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.

DEPUTY DAD!

This was Dayson's first week working at the county jail. He is temporarily working as a detention officer until the academy, which will start in January. His first week consisted of transferring inmates from cell to cell, taking them their lunch and driving them into St. Johns from Sanders. He was also their to witness the media mania when they were reporting on the eight year old boy. He really seems to enjoy his new job. It is a big change since he's been self-employed for the last nine years. We are still going to do Merrill Auto Glass on the side, so if you need something done, don't hesitate to call.

Yeah! Snow

This is our first snow of the winter. Last night at about 10:00 pm Clayton and I looked out the window to find snow covering our entire front yard. The snow continued to fall thru the night. Grandpa Wellman is staying the night with us and was able to enjoy the snow also. The kids are so excited and couldn't wait to go outside to play in the snow. We were also hoping for a snow day, but that didn't happen. Oh well! This morning dad and I went to the Intermediate school for a Veteran's Day assembly. It was very nice and the kids sang the "Star Spangle Banner". I than dropped dad off at the high school were there having an assembly also to honor the veterans. He will have 6 grandkids there with him. Christie, Rulon, Zack (who is visiting), Kylie, Ryan and Clayton. The middle school was bussed over to watch the presentation. This has been a very eventful day so far.

Happy November!

I am so excited for Thanksgiving. Baking pies and getting together with the family is my most favorite thing to do. It is now getting cold here in Round Valley. Dayson and I were able to go to the valley over the weekend and spend some time at my mom's on Sunday with Kelly and Andrea and their families. Than on Monday we took the kids to see High School Musical 3. Loved it. And then we headed to Mesa to spend some time with Sharlene and Gary. We got to play with Krew and saw his new house finally. We also went to the Lawlor Halloween party and had lots of fun with our cousins. I hope everyone is doing well and I look forward to seeing your updated blogs for November!