This year, one of my goals is to read more. Originally, I wanted to focus mainly on "The Classics", but I have to be realistic... some of that crap is really boring. Instead, I decided to just focus on reading more, then maybe next year throw in more classics.
I have heard over and over again how great Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale" is, how it really makes you think, and how it makes you feel glad to live in the time we do, but cautious for the future, blah, blah, blah. Atwood's use of Biblical and religious justification for this future civilization's way of life was fascinating, as through these two avenues women were stripped of their rights and freedoms. But at the same time, the novel felt like a rehashing of "1984" and "The Giver", both of which I felt were written better and also kept my interest much better.
I give this book a nice solid C+. It was a quick read. I enjoyed the religious overtones and the use of religion as a means of justifying grossly unjust behavior. This made me think and examine the role of religion in my own life, and in my own society. If the book wasn't so much like 1984, I could have even given it a B.
January 26, 2011
January 19, 2011
Mid January Update
Our taxes are done and filed. Woohoo! Such a relief.
Both boys were nominated for Gifted and Talented. I am really proud of them. They both work really hard on their school work, so it is great to see them being recognized for their hard work. Collin was tested last week, and Cameron will be tested some time this week. We are excited to hear how their tests go.
Cameron was invited to read a part to the school board for School Board Appreciation Month. It was quite an honor, as less than 10 children from his advanced reading group were invited to participate. The personnel director took a picture, so when she posts it to the district website I will steal it and post it on the blog :-) He did really well, and even though I knew he was nervous, he didn't show it.
Collin's basketball team is still undefeated. He's the second string point guard, but he usually ends up playing 3 quarters. His team is AWESOME! They don't just win, they win big! I can't wait to see him in Eagle Green! This is his 3rd season. It would be his 5th, but we skipped the past two seasons at the Y. He is looking forward to going to basketball camp with Layton this summer!
Caleigh is officially on the growth chart again! She was having a really hard time gaining weight, so I started putting heavy cream in her sippy cups, and she has gained about 3.5 pounds in the past 6ish weeks. Woohoo! I put 4 oz whole milk, 4 oz heavy cream, and a couple tablespoons of Ovaltine in a sippy cup and have her drink it. It's between 500 and 600 calories per sippy cup-ful, and she drinks 2-3 of them a day, so she's gaining quite well now. The mixture is the consistency of melted ice cream, but she seems to really like it. She now weighs 23.6 pounds.
Caleigh is also starting to potty train. It's amazing how your attitude changes. When Collin was her age, I couldn't wait to get him potty trained and out of diapers. Now that Caleigh is potty training, I'm almost SAD. It's not that I WANT to be changing poop diapers into my 30s, but she's my baby, and I want her to stay a baby for as long as possible.
Caitlyn has been watching Angelina Ballerina, and has convinced herself that she is a Ballerina. She is constantly practicing her dancing moves and humming classical tunes. She's adorable! We are going to try to put her into ballet for a couple of months, so she can see whether she likes it or not.
Both boys were nominated for Gifted and Talented. I am really proud of them. They both work really hard on their school work, so it is great to see them being recognized for their hard work. Collin was tested last week, and Cameron will be tested some time this week. We are excited to hear how their tests go.
Cameron was invited to read a part to the school board for School Board Appreciation Month. It was quite an honor, as less than 10 children from his advanced reading group were invited to participate. The personnel director took a picture, so when she posts it to the district website I will steal it and post it on the blog :-) He did really well, and even though I knew he was nervous, he didn't show it.
Collin's basketball team is still undefeated. He's the second string point guard, but he usually ends up playing 3 quarters. His team is AWESOME! They don't just win, they win big! I can't wait to see him in Eagle Green! This is his 3rd season. It would be his 5th, but we skipped the past two seasons at the Y. He is looking forward to going to basketball camp with Layton this summer!
Caleigh is officially on the growth chart again! She was having a really hard time gaining weight, so I started putting heavy cream in her sippy cups, and she has gained about 3.5 pounds in the past 6ish weeks. Woohoo! I put 4 oz whole milk, 4 oz heavy cream, and a couple tablespoons of Ovaltine in a sippy cup and have her drink it. It's between 500 and 600 calories per sippy cup-ful, and she drinks 2-3 of them a day, so she's gaining quite well now. The mixture is the consistency of melted ice cream, but she seems to really like it. She now weighs 23.6 pounds.
Caleigh is also starting to potty train. It's amazing how your attitude changes. When Collin was her age, I couldn't wait to get him potty trained and out of diapers. Now that Caleigh is potty training, I'm almost SAD. It's not that I WANT to be changing poop diapers into my 30s, but she's my baby, and I want her to stay a baby for as long as possible.
Caitlyn has been watching Angelina Ballerina, and has convinced herself that she is a Ballerina. She is constantly practicing her dancing moves and humming classical tunes. She's adorable! We are going to try to put her into ballet for a couple of months, so she can see whether she likes it or not.
January 13, 2011
It's 3 am...
...my baby princess is going through a bit of an annoying, albiet semi-endearing, phase right now. For some reason, she has decided to forsake her afternoon nap. She falls asleep between 6 and 7 each night; however, she wakes up between midnight and 2 each morning as well. The first couple of times this happened, I thought it was a fluke. Now, I think this may be a more permanent arrangement.
I understand why she does this. The house is quiet. The big kids are asleep. She gets free reign of the Netflix que, the DVD player, and MOMMY. She can go through Collin's stuff without his squacking. Big brother's yo-yos are fun, especially when you are two, and he never shares. She can play with Caitlyn's barbies or Moxie Girls without being bopped on the head. She never fights with Cameron. They are best buds. But he always tattles on her when she climbs onto the top bunk, so that doesn't always set well with the baby princess.
If you see me, and I seem a bit "off" or "tired" now you know why.
I understand why she does this. The house is quiet. The big kids are asleep. She gets free reign of the Netflix que, the DVD player, and MOMMY. She can go through Collin's stuff without his squacking. Big brother's yo-yos are fun, especially when you are two, and he never shares. She can play with Caitlyn's barbies or Moxie Girls without being bopped on the head. She never fights with Cameron. They are best buds. But he always tattles on her when she climbs onto the top bunk, so that doesn't always set well with the baby princess.
If you see me, and I seem a bit "off" or "tired" now you know why.
January 7, 2011
New Year's Resolutions
I posted some of these on my weight loss blog, but I wanted to go more in depth on this blog. This year I want to work on the following:
1. Finish losing weight and move on to maintaining the loss.
2. Read one "classic" novel per month, or 12 total. I have read quite a few, but I need to read more of the classics.
3. Read to the girls more often. The boys read well, so they would rather read a book themselves, but the girls enjoy listening to me read to them.
4. Work on patience.
5. Quit, or at least minimize, the yelling in our house. In high school, I was reading the definition of "temple" in the bible dictionary, and it is, "A temple is literally a house of the Lord, a holy sanctuary in which sacred ceremonies and ordinances of the gospel are performed by and for the living and also in behalf of the dead. A place where the Lord may come, it is the most holy of any place of worship on the earth. Only the home can compare with the temple in sacredness." -from the LDS Bible Dictionary, bolding and emphasis is mine. I want to focus on treating our home with the sacredness and dignity is deserves.
6. Along with number 5, I want to keep the house in better order. So far this year, I am failing miserably, but once I get moving for the day that will change...I'm just sure of it!
7. Make birthdays fun and meaningful. Make sure to celebrate everyone's birthday and to make them feel special.
8. Treat my husband with more kindness.
9. Blog at least weekly. My memory is really horrible, so if I don't write it down, I WILL forget it!
10. Get more sleep.
This time next year, I will revisit these goals and see which ones I have accomplished :-)
1. Finish losing weight and move on to maintaining the loss.
2. Read one "classic" novel per month, or 12 total. I have read quite a few, but I need to read more of the classics.
3. Read to the girls more often. The boys read well, so they would rather read a book themselves, but the girls enjoy listening to me read to them.
4. Work on patience.
5. Quit, or at least minimize, the yelling in our house. In high school, I was reading the definition of "temple" in the bible dictionary, and it is, "A temple is literally a house of the Lord, a holy sanctuary in which sacred ceremonies and ordinances of the gospel are performed by and for the living and also in behalf of the dead. A place where the Lord may come, it is the most holy of any place of worship on the earth. Only the home can compare with the temple in sacredness." -from the LDS Bible Dictionary, bolding and emphasis is mine. I want to focus on treating our home with the sacredness and dignity is deserves.
6. Along with number 5, I want to keep the house in better order. So far this year, I am failing miserably, but once I get moving for the day that will change...I'm just sure of it!
7. Make birthdays fun and meaningful. Make sure to celebrate everyone's birthday and to make them feel special.
8. Treat my husband with more kindness.
9. Blog at least weekly. My memory is really horrible, so if I don't write it down, I WILL forget it!
10. Get more sleep.
This time next year, I will revisit these goals and see which ones I have accomplished :-)
2010 Year in Review
I did not keep up on the blog nearly as well as I wanted to this year. One of my goals for this year is to write more often. There is so much that goes on in our lives that I forget if it is not recorded. This year was full of more ups and downs, but, fortunately, the ups outnumbered the downs. Here are some memories from the year:
January- Collin turned 8! I remember it felt so weird to have an 8 year old! We opted not to baptize him, but will eventually, maybe. My sister got married on January 22, so we made a trip out to Arizona to "help" with the wedding and visit. She seems very happy. I laugh because you almost go into a sugar coma around them because they are so sweet to each other! I thought it would calm down after a bit, but they're just as sweet as ever! Josh is an awesome brother in law and he loves to fish, so he fits in well.
February- Caitlyn turned 5! I can't believe my little princess is 5! We adopted two cute little guinea pigs. They were adorable little pets and we LOVE them!
March- We celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary. We aren't mushy at all, so I'm not going to sit here and gush about how he completes me and how if I could go back I would do it all over again, blah, blah, blah. Gag me. We made it another year without driving each other crazy- yippee! My (step) sister Shanda got married. Reed's fun and it seems like he treats her well. They had a very small ceremony, and we weren't able to come out for it. Man, I hate being 1000 miles away from everyone! I also started my weight loss "journey" in March.
April- John joined a slow pitch softball league. We had fun watching his games. He was the catcher. John passed the first part of training and was knee deep in paperwork and audits. Collin earned his Bobcat in scouts.
May- The last full month of school. Caleigh and I went to the zoo with Cameron and his class. We rode with Molly and had lots of fun! I also got my first ticket since being married. I was driving our old car, Squeak, and was pulled over and cited for not having a current inspection sticker. Luckily, the judge dismissed the ticket.
June- School let out for the summer. Collin was honored at his awards assembly for participating in UIL, reading, having a great attitude, and a bunch of other stuff that I have since forgotten. Yup, mother of the year... He ended up with three medals, several ribons, and a couple of certificates. I was really proud of him! Cameron finished up the year strong and was able to go from being behind in reading to being one of the most advanced in his entire grade. Caitlyn finished pre-K and was ready for summer!
We spent a week in Arizona. We went camping, played lots of wii, rode my step-dad's horse, and just enjoyed being with my family. We camped at west fork. I think that is my favorite camping spot. The kids could go fish in the creek and the rest of us could hang out and visit. I am looking forward to going back this summer!
July- We celebrated two birthdays in July. First, our baby princess Caleigh turned 2. After that, our baby boy Cameron turned 7. We swam a lot in July and went to the lake. The summer sped by, but we had fun. We bar-b-que'ed a lot, too.
August- Back to school. The kids were blessed with great teachers again! Caitlyn has Mrs. Bland for Kindergarten. Cameron's 2nd grade teacher is Ms. Gardner. Collin's 3rd grade teacher is Ms. Orr. Cameron was placed in Mrs. Miller's advanced reading group. He was really excited about that! Collin was in Mrs. Miller's group in both 1st and 2nd grade, so when Cameron did not make the cut in 1st grade, he was determined to make it in 2nd! I was proud of his hard work! Collin was placed in advanced reading and advanced math. He is very responsible and enjoys school. Caitlyn attends school and enjoys it mainly for the social aspects. She isn't much of a scholar, but she'll catch on ;-) Caleigh enjoyed having the house and the tv to herself after the kids went back to school.
September- John celebrated his 1 year anniversary with the IRS. I "ran" my first 5k. I finished in less than 40 minutes and didn't die, so it was a success! It was really rainy, so I ended up soaked! It was fun, though, and I am looking forward to doing more races in 2011. Nanny visited for about a week, and we had a BLAST!
October- After months of contemplation, John decided to separate from the IRS and return to school to become a teacher and a coach. I feel like this is a much better "fit" for him and am looking forward to this new chapter in our lives!
November- The kids and I went to Arizona. Nanny and "Unky Sussin" flew out to drive us home. Justin and I (read: Justin) drove through the night while Nanny and the kids slept. I don't think I've laughed that much in a long time! From admiring truck stop delicacies to solving the world's problems, we had fun. We got to go to my family's Christmas party for the first time in YEARS! It was great! My mom spoiled us rotten. Whenever my mom is in town, we always eat really well and we end up REALLY, REALLY SPOILED!! Also, my first nephew on my side Kayson was born! He's a cutie pie and I'm excited for Shanda and Reed :)
December- I turned the big 3-0. We celebrated Christmas with John's dad, Erin (John's sister), Jesse (our nephew), Bart, and our entire family at a bed and breakfast in Mineola, TX. It was beautiful. John's dad rented the entire house. The entire thing was decorated for Christmas. There were 3 Christmas trees, two fire places, and plenty of room to spread out and enjoy! We stayed up and played scrabble and visited around the fireplace. We also ate WAY too much! It was a blast! Santa found us at the house, and the kids were really excited about their gifts. The boys got BB guns. Caitlyn got a Moxie Girls doll and furry boots, and Caleigh got a new stuffed animal. Aunt Erin got the kids all new sweaters and a new book. Uncle Bart gave us some cash. Uncle Justin sent us gift certificates for Pizza Hut and a Sponge Bob Operation game. Nanny got the kids Wii Party and a new controller, barbies for Caitlyn and Caleigh, a pressure cooker for me, a BBQ set for John, a framed family picture, and a really pretty necklace and book for me. I know I am forgetting something! Grandma and Grandpa Rhodes got Super Mario Wii for the boys, snuggly blankies for all the kids, sent jam (blueberry and peach), cute little baby dolls with their own blankies and cribs for the girls and I know I'm forgetting more from them, too! Grandpa Bryant got the boys basketballs and the girls barbies. We had a really fun Christmas this year.
I guess that wraps up the year! Hopefully I will do better at keeping up with the blog this year!
January- Collin turned 8! I remember it felt so weird to have an 8 year old! We opted not to baptize him, but will eventually, maybe. My sister got married on January 22, so we made a trip out to Arizona to "help" with the wedding and visit. She seems very happy. I laugh because you almost go into a sugar coma around them because they are so sweet to each other! I thought it would calm down after a bit, but they're just as sweet as ever! Josh is an awesome brother in law and he loves to fish, so he fits in well.
February- Caitlyn turned 5! I can't believe my little princess is 5! We adopted two cute little guinea pigs. They were adorable little pets and we LOVE them!
March- We celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary. We aren't mushy at all, so I'm not going to sit here and gush about how he completes me and how if I could go back I would do it all over again, blah, blah, blah. Gag me. We made it another year without driving each other crazy- yippee! My (step) sister Shanda got married. Reed's fun and it seems like he treats her well. They had a very small ceremony, and we weren't able to come out for it. Man, I hate being 1000 miles away from everyone! I also started my weight loss "journey" in March.
April- John joined a slow pitch softball league. We had fun watching his games. He was the catcher. John passed the first part of training and was knee deep in paperwork and audits. Collin earned his Bobcat in scouts.
May- The last full month of school. Caleigh and I went to the zoo with Cameron and his class. We rode with Molly and had lots of fun! I also got my first ticket since being married. I was driving our old car, Squeak, and was pulled over and cited for not having a current inspection sticker. Luckily, the judge dismissed the ticket.
June- School let out for the summer. Collin was honored at his awards assembly for participating in UIL, reading, having a great attitude, and a bunch of other stuff that I have since forgotten. Yup, mother of the year... He ended up with three medals, several ribons, and a couple of certificates. I was really proud of him! Cameron finished up the year strong and was able to go from being behind in reading to being one of the most advanced in his entire grade. Caitlyn finished pre-K and was ready for summer!
We spent a week in Arizona. We went camping, played lots of wii, rode my step-dad's horse, and just enjoyed being with my family. We camped at west fork. I think that is my favorite camping spot. The kids could go fish in the creek and the rest of us could hang out and visit. I am looking forward to going back this summer!
July- We celebrated two birthdays in July. First, our baby princess Caleigh turned 2. After that, our baby boy Cameron turned 7. We swam a lot in July and went to the lake. The summer sped by, but we had fun. We bar-b-que'ed a lot, too.
August- Back to school. The kids were blessed with great teachers again! Caitlyn has Mrs. Bland for Kindergarten. Cameron's 2nd grade teacher is Ms. Gardner. Collin's 3rd grade teacher is Ms. Orr. Cameron was placed in Mrs. Miller's advanced reading group. He was really excited about that! Collin was in Mrs. Miller's group in both 1st and 2nd grade, so when Cameron did not make the cut in 1st grade, he was determined to make it in 2nd! I was proud of his hard work! Collin was placed in advanced reading and advanced math. He is very responsible and enjoys school. Caitlyn attends school and enjoys it mainly for the social aspects. She isn't much of a scholar, but she'll catch on ;-) Caleigh enjoyed having the house and the tv to herself after the kids went back to school.
September- John celebrated his 1 year anniversary with the IRS. I "ran" my first 5k. I finished in less than 40 minutes and didn't die, so it was a success! It was really rainy, so I ended up soaked! It was fun, though, and I am looking forward to doing more races in 2011. Nanny visited for about a week, and we had a BLAST!
October- After months of contemplation, John decided to separate from the IRS and return to school to become a teacher and a coach. I feel like this is a much better "fit" for him and am looking forward to this new chapter in our lives!
November- The kids and I went to Arizona. Nanny and "Unky Sussin" flew out to drive us home. Justin and I (read: Justin) drove through the night while Nanny and the kids slept. I don't think I've laughed that much in a long time! From admiring truck stop delicacies to solving the world's problems, we had fun. We got to go to my family's Christmas party for the first time in YEARS! It was great! My mom spoiled us rotten. Whenever my mom is in town, we always eat really well and we end up REALLY, REALLY SPOILED!! Also, my first nephew on my side Kayson was born! He's a cutie pie and I'm excited for Shanda and Reed :)
December- I turned the big 3-0. We celebrated Christmas with John's dad, Erin (John's sister), Jesse (our nephew), Bart, and our entire family at a bed and breakfast in Mineola, TX. It was beautiful. John's dad rented the entire house. The entire thing was decorated for Christmas. There were 3 Christmas trees, two fire places, and plenty of room to spread out and enjoy! We stayed up and played scrabble and visited around the fireplace. We also ate WAY too much! It was a blast! Santa found us at the house, and the kids were really excited about their gifts. The boys got BB guns. Caitlyn got a Moxie Girls doll and furry boots, and Caleigh got a new stuffed animal. Aunt Erin got the kids all new sweaters and a new book. Uncle Bart gave us some cash. Uncle Justin sent us gift certificates for Pizza Hut and a Sponge Bob Operation game. Nanny got the kids Wii Party and a new controller, barbies for Caitlyn and Caleigh, a pressure cooker for me, a BBQ set for John, a framed family picture, and a really pretty necklace and book for me. I know I am forgetting something! Grandma and Grandpa Rhodes got Super Mario Wii for the boys, snuggly blankies for all the kids, sent jam (blueberry and peach), cute little baby dolls with their own blankies and cribs for the girls and I know I'm forgetting more from them, too! Grandpa Bryant got the boys basketballs and the girls barbies. We had a really fun Christmas this year.
I guess that wraps up the year! Hopefully I will do better at keeping up with the blog this year!
December 1, 2010
The trip...
(I am going to add more pictures and more detail to this post, but I wanted to at least work out a rough outline of the week, so I don't forget :D )
Our trip to AZ was awesome! My mom and brother came out to Texas a couple of days early to drive the kids and me to Arizona. We had so much fun! We ate lunch with the kids on Thursday and Friday, then headed out Friday evening. The kids were so excited to see Nanny and Unky Sussin at their schools. It was priceless :D We ate Thanksgiving lunch with Caitlyn on Thursday, and she just ate up all the extra attention. She made everyone laugh at one point when a little boy looked over at her and said, "Hi Caitlyn!" Nanny asked her who the boy was, and she replied, "I don't know! I've never seen him before in my life!" She cracks me up! Such a little turd bird already. We laughed about it the entire trip.
When we ate lunch with Cammy, one of his friends names was "Justin", and he couldn't believe that Cam's uncle was named "Justin", too. It was cute. Collin was excited to see us, too. He left all his friends and had us sit away from the group. He's so sweet :)
Friday night, we headed out. I drove for a little bit, then Justin took the reigns in Dallas and drove all night. We laughed and visited between all the times when I dozed off.
On Saturday, we finally arrived, and it was my youngest brother's birthday. I can't believe he's already 10! We hung out with him and caught up on sleep for a bit.
Sunday was by sister's birthday. She turned 24. We had a blast together the entire trip. We spent many late nights visiting, laughing, and looking at old pictures. During the day, we went hiking at Red Knoll's. Collin and Layton thought it was awesome, but Cammy and Caitlyn hated almost every minute of it. It was pretty scary in some spots, but we made it all the way to the top, so that was really cool. The view from the top is awesome! We went to Ft. Thomas and visited my Grandparents after our hike. After that, we went to my mom's house and chilled for a while.
Monday was fun. I think that was one of the days that we hung out with my mom. We played lots of wii. Cammy kicked all of our booties on wakeboarding. He is so good! He even beat Unky :) I think Justin had to go back to work for a couple days at this point, so he was probably back in Tempe.
Tuesday was fun, too. We played more video games and laughed and visited. I brought a bunch of old pictures from high school and from our Hawaii trip, so we stayed up late and looked at them and laughed at a bunch of them.
On Wednesday, my dad took the kids hiking. They had fun, then Wednesday evening my sister Erin and her husband, Josh, took me out to dinner at La Casita. It was delicious!
Thursday was Thanksgiving, and we spent it with my mom. Everything was so great! My step-dad teased us because be bought a big container of cresent rolls and another 5 bags of rolls for the meal, but we showed him...we gobbled them up! We played Mario Bros 3 all day. I think we saved the princess either 4 or 5 times. It was a hoot!
Friday was the Rhodes family Christmas party. It was the first one I have been able to attend in literally YEARS. It was cool to see everyone and catch up a little here and there with everyone.
Saturday was fun, too. My cousin is really into rock climbing and rappelling, so he made plans with my brother to meet up and rappel off the top of Red Knolls. My dad and I decided to tag along, so we (Dad, Erin, Me, Collin, Cam, Caitlyn, and Layton) headed up at around 9:30 to watch everyone. Well, everyone was running late, so we drove out to the old sandstone quarry behind Red Knolls and hiked around a little. On the way back, we stopped and checked and everyone had shown up. My cousin had everything rigged up and they were all ready to go.
Just to give you an idea of how high this was...My brother and my cousin are both at the top, and they are just over and just under 6 feet tall, respectively. My uncle Spencer is at the bottom on belay, and he's right at 6 feet tall, too. My brother ultimately chickened out, so my cousin turned to me and said, "your turn!" Before I knew it, I was hiking up this:
and getting strapped in. I watched my cousin, Leah, go down, then it was my turn. After some practice and some getting used of the equipment, it was time....
Kelsey (my cousin) really did a great job talking me over the edge. I almost chickened out, but the idea of going back down the trail sealed the deal for me, and down the rope I went. And then down we went again! Two more times :D It was such a rush!!!
After we finished at Red Knolls, we headed back to my Mom's and hung out and ate. We left Sunday morning at about 7:30, and made it home in the middle of the night on Sunday night/ Monday morning. It was a great trip :D
Our trip to AZ was awesome! My mom and brother came out to Texas a couple of days early to drive the kids and me to Arizona. We had so much fun! We ate lunch with the kids on Thursday and Friday, then headed out Friday evening. The kids were so excited to see Nanny and Unky Sussin at their schools. It was priceless :D We ate Thanksgiving lunch with Caitlyn on Thursday, and she just ate up all the extra attention. She made everyone laugh at one point when a little boy looked over at her and said, "Hi Caitlyn!" Nanny asked her who the boy was, and she replied, "I don't know! I've never seen him before in my life!" She cracks me up! Such a little turd bird already. We laughed about it the entire trip.
When we ate lunch with Cammy, one of his friends names was "Justin", and he couldn't believe that Cam's uncle was named "Justin", too. It was cute. Collin was excited to see us, too. He left all his friends and had us sit away from the group. He's so sweet :)
Friday night, we headed out. I drove for a little bit, then Justin took the reigns in Dallas and drove all night. We laughed and visited between all the times when I dozed off.
On Saturday, we finally arrived, and it was my youngest brother's birthday. I can't believe he's already 10! We hung out with him and caught up on sleep for a bit.
Sunday was by sister's birthday. She turned 24. We had a blast together the entire trip. We spent many late nights visiting, laughing, and looking at old pictures. During the day, we went hiking at Red Knoll's. Collin and Layton thought it was awesome, but Cammy and Caitlyn hated almost every minute of it. It was pretty scary in some spots, but we made it all the way to the top, so that was really cool. The view from the top is awesome! We went to Ft. Thomas and visited my Grandparents after our hike. After that, we went to my mom's house and chilled for a while.
Monday was fun. I think that was one of the days that we hung out with my mom. We played lots of wii. Cammy kicked all of our booties on wakeboarding. He is so good! He even beat Unky :) I think Justin had to go back to work for a couple days at this point, so he was probably back in Tempe.
Tuesday was fun, too. We played more video games and laughed and visited. I brought a bunch of old pictures from high school and from our Hawaii trip, so we stayed up late and looked at them and laughed at a bunch of them.
On Wednesday, my dad took the kids hiking. They had fun, then Wednesday evening my sister Erin and her husband, Josh, took me out to dinner at La Casita. It was delicious!
Thursday was Thanksgiving, and we spent it with my mom. Everything was so great! My step-dad teased us because be bought a big container of cresent rolls and another 5 bags of rolls for the meal, but we showed him...we gobbled them up! We played Mario Bros 3 all day. I think we saved the princess either 4 or 5 times. It was a hoot!
Friday was the Rhodes family Christmas party. It was the first one I have been able to attend in literally YEARS. It was cool to see everyone and catch up a little here and there with everyone.
Saturday was fun, too. My cousin is really into rock climbing and rappelling, so he made plans with my brother to meet up and rappel off the top of Red Knolls. My dad and I decided to tag along, so we (Dad, Erin, Me, Collin, Cam, Caitlyn, and Layton) headed up at around 9:30 to watch everyone. Well, everyone was running late, so we drove out to the old sandstone quarry behind Red Knolls and hiked around a little. On the way back, we stopped and checked and everyone had shown up. My cousin had everything rigged up and they were all ready to go.
Just to give you an idea of how high this was...My brother and my cousin are both at the top, and they are just over and just under 6 feet tall, respectively. My uncle Spencer is at the bottom on belay, and he's right at 6 feet tall, too. My brother ultimately chickened out, so my cousin turned to me and said, "your turn!" Before I knew it, I was hiking up this:
and getting strapped in. I watched my cousin, Leah, go down, then it was my turn. After some practice and some getting used of the equipment, it was time....
Kelsey (my cousin) really did a great job talking me over the edge. I almost chickened out, but the idea of going back down the trail sealed the deal for me, and down the rope I went. And then down we went again! Two more times :D It was such a rush!!!
After we finished at Red Knolls, we headed back to my Mom's and hung out and ate. We left Sunday morning at about 7:30, and made it home in the middle of the night on Sunday night/ Monday morning. It was a great trip :D
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