Daddy's coming home tonight!

We are so excited to see Dayson tonight. I'm doing my best at keeping the house clean. The kids can't wait to see their dad. We call dad every night to have family prayer with him, but it's just not the same. This weekend is Daycee's birthday and a holiday. Dad will get to spend the whole weekend with us. He won't have to go back to Phoenix until Monday. Thank you MLK.

ONE WEEK DOWN AND 17 TO GO!

Dayson's first week at the academy was rough. But he survived. We did too. He came home Friday to spend the weekend with us. It was good to have him home. We spent all day Saturday studying for his big test on Monday and writing essays. We went to church on Sunday, came home for lunch and Dayson left again. I know how hard it is to leave but he is doing a great thing for our family. We are very proud of him and cheer him on everyday.

School is back in session, Dayson has started the academy and I'm officially a "Single Mom"!

We are counting down to the day Dayson graduates from the academy which is May 8th, 2009. Until than we will be keeping ourselves busy with school, basketball, ski club, scouts, activity days and whatever else seven kids bring. Right now I'm just taking it one day at a time.

Happy New Year!

Our family had a very fun Christmas. We were invited by Darwin & Ethel Slade to have breakfast with their family at the American Legion Christmas morning. That was very special to spend the holiday with their family. We went over to Rita & John's Christmas evening for food and fun. This was our first Christmas away from our families but we didn't skip a beat. We love our families and wish every one a happy new year.

Hunting or DEATH!

I mean what I say. Dayson and the boys had one last Saturday to finish their hunt. Carson had tagged his deer the week before so it was up to Dayson and Clayton to tag theirs. Of course we couldn't leave to the valley until after Dayson got off work. By that time it was snowing so hard that we couldn't even see the 4 feet in front of us. After getting thru Show Low and heading toward the Salt River Canyon we thought we were home free. WRONG. We were halfway to the canyon when stopped by the police. They said the roads were icy and to enter at our own risk. Dayson being the avid hunter he is had to keep going. "We have 4 wheel drive, we'll be fine" he says. About 5 miles from the canyon we start fish tailing on the icy roads. Thankfully only going 20 miles an hour and nobody coming the other way Dayson was able to gain control of the car. That scarred all of us. We continued down the road now going 5 miles an hour we came to a dead stop behind a line of cars. We sat and waited for a while until Dayson decides to go around the parked cars to keep trekking. Remember hunting or death. We are about to make it around the last stopped semi when a highway patrolman says "roads closed ahead you can't go anymore". Now Dayson was upset because it was 9:00pm and they were leaving at 3:00 am with his brother Adam. So we turned around while doing so we are sliding on the road. I cover my face because I can't watch. We finally make it back to the light in Show Low and there were baricades up indicating road closed. That would have been nice two hours ago. We head toward Heber and Payson. The roads were mostly clear except for the rim. We finally made it to Adam and Kritie's house at 2:30 am and the boys turned around and left to go hunting. About 3 hours away. I get a call from Dayson at about 9:00 am, him and Clayton both shot a deer. They returned home for dinner which is first and we are all still alive. Thank goodness.

Christmas Traditions!

Every year the Lawlor family has their Christmas party with the nativity. All of the grandchildren participate. This year Harly was Mary and Carson was Joseph. Clayton was a wise man and Daycee was an angel. MacKenzie and Aarron didn't want to participate and Adam is too little.

We also had our ward Christmas party. Santa came and the children were able to sit on his lap and tell him what they wanted for Christmas. Everyone took a turn but MacKenzie was to scared to sit on his lap so dad had to help out. We are so excited for Christmas this year. It looks like it might be a white Christmas for us. We've had a few snow storms and it's been pretty cold. I'm definitely not used to the weather but the kids seem to enjoy it. Especially when there is a two hour delay for school because of the snow.

I love my family and friends. We have been very blessed this year. Dayson will be starting the police academy January 5th. This is very exciting for us. We have been self-employed for the last nine years and are very excited about having benefits and retirement. Thanks to all of you who have been angels in our lives this year.

Merry Christmas!

Our Thanksgiving was a lot of fun. We were able to spend time with both families, Wellman & Merrill. I forgot my camera so I bought a disposable one. When I get that developed I should have some pictures to show of that awesome day. Thank goodness for my mother-in-law who always has her camera. She emailed me some of her pictures so I can post those for now. After getting home from our trip we put up our Christmas tree. It's always an adventure for our family. Everyone has their own ornaments they want to put on the tree themselves and Aarron just wants to knock them off the tree. He throws whatever he can as high as he can to hit an ornament and watch it fall to the ground and says, "that's a good one". He's actually my favorite child but don't tell the other ones I said that. Aarron turns the big 3 December 3rd.