our first week

Most of the week Elliott and I spent getting things unpacked and trying to get organized. Jason worked all week and had drill through the weekend, but we did get to see him in the evenings. That is the way it's supposed to be, and it's great to have that be our new reality. Ethan had a really good week. He already has a new buddy at school (who happens to have come back from Christmas break with a mohawk, so they bonded instantly). His teacher, Miss Berry, is very nice and says Ethan is already fitting right in and doing great.

Elliott and I take breaks during the day to play. These are his new blocks he got for Christmas. Lucky for me they came with pictures of projects along with instructions for each one. He is a much happier kid now that all our moving is done, and he feels more secure.

We didn't make it to hockey practice on Tuesday, but Ethan was excited to go on Thursday, and even more so on Saturday. The coaches are great, and the kids were happy to have him join their team. He worked really hard Thursday to show them all his skills. Saturday they had a scrimmage, and he got his "Bighorns" jersey. You are looking at a proud kid here (even if his face says "stop with the camera, mom."). 

Then came the game. He got to play his favorite position, defense, and when he played wing, he had 2 goals! He's excited for the tournament in February. His former teammates will be here to play against him.  

So now it's onto week two. Jason will be flying all week, so we won't see him much. I'm hoping to get some pictures up, and organize my crafting space. Hope you have a great week.

my first step

Ok, I admit it (that's the first step). I need to get healthy. I'm not going to say "lose weight" or "get fit" or "be a certain size". Getting healthy means, no more buying bigger clothes instead of maintaining myself to fit in the ones I already own, and no more eating whatever I want, whenever I want and how ever much I want. I am going to be a healthier, happier me. It's in writing now and there's no going back.

This is, however, a HUGE challenge, and until today, I didn't even know where to start.

I have a friend, Sheila, who is a Nutrition Consultant. She has her own business website and Facebook page. She shares great nutrition advice, and healthy, tasty recipes, and offers several different personalized services. I recently won a contest of hers and received this......

It's like a sign. It says "GET YOUR BUTT IN GEAR!" It is a really nice journal. It has tons of information about different foods, as well as places to log my meals, my activities, my progress, my goals, my own recipes, and my inspirations. I already love the journal, but like everything in life it's only going to be as helpful as I make it. So here I go. Wish me luck.

we made it

A huge THANKS to Garret and Nate for coming over on Sunday to help load up the truck. It only took about and hour and a half to get it done (minus the small last minute stuff), and another huge THANKS to the Hayashida's for hosting us Sunday night.

Monday morning we headed out early. The weather was beautiful, and the kids were surprisingly good. Ethan rode in the Uhaul with Jason and Elliott rode with me. Every nook and cranny in both vehicles was jam packed with stuff. There was literally just enough room for us to sit. We made good time, and thanks to the help of Chris and Kevin, the Uhaul was returned at 5:00pm. We were all exhausted last night.

Jason had to be at work early this morning, Ethan started at his new school today,  and after running a few errands, Elliott and I came home and got to work unpacking. Luckily Jason set up the T.V. and the Wii last night so Elliott was entertained for a lot of the day. I was able to get the kitchen unpacked and put together, and even got our clothes all put away. It was a very busy day, but the house is coming together nicely. :)

Speaking of the house, Jason did an awesome job of picking it out. Jaymee asked that I post some pictures so here they are. It looks like a huge mess, but believe it or not, there is a method here.

This is the living room. I just realized that it looks like a den with that long window, but it has a big open window on the wall to the left. I am so excited to have a living room that still has room to move when the couch and chair are in it.

The kitchen is right next to the living room, and to the right of the table is a sliding door to the patio in the back. It's been a long time since I have had space to use our dining table and chairs, and I cannot wait to have Jason grill us some dinner on the patio.

This hall leads to our bedroom, and the front door. There is a 1/2 bath before you get to our room, along with a place for the washer and dryer and a coat closet.

This is the master bedroom. It is much cleaner now, I was in the middle of putting stuff away when I took these.

This is the door to the master bath, and beyond that is our huge (for me anyway) closet. 

There is so much space! It's almost filled with clothes now, but before we had clothes in 3 different closets. 

Then we go upstairs. 

The boys have their own bathroom and linen closet. 

As well as a HUGE toy room and bedroom. Elliott was napping so there isn't a picture of their room. 

I can't tell you just how great it was to wake up to my husband this morning, and tell him good-bye when he left for work. Then when dinner was ready, he walked back through the door and ate dinner with us. We are now all home spending the evening together (well kind of, Jason has a "man cold" and I'm sure he may die LOL so he is in bed). I know the boys are going to love having their Daddy home every night and on the weekends.

here it is. 2011.

I can't believe another year has gone by. We have so many things to be grateful for that came in 2010, and I can't wait to see how 2011 will top it. Here are my Top 10 photos of 2010. They are in order, but I only picked 10, so they are just pieces of the year that made a lot of great memories.

This picture speaks for itself.

February and March were nothing exciting, but a lot of hanging out with Daddy. This was a fun day in April. 

A very special Mother's Day for me. :) 

Kindergarden graduation. We are going to miss Broadwater School. 

We love having Grandma Mac around. This is from her visit in July. 

A beautiful hike on the rims. 

Our rockstar soccer player. You know he's ready for spring season. 

Our baby turned 2.  

Helping Daddy with the foot of snow.

And I know you've seen this one, but it is still one of my favorites. 

10 was not enough. I feel like I left so much out. Maybe I will spend the day looking at all of our pictures and reminiscing our year.

Hope everyone has a great 2011.

christmas in review

Christmas Eve started with The Man in Brown bringing us this! Nick and Sara sent us Portillo's Italian Beef sandwiches straight from Chicago! Oh My Gah!

I told Jason that he would need to go to the store for rolls so we could have it for Christmas, but then we opened it. EVERYTHING was inside! Best Christmas gift to date.

We had spaghetti for dinner, then went to the rims to watch Santa fly over Billings. Unfortunately, the path wasn't where we thought it would be and he flew behind us. We almost missed it! There aren't any good pictures of Santa, but Billings looked beautiful from up there.

We drove straight home, and got started with the gifts. :) Ethan and Elliott passed them all out.

Elliott goes first of course. With it being just us, I went last but it didn't feel as bad as when I go right before Joe. Haha.

This was the first one Ethan picked. A bow and mallow from the Foster's. It shoots mini marshmallows, and I'm here to tell you, it's a serious piece of equipment.

Jason got goggles from Mom and Dad. He's such a goofball.

We got Ethan a Chicago Blackhawks RinkRat hat. It resembles a helmet, and even has a chin strap.

This gift got, by far, the best reaction. I didn't have the camera ready unfortunately. Abby and Chris got Ethan the NHL Slapshot for the Wii. Something Ethan definitely wanted. They wrapped it in a Chicago Cubs Soriano t-shirt, and Ethan was admiring his shirt and didn't even see it. I told him to look at the box that fell out and as soon as he did he yelled and held it high up in the air and cheered. He was ecstatic.

Nick and Sara even sent a box of gifts!

We saved the best for last. Jason had been anticipating a "really cool gift" from me and the boys. The box he opened from us with all his other gifts was a pair of lounge pants. Bwhaha. :) He was noticeably disappointed, but was polite. It was so funny. Then after everything was getting cleaned up we let him open his real gift. His reaction was a very close second to Ethan's.

He had to put it on, and I swear he wore that goofy smile for at least the next hour. Yeah, he likes it.

After gifts, everything needed opened and played with.

Ethan called Norad and asked when Santa would be arriving at our home, and they told him an hour (thank you Norad operator). The boys got into their pajamas, and went outside to sprinkle the glitter filled reindeer food so they would be able to find our house. It was so cute watching them spread it all around.

7:30 is a perfectly acceptable time to wake up, and the boys were ready to dig into their goods that Santa left them. Apparently Santa doesn't watch "all" the time. He was very generous.

A remote control car that does crazy tricks.

A super noisy guitar.

Puzzles.

Tech Decks.

And...........for the whole family......Guitar Hero!

The Portillo's gravy was warming up while the toys were being played with, and then it was time for lunch! I cannot even tell you just how incredible this stuff is!

We all got to wear "The Hat" while we ate.

Then it was back to playing. He actually shot me! That's how I know this is a weapon, and marshmallows do not mean "soft hit".

I didn't let Ethan shoot me. :)

This will be the way we do Christmas from now on. At our house. With our kids, just being together as a family and enjoying that. We didn't have to worry about the weather or packing up all the stuff to leave. We took in every moment and made Christmas all about the kids.

And now.........Let the packing begin. We will be outta here in ONE WEEK! Egads! Where did we get all this shit really good stuff?

Hope your Christmas was just as good.