A Christmas to Remember part 1

I have to say this is probably one of the best Christmas' ever! The only thing that could have made it better was to have Troy right here instead of on Skype. But really it was a fantastic and magical Christmas season.

My sisters arrived in town on Sunday night. And Hinckley found his new best friend. She did exercises with him every night and morning. My Grandpa Cox used to have us do that when we were little. They even did it over web cam tonight!

Amy and Hinckley became best friends over the few days we had together. It was a special bond. She spent EVERY SINGLE MOMENT WITH HIM. It was so sweet for me to see the care and love she has for him. SHE IS THE GREATEST! I still can't bring up Amys name without tears flowing down his face and a "I MISS AMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Monday morning came and we went for a run. I have to tell you that my sisters saved my life. They taught me so many things about running that I didn't know. I am surprised I didn't hurt myself before! We started making our annual Christmas Candy trains. That took up all afternoon. Plus they came to Hinckleys karate and that was a blast! We also delivered our trains that night too.

Unwrapping all the candies to make our trains

2 out of the 8 or 9 we did

Tuesday we went for our run and then headed up to Albuquerque for some shopping. It was me and Amy and Shauna and Hinckley. I also had an orthodontist appointment. Oh... have I told you that? I have braces! Well on the bottom teeth.... Anyway, after we went out for lunch at PF CHANGS. Um... Can we say YUM! It was my first time! We had to make it back for Hinckleys dance recital. I have it on video and will post it later for Kathy and Eunice. We went to the recital and it was AWESOME! Hinckley did great. They had a little gift exchange and we enjoyed our time talking with some of the other parents/grandparents. Sad... no pictures! I think Shauna got some on her camera.

Wednesday we didn't run but headed straight for some more shopping! This time with mom. We packed some lunches and shopped til we about dropped. We had to make it back in time for karate. I think we might have played some games or watched UP or something like that afterwards.

Thursday brought back our run! As we were stretching at the end we had a surprise knock on the door. Actually I knew it was coming but Amy didn't. It was my brother Rob and his 5 kids! We took the kids on the train to Belen. Here are some fun pictures.

Walking to the train stop

More of us walking

Grandpa, Chandy, Shay, Amy

Rob and Hinks... this pic makes me laugh
My brother Rob
The girls waiting for the train
The fam minus my dad who is standing on the tracks waiting for the train
Holding our golden tickets
On the train




In Belen... minus me

In Belen minus Shauna
The green sign makes me laugh! It says DOWNTOWN BELEN this way.. Okay seriously Belen is like the smallest town ever....
Playing thumb war

BEST BABYSITTER

Looking for cows

The rest of Thursday was a big of a blur. We played games and ate a ton of food. Oh and we watched Despicable ME. We also did a bit of shopping locally. We only got to be with Rob for 24 hours but it was SO MUCH FUN!

A special message from Troy

I hope you guys can view this video. Troy got to send us a special Christmas message! It was so what I needed!

http://www.dvidshub.net/holiday/272351

Bonus picture

This is Troy in Iraq. He has been a bit slow sending me pictures.... Blame it on no camera and crappy internet. Can you spot him?

Filling full

I was a bit worried this year that I would feel empty or alone this Holiday season but to my amazement I have not felt that once (so far!) I've had several opportunities to do service and I think that has made all the difference in the world!

Yesterday I was able to take the kids to a special Christmas party just for families who have a loved one deployed. I can not explain to you HOW ABSOLUTELY LOVELY AND WONDERFUL IT WAS! Please do not take this comment personally its just fact. Unless you have been through a deployment you have no clue what it is like! It would be like me trying to tell a person how hard it is to climb Mount Everest. And even if you have been through something similar it is different for each individual. I have truly been thankful for my friends who have stayed in touch with me and who have been checking on me. TO YOU THANK YOU! YOU ARE SIMPLY THE BEST!

So think of something hard you have been through.... Then imagine spending 2.5 hours with people who are in the EXACT same boat you have been in or are in! That is what it was like to be at this Christmas party. It was just perfect for me and the boys. We had so much fun talking with other moms about what we were going through and what are kids were going through. We exchanged emails, phone numbers it was just GREAT! Majority of these families were air force because we live near an air force base so their deployments are at the most 6 months! Many of them who I talked to their husbands had been gone the same amount of time as Troy but they are getting home next month or February. CAN YOU IMAGINE?! Oh that would BE AWESOME! Can you guess what branch of military we are going for after he gets home?!

Anywho.... These people who hosted the party were so kind and generous. They wrapped their arms around my kids, around me. They helped me get plates of food for my kids for me, and drinks! They made sure every need I had was catered to. Santa came bearing gifts, yes I said that plural for a reason and stockings and with the patience of Job (like in the Bible). They had a raffle which included gift cards (I got a $25 VISA one), and 2 all paid weekend getaways for 2! They had crafts and face painting and wonderful food. It was magical.

I have experienced this kind of "awesomeness" only one other time in my life. I was working at Disney and had the opportunity to volunteer at a special place just for kids who had life threatening illnesses or cancer. It is this whole mini town and is catered just for these kids. They have an ice cream shop that is open 24/7 and a carousel that runs all day and night. The families come for a week or 2 stay free of charge for them and they get to play at Disney and Universal Studios and other attractions in Orlando. A couple of nights the parents get to go play and have a night to themselves. These kids bonded like brothers and sisters and it was a pleasure to be apart of it.

Here are a few pictures from our awesome Christmas party!

Blessed

My sisters are flying in today and we plan to party the week away so I doubt I will be blogging until after Christmas. I decided not to do a Christmas card this year maybe next year. I LOVE CHRISTMAS CARDS> I HATE CHRISTMAS LETTERS. Really a quick sum up of the year is much more entertaining then a play by play of the year. So if we were going to send out a card this is what is would have said.

Troy: HIGHLIGHT OF 2010 Graduating from BYUI with a Bachelors in Marriage and Family Therapy, and 2 minors Military Science and Sociology. Currently Deployed in Iraq. Will be home October 2011

Bethany: HIGHLIGHT OF 2010 our trip to Baton Rouge/Cruise Busy keeping track of 2 boys, starting running again and feeling great, moved to Arizona then 6 weeks later to New Mexico.

Hinckley: HIGHLIGHT OF 2010 riding his first ever train, played 2 seasons of soccer, loves karate and dance. still in love with firetrucks, cars, and is the BEST BIG BROTHER

Chandler: HIGHLIGHT OF 2010 learning how to walk, loves to dance, scream, terrorize his older brother. Cant sit still for 2 minutes but is a great cuddlier after naps

Then I would add a collage of pictures from the year... But you already have seen them all since I put most of them on our BLOG!

This picture is priceless of Chandler and Troy...

This one makes me giggle.

Keeping good on a dare

So when my dad was pulling names out of the raffle he said at one point that the next winner would have to stand on the table and sing, "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer". Well, the winner didn't want to do it but guess who did?

Grandpas work party

This Christmas party was EPIC. It truly was! It was in this beautiful old hotel downtown Albuquerque and the setting was perfect. The party planner was so thoughtful when it came to the kids and adults alike. We had delicious food and great entertainment! Here are some photos of the night.

They had a frosting cookie area for kids. It was a hit for teens too!

Grandpa helping Hinks and Chand with cookie frosting!
Making a smiley face
And a Christmas tree
BEAUTIFUL SETTING!
Drinking shirley temples and eating our frosted cookies
Waiting for santa! These kids were so excited
More kids waiting
Including my cute Chandler!
HERE COMES SANTA!


After Hinks got his gift
Chandler didn't really like the idea of going up to a stranger
Grandpa had to help him get his gift. That is the party planner in the back ground
He snuggled up with Grandpa after that
THIS IS CLASSIC. He was SCARED to death
Grandpa to the rescue!
LOVE THIS PIC!

Hinks got this awesome truck thing that moves and has all these buttons to push and makes music.
Santa getting ready to leave. He was fantastic!
The boys with their gifts. Chandler got a dump truck with blocks in it
They had a door prize raffle. I won a gift certificate to the movies!
My Dad was the name puller outer.
Do you like Hinckleys superman cape? He got it from his preschool teacher for Christmas! HE LOVED IT!