Alex turned 2 on November 3 and boy is he 2. It seemed overnight that he turned 2 and then could suddenly speak well and speak a lot and speak in sentences. He must have been saving it all up for this special and usually dreaded year of development. I'm just saying that this opinionated and determined boy now has a voice and words to go with his strong will and we will ALL hear it!
Thanksgiving happens in November and boy was it nice and low-key. My mom was out of town with Jacob because he and his family welcomed another grand baby (#28) into the Myers brood, so we had our Myers Family Thanksgiving Breakfast anyway at her house while she was away. I am so glad we did because it was so nice. We had yummy food and fun conversations and the kids, as always, enjoyed playing together since not all of them get to most of the time.
I was able to run the local Turkey Trot this year with friends. Dan ran it too but I can't run a sub 6 minute mile so he finished and then pushed me to the finish line. Thanks Dan!! I ran it with Heather and she had planned for us to run it in 29 minutes for which we blew it out of the water. We ran the 5k race in 27 minutes. Wahoo!! We were so happy and proud. I couldn't have done it without Heather pushing me to do it but I did it!!
Later that day we had Thanksgiving dinner with Jay's extended family in Greeley and the food was superb as always. The night was calm (since there aren't so many younger kids running around as mine) except for Alex spilling his drink and food and then I took a turn doing it too onto someones lap. I think I was so tired from my hard run I was a little clumsy. I don't know what Alex's excuse is but I don't think its as good as mine. :)
Sadly I have but one picture from Thanksgiving day and its from my race.
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| Me, Heather, and Elise Turkey Trot Greeley, Colorado |
Speaking of neighbors, another neighbor had heard about a neat community outreach that involves Santa coming to your house on a firetruck and bringing presents. Well you know what he came to our neighborhood and into our home to wish a Merry Christmas and bring the kids some gifts. We did not tell the kids this would be happening and are so glad we didn't. They were quite surprised and in awe. Aiden even says to me with wonder on his face, "Santa really is real, huh mom?" So cool right? Well everyone came in and got presents and sat on Santa's lap and talked to him and Mrs. Claus about what they wanted for Christmas. It was such a special and cool event for us to have been apart of and it wouldn't have happened without my cool neighbors.
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| Santa and Mrs. Claus Westminster, Colorado |
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| Aiden telling Santa he wanted a Xbox |
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| Mommy and Alex with the Claus' |
Since moving to Westminster we have been so blessed with such a wonderful church community and have made some amazing friends. Some of us decided to get together and have a gingerbread house making contest between couples. This was serious....and FUN!! The kids ran around and played while the adults talked smack and stole candy from each other to build the BEST house. We were given only a certain amount of candy and the same kinds of candy and had to come up with a unique and award-winning house.
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| Our gingerbread house |
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| Game on Baby! |
Our Ward (congregation) also had a Christmas Party that was quite fun and unique. It was themed Christmas in Nauvoo so they set up the rooms to have games and crafts that would have been done during the Nauvoo time period. There were things like stick pull, ornament making with nails and jar lids, a post office, and much more. They also had a "baker" were all the pies that everyone had taken were placed and we could go and get a piece. It was cool to see all the effort and hard work that those who had planned it had put in and made it such a special night.
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| Blurry but cute! |
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| Aiden and his friend from church |
A week before Christmas we were also able to go to a Myers Family Christmas Dinner at Nate and Kara's new place in Parker. I am so grateful for Kara's efforts in making the Myers family get together and do stuff all year. Her hard work and love for the family is such a blessing. We had ham and salad and then made gingerbread houses. It was so nice to just relax and enjoy the family. Mom had some games and the kids loved that. It was a house full of cousins all excited to see one another. One special things was our family friend Lee came with his new "friend" who happens to be our cousin so it was fun to catch-up and have her there too. Sadly again, I only have a picture or two from that night.
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| Cousins showing off there masterpieces Parker, Colorado |
Christmas Eve in Mexico is a very long affair. The tradition is to stay up until midnight and open up all your gifts SO that is what we did...with kids no less. Jay's amazing cousin opened up her new home to us again this year and we had a late dinner (9pm), played games, and then finally exchanged gifts. The boys had a blast and did surprising well with the late hours that we were there. The gift exchange is fun and full of laughter because you don't know who picked your name and bought you a gift until the moment they hand you the gift. This year was given a gift from Jay's cousin's husband's sister (try that on for size). She gave me exactly what I liked and I was so touched by her considerate gift. She and I probably would have hit it off even better had I been able to speak more Spanish. She is from Mexico and was only visiting for Christmas. I guess I better get on that learning-to-speak-Spanish train, eh ?
So after opening the gifts we headed back to Jay's parents in the snowy night for it was going to be a White Christmas for the first time in years. We got home and put the kids to bed ASAP and wrapped some presents, stuffed some stockings and headed to bed by 1 am. I will tell you to NEVER do this. Going to be so late after your kids go to bed so late on a holiday is not a recipe for love, patience, and joy. It is a recipe for grumpy, short-fuses, and crying. I won't go into details but we were so tired and so were the kids we couldn't get along very well. We survived and have laughed about how horrible we were and hope NOT to do that next year.
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| Compradres siempre Translation: Friends always Greeley, Colorado |
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| Enjoying the loot Greeley, Colorado |
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| Being cute Greeley, Colorado |
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| New church clothes Greeley, Colorado |
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| Grandpa is the center of the Universe for these boys Greeley, Colorado |
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| Nerf Swords Greeley, Colorado |
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| Dad and his faces Greeley, Colorado |
As tradition goes we went bowling on Christmas Day. This year was fun as always and it was even better because Dan payed every ones bill. I tell you have a great family. I am so blessed. I love that this is a tradition my mom started when my parents divorced 20 or so years ago and it has really been a family saver. I have the best family we just don't like to be around each other ALL the time, which I have finally accepted as a blessing. Not all families are the same and mine is just that mine. Thank you Christmas for giving me a sense of love and pride for my unique but lovingly loyal family.
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| Aiden and Cole Greeley, Colorado |
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| David, Sebastian, Rowan, and Kieran Greeley, Colorado |
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| Kimball and Grandma Greeley, Colorado |
Jay's birthday was a little more low-key this year for which I am grateful but I did make him a new and yummy chocolate cake with a cheesecake layer and homemade frosting cake and his parents came and made some divine Mexican yumminess. We were also blessed by our good friends the Gerbers with another homemade cake and fun! Jay felt truly blessed. I am so grateful for such a wonderful husband and best friend who makes me want to do and be more and has helped me become the woman and person I have always dreamed of but never thought I could be. He is funny to a fault, accepting, kind, determined, hard working, and most of all MINE. I love you babe!
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| Jay's Birthday Cake (courtesy of the Gerbers) Westminster, Colorado |
So our year was full and fun and I am so grateful for the Lord's hand in my life daily. I hope next year will be just as rewarding.
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