Grandma's House

We came up on Wednesday afternoon to visit Grandma for the Holidays. It has been good to be up here to visit and spend time with all our family. It was a little different not being at home for Christmas Eve but special to enjoy the traditions with Grandma and Kieth. When James took the kids to Utah on the 19th, I gave the kids the choice to go and spend 4 days before Christmas with Grandma or stay at home where their presents were. I explained as best as I could that Santa wasn't going to be able to leave their gifts in Utah because we couldn't get them back. We wouldn't have enough room in our car for all of our luggage and presents. They chose to spend time with Grandma--but I think they thought twice about that decision on Christmas morning when there wasn't much under the tree for them. It was a little difficult to watch as a mom, but a good lesson as well about the true meaning of Christmas. Grandma was wonderful to buy some toys that would stay at her house but that they could play with while they were there. Malak really cracked me up while we were opening presents because he just got really comfortable and propped himself onto his belly and held is head in his hands and just watched so closely. He was really focused on what was happening.


On Christmas Eve we had a little spiritual lesson about the true meaning of some Christmas Songs. It was really neat to understand what the songs were about and their hidden meaning. I will never look at the "Twelve Days of Christmas" the same again. Then we sang some of the songs and let the kids open their pajamas that Grandma bought for them. We had a lot of fun!

Christmas morning was very quiet. It was just my family, Grandma, Kieth and Lizzy. It was so nice to watch then open their gifts and then eat our traditional breakfast together of toast, ham and orange juice. We just hung out the rest of the day until all the siblings got there. We had a wonderful Christmas dinner and enjoyed everyone's company. We got to play a fun game with the gifts that we had brought for exchanging. It was pretty mellow until Brent stole a gift from somebody else and then all the fun started. You have to be careful in the Wright family to not get everybody too upset..you know we all have anger management problems!! Ha ha! It turned out to be alot of fun and a new tradition that we will carry on every year on Christmas Day.

Party Party!

On Saturday night James and I went to his Christmas Party at Treasure Island. I usually hate these things because everyone is drunk and acting crazy. This year was no different, but I had a great time with my husband. We didn't have any kids to hurry home to, so we stayed out until almost midnight! That's very late for us old timers. We danced and danced and just really enjoyed each other's company. I had to change my attitude about his parties because last year he didn't invite me and went by himself! He's too dang handsome to go unaccompanied to those kind of events so I was very glad he invited me this year! We got to sit at the table with the Commander of the Squadron who James works for and all 3 First Shirts. It was alot of fun and we all had many things in common with our children, which made for great conversations. I was a little hoarse when leaving from shouting over the music all night long, but enjoyed it none the less. I am grateful for the military these days and for the security that we have being a part of it. It's been good to our family and we'll probably be around for a while longer so I'm glad that James likes it.

Jamie's First Date

Jamie went on his first date last night! He has been looking forward to this day for a long time. He actually took me on his first date last weekend as sort of a prelude to the real thing. He promised me I would be his first date and we had a great time. He drove and I paid. We went shopping for new suit for him for Christmas and then went to dinner at the Olive Garden. He was a complete gentleman opening doors, walking next to traffic, sliding my chairs in and initiating conversation. I was so proud of him. When we went shopping for a suit the realization came to me that he has passed from boyhood to manhood. This was the first suit that we've ever had to have him fitted for. I got very emotional when he was trying it on in the dresssing room because I realized that we don't have much time together anymore. He will be off on his own very shortly and I am going to miss him terribly. What will I do without my special, sweet son? I thoroughly enjoyed the special time spent with him and know that he will be nothing but a gentleman to these girls that wait to date him. Trust me, there is a lineup!
He asked his best friend Kelsey out for his first date. She turned 16 the day before and he thought it would be special to take her out. She has been a good friend to Jamie--although I think she likes him--but who doesn't??
He double dated with his friend Ethan Ewing and they took the girls to Opportunity Village and walked around to see the lights. They rode the train, ate funnel cake, and drank hot chocolate. He said he had a great time, and assured me that he didn't hold her hand or anything.
Thank goodness! We've had lots of talks about leading girls on and making mistakes by getting into physical trouble with them. As a mother I can only hope that he listens and makes good choices! Oh so scary to let them make their own choices! This is when faith becomes so important. I pray that he makes good choices not only in the girls he dates, but what he does on his dates! Good Luck Jamie!

Brrrr!!

The kids really enjoy sledding and being in the cold weather. I HATE being cold....not even for my kids. The lucky part about all of this is that they went early to Grandma's house and got to enjoy all that snow without me feeling guilty while watching them from inside. James actually took them sledding on Saturday before he drove home and they had a great time. My mom is so good about taking them out to play, too. They have a great hill just on the side of their house that the kids have enjoyed. My mom is great to stock all the warm clothes they would ever need. she invests every year in new ski pants and jackets just for us Las Vegans who don't own big coats. She's such a great grandma!! Malak however does not like the snow. He cried and fussed whenever somebody put him down in it. I guess he takes after me...uh oh!

Christmas at Our House

We decided to let the kids open a few presents on Wednesday night before they went up to Grandma's house. I would have felt bad to make them wait so long to open their gifts. It was a crazy day that day getting ready to send them off--so it wasn't the same as actually waking up and opening presents but the kids didn't seem to care!! We actually read the Christmas Story to them and talked about the "true" meaning of Christmas....do you think they really get that part?? Maybe one day it will sink in if we keep enforcing it every year. I think their favorite gifts were from Jamie...he bought them robes. He used to always wear one when he was little and he's passing that tradition on to his younger siblings. Kai likes to take off his shirt, leave his pajama bottoms on and sleep in his.

We had alot of fun decorating the house this year. It's always kind of an overwhelming thing for me so I decided not to put everything out. I liked it better because it became fun and the kids liked helping me. I changed our Christmas Tree decorations this year---almost 8 years of the same ones--it was time that they went bye bye!! I tell myself every year I am going to invest in new stuff and then miss all the sales, so this year I just bit the bullet and got what I wanted. I am enjoying the new things! I was so proud of my husband and his decorating skills outside. It's usually a bit of a fight to get him to hang the lights, but this year I didn't have to say a word! He was very happy with his accomplishment and enjoyed looking at the lights.

Will I?

Will I ever have time to blog again??

Jamie's 10K

Jamie decided he wanted to run a marathon on Thursday and signed up for the race on Saturday. I thought he was crazy because he hadn't been really training or anything besides soccer which ended over 2 weeks ago. But he signed up anyway and kicked butt! He came in 3rd in his age division and ran the marathon in 47 minutes! I couldn't make it to take pictures because I had to work, but I was very proud of him none the less! He's been a little sore for the past 2 days, but said it was all worth it. He's thinking he might run track in High School now that he's figured out he likes it and is good at it!

Yay for Nursery!

I just wanted to blog about this real quick even though I have some catching up to do with our trip to Puerto Rico, but I didn't want to forget my thoughts!! I am so grateful for Nursery! Malak is finally old enough to go in there legally! One of my best friends is the Nursery leader so we have cheated a few times when we both had to teach or something like that, but he went in on Sunday for the first time all by himself! And he did very well, except the time that mommy peeked in on him to see how he was doing...woops! He kinda lost it for a minute, but recovered quickly. I got in big trouble from all the Nursery workers--won't let it happen again. I don't want to ever mess up my chances of somebody else taking care of him so I can enjoy church again!! He is becoming such a big boy and I am realizing that these are the "lasts" of the "firsts"! Only one more to potty train, only one more to start preschool, only one more left to really cuddle with when you can still comfortably hold them on your lap, only one more to teach how to talk and watch the process, only one more to learn what time-out" is, and so many more fun things to teach my baby!!
Madelyn got to bear her testimony in church yesterday for the first time! I was so proud of her and how strong her testimony is. She has been wanting to bear it for a long time, but I wanted to make sure she understood what it meant and that it was very special and serious--not something to do every Sunday and say the same thing over and over. We had a special FHE about testimonies a while ago and she hasn't said much about it since, but on Sunday she really wanted to go, so I let her and she did such a great job!! I was very proud of my girl!

Halloween Puerto Rican Style!

We woke up all too early yesterday and went to Abuela's for pancakes and bacon. Jamie was still in bed, so I guess the heat didn't get to him. He said he actually slept really well. He has said more than once that he loves it here...maybe it's in his genes!

We ran around most of the day yesterday. We drove all the way out to the Army base here for a few toiletries because it's "cheaper" on base but the drive was ridiculous and the line to get on base was even worse! Everyone on the island obviously has a military ID and went to go purchase alcohol for the Halloween parties! After shopping and buying a bunch of stuff we didn't need, I was exhausted! We went to Wilbur and Myra's house and rested while the kids played. Malak had a blast no matter where we were. He found things to entertain himself...like the mopping bucket--it became his car and they pushed him around in it. He likes to feed the dog and chase it around...why do we buy our kids expensive games when we can just give them a mop and a bucket?

We then took a drive up into the mountains where Wiso lives with his wife and son. They live in a gated community so we felt it would be safe enough to let the kids trick or treat. Everyone else had the same idea as us because the traffic again was crazy! It took us almost an hour and a half to get there which should have only taken us 45 minutes. We got the kids all dressed up and took them out to get some candy. It was a huge group of people that we got stuck with and they sing at each person's house.....Trick or Treat, Halloween. Dame dulce no mani. No te escondas, que te vi. En la casa de Pepi. Translation is Trick or Treat, Halloween. Give me candy, not peanuts. Don't hide bcause I saw you in the house of Pepi. It's very cute when all the kids say it but some things just don't translate!!

After all the candy getting we settled back at Wiso's house to eat Pizza and have our own little party. We played pin the tail on the donkey and they had a pinata. It is just so much fun to celebrate with James' family. They really know how to get down and be crazy!! I have really enjoyed watching my kids play with their cousins who don't speak any English. They all get along so well even though they can't really communicate. And I don't know if my spanish is getting better or what but I understand almost everything. It's been a great trip so far because I can understand what everyone is saying and I don't feel so isolated. Jamie is speaking a lot of spanish with his cousins and it's been good for him to apply what he's learned the last 3 years in Spanish class. It seems to be coming together for him.

The drive home only took 45 minutes--thank goodness and everybody slept wonderful last night! We didn't even get out of bed until 9:30!!! Hooray!!!

Traveling...with 4 kids!

It's always fun to travel, it's one of my favorite things to do actually, just not with an 18 month old. We left Las Vegas on Wednesday night to come to Puerto Rico, La Isla del Encanto. We came home to visit James' family and to celebrate Halloween Puerto Rican style...don't know what that is...yet. We also came for James' oldest nieces Quinceanera. That is her 15 year old birthday party which is a very big deal in the Hispanic culture. We've watched Angelimar grow up and I can't believe she is already so old!!

Our flight left at 10:40 pm so everyone was a little cranky...mommy included! We flew from Las Vegas to New York, which we've never done before and the kids were really excited that they got to be in New York. I think that will be our next family trip. For some reason the kids love the city. I think it's fun that they knew all the things they wanted to see from the airplane....Statue of Liberty, the Yankees?, and many other things. Madelyn was a little dissapointed when it was dark while flying in. But we did get to see a beautiful sunrise while eating Burger King in the airport...breakfast for champions!

We finally arrived in Puerto Rico and Abuela picked us up in our rental van. Thank goodness she had picked it up early because that has to be the worst part of traveling here....the ineptitude of the service industry. 2 hours is the minimum length of time we've ever waited for the process to be completed. It's usually a nightmare!!!

We went straight to Abuela's house where she had cooked an amazing lunch for us of Abichuelas y arroz, and Polle encebollado. (Rice and beans with onion chicken) Delicious! Nobody makes rice and beans like Abuela. The kids ate it up! We got to spend time with Titi Zaida who is James' aunt that lives in Washington D.C.. She is also visiting for the festivities.

We are all having a bit of an adjustment from the trip. We came back to the hotel for a little cat nap and slept 4 hours. We went to bed last night around midnight and Malak woke up at 5 this morning ready to go. I tried pulling him into bed with me....big mistake because he didn't want to go back to his own crib after that. I realized when we were taking a nap together yesterday that that was the only nap I've ever taken with him! He's been such a good sleeper his whole life that he moved to his crib when he was 2 months old and I've never had to sleep with him to get him to bed. I still sometimes have to lay with Kai, but Malak is a great sleeper. I thoroughly enjoyed cuddling up to him during our nap and last night as well, but I think I will be in for long nights ahead until we go home. He's figured out what sleeping with Mommy feels like!!

Madelyn and Kai are still sleeping soundly and it's almost 8:00 here. It's 3 hours difference from Las Vegas. Jamie stayed with Abuela at her house last night. We only have 1 hotel room so we are alternating who gets to stay with Abuela. I think it will be fun for them....get them immersed in the culture....no air conditioning, no carpet, misquitos, open windows, etc. etc.

Jamie's Lunch

We decided to take Jamie a HUGE pizza for lunch today...being the great parents we are of course. Actually what happened was that James slept in this morning and barely got him to seminary in time. He didn't get to eat a decent breakfast and he never eats lunch at school. But he had a soccer game after school today so he would be starving by the time he was supposed to play soccer. James felt horribly guilty so we surprised him and some of his friends with pizza for lunch. He had about 4 friends meet him and we ate in the Principals Conference room. I am so grateful that she likes our child. She kept gushing about him and said she just loved him! We are so glad that he is having a good high school experience and that he has good friends to grow with! We are so glad to be his parents! And he won his soccer game against Cheyenne who is a difficult team-so I guess the pizza worked!

Visiting Granny (Warning-long post ahead!)

Jenny, my cousin, and I had been talking about getting together with our Grandma Doman who is my Dad's mom. I haven't been to visit Montpelier, Idaho since I was probably in my teens....a very long time ago! I have been feeling very strongly about getting out there to spend some time with my favorite and only living grandma! So Jenny and I decided we would plan a trip out to see her. Jenny and Kassie were already going to go up and clean her house for her so I decided to tag along and surprise her!! We invited JaNae and Katie to come along as well! Katie wasn't able to make it because her kids were sick and we missed her greatly, but JaNae made it and we had so much fun on our road trip!

Donna has always been very close to me. I am her oldest granddaughter and have so many fond memories of spending time with her. Whenever we would go visit, I just wanted to do whatever Granny did and be as close to her as possible. We would eat non-stop and watch soap operas or whatever else we could find on TV. Our favorite thing was Doritos and Tab soda...anybody remember that? I always looked forward to the time spent with her because I always felt special. She is an amazing lady and I am so grateful to have her in my life and for the example she has always been to me.

The girls came to pick me up at the SLC Airport on Friday night and then we made our way into Idaho which was about 3 1/2 hours. It was so fun to reminisce with my sister and cousins and laugh!! I haven't spent a lot of time with my cousins since I've been married but I really enjoyed getting to know them better. I am always grateful for Jenny because she never gives up on my friendship. She always calls and texts me just to make sure I'm alive and I appreciate it sooo much.

When we got to Granny's house, JaNae and I stayed in the car so we could bang on the door after Jenny and Kassie went in...shock factor ya know! The look on Granny's face was priceless! She really couldn't figure out what was going on and wondered if we had all driven up together or just what was happening! But she giggled alot and was excited! We stayed up late that night and talked for a long time about memories and people.

The next morning we got up and had a yummy breakfast that we all pitched in to cook and then got started cleaning! We all took a separate room and cleaned and dejunked to try to make it easier for Granny. We had so much fun going through things and finding old pictures and trinkets that we used to play with as children. JaNae and I found a lot of pictures from Bolivia and had fun talking about that. I think it was fun to spend time with Jenny and Kassie and realize how close they are. Sometimes I wish JaNae and I were closer in age because I feel like we got cheated a little bit. 11 years is a long time in between and we are always in such different stages of life-I wish we lived closer to each other so we could be best friends. I'm excited for her to get married and have immediate kids because she's catching up to me! :)

Rufus and Granny took JaNae and I on a ride around town and we got to see all the old things that I remember...the poor little town hasn't hardly changed. It still feels peaceful and safe though. We drive on "the bump" and saw Dad's old high school and where he was born, etc. It was almost therapeutic for me to revisit some of these places and think about my dad...I just can't imagine growing up in that small little town and dealing with the issues he has had to in his life. I thought about his life and was grateful for his background and his foundation. His mother has always supported him and loved him whether she understood what he was dealing with or not...how could anyone understand in that tiny little town what he was experiencing as a young boy? There was no help for him. He must have felt very isolated and alone in his issues, and revisiting his childhood has helped me have even more compassion for him.

The Bump that Granny used to take us on every day when we used to visit!

This is the shed where Grandpa Wright died. He had a heart attack while taking care of his horses. I was 13 when he died and we were in Bolivia so we couldn't come home for the funeral. It was very special to go to his grave and see where he was put to rest. I think that was the first time I visited it. We made the only prints in the snow and it was very peaceful to remember him. A little cold, but very worth it!




This is Jenny, Katie and Kassie's old house that they grew up in! They were my favorite playmates when I was visiting! So many memories in that house!

The main road in Montpelier... so pretty with the snow lining the trees.


It snowed the whole time we were there! I saw enough snow to last me 3 winters!! I remembered why I live in Las Vegas....no shoveling snow, no scraping off cars every morning while freezing your butt off, no car accidents due to sliding in the snow....and so many other reasons! I enjoyed being in the snow--it's so peaceful but I HATE being cold! Of course I was totally unprepared with my Las Vegas clothing--but I have a great sister that lent me her big sweatshirt the whole weekend and I never took it off!!

On Saturday night Jenny took care of Granny's feet. She gives an awesome pedicure! It was so funny to hear her keep telling Granny to RELAX! I remember the same thing when we used to rub her feet she would curl her toes up and giggle the whole time!

On Sunday morning Granny treated us to breakfast for our hard work. She took us to the Ranch Hand and it was great food!! My eyes are always bigger than my belly but breakfast is my favorite meal and I had to taste everything....



It was hard to say goodbye to Granny-but I promised I would be back and I plan on keeping that promise and go back next year. I love her too much to not revisit as many times as I can before she dies. She turns 80 next September..wow. I look forward to spending more time with her and learning more about her so that I can keep her memory alive in my children.