NoT JuSt AnY MoNdAy!

So yesterday, I woke up, made the boys breakfast, got the boys dressed, straightened the house, took Hayden to school, then I flew to Vegas to meet my mom and sisters for some Christmas shopping! That's right, we flew to Vegas just to go shopping. Last month, Southwest was offering $25 dollar flights to Vegas, so my mom and Ashley thought it would be cool if we all flew there for the day and went Christmas shopping. My mom called it "doing something spontaneous", and with husbands, kids, and jobs, planning six weeks in advance is as spontaneous as it gets. After landing in Vegas, Colton and I met up with my mom and my sisters, and we were off!!! We started our adventure at the New York, New York where Ash, Court, and I rode the roller coaster. It was quite a rush, I don't remember the last time I rode a roller coaster. After that we all went to lunch at the Studio Cafe in MGM. It was very good, we all had burgers and sandwiches that we could barely get our mouths around. From there we decided to go to an outdoor mall that Ashley had found on her last trip to Vegas. All I can say is that we spent two hours going from store to store and we barely tapped the mall. We had a lot of fun picking out things for us and our husbands. Christmas shopping done, we headed to the strip. We drove up and down the strip (somewhat blindly thanks to Mom) where we saw everything from the fountains at the Bellagio going off to Christmas music to a re-incarnated Michael Jackson wanna be. This was the funnest day I have had in a long time. We laughed A LOT and really enjoyed our time together. I love my mom and sisters so much, they are my greatest friends and even better examples. As I flew home, I thought about how lucky I was to not only have flown to Vegas for the day to go shopping, but how lucky I was to have such an amazing mom and loving sisters. By the way, for all of you who don't know, every year since I can remember my dad gives each of us girls a special present to open on Christmas Eve. This gift is just from him and he spends a lot of time and thought picking it out. Well ,yesterday as we got in our rental cars, we were each handed a special card with a visa gift card in it, so that we could find ourselves something special. I love my dad so much and I love this tradition, I was feeling really sad that I wouldn't be in Utah to to open my Christmas Eve present with my mom, dad, and my sisters there, so getting it yesterday was very special for me. Thanks Mom (and Dad) and my sisters for such a spectactular day. Love you all!

Thanksgiving 2009!

For Thanksgiving, we were lucky enough to make the short drive to Arizona to spend the holiday with my parents. We were also very excited that Ashley and her family were there, and we were very sad that at the last minute, Courtney and Brady couldn't make it. Being with my family for Thanksgiving meant so much to me, because we sill be spending Christmas in Albuquerque just the six of us. We got to my parents house around 1:00 Thanksgiving morning. After a quick nights sleep we woke up and the boys headed off to the park with Grandpa, Berkley, and Todd, and the girls took to the kitchen. We made turkey, homemade rolls, seven layer dip, chex mix, mashed potatoes and gravy, vegetables, and two pies. Last year, I made Thanksgiving dinner by myself for my family so I really enjoyed being a part of the team this year. I do have to say that I was really impressed with my little sister Ashley, this was the most I have ever seen her cook and she did a great job. After thanksgiving dinner, and lots of football (good job green bay) we looked through the ads and made our Black Friday game plan. Mom, Ashley, and I woke up at 4:30 and headed to Target. I have to admit that none of us had any must have items on our list, we really just wanted to be a part of things. We did score a few cool items for the kids, and a new down comforter for danny and me. Friday night, Danny and I took the kids to see Planet 51. It was really cute and was the only hour and half the whole trip that my boys sat in one spot and did not make a peep!!! Saturday morning, as per my mom's request, we attempted the first Dickerson family picture since Danny and I were married!!! I say attempted because with six people the shots that have all of you looking at the camera and smiling with eyes open are few and far between!!! We ended up with a few good ones, thanks to my photographer Ashley! Maybe we will try again in 6 more years, just kidding. After the family pics, my dad watched the boys so that Danny, Brandon and I could go see the Blind Side with my mom. I absolutley loved it, it was the best show I have seen all year. Even if you don't like football, this movie will melt your heart. After some tearful goodbyes, we drove back to Albuquerque Sunday morning. I am so so so greatful for my family. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, the only thing that could have made it better would have been to have Court and Brady there.

Halloween!

A firefighter, a race car driver, and a tiger!

Colton and Trigger, finally close enough to touch!

Ace getting his face painted!

Hayden getting his face painted!

Right before trick or treating!

Look Mom I can sit by myself!!!

Mom and her boys!

Justin, Alicia, Ace and Hayden at the Pumpkin Festival

This Halloween was the most fun I have had as a mom so far. This is the first year that both Hayden and Ace have fully grasped the whole Halloween idea. Colton is such a happy and easy baby that he goes along with just about anything. On the 23rd, Hayden's school had a pumpkin festival to raise money for the school. They sold tickets in advance and on Friday night they had all kinds of games from pumpkin bowling to a cake walk. The boys and I went with our new friend Jamie and her son and daughter. The kids had so much fun, Jamie and I were ready to leave way before they were. The boys came home with a lot of candy and prizes, Ace even won the cake walk and brought home a dozen cupcakes. The boys were so excited for Halloween that I knew I had to something big, and what's bigger than spending Halloween with Grandma and Grandpa?!? That's right, the boys and I headed to AZ for Halloween. It is only a six hour drive from our house, so we took off Friday right after school. We got to my parents house late that night just in time to get our wiggles out. The next day we woke up and ran some errands with Grandma, then to the boys dismay we went to the outdoor mall. Being in a house full of boys really cuts down on my shopping hours, pretty much the only time I am able to go is if I have another girl with me, so Grandma saved the day, thanks mom!!! After the shopping we went to the annual Halloween Party at the park right across the street from my parents house. The boys had a blast. They had all kinds of booths including: face painting, football toss, fishing pond, and a dunk tank. Shortly after the Halloween Party we set out for trick or treating. It was so nice to go out and not have to be bundled up!!! We left at 6:00 and didnt get back until 9:00, and it wasn't the boys who got tired!!! Sunday we woke up and went to church before we loaded up the car and headed back to Albuquerque. the drive back was very peaceful and beautiful just like the ride down. Thanks Mom and Dad for such a fun weekend, now that I know how easy the drive is we will be down there a lot more!!!

Mom

My mom came to visit us last week and we had a great time!!! I don't think I have ever been so in need of a motherly visit. Being away from Utah has been harder than I thought. Living in Eagle Mountain made it hard for us be at every family get together and also made it difficult to see my sisters as much as I would have liked, so I figured moving to Albuquerque wouldn't be too hard. But I was wrong! It is so weird to not know anyone. I feel silly saying it, but I have been pretty depressed lately and having my mom around for a few days was just what I needed. We did a lot of fun things and just having her around made me feel better.

Grandma with Ace and Colton at Old Town


Ace, Colton and I went to the airport to pick her up Wednesday morning, then we came back home to show her our new house. After a quick tour and introducing her to Trigger, we ran a few errands before it was time to get Hayden from school. He gets out early on Wednesday and before I took him to school he made sure I set his watch to the right time so he could know exactly when Grandma would be there to pick him up. After we picked Hayden up, which was fun because my mom was able to see for herself just how great he is doing in school, we went to lunch and to pick Brandon up. We also stopped at Walmart before heading back home for the day. Wednesday night we cooked dinner and my mom helped the boys with their nightly rountine. Thursday morning my mom was a parent helper at Hayden's school, and after that we went shopping in Old Town and had lunch at the Owl Cafe with Danny. Thursday night we went to a local pizza place I have been wanting to try, then we came back home so we could go to bed early since we were going to the Balloon Fiesta early the next morning.

Me and Ace


Grandma and Hayden


Colton all bundled up, isn't he cute?

The Balloon Fiesta was AMAZING, it was so much cooler than I imagined. You should all put the New Mexico Balloon Fiesta on your Bucket List. We woke up at 5:30 and made it to the park in time for the mass assension. Every morning during the fiesta, they launch all the balloons at 7:oo. And on the last friday and saturday of the fiesta, the special shapes balloons join in. Aside from the balloons, they have tents with every kind of food and drink imaginable. They also have tents that sell all kinds of souvenirs. I heard on the news that for each days events there are over 100,000 people in attendance. The whole thing is unbelievable.



Special Shapes Pig Balloon


Special Shapes Fish Balloon




Special Shapes Bumble Bee Balloons


Brandon, Hayden. Ace, and Me




Balloon Fiesta Park




Mass Assension



After the Balloon Fiesta we did a little bit more shopping, and then just hung out till it was time for Mom to leave. I love seeing the boys interact with my parents, it's just so cute. We had so much fun with Mom. The whole trip made me remember that even though I am grown up with a family of my own, I still need my mom around. Thanks for everything Mom, we love you!!!!

A New Post...FINALLY!!!

Hayden and Colton taking a nap!

Hayden at Aunt Courts wedding!

Hayden and Ace with their blow up aliens
that we bought in Roswell.

This is one of my fav pics of Colton.

Ace!

Colton helping Mama with laundry!

It looks like he is really focusing on sleeping!!!

Me and Colton!

The boys at the Roswell Harly Davidson Shop.

Hayden and Ace with an alien.

Ace is trying really hard to be a good big brother!

Colton is his jeep walker.

Cruisin' around the kitchen.

Still napping!

It has been a month since I updated our blog, I am such a slacker. So to make up for the slacking, this will be a very, very long post. Can you believe we have been in New Mexico for two whole months? So far we are enjoying our new home and city, but there have been hard days when we have missed Utah and the people there like crazy. Right now in Albuquerque the lows are about 40 and the highs about 75. The International Balloon Festival starts tomorrow, there are 550 hot air balloons registered from 17 different countries. We are so excited to join in the festivities!!!! I looked out my bedroom window this morning to see more than forty balloons in flight. The festival runs for ten days, so expect a post about that soon. Danny's dad was our first offical visitor, he came to spend the weekend with us about two weeks ago. It was so nice to see a familiar face. We spent Friday visiting the two Harley Davidson shops that are here in Albuquerque, and on Saturday we went to Roswell. Now for those of you who don't know, in 1947 an unidentified flying object crashed and was spotted by a famer in Roswell, New Mexico. The government immediatley responded by taking the UFO to area 51 in Nevada. There is a museum in Roswell and a bunch of gift shops commencerating the crash. I for one am a little skeptical of the whole alien thing, but it was still a very a interesting trip. It will definately make you think twice as to wether or not we are the only ones out there. Meanwhile, our days are very busy. Me and all the boys all leave the house at 7:00 am to take Brandon to school. The high school Brandon was supposed to go to has a really bad reputation for weapon and gang problems, so I enrolled him in one of the city's best high schools but it is 20 minutes away. I really really value education, so I am ok with the inconvenience. We drop Brandon off and get back home around 7:45. Between 7:45 and 8:45 I get the boys breakfast, dress all three of them, and take a shower, get dressed, and put on make-up. You may ask why I have to get Ace, Colton, and I ready when we are just dropping Hayden off at school? Well, I was informed by my sweet five year old that none of the other moms go to school in their pj's and since it's school policy to walk the kindergarteners to their classroom, Hayden insists that we all look presentable. After we drop Hayden off, me and the other two boys come home and play until we leave to get Brandon at 2:00 and Hayden at 3:30. So as you can see, we have a very tight schedule. All four of the boys have had their own accomplishments this month. Brandon is a sophomore and is taking Auto Shop, Woodworking, and JROTC. He has been a tremendous help since we moved down here, I don't know what I would do without him. Hayden is doing remarkable in kindergarten. I was so worried that he wouldn't do well because of his speech problem, but he has done just the opposite. He is learning so much and actually looks forward to school, his teachers are so amazing. On the social side of things, he has his first girlfriend! I was tucking him the other night, and he said "Mom, I have something to tell you. I have a girlfriend, I sit next to her in class and her name is Caitlin. She has yellow hair and glasses. " He also told me that he thinks that Cailtin's mom must have a faster car than me, because she is there before him everyday waiting for him at the doorway of the classroom. Cailtin is a very cute girl and they are very good friends, it's so cute to see how excited they get when they see each other. Ace is finally interested in potty training, that has been our main focus over the past couple weeks. It has been so nice to have this time with him while Hayden is at school. Sometimes I think the middle child gets deprived of that alone time with mom that both the oldest and youngest child get, so I try to make the most of the time I have with Ace when Colton is sleeping. We play outside, read books, and make cookies. Colton is also doing great, I can't believe that six months ago I was holding him in NICU crying and worrying that he would not be a healthy normal baby. He is rolling all over the place, laughing at all of us, and walking around the kitchen in his walker. I have realized over the past two months, just how important family is. The six of us have grown so much closer since we have been down here. My mom comes to visit on Wednesday, and I can't wait. I have never been so excited to see my mom in all my life! I promise that I will be better on updating my blog, and my invitation to all of you to come visit us is still open!!!

Ace and Colton

So now that Hayden is in school all day, I have more one on one time with Ace and Colton. It has been nice for me to focus on two kids instead of three. Ace is three now, and he is all boy. He loves to jump off the stairs and wrestle with the puppy. His favorite part of the day is when Colton takes his morning nap, because he knows that means it's time to play catch in the backyard. He has quite and arm, he can already throw a spiral football!!! Colton is five months old now, and he is so expressive. All you have to do is talk to him and he'll throw out all kinds of smiles and baby coo's. He is by far my best baby. He sleeps much better than the other two did, and he eats all the time. Danny and Brandon tease him that he has moobs ( man boobs). I never thought that I would be stuck in a house full of boys (even the dog is a boy) but I wouldn't trade it for anything.