Where to start? My oldest sister, Vilma, and her family arrived on November 21, 2008. (Friday) Vilma, my sister, has a son (Paul) and a daughter (Bonnie). Joseph, Claudia, and Mica are Bonnie's children. (Bonnie is my amazing niece.) Oh my goodness, Mica is the cutest little doll! The pictures don't do her justice. She talks cute, she acts cute, she IS cute and she is so smart and petite for a little 2 year old. I had never met her before. The last time I saw Bonnie, she was pregnant with Mica. Paul, who is my adorable nephew, wanted Claudia and Joseph to go skiing. Paul treats those children as if they were his kids. I wish all my children had an uncle like Paul. We couldn't take them to Pomerelle because we haven't had any snow, so we drove to Utah on Saturday. Paul had previously made hotel reservations at the Snowbird resort. It was the most amazing vacation we have ever had. Our hotel was paid by Paul and so were our meals. They took us to the finest restaurants that I only would have dreamed of going to. We went to a steak house at the resort and the cheapest steak was $42.00. Anson and Aubrey had a blast! One night, they went swimming outside in the heated pool at the hotel. The outdoor pool was on the 10th floor, so you had a wonderful scenery and lots of snow. They loved skiing!!!! Anson and Joseph are really good skiers. I'm impressed! Aubrey and Claudia took lessons because it's been almost two years since they last went, so Paul thought they better take some lessons to warm up first. The girls did very well after their lessons. Paul and the kids went skiing on Monday until 4:00 and then we left the resort. We stopped in SLC to eat at a Japanese Restaurant (Benihanas). That was the best restaurant I've ever been too! The food was excellent! Anson and Aubrey thought it was so cool how the cook stands by your table and cooks your meal. We arrived in Burley about 9:00 pm and Travis and Brianna were here waiting for us. On Tuesday, it was Joseph's birthday, so Anson had a couple of his friends come over for a little birthday fun for the boys. Mike cooked an excellent BBQ of ribs, sausage, chicken and fajitas. He also cooked some wonderful "beans a la charra" and made some excellent salsa. Bonnie made some wonderful Mexican rice and guacamole. Those two are excellent in the kitchen together. We had some German chocolate cake for the birthday boy. Dick dropped the boys off at the movie theater to watch the James Bond movie for part of the birthday celebration. We went to Twin Falls on Wednesday to show them the Twin Falls Gorge and the Shoshone Falls. We went to the mall and some other stores. Paul and Bonnie got a massage at the mall and Vilma, Mica and I walked around. Aubrey and Claudia stayed with Dick at the video arcade. Anson, Joseph and Mike went their own way. Bree and Travis were with us too. They wanted to go to a temple session, but the temple was closed so after wards they hung around with us. After that, we had dinner at Sizzlers. I gave the cashier my debit card before anybody ordered and told her WE were paying for the meal and I don't know how Mike (Bonnie's husband) and Bonnie sneaked their card and paid for the meal instead. When we got home I found out Mike and Bonnie bought Anson a pair of Jordon's at the mall. I guess they just came out last week so Anson is probably the first kid in Burley who gets to wear them. When we got home....Bonnie, Brianna, and I started fixing salads and pies for Thanksgiving. Paul, Vilma, and Claudia went to Walmart and came back with a Wii for our family!!!! They said this was for our Christmas. Dick was really cute playing Wii the first night. On Thanksgiving Day, Grandpa Vosco Call came to Burley. It was so nice seeing him. We haven't seen him since this summer. He enjoyed playing some Wii games too. We had a wonderful meal! I never dreamed we would have my family from Texas in Idaho for Thanksgiving. That is what Thanksgiving is all about! FAMILY! I am so blessed to have the family I have. Both my immediate and my extended family. Thank you for making the sacrifice of coming to Idaho and sharing your time with us. We loved having you here and we miss you already. Vilma, you should be so greatful to have the two beautiful children that you do. I admire your closeness. They also love and respect you so much. They are also so lucky to have you. I know you love them so much and you also do so much for them and your grandchildren. They all left at 5:30 am today. Bonnie and Mike were driving to Las Vegas to party and Vilma, Paul, and the kids drove to Idaho Falls and will fly in to Las Vegas. Vilma, Paul and the kids will fly out of Vegas tonight and head to Texas. Bonnie and Mike will stay in Vegas for a while and drive slowly to Texas stopping at a few places they want to visit. Grandpa left about 9:30 am. Now it's just us four. The house seems so quiet and empty. But....it will soon be filled with more family. Brianna comes every evening and we love having her. On Saturday, Sunday, and Mondays she comes with Travis. The rest of the days it's just her because Travis works at night. I am so grateful to have her so close by. We love her visits. Sissy, Richie, Chrislynn and my beautiful grandchildren will be here for Christmas. What!!!!! DID I SAY CHRISTMAS?
