New Year's Resolutions

Every year I have written down New Year's Resolutions. Things I want to improve on, make better, work on, etc. And like most everyone else, I end up not doing them. This year I have decided to choose something every day and work on that. I hope to do this on a daily need, prayerfully. For example, one day I will work on my relationship with my children by being kinder and more patience with them. I know you're probably asking...She's only going to be kind to them one day? The hope is that it will carry to multiple days and then become a habit and then it's just part of my life and not a goal anymore. Wish me luck!

An unforgettable Christmas

Last minute we decided to go to Florida. It really was last minute because we weren't sure if we would get on a flight until the night before. My parents had a timeshare for the week in Orlando and the Allen's (my sister and her family who live in TX) were driving so we wanted to go to be there with them. Free flights and free stay...we were there! The flight from SLC to NY was the red eye. We left at midnight and got to NY at 5:30am. I didn't sleep much worried that Sterling would bother the lady next to him as he is sprawled out (when we fly standby none of us sit next to each other except Sterling and me. I'm sure people wonder where are their parents? Luckily, my kids are good flyers and enjoy watching TV and the snacks/drink.) We arrive in NY and need to take the flight to Orlando at 6. Six seats are available (Paul could jumpseat) so we could get on but all the seats are in the exit row which our kids can't sit in so they told us if people will move, we can get on. Paul goes and asks the flight attendants and they said they would do it but then the front desk employee said "I am not taking a delay for this!" so she wouldn't let us on. Flight leaves, we are stuck at the airport. No problem, next flight is in an hour and half. Time to board that flight...it is full so we wait for the next flight for an hour. That flight is full so we wait for the next flight which is in 3 hours. At this point, my kids are getting bored and frustrated that we can't get on. Breanna and Kailene start to cry and say "Why won't they let us on the flight? Why is everyone else getting on the flight?" They did not quite understand the concept of standby. We decided to play some card games and Paul and some kids got some zzz's. Carolers came by and lighted the mood. Who can be in a bad mood when carolers are singing in the airport? They used traditional songs and changed them inserting JetBlue. It was cute and creative.

Finally, we got on the flight at 12:30 (7 hours in the JFK airport) and arrive in Florida. Audralyn (my sister) and Mark pick us up at the airport and we head to the hotel. The weather is nice so we all go for a swim. The hotel is beautiful and equipped with many swimming pool, lazy rivers, slides, and lots of hot tubs. That night we eat spaghetti and get a good night sleep.

Day 2: The plan was to go to Universal Studios aka Harry Potter park but Ava (Audralyn's daughter) got sick so Paul and the boys went and we stayed at the hotel. Girls played in the pools for hours. From the boys' reports, it was the best park. Fun and crazy rides. Harry Potter exceeding all their expectations. Of course, the best was when my mom got wet(long story but hilarious, one of the best part of our trip!). Even 5 hours later when they got back, she was still damp. Lots of laughs. All came home and adults went out to dinner.

Day 3: The girls and I went to Magic Kingdom with the Allens (my parents were leaving and had two extra tickets). I stayed with the younger kids going on the small rides while everyone went on the big rides. There is nothing like Disney World. Four parks and all incredible rides. It was fun singing on the train "Santa Claus is coming to town". Went out to dinner with everyone after the park.

Day 4: Going home. We packed up and went to the airport. Once in JFK, only one seat available so we decided to get a hotel for Christmas Eve. I have never been to New York so this was exciting to me but when I opened up the drapes in the hotel, not much to see. I still sang "Empire State of Mind" by Alicia Keys

New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of

There's nothin' you can't do
Now you're in New York
These streets will make you feel brand new
Big lights will inspire you
Let's hear it for New York, New York, New York

We decided to order pizza at 11pm and read from Luke 2 and then watch the Christmas Story on TV while all the kids go to sleep. I am grateful we could spend Christmas Eve together even if it wasn't at home.

Day 5 (Christmas Day): We wake up early to catch the shuttle to the airport. First flight out to Las Vegas was at 7am. We figured we could then catch a flight to Long Beach and then to Salt Lake. We just wanted to get closer to SL. If worst case, we could rent a car and drive 6 hours home. Couldn't get on that flight (a blessing later). Next flight out was to Burbank, CA. The front desk employee calls up Talbot party of 7 and says "We have one, two, three, four, five, six, seven seats available!" Are you kidding me? It was a Christmas miracle! Only 7 seats available. We flew from New York to California. This was a long flight (almost 6 hours). Most of the kids slept but Preston sure did get mad when his TV stopped working. It was a long, hard flight for mom. Now all we have to do is get to Long Beach and we are home free. Long Beach is about 30 minutes from Burbank. There is a train that we could take but it is not running on Christmas Day so we take a shuttle from Burbank to Long Beach. We get to the airport in plenty of time to catch the flight to Salt Lake. We are coming home. I called my parents and starting singing "We'll be home for Christmas" That song now has new meaning for me. We get to my parent's home around 7 and have Christmas dinner. It was so delicious since I hasn't eaten anything all day. Airplane food just doesn't satisfy and airport food is too expensive. We go home and around 10pm opened presents. Yes, Santa came (aka sister) to our house. After presents, I closed my eyes and fell asleep immediately. What a trip!

Now with all the airports and airplanes being cancelled and closed these past few days we know it was a blessing that we left JFK when we did. He was watching over us and helped us get home. If you asked the kids, they would say it was the worst vacation ever! Actually, they had so much fun in Orlando but the airports were a challenge. If you asked me, I loved it and would do it again (alittle different). I loved being with the Allens and going to Disney World. I loved swimming and being in warmer weather. I loved being with my family making wonderful memories. It was a Christmas none of us will forget.

Festival of Trees and Dayton singing group

My sister DeLayne has a singing group my kids are apart of. There was some discussion if she should continue because of chemo. We were worried about her getting sick with all the kids germs and being too tired but I am so glad she decided to keep it until December. I think it has been good for her and my kids love it! Kailene would pray DeLayne got better so she could do the singing group. We always perform at the Festival of Trees. DeLayne looked radiant and almost like Liza Minnelli in her black turban. It was a wonderful performance, even some laughs as younger kids tried to grab the microphone and sing to their hearts' desire.

Temple Square and the Kimball

My favorite tree was the orange one. Breathtaking!

My parents have some timeshares, one being at the Kimball in Salt Lake. I have many fond memories of spending the night at the Kimball, usually around General Conference in October which sometimes happened to fall on my birthday. This year my parents booked the week of the 13th so DeLayne's family and my family decided to go see the lights and spend the night. We met at Crown Burger (a tradition) and walked around Temple Square and saw all the beautiful lights. The weather was wonderful, probably one of the first times I can remember it not being bitter cold. We stayed up way too late (for a school night) playing games and watching Elf. Fun night!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from the Talbot family!

Why do we go to the temple?

The day before chemo, DeLayne and I (and her best friend from high school, Ali) went to the temple. It is the perfect place to calm your fears, feel the Spirit without restraint, remember what is important, and puts everything into perspective. They needed help in the sealing room so we decided to do sealings. Hershel Peterson was the sealer. If you don't know Hershel, he is a scriptorian and my understanding of the gospel is so small compared to his understanding. At the conclusion of our session, he gave us some counsel and asked us why we go to the temple? He replied with many scripture references and talking so fast that we didn't get it all but the jist of it was we go to the temple because of obedience and service and to renew the Holy Ghost within us. Now we have consecrated the day by our service and now we can go to the Lord and receive the desires of our heart. He quoted 2 Nephi 32:9 (the only scripture I remembered) which states "that [H]e will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul." We all just broke down and cried. It never ceases to amaze me how the Lord answers us in different ways. Hershel did not know our desires, our prayers, our reasons for coming to the temple that day yet he was the messanger that answered our prayers. What a wonderful experience.

Disneyland 2010

We are on the 5 year plan with Disneyland. We go every 5 years and 2010 happened to be the year we go. Thankfully, Disneyland was doing a promotion and since we did service earlier this year, we were able to go for one day FREE! We went over Fall Break. Other family were going to go but with my sister getting cancer, plans changed for them. I curse cancer! We had a great time and officially wiped out everyone, including myself.

We got the kids out of school a day earlier so we could get on the flight. We went to the beach on Wednesday. The kids love the beach. The weather wasn't perfect and the water was too cold but they still had fun running away from the waves. Even Sterling loved it until he fell in the water and got sand in his suit. We went to Costco and bought lunch food and snacks for the next two days. We went to dinner with Paul's real dad, Ernie (this is why my kids are so dark, Paul's real dad is mexican).

The hotel was great. We got a great deal thanks to Paul's brother and fiancee with a friends and family discount. We had plenty of room for our large family of seven. 3 beds, separated rooms, fridge, continental breakfast. The only problem was it was about 3/4 mile from Disneyland. Not a big deal in the morning walking to Disneyland but my legs KILLED at night after walking all day long. The kids had to get in the hot tub first. I think we could have ended the vacation after that. The kids love the hot tub.

We went to Disneyland first. Disneyland is very nostalgic to me. I love It's a small world. It makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. Such wonderful memories for me as a kid. Of course, Splash mountain is also a classic. We were able to hit every ride and the kids went twice thanks to baby swap. Disneyland really has it going on. That is why it is the happiest place on earth. The employees are so happy and they are so accomodating. We did lose Kailene once and it was very scary. We all were aboard the ferry boat and realized she had not gotten on. Paul got off and few (long) minutes later came running back with her. She was giving a store employee her information. Good for her!

California Adventures was the next day. I love California Adventures and now I love it even more now that it has my favorite ride...Toy Story Roundup. So fun and yes I won both times!

Brad loved Space Mountain (made me sick...what is wrong with me? I'm turning into my mom), California Screaming, and Tower of Terror

Preston loved all the rides and was a good sport the whole time.

Kailene loved anything with Mountain in it, California Screaming and Tower of Terror (she went on every ride, with no hestiations)

Breanna loved Autopia and all the rides in It's a Bugs life.

Sterling loved seeing Mickey Mouse. I had no idea he would react the way he did, pure joy. Glad I have it on camera. He can't stop watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse now.

Mom loved Toy Story Round up (of course, top score!), It's a Small World and Splash Mountain. I know, I'm boring.

Dad loved Aladdin. The genie was so funny.

I wish we could say that the kids were angels but they weren't. They still fought. I kept saying We are at Disneyland and you can't fight at Disneyland (didn't work). It got worse as the day progressed and most were tired. We all were so exhausted every day, even the last day we didn't even eat dinner because we all just wanted to go to bed (who wants to eat at 11pm?)

We woke up early and left on the early flight (we were nervous we weren't going to make the later flight). I was so exhausted that I slept the whole BYU game (not much to watch). Overall, it was a wonderful time and hope to do it again in 5 years (or DisneyWorld...I love DisneyWorld)