Finishing December

M2B =) days 324 - 330.  Saturday, December 25th - Friday, December 31st.

Saturday, December 25th happiness:  Merry Christmas!  Joe woke up first, of course, and had to wait patiently in the hallway while Brian and I got ourselves up and awake.

Joe got his phone.  It is a happy day!
After stockings and presents at home, we headed over to my mom's house.  Dad and mom cooked up a wonderful breakfast, and then the gift opening began.  I took lots of photos, but won't overwhelm you with them here.

After mom's, we headed back home.  And then, I don't remember much after that.  I started feeling pretty sick and went back to bed.  I stayed there for the rest of the afternoon and into the evening.  I felt really bad for ditching Joe and Brian like that, but I could not get up.  Sorry guys.  

Sunday, December 26th happiness:  I was still pretty sick today.  I blame it on working at a school.  I get sick like every other weekend now.  Those kids are carrying every sickness out there!  Anyway, Joe was very sweet to me today.  He got this awesome, super soft blanket from my mom for Christmas, and he brought it in and let me use it today.  What a sweetie I have.

Monday, December 27th happiness:  Brian did not have to work today.  Woo hoo!  So, even though I was still not feeling great, I got up so we could "have a day".  We went to IKEA.  I got a super awesome pillow.  I know a pillow is not something to be super excited about, but I have had lousy luck with pillows.  Either they go completely flat, for they are too firm, or whatever the reason, I haven't found a pillow I am happy with.  I think I finally did today.  Not to firm, Not too soft.  Just right.

Enough about pillows.  After IKEA, we went to a movie:
I liked it.  It was different than I thought it would be, but still good.

Tuesday, December 28th happiness:  Joe and I did some cleaning today.  I really wanted my picture of the day to be a photo of him scrubbing the toilet, but he refused to let me take it.

So instead, you get this:

The Gonzo boys came over this afternoon to play some rock band.  Good times.

Wednesday, December 29th happiness:  While I love my job, I also love time off from my job.  Lazy days, sleeping in, hanging out with family, it's all good.

Today, Joe and I went to the OG for lunch.  It was a perfect day for Pasta e Fagioli.  It was cloudy and rainy all day.  My favorite kind of day.  This afternoon, my mom and I went and saw a movie.
I thought it was cute.  Paul Rudd really made the movie.  He was kind of adorable.  And, I love hanging out with my mom.  She is the best.

Thursday, December 30th:  Today was bitter sweet.  We were supposed to leave for the cabin today, but because of the snowy weather, we were not able to go up today.  Joe was sorely disappointed, to say the least.

So, instead of going to the cabin.  I invited a couple of cute little monkeys over to watch a movie.  I love these kiddos.  They totally make me laugh.

Addy won't ever let me take a normal picture of her.  She always has to be goofy for the camera.  I love it.
And Ro and Joe were making silly faces as well.
We watched Dinosaur and ate popcorn and m & m's.  Good times.

Also today, Brian let me open one of my birthday presents early.  It was  a massager for my back.  I have major back problems.  So, I was excited to get this.  

Friday, December 31st:  So, we decided to postpone our cabin trip until today because of weather.  We have been checking the weather that shows hour by hour, what the weather will be like up north.  There was a small window of a few hours where the weather was supposed to let up and not be snowing.  So, we borrowed my dads 4 wheel drive truck, and decided we would try.  

We went through Globe (which I hate because I don't like to drive through Salt River Canyon).  We chose this way because Payson had a 100% chance of snow.  That's a pretty big chance.  I checked the weather for the Salt River Canyon area.  It was supposed to be a 0% chance of snow until noon.  So, we decided to leave the house at 7 a.m. so we could make it to the cabin before noon.

Well, the weather channel does not know what it was talking about.  By the time we reached salt river canyon, not only was it snowing, but it was so foggy, we could barely see.  I made Brian promise to drive super slow.  It was not a problem.  We ended up right behind a cop, and he drove super slow through the canyon, so we didn't have much choice.

It pretty much snowed the whole way up.  If we hadn't borrowed my dad's truck, we would NOT have made it.  Thanks dad!

It was a gorgeous winter wonderland.  I loved it.

This is what we drove up in.  The roads were covered in ice.
We finally made it.  Joe couldn't get out into the snow fast enough.
Having fun.
Tonight we had a yummy lemon coconut cake (thanks mom!) for my birthday, we had all kinds of yummy appetizer foods, and we played lots of rock band.  We rocked out until midnight.
Well, most of us did.  Some of us fell asleep:
Max and Ben zonked out too.  At midnight the rest of us went out in the below 0 degree weather and set of fireworks (thanks Trezise family!)  It was so incredibly cold, but the boys loved it.

Then, (no, we are not done yet) those of us who could stand to still be awake, stayed up and watched The A-Team.  

All in all, a great birthday.