So much to say, so little time!

I am going to make this as short as possible. So, to make a long story short, if I am even capable of that, is that it has been a crazy, hectic, wonderful holiday season.

Starting with Thanksgiving. We all got to go to Salt Lake and spend it with my family. I loved it all. And I seriously loved meeting my two new nephews. They really are so cute you can't stand it. Just being home and spending time with my family made the start to the season fantastic. We were able to do some really fun things. Here are some highlights:

-Temple Square with Joce and Ben and our kids
-yummy Mexican food
-HEAVENLY Thanksgiving. My mom is seriously one of the greatest cooks alive!!
-going to Burger Supreme and Puddin' on the Rice with Jocelyn. Don't ask me why it was so fun. It just was. Maybe because we laughed so much at dinner about old nerdy boyfriends. Or maybe it was because we went to Puddin' on the Rice first because there were supposed to be crepes there, but there weren't. So we sampled EVERY flavor of rice pudding they had and then left, promising to come back. Which we did. :)
-Shopping with Jill, Jocelyn, and my mom.
-Going to the craft fair that Jill told me about. I got the best new diaper bag that I am seriously in love with.
-making toffee with Jill, minus the one that we undercooked. Amazing that it still got eaten. HAHA!!
-watching Uncle Ben play so much with my boys.
-Jackson getting his first be-be gun. I think it is called soft pellets or something. Thanks Uncle Kevin. :)
-The list could go on!!!!

Jason had to leave a few days earlier than me so after I flew back home with the kids, it was a quick couple of weeks before we headed to Oregon to spend Christmas with his family. But in that 2 week span was the Ward Christmas Party. It all turned out great and I am SO glad it is over. I really do have a pretty awesome committee. Thanks to all of you that helped put it together. And YA HOO it's over. :)

I also had to plan and create Jackson's class Christmas party. I totally forgot about it and the teachers reminded me that it was on the 18th, the same day I was leaving for Oregon. So lucky me. . . I got to lose my mind and go have a party right before we headed to the airport. But the kids were darling and it was very fun.

Now for Christmas. We got into Portland on the 18th, to FREEZING cold weather. Driving home through the Columbia Gorge was stress full for everyone, but mostly for Larry (father in law). Chains were required and it was slick! What should have taken us 3 hours ended up taking us 6. Here are some highlights from Boardman:

-watching the boys snow mobile with their daddy and Grandpa Smythe. I even got to go out with Jason on the snow mobile. But he drove. Last time I went my friend Amber and I totaled her dad's snow mobile. :)
-Going to Leavenworth, WA and watching the boys go sledding. They LOVED it. -Christmas morning. That says it all. The magic that is so real for my kids makes all the stress and craziness of Christmas worth it.
-Eating at Taco Time. Crisp bean burrito!!! (Can anyone see that I love Mexican food? Cheap or not).
-visiting with Jason's family.
-an ice machine that CRUNCHES your ice. Oh yeah, that craving is back and it was so good to have so many bite sized pieces of ice.
-This is by far one of the funniest Noah moments ever!! While in Utah he became ADDICTED to Home Alone. Not my number one choice for a 3 year old, but what can you do? (Thanks Aunt Jocey). So, he continued his passion for it while we were in Boardman and our last night there we stayed in a hotel in Portland. He was all fired up about having to take a bath that night and giving us all sorts of heck. After the bath was over and Jackson was out and Noah was still in the tub we all left the bathroom. Noah begins like this.
"When I grow up and get married, IF I get married, me and my family are living alone!! I'm living alone!! I'm living alone!! You hear me? I'm living alone. I'm sick of all these kids running around!" And if you have ever heard little Noah talking, he has the CUTEST little lisp you have ever hear. So re read this and add the lisp. :) I was practically peeing my pants on the hotel bed. It was impressive how similar he sounded to Mccauley. My child has a gift! And while it was very sassy and naughty of him to be yelling like that, we had to laugh.
-pure realization!!

But I do have one thing that is not a highlight for me on that trip. On Christmas morning my mom called and told me that my dad was in the hospital and had a heart attack. It ended up that he needed open heart surgery. (5 bypass). So, I spent many hours consumed in thinking about him and what he must be going through. I was worried about him so I can only imagine how my mom and dad must have been feeling.

He had the bypass surgery yesterday and finally got his breathing tube out today. He is awake, it took him awhile to fully open his eyes and keep them open, but he did. And he his all drugged up. Now he is just going to have to recover and regain much of his strength. Yesterday was emotional for me just imagining my dad there having had such a major surgery. Jason started explaining what they would do and I had to make him stop. It was just too much to take in. Noah made a creation on his plate today with lifesavers of me crying about Grandpa. :) I got a little laugh out of it.

I guess thinking about someone you love so much be so still and bandaged puts a lot of things into perspective for you. Life is so precious. And my life has been so greatly blessed with amazing parents. My dad has been one of my best and truest friends since I can remember. There are many secrets we have shared, promising not to tell mom. I can't begin to imagine what things would be like with out him around. Luckily for us, he will be. I am grateful for the surgeons that took such good care of him. And mostly for the incredible power or prayer and priesthood blessings.

So, I guess I didn't keep it too short, but I tried. Just think of everything I could have written, but didn't. Because trust me, there is TONS! :)