Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Christmas time is here. My life is always so busy around Christmas time because I ended up having a lot of life events during the month of December. Steve and I were married on the 16th, and we really try to do something special each year for our anniversary. As I said before, we went to Boston this year, which was really fun, but it cuts into getting ready for Christmas. So I crammed everything into the weeks following our anniversary. 

Steve and I  both had the same idea. We bought Christmas gifts for each other, and asked Steve Jr. to wrap them for us. If you look at the picture, the gift in his left hand has 4 separate items, and the gift in his right hand has closer to 7 or 8 items. We decided if we want something done right, do it ourselves. Honestly, Steve Jr is usually a perfectionist, I was so surprised that this is how he wraps gifts.

Another life event we had was that our daughter, Jessica was born on the 22nd. Having a birthday right at Christmas time is not the best idea. Your birthday gifts tend to be lumped into your Christmas gifts. I try really hard to keep them separate for her, but it really is hard. This year, we realized we wouldn't even see Jessica until Christmas Day, so I mailed her gift to her. She received it on Dec 20th. This is a project I worked on for about 2 months. Jessica chose the pattern she wanted, and I made it.

I think she was happy with her birthday gift.

It's a Collings family tradition to go to Grandma Collings house on Christmas Eve and have a nativity, and dinner. Then we open a few gifts. This year Grandma specifically called Steve Jr and Conner to be in the nativity. It's always been the younger kids that participate in the nativity, but Grandma wanted the older kids involved too. Steve was the angel Gabriel, we couldn't find a white costume, so he's a little dark... and Conner was the star. We didn't actually get to a part where it talked about the star, so Conner ended up sitting on the stairs in the back ground. If you look really close, you can see his face in the back ground.

We also listened to some of the cousins sing Christmas songs, it's amazing how all these kids are growing up. they are all so talented and cute. We have a fun family. 

After the nativity, we went in for dinner. The tradition is Clam chowder with home made french bread, but over the years it has changed a bit to include other types of soup and simpler foods for the young kids. This year Caity made lasagna soup, which was incredible. Denise made clam chowder, which was also really good (yes, I had both!) And of course we had the french bread. 

This year for gifts, Grandma bought all of the grandchildren a nerf gun, and one for her and Grandpa. They all opened their gifts at the same time, and had a nerf war. The only rule was don't shoot in the face. Uncle Kenney got a nerf bullet to the eye, and he was out for the rest of the war. At least 3 others were also hit right around the eyes, but no real damage. Lots of fun. It was CRAZY!! The kids had an absolute blast with their grandparents. 

On Christmas Day, I was so excited because I would at least get to talk to all of my kiddos. It's been a long time since we were all together. Kaylea is on a mission to Ventura, California. And she was able to call home at 11:00 Christmas morning. Jessica was on her way to our house, and we were worried that she wouldn't make it in time to talk to her sister, but when Kaylea called, we added Jessica to the line like a conference call, and were all able to talk together. Kaylea sounded so good! She's really happy, really being stretched and humbled, and really working hard.

So Conner and Steve both got long boards for Christmas, and after Jessica arrived, we all went outside to watch the boys test them out. Conner just came home from Boston on December 22nd, and he looks so good! He has grown so tall, and is really filling out. He's passed his brother!

 I decided to take a couple of pictures of my good looking kids! I'm so proud of them all, it's really neat to see them all growing up, and making good choices in their lives. 

 Avery sat on the long board and let Conner push her around, she really liked it, but would not hold still long enough for pictures. When I went to snap this picture, she stood up and walked over and gave me a big hug. I think that was the best picture all day. I love this little lady!!

That afternoon we had a turkey dinner, and really just relaxed the whole day. It was so fun to just hang out and not worry about anything. I love Christmas!!

These pictures are of me and the kids being silly. On the couch, and under the Christmas tree.

The main gift that Conner got came the next day. He and Steve went out shopping for a vehicle. Conner wanted something clean. That was the only stipulation. We had a price that we wanted to stay under, and ended up finding this Chevy Blazer. Conner's so excited to get it. He will keep it through high school and then will be able to sell it to help pay a portion of his mission in a few years. 

That night Steve and I took Conner and Steve Jr to Ruth's Chris for dinner. We had amazing steaks and yummy desserts, and it was a perfect way to end our Christmas holiday.

The day after Christmas at 11:45 at night, I picked up my parents from the train and we drove to Southern Utah for a Wright family reunion. We rented a cabin in Alton, Utah. It had enough beds and rooms for my entire family. There was my parents and 6 of us siblings with all of our kids. There were almost 40 of us. The cabin had a game room with foozeball, pool, ping pong, basketball, and a hot tub. Outside there was about a foot of snow and all the sleds we would need for sledding, and a zip line. There were 2 1/2 kitchens, 2 fire places, 3 TV's, and lots of space to play games. 

The zip line went from a tree house next to the cabin, across this huge field, to another pine tree. I'm standing at the end of the zip line to take this picture. It was such a blast. We went on it every day. I think our California cousins had the most fun though. They spent hours playing in the snow, and sledding. Snow is very exciting when you don't see it very often. Most of us were content to stay inside beside the fire or in the hot tub. 

We went to Bryce canyon one evening just as the sun was setting. The views were gorgeous! This was only about 1/2 hour away from our cabin. I actually had to leave on Monday, but on Tuesday morning, the family went up to see the sunrise, which was really beautiful, and they took up all of the grandchildren. It looked like a lot of fun.

These pictures are a little bit out of order, but on Friday afternoon, Uncle Dave and his family were traveling up from California. Those of us who were already at the cabin decided it would be fun to go meet them. We drove South through Zion's national park, while Dave's family drove North. We met at the visitor's center and drove caravan style through the park. 

 We stopped at this cool rock formation and the uncles played "cops and robbers" with the cousins. They all had a great time. 

Jessica brought Avery, Steve and Conner up Saturday and they spent the night and went home Sunday evening. It was so fun to have them all there. Avery was such a cutie, but did have a really rough night. She went to bed fine, but woke up around midnight, and didn't fall back to sleep until 4:30am. Cried most of the night. The boys watched football, and had fun with their cousins. Conner stayed with me until Monday, and right before we left he convinced Grandma to go with him on the zip line. I didn't think she'd go at all, but because Conner challenged her, she did. They really had fun together. 

For New Year's Eve, I am at a patient's house. When fireworks were going off outside, I was giving medications and suctioning trachs. Conner and Steve Jr are celebrating with friends. Jessica and Chris are celebrating with goodies at their house, and my poor husband is home alone tonight...

Happy New Year my dear!!

Boston for our Silver Anniversary

 It's hard to believe that Steve and I have been married for 25 years. We decided we wanted to take a trip for our silver anniversary, and we also decided we were really missing Conner, so we booked a trip to Boston.

When we arrived, it was right during rush hour. The traffic in Boston is horrendous, and we had a rental car. We ended up eating at a restaurant just a few miles away from the airport, called Ocean Air. It was really good food, and we were able to stay warm and wait out all the crazy traffic. We actually came upon a terrible accident while driving from the airport, it was fatal. Steve saw someone in the street. Very sad.

We spent our first day together driving up the coast. Neither of us have been to Maine, and it's such a short drive. It would have only taken an hour and a half, but I do like to stop for pictures. This was taken at Hampton Beach, New Hampshire.

We drove up Route 1A, which is literally right along the coastline, and the homes we passed were incredible. Some were these amazing mansions, others were summer beach houses, but they all were incredible! 

We drove to York, Maine, and stopped at the Nubble Lighthouse. It is such a cute little lighthouse, and it was all decorated for Christmas. Our pictures turned out pretty bad... really bad! Haha! So, you'll just have to imagine. It was SO COLD!!!! And the wind was really blowing. We mostly enjoyed the views from inside the car!

After the lighthouse, we stopped at a small restaurant overlooking the ocean. It was called Lobster Cove. Steve said I couldn't go to Maine without getting a lobster roll. This was such a cute restaurant, it was all decorated for Christmas, and had a fire going in the fireplace. We sat right by the window to eat. There was so much lobster on my lobster roll, I was shocked! Delicious!!!

Then we drove to the Kittery outlets, in Kittery, Maine. They have so many stores! I asked Steve for a coat for Christmas, and when Steve gets me anything, he gets the very best! We had stopped at the airport in Salt Lake and looked at coats in one of the ski shops. I had picked out one that was the warmest coat I have ever put on. Of course, there's no way I would pay the price they were asking for, for this coat. It was so expensive. When we got to the outlets, we found the exact style of coat, by the same brand and got it for 50% off the retail price. I'm so glad Steve got it for me, because, it turns out Boston is extremely cold in December!!!

Friday night, we wanted to take Thad and Kim out to dinner. They have been amazing to let Conner come and live with them, and they will be moving very soon, in fact, their house is already empty, the movers have packed almost everything away. So this was a kind of goodbye, thank you, we love you, sort of dinner. Kim suggested the Union Oyster House in downtown Boston. We didn't know what to expect, but were willing to give it a try.

This restaurant is amazing!! It was built over 250 years ago, and has been a working restaurant since 1826. So many famous people have been in that building, including George Washington, and John F Kennedy, and it really hadn't changed much in a few hundred years. I really felt like I had gone back in time. The food was incredible, and we enjoyed Thad and Kim so much! 

The best part about being in Boston is learning the history. And Thad was the perfect guide, he drove us throughout downtown, and showed us where different events in history had taken place.

He took us to Paul Revere's house, which is the oldest house still standing (maybe oldest wooden house?) He talked about all the fires they would have, and how amazing it was that this home was never burned. He also showed us where the Boston Marathon took place, and where the finish line was, and you could see where they are repairing buildings from the bombing. He took us along the freedom trail, and explained each place and what occurred there. It was cool to see the North Church, where Paul Revere looked to see the lights shining in the bell tower. We drove into town on the side streets, because the freeway was so backed up, which was really neat because he would tell us about different battles. We saw Harvard, MIT, and Boston College. We saw where the Boston Massacre occurred. It was really a neat evening.

Then we came back to Thad and Kim's house, and saw our Conner!!!

Honestly, the reason we came!! We've missed this boy so much!! When I said I was going to Boston, a friend said, "Why, is it warm there?" I said, "Only in my heart."  Conner has worked really hard in school, and has been very active in his ward. He has attended seminary, and has had some jobs to earn money. He seems really happy and has really thrived in Massachusetts!

We took him back to the hotel to spend a couple of days with us! We had told Conner that Saturday was his day to plan whatever he wanted to do. Well, we slept in until about noon! Haha! And then we went to the Burlington Mall. This is a place where Conner and his friends would go quite often, and Conner was excited to tell us that the movie, "Mall Cop" was filmed there. We did a lot of Christmas shopping for Conner, and had some lunch at the food court, then we made our way to the Jordan Furniture Imax theater to see The Hobbit (2) I don't remember the full name of it. It is a 6 story screen in 3D. Pretty crazy!! We wanted to invite Conner's friends out to dinner after the movie, and Conner texted them all, but as luck would have it, we planned our trip on the same day as the first snowstorm of the year in Massachusetts, and it was a major snowstorm! His friend's parents didn't want them to go out in it, and, they were right! When we got out of the theater, the storm had started, and it was a blizzard! We went back to the hotel, actually stopping 2 blocks away at a fun pizzeria for dinner.

We had planned to go to church in Thad and Kim's ward, and meet all of Conner's friends, teachers, scout leaders, etc. But Sunday morning we received the call that the storm had been so bad, they had cancelled all church meetings. It had snowed a foot, and then it had warmed up and rained, freezing rain on top of the snow. So there was about 8 inches of snow with 2 inches of ice on top of it. Very heavy, very slippery, very cold, and not very good for driving around in. It was still nice, just spending time with Conner. He and his dad wrestled a bit, and I was afraid the neighbors would complain, but it was so fun to be together again. That evening after the roads were clear, we drove to Thad and Kim's house again, spent a few hours with them and our nieces and nephews.

One of the parking lots we stopped in had a huge pile of snow... actually all of them did, but Conner chose this one to climb up and get a picture. 

Back at the house, Madison and Talmage made a tunnel through their mound of snow. They were having such a good time! Conner snapped this cute picture with Madison. 

We spent our last night in lodging on the air force base. It was really nice, very comfortable, and close to family. Then flew home the next day. What a fun, fun trip! Little bit cold, but a  great time!!

Thanksgiving, etc.

 Well, I don't know where to begin when I get behind. I promised a picture of Steve's fish. This was over 30 pounds. He caught several at Flaming Gorge, but this was the largest. He had a blast.

I've gotten some pretty great letters from Kaylea lately, she is really doing so well on her mission. The past two weeks, she's had two baptisms. She's really had some faith building experiences, and it's neat to see her growth. She is serving in Camarillo, CA right now. She just had transfers, and said she is staying in the same ward, but is getting a new companion, so that will be great.

Thanksgiving has come and gone. We went to Lee's house this year. The food was delicious!! It was just my siblings that live in Utah, but it's always so nice to get together with family. Steve Jr was the only one of my kids that came this year. Jessica stayed in Provo with her little family, Kaylea is on her mission and Conner is in Massachusetts with his aunt and uncle. He did have an amazing game of football. He said he was about the best player at their "Turkey Bowl", but his team lost. I think the pink socks really helped him with his game!

Steve and I will be going there in just a couple of weeks to see Conner. Then he will be coming home for Christmas. I think he's coming home to stay. I've missed him so much!! It will be so nice to have him home.

On the Sunday after Thanksgiving Jessica and her family came over to our house and we had our own little Thanksgiving dinner. I actually had saved coupons, or vouchers for a turkey, after all the vouchers I saved, I was able to buy a 15 pound turkey for 35 cents! It was pretty cool! The cashier said that was the most savings she had seen the whole season. I had one friend who said they got $10 off, I actually got $15.50 off. I was very happy.

Jessica and Chris actually came on Saturday night, they left Avery with us while they went out to a movie. Of course Steve and I always love playing with our grand daughter. Last week I bought a little kitchen set, and she had so much fun with it! It was just her size, she had 3 jelly bellies, that she spent at least a half hour cooking, and putting into pots, bowls, and cups, stirring, and pouring them back and forth. It was so fun!

Their family came to church with us too. Avery is such a doll, I love having her around. Jessica and Chris are amazing too. I'm so blessed to have them!!

The holiday is over, and Steve Jr. decided it would be a fun time to go see his uncle. Adam lives in San Diego. Steve invited a friend, Jake, to go with him, and they took off on a road trip to California. They picked a crazy time to go. We had a major snow storm, and the temperatures have been in the single digits! Yuck!! It's feeling like December now!! Anyway, the weather in Southern California is much better, and Steve has been having a great time. 

He'll be starting school at the University of Utah in January, so I guess it's good for him to have a little fun before he gets back to work.

Life is good! I am blessed!

Interesting Week

 I have a patient who is truly the most unique child I have ever met. She likes things that most people find a bit disturbing. I have had a lot of hard nights taking care of her. I spent the night caring for her on a Thursday, and while I was there, noticed the family had given her a new doll. This actually matches her personality perfectly. I was supposed to watch her again on Sunday, but was called off. On Monday I found out this patient had passed away. I can't take pictures of my patients, or really tell much about them or the illness that they have, but actually feel really blessed that I took this picture on my last night with this little girl. You learn to love those whom you serve. I will miss this patient, it was always a wild ride, but she definitely left a mark on my heart.

I'm still working hard at Cross fit. These are not flattering pictures, but they are proof that I was there and working hard. I'm the one squatting in the back. Did not realize they were taking this picture... Anyway, I actually had what I like to call a personal triumph this week. The wooden boxes in the picture are two feet tall. We have to jump on the box and then jump back down. I've only been going for two weeks, and the first time I went, I just stepped up on the box each time. We've had other days with the boxes, and I try to jump at least half of the reps, but if I get too tired and don't jump high enough, I'm going to look like an idiot, and bang up my shins pretty bad. Anyway, on Friday we had to jump the boxes again, and I'm happy to say I jump 97 times!! If I had really thought about it, I would have jumped 3 more just to make it an even one hundred. But I'm so happy!!! That's at least twice as many as I've been able to do up to this point!

I also got to spend time with my daughter, Jessica, and my grand daughter Avery this week. It was so nice. Avery smiled for a couple of pictures, then she decided to go take an extra long nap while Jessica did my hair. 

She gave me some lovely highlights and then curled it all over, made me feel so pretty. I had such a nice time!!

Steve was actually in Wyoming on a fishing trip. He ended up catching a 32 pound lake trout at Flaming Gorge. I will post pictures as soon as I get them. He had a pretty good time too!.

Halloween

Well, first off, I did not get the Case Manager job I applied for. I'm a little bit disappointed, but life goes on. My job isn't too bad, I can handle it a while longer.

 

So on Monday I started Cross-fit. It is a pretty intense work out, right here in Grantsville. I've been wanting to do it for quite a while, and decided this week to just give it a try. I have been going with Laura Curtis, she has been going for several months, and was able to show me the ropes. WOW!! I can barely move!!! Every muscle in my body is so SORE!!  Haha! It will get better after a couple of weeks, but it's been a long time since I have really worked out, so my body is rebelling a bit.

 

On Halloween, it was just my 3rd day of cross fit. Several of the other people came in costume, so they decided to get a picture of the group. Trust me, if I knew I'd be getting my picture taken, I would have put on some makeup, but this was taken after the workout, so none of us looked that great!

I am really enjoying the work outs! Let's see how long I can keep this up!! Hopefully, I can tone this old body up a bit!

 

Conner has been in Massachusetts for almost 6 months now. He went to a ward Halloween party, and one of the girls there painted his face. Not sure if you can tell, but that is just like the tattoo that Mike Tyson has on his face. I guess Conner was Mike Tyson for Halloween. He said he only bit off one or two ears! He had a good time with his friends in the ward.

 

I sure miss this guy!! He's been working really hard in school, and has pretty good friends in Massachusetts.

 

I think the best part of Halloween is little kids in costumes! Steve and I aren't really into dressing up, but I do love seeing my little grand daughter all dressed up. She has got to be the cutest cat in the world!! Right?! Proud Grandma here!!!

 

 

Jessica went to a lot of work this Halloween! She actually glued this beard on her husband, Chris, strand by strand! For those of you who don't know, he's dressed like one of the men on "Duck Dynasty" which is a really weird show that I don't understand, but it is all the rage right now.

 

And, of course, Jessica is pretty as ever, even with a green face! They said Avery really figured out trick or treating fast! After about 2 houses, it clicked, and she was yelling, "trick or treat!!" before they ever knocked on the door. Such a fun age!

 

Steve Jr dressed up earlier in the week as a bush... It's an outfit he got to camouflage himself when he goes shooting. But he said it was too hot and uncomfortable for Halloween, when he would be watching movies with his girlfriend. I guess that's understandable.

 

I was not with a patient on Halloween, but I was on-call, and ended up getting phone calls all night long... I slept in the guest room, because my phone ringing kept Steve up. CRAZY on call night!! Otherwise, a pretty decent holiday.