it's great to be eight

In December, Little Miss turned 8. She is growing up so fast, and I am in denial that we are out of those "little kid" years.

Here are 8 things we love about Jessica:

1.  She is generous.  Whenever she gets a treat at school, she brings it home and splits it 6 ways.  Even if it is two Oreos, or a cupcake, smashed at the bottom of her backpack, she brings it home to share.

2.  She is sweet.  She gives the best compliments and is loving and kind.

3.  She is mischievous.  Definition: Causing or showing a fondness for causing trouble in a playful way.

4.  She is creative.  Jessi is always making up songs, or drawing very detailed pictures.

5.  She is kind.  We are lucky to be the recipients of many love letters, she gives really good massages and snuggles and loves animals and babies.

6.  She is talented.  The girl can sing and dance and she has an innate sense of rhythm.

7.  She is expressive.  She has the best facial expressions and is quite the actress (especially in front of the mirror.)

8.  She is resilient.  She will be in trouble, or mad at someone, and with a sweet word, is happy and cheerful.

Here she is with her birthday breakfast in bed--our bed.  Almost every night, when she gets cold and wakes up, she comes in bed with us for snuggles.  She also brings whatever stuffed animal or doll she was sleeping with.  One morning I woke up to 10 of her closest non-living friends in bed with us.

After school she got to open her gifts.

She got a Barbie horse and carriage and a furry cat hat and vest.

It was then time to enjoy her dinner pick--Golden Corral...again.

Christian and Bev made her the crown.

Dad made paella for her family birthday party.  She requested something with "lots of shrimp."

I made her a pink cake.

december goings-on

The kids with their souvenirs.  They consisted of guitars, ornaments, spraypaint artwork, jewelry and trinkets.

The day after we got home we saw A Christmas Carol at Hale Center Theater.  It was a great way to get in the Christmas spirit. (And thankfully, everyone was feeling well enough to attend.)

It was a little busy fitting in our traditions.  One we couldn't miss was the Echoes of Christmas live nativity.

Mike and I had our annual meeting where we pulled out all the goods and checked our list twice.  I then stayed up late and got all the wrapping done.

There were a few loose ends, so I made my almost daily trip to good old Target.

Tiger sure puts up with a lot.

 Mike took the kids sledding with the cousins.

It was hard coming home to the harsh cold and snow.

Christian, Bev and Drew didn't mind it, but the rest of us did.

 The girls had their tumbling performance.  Katie and Courtney came. Bev looks like she could be their sister--lucky girl.

This was Bev's last tumbling performance.  She made a competitive soccer team and had to choose between the two.  Soccer won.

The night of the performance, Mike got a call from a man who had found our old dog Freddy.  Freddy went to live with another family 5 years ago when we had to move into an apartment before our house was done.  They love him and have taken good care of him, but we were worried.  Mike finally got a hold of the owner the next day, but the kids sure loved it while he was here.  We had decided that we would take him back if the family wasn't able to care for him.  The kids were sad when we gave him back.

Tiger was not sad that we gave him back.  She was on high alert the entire time he was in the house.

Bev stared playing the violin a few months ago, and had her her first orchestra performance.

The gang delivering neighbor gifts.  Mike got them the face masks and they love them.  Jessi is all about the fashion, so her sparkly beret was all she wanted.

We saw the lights at Temple Square and then walked over to the Macy's windows.

I went to Bev's class party and was set to help at Jessi's when a little baby decided to be born and I had to work.  I went into Jessi's class to tell her that I wouldn't be at her party.  She was heartbroken.  I called Mike to tell him about my mommy guilt for missing it.  He said, "I can probably make it."  He left work and surprised her.  After school she told me that she was "so happy" and "so excited" because she was the only one with a daddy there.

The activity they did together.  My favorite is the letter "A"--angels story rang with glory.

Santa and Mrs. Claus at Zoo Lights.  Drew is starting to miss family events for friends.  Sniff sniff.

It was a cold night at the zoo, but it's always fun with this bunch.

food poisoning

On our way home, we had a layover in Dallas. We had dinner at Friday's.  Just a few months ago, we ate at Friday's and Bev found a fly in her spaghetti.  We swore we wouldn't eat there again.  But, when we got to our gate at the airport, it was the closest thing.  Bev said, "Mom, remember we said we wouldn't eat there again."  Oh, how quickly I forget.

So we ate and got on the plane.  When we touched down in Salt Lake and Christian started complaining of a stomach ache.  Then Jessi said she felt sick.  Then she fell asleep while we waited for Grandma to go get the car.

Christian slept in our bed.  He was writhing in pain all night.  At midnight, Bev came into our room, sick.  At 3 am it hit me.  Jessi ended up in our bed, and then Drew came in.  I sent Bev back to bed and then I went to Jessi's bed because ours was too full.  I took my phone into the girls room to google "food poisoning."  This is how Bev was sleeping.

We all got it within hours of each other.  At first I thought we might have a Mexican bug, but the timing led me to believe it was food poisoning from Friday's.  I called the Health Department, and discovered we were one of four parties that had reported problems that night at that restaurant.  It was the sort of thing where you would be fine for a few hours and then not.  We would be watching tv and Christian would jump up, ask us to pause the tv and bolt for the bathroom.

It was quite a way to end our vacation.