Las Vegas/California Trip December 2008

BYU went to the Bowl Game in Las Vegas again this past football season, so we were able to sneak in another trip! Brenden was able to get 6 bowl tickets, so 2 went to his wife, 2 went to his mom, and 2 went to Paul. We decided that we would ALL go to Las Vegas, but only Sierra and Paul would go to the Bowl Game. Extra tickets were $50/each and I was certain the younger boys wouldn't sit still for the game, and would quickly become bored, so I was not about to spend $200 for all of us to go and NOT have fun! Instead, we decided that I would take the boys for a night out on the town...in Vegas. Ok, so we couldn't really do the Vegas scene. We didn't walk the strip. We went to the Excalibur Buffet and I let the boys eat until they were sick! Then we went to the outskirts of Vegas, and saw the Movie "Tale of Desperaux". These pictures were taken with my cell phone, so they are not that great. The boys had a great time! After the show we went to go pick up Sierra and Paul at the Bowl Game. We were able to time everything just right so no one had to wait around!

Snow in Vegas! On our way to California the next day, we saw people stopped on the side of the freeway having snowball fights, and loading snow into their trucks!

Daniel with movie poster

Jacob with movie poster

Andrew is int here somewhere!

All the boys in front of the movie poster

After Vegas, we left the next day to head over to California. The boys have never seen the beach before, and I really wanted them to be able to see it! They were excited to PLAY in it. I knew it was going to be cold water, since we were just in California a couple weeks before and it was cold THEN! But the kids insisted that they were going to play in the ocean! Sierra and Andrew got too cold pretty quick, but Jacob and Daniel stayed in until they were turning blue...at some point good parenting had to come into play!

Some of the other pictures in the slide show are of the trip to Vegas in the Suburban. (I am SO glad we bought this!) After the Ocean experience, we told the boys they could go swimming at the hotel in California, cuz it would be better....IT WAS NOT! I have a couple pictures of the boys jumping in! It was COLD! Other pictures are of the family at some sort of Amusement park in California. We didn't have the time for Disneyland, so we settle for this. The kids had a BLAST though, at a FRACTION of the cost!

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Christmas 2008

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We went to Las Vegas and then California the fews days before Christmas. We got back Christmas Eve, went straight to my mom's house where we had a big Christmas Dinner. We got back to our home about 9 p.m. The kids opened their annual Christmas Eve present (PJ's...of course) and then went downstairs to watch CHRISTMAS STORY on the 24 hour marathon. Paul told them that they could wake us up at 6 a.m. for present opening. I knew he was crazy, but he said what is the fun of Christmas if you can't wake up super early? So Paul and I got busy wrappying EVERY PRESENT! Since we had been out of town, none of this got done. FINALLY, at 4 a.m. Paul and I crawled into bed. Let's just say 6 a.m. came EARLY and Paul realized he has been a little too zealous!

Gingerbread Houses

I know this post is coming a few months late. It has been bugging me for MONTHS that I need to update, so I am going to give it a good try today!

These are pictures of the Gingerbread Houses we made this past Christmas. Sierra and Daniel made one, and Jacob and Andrew made another. They had great fun doing them! It was VERY difficult for me not to INSIST that the candy be even on both sides...(for those that REALLY know me, you can appreciate how difficult this truly was!)

Sierra and Daniel's finished product

Jacob and Andrew's finished product

100 Day

It was the 100th day of school a couple weeks ago, and the kids celebrate it every year, even though I don't think they celebrate as much as the teachers! Only 80 more days after that! Anyway, when Andrew was in the second grade (last year) and this year with Daniel in the second grade, they got to dress up like 100 year old men. Here is the picture of Andrew last year, and Daniel this year. They had a really fun time pretending to be this old!

Andrew's 100 Day

Daniel's 100 Day

I'm talking 'bout friends

I love my girl friends. We always have the funnest time when we hang out. Paul is awesome to be so supportive of my friendships with them. We will get together, at least the ones living close, every month or so, maybe 6 weeks, and go to a show, or dinner. But at least once a year, sometimes twice, we are lucky enough to get Brenda down from Pocetello, and Debi from Cedar City, and have our annual Girls Night Out. We have all been friends since our college days, and share many, many memories!
Last night we met at Maddox in Brigham City for dinner. We did a white elephant gift exchange afterward, and just talked and visited for 3 hours. It was great fun. I have to say 1/2 way through dinner, I started feeling really sick to my stomach, but didn't want to leave so I stuck it out. I was getting worse on the drive home, and then just about passed out as soon as I walked through the door. Paul was able to enjoy the 3/4 of my steak that I didn't finish at the restaurant! I had so much fun though, that even this morning, still feeling sick, I can say....IT WAS SOOOOO WORTH IT! I wouldn't give up a night of fun with my girlfriends for anything! Here are some pictures we took. (Sorry about the HUGE flash in the middle of the group picture...that was courtesty of the waitress)
Brenda and Natalie
Robin and Debi
Kara and Wendy V.
Brenda, Debi, Robin, Natalie, Kara, Wendy G., Wendy V.
This was the best white elephant gift of the night. A LIFE SIZE glamour shot of Kara!
I will have a few more pictures posted of the evening on my facebook account, so head over there if you want to see more!

Trimming the Tree

We got a real tree this year, since we don't have any little ones to choke on the pine needles. It's quite big, and takes up alot of space, but what fun is a Christmas Tree if it doesn't? This was "Pre-Ornament" hanging.

Me unwrapping the ornaments. All the kids got to hang up their own, and Sierra hung up hers, and the ones for Josh, Jeremy, and Aubrey since they weren't here. Brenden gets to take his and put them on his own tree this year. (I got 2 cavities filled just an hour before this, so my lips are pretty numb...)

This was part of the process...kids hovering around waiting for their ornament, and the story that went along with it.

Paul was in charge this year of fixing the ornaments that haven't faired to well over the years. He did a great job of gluing, and fixing.

Again, part of the process. This picture captures all the kids that were here to help us. Jacob in the back of the tree, Sierr and Daniel in the front, and Andrew kneeling down by me.

The finished product. The tree is sagging quite a bit, since we have a lot of pretty heavy ornaments, and the fact that ornaments for 8 kids are on the tree, plus the ones I had growing up, the ones for Paul, and the few that we have together.

This is my Americana tree. I normally don't let the boys help me decorate this tree, but this year I caved. They did a pretty good job. We had great fun decorating the trees. Christmas music playing in the background. Only thing missing was my yummy hot chocolate, but we haven't gotten to the store yet to buy the ingredients.

Newest Addition

For those of you who may not already know, Sierra has moved up here to Utah to live with us. We couldn't be more excited. We were hoping that she was going to move up here last year, and start 9th grade here, but circumstances were such that that was not possible. She came home with us after the wedding in California. It has been a busy week. We needed to buy her a new phone, a winter coat, (even though you could hardly tell it's winter....YET) and some school supplies. She decided to go to Hillcrest High School where Paul teaches. This is very exciting for Paul, who loves the fact that he gets to teach at the same school his daughter is going to....plus he gets to keep an eye on all the boys. Sierra told Paul on the first day some of the people she had met, and one of the guys was gay. Paul was quick to point out that that was the best kind of guy for her to meet!
Next year Sierra will go to the new High School here in Saratoga Springs as a Sophmore. The school is not finished yet, or that's where she would have gone this year. We are hoping the transition won't be terribly hard for her, since she already has friends up here from when she would come see us before. She has taken over the room that used to be Jeremy's, and as soon as Aubrey is completely moved out, Jacob will have that room. So all the kids will have their own rooms, (no more fighting at bedtime from Daniel and Andrew) and Sierra and Jacob will share the basement bathroom...more to follow on how THAT works out. :-)

P.S. Daniel is probably the MOST excited about the change of events. Ever since Paul and I were engaged, he was thrilled that he was going to have a sister. He loves Sierra so much.

Wax on, Wax off

The day before we left for California, I heated up my wax so I could wax my eyebrows. I have this wax that is really good, the type they use in Salons. It doesn't harden and adhere to your skin, so it's not as painful. I knew Aubrey waxed so I offered to let her and Sierra, if she chose to, use the wax while it was hot. They came up and Sierra let Aubrey wax her eyebrows.

It looks like Aubrey is having a lot more fun than Sierra....(This was taken after Aubrey had already ripped off 2 wax strips.)

This is Aubrey waxing hers, she done it before so she knows what to expect...and STILL smiling! :-)

Presenting Brenden and Lyndsey Gaskins

Brenden and Lyndsey tied the knot Saturday, at the Redlands Temple in California. Paul and I were able to make the trip with Aubrey, Sierra and Josh. It was a beautiful wedding. The temple ceremony is always beautiful to listen to. They make a very handsome couple and we are very happy for them.

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P.S. Sorry if I got names wrong, and misspelled....I did my best. :-)

If you would like to see engagement pictures, and other pictures as they are posted, visit their blog at: http://www.teamgaskins.blogspot.com/

Jeremy's SLCPD Graduation

It's official. Jeremy Gaskins is now an official Salt Lake City Police Officer. On November 26th, Jeremy, along with 22 other men/women graduated the academy. It was so much fun to go and see all the men and women in uniform, looking very serious, I might add. Most of Jeremy's family was able to be there. His mom and gradma travelled up from New Mexico, along with Josh and Sierra. His cousins, and of course Paul and I, Aubrey, Jacob, Andrew, and Daniel were there as well. Brenden was the only one missing. He was in California getting ready for his wedding. He was missed, but we had a great time none the less.

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Just as a side note, we were all sitting around the table Wednesday evening, and Julie happened to notice that a clip of the graduation was on Television. Jeremy was shown several times! We were really excited for him. We recorded it, but here is a link for you to watch on KSL channel 5 if you would like...
http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=4910741

Andrew is 9

November is a pretty busy month in the Gaskin home. Two birthdays, and Thanksgiving all withing weeks. This year, we also had a wedding! BUSY BUSY! We celebrated Andrew's birthday the day before, watching the BYU @ Utah football game. Andrew insisted that we go over to the Robbins house to watch it, so he could watch it with Justus. There were a ton of people there, and we had a great time. Everyone sang to Andrew during 1/2 time. Everyone was all to willing to take their mind off the game for a minute or two.

After the game, we went home, and had the official celebration with Grandma and Grandpa Rick, Grandma Nell, Preston, Aunt Teri, Uncle Jason, Alisa, and Alison, along with Jacob, Daniel, Paul, and myself.

BYU @ Air Force

For part of Paul's Birthday he and I went to Colorado Springs to the BYU @ Air Force game. It was a long drive, I don't think either one of us realized how long it actually was before we started. Colorado had had a snow storm on Friday (November 14) so driving through the mountains at 11:00 at night was pretty slow going. We got to Colorado Springs at about 2:00 a.m. We got to sleep in a little, since it was a 12:00 game. The game was a little scary at times, but BYU prevailed. Even though Paul and I both agreed that it was difficult not to root for the home team just a little...after all, they are part of the armed forces! They had a pretty cool show before the game. That is what we took pictures of mostly. As a side note, for some reason Andrew really likes the Denver Broncos, so while we were there we took the opportunity to find Broncos "stuff" for his birthday on the 23rd of November.


Ok, we got a few in there of Brenden warming up. By the way, if anyone watched the game on TV, Paul and I could be seen in the crowd when BYU scored their first touchdown...thankfully, we were cheering, not eating our Chick-fil-A!

Paul's Birthday

Paul turned 44 this year. We were able to have most everyone around to celebrate. We were missing Sierra and Josh, but they were not able to make it up that weekend. I decided that I was going to buy Paul the new T-Mobile G1 phone, but I didn't want to buy it too soon, because I knew you only had 14 days to try it out and return it if you didn't like it, so I waited until just a few days before. Probably not the best idea. We were on a 20 day waiting list! So I tucked the cash in an envelope, and told him in 20 days he could get it...pathetic! He had a great birthday, and we love to find any excuse to get together and celebrate.