xmas 2009 @ obrien house

so on the heals of colds and saylor getting over pneumonia we started xmas break with stomach flu! saylor started the sat night before xmas and into that sunday. i started monday and so did storie. Scary thing is tue morning we were supposed to get in the car and drive 6 hours to vegas! i was weary of how this was all gonna work out! The cougs gave us tickets to the bowl game and saylor really wanted to go watch "her boys" play football one more time this year. I was sure the boys would get it, such a viscous virus ... but they didnt. and though storie and i still didnt feel great we got to vegas without any chaos.

the game was fantastic! it was so windy and cold. all of us girls gave into the wind eventually, the boys hung tough but really it was such a great game and we had so much fun. saylor got to kiss cosmo again ... she couldnt have been happier! we didnt do any of the vegas usual. just spent good family time at a non vegas type hotel! love embassy suites! kids got to swim and play. drive home went smooth as well. and still no boys throwing up.

christmas eve we spent eating just like the rest y'all! storie was in a little bible story play that we went to that really made me realize how chaotic our lives had gotten and how the focus of the season was not focused for us at all. oh the guilt of a mother. thanks storie for some spirit! kids got pjs and actually went to bed! no waking up to bug us etc.. it was nice. they did wake up early {6am} but no bug during the night and went to bed at 10, for their age not so bad!

I really tried hard to stick to $100 max budget on each kid. aint no small feet! but finances are tight and i think toning it down a bit is just due, especially in thinking about what i want my kids to think and learn about xmas. so lets start with the babe!


saylor doesnt usually want something typical for a 6 year old, or for any age she has been for that matter! this year it was touch n brush and has been almost all year. she wanted it a while ago and hasnt forgotten. i guess this proves that infomercials work. she was so excited when she got it! but she instantly told all of us we could use it! what a girl. i still cant grasp that this angel is mine! she got a sweet kid size metal grocery cart from grandpa murph thats been a hit as well as a special horse blankie from grandma lulu. lots of tinkerbell stuff too. and i did stay under $100 for this one!

next stock the rock!

this kid is so easy! he just wants sports stuff not kid stuff. so he wanted new receiver gloves, new singlet, new wrestling shoes. and thats pretty much all he got besides snow gloves, $5 year long subscript to sports illustrated kids and stuff from grandparents! i did go over the $100 here but i have to say that wrestling shoes were a must regardless his old ones were falling apart and those were $75!!!! but if i took those away i so came way under $100.


the older this one gets the more she touches my heart. one incredible spirit. this girl really went above and beyond. got us all even grandparents thoughtful gifts on her own and made us some too! she made rice babies with grandma gayla and gave them to all of us! what a doll. she wanted big girl stuff like earings, perfume, and clothes. and she got it. and i stuck to my budget. she is growing up so fast. its making me sad. i want so badly to stop time sometimes. she had her first boarding lesson just before xmas too and she is loving it, taking to it well and i think we will be boarding together soon enough!


this is the kids opening rock band from gpa murph! that has been the hit of the whole family. we have had so much fun playing rock band as a fam and with some friends.

as for nate and i! well i got nate subscript to espn mag, some pants, some shirts, a trader joes orange, a movie & some love! He got me an owners chair {kind of like a managers chair right, but owners!} its black leather with white stitching, so me! and the perfume i wanted, iphone accesories and apps and love of course. mom got me lots of meyers! my fav! and dads really helped financially this year!

it was a great peaceful holiday. love being together with my little fam.

the weekend brought a lot of work for me, had HUGE wedding monday that went off with HUGE success. it was a great one. check the studio blog in a few weeks for pics. but now things are calm and i am just enjoying veg time with my kiddies and hub. girls arent feeling great, they both have colds. we just cant escape it all. but i hope to keep it under control enough.

i cant believe its nearly 2010. i have been thinking a lot about where we have been and who we have become, what we have experienced and with that thought comes thougths about what is to come for us this coming year. i remember clearly the interesting feelings i had last year at this time. the sense of no peace and what came after that. i feel peaceful this year but maybe thats just hopeful. in the end i (we) can handle it all and through all the challenges happiness is still what i feel. so much gratitude too. i am so happy with things. not to say i dont have some goals ..oh the goals the long list of goals. may i accomplish some of them!