Christmas adventures

As mentioned previously, we did make our trek to Tucson for Christmas. The trip down was long due to snow, and traffic in some cities, but not too bad. Once we arrived at my parents house we had an enjoyable time with family. My camera finally decided to give out (after I accidentally dropped it on my mom's tile floor). So I don't have as many pictures as I'd like.

Santa, being all knowing, was able to find Jonathan at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Santa, the grandparents and his aunts were very generous this year. A couple favorites were a Pokemon DS game, Legos and a new game Pictureka.

After presents, we all went to see the movie Marley and Me. If you plan to see this movie, make sure you take a box of tissues. Really, they should hand them out at the door. I've never heard so many people sniffling in my life. Myself included. It really is a good movie, with more laughing than crying.

After the movie we had some little friends over to decorate gingerbread cookies. This was aunt Kerri's idea and she made us drive around looking for a store that was open at 9 pm Christmas eve so we could buy the dough and decorations. Still, the kids had fun. We had good times, played games, shopped and shopped some more. Then on Saturday, sickness hit. My mom got it first, with aunt Kerri suspecting that she might be next. By Monday when we were leaving, the three of us were feeling okay so we decided to make our trip home. Then, a few hours in, it hit Jonathan. Poor little guy was sick all the way home. It was not fun. Due to extra bathroom stops and none of us feeling really great, the trip took a lot longer than usual and we were so glad to finally be home at around 12:30 am Tuesday morning.

Now, to leave you on a lighter note, I wanted to share a picture of the house next to my parents'. This is what can happen when you no longer have a HOA.

We are home

It was an exhausting trip home, which I will expand on later. We just want to thank whoever shoveled our driveway. We owe you big time.You have no idea what a relief it was to not have to dig our way into the house after such a long car ride.

We made it. It was a long trip, due to the snow and then traffic, but we're here in AZ in one piece. And I won't be dreaming of a white Christmas. I hope those of you we left behind in snowy Utah don't get too cold or stuck in your driveways.

Stuck

We are supposed to leave for Tucson in the morning, but today we got pounded with snow. Our yard went from this
to this

As if to mock me, when I tried to leave the house tonight my car got stuck in the snow at the end of the driveway. We are fortunate to have very nice neighbors who dug me out so I could get back into the garage.

We are still planning to attempt our trip in the morning so pray for sunshine.

You might want to sit down for this...

I have something important to tell you. Something that could change your life. Okay, here goes.

Walmart (the evil empire) no longer accepts returns without a receipt.

I know, I cried too, but we won't go there. It's just so sad. The store that once took back 2 year old holey socks and items clearly marked with the Target logo is now playing receipt nazi.

On that note, anyone want to buy a Pokemon DS game? I am now the proud owner of 2 of them.

Sing along... On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...

a brand new brake light switch. And no, he didn't get sent to the doghouse for it.

So this morning I drove Jonathan to school and everything was just fine with the car. The next time I used the car it started just fine, but it wouldn't shift gears. Yikes! That sounds expensive. I stole Russell's car and spent the day worrying about expensive repairs and not being able to drive to Tucson on Tuesday.

When Russ woke up I broke the news to him. He wanted to buy a new TV today so I felt bad about ruining just about the only shopping men enjoy. Then I called the very helpful service department at Ken Garff Honda in Orem. These guys told me about the secret switch under the little thingamajig that covers your gear shift, which allowed me to shift gears. But still, something obviously needed to be fixed.

Turns out there's a fun little gadget called a brake light switch and when it breaks your brake lights don't work. And at least in my car, this freezes up your gear shift. Who knew? Fortunately this little known car part is not too expensive to replace. But really, did it have to break at Christmas? I know, it could have broken halfway to Tucson (Russ already gave me the "glass half full" speech).

A little bit stalkerish

I really get a kick out of so called "romantic" songs in which the singer is not so subtly stalking the object of their affections. Songs like Every Breath You Take and You'll Always be my Baby. (see below) Thanks to an observation by Jonathan I can add a new song to my lists of stalking music.

A few nights ago as we were decorating the Christmas tree, I wanted to sing some Christmas songs that didn't involve Batman smelling or Robin laying an egg. As I was singing Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Jonathan interrupted and in a frightened voice asked me, "Does Santa really watch us when we're sleeping?"