Sisters

I do have to throw in a huge HOO-RA for our annual Park City trip with my sisters and Mom. Every year Wendy spoils us with the chance at an overnight shopping frenzie and stay at her time-share in Park city. And this year Tam enhanced an already fabulous weekend with dinner (on her). Throw in a late night watching chick-flicks, chatting, eating some more, and spending time with your favorite people, I am spoiled beyond belief. And spoiled even more when I got home to a house with 4 little huggy people, and one huggy husband, PLUS... and drum-role please, PLUS a spectacularly clean house. (He even moved appliances and scrubbed my kitchen from top to bottom ladies) Who is this man, and what have you done with my husband :)

Finally the Pay-off

A great trip with a few too many self-portrait shots, but look at those sunsets, and the beach!!! Who could complain?

If you're following the pathetic catch-up string of posts here you'll now see why it all comes full circle that when you endure a couple of crazy hectic months, an ER visit, chasing 4 kids, 20 YW and ten years of marriage, you finally get the pay-off...

And of course after 10 years my sweet husband will understand the humor in harassing him about "enduring" all these years. We've had a great ride, and yes there are moments to endure, but for the most part we feel truly blessed to have so much happiness, so much chaos and mess with 4 kids, and so many, many, memories to cherish for 10 more years, and then 10... as long as we both shall live :)

Love you Giegh, Happy Anniversary!

Then came Thanksgiving...

The month of November should have been great, started the month of right with an overnight stay in Salt Lake with my Mom and Sisters at Time Out for Women, but fighting some stress-induced exauhstion and a Sinus Infection I just couldn't kick, I didn't get all that I should have out of my time there.

A week or two more til Thanksgiving and I'm bustling to keep up with my kids and still feeling like I'm waking up with a headache every day. Even Gi's recovered from surgery faster than me, fortunately I finally got on the right anti-biotics in time for our every other year Thanksgiving Feast with the extended Bird Cousins and I was so glad to be there in good health. 2 Grandparents, 3 kids, their spouses add 3, they procreate 16 grandkids who marry (add 16), the next generation tops 56 (and still counting at dinner that day)... All because 2 people fell in love. Thats nearly 100 people. Take away 16 for a few cousins unable to make it, a couple extra special family members passed on, and you still have a roudy group of nearly 70 to host at the Old Red Church in Orem. What a GREAT event, one note-worthy of pictures, food, fun, games, more food and enough leftovers to last til the next event... in 2 years. Never leave one of our family events hungry, it'll be your own fault.

So loved seeing my cousins, missed those who couldn't come, and missed Dad and Grandpa even more... So glad to still have Grandma in her 89 someodd years. We love her and feel especially grateful that we get to now live close to Salina to visit as often as we can. Happy Thanksgiving!!

A Scary Halloween...

So its a week after Christmas and I'm posting Halloween, better late than never right... and hopefully with the next few posts you'll see why we're so slow. But we'll start with Halloween, who could pass up these little gremlins, all dressed up ready for the Trunk-or-Treat when Dad asks if we can make a stop at the ER on our way... "Just drop me off, by the time they're done running tests and stuff the kids will have all their candy"

Boy were we lucky that he thought to stop... and in the middle of his "Hunt" to come home and crawl in bed you know somethings got to be wrong, acute appendicitis, and of the extrodinary type where his appendix was not in the right spot, hidden somewhere behind and attached to his intestines. We were VERY blessed that it didn't rupture, and although his first 8-10 hours after surgery were a little rough, we were still checked out in under 24 hrs and he was back driving to pick up a trailer the next day. So glad he was ok, and even though the kids were safely staying at Grandma's house by then, it was still a Scary Halloween!