**CHriStMas 2008**

We had a great Christmas and everyone was spoiled. Shawn & I finally bought a camcorder. We have been wanting one for quite some time and we decided it would be our big gift to each other. Clayton's big gift this year was the drum set he has been wanting for over a year now. We happened to get lucky on this gift. My sister Sheila was wanting to sale her old drum set (that is still in great shape), so we bought it from her at a very good price. Thanks Sheila it is a hit. Clayton was extremely excited about the drums and started playing right away and all I have to say is they are very loud and Oscar does not like them (which is not a surprise). Mekenna received a patch for her Judo uniform that she has been wanting as well as her own DVD player. They both received numerous other gifts.

We always get the kids on Christmas Day around 2:00 or so which we look forward to. So when there was all these winter storm warnings for Christmas Eve & Day we became nervous and started watching the Internet for updates and closures. Around noon on Christmas day the roads we needed to get the kids were showing signs of closing. Shawn called the kids and told them to get headed our way and then got in the truck and took off to tackle the bad roads. The snow plow had the road blocked to go around the Palisades. Shawn talked to the driver and explained our situation. The driver said if Shawn hurried and was careful he could go thru, so he did and was able to pick up the kids. Then they turned around to come back and came upon a road block the other way. Well Shawn was determined to get home, he went around the barricade. The roads around the Palisades weren't plowed and covered in about six inches of snow. There were some scary roads but with good driving and determination Shawn, Clayton, & Mekenna made it home. We enjoyed opening gifts, each others company and a good dinner. Oh and a lot of snow!!

Our Christmas Tree (you can never seem to get a good picture of a Christmas Tree)

Three of my favorite people!!

My boys Christmas morning!!

For Christmas Oscar got a bed & a bird toy, both which he loves.

Not a great picture but the only one I could find of me on Christmas ( I am usually behind the camera and I am okay with that)

Clayton sitting @ his drum set for the first time

Clayton playing his drum set while Mekenna covers her ears, not because it sounded bad but because the drums are so loud!

MeRRy ChRisTmaS ALL!!!

Gingerbread Creations

Shawn, Mekenna, & Clayton decorated these big gingerbread men/women. No, they are not homemade. We bought a kit from Wal-Mart that came with 2 men & frosting & candy. However, we used frosting of different colors that we had at the house & some candy at the house as well. They had fun & I enjoyed watching. I think Mekenna was determined to cover every inch of her gingerbread women with candy, but Shawn very lovingly put a stop to the idea. I had to chuckle at the situation, because when Mekenna stamps cards with me we go through the same thing. She wants to use every stamp & every color & cover every inch of the paper. I have learned to only pull out a few stamps & ink colors out at a time, which seems to help. Here are pictures I remembered to take at the last minute. Clayton was already done and back playing the PlayStation 2.

Christmas Party

This years Christmas party for Shawn's work was held at Ed & Barbara Garner's home. The Garner's home was the house Shawn worked on for 12 months or so this last year. We had the kids that weekend so instead of finding a babysitter we brought them along, but only after numerous reminders on how to act. I only say this because the Garner's house is not necessarily child proof, if the kids decided to wrestle, fight, or have too much fun. There are a lot of expensive items that can be broken & us not able to afford to replace. The reminders worked for the most part. It was fun to see Clayton socialize and feel like one of the guys. One of Shawn's co-workers brought his little girl and her and Mekenna had fun being girls. I ate way too much and Shawn was the typical social bug (I love this about him) . We all had a great time and by the end of the evening Mekenna decided to sit on Barbara's lap and was exhausted enough to fall asleep, which is not typical of Mekenna she is usually a die hard when it comes to going to sleep.

These next pictures are of Barbara's Christmas tree and close-ups of the ornaments on the tree. These ornaments are amazing. They are glass blown dipped in sterling silver and then hand painted. Barbara has thousands of these interesting & beautiful ornaments. Plus she has numerous ceramic villages set-up through out her house. It is so fun to see all the different Christmas decorations she has.

Short & Sweet Updates

So to say the least I have fallen behind on posting. I hope to get caught up with numerous short but sweet posts to get anyone who reads this thing updated on the happenings of the Terry Family.

THANKSGIVING

On turkey day Shawn & Clayton went elk hunting. Yes I said elk hunting! Since Shawn's knee is still on the road to recovery we decided for Shawn to put in for a chance to get drawn to hunt the elk refuge in Jackson. Well he was lucky and was drawn. So that he did not miss anymore work he put in for the week of Thanksgiving. Shawn & Clayton woke up very early on Thanksgiving day to get to the refuge before sunrise. Long story short the only cow elk they saw was before sunrise, which if you follow the law you are not allowed to shoot when it is dark out. If I remember right the also saw cow elk far away to far to shoot and on the run.

While the boys were hunting Mekenna and I were busy cooking turkey dinner, watching the parade, and doing crafts. Because Mekenna absolutely loves to do crafty things. The boys returned home mid afternoon after not having much luck seeing any elk. We had a good Thanksgiving dinner and enjoyed each others company. I am very thankful for all that I have.

DAY AFTER THANKSGIVING
The day after Thanksgiving started like the day before. The boys were up extra early to go find those elusive elk. With the result being the same as the day before, only seeing the cow elk when it was to dark to shoot. However, the boys had great bonding time and also walked a total of about 10 miles if you add both days together. The girls were once again at home being crafty and bonding. Mekenna really wanted curly hair for the day. So she took a shower we then blow dried her hair and once it was dried we rolled her hair up in curlers. Mekenna was extremely satisfied with the outcome. I would have to agree her hair was really cute all curly. We took a picture to preserve the memory. Looking at the picture I told Shawn how grown up she was looking. Once the boys were done hunting we girls met them to go find our Christmas tree. After a fun hour of searching we found a good tree that we all liked. By the way I would say Oscar had the most fun of us all. He was so happy running around, up and down the mountain side. We took our tree home and had a good time decorating it.

CHRISTMAS CARD

I actually got our Christmas card done early this year. I wanted to use our family pictures and was looking to just order one of those picture cards online. However, they seemed expensive plus I did not find anything I really liked. I decided to create my own using Print Shop. I love doing these sorts of things anyway, it is just a matter of finding time for it. Here is the outcome of my Christmas card creation--

CHRISTMAS SHOPPING

We were successful in completing our Christmas shopping the first weekend in December. Yah!! It was a super long day in Idaho Falls, but it was a big accomplishment. Especially when both Shawn & I were limping around. His knee was bugging him and I had a bummed hip. On Thursday morning December 4th I woke up with a really sore right side hip. As the day progressed it hurt more and more. A couple of times to where I couldn't move without tears coming to my eyes. Just a side note I tend to have a very high tolerance for pain. Anyways I called a chiropractor to see if he could help with the pain. He created more pain trying to fix the pain, but in the end a couple visits to him and I was feeling better. It is still a little sore, but nothing like before.

More to come soon . . . .