2012

2012

is going to be a great year!

13 weeks and counting...!

All I Want For Christmas

All I wanted for Christmas  was to get to  Arizona so we could spend the holiday with family.

I was going to go into this long explanation of how some people in this world are lucky while others of us are not, but just review last years roadtrip {here} and now listen to this years roadtrip and you can see for yourselves that I am not a very luck-filled person.

Well, first thing is first...I finally got a new car! Hooray for freedom!

Thus making our roadtrip more comfortable and enjoyable.

Also meaning Cadbury, who finally got to go to  Arizona , could have the whole backseat to himself. {Of course, he still would have rathered he sit on my lap the whole time, silly dog.}

Okay, now onto the story...we left Tulsa on the 22nd after Jordan got off work.  We drove 6 hours until we got to Amarillo, Texas, where we stayed the night.  We knew we were driving into a storm in New Mexico, but we had encountered that last year and although it took more time, we did get through the storm in one piece. We just needed to be patient. Ha! {Patience...I will learn me some patience by the end of the day...or will I?}

I wanted to get on the road as quickly as possible, so we woke up, got things ready and took off for Mesa,  Arizona.  About 2 hours after leaving Amarillo we came to a full STOP on the Interstate. Full and complete STOP. We were not alone. There were among us many families traveling for the holidays, along with many semi-trucks making their usual deliveries.  All of us, just stopped, on an INTERSTATE. Did you know they closed entire stretches of interstate down? I didn't. All of New Mexicowas closed. We were of course right near the town of Tucumcari, New Mexico where we could have found lodging. However, you probably couldn't pay me a thousand bucks to stay in that forsaken land. So what option did we have, but to wait until they could clear the snow from the roads. We sat in the car, mostly with the power turned off to save gas, for 5 1/2 HOURS!!! Keep in mind, we still had an 8 hour drive  {without winter road conditions} ahead of us. They finally did clear the roads and 17 hours after we left Amarillo, we pulled into my parents driveway. I would love to tell you I kept my cool throughout this journey, but I did not. At the 13th hour, realizing I still had many ahead of me, I lost it.  LOST it. Anyway, let us put the whole experience behind us and get on to Christmas!

We had the annual Shill Family Christmas Eve Mexican Feast!

It was beautiful weather {minus a light sprinkling of rain that lasted all of 30 seconds}.

I got to open my  birthday presents, {birthday was on the 19th} which was a fabulous pair of shoes and a handmade stitchery by my mother {I have coveted hers for years, so she made me one!}. Thank you Mommy!

After dinner, we enjoyed the Nativity Story, acted out by all the littles.

Even Cadbury got to join in on the fun!

Lucy and Cadbury were best buds. Lucy came over every day to play with her four-legged friend and Cadbury loved all the attention from the kids.

It was fun sharing Christmas morning with Tim and Holly's bunch {we all stayed at Mom & Dad's}.

The little boogers did get us all up at 6:15, but it was fun to see how excited they were to see what Santa brought them.  After church, the rest of the crazies came over and we all enjoyed opening presents

and being together!

Ben, in particular, got some pretty sweet gifts this year.

*From Jordan, the awesome shirt (the slippers were another gift from a previous year).

*From Mom & Dad, a NEW CAR (well, Ben's kind of car).

*From Lucy, a One-of-a-Kind 'Beninem M&M's' handmade hat (Lucy's idea completely).

Jordan and I spent the rest of the afternoon at the Rogers.  We got to see everybody and have a yummy dinner with Sharon's homemade rolls, which are amazing!

The rest of our time in Arizona was spent relaxing and visiting {2 of my most favorite hobbies}!

On the 29th, Jordan and I celebrated our Fifth Wedding Anniversary! Holy cow!

We had a very romantic lunch at Native New Yorker {Don't judge! When you move away and you can't have the best wings you've ever tasted, that is all your ♥ desires!} and polished that off with Gelato - which also can't be found in Tulsa.

After a few extended days in Mesa (delaying the inevitable), I finally was resigned to the fact that I had to get back in the car again.

We drove a mere 13 hours to Denver and spent New Year's with our family that resides there.

Again, more relaxing, eating, visiting, and game playing.

Finally, it was time to come back home and that was only 10 1/2 hours. Yay for us!

Adventures with Elyce

Three short days after getting back from our  Christmas adventures, Elyce flew into Tulsa!

That next morning, I reluctantly got BACK into the car for the 4 hour drive down to Dallas.

We then spent some time with the  Shillibeans!

It was fun to visit some more with these guys.  Elyce had not seen them since before they moved to Dallas. We ate like kings at our usual Texas places:  Chuy's Tex-Mex,  Rudy's BBQ &Taco Diner. We even made a bit of a dent at Sprinkle's cupcakes.

Our last night there, we spent our time in a little friendly competition with our family in  Arizona.

It all started with this photo.

You see, the cute little gal on the right is Kendria, Bethany's best friend growing up and she has become a family friend so Tim and Holly invited her cute family to dinner.  We sent this picture to Bethany, maybe a little bit saying 'You should have come!'

We got this picture from her saying "Good Times!"

So then we thought we should let her know, we are definitely having a better time than them and that is how the following came to be.

Looks to me like we are all having a good time...also, we are all crazy.

Elyce & I took the route home through Oklahoma City so we could go to the OKC Memorial.

It was very well done and neat to hear all the stories and learn more about it.

The Survivor Tree

{You can see the way it leans is away from the blast, the building was directly to the right of the tree.}

Where all the bronze chairs are located is where the building once stood. Each chair represents a person who died in the bombing and they are arranged according to what floor of the building they were on at the time of the blast.

To the right of the field of chairs is a wall with the time 9:01 in large letters.

To the left of the field is an identical wall with the time 9:03 on it.

The space between {the field of chairs} represents 9:02 a.m. when the bomb went off.

It was neat to finally get to see the memorial, thanks sister.

A couple days spent in Tulsa included pedicures!

Thanks for visiting me and spoiling me rotten while you were here!

I am very glad you came. Please come again!

Thanksgiving Happenings

After another 6 a.m. flight to Phoenix, I got to see the Breaking Dawn premiere with my favorite gals.

Consensus was 50:50. Those two on the left - expected nothing & so they were entertained. Those two on the right - what did you expect!?! Hadn't you two read the book and knew it was gonna be crazy sauce & biscuits?!?  Speaking of crazy...

it was a WILD night to say the least.

The next day we went to the Train Park in Scottsdale.

We rode the train, of course.

Some of us rode the carousel.

And some of us relaxed

while the four year olds and three year old got rid of some energy.

Later that night we had an adult-only night and we all went to Nello's Pizza.  It was really fun and so scrumdiddlyumptious!

The day after that we loaded up our cars and drove through Prescott, where we stopped to eat a chaotic lunch at In-N-Out, {seating for 17 people please!} and on to Groomcreek! 

Groomcreek is where the family {passed through three generations} cabin is located.  Since my Grandma passed away, my Aunt Diane, Mom, and Dad have been busily fixing it up so it can be used by generations to come.

The last time we were all there was at least, AT LEAST 15 years ago.

By far, the very best thing about the cabin is The Swing. Not the swing, The Swing.

Why The Swing you say??? You can do things on it, that will make you soil yourself.

Did you check out that height???

There were no witnesses when I had my turn on The Swing.  Just my brother Chris, who pushed me to record soaring heights by using his   l    o   n   g   ape-like arms and literally jumping to reach me and the swing and push me higher.  I think my mother would have soiled herself if she saw her baby reaching heights that no other man {or woman} has reached. 

They did hear my screams...there is a lot more fear when you are 25 years old.

Anyway, there were those that couldn't handle The Swing. Like Josephine, {really Joey, but I have always called him Josephine} in orange went on your plain ol' run-of-the-mill swing set across the street.

Drakey, of course, just hung out with Mom & Dad.

We also played a little tether ball,

went on a short hike,

hung out together,

dressed up like Lamar {my Grandpa} by wearing Grandpa's hat and jacket, which are still at Groomcreek, and sticking out his belly,

and eventually we all froze our butts off.  Which for me, meant the fun that was had, was over.

Before Jordan was able to join me, I asked my dad one day if we could go out to the desert and look at his grandpa's lime kilns. Basically, out near Usery Park, out in the middle of the desert, is where my Great-Grandpa used to spend his days. He would gather limestone, load it into his wagon, & Bertha and Dudley {his mules} would haul it to the kiln so it could bake for hours and hours until it was lime dust {used to help make concrete, among other things, I am sure}.

It was a beautiful day

and a nice little walk to find the kiln.

On the front of the kiln, my Great Grandpa carved the names of his mules and you can still see them.

Jordan was finally able to join me in  Arizona a few days before  Thanksgiving.  We had a good time hanging out with family and I enjoyed making pies again this year with my Mom.

On  Thanksgiving Day we had quite the feast with my side of the fam.

Everything was sooo good & I wish I could re-live that meal over & over {definitely more than just once a year}!!

We had one small disturbance in our day.

****The following picture is NOT for the faint at heart.

If you get queasy, just scroll on through & go along your day without barfing!****

At least we learned to trim our toenails more frequently.

Inside story: The kids all gathered around Jordan to get a peek at this monstrosity and while Joey {3 years of age} stood there at eye level, he suddenly sneezed...all over Uncle Jordan's foot!  Jordan was NOT happy about it.

While we were in Arizona our dear Cadbury was lovingly watched by the  Shillibeans.

Thank you, Tim & Holly for taking such good care of the little rascal! You guys are the BEST!

We were happy to re-unite with him and get home after another fabulous trip.