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.