Whittaker family

Yup. We ended up going to Chicago for Christmas. And it was good. Really good. In fact, I never realize how much I miss my family until I am with them for a few days and then have to say goodbye to them again. Especially this time. When you want to be close to help them and comfort them in times like this. My sister lost her baby at 36 weeks pregnant. So sad. How could we not have gone? I am so glad we were able to be there and spend time with them and my parents. They seem to be doing well, under the circumstances, and we did have a good time, considering. Lots of food, games, movies, shopping, talking, crying, and even more food. I have such strong sisters who are great examples to me and I am lucky to have them in my life.

Anyway, here are some pictures of the kids. I didn't take a whole lot due to the yearly migraine that picked Christmas Eve to visit me. Blasted thing. Why Christmas?

We even got this really great game from my brother:

If you haven't played it, play it. You'll like it. I'll try to get some more pictures of the kids and their new loot on here. We all came home with too much again, but it was so fun and I am already excited for next Christmas.

So as of last night, we decided to stay here for Christmas. Our plan was to go to Chicago and spend Christmas with my sister and her family, like we did last year. But...after much contemplating we decided it best to stay home. Sad. Happy. Excited. Nervous. Mixed feelings. Everything, I am feeling. We have never had Christmas on our own, and I am wondering how it will go. At first, I was really excited, and I still am, but after reading so many Christmas cards and emails from friends and family, it has made me a little homesick for them. So, with tears in my eyes this morning I headed to the post office with the kids in hopes that gifts will get to my sister's house before Christmas, since we won't be driving them anymore. Why are we not going? Bad weather, sick kids, sick me (colds), Nate's only time to catch up on things, finally finishing the basement, etc. But it will be good.

Things I will miss from Christmas with family:

• All the wonderful and never ending food that is available. (I guess I should start my grocery list and head to the store tomorrow.)
• Games. Games games and more games. Yes, we will still play games, but not the famous Folsom group games.
• The never ending gift opening on Christmas morning.
• Being the first one up Christmas morning every single year. (Dylan wins at that now)
• The funny gifts. Every year, someone randomly (okay, it is usually me) wraps a silly white elephant type gift for someone and it is funny to watch the expression on everyone's faces. Is this gift for reals?
• More food.
• Never ending visiting.
• More games.
• Just being with everyone.

Things I am excited for this Christmas:

• Being with my own little family and enjoying Nate's 5 days off with him.
• NO PACKING to go anywhere. YAY!!!!
• Spending time with the many other families that are here alone for Christmas. What great friends we have here.
• Playing games with friends (hopefully) and enjoying our new game that we are getting for Christmas!Yay, I am so excited to open it!
• Getting our basement finished.
• Being home to receive all the baked goods that come. We usually come home from Christmas with a pile of stale(sp?) and hard baked goods on our door step.
• Enjoying Christmas morning with just our kids. This way there shouldn't be too much fighting over all the toys.
• Being Santa by ourselves and spreading the gifts around the room instead of being crammed in a little corner
• Starting our own traditions.

And I feel we are so blessed right now. So many other residents and med students have to work during Christmas and Nate has ALWAYS been given time off, since the beginning. Thank you! Also, at least he isn't in Iraq. At least we are all healthy (for the most part). At least we are all alive. At least we have a home and can celebrate Christ's birth. At least we can be together!

HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!

I love making this fudge at Christmas because it is so good and SO EASY to make. The missionaries wouldn't stop eating it the other night and I have had many friends say it is the best fudge they have ever had.

All you need is 2 HUGE Symphony bars, (I like

the Almond and Toffee kind the best, but you can use the

regular milk chocolate kind as well) and 1 can of

sweetened condensed milk. Melt the

chocolate in a double broiler (so it doesn't burn) and add

the sweetened condensed milk. Stir until combined and poor

into a lightly greased 8 x 8 pan.

Refrigerate and enjoy! (If you don't have a double

broiler, try using the microwave)



*For a cute friend or neighbor gift, you can give the 2 bars, the can of milk, and the recipe with a little bow tied around it. That way they can make it when they want too.

I made my very first cake! Okay, I have actually made cake before (way too many times), but not these fun little birthday cakes. Dylan helped me make it while Cassie took a nap and I was a little too thrilled about how it turned out. I really don't have any artistic or "crafty" abilities unless I have word-by-word instruction. All this had was a picture and I did it! Yeah for me.

Yummy cake! (Nate will love me all the more for this picture).

So here are a few fun facts about Cassie:

• She LOVES broccoli. Especially raw broccoli dipped in ranch dressing.
  
• She LOVES putting shoes on and wearing them around the house. I leave a big pile of hand-me-down shoes (that are too big for her) on the floor of her closet for this purpose. I will often find her sitting in her closet (in the dark) trying on all the shoes. She is to the point now where she has to sleep in them too. Along with her hat, which brings me to the next one...
  
• She LOVES wearing hats. This makes things easier for me. I don't have to do her hair.
  
• She didn't walk until she was 16 months old.
  
• She is a VERY tough little girl. During her first year of life, she endured many long hours of physical therapy, which caused her excruciating pain. Poor thing.
  
• She will play in her crib for hours before and after her naps. It is nice. Total opposite of Dylan, the screamer.
  
• She has a really tough head. She "bonks" her head on things all the time (really hard too) and gets right up and keeps playing. I think Dylan has helped in making her tough. She even rolled head over feet down 3/4 of the stairs tonight and jumped right up (after a little hug) and started playing again.
  
• She was diagnosed with "Failure to Thrive" (last year) and after her appointment today she weighed in at 25 pounds and is now above average for her age! Yay!!! Finally! She is still one skinny little girl though.
  
• She has such a sweet little voice, especially when she is trying to pray.
• She LOVES books.

We love her so much and we feel so blessed to have her in our family. I love having a little girl!

This is how I found Cassie the other day. She is sitting in the front of a little grocery cart where dolls are supposed to sit and I have no idea how she got herself in there (Dylan wasn't home to help). I guess she knows her place when we go grocery shopping. She had the cart full of books and would read them and then throw them out. She loves books!



I always find her in the most random places. She has been found in the dryer, kitchen cupboard, under the bathroom sink, in closets, in the van (in the garage), in the drawers on Dylan's bed, in the entertainment center cupboard etc. Oh, and she has even been found out in a snowdrift before (long story). Most all of these require the help of her older brother, of course. Kids are so silly.

Right now, Cassie is supposed to be taking a nap and I can hear her in her crib getting after her doll for not going "nigh-nighs". She makes me laugh a lot.

If you would like to read a very

informative tribute that my dear

friend wrote on my behalf,

click here.

Now isn't she just something special. Bless her little heart!!

We finally had a day with no wind so we had my lovely friend Cora take our pictures. It was so cold out! This is about the best we could do with the kids. It is so hard to get them to smile for pictures, but that is okay. I figure as long as we can all be in one picture looking half decent, then we succeeded!

That night we went to a Resident Christmas party (for Nate's work). It was pretty fun. Lots of food and funny White Elephant gifts. Dylan and Cassie even scored big time in the children's gift exchange.

Mickey Mouse hats!

Chillin with Mater and Lightening McQueen.

Cassie with Grandma and Sam in a spinning ladybug ride. Dylan was tired of rides by the end of the day so I stayed out and watched with him. I was glad to have an excuse to sit out because the kids rides made me a little sick. Too much spinning.

Eating Churros with a Penguin.

Dylan and Candace coming out of the Finding Nemo submarine. All Dylan wanted to do at Disneyland was go on this ride and we finally got on it at the end of our second day. It is the newest ride at Disneyland so the line was always so long. And honestly, it really wasn't that great, but the kids loved it.

Next time we go on a trip like this, I think we will spend the whole time at Disneyland and California Adventure instead of Sea World and the Wild Animal Park. There is so much to do at Disneyland and it took us a little longer to get around because of the kids and having to take turns going on all the rides. But we would get stroller passes and fast passes which would get us on the rides really quickly, so really there wasn't a lot of long lines. Just lots of kids to haul around. They all did so good though. However, they may have gotten a little overwhelmed by everything.

We saw the laser light show "Fantasmic" at Disneyland and it was really neet. The kids eyes would light up so much and you could tell they loved it.

If any of you are Dancing With The Stars Fans, then you may be jealous to know that we were at Disneyland the same night that Jenny Garth danced with Mickey Mouse. Okay, maybe you're not jealous. There were so many people there anyway you really couldn't see anything.

Oh, here are some pictures of us swimming at the resort one day. It was such a fun place. Nate, Dylan and I had actually been there a couple of years ago and Dylan took his first steps there.
Here he is below in almost the same place he learned to walk. It was fun to go back there, it is a really nice place!

Both my kids loved the water, but I couldn't believe how much Cassie loved it. I tried holding her in the water and she just wanted to take off. So I put some water wings on her and she kicked those little arms and legs and did so good. She swam all over the pool by herself with out me even near her. It was nice to not have to hold her in there all day.

Here are more random ones. I got a little camera happy at the pool.

All in all it was a great trip. The kids did so incredibly well. Dylan even learned how to pee in a bottle, due to California traffic. And something gross that you probably don't need to hear... Cassie wanted to drink it. She thought it was juice and was very upset when I wouldn't give it to her. That's all.

Thanks mom and dad, for making this trip possible!

P.S. - I brought home all the little park maps and everyday since, I have found Dylan playing with them. He sits Cassie down beside him and points to everything we went to and tells her all about it. It is so fun to watch. I hope they remember some of this.

Sea World was really fun. We only spent a day there and we did almost everything we wanted to do. Only one of the big rides was open (Atlantis) and it was pretty fun, but wet. We did a LOT of walking that day because there were so many shows going on and we had to back track a lot to get to them. We were all so tired by the end of the day, but again, all the kids did so well.

And what would this post be with out a picture of the great Shamu?

Dylan, Aubrey, Sam, and boy who wouldn't move so I could get a picture. They were touching sting ray. I thought it was pretty neat. They were so soft and slimy!

Aubrey in her wheel chair. She hurt her knee the day before and couldn't walk on it. It hurt her so bad that we went to the first aid station at the end of the day to make sure she was okay and they gave all the kids stuffed animals. They were so happy, and so was I! Dylan and Cassie loved watching the penguins earlier and they both finally got a stuffed penguin. You see, most attraction Parks of this kind have this smart idea of strategically placing the gift shop right where you exit from the exhibits/rides. Of course, my kids go running over and always want something. Dylan and Cassie really wanted a penguin after we watched them earlier in the day, but I just couldn't bring myself to spend that much money on a little stuffed animal. So, you could only imagine the light shining in their eyes when they were given the choice of any stuffed animal they wanted (okay, out of 5 or so). Dylan chose the biggest penguin and Cassie chose the smallest penguin (she has a thing for tiny things or "babies", as she calls them). The stuffed penguins have been loved very much since coming home with us.

It was a fun day had by all. And who would have guessed that we would run into an old friend from good ol Hill Spring. (Jodi Lewis). It was fun to see her and her cute little family. We saw them at Disneyland later that week as well.

More to come still..........