Hanukkah

Well Hanukkah was a while ago, it actually fell during Christmas week this past year. But I just had to write about it because it has brought such joy to our family the past few years. One of my best friends here in Kingman is Jewish, so last year she held a Hanukkah party for a small group of our friends. We lit the Menorah, ate delicious food and played Dreidal. This holiday season she has an adorable new addition to her family and I'm not sure if she was planning on having the party again. With all of us asking when the Hanukkah party was going to be how could she tell us no? Again we had a fabulous time and the food was beyond yummy! But most of all the adorable baby boy kept us all smiling. One thing I've learned is that we may all have different beliefs, but something about them all that is shared is love. Our friendships gathered us all and our children together to celebrate the love we share with one another and for that I am truly grateful.

One day, one mile, one run at a time

Okay, so I know I probably made it sound like no big deal, just a mile a day for 365 consecutive days. Easy right? WRONG. It's not the actual running part that is troubling me. The week days are easy I just fit it into my regular workout. It's when my day is altered. Like last Thursday I went on a Field trip with Tynli. When I got home Porter fell asleep. Then Tynli got home from school and fell asleep. If Brian where here none of this would be complicated. I really feel for single moms. This has got to be the hardest phase of parenthood for me-doing it alone. I have great friends who are willing to help, but it's hard to ask and I don't want to abuse any of my friendships. I am grateful for one friend especially who won't let me quit. So whatever the obstacle, I've hurdled them and here I am day 14 and my mile a day is logged thus far. So if you joined in, just know I'm staying committed-you can too!

A Mile a Day for 365 days!

There's a group somewhere that started this, I don't really know many details, but I'm usually up for anything. So we all gathered on New Year's Day at 11:15 am and ran our first mile together. The rules are simple-you run at least one mile every day for 365 consecutive days. It can be ran either on land or treadmill-but no other types of machines. It's January 5-so I only have 360 miles to go. If any one wants to start you can-join me! You don't have to wait until Jan 1, 2010, just start tomorrow and your finish date will be next Jan. I'll post my progress and let you know how it's going.

Wreath Party cont.

These are just pictures of the evening, but I wanted to show what a great time we had.

Wreath Party

This was the first year I have done this, but it was a lot of fun. One of my friend's and I hosted in my home. We invited about 10 ladies to enjoy food, fun and make a wreath. They were simple but really cute and we had a great time. We ate chilli, and cookies as well as drank Cranberry Magaritas and Sangria. It was so nice to have a "Mommy". We are always attending our husband's company party, or parties for the kids. This was just for us and I hope to do it again next year-albeit in Utah.

Santa Party

I know here's more pictures with Santa, but the reason I share these is because it is so much fun and maybe some of you want to throw a Santa party for your friends. My good friend Melissa's children host the annual Cookies with Santa party each year. She invites as many people as she can fit into her home. The invitation includes a story book, this year was "The Night Before Christmas". She has a wide variety of cookies and crafts and lets the kids just play. Then once the antcipation escalates there's a knock on the door. It's the big man in red himself. He greets the kids (after several years he even remembers some of their names, at the least he recognizes thier little faces). Then he reads the story book and calls them one by one to sit on his lap. It is so nice because they do not have the mall line wait and Santa takes as long as the child needs to visit with them. He sends them off with a small gift and calls the next child. I am so grateful that this family has given us this gift of fun and tradition every holiday season. It is something that does truly make me sad that we won't be in Kingman next year. So I'm going to search for a way to get Santa to come to my home and maybe we can host our own Santa party in Utah next year!