And Another Thing...

Yeah. So when I thought things couldn't get crappier, I broke a plate while doing dishes. Most would say, "So buy another one." And my response: I CAN'T. Freaking Target discontinued the pattern the month we got married. DAMMIT! I'm going to cry.

Worst Day EVER...

So I've had some pretty awful days in the past. A few little things that go wrong, or one huge terrible thing that happens...but the last 48 hours have been hellish. Hence the "happy bunny" pictures. They crack me up. So let's start with Tuesday. Logan was being cranky and where he normally sleeps for 2-3 hours during the day, he slept a total of 50 minutes. Also on Tuesday afternoon, I set up a meeting for a group project. 2 of the 6 people showed. And I was one of the two people. Freak. Fast forward to Wednesday morning 1:30 am. Logan woke up crying (like he normally does to eat) and Zac said he felt hot. When I took him, he was burning up. I didn't even want to hold him he felt so hot. So we changed his jammies from the fleece ones to the light cotton ones and took his temperature. Under his arm, it was 101.7 and when you take a baby's temp under their arm, you add a degree. So he was really feverish. We finally got him to calm down, gave him some Tylenol, and took him to bed with us. Our bedroom is generally colder than the rest of the house and I think it helped. Of course with him in bed, I didn't get much sleep. And he was up every hour or so anyways. So at 6:00 am I called Zac's mom because I knew she'd be up. We chatted and she suspected an ear infection. After I got off the phone with her, I looked at Logan's ears and noticed his left one was really waxy and looked like it had been draining fluid. I also took his temperature again and it was 101.4. I waited until 8:00 for the health center to open and I scheduled an appointment. Our pediatrician was in meeting all morning so we could wait for an appointment at 3:00 or we could go in as early as 9:40, but we'd have to see a different general practitioner. I opted for the earlier appointment.

When we got there, the nurse checked us in, weighed Logan (18 lbs 9 oz) and took his temperature. Sure enough, the Tylenol kicked in and it was a perfect 98.6. Go figure. So the doctor came in to look at Logan's ears. He looked in the right one and said "This one looks perfect." So I sat there thinking "Seriously?! We all suffered all night and now nothing is wrong?" But then when the doctor looked at his left ear (the icky one), he said "Wow. This one is really infected." I felt bad for Logan, but I was a bit relieved that I didn't look like an idiot. So Logan is now on a course of antibiotics for 5 days and within the first few hours he seemed a lot better. With the assistance of Tylenol and Motrin, but still.

So I skipped class to be with my baby...and to go grocery shopping. I was asked to have a "cooking show" for enrichment on Wednesday night and still hadn't done anything for it. So I printed off 3 recipes and asked Zac to get them copied on campus after his class. Then I dropped Logan off to play with his friend Parker and went to the store. I also got stuff for Sunday since we're going to Mat and Dani's. I sprung for some of those Lil Smokies. They were $2.49 a package, but I had coupons for $1.00 off. Naturally, I forgot to use the coupons and didn't realize it until I got in the car. Awesome. Fast forward to 5:00 Wednesday evening. Logan went down for a nap and I was so tired that I turned off my cell and crashed on the couch. Until the house phone rang at 5:20. Grrr. So I got up and started getting ready for the cooking thing at 7:00. I was just about ready to go up to the church where we were having it (in the nice big kitchen!) and was like, "Where is Zac with my copies?" Naturally he was on campus and wasn't planning on coming home. So he came home and got here just before 7:00. We went up to the church together and the girls that came to watch were all sitting in the hallway. Apparently, some one else had booked the church and we had no where to go to cook. Long story short, I asked if we could just use the kitchen and they said sure. But what a hassle! I also asked one of the enrichment leaders to bring her blender so I had 2, but she forgot. I made dressing in mine, but didn't have hers to make my Brazilian lemonade. But everyone forgave me. So other than that, no cooking disasters and everyone really liked my food. Hooray for that, at least.

So after I got home, I gave Logan some more medicine and put him to bed. Then I noticed that I missed a call and 4 new text messages on my phone. But why didn't I hear them? Well because my phone was in "Car Kit Mode." Which means (after I researched it online) that the battery got wet and my phone is pretty much useless since the speaker and the ear piece stop working. And THEN, according to my online research, I found out that Verizon won't do anything about it because if the battery gets wet, it voids the warranty on the phone and they won't fix it. SWEET. So I read more in the forum about other people's experiences with Car Kit Mode on their phone and I started taking mine apart. Then I scrubbed all the connectors with rubbing alcohol and dried off every part with my blow dryer, put it back together, and IT WORKS! Phew. I still need to have my camera pn the phone fixed (from a while ago) so hopefully I can still get that fixed without my warranty being voided. But we'll see. So that was all well and good, but the "fun" doesn't stop there.

For my Shakespeare in Film class, I needed to watch 2 versions of Hamlet. Olivier's and Zeffirelli's (the one with Mel Gibson). I had a few options...watch them online form Netflix, watch them at the Library, or rent them. So the plan was Netflix. Well, wouldn't you know it, only one was available online. I would have to wait for the Mel Gibson one in the mail. Too bad I needed to watch both of them and write a paper on them for TODAY at 4:30. I know it was my own fault for putting it off, but I assumed I would be able to watch them online. So this morning, Zac went to Blockbuster to rent the Mel Gibson one for me. It was checked out and had been for 3 weeks. Go figure. So I did my best to get the idea from reviews online. I actually think I wrote a decent paper for my lack of knowledge. So I turned it in at the beginning of class, told my teacher my son had an ear infection, and she told me it was no big deal. (Side note...one of the girls on the BYU Women's Basketball team is in my class. She misses class sometimes and I type up my notes and email them to her and she was nice enough to tell me as I was leaving, "I'll email you my notes, Sarah!" She is so sweet.)

And just when you think I'm done with all of my crappy stories, I've got one more. I'm not even upset or mad at this point...I just sort of expect everything to go wrong. I got a letter from BYU Independent Study and I opened it up. It said "Final Grade for ENGL 292: E." So here's the thing with that. I signed up to take 292 online in September. When you take and online class, you have a year to finish it. And my paperwork for the class even says: Enroll date: 9/17/07 Expire date: 9/16/08. So why do I have a final failing grade already? Hahaha...I HAVE NO IDEA! Ugh. Then Zac, seeing my half-mad mental state said he'd take care of it...bless his heart. So he emailed the department and explained the situation. And this is the email he got back:
Zac,
If she received a note saying she failed, the most logical reason would be that she has completed the course and the final and failed the final. If this is not the case, then we can look into it and see why she received the letter. However, we will need her course access code in order to do so. If she would like to call the number listed below, someone will be able to help her sort this out.
If you have further questions, please contact us at indstudy@byu.edu or 1-800-914-8931 ext. 0 or 801-422-2868 between 6am-6pm MT.
Thank You,
Allison
BYU Independent Study

UMMM...I THINK I WOULD HAVE REMEMBERED TAKING AND FAILING THE FINAL. Seriously. So that's just one more thing I have to figure out. So apologies for ranting about everything that's driving me crazy, but I've had a rough couple of days. And now I have to tend to a sink full of dishes and some clean laundry that needs to be folded. So thanks for listening and feeling sorry for me...miss you all. Maybe all you New Yorkers out there can pool together and buy me a plane ticket home for a vacation from this insanity for a weekend :-)

Of Course I Work!!!

Logan in his best friend James' rain forest jumperoo. He loves this thing!

So I just checked my email and was asked to take a survey for BYU. It was about students enrolled in evening classes. So I was more than happy to oblige. About half way through the survey, questions appeared about marital status (married!) and if any dependent children reside in your home (1). Then questions came up about work. The first one was: What is your employment status: On-campus, Off-campus, self-employed, not working, or other. Well, I live on campus and do most of my work here, but it's not FOR the university...so that wasn't on or off-campus. And I'm not self-employed because I work for my boss: Logan. And I am most definitely not going to say I'm not working because I work my butt off. So I chose "other." The next question was: How many hours a week do you work: Less than 10, between 10-20, 20-35, more than 35. Well, I chose more than 35. I know I may have messed with the survey a bit, and that I DEFINITELY over-thought much of it, but I think I work just as hard as those that are "employed" and going to school. The only differences are that a. People that are employed earn a physical paycheck and b. people that are employed are either on or off the clock...I am on call 24-7. So that's my rant for the day...I WORK, TOO, DANG IT!!!!!

God Be With You Till We Meet Again...

Apparently, I have nothing better to do this evening than to post a bunch of different times. So after putting Logan down in his crib and posting the last post with those cute pictures, I ate dinner and settled down on the couch. I was watching Extreme Makeover: Home Edition when a Special News report came on. The news anchor announced that the president and prophet of our church had passes away around 7:00 this evening. Here's the link for the Church Website, if you're interested. http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/

They have been interviewing several people around Salt Lake City and even some students on BYU campus on the 10:00 news tonight...with mixed emotions. Some people were in shock, others were sobbing, some were gathered singing hymns. I don't know as if I fit in any of those groups. Maybe the hymn one, but only because I like to sing. I'm not in shock...the man was 97! I'm not upset and sobbing...he lived such a wonderful and full life and deserves a break. And more than anything, he deserves to be with his wife. She passed away 4 years ago, I think. And if I had to spend 4 years on this earth without Zac by my side, I think I would be ready to see him again.

And though President Hinckley is "my" Prophet...the only one I've known, in no way does it shake my testimony. It is a remarkable thing that even though our prophet and president is no longer on the earth, the Church will continue on...and strong. Granted, we won't have an official Church leader for a week or so, but we are still being lead by the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and will have a new president, soon. The gospel is remarkable that way! I really do look forward to the sustaining of a new president, but will definitely miss the president and prophet I listened to in my early years of church membership.

"Till we meet, till we meet, till we meet at Jesus' feet... Till we meet, till we meet, God be with you till we meet again!"

Sleepy, sleepy...

I just had to post these. I was making dinner while Zac was doing his home teaching and Logan was being whiny. So I stuck him in his high chair with some toys and he had fun for a while. Then he got really quiet and when I turned around after straining the spaghetti, I saw that he was PASSED OUT. So I snapped some pictures before moving him to his crib. I love this baby!!!!

Snap, Crackle, and Pop...

So I was laying in bed the other night in that half-asleep, drowsy state. And I thought I heard a really weird noise. So then I was a bit more alert and head Zac grumbling to himself in the living room. I thought about the noise and it kind of sounded like rushing water, but kind of sounded like a plastic bag crumpling. And it also sounded like breaking glass. So I called out, "did something break?" and Zac came in and gave me my slippers. I walked out into the living room and saw this:

The glass on the front of our entertainment stand shattered! The door broke off a while ago, so we just had the glass panel wedged in the opening. I guess the pressure was just too much because the whole thing smashed to pieces. And the whole time we were cleaning it up, the broken pieces were popping and cracking and breaking into smaller pieces. It sounded like a bowl of Rice Crispies. A bowl of DEADLY Rice Crispies. So aside form the fact that it was 1:00 in the morning and it took us a good hour to pick and vacuum all the pieces, it looked cool at least.

In other news...well, there is no other news, currently. Logan likes his rocking horse. That's all :-)

Two Years...

Well, I can't believe it, but Mary T has been gone for two years. For those of you who knew her, I hope you take some time today to think about her and how she touched your lives. And for those of you who were never lucky enough to meet this amazing child of God, let me enlighten you.

Mary Therese Luisa Norman was one of the sweetest, kindest, and smartest girls I knew. I don't know when exactly we hit it off, but we became best friends in our early years of elementary school. As we grew up, our teachers changed and seldom were we in the same classroom, but we still managed to remain friends throughout the years. There was rarely a birthday party or sleep-over that didn't include MT in my memory...but most of the sleep-overs occurred at my house since Disney movies were obsolete in her home... Anyways, anyone who knew her will tell you of her love for animals. I even got my rabbit, Buttercup, from her in third grade. We were the girls running around trying to "save" "helpless" animals...from rescuing mice caught by our cats and trying to nurse them back to health, to bandaging our own animals' uninjured legs, tails, necks, etc. The only difference between the two of us in that aspect is that she actually was pursuing a career in veterinary medicine. And boy did she have the brains for it! She was our Salutatorian for the BCS Class of 2003 and probably should have been Valedictorian. (Sorry Adam, but it's the truth). She was attending RIT on scholarship and even found time to join their dance team.

Sadly, MT was killed in a car accident on Wednesday, January 25th, 2006. She was living with her aunt and uncle (closer to campus) and was driving back to their home after spending time with her family earlier that day. As her aunt stated at her memorial service, she had spent her last day on earth exactly the way she would have if she had known. After spending much of the day with her parents, she had stayed for dinner with her siblings and even stayed for a game of Euchre afterwards. She even got to talk to the love of her life, Andy, before she was gone.

So that is MT. Both the wonderful parts and the tragic. *Spiritual Junk Warning* I don't know why, but it seems that He always takes the good ones early. However, I do take comfort in knowing that I will see her again. I know with all my heart, that someday I will be able to see and be with all of my lost friends and family. I'm truly thankful for temples and the vicarious work that goes on there, and I am especially grateful for the sacrifice our Savior made so that we all have the opportunity to live with our Heavenly Father again. Love you, MT!

Classes, classes...

"Hooray for me!!!"


So I am OFFICIALLY signed up for all of the classes I wanted to take this semester. New Testament, Manufacturing, and Shakespeare in Film. And Zac has all the classes he wanted, too. But he was able to add all of his with no problem...mine was a different story. I don't know if I've explained this before but I'm going to do a brief summary of the hassles I had to go through the past few weeks:

So in order to register for classes online, one must not have any "holds" on his or her account (i.e. academic probation, no financial balances, etc). Well, I had to pay tuition. We paid Zac's, so no problem there. We just had mine, which we were going to get a loan for. So I couldn't sign up for classes because I needed tuition. Well, you can't get a loan unless you are signed up for classes (same with financial aid). So, do you see the insane, vicious cycle I was thrust into? No classes because of no money. No money because of no classes. And round and round we go. Well, by some miracle, it was all squared away when I went to add my classes in person today. If you're not LDS, feel free to skip this next section because it will be all spiritual and loaded with church-y terms and junk.

* * * * * * *
I was called into the Relief Society Presidency as a secretary about 3 months ago. I struggled with accepting the calling because it was a bit overwhelming at first and, being a "recent" convert (for this ward's standards, at least!) I don't feel like I have any place accepting a calling with that much responsibility. But eventually, I accepted and I've been doing my job. I don't feel like I've really gone above and beyond, but I am trying my best to carry out my responsibilities and serve faithfully. Then we had a meeting with the Stake presidency this evening. Long story short, one of them said to me something along the lines of me bringing a lot to our ward presidency and that I don't give myself enough credit. I thought about that on the way home and I realized that I really am being blessed for my service. There have been a lot of things that have come up in the past few months that really could have thrown me in the past, but I have been able to take it all in stride. And this whole tuition/class thing was really starting to stress me out, but sure enough as soon as I acted on it, all was well. So I just want to acknowledge the promises made to me in my blessing when I was set apart that I am being blessed in all aspects of my life for my service. It's such an amazing thing!!!
* * * End of Spiritual Junk * * *

So it was a good day. For me, at least! Poor Logan, though. He went for his 6 month immunizations today. Some oral vaccine for rotavirus, then one shot in his left leg and two shots in his right. Poor baby...it was so sad! It was sad in the past, but he doesn't cry like a little baby anymore. It's like a really, really sad cry and you could tell it hurt him so much! He was whimpering for like 10 minutes afterwards. It just broke my heart. But we've been following up with Tylenol every four hours and massaging his chunky little thighs and he has been doing fine. Sleeping like...well, a baby, right now. Forgive the pun. And speaking of chunky thighs, this picture is from Sunday when he was in his spiffy Sunday clothes after church, but Zac had changed his diaper and left his pants off. I thought it was the cutest thing...his white shirt, little tie, and a diaper. Precious!

Well, I guess that's all for now from the FREEZING cold state of Utah. Hope all is well wherever you're reading from!! Love you all and miss you tons!

Carpet Cleaning Miracle...

So last night after rearranging all the furniture, I was sitting with Logan in our computer chair next to the tv stand. Zac was trying to make his way through the living room with our new storage bench, so I tried to move out of the way. In doing so, I bumped the tv stand and knocked some stuff on the floor...a vase of fake flowers, a picture of the Savior, our candle warmer, and...THE CANDLE THAT WAS ON THE CANDLE WARMER! So I grabbed the candle and hot wax had spilled and was dripping everywhere. And there was about a good square foot of carpet that was covered in wax. So I got to work scraping off as much as I could with my fingernails, but the carpet was still covered. Then I asked Liz to Google how to get wax out of carpet and we found a possible solution. And it totally worked!

You have to let the wax harden and then scrape off as much of the surface wax as you can (it said to use a butter knife, but I think I had already done a decent job with my nails). After that, you take a paper bag and lay it over the wax-covered area of the carpet. Using a warm iron, you just iron the bag that is over the wax. You have to keep moving the iron so as not to burn the carpet fibers or the bag, but the heat melts the wax again and the bag absorbs it. Who ever came up with this idea is pure genius.

You can't even see where the wax was. Thankfully, we have a dark carpet, but still. So if you ever spill was on your carpet, this is the best solution I know of! Hooray for cleaning tips!!!

Happy Birthday to Me...

Well all, I hit the big 2-3 yesterday! It was really a fabulous day...and for those of you who care to read about the details, here they are:

Neither Zac nor I have Friday classes which, in itself is spectacular. But to have no class on my Birthday...double bonus! So we slept in, or tried to. Logan still determines when we wake up, but we didn't have to shower or get ready or anything. Good stuff. So my dad called around 8 to wish me a happy one and apologized for the fact that my card wouldn't get to me for a few more days. No big deal, but nice to know there is one on the way :-) So we putzed around the house for a while and finally got ready to go. Go where you ask? To IKEA of course!!!!

So we took Logan to his best friend's house and they played all afternoon while I got to go shopping with the husband. I asked for a storage bench (for shoes and blankets and toys) and a coat rack, so we went to Ikea in order to pick them out. If you have no clue what Ikea is, you should Google it. It is fabulous. It's like Disney World. Only home furnishing centered. And only one restaurant. But still amazing.

So I got exactly what I wanted and then headed back to get the baby. But instead of going back to an empty house while Zac had to work for a few hours, I stayed at Mat and Dani's. We played Guitar Hero, watched Gilmore Girls, played with the babies...had a good old time. Followed by pizza and the the best cake EVER (Confetti Cake with Rainbow Chip frosting) when Zac joined us later that evening. Seriously, I love that frosting. If I had to do our wedding over again, I think I would have said "forget the $400 cake. I want a Betty Crocker confetti cake with Rainbow Chip Frosting." So it was great.

We didn't have birthday candles, but made do with some that Mat and Dani had around the house. Good times! And while we ate the cake, we (as in Dani and I because the boys swear they've never had good birthdays) talked about our favorite birthdays. So here are my top three: #3: My 6th (I think!) when Mom got me a Cabbage Patch Doll cake...and Dad took my 3 friends and I sledding out behind my Aunt Eunie's house. We'd sled down this huge hill and make my dad pull the sled back up it so we didn't have to walk. Then on the last run when he was taking us back to the top, the rope snapped on the sled and we went hurdling down the hill backwards and thought we were going to die. Then, to take us back up, he threw each of us over his shoulders and hiked back up the hill carrying the sled. It was a good day! #2: My 14th. I wanted a slumber party and then to go bowling. The thing was, our car had died a few weeks before and there was no way we'd be able to take everyone. So I said it was fine, just a slumber party would do. But the next morning, we found out we were going bowling and that my parents had arranged transportation...in a freaking stretch limo!!!! Seeing that thing pull in our driveway was so awesome! #1: I think I was in 3rd or 4th grade...my birthday was on a Wednesday because we went to Spaghetti Dinner at the American Legion. My God-Mother, Sue, came and I hadn't seen her in forever (and don't think I've seen her since then). So after dinner, we drove home and I noticed a ton of cars at my Grandma's. Then I noticed that a light was on in our house at about the same time I saw someone dive into a snowbank in our driveway. Turns out all the cars belonged to random family members that were throwing a surprise part for me at our house and my cousin Chris was late and was walking over when we pulled in the driveway so he tried to hide. I didn't see it coming...so yeah. I think that was my favorite birthday memory.


Logan trying to get his hands on a skewer of Garlic Beef Tenderloin...or is that one Bacon Wrapped Turkey? Either way, YUM!

Then today, Zac, Logan, Mat, Dani, James, Liz, Savannah, and I went to Tucano's Brazilian Grill. It is SOOOOO GOOD!!! We stuffed ourselves silly...then the waiters came and sang Happy Birthday to me in Portuguese while pounding on an insanely loud drum. I had to stand up and the table clapped...it was awesome. Afterwards, Liz came to the house and we rearranged the entire apartment to accommodate our new storage bench. It has been a great couple of days...I really love my Birthday! Thanks to everyone over the years who have made it so special!!!!


Brazilian Lemonade...double Yum!!!

New Semester, New Highchair...

Ok, I guess they don't really correlate, but that's what's new this week. When we were home, Logan used Madison's old highchair, which was a new experience because we didn't have one here. We were just creative in the ways we fed him. But he got used to the idea of eating in his own spot, so Aunt Liz and I went shopping. Well, when we got to Target, they only had the $120 ones in stock (yikes!) so we thought we'd try our luck at Babies-R-Us. We found a decent one for $40 that wasn't in stock, so we went for the next cheapest one. It was $60, but I still had some store credit and ended up paying about $35. He seems to like it and it folds up so it's easy to store in our pantry when we need the space.


Aside from that, school started yesterday. I didn't get to add any of the classes that I originally wanted to take because of a hold on my account. So instead of being able to add them online, I had to go to the classes with an add card and ask the professor to sign me in. The first class was the 2nd half of the New Testament. I wanted to take it from the same guy I took a class from last semester. So I went to the class (with Logan in tow because we didn't have a sitter yesterday) and asked him to sign my card. There were like 40 empty seats, so I knew it wouldn't be a problem. So I got into that class and I'm really happy about it! Then I decided to try my luck at Manufacturing 202: The History of Creativity. It fulfills a General Education requirement (civilization classes...yuck.) and I was told it's the best class EVER. There were 225 spots...all taken. So I went just to see if I stood a chance of getting in. Turns out there were about 70 other people thinking the same thing. So there was a "lottery" going on where the TA was going to draw 25 names and add them to the class. Well, as luck would have it, I was number 23. Yay me! So that class is only Monday evenings and New Testament is 1-2 on Mondays and Wednesdays. The last class I'm going to try and add is today at 4:30... Shakespeare in Film... so wish me luck! I had the same professor for another Shakespeare class, so I'm hoping she'll let me in just based on that, but we'll see. Well, I need to go get some lunch before the baby wakes up! Love you all!

Crap on my head...

"I don't know why they keep doing this, but Mom and Dad keep putting crap on my head."

Missin' the fam...

So It's good to be home, but we sure do miss everyone. So I thought I'd post some pictures of Logan with some of his favorite people!





Those fingers in his mouth...well, we'll have to fix that later!

Baby's 1st Christmas...

Christmas eve was nice. I guess Zac's brother and his wife put together a program for the family. Zac's Grandparents came over and so did his cousins Ana, Alex, and their families and we all had dinner. The program was nice...especially when Joel added his own spin on the Christmas hymns...hahaha! If you've never heard Joel sing, well, you're missing out. It was fabulous :) After that, we all opened presents from Zac's grandparents and our pajamas that Jaylene makes for all the kids every year. Logan even got ones that matched Zac's. It was cute!

Christmas morning at Zac's we opened the rest of our presents. I got a vest from Old Navy from Matt, a ton of great stocking stuffers, and a "new" digital camera from Zac's parents. And Zac got me two new pairs of shoes that I wanted! I gave him some cologne from Abercrombie and Fitch, and he got a new computer program form his parents. He also got a Tetris Cube and another hand puzzle thing from his brother Jon. And Logan made out like a bandit. He got a Zoo thing with 2 monkeys, a parrot, and bananas that make noise, clothes, bowls from Ikea!, a bunch of other stuff I can't remember right now, and, my favorite, a HUGE playground ball that was bigger than him. I'm sad we had to leave it, but there was no way it was going to fit in our luggage.

Later, we went to my parents' house. There, Zac got sneakers from me and I got a Rachael Ray cookbook from him. Yay! My parents totally spoiled me with a TON of new kitchen things...pie server, ladles, a pastry board, blah blah blah, and my mom even made me a new apron! Zac got new gloves, a sweater from the Gap, etc. I won't bore you. We were pretty excited. And then Logan, again, was spoiled rotten. More cute clothes, toys, baby food, and my favorite, a Winter Coat from Baby Gap! He's sooo cute in it!

After that was Christmas at my Aunt Karen and Uncle Ed's with the family. We got a bunch of stuff there, too. And the best gift Logan got: My rocking horse from my first Christmas. He doesn't quite get it yet, but he will!

It was a great Christmas this year. However, we got so much stuff, we had to bring back 3 more bags with us than we went to New York with. OYE!

Vacation Recap...

A thousand apologies, BriAnna! Our vacation was soooo busy, I literally never had time to post. So here's what happened:

Our flight was supposed to leave at 11:59 pm on the 23rd. It was delayed until 1:30, but we found out before we left the house, so we had an extra hour and a half to just kick back and relax at home. The flight went well and Logan was a perfect little angel! Zac's mom picked us up from the airport the next morning in good old Rochester. We were all exhausted and starving, but happy to be home. So happy, in fact, that when we got to Zac's parents' house, we had to take a 2 hour nap. After that and a nice hot shower, I zipped over and saw my parents and the puppy!!! I miss them so much!

The next day was Christmas (I'll post about that later!) Followed by party after party after party. Friday we all went to the temple while my parents watched Logan. Then Sunday the 30th, Madison was baptized!!!! It was awesome.

New Year's eve Zac's whole family went to Adventure Landing in Greece. Logan was too young to appreciate it, but the rest of us had a blast.
After two exhausting hours of that, we randomly ended up at Zac's brother's wife's mom's house and we ordered Country Sweet Wings. Mmmm, wings!!!! I miss them, too! After dinner, we headed back to Bloomfield to play some serious Settlers of Catan (which I won TWICE) and watch the ball drop. Then we rang in the New Year with some Welch's Sparkling Grape Juice...the only way to do it, in my opinion! Tuesday Logan and I went to a meeting for my parents' Buddhist practice. It was nice. After that was Christmas at mu Aunt Janice and Uncle Bob's house...where we met Logan's newest 2nd cousin, Jacob. He was only 4 days old...and soooo tiny! He was only 6 12 when he was born. Logan was that size when he was a fetus!!! Hahaha...

Well, the 2nd was our last full day home so a bunch of the kids and I went ice skating. Madison and I had a good time skating together! Then my mom took me birthday shopping at Old Navy and Macy's. I made out pretty well!

We left the morning of the 3rd and got back to Salt Lake with no problems. I got our bags while Zac picked the car up from long-term parking. While I was at the bag-claim, I saw a girl from my English class last semester. Then I ran into her again while we were loading the car outside. And she was sitting there waiting for her ride, freezing, and not getting a hold of him. Well, we couldn't just let her sit there so we offered to give her a ride back down to Provo. The only thing was we barely had room for the three of us and our luggage as it was. But somehow, Zac fit it all in. Granted, the front seats were all the way forward, Zac's knees were up around his ears, and I had a duffel bag on my lap that almost covered my face entirely, but we all fit! Once we got home, we slowly started to unpack and chowed down some Wendy's for dinner. We're slowly getting back into the swing of things here and getting ready to start school on Monday.

So that's what happened while I wasn't posting! Hope you all had a fabulous holiday!