Nikkie's World

New blog address

alittlethingcalledfamily.blogspot.com

Christmas 2008

We had a wonderful christmas this year. Christmas Eve was our annual Price family party. We all enjoyed dinner at Grandma Price's church and then watched the kids sit on Santa's lap. Afterwards we went over to Jen and Drew's house to exchange gifts with Jason's family. The cousins had exchanged names this year so it was fun to see their excitement while they watched their cousin open the present they had picked out for them. After the family party, Jason and I dropped the kids off and put them to bed. We went over to Jason's shop to pick up some surprises and then Jason did some last minute shopping while I finished the wrapping. By the time 3am rolled around we were very ready for bed!

We convinced the kids that they weren't allowed to wake up until 8am, and they actually listened to us! I think they were awake earlier but they didn't come in to wake us up until 8:oo sharp. We had a great time watching the snow fall while we sat in front of the fire opening presents and listening to christmas music. It was picture perfect! I'll have to post the pics later because I just realized they're on Jason's camera. Darn it!

After breakfast and some relax time, Nicole and Brynna came over for our annual enchilada dinner and games. Nicole gave us Killer Bunnies so we had an enjoyable evening learning how to kill each others bunnies. Lexie and Baylie got to play with the grownups and the younger kids were content to play petshop and watch movies.

Post year wrap up

   I know we are in January, but I wanted to make sure and finish out 2008. I am going to make my blog into a book and then I am switching over to blogspot to try it out. My new blog address will be alittlethingcalledfamily.blogspot . This is where I will be as of today. Come and see me! I will post this on facebook in case this blog goes away sooner than I thought it would.

I lost my camera after a trip we took in October, so I haven't been able to post any pictures. Thankfully Jason found my camera for me and now I can make this a little more interesting. In October we took the kids to Kodachrome State park over UEA. Brynna and Nicole went with us and we stayed in a group sight with about 5 other families from our ward. The weather was perfect and we all had a good time relaxing and hiking. Brynna and Hallie also learned to ride their bikes without training wheels!  

 

Reflections

December and I have a love/hate relationship. I love the idea of Christmas and family and enjoying the holidays but all too often I get caught up in all the things I have to do or think I "have" to do and wind up feeling stressed out, frustrated and depresed that the spirit of christmas is eluding me. I also tend to use December as a time to look back over the year and see what I have/have not done and evaluate my success based on those things. This does not always make for happy holidays. This year I have made a conscious effort to not overschedule, to say no to things that will add stress to my life and to resist volunteering when I hear of a need. This has allowed me to be able to focus on my family and on some of the traditions I would like to establish with them. It has also allowed me to meaningfully serve others instead of just doing it because it is on "the list". Overall I have actually found myself feeling excited about the holidays. I am looking forward to spending time with family and friends over the holidays and just relaxing. I don't feel guilty that I am not helping with all of my kid's school parties and I don't mind that all the ornaments on my tree are on the right side toward the top. Before I know it, I won't have little hands to help decorate the tree. I am grateful for the time I have had with old friends and for the new friends I have made this year. I have learned that it's ok to slow things down and make choices rather than trying to do it all. As I look back over the year I realize how blessed I have been with opportunities to learn and grow. I have not enjoyed all of these experiences or gone though them with grace but I feel like I did my best with what I knew at the time. I think that is all I can ask for and if I can continue moving forward inch by inch and resist flogging myself for lack of progress I believe I will continue to be happy. My life is soo good and I am thankful every day for everything that I have. I hope that all of you who are reading this will have wonderful holidays and feel the spirit of the season in your life. Merry Christmas!

Freaking hilarious!

Yes I know, the closet utahn in me just got out, but-this blog just cracks me up. Read the post on the economy on October 9th. www.seriouslysoblessed.blogspot.com

In Memory of Dirk

Today is the one month anniversary of my friend Dirk's death. Many who read this know Dirk and know what a great guy he is. I just wanted to share a few of my memories of him.

We first met Dirk and Nicole about a month after we moved into our house in 2001. They had a little girl who had been born about 3 weeks after Kelsie. We invited them over to play games and get to know them and began a lifelong friendship. Dirk is very passionate about many things and one of them is playing games. We spent many nights in friendly combat as Settlers of Cataan or in Carcassonne. We laughed until we cried and often ended our evening in the wee hours of the morning. We discussed parenting, politics, business, life and the gospel. We mocked the engineers of our group and their propensity toward plaid (it reminds them of graph paper you know!), we shared our childhood escapades and made plans for the future.

One of the things that distinguishes Dirk is his interest in other people. He has a genuine interest in other people's opinions and thoughts. Dirk liked to come over in the afternoons to use our internet and we had many long talks on things like food storage, politics, sports, kids and nutrition. He took the time to participate in activities that we enjoyed even if they weren't his favorite thing. He also loved to introduce his friends to each other-"I think you would really enjoy meeting this family..."

We shared many holidays together when we were all in town. Christmas, Thanksgiving and New Years will always have special Dirk memories. We went camping together and even dragged them on the boat a few times. My kids remember Dirk's teasing and tickling, and I will never forget the time he tackled Barbara Rosner in my front hall.

We got to know each others parents and siblings and future family members. We tried new foods together, we celebrated good news together and comforted each other in challenging times. I'll never forget the look on Dirk's face when he walked into his surprise 40th birthday party.  We have had many memorable moments together and I know that  he is watching over his friends and laughing along with us even though he isn't here. To his memory I dedicate our future Cataan games and my special rolls. I might even think about listening to the pre-game and post-games shows in his honor, well, maybe not... And, last but not least, the next time I make a strategic move as we play games, I will even smile at the voice in my head that says "We call her The Borg"'.  We love you Dirk!

The Dreaded Spots

  Yes, the chicken pox have come to call at our house. I noticed suspicious spots on Ashton yesterday but wasn't sure if it was the real thing. By the end of the day I was 100% convinced. We are now on day 2 and they are starting to spread to the extremities, so based on past experience I figure I still have about 3 days before they have all erupted and subsequently scabbed over. Ashton accidentally got the first dose of the chicken pox vaccine even though I had told my doctor I did not want him to have it. I'm glad that he now has the real thing. All I need now, is for Hallie to get them and then we're all good! So, if anybody wants to expose their kids-come on over!

Tagged, again

I have been tagged by my sister Mandy http://blahblahblahblog.typepad.com/my_weblog/ , here goes...

Rules Once Tagged:
1) Link to the person who tagged you.
2) Post the rules on your blog (copy and paste 1-6).
3) Write 6 random things about yourself (see below).
4) Tag 6 people at the end of your post.
5) Let them know they are tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6) Let the tagger (who tagged you) know when your post is up

Six random things about me

1. I have very vivid and often action-packed dreams. I frequently dream about being chased, fistfighting with people, having beyond normal strength and speed and being able to fly. My other common dream theme has to do with being in school and forgetting a test or paper or not being able to find my locker or class. I have vivid dreams probably 5-6 nights out of the week.

2. I have a lot of theories about why things are and how things should be. I think they are all correct, although I am sometimes open to suggestions.

3. I used to want to interview serial killers so that I could truly understand them.

4. I've always wanted to be analyzed by a psychiatrist. I'm curious what they would say about me.

5. I can't wait to be a grandmother. I really like kids but it's hard to have all of the responsibilty of raising them. I am excited to be able to have fun with them without worrying about whether or not I am fulfilling my parental duties. Plus, I can send them away when I need a break.

6. I get way too excited about my labeling machine (more on that another time)

I tag, Carleen, Baylie, Kriss and Sallie

First day of school

Here they are-my babies on their first day of school! Baylie is in 8th grade, Lexie is in 4th grade, Kelsie is in 2nd grade and Hallie is in kindergarten. Doesn't the time fly...

   

"Don't need nothin', but a good time...."

Name that tune! Anyway, that was my feeling as I drove off into the afternoon sun on August 22. The occasion was my college roomate Sallie's birthday. (something is not grammatically correct with that sentance-sorry!) Sallie, myself, Melinda and Kristine (some more roomates) all spent the weekend in a condo in St George. Melinda has been living in Conneticut for the past 2 years and just moved back to Utah a few weeks ago. Kristine lives in Vegas and Sallie lives in Roy (Northern Utah). It has been too long since we have all gotten together and we had an amazing time.

We all arived around 5pm on friday, unpacked a little and then headed to Outback Steakhouse for dinner. There was lots of giggling and catching up done during our meal. After dinner we went over to the grocery store to stock up on snacks and basics for the weekend. We learned that only brand name pop tarts are acceptable, cereal that is on sale is the best kind, skim milk is gross, you should never drink the tap water, they have boy scouts in foreign countries, and it is really hard to all agree on an ice cream flavor. The cashier agreed that we were her entertainment for the night as we tried to figutre out who was paying for what and how things should be divided. At least two people got in line behind us and then left when they realized that we were going to be slow. After we found our way back to the condo, we got into our jammies and watched random tv and a movie. I don't think I stayed awake for much of the movie. Shocking, huh.

Saturday morning we spent watching movies and hanging out. We had massages scheduled for 2pm, so we enjoyed those and then did a little shopping and went to dinner. We ended our evening with more movies.  I lasted until around 11:30pm.

Sunday we slept in and then watched a movie and gave ourselves pedicures before cleaning up. We made a stop at the St George temple and walked around the visitors center before heading home.

In case you were dying to know, the movies that we watched were Emma, Pride and Prejudice (LDS) Pride and Prejudice (2005) An Ideal Husband, and Stardust.

It was so fun to just be with people that know and love the real you. I think this quote sums it up perfectly "Friendship isn't being inseparable, it's being separated and nothing changes" Love you guys! Can't wait for next years "top secret" conversations!