January was fan-freaking-tastic.

If you couldn't tell, that was sarcasm that I was using in my title. For the most part, January sucked. But we did have a few fun days here and there.

For New Years, we went to Dumont Sand Dunes for a quick family vacation. Of course, family vacations are never a vacation for me. But everyone else had a good time. :)

For the first time ever, I pulled a trailer loaded with toys down. I did pretty good until...

Whoops!! I buried it in the sand. But I didn't wreck it or anything so that's a plus.

We finally got to take the sand rail out to play. That thing is fast!! I can't believe how it handles in the sand, it is amazing. I'm not an adrenaline junkie or anything, I'm basically the opposite of an adrenaline junkie (yes, I'm a total chicken) but I LOVED the sand rail. I think Allan and I are the only ones who are big fans of the sand rail. Everyone else preferred the 4 wheelers and the Rhino.

Allan and me in the sand rail. Notice the wheels were coming up off the ground. I was probably yelling at him to slow down.

Carson and Kenzi in the Rhino. Kenzi drives the Rhino better than I do. She's a dune junkie like Allan. So are Caleb and Carson. I guess in runs in the family...
Caleb tearing it up on the 400. He made a friend at the sand dunes and all they did was ride from the second breakfast was over, until daylight was done. They had a blast!

Then, on our last day at the dunes, the sand rail broke. So it ended up here...

so that I could tow it home. I wasn't too thrilled at the prospect of pulling the sand rail home but I managed to make it home in one piece.

When we were coming home from the dunes, I had a sore throat. It was sore but not overly sore, so in typical mom fashion, I ignored it. I ignored it for 4 days until it was so bad that I couldn't swallow anymore and I couldn't sleep. So I drag my sick self into Instacare (love the one on Sunset!!) and find out that I have strep throat. The Dr. didn't even wait for the results of the throat swab (glad I paid 39.00 for that!) and then gave me a choice: 10 days of antibiotics or a penicillin shot in the bum. I chose the shot and let me tell you, the shot HURTS!! So if your kiddos ever have to get one, be sympathetic because they really do suck.

So, I thought that after getting that painful shot, I would miraculously feel better. MMMM, not so much. I was horribly sick for a total of 16 days. I lost my voice, I lost 5 nights of sleep (because if you can't swallow, you can't sleep), my house looked and smelled BAD, and I was miserable. So if you're keeping count, I've have lost over a month to being sick since November. It's all very lame.

Then I went on a quick girls trip to my friend Natalie's house. It was a much needed break from reality so my sanity would stay in place! We had a blast, as usual. It went way too fast and I'm looking forward to the next one!

I got home from Nat's house and got some kind of stomach bug that made me nauseated and my stomach hurt. The best way to describe it is it was like having morning sickness without the hormonal outburst that I was so prone to. And no, I'm not pregnant. So I was down for an additional 3 or 4 days with that lovely sickness. Lame, lame, lame.

And on that note, January ended. So here's hoping that 2010 is a GREAT year that will bring many good times and lots of good memories.

Oh and just because I like these, here are a few more pictures:

This is what the laundry looks like after spending a week at the dunes.