Christmas Time Fun

Christmas was FANTASTIC! I love the traditions we've started and hope they continue into the kid's adult years as much as possible. Christmas eve is usually a quiet day with baking and delivery of goodies to friends. Recently we've had Christmas Eve Dinner with Frei family relatives with an early departure so we can do our own "thing". We always review the Christmas Story before the partying begins. The party includes watching Christmas Vacation, Dancing and opening one gift. Every year the kids all sleep in the same room on Christmas Eve together. Usually they fall asleep to a movie like Elf or The Santa Clause. I have recently had requests for earplugs due to Amanda's snoring. On Christmas morning Blake and I woke up before the kids for the 2nd or 3rd year in a row and wandered around the house aimlessly waiting for them to get up. At about 8:30 we decided we should go down and wake them. They were already awake, but waiting for us quietly thinking we were still sleeping. This behavior probably goes back to their younger years when they would wake up before dawn and yell for us and we would tell them to go back to sleep because it was too early to get up. Such good kids... This year Santa brought us Rock Band which I love! Who in the world hasn't ever wanted to be in a Band. I like to be the singer because you can't really hear my voice but I still get to sing in the microphone. After opening the abundance of gifts we put on our snow gear and went sledding. It didn't snow as much as we had hoped, but we went to the hill anyway. We found patches of grass and it was FREEZING! Needless to say, we didn't stay too long. We finished off the day with Prime Rib, garlic potatoes, homemade eggnog, and lots of pie. I love spending Christmas Day at home with my sweet little family.

Family Photo Shoot

The day after Thanksgiving we had a family photo taken with all of the Frei's. I of course insisted that we take some of our own before we go just in case the prints don't turn out or are too expensive to buy. They all thought I was crazy, and some had fits about taking the pic. Our family really, really does love eachother, even though some of these photos may say otherwise. By the way, the photos were WAY overpriced and we ended up not buying any. And these didn't turn out either...

Family Reunion

We drove to Denver to be with my family for Zach's funeral service on Friday December 5. Sammie stayed here in Springville with the Frei's because she had to attend her choir concert both nights. We would have taken her with us if her participation in the concert didn't account for most of her grade. So we got there Friday night and hung out at mom & dad's house. I was arranging pictures in an album for the reception so people could sign it as a guest book.
The next morning we were getting ready for the funeral and I realized that I brought Sammie's black skirt and not my own. A couple of years ago we shared the skirt, but now... well, let's just say, in it I looked like I was ready for a night on the town. So I found myself at Kohls searching for a black skirt. It should be noted that Kohls doesn't have a very good selection of basic black skirts in the dead of winter.
I think overall the service went very well. Gionne, Taylor, Tanner and Michaela presented his urn with some of their fellow Young Marines in a beautiful procession. After some words from the preacher Tony, Ronda and the kids were able to relate how much they loved and will miss Zach. Following that some of Zach's friends and coworkers expressed their thoughts about Zach also. It ended with a fantastic slideshow of Zach's life put to music. Friends and family then gathered for a reception in another room of the church. There were so many people there. Many more than had been expected.
Did I mention that on this day, December 6th, Tony was born 38 years ago? Our family and extended relatives went to Vinnie's house so we could celebrate a little with Tony. It was good to see family members we hadn't seen in years, but unfortunate that it was under these sad circumstances.
As we were heading back to Utah on Sunday, Blake and I resolved that we have to make time to visit more often.

Until We Meet Again

So much has happened over the last two months I hardly know where to begin. Actually the beginning is not a happy place. On Thanksgiving morning my brother Tony called me on my cell phone while I was working at the hospital. Not much came out of his mouth except for a few sobs and word that their son Zach had passed away. The space between us was thick with grief and my heart suddenly felt like it had a thousand pound weight dropped on it. I can't even begin to imagine the loss Tony and his family feel. Such a heavy burden for them to bear. I wanted so badly to just climb through the phone line and hold him. Just be there with him and hold him and let him cry. No words, no talking just holding him up a bit. For them it doesn't seem like there is anything to be thankful for, but if you think about it, there is so very much to be Thankful for. For the 23 years we were blessed with Zach in our lives. For his beautiful GQ face and his huge inviting smile. For baseball and football games, wrestling matches, hunting and fishing, dirtbikes~cars~& limousines, hiking and exploring and living life. For teenage rebellion and bad choices that eventually change a person for the better. For Tough Love. For watching the lost boy begin to figure it all out and become a secure responsible man. For the good impressions he left on those around him. For his caring, giving and helpful ways. For dreams and ideas. For just sharing life with us. For good parents and good kids. For the struggles and hardships that come with being a family. For each member's individual personality. For good days and bad. For being able to keep it all together when you feel like you're losing it. For strength from above to make it through the day. And for each day we're given to be together in love and friendship. For memories that will last a lifetime. And until we meet again, we'll think of you every day Zach.Tony, Ronda, Gionne, Taylor, Tanner and Michaela, I'm thankful that you're a part of my family and my life. I love you all so much. I continue to pray that you will find strength in your Heavenly Father and begin to heal from this enormous loss. Don't give up, He is there for you if only you'll let him carry you through this hard time. May Peace find it's way to you my brother.

Twilight at Midnight

Sammie, Sydney and I all read the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer and were really excited when we heard they were going to make it into a movie. Until... we found out who was in the cast. The book describes Edward, the lead vampire, as the having the most beautiful glorious face on the earth. Well, the actor playing Edward certainly is not as described. I thought I'd skip the movie since it already took such a big step from being like the book. But then Sammie & Sydney asked me if they could go to the midnight showing. Of course like a good mother I said NO WAY can you two cute girls go out at midnight. Then I thought again and decided they could go if I went with them. So, we're trying to figure out when the tickets would go on sale so we could get some and then wait in a really long line for seats. Just then one of our neighbors sends an email out to everyone asking if they would like to go to the movie, and she was trying to reserve an entire theater. Anyway, she did get the whole theater, assigned seats so we wouldn't have to wait and run for seats and even gave prizes out. It was so much fun.
Here's how it went for me, Sam & Syd:
The girls wanted to get Twilight T-shirts to wear to the movie so we went to the mall the night before, but they couldn't find anything they liked. We went home a little disappointed. The next day I bought each of us black T-shirts and iron-on letters and we made our own. We looked kind of silly at Walmart when we went to get candy before the movie. All 3 of us were dressed in our black "Cullen" shirts and red or black pants. At the theater we got to our reserved seats and Sydney wanted to sit in the middle since she has this phobia about sitting next to strangers. We went to get some popcorn and Syd decided she didn't want any so Sammie & I would have to share with Syd sitting between us. Sammie slightly bullied Syd into changing seats with her. Only a few minutes after the switch Sydney's seat number was called for a door prize. Needless to say, Sammie was pretty irritated and claimed that the gift should have been hers, but there was no way Sydney was giving in to that one. I ended up dozing off toward the middle of the movie but that's what happens when you get to be my age. We had a really fun time together. I'm so glad I have two fun daughters to play with.

Body Builder

Ok, so that last post of Sydney may not have been the most "appropriate". But I sure did get a laugh out of it.
This little piece of history was during the Body Building phase. I think I was about 21. Oh I was so strong! Just check out those guns. Pretty gross for a girl. If you look closely you can see a little bit of pink behind my jeans. That's my body building brother Tony standing behind me. And, yes he is wearing pink pants. I think they were "parachute" pants even. Kind of girly for a manly man. Go figure.

A Little Comic Relief

I think Sydney was about 2-1/2 when this photo was taken. She had smashed her finger in the door or something and had to show us where she was hurt. It really doesn't look like she's hurt ~ just being devious. Check out the expression on her face ~ PRICELESS. (I'm just glad she turned out to be such an ANGEL)

Be Strong

Well, it seems like our family has had it's share of health trials in the last few months. Starting with Dad's stroke, John's prostate cancer and now Zach's leukemia. The one thing that has been on my mind through all of this is how much my family really means to me. It's really hard to be so far away when trials hit and not able to be there to help. I hope they know that there is a prayer in my heart always for their safety and well being.
It is hard to comprehend how this leukemia could just appear out of nowhere and attack Zach with such intensity. He is so young, it just doesn't seem fair. We all have trials that we have to work through and this one will be a long road. We just have to remember that bad things happen to good people and that underneath all of the sorrow and worry there is a lesson that will be learned and knowledge will be gained.
I have been impressed with the dedication of my brother and his family to care for and support Zach. I want them to know that I love them all and that I know that Heavenly Father will carry through this rough time. It has been hard on all of them and they have been strengthened by the prayers and love of family and friends(and people they don't even know).
BE STRONG ZACH! You can kick this thing!

Cheap Entertainment

So, it is apparent that not much has been going on at our house. It looks like the kids got the camera and went wild. I just LOVE each one of these goofy kids ~ they make me laugh. It's moments like this when they let it all out and just have fun that I love so much!

Now a quick update for the last couple of weeks: work and school. A tennis tournament and flag football play offs (neither of which we will talk about any further). Basically it's the same day over and over and over with only small differences.

Marathon Mom

So... After 4 months of training, I ran 26.2 miles in the St. George Marathon. It was one of the hardest, most exciting miserable things I've ever done. I had this awesome picture in my head of how it was going to be and it turned out completely opposite. Almost everything that could go wrong did. It began with a late start to St. George. I was nervous and anxious and wanted to get an early start so I could get my chip and number and then have a relaxing night with the family at the pool. We ended up spending the night at the Instacare getting stitches in Amanda's finger. Then there was the late night search for my lost iPod. (Heavenly Father does answer prayers!) I went to bed around 12:30 and up at 3:50 to get to the bus and up to the starting line by 5am. It was pitch black outside and raining. There were about 5,000 people dressed in trash bags sitting around smoldering fires trying to keep warm and dry. It looked like Armageddon. I ran about 8 miles in a trashbag and finally ripped that off only to be soaked to the bone from head to toe. The rain never stopped, the headwind was cold and strong and my feet were sloshing around in my shoes for 4 hours and 46 minutes. - Like I said MISERABLE! But it was so worth it when I rounded the corner toward the finish line and saw Blake. The kids were a little farther down standing on the fence and gave me high 5's as I ran by! (at that point I'm not sure you could call it running) It was definitely not pretty, but well worth it! Anyone want to run with me next year? I just have to do it in the sunshine.