*cough*

I knew this was going to happen....the sickness after the adrenaline rush. Leading up to Christmas, John and I were very busy with work, finishing school, and parties. Now that we have taken the time to rest and just relax for awhile, the sickness has caught up with us. John wasn't feeling "great" before we left, but we thought rest and relaxation would help.....well, it didn't.

Now we are both sick again and none of the family wants to hang out with us because they don't want it. Woohoo. Just kidding. My family is cool, most of them are sick too.

I hate the feeling of having to sneeze with nothing happening. It makes my head hurt more and my eyes water like crazy. This sucks!!

Fear....Straight Up

Last night the whole family went to Bellevue Square for dinner and to watch the Snowflake Lane production. It is always fun to see the high school drummers dressed up like little drummer boys and to see the "snow" falling from the sky. We tried to go to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, but it was almost a two hour wait, so we decided to go next door to Red Robin. I didn't mind so much, but some of the family weren't so happy. After dinner we rushed outside to get a spot right up near the street so Erika and Mitchell (my niece and nephew) could see everything that was happening. My sister and her husband and the kids went in one direction to reserve our spot and the rest of the family was going to the restrooms and what not.

As we walked out of Red Robin we ran into Donnie who screamed at us "WE LOST ERIKA!!" We all started to freak out. I had Trevor (my other nephew) in a Baby Bjorn and John and I took off running in one direction while my mom and dad went running in another and Donnie in a third. It was absolutely the worst feeling in my life. We started shoving people out of the way and screaming her name and asking people if they had seen a little blond girl walking around with a purple jacket on. John and I saw so many girls her size wearing purple jackets. It was horrible to say the least. We ran up and down the one side of the street screaming frantically. John found a cop and told him we lost Erika and they said join the club. There were also two other children that had gone missing that night.

All of this to say, that Erika is one smart girl. She went right back to where she knew we all were last...right out in front of Red Robin and Cheesecake Factory. She had been yelling for Mom and Dad and some couple realized she was lost and wouldn't let her leave where she was until her parents had gotten there. Erika told them the names of her parents and they were not going to go anywhere until Kim and Don were found. Donnie ran back that way and found her and wouldn't let her go the rest of the night.

We were all freaked out and panicking. It was very traumatic for Erika as well as Kim and Donnie and the rest of the family. needless to say, we got to enjoy the show! I couldn't imagine the feeling if that was my own child lost in a crowd of hundreds or thousands of people right along a busy street. Thank God for that couple.

Airports

Today John and I left for our trip to Washington for the Christmas holiday. I never expected to wait for so many hours in so many airports. We left the church office around 11:50 a.m. to get to the Burbank airport around 12:15 p.m. for our flight at 2:30. When we got there, our flight was delayed over an hour and a half. This wouldn't have been that bad, but we were flying into Portland and connecting to Seattle and we were going to miss our connecting flight in Portland. so we had to go standby on a direct flight from Burbank to Seattle. We didn't get it so we were back to square one just with a later connecting flight in Portland.

John and I are still sitting here in the Portland airport at the moment. It has been a long day spent people watching and waiting, lots of waiting.

We are on the last leg of the trip for now and then will probably be up late visiting with the fam. What a great start to our vacation.

My BFF 4eva

It was a sad day yesterday as we all said goodbye to Dustin Rhoads. Dustin is now moving on to bigger and better things in Arizona and then in Vegas.

I have had so much fun getting to know my "son" and my fellow advisor. I will never know another person to make me laugh so hard and so much. Dustin liked to run his jokes past me and if I didn't laugh, he knew it was a good one.

Not only am I going to miss Dustin, but the kids are SURGE are really going to miss the man in the viking hat.

We love you Dustin!!

The Time Is Near

The parties have finally ceased and the work load has increased tremendously. I have been so busy here in the office and stressed beyond belief. It always seems that way right before a vacation, but right before a vacation before a holiday is insane. I feel so far behind and that is overwhelming to me. Today is better than yesterday, but still, there is a lot to be done before John and I get on that plane tomorrow afternoon.

I am so excited to be going home for Christmas, but this year is going to be different and I don't really know how I feel about it. My sister has her own family and has to work on the 26th so they aren't going to be around on Christmas day. My brother has a new baby and so they are doing Christmas day (in the morning) at their house and then coming over to my parent's house. I am not used to the fact that we are doing our gift exchanging and opening 2 days before the actual day and then nothing will happen on Christmas Day. I am kind of sad, but I am sure it will all work out. It is just different and I don't like change for the holidays.

I am so thankful for a loving and caring family that actually enjoys being together and gets along well. It will be nice to spend time with my niece and nephew and my 92 year old grandmother. I am especially looking forward to not setting my alarm and really getting to hang out with my parents after the holiday rush dies down.

I pray for safe travels for John and I and for all of our friends and family who are traveling for the holidays. I also pray for a wonderful time with family.

See you Californians for New Year's Eve. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Elves

Please check this out. It is hilarious and will probably make your day!! http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1369304736

Parties!!

I love the Christmas season. It seems like most people like to have parties during the wintertime. We have been partying with our small group, with friends in general and this week is no exception.

Today started with the Weekday School Commission breakfast, which is always fantastic. Tomorrow is our office volunteer luncheon that the staff hosts for all of our hardworking volunteers and Friday is the church office staff Christmas party at the Sillerud's. Ahhh.

This weekend I am going to be hosting at Norm and Posey McCracken's Christmas Open House. If you are in the area and what to stop by and see all the wonderful toys, decorations, ornaments, etc. come on by. I will be bored just standing around so come keep me company. It starts on Saturday night and runs for three consecutive nights. If you want details call me.

I am so full, so I am gonna take a short nap!

Christmas Bliss

This weekend was amazing. Although it was busy, John and I really enjoyed the time we spent with friends.

Friday night, after my haircut, we went to Santa Monica to our friend Lori's dad's house for a small group get together. It was a blast. We all sat around the fire and the living room (with NO TV) and just talked and reminisced. After eating some wonderful food from Kay and Dave's restaurant, we had an awesome Christmas jam session. John, Andrew, Justin and a few others played guitar while Nayla and Matt played piano and the rest of us used shakers or other noise makers. We had such a good time just messing around and singing like crazy people and enjoying the true meaning of the Christmas season....spending QUALITY time with friends and family.

The weekend continued with partying on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday we were invited to AJ and Rachelle's engagement party where ate some great Trader Joes food and played some exciting Wii video games.

Sunday was chaotic but hilarious. After church was the usual hang out at lunch and then we all had the great idea of going to get a group picture taken with Santa. Whose idea was that? The mall was insane and we almost got hit numerous times just trying to park the dang car. Once we safely reached the inside of the mall, we found that Santa was on a break. Who does he think he is taking breaks during his busiest time of the year? So we went window shopping with the Souzas and the Lofgrens and then headed back for the Christmas Concert at church. The concert was good, definitely aimed toward the older generations of the church, but fun hanging out in the choir loft with two sleep deprived girls. Congrats to Justin and Amy for the debut in the drama. I am sure it was great (I didn't see it cause I was watching Adelaide in the choir room) but I heard lots of laughter.

A great weekend was had by the Bowlings!! We love our friends!!

Free

John is a free man (free from school that is) for the winter. WOOHOO!! I finally get my husband back and now we can hang out together and do stuff on the weekends.