Christmas 2009

Ty got a new bow for Christmas and loves shooting it...he does really well when he looks at his target!

Tag loves to shoot too

"I want to do it all by myself!"

Tag loved riding...I think he's a natural!

The gingerbread house all the kids made!

Out shooting...it was a chilly day, so Grammy gave Tag her jacket

The kids table!

We had Lauri's family this year and I was so excited for her to open this!

Santa made a special visit to our house! The boys loved it!

Christmas this year was such a treat for our family! My sister, Lauri, decided to come out here for the holidays and once she announced that a snowball affect happened. My sister, Carrie, decided to come so she could see Lauri and then we told my parents they needed to come too since most of their children would be here for the holidays! Not everyone was able to make it...Rikki lives in France and Drue and Kristen had events planned with her family. Mike and Brita's family was able to come for Christmas Eve and stay through the weekend and we were so happy that they were able to come for a few days! Nothing is better than spending the holidays with those you love!

Lauri and my parents arrived on the 23rd and it was so good to see them! My dad couldn't believe how long it took us to go grocery shopping for the entire week that everyone would be here! What can I say....men just don't understand! They also couldn't believe how far I commute for doctors appointments and Costco or Wal-Mart trips! I have gotten so use to it that it is just life! Mike and Brita arrived on Christmas Eve and Carrie and Brian arrived on Christmas day after they had done their Christmas! Since my house is not big enough to accomodate everyone, we rented out my sister-in-laws grandparents house and it was perfect. They had enough rooms for all of us and our kids to have our own bedrooms! What a treat! Then when you walk upstairs their is a big screen TV, a wall full of movies, and 8 recliners! It was fun to watch a movie and have your own recliner to lounge in! The garage had been converted into a game room and we all enjoyed that! Last but not least, they had one of those player pianos and the kids loved playing it, but I think the guys enjoyed it just as much! We have them on video singing their hearts out while Brian played the piano...it was a riot!

I live in a REALLY SMALL town (1 grocery store, 2 gas stations...you get my drift?) and I was a little nervous that we wouldn't have enough things to do! Boy was I wrong! We kept so busy and only left town 1 time and that was to go play at a big arcade and go bowling with the kids! The kids loved all the arcade games and they did great at bowling too! Other than that, we kept really busy just staying around here. We did a lot of shooting and spent a lot of money on bullets and clays. It was great fun and I think all of us had very bruised and sore shoulders! Brian brought his go-cart and everyone LOVED that! I never got to ride it, but I know my boys and husband loved it.

My sister, Lauri, really wanted to go horseback riding and so did my nephews! We were planning on going to my in-laws to ride, but we decided we really didn't want to drive that far, so when our friends Woody and Tam got back from their trip we asked if they had time to take us for a ride. The kids were all so excited to go and kept asking all day when we were going to go. We went in the afternoon and Tam and Brian helped get the kids on the horse and then led them around the arena! All of the kids loved it and were grinning from ear to ear! It was actually really cute! Then it was Lauri's turn to ride! I think she was more excited than the kids to go riding. Now, we did not grow up on horses, but would got on trail rides a lot. Lauri got on the horse and all was going well, but all of the sudden this horse bolts! I am not exaggerating either! I was filming Lauri and before I know it the horse is bolting right towards me (I was right by the gate and it was open). Carrie and I then realize that Tag is right in the path of the horse, so we are running to grab him. Carrie got there first and grabbed the hood on his jacket and threw him back into the dirt! Then, we realize that Beau (Carrie's boy) is also in the horses path, so we run and grab him. We had 5 kids that we were trying to keep back away from the path the horse was running in. Ty decides he wants to run after the horse as it bolts past us, so I am running after him...thank goodness he wised up and turned around! What had happened is that this horse was once a barrel racing horse. He knew this arena and once he took off he ran out the gate, around the practice loop, back into the arena, around the entire arena and half way again before Tam and Brian could get him to stop. Thank goodness Tam was able to get the gate closed or I don't know if he would have stopped! Brian and Tam chased the horse the entire time, but he would not slow down. If you have ever seen the barrel racing, that is how fast he was going! To make matters worse, my sister had lost the rains at the very beginning, so she was holding on for dear life with her legs! Tam was very impressed with her riding skills and gave her a 10! It was CRAZY and something we will never forget and laugh about for many years! Needless to say, my sister was shaking like crazy and was very sore for a couple of days! I think we gave Tam a heart attack and we felt so bad because we really didn't want her to feel responsible or bad about it! Woody showed up and after they both worked with the horse, my dad and Woody insisted that my sister get back on the horse! She walked around the arena and got the horse to do what she wanted it too and I think it made her more comfortable! It was quite the experience and we were just all so grateful that no one got hurt and things ended up okay in the end! I have to say that I think my sister is just jinxed when it comes to horses because this same thing happened once before when we were getting ready to go on a trail ride! Her horse took off and wasn't looking back! I of course called Josh, who had to go back to work and missed all the excitement, and he just laughed! If you know my sister Lauri, you would understand his laughter!

Other than that one crazy moment, all went great on our vacation! The kids had so much fun playing together and were exhausted every night! We played a lot of cards and got my nephew, Bruce, addicted to cards! It was a lot of fun and something my dad was able to enjoy too! I knew that this Christmas would be hard on him, so I was so happy that most of us could get together and make this Christmas a little easier for him. Thanks to everyone for a wonderful Christmas! It was really hard to say goodbye!