"Enthusiasm is excitement with inspiration, motivation, and a pinch of creativity."

After a long night of New Year's Eve celebration, "Holiday Hoopla Day #5" consisted of a little "sleeping in". I am not a "Sleep in" kind of person, my body doesn't allow such luxuries, so I was up by 6:30...but the rest of the family slept in until 9:00 am when I finally woke them up, made breakfast and had everyone clean up their rooms before our day got going. Deron and Cameron were going prairie dog hunting with some friends and me and girls opted to take the day completely off from chores (other than what HAD to be done) and lay around and watch movies all day long....stay in our PJ's the entire day and eat popcorn and New Year's Eve leftovers. By 11:00 am I had the boys out the door and on their way, popcorn popped and we were off for

a day of R&R. It was really nice to just "do nothing". Its not a life I could lead on a regular basis, but it was really fun for a day. We watched Disney's "UP", "Poseidon", and "Ever After". It was great to just lay around on the couch and veg, not one of us complained. When the boys got home, we had a dinner of "leftovers" and then Halle and I went and "tempted" to watch the new "Ice Age" movie...but we fell asleep...you know, from all of our hard work that we had done all day *wink*....after waking up, we headed off to bed for some much needed rest (ha ha ha).

Day #6...which was meant to be the biggest and best of the week, and we were hoping it would go out with a big bang!

After all, the Christmas break was going to be officially over and everyone would go back to "real life" come Monday morning. Todd and Dana joined us for our last day of celebrations as we we went to the Rec Center over in Vernal for a little "warm weather fun" of swimming, rock climbing and splashing around.

After the Rec Center we went out for Chinese,

one of our families favorites. Everyone ate to their hearts content at the Canton City Buffet, feeling overstuffed and tired as the day drew to a close. Looking back on our big "Hoopla" week, I think everyone had a great time. We all made many wonderful memories and did things that we can talk about and reminisce about for years to come. We spent time together as a family, strengthened our relationships and friendships

with each other and grew closer together as a family, those things are irreplaceable to me. Nothing in this world could be more important than the bonds and ties that we have with our families...at least in my book. A strong family can help you get through alot. You always know that you have someone there to lean on, as well as someone to count on. Those kinds of bonds don't happen "just because". Those are the kinds of bonds and ties that have to be strengthened, as well as mended from time to time....and the "little things" that we do are the things that keep our family tight and together. I want my kids to always have "good memories" that tie them together, things they can talk about, laugh about and draw upon long after I am gone as they sit and visit and remember "the good ol' days".

"Life is precious and time is a key element. Let's make every moment count !"