Christmas 2009

OK, I'll admit it. I was a bit of a grinch this year. Too many crazy things happened and I just couldn't do the all-out, off-the-hook, over-the-top Christmas that I usually do. But you know what? It still ended up being a pretty great Christmas. However, I could have done without the 4:30 am wake up call Christmas morning.

***Note to self~New rule for Christmas: No one is up until the sun is up!***

And now, a few pictures, in no particular order because Blogger is kinda dumb when it comes to uploading pictures.


Fifa Soccer 2010-the game that was asked for over and over again!

The much-coveted Star Wars Lego outfit. Not mom's favorite but Carson LOVES it!

Santa was here! Check out the loot!

Cookies and Milk for Santa and reindeer-sized cookies for Santa's helpers!


Presents from G'ma and G'pa Goeser

Guitar Hero 5 was a big hit.

Carson's loves his easel! We all like to color on it though.

Caleb on his much-loved Diamondback BMX bike.

Mom's favorite part of Christmas--NOT!

My new goggles. They are way cute. Hot pink, LOVE THEM!

My present from Caleb. He went and spent his hard earned cash on presents for Allan and I. I was so proud of him! He got me lotion and lip gloss.

I wrapped up a picture of his sand rail and a sand rail magazine for Allan. He was by far the most spoiled this year!

Metallica Guitar Hero. Need I say more?

Carson's brand new DS. He told Santa that he wanted a blue one because that is his favorite color and so that's what Santa gave him.

Caleb's Club Penguin game, he was pretty excited about it.

Carson's new DS game. He opened it before he opened his DS. Whoops.

Carson was VERY excited for Christmas this year. So excited that he woke everyone up at 4:30. UGH.

See mom! Look what I got!

Caleb was THRILLED to get a Tom Brady Patriots shirt. Whatever. GO COWBOYS!!

Shoes! Who doesn't love to get new shoes?!

Yes, they got lots of clothes. A much needed present!

Carson and Rylee on Christmas Eve.

OINK, OINK?

When I got home from Nauvoo, Carson was sick. He had an ear infection and we got it all treated. Then Allan started getting sick. I assumed that he was getting the same thing as Carson and didn't worry about it. Then 2 days after Allan got sick, I got sick too. Now when I say that I got sick, I mean I GOT SICK!! and so did poor Allan. After 5 days of being sick, Allan went to Instacare and they gave him antibiotics. The next day my Dr.'s office called me in some antibiotics too. However, I think that we might have had the H1N1 virus first, and then gotten a secondary upper respiratory infection. They don't test you here for it because its so commonplace. And my kids didn't get what we had and I think its because they have had the H1N1 vaccination. So its all a mystery to me! But whatever it is, I've gotten my trash kicked by it! So I've been home, wallowing in misery for 8 days now. So send me some sympathy, would ya?

Oh and I forgot to mention that Caleb is sick now but he doesn't have the same thing we had. Weird, huh?!

To be a fly on the wall in my house would be very entertaining...

Conversation in the kitchen tonight:

Amy: Look honey! I finally figured out my Silhouette! It is so freakin' awesome!
(said Silhouette is cutting out my latest craft project at the time.)

Allan: Cool. But that thing is loud! You should go use it in your office.

Amy: I'm using it in MY kitchen. You should go to YOUR office if you don't like it!

Allan: You're becoming a technology junkie.

Amy: Yeah, I'm a regular computer geek. (seriously, I wish I was a computer geek. I think computer geeks are quite possibly the coolest people ever!!)

Moral of the story: Never kick me out of my own kitchen while I'm doing something that I'm obsessing over. It brings out the mean person in me.

OK, here's the back story to this whole conversation and you will see why I was so irritated.

A year ago, I was at Scrapbook USA and my friend Nat and I came across this awesome deal on vinyl. Since we already owned a Cricut, we were just going to use it to cut our vinyl. Until the lady who sold us the vinyl told us about this cool digital craft cutter called the Silhouette. And she also told us they were selling it at a phenomenal discount. So we went over to the booth that was selling the Silhouette and ordered one. Yes it was an awesome price, so awesome that I just couldn't pass it up.

So, it finally comes in the mail and I'm so excited to get it out and start cutting vinyl for all these cool projects that are always floating around in my head. So I open the box, take everything out and.....seriously, those are all the instructions that they give us? I mean, the instructions were as clear as mud. So I decide to go to their website and see if there are any tutorials on there. Nope. I google it. No instructions there either. I call them, leave a message. No call back. So I put it in my office and get distracted with life for a while. I pulled it out a few times when I went to scrapbook but I could never really get the hang of it so back in my office it went.

But the other day I get an e-mail from the company to come and see their new designs that they have for the Silhouette. And guess what they finally did? They put a tutorial up! Whoo-Hoo! So I spent all day installing software, the driver, the cutest designs that they have for it (I think I've downloaded over 3500 designs already) and then I turned it on and actually used it!

I'm in a crafty person's heaven. I heart my silhouette. Now I'm gonna go cut out a haunted house and then bling it up tomorrow. Sigh.....life is good.

11 Years...

On Saturday, we will celebrate our 11 year anniversary.

So here are 11 reasons why our marriage ROCKS!!

1. Our 2 amazing kids. I know this is a given but still, the greatest part of adulthood is having kids! Especially our kids, they are just the coolest.

2. Allan and I are best friends. I'm not just saying that either.

3. We have been through a lot together and we still like each other. Brain surgery, starting a business, 2 babies carried by a mean pregnant lady(Me), 2 babies-colic-teething-potty training, building a house, and crazy people plotting our demise as a couple.

4. We put up with each other's hobbies. He collects about anything that has to do with the sand dunes. I have a craft room that is practically overflowing. If this isn't true love, I don't know what is...

5. We both love to shop. My hubby has more pairs of shoes than I do, expensive shoes nonetheless!

6. He puts up with my holiday decorating fetish. I can even eventually convince him to hang the Christmas lights. On the ridiculously steep roof line. Putting his life in peril because he wants to keep his holiday-obsessed wife happy. What a good man I married!

7. We travel. A lot. And we are always still talking when we get home! After all, why go on vacation if your going to fight the whole time?

8. He watches Grey's Anatomy every week with me. And he likes it. I find that SEXY!

9. We never really fight. We disagree loudly. But we usually work things out without too much drama.

10. He started snoring a month after we were married. Now when he's gone, I can't sleep without his crazy-loud snoring. And recently, he admitted that he has a hard time sleeping when I'm gone too.

11. We really are soul mates. Corny, I know. But true.

Finally! I can breathe...

We have just gone nonstop here at the Goeser house. There have been birthday parties (Grandma Henrie, Carson and me), a preschool graduation, several trips out of town, Utah Summer Games, a soccer party, combined with other daily activities that I won't bother to list because they are redundant!!

This is Carsons preschool graduation. Now I never took Carson for a shy kid but it seems he has stage fright....Notice the empty chair in the front. That's where Carson SHOULD be sitting.


Here he is, hiding out by the A/C unit. There was NO WAY he was going up there. Trust me, I tried bribing him with all sorts of stuff. He didn't even budge for a new game for his DS!
This is his graduation certificate. He wouldn't even go up and get it. So I did. Crazy kid! He just cracks me up!

This is Carsons 4th birthday party. We had a water party. We borrowed one of those huge water slides because there was no way I was watching ten 4 year olds in the pool.

These are my birthday cards and one of my presents. I had to have a picture of it before I opened it because Allan wrapped it up in some old mail and electrical tape. My husband cracks me up!

This is my other present. He wrapped it up in a blanket and handed it to me. I felt very loved on my birthday. My family made a big deal out of the whole day. Not that I'm getting any older or anything...

These are from the Utah Summer Games. Our boys had a heartbreaking loss of the bronze medal. They lost 3-4 in double overtime. But they played their hardest and we are so proud of them! I love our team, we have the best kids AND parents. All of the boys are friends and all of the parents are too.

This is the boys waiting to start the game. Caleb is #19 and he plays midfield. Caleb scored 2 goals which is so cool! We are so proud of him!
They boys trying to get a goal. They work really well as a team. Their coaches are training them to work as a team. Our boys can actually pass which is pretty unusual at this age. Most kids are still pretty individual players at this age but not our boys! They play like they are ready to play for Real Salt Lake! This is the coaches meeting with boys. Kasey Cottam(brown coat) is their coach and he is so great with the boys. He's not one of those coaches who screams and yells at the boys. He is a VERY patient coach and the boys respect him a ton.

This is Caleb marking up getting ready to steal the ball. It cracks me up that he is at least a head shorter than every kid! But I tell him the bigger they are, the harder they fall! Caleb is really good at stealing the ball away and getting it up field so they can score. He's not afraid to get in and take the ball!

Cooper. He is the official team mascot. Cooper loves to chase soccer balls and the Summer Games were like torture to him! He had to be on a leash and we wouldn't let him go get the soccer balls! We are just so mean...And yes, we gave him a green mohawk!

This was our first game we played in the Summer Games against Vernal. We won 4-1. The boys played like rockstars!

We also won our next game against Slash 4-1. Slash has always been the team to beat. We had never beaten them until Summer Games. Slash is in our Snow Canyon soccer club so we really do think they are awesome. But still, it felt good to beat them. Our next game was against Cedar and we lost by one. It was a bummer because we had just beat Cedar a few weeks before that. Our next game was against Real Azteca. These boys are just brutal. They play dirty and their parents encourage it. I honestly can't stand this team and hope our boys never have to play them again. They are big cheaters, they have been thrown out of a league for trying to play boys that are older than what the division allows. Needless to say, we lost against this team. But we have beat them before so I know our boys are better! They only win because they cheat and that's not how kids should be taught. Our last game we played was against Dixie Fire. This team is a really good team, we haven't beaten them yet! This was our medal game. We beat out 4 other teams to get there. Our boys played so great! But we had some tough breaks. We were leading by 2 points most of the game but we got a direct penalty kick in the goal box and so they scored. The other point happened because the ball bounced off one of our boys foot and went in the goal. The poor kid was so upset but hey, CRAP HAPPENS! So they got 2 lucky goals which sucks. But at the end of the day, our boys could hold their heads high because they played AWESOME. SC IVINS RULES!!

At the end of it all, I was exhausted! So were the boys. These are pictures of the boys taken right after all the craziness! Caleb is asleep on the family room floor. Cooper was asleep too but he woke up when I went for the camera. He didn't move though! Funny dog! He had found a warm body and he wasn't about to move!

Carson fell asleep at the dinner table. One minute he was throwing a fit that he didn't want to eat dinner, the next minute he was sound asleep! He is at my favorite age. I love 4.

It has been a pretty eventful and I prefer it this way! We have a bunch of other things planned for the summer too. We are taking a trip to St. Anthony Sand Dunes in Idaho. We will stay there for 3 days and then go to Yellowstone for 3 days. Caleb has summer camp next week. I have a Girls Trip planned. Then we have Allans birthday. Hopefully we will be helping my mom move back to Utah too, which thrills me to no end! My boys are sooo excited to have Grammy and Grandpa back! Keep your fingers crossed for us! It has been great summer so far!

Its official. I'm the coolest mom ever!

Just ask Caleb, that's what he would say (at least for today, anyway.) We just bought a puppy. He's an American Bulldog and he's pretty adorable, don't you think?

Now here's how I got suckered into getting a dog in the first dang place:

Allan: We need a dog. Boys need a dog. Our family needs a new member and we are not having anymore kids.

Amy: Duh, I would cry for the entire 9 months if I got pregnant again. Anyway, the only kind of dog I want is a Bulldog and they are like $2500.00 and I will NOT pay that much money for a dog. Besides, we just watched Marley and Me. How can you still want a dog? I will never be able to have that happen to me!

Allan: If I find a Bulldog that is affordable would you let us get one?

Amy: Sure (because I've looked for a "clearance puppy" before and bulldogs are all 2500.00 online)

That was on Saturday. Allan has done his research...

Allan: Hey babe! We're getting a puppy!

Amy: No we're not! I don't want a dog!

Allan: But I found a bulldog and he's not 2500.00. Hurry, come look!

Amy: Whatever!! We are not getting a dog.

So I went and looked at the pictures and guess what?! We're getting a dog!

I'm a SUCKER!

We pick up the dog this weekend.

March. In like a lion, out like a lamb. I hope.

March, for some reason, is always a busy, crazy, pull-my-hair-out-by-the-roots kind of month. I'm not sure why, but off the top of my head, here are the reasons for this especially crazy March.

Soccer for Caleb is 3 times a week. That's not a complaint because he loves to play and I love to watch. And I love to cheer very loudly for him. And I love that it embarrasses him that I'm loud. This year, soccer is practice once a week and 2 games a week for 2 different leagues. But its the same team so that makes it easier.

Then we have Spring Break. This year we decided to pack up the new trailer and haul the family to California for a week. First, I must say that going in a trailer is the only way to travel! We absolutely loved it! Need a snack? Just run to the trailer, no need to stop at a convenience store. Need a bathroom break? Just pull over, no nasty rest stops for us! The sheets were clean because I washed them, the food was good because we cooked it, and the place was clean because I cleaned it! Now I know this doesn't sound like a vacation for me but at least I didn't have to drag my exhausted kids to a restaurant for dinner so for me it was a wash!

We woke up on Saturday morning, loaded the kids up and off we went. Our first stop was in Calico, an old mining town. We got there, found our campsite, hooked up and just vegged out the first night.

Chillin' in the trailer

On Sunday, we went up and toured the town of Calico. It took about 2 whole hours! So if you want to go there, make it a stop on your way to Southern California. It was pretty cool and we did get to pan for (fools) gold.

Tour of a mine. I would never be able to be a miner for a living! To claustrophobic for me!

The kids "smashed" pennies



We spent the night at the Calico campground again and then Monday morning we headed to Anaheim. After a hideous traffic jam and getting lost because our GPS system quit working, we made it to the FABULOUS Anaheim RV Park. This place was awesome!! Heated pool, playground, laundry room, game room, it had just about everything you would need. Plus, the kids could ride their scooters around and work off some of that excess energy every morning.

Tuesday morning we woke up and got ready for DISNEYLAND!! I'm pretty sure I love Disneyland more than the kids. We hit most of the rides that we wanted to ride on the first day. I love when this happens. We got the 3-day hopper pass so we had lots of Disney time.




The "jungle tour" ride. Carson loved it. He calls it the animal ride.
I bet you didn't realize how scary Pluto was. Carson was completely scared!

The water ball thing that my kids could have stood at all day long. We seriously took a 45 minute break and my kids hung out there the whole time. It was awesome!
Autotopia. Carson was a very serious driver and he wouldn't take his eyes off the road for a second.
Except when we were in an Autotopia traffic jam. A car broke down in front of us and we sat there for like 10 minutes.
Carson climbed all over Tarzan's tree house.

Kenzi got SOAKED on Splash Mountain. And she had just spent like an hour straightening her hair! I'm sooo glad I'm not a teenager!

Caleb and Carson in their St. Patricks Day shirts.

Day 2 at Disneyland/California Adventure

Goofy was cool. He was so cute with the kids!
Wall E
Monsters Inc
Carson couldn't resist climbing in the O in the California letters by California Adventure
The Orbiter ride that Carson HAD to go on
Uh-Oh I think he's getting tired!

I mean really tired! He was sooo mad that we stopped for this family picture! He just wanted to stay in the stroller.
The beginning of the end of his excitement for rides that morning.

The only happy picture of Carson we have on day 2.

Chip and Dale. And dang Chip has Calebs face covered up! And Chip and Dale are Calebs favorite!

And he's out! He slept for like 3 hours!

Carson and mom on the teacups.

Carson and Kenzi on the teacups.
Caleb and Dad on the teacups.

Caleb waiting in line for Roger Rabbit.

Day 3-Disneyland

The kids at Mickey Mouses house

Carson with his 3D glasses on waiting for "Honey, I Shrunk the Audience". He loved it!!

Splash Mountain was the best!!
In front of Mickey Mouses house
Outside of Splash Mountain

Carson finally got to meet Mickey Mouse!!

And he was sooo excited!!

Allan and the kids being crazy!