New Years' Eve Eve

Tonight we went to his parent's house to celebrate New Years' Eve Eve. They had just returned home from a visit in Arizona to see their son and his family. We had a variety of food. My parent's came and a lot of Mike's family was also there. We played Scattegories and then talked. Not a whole lot happened but it was still fun and enjoyable.

Two years down and eternity to go

Mike and I woke up this morning and I told him that he should go into his work late to be sent home early. To be caught up to speed, Mike's manager is tightening things up by creating some new rules. One of them is if you're even one minute late you'll be sent home. Earlier in the month Mike had asked for the day off and was told no. Anyway, although I was somewhat kidding and somewhat serious, he ended up doing what I had suggested. As for me, my work is wonderful and flexible. I make up my own hours.

We went to Lava Hot Springs. There was no other place that we could have gone, with it being winter, and been sweating up a storm. There were many people walking around just in their swim suits and not even the slighest cold. I could only put part of my body in the water because otherwise I would have just overheat.

It was such a nice day to go. It was really warm for a winter day and the roads were all nice and clean.

We came home and took some time to adjust back to the cold weather. We got ready to go out to dinner. Thanks to our neighbors for a gift card, we went to AppleBees. Neither of us had really eaten there before and we were quite impressed.





Mike is so awesome and had a really good idea. He had been planning for us to do this for quite some time. We each had a can of silly string and had a fight around the house. It only lasted for about 5 minutes but it was one of the funnest things that I had done in a long time. I thought that it would be really messy but it wasn't all that bad to clean up. Of course, we topped the night off with alcohol.

One more thing...these images were taken with my camera phone. I left my camera at my parents and this was the best we had for taking pictures. Thus the reasoning for the not great quality.

Happy Birthday Mike

I just want to say Happy Birtday to my wonderful husband. I would say that he had a good day. It started out with his most adoring wife making him breakfast in bed. He opened his presents and then we had to hurry hurry hurry to get ready for church. I let Mike do what he wanted all day and eat what he wants. I gave him a wand and all he had to was push the button and I was at his command. What more could a man want?

We went on a walk and Mike made me sing him Happy Birthday to the top of my lungs.

It's Christmas!!!

We had a really good Christmas. I love having time off to spend with friends and family; just to relax and be lazy. We first opened presents here. I got an electric keyboard. I was really excited for this since I haven't been able to play the piano since basically I've been married. I knew I was getting what I wanted because Mike and I picked out our gifts together. I did happen to surprise Mike with one gift. He managed to surprise me with a gift from him and his parents. Overall, we did really well.

After some relaxation time we went over to my parents. Getting there was just fine but getting back was somewhat tricky. It was so snowy, windy, and icy. Not many of my siblings were able to come and visit the parents because of the weather. We still had a wonderful time.

Christmas Eve

Mike and I had a wonderful Christmas Eve. We went over to his Grandparent's house. We had a feast of fried shrimp, mashed potatoes and gravy (for those of us who don't like shrimp), rolls, jellp, salad, etc. Mmmm.... Greg and Kristen had to leave early but Joy, Mike, Sharon, Dale, and I played cards. Joy had an allergic reaction to something she ate and also had to leave. Mike and I stayed and played hand and foot until a little past midnight. Can you believe that? I didn't think grandparents could stay up that late. We had a blast and learned a lot about Dale and Sharon's personality. Dale is really laid back and Sharon surprisingly is really competitive.

Work in progress

Mike somehow got a light lit under his butt....Anyway, he decided to start the backsplash in our kitchen. This is him hard at work and what he has done thus far. I am excited for him to finish since our kitchen is going to look so amazing and clean.

Graham Cracker Houses

The whole crew

Mike

Caryn and Ty

Mike and Angie. I wasn't as willing to be in the picture. That is why we are so far apart. Now I wish I would have been more cooperative.

Tim, Amelia, and Kaylee

Nate and Nahina. Nashina went crazy with her mansion. She added a lot of details and landscape. This was her in the middle of finishing. Sorry I didn't get a picture of the final product. Let's say she REALLY enjoyed herself.

A close up of Mike's ship. This is his own idea and workmanship.

I decided to make my own creation. If you can't tell what it is...it's a tepee with a man roasting his kill. Mike had mainly built his graham cracker ship by himself so while Nashina was making her mansion this is what I did.

While us girls talked and Nashina finished her mansion, the boys played a mean game of tetris. Caryn and Tyler had to leave early to finish packing for their cruise. LUCKY! Amelia and Tim left shortly after to put their little one to bed. All there was left was Nashina and me. We exchanged recipes. THANK YOU!

This was the first time that we have had all of our good friends under one roof at the same time. It was good for everyone to meet or catch up from last year when we made graham cracker houses.

Winter pictures

Mike and I took pictures this afternoon out in the snow with our friends Caryn and Tyler Johnson. Here are some of the results.








I think we did well. It was super cold but we had a lot of fun. We have been planning this for a long time (since October). It seems like that something would keep coming up so that one or both of us couldn't take the time to take pictures. The one weekend we had opened it ended up raining.

Caryn was super nice and had invited us for dinner after. She made a chicken casserole, jello salad, and green beans. Mmmm.... Thanks Caryn and Ty! Let's just say that this is something that we need to do again.

The events of tonight

I went over to Amelia's house to catch a ride with her to Sherri's recption. It was so snowy and slick that part way through we decided to turn around. Our reasoning was that by the time we would get there we would have to leave right away to make it in time for our other events.

We went to my first company Christmas party. It was great! We went and had some wonderful food. I was kind of afraid to not go since the owner came into one of our meetings and demanded us that we go the Christmas party. No, it wasn't an invitation or request but a demand. It was good to talk with my fellow employees without ANY kids and get to see them in a different setting.

We were supposed to go to my friend Cindy's reception tonight but decided since the roads were bad to only choose one thing. So, obviously we didn't make it to that either. Sorry!

How Medicaid cuts have affected my job

Medicaid has cut 1% funding in Idaho. The focus area is in Partial Care and PSR (and DDA's). With Partial Care they are cutting back hours from 36 to only 12 per week. This makes it so that a lot of the kids are going through the process of being qualified for PSR. With PSR they cutting it back from 20 hours to 10 hours per week. This new rule doesn't really affect my company because we don't have any kids with more than 10 hours per week. The reasoning is because either the kid will get burnt out or the PSR worker will. It's not very therapeautic.

I'm hoping the preschool partial care kids will be approved soon. This means that I will have more daytime hours. In the long run, Medicaid is shooting themselves in the foot because PSR bills more than Partial Care. Good luck Medicaid in trying to save money! The other thing; those that cut the funding received an 8% raise this year. Hmmm!

Bridal Shower

I went to Sherri Jones' bridal shower with Amelia Cook on Tues. Dec. 9. It was good to see her since it was a year ago when I saw her last. The bridal shower was great. We arrived and her family hadn't arrived yet so that gave us some time to catch up on things. To get things started, Sherri's mom, aunt, and two other women (I'm not sure how they're related) dressed up in a bright blue suit, with bell bottoms, and bit poofy hairsprayed hair. They sang Dancing Queen and Honey Honey. This idea originated from the movie Mamma Mia for those that haven't seen the show. It was classic and hilarious. I only caught a few seconds of it on my camera and it's kind of dark. I hope the sound works.
Afterward, we had some wonderful rootbeer floats and continued catching up. Amelia brought her little girl Kaylee who is so adorable. I enjoyed the time being with Amelia as well since we don't get together all that often.

Dec. is a busy month for weddings

I have four friends that are getting married within the next two weeks. My old roommate DeAnna is getting married Fri. Dec. 12.



Her sister Sherri is getting married the day after. They get a lot of questions about why they have their wedding dates so close to each other. They say it's for convenience of their parents. Their parents have to travel from South Dakota and wanted them to make only one trip toward Idaho and Utah.



My other friend Cindy from Ririe is also getting married on Dec. 13.



Last but not least...there's my other roommate Alicia. Her original date was set for Feb. and she only has been dating him for a couple of months.



I just want to say congratulations to these girls and that I'm excited for you. You'll love being married.

My mom's birthday

My mom's birthday was Mon. Dec. 8. Karalee came up with a good idea to make dinner for her on the 7th. Marlise and Karalee made some delicious Chimichangas (I admit I didn't have a whole lot to do with the dinner). It was good to see a lot of the family and have some time to catch up. Mike and I didn't stay for since we had to go to his sister Joy's birthday party at his mom's house.