dinner and breakfast together. I love my husband very much and am looking forward to getting away with him again.

Belated Anniversary Trip

Paul and I are leaving tomorrow for a little weekend getaway, of sorts. We're flying to Phoenix early tomorrow like we've done in the past. Only this time we're staying over night there for one night. It's the end of the project (3 level parking garage for the hospital) and we're supposed to be doing a team dinner with the project team and their wives on Thur evening (I say supposed to because it may not happen if they're not ready for the grand opening Fri morning).
Then Friday afternoon we're flying to Vegas for one night. We want to go see the cool hotels and the fountains at Ballagio (sp?) and just hang out together.
Thank goodness for my mom who is willing to watch Jared and Kamryn for 3 days. The big kids said they would help out when they are home.

Jared and Kamryn's best day ever

Yesterday was the best day I've ever had with Jared and Kamryn (well, in days that I can remember). They were so happy for most of the day - no whining, not too much fighting with each other.
They slept until 11:00 am and even at that I went in their room before they were really talking and jumping in their beds. They were happy when they got up and ate a good breakfast. Then they were happy to play downstairs and watch TeleTubbies. They were happy when we went in the van to pick up Taylor and his friends from school on early day. They were happy to go down for a nap and happy when they woke up 2 hours later. They were happy going in the van up to the U to go the Utah vs Wyoming women's volleyball match. They had on their cute Ute outfits and they loved being at the game. Jared was jamming out to the band and Kamryn was waving to everyone. We were there for 3 hours and they were so good. Only a little bit of crying at the end and when they got scared by the Ute mascot coming to talk to them. They didn't even fall asleep on the way home and were really good about getting ready for bed. They gave kisses to everyone and then went to bed.
What a great day. When Jared and Kamryn are happy, we're all happy.

To Do List

Paige asked "what's on your to do list", so here's mine for this week:
1.Ironing - This is my nemesis, although lately I've kept up with it a lot better and haven't had to write it down on THE LIST. But I got behind and it's on THE LIST. I've got 3 more shirts and a pair of pants to go and then I can cross it off.
2. Clean shower - just finished that this morning.
3. School area - in our office area I have some shelves with arts and crafts supplies and a shelf where school papers go to sort out later. I need to sort that shelf. This one has been on THE LIST for several weeks. I just can't make myself do it.
4. Living Room Carpets - I just need to call and schedule to have them cleaned.
5. Windows - we want to replace the downstairs windows. I got several bids last year and then we never did anything with the bids so now I'm back to getting bids updated and trying to schedule someone to come do the job.
6. Call Denise - my cousin. We want to go to lunch and catch up.
7. Taylor's parent/teacher conference - crossed this one off yesterday. He received glowing reports from his teacher and had all Es for behavior. AWESOME!
8. Plant spring bulbs - did that one on Tues when it was such nice weather. Now I can hardly wait for spring to see what comes up.
9. Mop kitchen floors - did that one yesterday.

THE LIST keeps me going and more organized. Some weeks are better than others with finishing THE LIST. What I don't cross off gets carried over to THE LIST for the next week.

Happy Birthday Justin

I really meant to do this on Justin's birthday but I didn't get these pictures of him until the next day. As a tribute to Justin I thought of a list.

14 Things I LOVE about Justin

1. He is a great big brother to Jared and Kamryn.
2. He is an awesome soccer player.
3. He finished his Deacon Duty to God.
4. He has a great smile (even with braces on).
5. He is almost always in a good mood.
6. He always does what I ask him to do.
7. He cleaned the house as a birthday present to me (while he was tending Jared and Kamryn).
8. He is a very good student and is independent about getting his work done.
9. He LOVES the U.
10. He has a great sense of humor.
11. He's comfortable hanging out with his sister and all of her friends.
12. He honors his priesthood, attends church and activities.
13. He likes riding MY bike a lot.
14. He has a good time wrestling with his brother Taylor.

I love you Justin and I am so grateful you are my son.

Tagged

So, I've been tagged by Paige for the name game. This one is why you named your children what you did. We had our reasons at the time I just wonder if I can remember them. Unfortunately we don't have any real good ancestor stories or anything significant like that - just like the names.

Justin Paul Adams - We didn't know what we were having with our first baby. We both made lists of names and tried to narrow them down from there. We both liked Justin a lot. We also liked Benjamin but I didn't like any of the nicknames that go with that name. Paul liked the name Justin because one of his all time favorite bands is the Moody Blues and their main guy is Justin Hayward. I knew all along that I wanted the middle name to be Paul if it was a boy, and it was, so there you have it one the first one.

Brooke Lindsey Adams - Brooke was our number one name from the first time I was pregnant so it wasn't too hard to come up with that. This time around I found out what I was having and started calling her Brooke from then on. Paul wouldn't really agree to it until she was born and he looked at her. My only reservation with the name Brooke came from our neighbors who had a daughter named Brooke and they called her Brookie and I really didn't like that. So what do we do? Call her Brookie. It fit when she was little but not now. Her dad still calls her that sometimes.
Lindsey is a compromise. Paul really wanted the middle name to be Lynn and then she would be Brooke Lynn. I really didn't like that and didn't people calling her Brooklyn Bridge or something to do with Brooklyn, NY. So Lindsey was kind of like Lynn but different and we both liked it. (Since then I've heard of several Brooklyn and the name has grown on me).

Taylor Benjamin Adams - Here again, it's just a name we both agreed on. That is the big point - we BOTH AGREED ON. Paul and I really struggle with naming our children. He never wants to agree on a name until they are born and he can look at them. I disagree. I think they become the name you name them. We were deciding between Taylor and Nathan (I really liked Nate better than Nathan but we would have gone with Nathan to give him options). Justin and Brooke both liked Taylor better and I think that helped us decide. And Benjamin worked great for a middle name.

Jared Truman Adams - I have never struggled so much with naming a child as with Jared. It was so hard. Truman was easy and I really wanted it for the first name but Paul doesn't go for last names being first names so it was perfect for the middle name. I'd sworn after Justin no more J names to keep it more simple with calling for a certain child (that certainly doesn't make a difference since I go through all of them most of the time before getting the right name) but we just kept coming back to Jared. When he was born he just looked like a Jared.

Kamryn Lindy Adams - Kamryn was another easy one. I knew right when I found out I was having another girl that would be her name. I'd loved the name for a long time. Paul of course had to make up a list and see if there were any other options but there weren't. I'd first seen it one of those law shows - an actress on the show's name is Camryn. I loved it with the Y but I thought it should start with a K instead.
Lindy is one of the names Paul was considering for the first name so I suggested it for the middle name. He thought it sounded good. It wasn't until we were home from the hospital that someone pointed out how similar Brooke and Kamryn's middle names are. Oh well.

There you have it. I tag Ashley, Rebecca and Julianne (if you don't blog, just email me or put it in the comments.

Picture update

For those of you who thought I was extremely out of my mind to take Jared and Kamryn on Halloween to get their pictures taken, let me put your mind at ease - I didn't do it. Jared woke up in the worst mood and right then I decided it wasn't going to happen. So now we're going on Friday when my kids are out of school and can go and help me.

Go Utes!

One of the best thing the Utes have going for them this season are their new cheerleaders.
These are Jared and Kamryn's costumes for Halloween. When I saw them at Walmart back in Aug I think, I had to buy them. I justified buying them saying they could be their Halloween costumes. It worked out great. Easy costumes that they were comfortable in.
We took them to Paul's work for trick-o-treat. They got their first piece of candy in their hands and they were happy and that's all they needed. Taylor made sure to get a little more candy for them in their buckets.
I stayed home with Jared and Kamryn most of the night. We did go to two houses - perfect for their age. It was more fun for them to be at home and they would get all excited each time the door bell rang. They loved seeing who was at the door and getting more candy out of our bowl.
Taylor went out with friends and came home around 9:00 and Brooke went out with a big group of girls from the ward and didn't get home until almost 10:00. Her dad couldn't believe she didn't have more candy than she did. He figured out after her stories from the evening that the trick-o-treating is much different for girls than boys. For the girls it's a big social outing with lots of visiting at friend's houses in between the candy collecting.
And poor Justin. He's too old and big to go. But he doesn't really care. He stayed home and played his favorite football video game and ate whatever candy he wanted out of the home bowl.