Polar Express

Last Friday, the family enjoyed an early Christmas present by going on the "Polar Express" in Heber City. The "Heber Creeper" tries to reenact "The Polar Express" book. Remember, I said tries. Luckily, we had the early departure at 5pm. We were all excited as we walked around the train yard, looking at all the trains and finding our car that we were to journey to the "North Pole" in.



Finally, the train left the yard after all 6 or 7 cars were loaded up and our journey "North", actually south, began. Santa's elves came around with name tags for the kids and asked each child what he/she wanted for Christmas.


Then it was time for one of Mrs. Claus' special chocolate chip cookies and some hot chocolate. After our most tasty snack - NOT - it was time to sing some Christmas Carols and play some games as we made our way further North-actually south! We also read along as a lady in pj's tried to read the book, "The Polar Express." I think she was still "high" from the 70's. For some reason, the train kept stopping and eventually, the lights and heater went out. Come to find out, earlier, when the train was being checked for departure, oil was not added to one of the generators. It was the generator that ran the lights and heaters. NICE!! So, we made another stop to add some oil, then we were on our way north again, actually south. Eventually, we made to the "North Pole" and saw Santa out our windows. Yep, Santa was outside, in the snow, across from the frozen Arctic Ocean (actually it was Deer Creek Res) waving at us. How cool is that? And that was the extent of the trip to the North Pole. But one more surprise was in store for the kids. Santa was too cold out there in the snow, so he jumped aboard the train and rode back to Heber with us! He visited with all the kids and gave each of them a magic bell from the reindeer!
After our amazing train ride to the North Pole-somewhere around Deer Creek Res- we had some dinner in Heber. I highly recommend "Chick's" cafe just off the main drag there. The chicken fried steak dinner is the best and is only $10! Let me tell ya, you eat way more that $10 in food. If nothing else, have a scone! They are the best!! So if you were to ask me if I recommend "The Polar Express" ride in Heber City, I would have to say Yes, only if my kids were around. Please notice that I would be shaking my head "no", hoping that my kids are not watching me. Pull me aside later and ask me for more details. Hopefully, we just had a bad car with really poor entertainment!!

2009 Highlights

Here it is! Sorry that it took so long to put together! There were so many fun pictures to choose from. Wow! What an amazing year we had! I hope you like the slide show and taking a walk down our "2009 Memory Lane!" Enjoy:)

Toby!

I better do a post on the new dog so you can see the little guy. He is such a cutie and a love. He loves to sit in your lap and sleep. He also likes to sit on your feet, he just has to be near someone! I found the little guy online, in West Jordan. I went and saw him last Wednesday, and picked him up Thursday. He spent the night at my Mom's because Cory was out of town and I wanted him to be the first one to see Toby. Friday afternoon, I set Toby on the Cory's computer desk and let the two become acquainted. Right away, Toby licked Cory's ears and head and started nipping at Cory's ears! Later in the afternoon, Toby was introduced to the kids. Tim was so happy. He was, and has been, all smiles since he laid eyes on Toby. I am having one trouble with the new addition to our family though. Toby will only sleep in mine and Cory's bed, and then he sleeps right next to my face or on top of my head. It's like I have a newborn! Toby will never replace Copper; he is our second dog who has brought us a lot of joy and happiness:)

Christmas Tradition!

So, I didn't realize decorating a gingerbread house was a tradition until the other night. In the past, my Mom has helped the kids decorate when Cory and I have gone out. This year, I was home, and my grandmother was in town when we decided to decorate. We buy a kit from the store, usually Costco, and add frosting and candy. The kit doesn't quite have enough candy to satisfy four kids and their creativity! It's so much fun to see the finished gingerbread house! The kids do a great job and have a fun time doing it! Here are some pictures from Wednesday night! Notice how much the kids like candy. The next day, most of the candy was gone!!

Copper

"Life goes on" or so they say! I try to live by those words. However, there are some days that I want to say "Yea, right!" One of those days was this past Friday. I wish I could have frozen Friday morning and skipped right to Saturday, better yet, skipped Friday all together! Our dog Copper passed away Friday afternoon. He was only a year old and we were just 3 short weeks of a year of having him in our family. I keep telling myself that he is just a dog. But for those of you who are dog owners, you know that I am trying to talk myself out of the hurt and great sense of loss that I feel right now. We was a Wright through and through! He is and will be missed a lot!

So now for what happened. Copper went to the groomers Friday morning. Boy did he need a bath and a cut! Around 1:30, we got a call that Copper was at the vet and that someone needed to come right away. Cory went. Copper was already gone when Cory arrived. After Copper had been washed and dried, he started acting quiet and weird. The groomer said he had been good and happy up to that point. She thought he was getting scared, so she picked up and hugged up to try to comfort him. That is when he went limp. Another groomer grabbed him and ran him to the vet just around the corner. The doctor gave him some medicine and tried to get his heart going, but he was already gone. The doctor seems to think that Copper had a genetic problem that caused him to die so quickly, probably a brain aneurysm. Cory said he looked like he just sleeping when he saw Copper. Just that his tongue was sticking out. We decided not to bring Copper home and bury him in the back yard. We wanted the kids to remember their first dog in a good way - happy, playful and full of life! Copper will be cremated. We will not get the ashes, but the vet will send us a frame with a picture of Copper and a bronze copy of one of his paws.

Life does go on, and we will get through this! We just need to remember all the goods times with Copper - like when we left him behind when we went riding and when we went back to get him, he was sitting right were the truck was parked, or how Copper would bark at his reflection in our fireplace and attack the vacuum every time I turned it on. He was so much fun!! We love you, Copper!

Football Champions!

Last night, we attended Tim's football banquet! It was held in a barn, pot luck style. I was worried that there wouldn't be enough room, the kids would have nothing to do, it would be too cold. But, it turned out nice-I left Kelli and Katie home with my mom, the barn was heated and there was plenty of room. Most families left little kids home! After eating all the yummy food, the coaches had each player come up individually and talk about that players' season. It was fun to watch the boys. They didn't know what to do or how to act when being talked about in front of all the parents and their teammates. It was also neat to see the coaches get choked up as they remembered the season! The boys each got a championship trophy for winning the play-offs.


This is Tim getting his trophy and enduring being talked about.



The trophies. The boys' names were on them as well as "Football Champions 2009." Very nice!!


One last picture of the team and coaches! What a fun, amazing football season!!

Addiction!

I am an addict! That is to "In and Out" burgers! Tuesday, after I dropped the twins off at school, I drove by the In and Out in West Jordan. To my surprise, they were open. So, of course, I turned around and had some lunch! Then, on Thursday, I had lunch there again! And today, guess where I had lunch with the kids, Cory and my Dad? Yep, In and Out:) Who can resist a cheeseburger, fresh fries and a Coke? YUMMY!



So, if anyone wants to eat at In and Out, call me!!

Thanksgiving Weekend!

I have to be honest with you all, I DO NOT like the Thanksgiving weekend, that is until this year. As a parent, Thanksgiving is a lot of work! Shopping for the perfect turkey, then cooking the darn thing so it is perfect. UG! Our family lives too far away to visit anyone, so we stay home and think about our family and wonder what fun they are all up to. Maybe I dislike the holiday so much because while I was playing ball at the Y, we traveled every Thanksgiving to different tournaments. We didn't have to cook, we traveled by airplane, and there was always something to do! Spoiled.

So, this year, I had a really bad attitude! That changed quickly Tuesday when I went to visit a friend that I hadn't seen in awhile. Visiting with her made me realize that I have sooooo much to be grateful for and that I needed to sit back and live in the now, not 10 or so years ago!

Thanksgiving Day was great! I got to sleep in, the kids played great together, and the bird was THE BEST!! We had a quiet day, just the six of us and my Mom. While the turkey cooked, the kids played and Cory watched tv, my Mom and I went through the Christmas lights that I later put on our trees. The Macy's Thanksgiving Parade was on in the morning and movies were on in the afternoon! Like I said, it was a good day, better than I planned on.

Friday, I got to sleep in again! After the day warmed up a bit, Cory and I took the kids motorcycle riding at Five Mile Pass. When we got there, it was perfect. Warm, somewhat sunny, and very few people around. We found a really neat road up a canyon and headed up that. Unfortunately, the sun went down way too soon, and we had to turn around before we made it to the top of the canyon. Next time we will go straight there! Back at the truck, we had hot chocolate and treats while Cory and I loaded the bikes and gear up. At home, we sat in the hot tub before calling it a night. I tried to take a picture of the canyon we were in, but my camera died as soon as turned it on. Darn it!

Saturday, we got a visit from my older sister and her family. They were in town for Thanksgiving, but celebrated with my brother-in-law's family. It was so good to see them and hang out for awhile. We had lunch together at Red Robin-all 13 of us! Cory and Tim went riding/shooting with my brother-in-law and his 4 boys! That's right four boys and all of them have "D" names - Drew, Dylan, Dakota and Davis! While the boys did their thing, my mom, sister, my girls and I went for some ice-cream and got caught up with life!


Cory, Craig (brother-in-law), Drew, Trisha (sister), Davis, my Mom, and Dakota



Kelli and Dylan on Cory's bike.

Later that night, the kids, Cory and I decorated our Christmas trees! I found some small pine trees a few years back, so I thought it would be neat if the kids each got to decorate their own tree. Cory and I share a tree! The kids really enjoy decorating their own tree!


Our Christmas trees! Don't worry, those aren't presents under the trees. Just decorations!

And to top the weekend off, BYU defeated Utah 26-23! It was a sweet victory! The best part was waking up Sunday morning and seeing a BIG BLUE Y in our neighbors' yard. They claim to be Utah fans, but can you really be a fan if you didn't go to school there? I would say no, but . . . A neighbor a couple of houses down the street had his red U light sign taken down as well. Again, another case of people supporting a school they didn't attend.


Gotta love football rival week!