Merry Christmas from our Winter Wonderland to Yours!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Sleigh Bells Ring....Are ya listening?
In the Lane...Snow is Glistening.
A Beautiful Sight! We're Happy Tonight....

Driving 3 hours through the winter wonderland, risking life and

limb in order to get to a city with a mall!

Yes! This is Superman and I at the beginning of our road trip to the bright lights and big city in order to load up on presents for the kiddies because it is now only 7 days to Christmas and we haven't bought a single present! We panicked! Come hell or blowing blizzard we were going to finish (or start and then finish) our Christmas shopping.

45 Minutes into the trip. Pretty, huh?
1 hour to go! Isn't this beautiful! I'm still fairly calm at this point. The snow is lovely! Everything is clean and white and covered with pillows of big fluffy snow! Gorgeous!

I don't know if you can see the road but it's a good thing we had trees on either side or we wouldn't have known if we were on the road or not. Still beautiful! We are toasty warm, we are laughing and talking and listening to the radio. I try not to let on that my palms are starting to sweat, I'm having heart palpitations and it's getting harder and harder to laugh at Superman's silly banter. JUST KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE ROAD, HONEY!

A few minutes later. The vague black shape in front of us is the tanker truck that we were following down the mountain. At this point, Superman is telling me to just keep taking pictures. He says it's keeping me calm and he doesn't want me to start freaking out. I think it's really because he wants to be sure that the last moments of our lives are documented for our loved ones. I know he is thinking about a park ranger finding us frozen solid in our car off the side of the road after spring thaw. I'm seeing images of our frozen bodies lovingly holding on to each other in our last moments, our frozen fingers intertwined for eternity. Morbid, I know but at this point I'm thinking it's a real possibility. And then...

We are down. We stop at the nearest gas station for hot bevs, the satellite is playing Christmas jingles, people are bustling in and out on their way to wherever it is they go and the sheer terror of five minutes ago is completely forgotten. We spend the rest of our day shopping non-stop, eating at the food court and trying to forget that on the way home we get to do this drive again, only this time it will be dark!

All I can say is...our kids are spoiled! They better go into complete and utter ecstasy at the opening of every gift and I better hear the words "That was the best Christmas ever! I got everything I've ever wanted and more! Thank you, parental units! Thank you! We love you more than the world!"

Blah blah blah blah....blogs

Geez! Is it possible? 20 posts! 20! And I have blog block! I thought I had so much to write about! There are days when I'm in my car or making dinner or even having a conversation with someone and WHAM! INSPIRATION!!! and I immediately start writing my post in my head. And I get so frustrated that I'm not sitting at my computer, that I can't put my thought provoking and earth shattering visions down for the world to read. I find myself at the computer the next day and the words are gone. The spell has passed and what I wanted to say just sounds stupid. So here I am. Blog 20. With nothing to say....(sigh)

By the way, my brother came out to Vernal with his family to stay with me last weekend! I don't think it had anything to do with my last post but when he arrived the first thing he did was give me a hug and tell me how much he loves me. I (of course) started to cry and told him I loved him back but not to say it again because I didn't want to start bawling like a baby. This only made him repeat it to me four or five times until we both started to giggle. And IT WAS AWESOME! And I am happy.

So...blog 20... let's see...20 what?...20 people I love? 20 things I'm thankful for? 20 things about me? I don't know...ummmm....

1. I have the most beautiful nieces and nephews in the world. Not biased cuz they're family beautiful...I'm talking the cover of Baby Beautiful Magazine BEAUTIFUL! All of them. Good genes (hee hee).

2. All of my siblings have married fantastic people. Their perfect mate. I don't know how they did it with the dysfunction around us but we all did a bang up job of choosing THE ONE!

3. Everyone of my girls are just REALLY GOOD GIRLS! No drama, no trouble, no midnight phones calls, good grades, good friends. (I better knock on wood right now because after what I put my mother through, I don't deserve it.)

4. I have managed to learn through experience all of the job skills and life lessons that I need to get paid excellent money, doing exactly what I want to do. No college for this girl. School bored me to tears but I can kick any CPA's butt any day of the week! YEAH BABY!

5. I regret not applying myself more in school cuz I really could have gone anywhere and done anything but the School of Hard Knocks seems to be more of what I was destined for and I am a better person for it.

6. My grandma Bobbie is the most wonderful Grandma in the whole world. She is beautiful, she can be very blunt and sometimes I think she's a bit judgmental but she gives the best hugs, she's always cheerful, she's the strongest person I know and her sugar cookies are the best in the entire world.

7. My mom is FUNNY! And FUN! My cousins call her "crazy Aunt Judy" and it's meant as a compliment. She does and says exactly what she wants. She dances to the beat of her own drum. Sometimes she drives me INSANE but I am so proud of her and I wouldn't trade her for any mom in the world.

8. When I was little I just knew I was secretly a Disney Princess and that someday all my wishes would come true. I have prayed and wished so long for so many things and not gotten them that I think God is now making up for lost time and fulfilling my dreams all at once.

9. My bosses are hard-drinking, fun loving, family first, Planet Vernal good ol' boys and I LOVE working for them. I have the best job in the world.

10. Is anyone still reading this?

11. I'm sure you get sick of hearing me talk about how wonderful my superman is but he REALLY IS WONDERFUL! Really.

12. I have TRULY forgiven my stepfather for being such a DICK to me for so many years. It feels good to forgive him. Now I just feel sorry for him.

13. Disneyland is my favorite place on the planet. It really is the happiest place on earth! I would move there if I could and live in Cinderella's castle. I would ride on Pirates of the Caribbean three times every day.

14. I want a fabulous fairy tale wedding but I don't want to plan it AT ALL! Does anyone have fairy godmother I can borrow?

15. Superman and I have picked out the house we will live in, the cars we will drive, the animals we will own and the place we will move to WHEN we win the lottery.

16. Just in case we fail to win the lottery, Superman's head is CHOCK FULL of great ideas for our own business and we are currently working on making at least one of them become a reality.

17. I have never been a dreamer, but Superman is a dreamer and he is starting to convert me.

18. I used to be really active in the LDS faith but I find as I am getting older that 1. God is with me everywhere I go, not just at church. 2. He loves me no matter what and 3. as long as I STRIVE to be a good wife and mother, treat ALL people with kindness, compassion, forgiveness and love and am always honest that I will be just fine when I leave this world.

19. It took me a long time to come to the conclusion that I am a good person whether or not I fall into the "box o' goodness" that the LDS church wants me to live in. I KNOW I made the right decision by CHOOSING to live with my Superman so we could bring his children over to live with us. I prayed long and hard about it. GOD AND I HAVE AN UNDERSTANDING. I am where I am supposed to be.

20. And yes!....WHEW...we are at twenty! And for starting out this post with nothing to say, this post is hella long. Sorry about that.