Two Christmases

The kids woke up Christmas morning and found a note from Santa explaining that because their dad was out flying on Christmas day, he would leave a couple gifts for them, but then return the next day with the rest of their gifts when their dad was home, so he could be there when they opened their presents.

The kids were thrilled that Santa left them a note, left them a couple presents, and that he'd be returning again. So to keep them entertained on Christmas, I took them to see Gulliver's Travels, which we all loved. Love Jack Black, so cute and funny.

Before bed tonight, the girls wrote Santa a note on the computer and handwritten notes next to the cookies and milk, with a request that he write them back. I have no doubt that he'll write them a nice letter.

Selena said, "This is the best Christmas, because we get two of them!"

So tomorrow we do this all over again. I'm hoping Chris makes it home, because I don't know if Santa can come back a third night.

Merry Christmas to all our family and friends!

Costumes & Birthdays

Since it's almost Thanksgiving, I think it's time to put up my Halloween pictures now. Every year I usually dress up. I love getting pretty costumes and putting on lots of makeup. But this year I looked at all of my old costumes and wasn't in the mood for any of them. So the day after Halloween, I bought three costumes for next year all 50 percent off. I can't wait to wear them. I've decided I have to have a party so I can wear them -- or talk one of my friends into hosting a party, which would be less stressful.

I thought I had found the perfect costume where I could've been a flight attendant for Chris. But I didn't buy it, since it was designed to be worn by someone who lives in the Playboy Mansion. If the flight attendants Chris flies with wore the outfit I saw, I'd have to accompany him on every flight, because he'd be enjoying his job way too much.

Getting my kids costumes this season was made difficult by Sophia and easy by the other two. Alec did his usual sports jerseys and was not popular at all since he was wearing Dallas Cowboy gear while living among devoted Washington Redskins fans. It got a little ugly when he wanted candy from these people. They let him know that his choice in sports teams sucked before they gave him candy.

For the girls costumes, Selena still wants to be girly and frilly. Sophia on the other hand, wants nothing feminine. After much drama of finding her a costume she had asked for, then changing her mind the day of her school party, I finally threw one of my old costumes on her and she ended up being a cave woman. She looked so good with her wild red hair. Selena was easy. She threw on her princess dress and was good to go.

We also celebrated Selena's birthday and yes, she did get her overly priced doll. And no, she hasn't been playing with it constantly. She claims she'll pay more attention to it after Sophia gets one too. Let's hope so! Selena had a fun birthday. She got taken out of school for lunch at Wendy's and then also got to go to her favorite Mexican restaurant for dinner and have all the waiters sing Happy Birthday to her.

Another major event this month was the young man I married suddenly turned another year older. To me he looks the same as he did 20 years ago when we met and he still acts just as young. I'm a loser wife and still owe him a cake for his special day. He did get to go to dinner though, and ate food that was a lot better than I could've come up with. I did buy him some cute Dallas Cowboy pj's, but he wouldn't pose for pics. He's probably afraid I'd post them, and he'd be right.
My favorite part of this picture is the very thick gold chain peaking out from his shirt. The 70's were a great decade for fashion!

Tunnel of Stress

For years we had a car that I would constantly complain about because it was old, the sun visor would fall down whenever you hit a bump, only one windshield wiper worked. When I started it, it would make this horrible squeaking sound that caused everyone around me to stop and stare. Then to top it off, I backed into it with our other car so it had a huge dent in the driver's door, and the window would no longer go up or down. (no need to go into details of why I hit the car) So whenever I'd go through a drive-thru or pay for parking, I'd have to open my door and explain how my windows didn't work.

I finally complained enough for Chris to buy us a new car. I have had my new car for a few weeks and have been loving it. I have XM radio free for three months and I constantly have it on Blue Collar Radio. I hate to get out of the car because I'm cracking up at all the comedians. It has bluetooth built in, so talking on the phone is so easy.

Everything seemed perfect until a couple nights ago when Chris called to tell me as he was getting off the freeway, the car just died. What? Our new car? I thought he was joking, but no. He had it towed and the dealership said it was a bad fuse. They supposedly fixed it and we got our car back.

Now, of all the years I had my little thrasher car and complained, it never let me down. Yes, at times I was embarrassed as I would leave a job and it would make awful sounds as I started it, but it always got me to where I was going. And I never even bothered to lock it when I would work in Baltimore, because if someone took it, I would've shed no tears.

So back to my new car. I'm driving to a job in Baltimore, laughing as I listen to Bill Engvall talk about the differences between men and women. I start driving through the Fort McHenry tunnel, which runs under the Patapsco River, when all of a sudden my car starts losing speed. I'm pushing on the gas and nothing is happening. So I start freaking out and yelling at the car like I can convince it to start up again and get me out of the tunnel, but it's not listening to me. Meanwhile, there's a big truck behind me who is so close, he's sitting in the back seat of my car.

I continue to get very psycho as I try in vein to restart the car. I came to a stop as I reached the end of the tunnel, but couldn't move off to the side, since there was nowhere to go.

I was shaking and feeling helpless and didn't want the cars behind me to start yelling at me. I called Chris and I know I sounded like a lunatic as I started yelling, "The car died and I'm in the tunnel!"

As he was talking to me, I could see police lights reflecting behind me. Then what had to be only two minutes after I stalled, a policeman walked to my car and asked if I was okay. I again had a psycho moment, "My car just died! It's new. I don't know why it won't start!!"

He very calmly told me it was okay and to stay in the car. I got back on the phone trying to call the dealership to get a tow truck, but before I could even do that, a tow truck pulled up. I was relieved and shocked how fast he got there. Of course now I know they monitor those tunnels and have them cleared right away. I thanked the officer (who, by the way, looked like he was 16) and wanted to tell him I'm really not a nut case.

As I drove away in the tow truck, the driver had the police radio on and I heard someone talking about "the lady with the stalled car is now out, on her way to the EZPass parking lot and we can reopen the tunnel." Great -- I shut down the tunnel.

I called work, told them why I would be late. Chris picked me up and took me the rest of the way to my job.

When I got there, one of the attorneys said he saw the tunnel was closed because of a disabled car. I told him, yes, that was me. They were all very understanding of why I was late.

So once again, my new car that I begged for is in the shop. The dealership gave us a rental car, which I'm loving because it has heated seats, so they can take their time fixing mine. But I've realized just because something is old, makes funny noises, and not all the parts are working right, I shouldn't complain if it does what it's supposed to do.

Ha! I hope when I'm like that -- old, not working right, etc, Chris doesn't trade me in for a newer model!

Big Time Rush Crush!

Back when I was young if my mom would've come to me and said, "We're going to the mall so you can meet Andy Gibb," I would've freaked out. I loved Andy and his Shadow Dancing/I Just Want to be Your Everything music. But that never happened. As I got older, my crushes turned to Duran Duran, Def Leppard, and of course Bon Jovi. Unfortunately, none of these artists made it to my hometown for autographs signings.

So when I heard that the Nickelodeon band Big Time Rush (my daughters love them) was going to be at the Arundel Mills, right up the freeway, I had to take them. You had to buy their cd to get a wristband, which allowed you to go up to a table where they sat and they would sign your cd. By the time we got to the mall the line was hundreds of people long. We waited about two hours to meet them, but we had fun meeting people in line around us and discussing which member of the band was everyone's favorites. Selena likes Kendall. Sophia likes Carlos. Personally I thought James was adorable. The girls in front of us had a whole scrapbook they had made of the band. One father said his 4-year-old boy used to ask to watch SpongeBob and now asks for Big Time Rush. Standing next to people for two hours, you really get to know them.

When Selena saw them she said, "Mom, feel my heart. It's beating so fast!" She was so excited. These boys had been signing autographs for at least three hours by the time we got up to them and they were all so nice, smiling and making all the kids feel special. They made it a point to compliment each child. Sophia and Selena both were thrilled that the boys made comments about their clothes, "I love your bow." "I love your shirt." They hi-fived them and fist bumped them and signed their cd's. Chris was videotaping the whole event and Carlos was super friendly and waved at the camera while talking to Selena and Sophia. They were walking on cloud 9 after they met them. Sophia did make one observation that made me laugh. She said, "Mom, they look old. They had whiskers!" On their tv show they act so young and silly, I think she was expecting young teenage boys.

Selena had a different take on their facial hair. She said, "I wanted to ask him for a whisker tickle!"

On the way home we of course had to put their cd in and listen to the girls sing all their songs.

I assumed Chris knew who they were, but as we were in line he kept saying, "Who are these guys?" He was wondering if it was worth spending all that time waiting to meet them. So after we got home, he went to the DVR and watched a little bit of their show so he knew who his daughters were gaga about.

So even though I never was able to meet any of my childhood crushes, I'm glad I was able to make it happen for my girls. And yes, it was worth the wait in line seeing the smiles on their faces.

Never Say Never

A few years ago I heard my friends talking about these dolls called American Girl dolls. I had no idea what they were or why they were so excited about them. Then as they described these dolls, I totally zoned out on how adorable they were, how gorgeous the clothes and accessories were, how well made they were. All I heard was they sold for $100. I thought these women were nuts to pay that much for a doll -- a doll that in a few years their daughters won't even want anymore. I knew I would never ever pay that much for a doll.

So the Christmas my girls asked for them I thought, yeah, right. I went over to Costco and promptly bought two Alexandria dolls that to me looked very similar to those over-priced American Girl dolls. I thought my girls would be satisfied with their new dolls and unlike my foolish friends, I saved money. But no sooner did they have them unwrapped that I heard Sophia say, "It's not an American Girl doll."

Are you kidding? Is there really a difference?

As I griped about how now it's birthday time and Selena is asking for one of those $100 dolls, my all-knowing and full of advice friend Mendy said, "Well, Tracy, you know you'll spend over $100 on a party and other gifts for her, so why don't you just get her what she wants."

Darn her, she was right.

So I told the Sophia and Selena to show me what dolls they wanted -- because of course now Sophia has to have one and is making her Christmas list. They got on the website and after an hour of drooling over all the dolls, clothes and accessories, Sophia showed me everything they had placed in their online shopping cart. She then proudly announced, "It only adds up to $570."

After I came out of my coma, I explained to her that there's no way I'm spending that much. I had flashes of Chris seeing a credit card statement with a charge of over $500 for dolls and images of me packing my bags after he took all my credit cards away and kicked me out. So after we got the list down to just one doll each and some dresses that were on sale, I could breath again.

But I've opened a whole can of worms though, because now they talk about flying up to New York and going to the American Girl doll store and cafe. I looked on the website and they do have some fun activities for the girls and their dolls -- so looks like this is just the beginning.

This week is Selena's birthday and sitting in my home is one of those dolls I swore I'd never buy. She will get it this week and she better love it and play with it until her wedding day.

I had Selena pose with my doll that I had from way back in the 70's. It's still a perfect doll that even pees when given a bottle -- something that I'd like to see her $100 doll do.

Our First Renaissance Day

When my friends found out that our family had never been to the renaissance festival after living here for almost a decade, they were shocked. How could we have never gone? Well, I had never heard of it until a few years ago and then Alec always had football every weekend in the fall. But this was our year. Alec isn't playing football, so yesterday we spent the day having our first renaissance experience.

At first it didn't go so well. We walked in and the kids, although they loved all the people dressed up, asked where the rides were. We explained there were no rides and they said, "It's just shows?" They were not impressed. That is until we started seeing some very entertaining acts and eating all the yummy food.

The sword swallower was freaky! He not only swallowed huge swords, but a balloon, a cigarette, and hammered a nail in his nose. This man was talented in the most unusual ways.
Our favorite act was Fight School. These men were so funny. The kids laughed through the whole show and yelled out with the audience at all the right times. We all want to go back just to see these men again.
We also loved the knights jousting tournament. Even though the men were all sweaty in their outfits, they still looked very handsome with their fancy hats and swords. They were so nice and willing to pose for pictures. We inhaled, cheesecake on a stick, bread bowls with clam chowder, chocolate covered & peanut butter covered bananas, turkey legs, onion rings, curly fries, steak sandwiches, chicken Alfredo, chocolate chip cookies, and ice cream in waffle cones. But I'm sure we walked off all those calories we ate -- right?They were so well behaved once they were strapped in. I checked, they didn't sell these timeout apparatuses.

Aside from packing in thousands of calories, the kids also got quite an education on the anatomy of women. I swear some of these ladies had to have bruises under their chins, because their chests were shoved up so high out of their corsets. It didn't go unnoticed either. Sophia kept commenting, "Mom, that lady is pulling her chest out of her dress." "Mom, that lady's boobs are sticking out and she has tattoos on them." Apparently no one had given these ladies the modesty talk, but Sophia was ready to give it to them.

After spending all day in that environment, I totally wanted to buy one of the pretty dresses -- of course with a little more coverage in the cleavage area. But when I walked into the store and saw this stunning red dress that was absolutely gorgeous, my dream of owning one was quickly taken away when I saw the price tag of over $500. I guess I'll have to wait and ask Santa for one.

Robin Hood and Maid Marian were so friendly and the kids can't wait to go back. I can't believe it took us so long to go back in time to the renaissance festival, because we loved the whole experience!

Inch by Inch

When I gave birth to Alec, my first-born child, my world totally revolved around him. To say he was spoiled would be a total understatement. I remember my mom told me once that no matter how old he got, I would always think of him as my baby. I thought I'd always think of him as my baby because he would always be this small boy I could hold and cuddle and somewhat control.

But this week something changed -- my tiny 7 lbs, 11 oz, 21-inch baby boy somehow grew taller than me! He was so excited to point it out, stand next to me, stick his chest out and proclaim, "I'm taller than you!"



He's now 13 and thinks he's a man, but I still think he's my little boy. When he was a toddler I could do the smallest things, like make a funny face, give him a toy or a treat, and he would think I was the greatest person in the world. Nowadays it's a lot harder to impress him. I'm more of an embarrassment when his friends are around.

But the other day while we were riding in the car, I actually did something that impressed Alec. We were listening to the radio and the new Eminem/Rihanna song came on. If you would've asked me before this song came out to name an Eminem song, I wouldn't have been able to do it, but because this song is played every two minutes on the radio, I knew the words.

So when Eminem started singing or rapping his lines, I said the words along with him. I wish I would've taken a picture of Alec's face. He looked at me like I just got picked to sing a duet with Eminem live at the Grammys. His eyes were all big and he said, "Mom!"

I said, "You didn't think I could sing that?" And for a moment my coolness rating went up in his eyes. Who knew I would need Eminem's help to impress my boy.Time flies when I'm getting older and Alec is turning into a man!

A Wedding and a Birthday

Right now I'm totally regretting not keeping up on my blogging the first half of this year. We took lots of trips for reunions, a wedding, anniversary, unfortunately a funeral, and then just for one last summer trip. So I don't feel so overwhelmed, I'll just start from the first of the year and start catching up by using pictures, that way I can remember what we did.

In January we flew to California for my sister's special day of going through the temple for the first time. Then in May we flew out again to see her and her husband sealed together and then to their three children. It was an amazing day being in the temple with my parents and siblings and watching an answer to our prayers happening before us. Laura has always been beautiful. Growing up I always wished I had her confidence, her hair, her full lips (they used to call me chicken lips because they were so thin) and her flair for makeup and clothes, but I've never seen her look more gorgeous and happy than she did in the temple.

January was also my mom's birthday. So that trip we had two celebrations. Unfortunately because school was still in session, Alec and Chris weren't able to go. It was just me and the girls. They're in elementary school, so they get to travel more.

I love being with my sisters!

Having a blast at the kiddie table!

Selena got her first tattoo from my Uncle Lehi. She was very excited to show off her butterfly!

Mom got three cakes for her special day -- one peach, one lemon and one chocolate.
Even though my mom's siblings live in Utah and Arizona, they frequently come to visit her. And some of them came out to celebrate her birthday. She's 1 of 9 children, so there's lots of siblings that can visit.

Mom loves having her grandchildren with her -- until it's time to sleep.
Best part of the trip, being with my mom!

Bye Bye Summer :(

I'm not thrilled that school started. I loved the summer because we traveled a lot and didn't have the stress of homework or after-school activities. But today it begins again -- early mornings, homework, and driving kids to all the activities I signed them up for.

Alec posed nicely for me under duress -- it was either a nice picture in the house or I follow him to the bus stop wearing my pj's snapping pics of him. I wanted more than the one shot of him though, so I went in his bedroom and slid open the window to sneak a shot of him as he walked to the bus. I felt like the paparazzi. After I took the picture, he turned around, but I ducked so I didn't have to face his glare if he spotted me. My girls were happy to pose for me and show off their new outfits.

Selena and her best friend Marlee not only matched outfits, but Mendy made them matching hair bows. Then we noticed they even wore matching Twinkle Toe shoes! Selena said all day long people were asking them if they were twins or sisters. It's going to be an exciting year because they are in the same class -- a dream come true for them!
Sophia and Teralyn so fashionable with their glittering scarves and butterfly tops.

After Chris and I dropped them off, I had a list of things I had to get done. But instead of transcripts, laundry, shopping, unpacking and cleaning -- here's what happened: I went to brunch with friends, came home and fell asleep. Didn't wake up until Alec walked through the door. Yes, it was a productive day. Chris accomplished more. He is assigned to a new airplane so he studied all day to prepare for his tests.

I did more before school though -- I actually worked out! I can't remember the last time my body attempted any form of exercise. But after a night of binging while watching the Emmy's, I was ready to work off the nachos. I worked out with Jillian from The Biggest Loser and she is tough! It's like she could see me and read my mind. As she had me doing jumping jacks she said, "No modified jumping jacks here! I have 400 pound people who can do these, so you can too!" I was huffing and puffing. Every other trainer on my DVDs let me do modified jumping jacks, but not her. Then as we're doing ab exercises she says, "These will get rid of that pooch you have in your lower belly." I was convinced she could see me and that's why she did those extra ab crunches.

I'm feeling sore already because I'm so out of shape. I'm thinking instead of starting my exercise routine with Jillian, I should have gone back to the man I exercised with in high school -- Richard Simmons -- he doesn't scare me and is less intense.

Family Visits -- Finally!

I realize that having flight benefits, it makes more sense for us to go visit loved ones who live across the country. But I would totally love it if my family were able to visit more. So when my cousin from Oregon called and asked if he and his 12-year-old son could come stay with us for a week and visit all the historical sites, I was sooo excited!

Chad is a cousin who I saw a lot growing up. He was a little shy and probably overwhelmed by my loud sisters -- yes, I'm not the loudest one. Then when I went to college, I moved in with his family. So for a few years I was the older sister he never had.
Chris' schedule was great the week Chad and his son Josh came to see us, meaning he had a lot of days off to play tour guide -- one of his favorite things and one of his many talents.

The first place we took them to was Annapolis to visit the Naval Academy. Now, I do love a man in uniform, so you'd think I'd be in heaven with all these sailors walking around. But I realized something as I watched them marching by -- they are little boys! I felt like their mother and wanted to give them water and tell them to go sit in the shade because it was too hot to be out doing drills. Yes, it was a little heartbreaking to realize I'm old.

My favorite place to take family when they visit is Fort McHenry. It's such an amazing part of history that we live close to and very emotional as you hear the story of Francis Scott Key seeing our flag flying from the fort and how he was inspired to write The Star Spangled Banner. Then they play our National Anthem and it always gives me goosebumps. My favorite memory of this place is when my parents came to visit back in 2001 and seeing my dad cry as our anthem played and he saw Old Glory flying above the fort. I'm so glad he and my mom were able to experience this amazing place.
We were fortunate enough to be at the fort when they took the huge flag down for the day. There was a troop of Boy Scouts there helping with the flag and they stepped aside and let the girls touch the flag. We, of course, had to take them to downtown Baltimore and let them walk around the pier where people watching is always entertaining. The girls and I were ready to go home after a long day of touring, but Chad and Josh were all excited to see their first Orioles game at Camden Yards. So Chris and Alec shared that experience with them.

Another spot we took them to was Harper's Ferry. I think the kids favorite part of this site were the free popsicles from and ice cream shop. This day we also added another child -- I like to think of Tyler as my second son, since he fits in so well with our family. Plus he can take a punch when my girls attack him.
One site we've been to before and I still get emotional visiting, is Antietam. It's an eerie feeling being in fields where there was such a tremendous loss of life.
The boys at a bridge where a bloody battle took place. Alec and Tyler felt the urge to reenact the battle scene.
Apparently Antietam has very large bugs hanging around -- ewwww! Their trip wouldn't be complete without seeing all the Smithsonians and touring the Capitol.
I wasn't disappointed I missed the day in DC with them when they toured the Air & Space Museum, since they spent nearly all day in there. Alec wasn't happy I deleted the hundreds of pictures he took of airplanes. But honestly, he could go back and see them any time.

Of course they couldn't leave without touring Gettysburg. They did a lot of walking that day, so I was happy to let Chris go without me since I didn't have the day off of work like he did.
Chad and Josh went crabbing on one of their last days with us. We've been here almost ten years and have never done that! Yes, we boiled some water and cooked them for a late night snack. I was freaking out a little, but the girls loved it! They couldn't wait to stick the crabs in the hot pot and then enjoy some crab meat.

That week having Chad and Josh here was great. I loved having family with us and it went by so fast.

So if you're ever wondering where you might go on your next family trip and you love historical sightseeing (and we're related) consider a trip to the east. You're feet will be achy, but you're guaranteed a great tour!