the vamp party

So --- Saturday night, I hosted a party for all of my friends who also happen to be Twilight fans. Its original purpose was just going to be a Twilight DVD release party (as the DVD was released that day at midnight) where we would get together and watch the movie; however, it morphed into something much, much more, err… interesting.

It started out as a half-witted scheme on my part. My snail-sized home is so not conducive to entertaining. But, it was something that I really wanted to do… and I was determined to make it work.

In the end, I wanted to do more than just watch the movie. We were having food, of course, and I also wanted to have some other sort of ‘activity’. So, I had the brilliant idea of asking my friend, Hila, to put together a Twilight saga trivia game for us to play. She was invited to the party, naturally – but, as she now lives in Washington (actually, just a hop skip and a jump from Forks, where the magic goes down), she wouldn’t be able to be there. We were all more than a little bummed that she wouldn’t be at the party… she is our girl’s-party-buddy, so to speak. By doing the game, Hila would be ‘involved’ in the party… and we were willing to take whatever type of her ‘presence’ that we could get.

I, slowly but surely, got my home ready for visitors. Last week was filled with a hodgepodge of things, but I began to notice little suspicious uprisings, mostly from my mother. I had an inkling that something was up.

I had been dropping Hila little ‘hints’ that it really was alright if she just wanted to come to the party anyway and deliver the game herself. We totally wouldn’t mind. And then, last Wednesday, I had a dream that she showed up at the party. I tossed that up to hopeful wishing. I got the game in the mail on Thursday and chatted with Hila online that night – and yet the suspicious happenstances continued. So, was I really that surprised when she appeared on my doorstep Saturday morning (along with my mom and my copy of Twilight)? Not really. And yet, I was still shocked that it was all real – that my dream had come true. Astounded? Not at all. Overjoyed? Absolutely.

I’m just totally bummed that I accidently deleted the confused-Stacy-opens-the-front-door shot. It was a good one…

My mom and Hila left me that morning to get everything ready for the party. Brian and Ammon were going elsewhere for the duration of the festivities. So, I was alone for the majority of the day, and I must say – that was a little weird. But, I accomplished much… and was anxiously awaiting 7:30pm.

The party was great. The best. Fanatically wild… but, the best. It was a pajama party, with most everyone in some sort of Twilight-related attire. My table was ‘elegantly’ decorated and covered with a vast array of party foods. We had Grecian party squares (a heavenly Pampered Chef appetizer), yummy cheese dip, spinach dip in a bread bowl, Hila’s famous Oreo truffles, and pigs-in-a-blanket. And our beverage of choice: sparkling white grape juice. Something that is advertised as non-alcoholic (...or non-toxic, as Kristy would say…); however, we who were at the party have come to question this. Fermented a bit? Ha! I think so…

We got quite a bit side-tracked. We were going to bless the food, play the game while eating, and then watch the movie. However, we got off on some tangent about prayers, and why it is that when blessing brownies we say something along the lines of, “… that it may nourish and strengthen our bodies…”. About half an hour later, Kira finally said the blessing, which included a pause and then, “… bless the food… that it may be good and fill our tummies.” Giggles ensued. And thus it began.

We ended up chatting and laughing the whole time we ate. And by laughing, I mean uproarious, rock the house, hilarity.

Once everyone had somewhat finished their munchies, we played the game. We split into two teams (one team of three and one team of four), with Hila at the helm asking the questions. How it worked: A question would be directed at one team; that team had 1 minute to come up with an answer amongst themselves; if needed, that team could consult the book(s), still only having 1 minute to come up with an answer; if that team could not answer, the question was passed to the next team.

Ah… we had a good time. While the questions were fairly straightforward and easily answered (there were a couple that made us scratch our heads), we had the best time playing that game. Words cannot describe the fun. Seriously. You had to be there to believe it. I can’t begin to describe it because, a.) I can’t remember most of it (enter hysteria and sparkling grape juice) and b.) it was all so very random. But, I will say that we all laughed so hard that we cried. We all laughed so hard that we couldn’t breathe. We all laughed so hard that, to quote Crystal, we “peed a little”. We all laughed so hard that we felt like we had done 5,972 crunches while hanging upside down. Truly --- the best of times. Seriously. Kudos to Hila and her sister, Christina, for coming up with such a treat. FYI: There is a very incriminating video floating around out there somewhere that may or may not make its way onto this blog. We shall see...

After the game, I handed out the ‘party favors’. I won’t go into vast detail about these, because not everyone has theirs yet. I hope everyone liked them, though… it was attempt #4 (thank you, Mom, for helping with them). Everyone also got two Twilight pins. Hila brought everyone a vile of dirt from Forks, along with an authentic Forks pin that says, “Forks, WA. – Where Vampires Rain”. Also from Forks were some… wait for it… glow in the dark fangs. My, oh, my… did we have fun with those babies. And, since they were in Forks courtesy of China… we will probably all wind up in the hospital for lead poisoning.

We – of course – took a group picture. Well, several group pictures. And, like I mentioned before, we had lots of fun with those horrid-tasting fangs. Too much fun to be legal, as Kristy would say.

Brian and Ammon got home about this time. I don’t remember the exact time, but I would gather that it was about 11:00pm. They, naturally, went upstairs to bed. They just aren’t the girly-vampire-party types. However, the party continued to rock on downstairs… though we did take it down a couple of octaves.

Around this time, we decided to start the movie… after all, that was why we were there, wasn’t it? We all got comfy – sprawled out on the floor or couch with our pillows and blankets – and grabbed our communal candy bowl. Of course, the noise didn’t die down enough for anyone to actually hear the film. We spent the time commenting on all the things we liked, loved, hated, etc. along with all the editing bloopers and so forth. And, of course, the giggles did not stop. They just got more delirious and delusional as we hit the wee hours. The sparkling grape juice was long gone; however, the candy was still there. It kicked in… and we were then all riding high on a sugar high to end all sugar highs.

The movie wrapped, and we slowly started cleaning up the aftermath of our good time. We were all crashing pretty hard at that point, but the giggles still flowed. Around 2:00am the last exodus of Twilighters left Woodburn Drive. I went straight to bed – which is very easy to do when you have a pajama party (best idea I ever had, by the way). I checked on Ammon first – found that he wasn’t in his crib – totally freaked out – then found him in my bed on my side. Apparently, we had been a tad loud downstairs…

And the few hours of sleep that I got that morning were heavenly. However, I didn’t wake up feeling like an angel… or even a vampire. I felt atrocious. Really, really horrible. My whole body hurt. My head was splitting. Even the slightest of sounds was way, way too loud. And my eyes… well, I might as well have been a newborn vampire judging by their deep red hue. All worth it, though. Yes… definitely worth it.

I know that everyone present needed that night. And I think that we should do it more often. It’s good to get together with friends every once in a while. Get together and forget the worries, stresses, responsibilities and whatnots of everyday life – for just a little while. Get together, let loose, be free and just be yourself.

I endured a little bit of flack from various somebodies for having that Twilight bash. Flack that I was neglecting other responsibilities. Flack for kicking my husband (and child) out on the night before said husband's birthday. Flack for being up so late. Ecetera. Ecetera.

And yet, I am unmoved. Yes, I was tired. Yes, I felt like I had the worst hangover in the history of mankind. Yes, I felt rather retched. However, I also feel happier. I feel more at peace with my situation. I feel refreshed and ready to dive head-first into some things that need my attention. I feel good. And that is a nice thing to say.

It all reminds me of something that I – ironically enough – heard Kristen Stewart say in the bonus features of my Twilight DVD, about her character, Bella (the ‘main’ character in the Twilight saga): “You could say about her that she is just reckless and sort of shunning things that she should be considering, but she’s doing them for all the right reasons.”.

Yes, I was acting like a fool and being ‘reckless’ in a way. Yes, I was up far too late… ‘shunning things that should be considered’. But… I was doing it for all the right reasons.

Let me rephrase that: We were doing it for all the right reasons.

Thanks, girls: Hila, Lyndsey, Kira, Kristy, Crystal, Ginger and Mom. Thanks for being the best friends ever. And thanks to those who were there in spirit… Tiffane, this is you (...you'll always be my best friend - wish you could have been here...).

And thank you, Brian. Thanks for being so understanding… and, umm… patient with my obsessions. Thanks for watching the bug. Thanks for letting your home be invaded. Thanks for being this Bella's Edward. I know what I can live without… and I know that you are not it. Couldn’t survive this life without you.

Hmm… all in the name of fun. All in the name of friendship. All for the love of Twilight.

Happy birthday, Brian. We hope your 28th year is the best year yet. We love you.

saturday through sunday { universal }

sunday cont. { islands and universal revisited }

monday

tuesday

wednesday { christmas eve }

thursday { christmas day }

friday and saturday

a long-winded, long-awaited and much-loved christmas

One of my last fortune cookies read, “You have a charming way with words. Write something this week.”. “Huh”, I thought. Maybe this is the most opportune time to document our holiday adventures. Albeit a couple of months late. And that is something that I just feel wretched about. Besides having all those wonderful festive, holiday moments to attend to… I am now a couple of months behind on everything else! While I have been stuck in my own little world – my own little post-holiday-haze-of-insanity, if you will – life has continued to dutifully march on. As mentioned before, we are enduring some major life changes right now on Woodburn Drive. I am trying to find the balance that my life needs… and it ain’t happening easily. And while the hurdles just keep coming, it all makes me realize how thankful I am that I am such a pro at weird. For right now, anyway…

So, here I am to try and resurface from the never ending sea of photographs, memories and whatnots. I am also trying to watch the new episode of Jon & Kate Plus Eight, stave off a cold and care for my teething child, tired husband and over-loaded self … all the while dreaming of that ice cream in the freezer. So… here it goes.

Friday, December 19th :

The magical day had come. The day when we were leaving for my family’s home in Orlando. For a whole week. For Christmas. Today was the day that we had been anxiously awaiting for months. And months and months. The only problem? I wasn’t ready for it.

Yes, Friday rolled around and I hadn’t even begun to start packing. Totally atypical Stacy behavior. In fact, I wasn’t ready for Christmas. Period. End of story. I had been working like a dog trying to finish my great-grandmother’s recipe album (see a later post for that goodness). Truth be told, I went over a week with close to no sleep – at times going over 40 hours without it. And I was doing fine, really. I am a rare soul that actually does better with less sleep, especially if I have a project to finish. I will work until it is done. But, this time, I was staggering to stay afloat with all my manic holy-crow-I’m-nowhere-near-ready-for-all-of-this thoughts.

We were slated to leave as soon as Brian got home from work (around 5:00pm). I started packing (for three people, for one week) at around 6:00pm. Yikes. But, I got it done. Eventually. We finally got on the road and had a fairly uneventful drive. Ammon did very well, considering he was awake for most of it. And I did something that I have never done before and will (undoubtedly) never do again: Scrapbook in the car. I was trying to get as much done on the recipe album as I could, but like I mentioned before… never again.

We landed on Balboa Drive around 3:30 in the morning. And, of course, once we got there none of us seemed to be able to go to sleep. I know it was about 6:00 before I got to bed. But we were there. We were excited. All was well.

Saturday, December 20th :

Saturday morning we got up bright and early (technically just a couple of hours after we finally went to bed) to go out Christmas shopping with my cousin, Amy. We headed over to Pr1me Outlets and enjoyed walking around, window shopping, making a few last minute Christmas buys for the bug and – of course – lunch.

Our next stop was going to be Boyd’s (the LDS bookstore). Amy, my Aunt Kaye and my mom were going over to Universal to pick up our park tickets, so we followed them until their turnoff. For some at-the-time unknown reason there were lots of giggles in the car ahead of us. Then heads were popping out of the sunroof of Amy’s car. I suddenly found myself envious that I was not in that car having fun with the girls! Brian and I laughed and laughed at the three of them, wondering what in the name of all that is holy had gotten in to them. When we finally met up at the bookstore, we realized that all the silliness was due to a huge misunderstanding! They were trying to get our attention in some way, shape or form. Trying to mouth to us, “Turn on your phone!”; shaking all their cell phones out the window and sunroof, waving their hands out the windows trying to get us to pull up along side of them (however, to us we thought we were supposed to pass them… so that’s what we did), etc.. And here we thought that they were just being silly. Funny times. Good memories. Anyway, while in Boyd’s we just walked around and oohed and awed at all the goodies that we want but can’t have. We did grab a few things for Ammon – stocking stuffers and such. But mostly, we oohed and awed. Until the meltdown, that is. We had had a fun day, but Ammon’s interest, patience and good-natured attitude were waning. My grandmother and uncle had arrived in town by that point, also… so, it was time to head back to Balboa Drive.

Later that evening Brian and I were going to go out on the town, so to speak. It was our 5-year anniversary, after all. Ammon was going to stay with the rest of the family for the evening – my cousin Brian, his wife, Jess, and their kids, Brandon, Sarah and Gracey, were over for the evening so he was sure to have a good time with the all of them. Brian and I left and made the drive down to Downtown Disney. We were starving, so we popped into the first restaurant we came to: House of Blues. While we were waiting for our meal, Brian was investigating what shows were planned for the venue there at HOB. His eyes instantly lit up when he found out who was playing that night… and was probably a little upset that he couldn’t attend the show that was going on at that very moment just a few yards away. But, the night went on sans concert and we both ended up getting grilled chicken salads for dinner. I remember being shocked senseless that Brian – King-of-the-Red-Meat-Eaters – opted for not only a salad, but a chicken salad. Anyway, they were far beyond yummy. And, of course, we topped it all off with the pièces de résistance: Key Lime Pie… with raspberry sauce and a sprig of mint. Heavens…

We took our time with our dinner, so it was already getting pretty late when we walked out. We only went to the Virgin Records store right across from HOB before heading home – but we were in there for a long, long time. A music-lover could spend a whole day (or longer) in that place… as we very nearly have before. But, once we scoured every square-inch of both floors of their music, movies, books and whatnots… it was time to go home. After all, I did have work to do on that recipe album…

I had originally not wanted any help on that project. I wanted it to be a surprise for everyone. But, I realized on the drive down to Orlando that that just wasn’t an option for me anymore. If I was going to finish by Christmas, that is. So, my mom and aunt offered to help me cut out recipes. And I accepted. They ended up having a ((n) indubitably) fun cutting party while Brian and I were gone. Once we got back, I helped cut for a bit, before moving on to other facets of the project. It was another long night for me.

Sunday, December 21st :

Brian and I got up bright and early. Today was the day when we would be enjoying one of our anniversary/Christmas presents. We were all set to spend the day at one of our (well, two of our) favorite places: Universal and Island’s of Adventure. A theme-park-lovers dream come true. It had been a couple of years since we had had the opportunity to go – and, as expected, we were very excited to be set loose on the other side of those entrance gates.

Once we got there (which was a story in itself: Aunt Kaye and Amy (along with Amy’s kids, Will and Bailey) had to go with us for ticket-related business and we ended up having a slight altercation with what I guess you would call the “Parking-Lot-Security-Cop”.) we decided to go our normal route and hit Universal first. I started to get a little nervous about getting through the gate. Having my fingerprint read could end up being slightly mortifying… I had rubbed my fingerprint completely off on that particular finger while typing up recipes for the album. In the end, though, it wasn’t a problem… just something to chuckle about later on. Sticking to our usual route, we left Universal, had lunch and then covered Islands. This time, we went back to Universal afterwards to make a purchase, ride one more ride and catch dinner.

I can’t possibly go into vast detail of that day. There are just too many memories, too many experiences and far too much fun for me to even begin telling that complete story. You will just have to take a gander at the slideshows from that day and use your imagination. I will say that Brian and I spent the day acting like a couple of giddy teenagers. I took pictures like a real tourist – something I don’t usually do. The weather was beyond perfect and the crowds were tolerable. We laughed and held hands and screamed and goofed around and forgot – for just one short day – about all of the stress of our everyday lives. Needless to say, it was a very good day. One very short day that we will always cherish. From the bottom of our hearts, thanks to all of you who made that day possible. You know who you are.

A couple of stand-out memories of that day in paradise…

The Christmas decorations (at both parks). Everywhere you looked there was some brilliant, beautiful, breath-catching display of the season. This is, by far, one of my favorite things to see. I love going there at Christmas time for this reason. Lovely. Just lovely. And it just gets so much better when the sun goes down and lights go on…

Brian spotting the Mystery Machine at Universal. And then standing in line with all the kids to have his picture taken with Scooby Doo and Shaggy. And then being outraged when he saw that the Mystery Machine wasn’t even a Volkswagen. Priceless.

The Lucy Store at Universal. One of my favorite places on earth. Being that close to real memorabilia – the real stuff – and real history, for that matter, makes my heart smile.

Lunch at Hard Rock. Nothing tastes better than a cheeseburger and French fries when you are starving and running on sheer adrenaline. Always a highlight. Not to mention funny and a tad embarrassing when I knocked over a Christmas tree, sending all the ornaments flying.

Ah… the unforgettable Cat in the Hat ride at Islands. I love Dr. Seuss, so I love Seuss Landing at Islands of Adventure. I devour the shops; however, we have never been on any of the kid-oriented rides there. Brian and I thought that we would go on the tamer Cat in the Hat ride first – using it as a buffer between our lunch and the good stuff. It ended up being our longest wait of the day and… the ride was sheer wild. I – an experienced roller coaster enthusiast – quite nearly lost my lunch.

Getting lost at Islands. I have been going to this park for years. I gave up the maps long ago. I can point you in the direction of every ride, restroom, store, restaurant, and nook and cranny of the place. However, by going to Seuss Landing first, we went against our normal route. And, as a result, ended up getting lost – ironically enough – in the heart of The Lost Continent. We retraced our steps, which only muddied the water further. I ended up finding some higher ground, so to speak… spotted a landmark in the distance that I recognized, and kept my eye on it while moving in that general direction. Consequently, I disproved that well-known theory that the quickest way from point A to point B is a straight line.

Seeing the progress of the new park: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. To be revealed in 2010… the year of our next Christmas in Orlando. We are all excitement.

Spiderman. The body odor issue and the 3D-loving Japanese couple who rode along with us, though totally unrelated, both proved to be equally entertaining. This is an inside joke between Brian and myself… he’ll get a chuckle out of it. Just like I did remembering it…

Picking out our Christmas ornament. Something we do every year, and yet I never tire of it. And this year, we had the opportunity to pick one from such a special place in our hearts. The same place we got our very first Christmas ornament 5 years ago. Purely wonderful. And purely careful as I was trying not to knock over yet another Christmas tree…

Picking out goodies for Ammon. While we had a very good time being childless for a day… we missed our bug terribly. I remember us saying things like, “Oh! Ammon would like that!” or “Oh… Ammon would so not dig that.” or “I wonder if Ammon will like theme parks as much as we do?”, etc., etc., etc. all day long. So, it was fun bringing a little of that magic home for him.

Dinner at Louie’s Italian back at Universal. The one little park restaurant I had never been to. And boy was it yummy. I’m glad Brian remembered that little neon sign.

All the rides (at both parks). Really, they all provide such a fun time. The Hulk at Islands is Brian’s favorite, while mine has yet to be revealed. I guess we’ll just have to keep going back for more. Though next time, I’ll put a little more distance between that ole’ Cat and my lunch.

The whole darn day was just fantastic. Out of this world. Absurdly fun. And I can’t think of anyone else that I would have rather spent it with. As we walked out of Universal and walked over the bridge, we were faced with the daunting question, “Go or stay?”. The answer wasn’t difficult to determine and that answer was sure: Stay. We wandered through City Walk for a bit and then made the abrupt decision to see a movie. We had several options, of course. There were several showing that we had been wanting to see. But only one was pulsating off the marquee. Only one had letters alive with effervescent energy. Only one had really caught my attention. And I only had eyes for that one.

And Brian knew, with asking, which film I would want to see. And he – of course – was right. And yes, I will admit that I did feel a little pain of Am-I-really-this-obsessed-? guilt when I purchased that third Twilight movie ticket. I remembered how I chuckled to myself when I read a Twilight-obsession-related comment on my friend Hila’s blog. Then I thought, “Why was I laughing? Why am I laughing now?! I am just as obsessed… really more!”. But then I remembered reading a quote in the CD jacket of the Twilight Score (which I got while I was in the Virgin Records store the night before as a companion piece to the soundtrack… and thoroughly enjoy it, by the way) that was written by the film’s director, Catherine Hardwicke. She said, “The best way to read the novel Twilight is to let yourself be swept away – let yourself fall in love – let yourself become obsessed.”. She goes on to say, “Let yourself feel scared, feel passion, feel brave, feel immortal.”. I certainly had let myself be swept away. But that is the beautiful thing about books. I’ve heard it said that it is really quite simple to discover new worlds. All you have to do is read. And here I was about to let myself be swept away again for approximately 2 hours and 1 minute… just in the form of another artistic medium. My behavior was justified. My rational excitement buoyed. That is until I realized that we had approximately 10 minutes to run from where we were to the car – through the throng of people being herded out of two overcrowded theme parks – to drop off all of our goodies, and run back to the theater – through the swarm of people now flocking from the parking garage to the vivid night life. All of which would normally take close to half an hour… if not longer on a busy day… like that day was.

Brian and I bolted. We weaved in and out of the flood of bodies – seeing two and three moves ahead – trying to avoid the tired crowds who, apparently, were not in the same type of rush that we were in. We ran down the conveyer belts (or “body movers” as I have heard them called), launched ourselves off the ends and took to the concrete again. We flew down the escalators, tore across our parking level, tossed our loot into the car… then repeated it all again. But, believe it or not, we made it back with about a minute to spare. Of course, by that time I had a throbbing headache and I felt like the lower half of my body was going to wither away from pure physical exertion. That was when I sent Brian for the M&Ms. I did make the comment once we sat down that, ‘… we could have just brought our bags in with us…”. Yeah, not one of my brighter ideas…

And the movie was a treat. Brian even enjoyed it his second time around, and asked a lot more (interested) questions afterwards. As for me: The third time was the charm. I hemmed and hawed after my first viewing of it. I didn’t love it, but didn’t hate it. The second time it was a completely different movie for me – I caught more, understood more, enjoyed it more. But the third time… it was magic. And while I know that many Twilight fans are/were less than thrilled with the film – I do not fall into that category for whatever reason. Believe me… I have seen worse page to screen conversions. And – being a person who normally despises most book to film depictions – I do notice when they are bad. And, for that matter… I have seen less appetizing movies over and over again (more than 3 times) in a movie theater. So --- I do not apologize for my robust enthusiasm. It just comes with the territory of being obsessed, I guess.

There was a nip in the air when we exited the theater that night. So much of a nip that I got all wrapped up in my scarf for the much slower walk back to the car. I did feel a little sad as I walked in the opposite direction of such a happy place… unsure of when I would have that opportunity again. But – like with so many other things – I have my memories to keep me warm.

Monday, December 22nd :

I really did not want Monday morning to come so soon. We were exhausted. After we got home from Universal/Islands we, of course, visited and shared our experiences and pictures. I was shocked to find that my mom and aunt had cut out all of the recipes! All 150+ pages of them. How grateful I was that that task was done. One marked off, but so many more tasks to go. It was yet another long night.

We had no plans during the day, so I got started on the recipe album once I got up and going. Brian and Ammon played most of the day. Ammon was doing fairly well, schedule wise. He was taking at least one nap a day, which made for better, happier days.

That evening, we all decided to go to Downtown Disney and then resort-hop. Resort-hopping is an activity that I was raised on: Riding the monorail around to different resorts. Basically, seeing Disney on the sly… and for free. So, my mom, aunt and uncle, grandmother, uncle and us – the Thomases Three – spent the early evening walking around just for the joy of walking around… after the joy of having to cross 3 lanes of traffic at the very last minute and nearly being run over by a bus full of tourists. Fun times, good memories. We enjoyed a yummy dinner at one of my favorite spots: Earl of Sandwich. Ammon was wide-eyed and constantly excited – soaking up every little thing. He really does thrive in the hustle and bustle. And he loved looking at all the toys and such… truly a little boy’s paradise.

There had been a cold snap that day and the temperature was not quite 40 degrees. Brian and I had to make a quick run to the Virgin Records store for something that I had forgotten on Saturday. The rest of the bunch waited for us at Marketplace (Downtown Disney) while we crossed the bridge to West Side… against the wind the whole way. I love cold weather, but even my teeth were chattering. Poor Brian – the perpetual cold-blooded soul – was pure freezing. So, needless to say, we were both a bit jealous when we returned to our happy party and saw that they had been sipping hot chocolate all the while we were gone…

From there we went resort-hopping. This is a little family tradition of sorts, for me… so I was very excited to be going to see all the Christmas decorations. We first went to the Grand Floridian: Beauty in its purest form. Such a magical place. We walked around aimlessly. We were simply there to soak up all of the jovial goodness of the rampant Christmas cheer. From there, we hopped on the monorail and went around the Magic Kingdom (and saw the famous castle), through the Contemporary Resort and then stopped at the Polynesian. We walked around here for a short while before making the return trip to the Grand Floridian. Ammon loved his very first monorail experience. I can’t wait for his first real Disney experience – that is one of those memories you long to cherish. As we were leaving, I thought about how glad I was to be able to add that little memory to my repertoire. Such a small thing for me – resort-hopping. Something so small and yet so meaningful. So glad that we were able to enjoy the magic of the season at such beautiful places. And as we were walking out of the Grand Floridian and back to the cars, we saw the Disney fireworks in the distance…

Another little family tradition of ours is the midnight-shake-run. And that night I got one... if only for the reason that I needed it to help keep me awake that night.

Tuesday, December 23rd :

Tuesday, my cousin Kim, her husband, Chris, and his father, Roy, were coming in from Sarasota. We were also going to be having an early Christmas with Brandon and Sarah as they were leaving on Christmas Eve. We spent the majority of the day prepping for that and I got a little bit of recipe album work done here and there. Grandma also had to be taken to a doctor to get a nail infection looked at. Back on Balboa Drive, we spent a lot of time outside. The weather was so very nice – much warmer than the night before. Brian napped on the hammock (iPod in tow); Ammon and I took a little stroll outside, while he watched the bigger kids play. It just didn’t feel right to stay indoors. However, there was an awful lot of Rock Band going on inside, too…

For our early Christmas dinner, we had hamburgers, potato salad, baked beans, etc.. Yummy stuff such as that. We enjoyed each others company while we ate… simply having a good time treasuring family togetherness. After dinner, we all gathered together for a family picture. It was the first time in a long, long time that everyone was together (we had already gotten some great pictures of all the great-grandkids, too). Nice to have everyone there.

Then came the presents. Brandon and Sarah were the only ones to open their presents that night. Ammon seemed to be more than eager to tear into all that paper himself. He definitely knew what was going on…

We had such a nice evening. We chatted and snickered and played. We celebrated in Gracey and Bailey’s lost teeth. We laughed at my mom’s makeshift stocking that Jess threw together (Mom had left her stocking at home). Ammon loved – loved – playing with all the kids. Boy, does he love his cousins. And I got a little help with the recipe album. I had saved one sheet of recipes for Jess, Amy and Kim to cut out. By that time, I had decided that – since this album was for the entire family, but primarily for us girls – that the girls should all be able to do something to help with its assembly. Later that night Kim and Jess helped my mom and me layout all the recipe blocks (i.e.: figure out which configuration of blocks would allow the most recipes per page). We had fun talking about this and that – both serious issues and comical ones. It’s times like those that really make me wish I lived closer to the rest of my family. My, do I cherish their company.

I hunkered down for another long night of album work. My mom was helping do a few odds and ends – but not before taking care of the apple pie. I needed a photo of apple pie for the album, so we decided to make one that night. We dithered over whether or not we had sliced too many apples – but, in the end, we threw them all in. We then laughed out loud when we pulled the pie out of the oven, only to find that our mountain of apples had turned into a ravine of caved-in crust. It was good, though… and definitely not wasted. It was another long night – my mom stayed up and helped me as much as she could, and Chris and Kim stayed up with us and talked. It was nice to have the company, and it certainly gave me a much-needed boost of energy.

Wednesday, December 24th :

Wednesday was another lazy day around the house. I say lazy --- everyone seemed to just fill the day with whatnots like running errands, playing games such as Cribbage, etc.. I suppose, though, that it isn’t really evenhanded for me to document what everyone else was doing, as I really wasn’t paying much attention that day. I was in album-survival-mode… desperately trying to finish. I had help here and there from my mom, my aunt and Kim, which I was so grateful for. Grandma stepped in to help that afternoon as we sorted out all of the original recipes handwritten by my great-grandmother. Each family unit was going to have the opportunity to keep some of these originals in their home, so we needed to sort them out in the most even and fair way. It was a fun afternoon that included lots of giggles – with a lot being accomplished along the way.

That night, we had all been invited over to Brian and Jess’s. In all honesty, I really didn’t feel like I could go. Not that I didn’t want to, I just didn’t feel as if I could with all that I needed to get done. I, however, made the decision – after a slight panic attack in my bedroom – that I needed a night off. And I am so glad that I made that choice. I would have been so upset if I had missed out on that fun night! Jess’s family was also there, and we had pizza and other goodies for dinner. We discovered that Ammon is a fan of pizza – in fact, it is now one of the only things that I can guarantee he will always eat.

Pretty soon, Rock Band started up in the living room. I am beyond bummed that I didn’t have my video camera with me that night, because if I had videos… ah. Silliness definately comes out when you’re having a good time. I would certainly like to have documentation of my mom and my aunt singing along to Michael Jackson’s, Beat It. And most certainly the kick-line that they started during, On the Road Again. And as for Brian – well, of course he was having the time of his life. Being a guitar player himself, he was perfectly at ease playing this game. It wasn’t until he got on the drums that there was ever any, err… difficulty (he's color blind on top of it all). But he caught on soon enough. It certainly was nice to see him in his element. To see him having such a good time. Such a good time that he forgot about the rest of us and the fact that Ammon really, really needed to be in bed. He just kept on playing and giving me the just-a-minute-finger.

And Brian definitely wants to own that game… I do, too, really. However, we would never – I mean, never – get anything done. And since Brian is in school and never at a loose end… we just can’t take that risk. But while we are on vacation, we can certainly forget time for a little bit. Oh my… let the good times roll.

Once we got back to Balboa Drive we gave Ammon his bath. After we were all settled, we had our traditional Christmas-Eve-one-gift-swap. Ammon, of course, opened his new Christmas jammies. His first big-boy jammies, in fact – and in them he certainly looks the part. Brian got two of the movies he had been clamoring for: The Dark Knight and Kung Fu Panda. I got the Reflections of Christ CD that I had been asking for (I had the DVD already and loved the music). We just sat for awhile, enjoying each others company and the glow of the Christmas tree on this most special of nights. Before we knew it, eyes got droopy and yawns ensued. It was time to put Ammon to bed, and many others followed. I got started on the recipe album again, and worked all my energy away. My mom helped for a while, but went to bed before I did. It was another one of those moments that I felt that push to finish that album. That push to finish it for my family. But the push wasn’t personal inflicted. I was being nudged by another force. A force the I feel sure is none other than my dear great-grandmother and Heavenly Father. What a nice reminder on that Christmas Eve… or Christmas morning, depending on how you look at it.

Thursday, December 25th :

Christmas Day had finally come. The Christmas spirit was infectious. I worked hard to tie up a few loose ends on the recipe album. I was not finished, but I had done enough for my family to get a good idea of what the completed album would look like, and – most importantly – what the album is all about. I was not finished, but I no longer felt that pull to finish right away. The pull was now coming from someplace else. The pull was now connected to my family. It was time for me to enjoy my loved ones on that Christmas Day. And really, that is what the album is all about anyway: Family.

Brian and I so enjoyed soaking up the wide-eyed joy of a little boy on Christmas. This was Ammon’s first real Christmas – he was still in that ‘comatose’ stage for his very first Christmas – and the excitement just rolled off of him. His joy was contagious. His great-uncle Dana set up his train and Ammon loved watching it go around and around. He certainly is a boy’s-boy… give him something with wheels or an engine and he is a happy camper.

Pretty soon the rest of our family started assembling (Brian, Jess, Gracey and Amy, her husband, Billy, Will and Bailey) along with Joanna, a family friend. We enjoyed a short visit from Winsome, another friend of the family. We settled in for a lovely traditional Christmas dinner. All my favorite foods, to be exact. Ammon surely enjoyed his, just like at Thanksgiving time. I wonder if he is going to be another holiday-food ravager, like his mother.

After stuffing ourselves to capacity, we all congregated in the living room… ready for presents. Ammon certainly got a load full. I couldn’t tell you what everyone else got, as Ammon’s mountain of unwrapped gifts blocked my view – but our family got perfect things. We are so fortunate to have such wonderful family that thinks of us, as they do. Ammon got several toys, books, pajamas and such; along with a drum, a Lightening McQueen that talks just a little too much and – from Santa – an Ultimate Bumblebee. I have yet to figure out if this addition to the Transformer collection of Woodburn Drive is for Ammon, or for Dad.

After all the presents were opened, the fun had, and the wrapping cleaned up – Mom and I pulled out the final boxes. Aunt Kaye said a few words, explaining what was going on, and we then presented the largest box to my grandma, Lois. It was addressed to her from her mother – my great-grandmother. The recipe album. And that is when I felt the Spirit. So very strongly. It was a tangible presence in that room and I hope it was felt by all.

We then passed out the shadowboxes – one for each family unit – each including a selection of original recipes written down by my great-grandmother, Margaret, and a photograph of her and my great-grandfather, Earl. I am so glad that I decided to use a photo of both of them – because he was her reason for living. He was her heart. They were not whole without each other. Everyone had the opportunity to look through the uncompleted album. I hope that it is something each member of our family can cherish. That same spirit continued to linger in that home on Balboa Drive that night, and I know – without a doubt – who had brought it there.

It was a most happy thing to sit for a quiet minute and ponder on the real reason for that beautiful season. The birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I remembered that it is equally important to remember not only His birth, but also His life. To remember not only His resurrection, but that He lives again. To remember that He will come again – and that we should be prepared for that day.

There was a slower pace that night. Chris, Kim and Roy had to head back to Sarasota that night – with an extra passenger: Gracey. I didn’t work anymore on the album during our stay. We enjoyed each other’s companionship – we no other distractions. It was the perfect Christmas. So happy to be there with those we love so much.

Friday, December 26th :

Friday, all of us at Balboa Drive – the Thomases Three, my Mom, Grandma, Uncle Gary, Uncle Dana and Aunt Kaye – including Jess headed out for an after-Christmas shopping spree. We started out at Bealls with the intention of Mom getting the same pair of earrings as Aunt Kaye… but, of course, walked out with much more. We then decided to head to greener pastures – and to find some lunch.

We were following Uncle Dana and Aunt Kaye – everyone was riding in their Tahoe except for Jess, who was with us. As we turned onto the street, and I read the sign, I remember thinking that the name sounded familiar. I couldn’t place it, but I knew I had heard of it before. It was then, that Jess made the exasperated comment in mid-sentence, “Oh… he’s taking us straight through Tangelo Park.”. The next series of events happened quickly, but 1.) I remembered why the name ‘Tangelo Park’ stuck out; 2.) a young man was bolting in between Uncle Dana and us, with a terrified expression, I might add; and 3.) a Sherriff’s vehicle was peeling out of the intersecting street, gun at the ready. Good times. Once we reached our destination and were all together again, we laughed about the incident. We learned that Uncle Dana wanted to turn around, use his State-Trooper-instincts, and help. However, Aunt Kaye sensed what he was thinking and said, “Don’t you dare!”. He, of course, said that he wasn’t going to anyway, in fear that we would follow. Not a chance. Like I said… good times. At least Mom lifetime wish - of seeing someone who wears their pants around their knees trying to run for their lives - came true.

We were at Festival Ball then, but before we headed in to shop, we grabbed lunch at Fuddruckers. We ate outside – which Ammon enjoyed. He was beyond intoxicated by the pigeons. After lunch, we headed inside. We first went to Bass Pro – where Ammon got to hold a baby alligator. And my --- did he love this… immediately reaching for the teeth-end. He also liked the big fish tank – but only if the fish kept their distance. We made a few more stops before heading outside to feed the ducks. Ammon was, of course, more interested in the giant turtles and I feel sure he would have scaled the fence if he could have gotten away with it.

We left Festival Bay and headed back to Balboa Drive to drop Jess off. We then all headed out to Winter Garden Village at Fowler Groves, or Mecca if you have a good memory. We made a few stops before having to make an emergency run back home. Joanna, our family friend, had taken a fall at her home. Brian was able to go over later, after the ambulance and paramedics left, and give her a priesthood blessing. What a blessing for him to be able to do that kind thing for her.

Once things calmed down a bit and Ammon was put to bed, us girls decided to take a trip down memory lane and watch Mamma Mia!. Grandma and Aunt Kaye went to bed early, but Mom and I finished it. I then stayed up into the wee hours doing laundry. My new approach: Do laundry before going home, then I just unpack clean clothes and put them away. Addition to my new approach: Start earlier.

Saturday, December 27th :

Saturday came. The dreaded day. The day we would be going back to Woodburn Drive. We did all the necessary packing of belongings, scouring the house for the misplaced toy and sock, and tried to figure out how in the world we were going to get all our stuff home. We decided to take things slow, though. We certainly weren’t in any hurry to speed up that moment when we would drive down Balboa Drive, waving and saying, “See you later.”. But, despite our efforts, the dreaded time came... like it always does.

On our way out of town, we made a few stops. We first went to spend a few quiet minutes at the Temple. The most beautiful place on earth. It’s so peaceful there – even on the grounds. This exquisite place holds a very special place in our hearts, as this is where our family got its start five years ago. We loved walking aimlessly around the Temple’s perimeter – looking at the beautiful Nativity, longing to gink an orange from the fruit trees, letting Ammon pick leaves, and laughing as Brian skipped along with Ammon on his shoulders. Such a lovely place… truly heaven on earth.

We then went on to Boyd’s for one last peek, and then on to our traditional on-the-way-out-Target-run. Our drive home was as uneventful as the drive down. I still worked on projects the whole way… but I didn’t scrapbook. And soon enough, we were pulling up in our drive. Home again, home again. Back to reality. Back to life on Woodburn Drive.

***

We always hate leaving our family, as we love them so very much. We thank them for their kind hospitality, as always. As we always say: “The best company, grub and lodging in Orlando… and you can’t beat the price.”. We thank them for the good times, for the laughs… and especially for the love.

Thank you for everything. Thank you for helping to make our Christmas so very special. We love you from the bottom or our hearts… and always will. We hope to be with you again soon.

Mmm… good times. Good memories. It’s a very good life, indeed.