Thanksgiving Weekend

Once again we were blessed to have family visit for Thanksgiving weekend.  My parents came with my youngest sister, Stacy for shopping, good food, and good company.  I truly do get homesick during the Holidays...  so they were muchley needed and appreciated.  

We had non-stop fun, which made our time together pass much too fast.  I'm lucky to have a mom who loves being a grandma.  She's always willing to play with my kids while the rest of us enjoy more time out of the house.  So with that, we went to see "James Bond" their first night, while grandma enjoyed watching "Frosty The Snowman" at home.  (It's another good thing my mom L.O.V.E.S. Christmas - some people might find Christmas movies before Thanksgiving a little annoying... Mike.)

Thanksgiving was perfect.  Spending the Holidays with family is the greatest.  It was sweet and homey.  

And of course there was "Black Friday" shopping.  However, we did try to wait out the crowds until 9AM.  Stores and traffic were still crazy.  I love shopping when it's girls ONLY.  Thanks Mike and Dad for giving us our time without kids.  I was very pleased to get a lot of Christmas shopping done, whew!  We were even treated to Red Lobster that night.  For all of those who don't know, I'm definitely NOT a seafood fan, but it's not for lack of trying.  Believe me, I wish it tasted as delicious as it looks.  But... Mike told me if I learned to like seafood we could move back to UT - which was said purely for the benefit of my mom who's been asking that question for three years now.  So... I tried it... LOVED the coconut shrimp, does that count?

Our last day came too soon.  We finished it off with a trip to the downtown mall to visit Santa.  They have the largest, most amazing Christmas Tree on display.  As we waited in line I noticed all the boys dressed nicely in slacks and sweaters while the girls looked pretty in their dresses... and as I looked at my own kids in sweat outfits, I was thankful they could be comfy.  

And before we knew it my family was on their way back to UT.  We had so much fun.  Thanks mom for giving Mike and I a night out, Dad for taking Aidan to Cabelas... even though we had a minor accident :), and Stacy for entertaining the kids whenever they had had enough.  We miss you all... see you for Christmas.

THANKSGIVINGS

           What are we thankful for this year...

FAmiLY

We were so grateful to have my parents and sister 

with us this year.  Thanks for making the trip from UT.

FrIEndS

We are continually blessed with the company 

of great friends here in Liberty Lake

OppORtuNitIEs

We are thankful to raise our children in the gospel... 

a temple marriage... happiness

HeaLTh

SnoW

My mom was especially excited... she's our Christmas fanatic

FOoD

Aidan and Stacy made our yummy Turkey Party Favors.  The 

Sorensens provided, along with their company for Thanksgiving, 

a moist turkey and the ever flavorful Honey Baked Ham.  

Our Thanksgiving Feast tasted excellent.

CHRISTmas TrEE 

Aidan decorated our perfect Christmas Tree.  The 

ornaments are expertly placed in the middle... not too 

high out of Aidan's reach... but not too low so Jack could 

reach.  He even fell asleep underneath it.

DaLLas CowBOYs

Thanksgiving apparel IS Cowboys 

apparel.  Good win Cowboys.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Weekly Summary

This week, as it seems every week since fall, has been another busy one.  Here's a look at some of our highlights.

Jack is now a toddler.  It's so strange to call him that.  It's amazing how in only a couple of months they grow from a baby to a fully active walking toddler.  For some reason toddler toys are not appealing... but thank goodness for kitchen drawers.  Jack is drawn to them.  Our fun cycle consists of Jack taking everything out (and by everything I mean mixing bowls, tupperwear, placemats, everything), then me put everything away after he seems to have lost interest, and of course Jack rediscovering how fun it is to pull it all out again.

Aidan has learned to manipulate the computer mouse and can entertain himself with games forever.  It's super convenient to have a computer upstairs in the main living area.  Aidan's favorite sites are:  peepandthebigwideworld.com and disney.com   I love Peep because it's great at teaching kids patterns, mixing colors, memory, and much more.  The sites are so kid friendly too, so Aidan can switch up games by himself.  

Mike unfortunately has been home sick part of the week.  Mike gets bored taking it easy so I know he struggled.  Thanks to ESPN though he did get the rest he definitely needed (I know because  I even saw him get a nap in... which rarely happens).  

As for me, I've stressed over family pictures long enough.  I don't like the hassle of getting kids dressed, keeping Mike happy (I've never met someone who dislikes his picture taken more), and struggling to get the kids to cooperate.  Yes, Jack wanted to walk around and play in the sand rather than sit still, and Aidan may have given the biggest "cheesiest" smiles (but a good sport all the same), and Mike, well, he was fabulous at entertaining the kids and not uttering a word of complaint.  So, thank goodness they are now done.  And all in time for the Holidays. Our photographer seemed great and I'm excited to get pictures back next week.

And we are all definitely looking forward to this weekend - Thanks Mike for treating us to a night at Silver Mountain Lodge... stay tuned.

Lost & Found

It's unexplainable.  We have always been prepared for any imaginable series of events... with what you could call an-over-the top, cushy amount of pacifiers.  8 to be exact, I know how embarrassing that is.  But, Jack has always taken to them.  And life for him seems, well, more "relaxed".  But, for the past couple of weeks I have found myself SEARCHING for those little things before leaving house, before naps, and at bedtime.  I had H.A.D. enough of it.  So... I went on a paci search.  I checked under couches,  beds, cribs, furniture, and cars.  I checked old diaper bags and any jacket with pockets.  What did I come up with?  2!  (Technically 3, counting the one left with friends)   I couldn't understand how this was possible.  Yes, I know my toddler is walking now, exploring, and taking things apart to find new places to hide them.  But honestly... 2?   Maybe it's to hint to me as a parent that I should limit paci(s) to sleeping time... BUT I just don't think Jack's ready... I know I'm certainly not.  So for now, the paci search will just have to continue. 

Walking and Waving

Here's what Jack's been up to for the past 2 weeks!

Best Day/Worst Day

It takes a historic event to get me to come anywhere near a blog let alone write one, so all of you reading this are in for a real treat.  I've had reason this week to reflect back on the past 12 months of my life and do a lot of analyzing.  I looked back through the past year and tried to figure out my best and worst days.  Amazingly enough, they turned out to be the same day (Thursday, November 29th)  Let me explain the good first.   

I came home from work one day in October of last year and Aidan handed me a football that had a picture of a Dallas Cowboys helmet and a Green Bay Packers helmet on it.  I had no idea what this meant until he said "Daddy, would you like to go to see the Cowboys play"?  Amy had arranged for me to go see the Cowboys and Packers play on a Thursday night game in Dallas along with my brother, two sisters, and my parents.  We are all huge Dallas Cowboy fans, some more than others (myself and Kelli).    It was a whole package deal that had us flying in on Tuesday and attending pregame interviews with the players, a tour of  Texas Stadium, and of course the game itself.  I still tell Amy that it was the greatest thing she has ever given me aside from my two boys.  We had a fantastic time and it was good to be back together with my family once again.  The Cowboys won the game and I got to go down on the field and catch a TD pass from my brother and pull a T.O. on the star in the middle of the field.  

Now the BAD.... As soon as the game was over, I turned on my Blackberry and saw dozens of messages and e-mails regarding my company's logistics center in Seattle.   Now I need to give you a little bit of background about what I do so this makes sense.  I work for Cardinal Health which is a medical supply and pharmaceutical distribution company.  My company supplies everything you would see inside pharmacies from brand and generic drugs to gauze and OTC products.  I provide a consulting service to the pharmacies that buy from my company on how to run their business a little more smoothly.  My customers count on daily deliveries for all of their patient's needs, especially critical care meds like narcotics.  Anyway, the messages I received were that the DEA had come into our facility and locked up our narcotics vaults and suspended our license to distribute all controlled substances.  This completely turned my world upside down for the next 11 months.  Instead of getting these critical meds next day from Seattle, the had to have them come from Sacramento and the lag time was 2-3 days.  Needless to say, all of my customers were upset and looking to take their business to my competitors.   The reason for the suspension was that we didn't have enough safeguards in place in our center in Seattle to stop pharmacies from selling controlled substances illegally on the internet. 

After implementing many new programs, safeguards, and paying a fine of 35 million dollars, the DEA has now reinstated our license to ship controlled substances.   Friday will be the first day that we resume shipping from Seattle.   This has been the most difficult 11 months of my professional life and I know it's had a very taxing effect on my family.  I give all the credit in the world to my wonderful wife for putting up with me working crazy hours and not being there as much as I should have to help with the kids.  I don't do a very good job at externalizing my problems and tend to try and deal with them all myself.  Amy has helped me immensely through this and I couldn't be more appreciative of her.  She is definitely the glue that holds our family together and I am so blessed to have her as my wife and the mother of my children.  I don't write this to get sympathy, because I know everyone goes through trials and problems, but I write this in appreciation for Amy and all that she does for me.