The Reilly's are blogging? It's a Christmas Miracle

Pretty sad that I changed my background before updating. My brother told me months ago that I needed to update. I didn't do it and then my computer crashed. Luckily my brother Tyler got everything up and running. I have a lot to report. So, there will be a lot of pictures and writing.

So my little girl, who I am realizing is changing from a little girl, turned 5 in Sept. It seems like yesterday that I was laying in my apartment having contractions all night, awaiting the arrival of our first. She spent her special day having fun. She had a birthday party and got to invite whoever she wanted, and she did. It was fun, but we were worn out by the end. She got some fun presents. Barbies+barbies+barbies=a happy 5 year old girl. Our cousin was running a marathon here the next day, so they came with their family to stay. We went to eat with them. It was fun to have them here to celebrate. My sister and her family came that night as well because we were making salsa the next morning. How much better can it get to have cousins here on your birthday? (The salsa turned out great and it was fun. Our friend Leanne was here as well to do the salsa) Niamh is such a joy in my life. Niamh is full of life. There is never a dull moment with her. There are times that she can be a little dramatic, but I will take it. She is such a good helper. She is a great big sister. She loves to play, color, look at books, and put puzzles together. She is in pre-school and is getting excited to read. Last night she read her first book, granted it had 8 words throughout. But she did it all by herself. She sounded out the words and felt so accomplished at the end. I was a proud mom. I am thankful to have her in my life. She makes me happy, almost all the time. They all have their moments, right?. She loves to go to church. I love to be in primary so I can watch her. Happy way belated birthday to my Sweets.

Halloween was fun again this year. We go to Danny's work for trick or treating during the day. Our friend Julee came with her twin girls Macie and Chloe. They were hillarious. They would immediately open their candy to test it out. It was fun to have them come with us. The grandma's and grandpa's hand out the candy. They love to see all the little kids. The girls leave with sticky or chocolate fingers or costumes, and full buckets. We take the girls around our neighborhood then come back and hand out candy. It was a fun night.

November means Christmas trees. We headed to the cabin on Thursday. We always love to go to the cabin. It was just our family for the first night. We went to Yellowstone the next day to go to the bear and wolf exhibit. It is fun to see them up close. It was freezing but we were ready for the cold. We went back to the cabin and watched movies and waited for the rest of the crew to come. Mom and dad, Jill and Scott, and Matt and Ashley came and we all had dinner. Ty and Ash came a little later. Mom and dad always give the kids a little something. They all lined up waiting anxiously. They each got a Christmas coloring book, A Christmas Carol book for the family, and a darling Christmas shirt. Mamie makes it so much fun for all the grandkids. She makes sure each kid has the perfect thing for him/her. It is always fun to see what they get. We took the annual sit on the stairs picture. Fun traditions!!The cabin and the game tripoly go together. One is not complete without the other. Matt's Ashley had never played it before. You would never know. She was on fire. Of course there had to be one winner. It came down to me, Ty, and Matt. We stayed up until 4:30 to finish. If I recall, it was me who was the winner, which never happens. We were all very tired so that added to the fun of it. We always have a great big good breakfast then get ready to go get the trees. This year mom got to come. She has always stayed to watch the little kids. All the little kids were big enough this year. She got all geared up to go. I am so glad she was able to come to share this experience with us this year. She was a pro. She thought we went clear out into the woods and that the snow was clear up to your knees. We can spot trees pretty close to the road which makes it nice. The snow wasn't that bad this year, until it came time for the minivan to leave, then it was bad. I had a hard time finding a tree that I liked this year. I tend to be a brat and turn down every tree Danny picks out. I have an ideal tree in my mind. I promised him that next year I would look at his trees. We were getting 2 for us and one for our neighbor. Since I have such a wonderful husband who stayed back to watch the kids I was out with my dad. My sweet dad is always by my side helping me. It seems like it is always me and him who end up helping eachother out. He knew I was getting to the desperate point. He turned down a few trees I pointed out. We finally found one and cut it. We left it there and said we would come back for it. Well, we traced our steps, which turned out to be other's steps and the tree was lost. We searched and searched. NO luck. Back to looking for 3 more trees. Everyone else was done at this point so that made it worse. We found one and cut it down. We were dragging that one, which would be for the basement. We were like the pioneer children who sang as they walked and walked....we didn't sing though. We came to this tree that was gigantic. It was almost as big as the tree that Clark finds on Christmas Vacation. I saw it, and it was so pretty. I saw dad look at it, then look again, then again, all the while I was thinking, there is no way. That thing is huge. He turned to me and said, " We found your tree honey." We put the tree in the vault so it can be tall. It was so tall. We cut it there then had to cut it again. And then I had to cut it twice when I got home. Thanks to my wonderful dad for sticking with me to find the perfect tree. He never complained once. The other group went out to look for the other tree. Mom was with us when we cut it down , so she gathered everyone else and they all went in together and found it. So nice. We went to leave and the van totally got stuck. Dad, Ty, and Scott were pushing and no luck. A suburban was sitting behind us waiting and the guy came and helped. It was free finally. Note to self, don't take the van in next year. We went back to the cabin and had a wonderful turkey dinner with all the trimmings. Tyler has a smoker and smoked the turkeys. They were so good. Mom and dad always make sure everything is nice. The cabin is always fun. We make fun memories every year that will last a lifetime. We are so grateful to mom and dad and all the time they put in to make the cabin so much fun. Thank you, thank you, thank you, for the wonderful time. We appreciate everything they do and all they provide to make the cabin trip the best!!!!

Mitch and Sarah came to Utah to bless Jack. We went to Farmington to Sarah's sister's ward. Mitch did a wonderful job. It was so much fun to see them. Jack is such a cute baby. He is so content and loves to smile. Are is such a cute big sister. It is cute to watch her with him. We went to her sister's house after church for lunch. It was so much fun to all be together. It has been a couple of years that our family has been together. Mitch and Sarah have a beautiful family and they are such good parents. We were happy to be able to share their special day with them. We love them and miss being able to see them often. We are looking forward to seeing them at Christmas.

Thanksgiving was with the Reilly's this year again. We headed to Salt Lake on Wednesday to stay at the Hilton, compliments of Dennis and Sharon. We met up at PF Changs for dinner which is always delish. We then went to Boondocks. My girls were thrilled and counted down the days, LITERALLY on their calendar. They couldn't wait to go to BOONDOGS. It was a night full of go-cart racing(I was the winner of my heat I just have to add), arcade games, a game of laser tag(which our team got slaughtered), and the winning of many coupons. It was a blast. Thanksgiving morning Danny goes with the Weeks boys and kids to play roller blade hockey. He didn't dress to impress this year. If I can find the picture, I will post it from last year. Meanwhile, the girls and I get ready while watching the Macy's parade. We headed to Little America to eat. Dennis always heads over to wait in line. He is a true champion to stand in line for a couple hours for all of us. Dinner was soooooo good. It always is, but this year was even better I think. We headed back to the hotel and had a good nap. We went to Aunt Jo's to hang out with everyone. Pie, leftovers, games, ads, and talking is what takes place and there is nothing that could make it better. Aunt Jo and Uncle Rich are sports to want so many extras in their home. Black Friday...what a day. Dennis takes all the potty trained kids from 9 AM to 5 PM(this year). Last year it was 4. I told him that Bergin miraculously got potty trained that week. He told me it was too late. Better for him. She is not potty trained. She is crazy and that is probably the best word to describe her. The kids went to breakfast at the hotel. They went to Hogle Zoo, lunch, the movie Planet 51, then to the bookstore to pick out a book. We all met up and had dinner. You would think that after being with 10 grandkids for 8 hours, he would be ready to get us out of his sight. We were invited to their room for the 1st annual Bingo. Everyone won a prize. It was so much fun. Dennis makes it so much fun. He will tell us that if we have the next #, we get a piece of candy, and it is always good candy. Niamh won a suitcase of makeup. Ryan and Bergin won baby dolls. Danny won a juicer. It is an old one that matches our old malt machines. It will come in handy this next summer for homeade lemonade. We become the favorite house on the block when Danny makes his lemonade, courtesy of the Kansas City Royals game he went to earlier this year. He and Dennis found out how they made it, then mastered it. Add a little fresh fruit, and you are hooked. I was the winner of the ipod touch. We all were very pleased to say the least. That was the end of the eventful vacation. I don't know what happened, but this year there were no photos taken. I had a couple from dinner at PF Changs, and I forgot about the camera since then. I wish we had more pictures. Next time we will have to document better. There are not enough thanks that can be said to Dennis and Sharon for the wonderful time and EVERYTHING included.

The girls are in a little dance class and had their dance recital. Mom and dad were going to San Francisco so they wouldn't be here but they were coming through on the night of their dress rehearsal. They came to watch. Ryan is our shy one so I was curious as to what she would do. The curtains opened and she had a big grin on her face. Of course, the only people watching were me, my mom and dad. It was so cute. You could tell that her and Niamh were thrilled. After the rehearsal, we headed to Salt Lake. Danny was there for work. We had tickets to the Mormon Tabernacle Concert featuring Natalie Cole. Ty and Ash watched the girls for us. They are so nice to help out. They went swimming with the girls and then took them to eat at Olive Garden. We went to the concert with mom and dad. It was so good. There is such an amazing spirit in the conference center. The entertainment was great. We had a good time. Friday night was the actual recital. I was still wondering how the girls would do since there were a lot more people than me and my parents. Ryan kept the grin on her face. Niamh is totally opposite. She loves to perform. It is funny to see how different the girls are in dancing. They did such a good job. W were a happy mom and dad.

Since Christmas is in two days, I thought I better update now. I know this is super long and may be boring, but I had to keep reminding myself that this is for me and I couldn't leave anything out.