Catch up... prepare yourself for a novel with many pictures and film

So it has been a very long time (2 months to be exact) since I have blogged. I am not a slacker, just extremely busy. Christmas and break in between semesters went by REALLY fast which was a good and bad thing. I did not have one single boring moment. So, if you REALLY want to know about the past 6 weeks, sit back, relax, and prepare yourself for a long read :)

Christmas- which really falls on December 25th as we all know, but we celebrated ours a little early this year, almost an entire week early. I honestly LOVED this Christmas because it was so low key. We all decided to only get gifts for the kids which made shopping easy and stress free. We had a dinner together as a family and kept things simple. The kids (mainly Garner and Amulek) had a fun time playing with each other and new toys. Amulek loves balls, I dunno if its because he is destined to be a professional soccer player ( would be nice, haha we'll see) or what but, he has amazing foot/eye coordination. Aunt Sarah, Uncle Josh and cousins Garner and Maggie got Amulek a cool ball toy, its a caterpillar standing with its mouth open and you put a ball in the mouth and it slides down the caterpillar and it comes out its feet while playing music. That has been THE toy of all toys, mainly the balls- of which he received 16 this year, they are all over the house, which I don't mind, he loves em'. ALSO... Those How Does a Dinosaur.... books... HE LOVES to read! Everyday he brings me about 15 books throughout the day. He loves books, so he also got many books from other family members as well which we REALLY appreciate, reading to him everyday is very important to us. Coiner family Christmas went fast but it was nice, love being with family!

Train ride-

Erix, Amulek and I then left on Christmas Eve (Erix' birthday) to take a train from Virginia to California. :) Yes, really. It was quite enjoyable actually. I can only complain about one thing- not exactly comfortable to sleep sitting up or in contoured positions for 3 days. but it was a good experience. Amulek is a very social being, he loves smiling, waving and interacting with people of all ages. He made allot of friends on the train ride, and we met allot of nice people. Our first day was from Staunton to Chicago where a n older gentleman gave Amulek three pieces of fruit within 15 hours or so, another young lady who was a Montessori school teacher loved Amulek, played with him and shared her Pringles which he greatly appreciated I'm sure. And our favorite Shiela- she was the dining car hostess/waitress. She rode the train from Chicago to Sacramento and she was so much fun. Amulek looked forward to breakfast and dinner to see her. We would walk into the dining car he automatically started throwing Shiela kisses, which he received ice cream in return- two nights in a row! It was great together time for us as a family. Normally Erix and I are crazy busy working and studying full time we only get weekends together, so being on the train for 3 days together was great- no interruptions.

CALIFORNIA-
When we got off the train in Sacramento we unloaded our luggage and walked up into the station and were greeted by Erix sister Waldina and her fiance Scott (who is now her husband). We had 3 days with them until Erix' other sister Maria and her husband Colin and their boys Ian, Allistair, and Colincito returned from a visit to Montana. We had some great times while we visited. The main reason we went was for Waldina's wedding, and we kept quite busy trying to get the reception together and get dresses and sashes done for 8 damas (aka bridesmaids) which was CRAZY! We ordered dresses online which I tried to have priority shipped which didn't work, so I had to REorder the dresses and have the second order priority shipped which they shipped to VIRGINIA!!! So we said o well, and decided we would all just buy something black and look similar. As we were shopping for dresses Erix called and said the dresses arrived- (less that 24 hours before the wedding). But we had them! *pfew* Before the wedding day arrived, we spent practically every dinner together and then staying up late talking or playing the infamous game of MONOPOLY. Its tradition that we play a few times whenever we are together. And its not always a nice game, some of the family members like to play "dirty"..hmmm and if you are reading this you know who you are...Colin) :) ALSO- this year was my first time making a turkey dinner. And I was soooo excited to get to, AND try my hand at something new. It was allot of work.... turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, carrots layonnaise. It all turned out quite delicious! I LOVE cooking. I also made a great recipe my sister gave me when I got married 'Italian Wedding Soup' with spinach and meatballs- it was a hit, but I topped it off with my dad's famous peach cobbler- haha which EVERYONE asked for seconds, and a few asked for THIRDS! We had alot of good times around the dinner table in California.

Wedding-
Well, I don't know what it is with weddings but very rarely do things go as planned. To begin with everyone was running late :) we got to the temple 30 mins late, and when we got there we weren't even sure if we had someone to keep the kids. :] So I was stressed- which is normal for me these days. Luckily one of Waldina's mission companions brought her sister along who was so kind to watch Amulek and Maria's boys too while we were inside. The sealing was beautiful and they looked so happy. Pictures were crazy hectic, they had a photographer but everyone else (probably 15 other ppl) had brought personal cameras and were trying to get some shots as well.... kids were tired and hungry and we still had to go do some finishing touches for the reception. The reception started late, but went well. Food, some dancing, great slide show of Waldina and Scott's lives growing up then together, family and a few friends came to celebrate with them and wish them the best. I hope they enjoyed it. It was beautiful and intimate. We showered them with bubbles as they left for a honeymoon on the bay in San Fransisco.

The END-
We stayed till 9 cleaning up, went home, packed our things and left at 5 a.m.
CRAZY! Everything came at us at once. Amulek did well on the first flight, mainly slept cause it was so early- but the second flight he threw up on me twice (memorable) but everyone around us was great and helped me out when trying to clean him and myself up.

Now-
We are back home and back into the swing of things. I'm in school full time taking 6 classes (18 credits) and I can't wait to finish in July! Erix is working this week which is a blessing because work this time of year is slow, so anything right now is a HUGE blessing. Amulek is still 20 pounds, but is 29 almost 30 inches long he is short and thin- still carries a lil tiny belly but the doctor says he is fine and healthy. He started to count last week he says "nnn, two...theeee" "dog" "mami" and he will sign for us to tell us he wants something and when he wants more. Its exciting he is finally communicating with us.

So that is our 6 week delayed update on how are holidays went and what we are up to these days. We really look forward to this year-hoping it goes by quickly as I finish up my degree and hopefully begin a career mid-fall. We have alot of things happening now and I hope I can keep everyone updated. Enjoy the photos and video.