10 pounds lighter (give or take)

Today I went from this:



To this:



Hallelujah.

Christmas 2008

A couple of days late, but we hope everyone had a Merry Christmas. This is the extent of our Christmas card this year so I hope you enjoy it. We had a quiet and pretty much stress-free couple of days.

Christmas Eve we stayed home and hung out. We got pizza and watched a movie. Kendall kept running to the computer to check NORAD to see where Santa was and when he hit Arizona all the kids started to panic (some faking) and were more than willing to go to bed. Shelby was doubly-excited because she lost her first tooth earlier that day and was going to get a visit from the Tooth Fairy as well.



I slept through the Tooth Fairy but I got to hang with Santa since I'm still sleeping on the living room couch (will the swelling ever go down?). We hung out for awhile, shared some cookies and then he gave me a few instructions about the kids' stuff - he even left me some extra candy - isn't Santa great? Kendall left him a letter and he was kind enough to write one back. She will share it with anyone who will read it (not like she'll talk to you).

Our kids are awesome sleepers and we didn't hear any noise until about 7. We made them wait until 8 to come downstairs so that Scott could do some prep work for his Christmas brunch.

When they did finally come down - we laughed because they all went for their stockings first and totally ignored the other stuff. I finally had to suggest that they open their Santa stuff. Brennan was faking excitement because all Santa had brought him was a backpack. His grades were questionable last term and he had been warned. I would have let him sweat it out, but Scott kept dropping hints about maybe looking inside the backpack. What do you know? We made him cry again this year. How do we top it now?



Here are a few pictures of some excited kids and their loot.









Tori got her much requested (every day for months) digital camera, Shelby got a Leap Frog Didj (very cool and much cheaper than a Nintendo DS, with actual learning as a bonus). Kendall received her Ding-Dongs per her Santa letter and some Littlest Pet Shop. She also got a stuffed hippopotamus because she has been singing that song for weeks and Santa thought she should have one. Thank heavens its only stuffed - I like parking my van in the garage.

Scott's parents came over for breakfast, per tradition, and stayed to watch us open presents, although Dad did disappear and slept through the entire thing. We had a pretty lazy day and decided to hit a movie that night. We saw "The Tale of Desperaux" and came home craving soup. So I whipped up a batch of creamy potato (Bear Creek style) and the little girls topped off the evening with bubble baths and body paints.

Rosenlof Family Christmas is now the day after so we got to have Christmas all over again last night. We had a great time with all the aunts, uncles and cousins. We played a rousing White Elephant game that was quite hilarious and had some yummy chicken enchiladas that should become a tradition.





Over all not a bad way to begin the end of 2008. On to 2009 and a great year!

Foot News

I went to the Dr. today and the pins will be pulled on Dec. 11th. Hooray! That will make 8 weeks of one leg and no arms. For all those who want to know how they come out I asked today. Here is what they said. Twist and pull. No drugs. They swear it doesn't hurt. We'll see. Cami - I know where you live.

Thanksgiving Week

We made the annual trek to Utah for Thanksgiving this last week. We left a day early this year because my awesome SIL Tauni got us tickets to the Utah-BYU game. What a great game!! She even made sure that I got curbside service and I got to use the elevator (with a grumpy SL Trib reporter). Scott and Garrit went too. It was lots of fun to be surrounded by Ute fans for once and in case you didn't hear they kind of won the game 48-24. As said best, by Clara "GO UTES!" BCS here we come.

We went to the movies too. We saw Bolt and the grown-up ladies saw Twilight. We decided that the less obsessed with the book - the more you liked the movie. My only issue was Jasper and the weird soundtrack they used. Funky for sure.

The kids were able to see some of their cousins and even got to spend the night with a couple of them. (Thanks Jeff & Jane!)

Thanksgiving Day was fun. We ate at Mom's with just the family and then went to Aunt MA's for dessert and games.

The drive wasn't too bad either way. The way back is a little longer than normal, but it wasn't as bad as last year. I decided that I'm riding in the back from now on - it goes a lot faster when you can sleep, watch movies and read!

Where Oh Where Have You Been??

So as many of you know, I had foot surgery 3 weeks ago and have been down since then. I would have posted, but I have been under the influence of narcotics and could not be trusted to not say stupid or offensive things. I have also had numerous requests for pictures of said foot and the progress it has made-so without further ado and with this:

*****WARNING***** THE FOLLOWING PICTURES CONTAIN GRAPHIC CONTENT - DO NOT CONTINUE IF YOU ARE GROSSED OUT BY TOES THAT LOOK LIKE SAUSAGE.

The Before Picture:



Three Days After Surgery:



Two Weeks After Surgery: