Nephew #9, and Merry Christmas

My big brother Colby and his wife Marsha had their 5th baby on Monday. Alexander James Gull is my 9th nephew. He is very cute and I can hardly wait to meet him. Congratulations Marsha and Colby!
I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas. I know we did. Jercie told me that Santa brought her everything she asked for. Good job Santa!!! We did Christmas Eve dinner at my mom's house. We had ham and potatoes and veggies. It was super good. On Christmas morning I woke up at 4:30 thinking that soon a little girl would come in to wake me up. Nobody showed so I went back to sleep. Kaia woke up at about 7 so I got up with her. I called my mom to let her know I was going to be waking the kids up soon. As I was talking to her Jercie came in the kitchen. She just kind of looked at me. I said "Merry Christmas!" It was then that her face lit up and she ran into the living room. I told her she had to wait til I got Blaze and Daddy up. I went in and woke Blaze up. He takes after me and is not a morning person so he was a little mad, until I said "Santa came!" He sat up and said " AWSOME!!" I went and got Mike up. I tried to start some coffee for him but couldn't get the coffee maker to work. So I asked my mom to bring some up for him. When he got up he tried as well. Soon the smell of coffee was coming from the kitchen. Mike came in the living room and said Tonia you had the crock pot plugged in. OOPS!!! I was tired. Anyway the kids had fun and I let them eat all the candy they wanted all day. Jercie got a scooter and Blaze got a train. They love them. Jercie rides the scooter all over the place. Kaia just wanted to suck on the wrapping paper! I made prime rib for dinner and it was sooooo good. I was a little worried that it wouldn't be good and we had to nuke it a little but it was good. My mom told me that she hadn't had better in any restaurant. That made me feel good. Well here are some pictures.

8 Crazy Years

Mike and I have known each other for a long time. He was my bother's best friend. He was known as Mikey back then. He was a part of our family. I was also friends with his sister Angela. I was either at his house or he was at mine. I have always had a crush on him. I probably wouldn't have admitted it then. But proudly confess now.
The summer before I turned 12 his family moved to Alamo. I remember being very sad because Ang wouldn't be able to come with me to our first year of girl's camp. Mike kept in touch with the family whenever he wasn't in trouble!!
My senior year in high school I was playing designated driver for a friend when I ran into Mike at the party. He had his tongue pierced then.I told him I had always wanted to kiss someone with a tongue ring. That was our first kiss. That's right I moved first. The next time I saw him was at another party, of course. He told me that night that he would marry me. I just laughed it off, but deep down I knew that I was going to marry him. Fast forward to a year and a half later, End of October 2000 to be exact. Out of nowhere Mike calls my parents house. I answered the phone. Here's how the conversation went:
Mike: Shanny!!
Me: No it's Tonia
Mike: Even better. Hey meet me at the Wendy's in Richfield.
Me: Alright, give me a minute.
So I pulled my self together and away I went to Wendy's. He had 4 of his closest friends with him. Russ, Dillon, Matt, and Rock. Mike kicked Dillon out of the front seat so I could sit there. I don't think he ever forgave me for that one. Anyway, we went for a drive up on Monroe Mountain. After we hung out at his hotel room where they decided to have a party. Mike and I escaped out to the truck. We ended up talking all night. I didn't know when I would see him again, but he told me he would call. Sure enough he called me when he got to Vegas. We started dating. Since he was living in Vegas and I here in Joseph we could only see eachother every weekend. We talked on the phone every night. He always talked about getting married, so one day I asked when this blessed event was going to happen. He said," What's the second weekend in December?" I said the 16th. And that was pretty much that.
I went to his parent's house for Thanksgiving where he officiallay proposed. He took me for a ride to the "airport". He got out and handed me a box. In the box was a little teddy bear. On the bear's tummy was a zipper, inside the zipper was a little pouch and inside that was a ring. He took the ring from me, got down and one knee and asked me to marry him. I of course said yes.
On December 16, 2000 we were married in the Joseph Town Hall. It was one of the best days of my life. Hopefully in the near future we will be able to get sealed for time and all eternity.

Edward Who??

I finally got to see Twilight last night. It was so good. My biggest complaint was Edward, not as hot as I thought he should have been. However Jasper was super HOT!! It made the whole Edward thing ok. At least I had somebody to drool over. lol. I think Stephenie Meyer should write a book about Jasper and Alice and make a movie about them so I can see more of him. There were other things I didn't like but I'm sure the more I see it those things will fade.

12 Days of Christmas A.R.K. Version

This year I am going to do the 12 days of Christmas. I'm doing it a little differently however. I am doing Acts of Random Kindness (A.R.K.). Starting today I am going to do different things for my kids everyday until Christmas. We are going to make cookies one day, have a pajama day, pick what mom wears day, and other silly things. On the last day I am going to give them the opportunity to DO a random act of kindness for one of the neighbors. I thought this would help them understand what the Christmas Spirit is. Next year I will give them the reins and they will do acts of kindness for each other. When they get older we will do it for the neighborhood.

Confessions...

I confess:
I am a hopeless romantic and write my husband love letters. He laughs at me.
I am a terrible housekeeper. I figure why clean it if it's just going to be messy again in 2 minutes?
I don't get to shower every day despite my best intentions.
I love getting mail.
I love to get comments on this blog. If you read it and don't leave a comment, start. Even if you don't know me!!
I want to write children's books but don't have the confidence to start one.
I LOVE candy!
I HATE mornings. Although Mike has helped me like them a little more, when he's home he usually is singing an original song when he gets up.
I would wear my pajamas all day long if I knew Mike wouldn't give me crap about it.
I am secretly starting to fall in love with the ugly tree. lol.
I would also like to be a photographer one day.
I think I'm funnier than other people think I am.

You can dress it up...

but it's still ugly. I don't think there is any saving this poor pitiful tree. Now do you all see why I got it all decorated last year and just sat and stared at it and cried. Granted I was pregnant, but still.

Awards

The award for Ugliest Tree goes to....This ugly sucker. (I don't know why that's underlined.)

The award for best big brother goes to...Blaze Jorgensen. (again I don't know what is going on with the underlining and blue text???)
This morning he laid down next to Kaia and was playing with her. I looked down and she had a hold of his ear. I tried to get a pic but wasn't quick enough with the camera. He gently took her hand away. She started fussing and when I came back in the room this is what I saw. He is always so gentle and sweet with her.
That is it for my awards.
Kaia finally got her first tooth through. She still has another one coming in though. Hopefully it won't be as rough as the first one was. She is growing up way too fast on me. I can't believe it. I know I say that every post but it kind of makes me sad.
Jercie and Blaze are doing fantastic. Jercie knows all of her alphabet letters. (She recognizes them) and she knows most of the letter sounds. She is a very smart girl. She just got a new teacher on Monday. Her name is Michelle Elmer. I went to high school with her. Well now Jercie has changed her name to Michelle. She told me today that at school she is Jercie and at home she is Michelle. What a funny kid.
We are going to St. George on friday to get the rear pinion seal fixed on the truck. Shantel is going to watch Jercie and Blaze so we can get some christmas shopping done. We haven't even started yet. I'm a terrible procrastinator. Mike also offered to take me to Twilight. Hopefully he follows through.
Mike had to have a root canal this morning before he went to work. It was hurting him pretty bad when I talked to him. Hopefully the pain meds they gave him will help. He is going to get braces after the first of the year. He is pretty excited about it.
On Sunday night I decided Kola, my stinky dog, needed a bath. She was unusually smelly, so I threw her in the sink and washed her down. I was brushing her out and she still smelled a little funky. I got to her face and noticed something sticking out of her eye. Upon closer examination I discovered a foxtail in her EYE. What the... So I pulled it out. It must have been what stuck because she smells much better now!!
That's about all for now.