Running Ragged

I can't believe it's been over a month since my last post! The whole holiday season really kept me running. I'll give you the outlined version of what's been going on:

December 22nd:
We drove to GF and April took our family pictures with us and Derek's sister Ali and their cousin Ashley. We are giving this picture to Derek's grandma for Christmas. April was having a hard time to get her flashes to work correctly, so I know that she isn't happy with how they turned out, but I'm sure they'll be just fine. I'll let her post some or wait til she's done with them so she can pic the best one.

December 23rd: Aiden's 1st birthday
We stayed in GF on the 22nd after the picture taking and helped April & Kevin get ready for his party. And I made the coolest birthday cake yet! April wanted to have a duckie cake and I was thinking of just doing a simple cut out cake, but then with a little help from Derek, I decided to make a "bathtub" with little rubber duckies floating in "water" and even have some "bubbles" for a good effect. Kevin helped come up with the idea of using a bendy straw to make the faucet. I think it's adorable.




December 24th & 25th: Christmas time with the families
On Christmas eve we had dinner with Derek's Mom, Dale, Ali, Ashley, and Grandma. Then we opened up presents. I got some new lime green pots and pans and a new digital camera. Derek got money for garage doors :-( I told him that I'd share my gifts with him! Because we were busy sticking all our money into the garage, we decided not to exchange gifts this year. So it wasn't all that fun this year. After we were done there, we went over to my sister's (Wendy) house and opened gifts with her, her boyfriend Ryan, our brother Brian, and my nephew Farnum. Obviously, Farnum had the most fun. On Christmas day, we had dinner at Derek's cousins house and didn't do much else.

December 28th & 29th:
April, Kevin, Doug, Karissa, & Blake came to town. We were hanging out with April & Kevin in the afternoon on Sat. and they needed to go to Kevin's parent's antique store. We went with because we had nothing else to do and I had never been in there before. And what do ya know? We found a treasure to bring home! His name is Chipper, but also comes to Rowdy or Hey You! Chipper is a stuffed squirrel. I don't know who thought it'd be a good idea to stuff a squirrel AND try to sell it, and I don't think I want to know how they got the squirrel to stuff it either! Anyway, he's absolutely hilarious and he says the darnedest things...Like..."Hey, who's got my nuts!" Okay, I'll stop there. See pics posted.
We went to the 11th Frame on the night of 29th and then hung out at our place afterwards. The usual.

December 31st: New Years Eve
Derek and I haven't really celebrated New Years since we've been together...at least the celebrating that involves alcoholic drinks. So we both had the 1st off and April invited us to come to GF and celebrate at their house. Amber, Ben, and Bailey came over. We all at BBQ's, meat and cheese, little smokies, crackers, fudge, and April's yummy taco dip....yum, it's delicious! We played Rock Band til close to midnight and then watched the ball drop and bring in the new year. Then because we are all so old, by 12:30am we were kinda sleepy. I know I was laying on the floor and trying not to fall asleep. Nice, right?! Oh well, whatdaya gonna do?!

January 2008!!!!
Not much going on. The days just seem to keep passing by so quickly. I've been busy at work. January starts the time of the fishermen and hockey teams. So we've been reinforcing our rules and I've been retraining my clerks to not be retarded!
January 11th was the anniversary of my dad dying in 2005. I can't believe it's been 3 years already. His birthday would have been on the 12th. He died the day before he turned 51. So that kinda sucks. I haven't been to his grave yet cuz it's been so cold, but when I go I'm gonna bring him a birthday balloon. I don't know why, but it make me smile and that's all that matters.

January 13th-18th: Playing Mom!
Derek's mom and Dale are going to Mexico and we are going to be watching over Ali. Jana, a family friend, will be staying with her at her house, but she doesn't drive so we'll have to help out. I will take Ali to school and Jana to work before going to work myself. Derek will pick Ali up from school and take her home. After work, I will pick Jana up and go to their house and make supper for them. I made supper on the 14th, 15th, 16th, and 18th. The 18th was Dale's birthday and they were coming home so I made roast beef sammiches, coleslaw, baked beans, and angel food cake with powdered sugar frosting and a strawberry/rhubarb sauce (optional with cake and ice cream). On the 18th, Farnum stayed over night at Ali's and on Sat. I took them swimming at the hotel. I think they swam for almost 3 hours. At around 6pm I resigned my Mom duties and took the rest of the weekend off!!

So that's the last month for me...next time I'll try to post more frequently so it's not so much to read at once! ;-)

I'll see ya when I see ya!!