Christmas Eve we went to my parent’s home. It is always tradition, ever since I was little, for the family to act out the Christmas Story. Now the grandkids do it and the adults watch. It’s always VERY entertaining!!

Then we opened gifts… These are gifts between my parents and grandkids, my siblings and I, etc… Every year my dad gives my mom a super “useful” gift, such as a washboard, a muffin tin with corn shaped muffins, etc… This year his gifts were…

My mom was thrilled, lemme tell ya…

I gave my parents BYU stadium seats. They attend most of my kid’s basketball or football games and those bl

eachers get uncomfortable. Funny story about stadium seat… My grandma (Dad’s mom) was at my dad’s basketball game and as she was leaving down the bleachers she thought a woman pushed her. So she turned around and whacked her with her stadium seat!!! I love it!!!

That night Santa came!!! Livie left this letter for Santa…

She promptly made this for me:

Ya know… I remember when Santa brought Alec and Tristan matching Blue’s Clues “Thinking Chairs…” Cute.

We went to church Christmas morning. Sei had been asked to play the prelude music for about 15 minutes. He played so beautifully. I love him.

My fave gift I received… Probably my Kindle Fire from Seiuli … I love the purse my sister surprised me with as well! But my fave thing was surprising Seiuli with Bowflex adjustable dumb bells. Amazon.com delivered them to the house and so the box weighed over 100 lbs. Sei had to carry the box in with a blanket over it so he couldn’t see what the picture on the side was. He was so confused as to what I could have bought him that weighed that much!! I was so excited to give them to him because I knew he wanted them, but would never buy them for himself. I scored them at a waaaay cheaper price than they are listed for now. Yay! I love surprising my husband!

It was a wonderful Christmas. I love being with my family. And I know Christmas isn’t about gifts, but I LOVE giving them!! It’s fun to me and makes me happy. I am thankful for any excuse to spoil my family!!!

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!!!!

Late last night started out normal… I watched “Teen Mom 2″ and then before going to bed checked my Facebook news feed. I rarely visit walls and my news feed is usually full of updates from pages I “like” such as The Police Wife Life, The Thin Blue Line, etc… So, the last thing I was reading about before bed was breaking news from KSL.com about 6- yes, SIX- Odgen, Utah police officers had been shot. As I lay there with my sweet, Officer of the Year I was literally nauseous. I told him what happened. He read the info the news had and said, “What the hell?” and that was all he said. I know in his head he was thinking more. Probably something along the lines of “Why do you show me crap like that? I have to work tomorrow!” And a lot of the times I think, “Why do I read crap like this? My heart, my life, has to work tomorrow!” Well, I woke up this morning scared to read the news. Yes… sadly one of the officers died, another is in critical condition and the other 4 are still in the hospital being treated as well.  I am so angry, stressed, sad… I can’t even express what I am feeling right now. I just know I didn’t put on mascara before starting this post… because I am already crying and will continue to do so.

Anyone who is friends with me on Facebook probably thinks that I am depressing because I am constantly posting links from the Officer Down page and other LEO related links. Well… It IS depressing. It’s depressing that in December 2011 alone 19 officers died, TWELVE by gunfire. It used to be automobile wrecks I worried about most (and my husband survived a BIG one), but gunfire deaths are increasing rapidly. According to stats:

Since the beginning of 2009, the felonious deaths of law enforcement officers by gunfire has steadily increased; we saw a 35 percent increase in deaths by gunfire in 2009, and another 17 percent increase above that in 2010. Unfortunately 2011 proved to be not only worse, but it ended with the highest amount of officer deaths by gunfire in years — 68 federal, state and local officers died by gunfire, a 15 percent jump from last year when 59 were killed. It marks the first time in 14 years that firearms fatalities were higher than traffic-related deaths. (Source: www.thepolicewifelife.com/2012/01/a-call-to-action-by-melissa-littles-and-chelsea-spenser/ and www.odmp.org)

And today, let’s see… It’s January 5th and there has been 3 officers killed by gunfire in 2012.  WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON??????!!!!!! I do not comprehend. I don’t WANT to comprehend what the hell is going on in the heads of the losers who shoot these officers. It’s like the cops aren’t real to them. A police officer is a human being behind that badge. There was a shooting at my husband’s department this year. 2 people I know and respect were shot at by some drunk who probably didn’t even remember what he did in the morning. He shot at 2 GOOD men. They shot back, wounding him in the leg, and you know what they did after that? They went and administered first aid until an ambulance arrived. You know what I wanted to do? I wanted to go kick the guy where he was shot, HARD, and tell him that one of those officers is an amazing DWI officer who joined my Walk Like MADD team last year and helped raise half our money. The other officer is the one who escorted me and my dad to the hospital so I could be there with Seiuli after his accident. He also lives down the street from me and always buys cookie dough from my kid’s when they are selling it for a school fundraiser. These are amazing people and this jackass SHOT at them. That night at around 2am I received a text from Sei. 3 words: “I love you.” I knew something had happened. He always sends texts like that when something bad has happened.

People tend to think “Well, that’s part of the job….” when it comes to the injury or death of an officer. Since when is being killed EVER considered “part of the job?” And better yet, why do people seem unfazed by it? My dad is a CPA. If 19 CPAs were shot and killed in one month it would be national news, right? So when SIX police officers from one department are shot in one night, why is the first “news” story I see on Yahoo: “Clay Aiken’s Odd New Face”?? Another big story? “Texas Police Kill 8th-grader Carrying Pellet Gun.” Of course the title paints the officers in a negative light. If you read the article and look at the picture of the “pellet gun” you will see 1) The gun looks VERY real  2) He was given plenty of opportunities to drop the weapon. But no… the boy’s parents are blaming the police for not just shooting to “bring him down.” Two officers shot a total of 3 times. Ok, this isn’t the movies. Cops aren’t trained to shoot out the knee cap to “bring someone down.” They are trained to shoot to kill. I am saddened by the entire story. It’s horrible that a 15 year old died. It’s horrible officers had to kill a kid. No one wants to do that. But the boy pointed, and would not lower, a gun towards officers- in a school full of 11-15 year old kids. The Utah police officer shooting was in the news…  7 stories down the list. A story in Iraq was first.

I am so frustrated right now. I’m tired of people writing “FML” for their Facebook status over spilled milk or a hang nail. There is a wife out there in Utah who received that call she knew she might receive but prayed she never would. She has to tell her 2 young children that their daddy is dead. Cops are being ambushed, sitting in their police car writing reports or waiting for a red light. They are the new target, the new enemy. I’ve even read people write “Cops are just another gang.” Bless your poor, stupid brain. It must be tough going through life that ignorant. You can say what you want, but that “gang” would still try to save you if you needed help. Would you do the same for someone who treats you like crap? And yes, it may be their job, and there are some jerks on power trips, but to take that job for the pay LEO receive… they deserve respect. They deserve respect from your children. Don’t tell your kids that they need to be good or “that policeman over there is going to take you to jail.” How does that make your children view police officers? They deserve respect from you. Don’t say “I pay your salary!” when they do their job and enforce the law you were breaking. They deserve respect from the media. You will see 10 “bad cops” stories to the 1 “good cop” story and it’s all about ratings. How much of this video I am posting did you see on the news? Just the maybe 10 “peaceful protestors” being sprayed with pepper spray like the cop was watering a garden? Yeah, me too. However, if you watch the entire video there are hundreds of students surrounding the police officers, and they were asked to clear a path several times so the cops could take the detainees. The protestors refused. This, my friend, is called breaking the law.

But we never were shown the 15 minute video or this angle. The media only showed a 30 second snippet. Same with all the freakin’ OWS videos. I love how I had to search and search to find the video of the unprovoked protestor pushing over a motorcycle cop’s bike or the other angle of the man’s foot supposedly being run over by a motorcycle- it so was NOT under the tire. Ridiculous.

I don’t know what I hope to gain by writing this. I just needed to get it out. I have had a love/hate relationships with cops since I was 14. Sometimes I have been on the wrong side of the law and other times I am lying beside the law. I love my officer and I want him home safe with me. He’s not just the “PoPo” to me and our children. He’s my best friend, my lover, my heart… He’s a wonderful dad and a caring, thoughtful man. He’s more than an unknown behind a badge. He is real. He is loved.

This year, like the last 4 years, we stayed in Texas to celebrate. My sister and her family came down and my brother and his wife live here. Seiuli was actually off work for Christmas Eve and day for the 1st time in 4 years. He was scheduled to work, but was able to get both days off. He worked Thanksgiving (and like I said, Christmases for the past 4 years…) so I think it was time he had this special weekend off.

Earlier in the Christmas break we took the whole family (courtesy of my in-laws and bro-in-law) to Six Flags: Holiday in the Park. It was Liv’s first time to go and OMGosh!!! This will definitely be a new Christmas break tradition in our household. She LOVED IT! The entire family (+ my lil sister, Ali) had a wonderful time. It wasn’t too cold. The lines weren’t too long and the decor was so festive. It was just a super amazing time.

In my family our tradition is to open up gifts at my parent’s home on Christmas Eve. Yes- ALL gifts… not just pajamas. So we decided to open the gifts in our home a few days early since one of the gifts was a Wii and my sister was giving the kids more Wii games… Also, our 3 oldest had to go to the ex’s on the 26th, so we wanted them to have a chance to enjoy their gifts a few days. Every year before opening gifts the kids and Sei and I watch “The Nativity” with Amy Grant’s “Breath of Heaven” playing. It really brings the Spirit of Christmas into our home. You can see it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icilgwdHiZg

Then… we opened our gifts!!!!

Alec and I were there too, but there seems to be no photographic evidence of attendance…

To be continued…

At church a few weeks ago, a woman spoke in sacrament meeting and mentioned this neat about counting your blessings. You take “kleenex on a roll” aka toilet paper and list blessing on it until the roll is gone. Then you decorate the cardboard insert, pick a word that your family decides describes that year best and then hang in on your Christmas tree. I LOVED the idea so we did it a couple weeks before Christmas. It was eye-opening, humbling and a great reminder of all the blessings in our lives. We’ve had a ton of bumps along the road that were out of our control for the most part, but we are still a family and still.so.blessed. I can’t imagine living my life and not realizing that there is a God, he loves me. He loves me enough to NOT control every aspect of my life. He loves me enough to let me hurt and then grow stronger- just like our earthly parents. Bad things in the world does not mean there is not a God. Discounting my PERSONAL testimony because there is no “proof” doesn’t make it any less true.

After an hour and a half of listing blessings in our lives the kids chose this word to describe our 2011:

I have great kids, a beautiful husband who loves me… and I am blessed.

 

I have been the worst blogger ever this year. In an attempt to maybe redeem myself a little, I’ve put together a “year in review” post for 2011… Enjoy!!

January

• Livie turned 5 and had a “Tangled” party

• I went back to school after a 10 year hiatus… being a mom. I took 13 hours at Texas Woman’s University- majoring in Family Studies.

February

• Seiuli was awarded OFFICER OF THE YEAR at his PD for 2010.
  

  He's mine.

  March

• Seiuli was in a major accident at work when he was t-boned by an unobservant driver. He was off work for 6 weeks…
  

  Wrapped around a pole

  

  He's alive!!

• Isabel’s basketball (coached by my dad) won 1st place for the season!! Isabel led her team in steals, points and assists.
  

  Winning!

  April

• Tristan turned 16 and got his driving permit…
  

  Driving on the road... gulp

• Isabel turned 12 and had a “Photo Scavenger Hunt” Party! So much fun!!
  

  Take a pic of entire group at a STOP sign

• Our family formed a team for the “WALK LIKE MADD” fundraiser. We earned over $1000 in honor of Kandi and Autumn, a mom and daughter killed by a drunk driver on Easter weekend 2010. Seiuli was a police officer on the scene and also testified in the murder trial.
  

  Our Walk Like MADD team minus Brad and Larissa...

  May

• I got my CHL (concealed handgun license) and a new Ruger LC9 mm. I named my gun “JET” after Jason Terry because it’s black and can shoot.
  

  JET

• The semester ended and I made straight As!!

• Tristan was in and out of the ER for over a week. The doctors finally decided he was fighting a virus. He eventually got completely better, but it was scary at the time.
  

  ER visit #2

• My Mavs WON THE NBA CHAMPIONSHIP!!!!! They swept the Lakers and killed the Heat!
  

  Dirk- MVP

  June

• I went to Houston with Nancy and Stacy to see NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK and BACKSTREET BOYS in concert!! It was so so so much fun!!!
  

  Well, hello Donnie...

• My siblings and I managed to plan and throw my parents a surprise 40th anniversary party! It went awesomely and they were so grateful.We even had relatives that came from Louisiana.
  

  My parents and the "candy bar."

  July

• We took a family vacation to Destin, Florida and had an amazing time!!
  

  My beautiful family

  August

• School started for the kids and me!!! I took 13 hours again.
• Tristan is a junior in high school.
• Alec is a freshman.
• Isabel is in 7th grade.
• Taj is in 2nd.
• LIV STARTED KINDERGARTEN!! I have NO kids at home during the day!! HUGE MILESTONE!!
  

  My big girl!!

September

• Taj turned 8 and was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
  

  8 years old!! Baptism day

• Seiuli and I celebrated our 10th anniversary on Sept. 14. We are planning a trip to Hawaii in June to celebrate.   Sooo excited!! Sooo blessed!!!!

October

• Took Isabel, my sister Ali and her friend, Maddy, to the Taylor Swift concert at Dallas Cowboys Stadium. We had a blast!!!
  

  Taylor Swift, here we come!!!

• Had a great Halloween!!!! I went as Flo from Progressive. Liv was Rapunzel, Taj as Capt. America, Isabel as a dark fairy, Ali as a psych patient, my dad was a “spider man”, my mom Minnie Mouse and Idk wth Sei is… The older boys went out with friends… wearing white masks and dark hoodies.
  

  Trunk or Treat

  November

• Alec turned 15!!! He also made the freshman A-team in basketball. SO PROUD!!!
  

  Go Wildcats!!!

• Isabel made A team for 7th grade!!!!
   
  

  #00

• Tristan played with varsity in the playoffs at Cowboy stadium!!!
  

  They lost But doesn't he look cute???

• Me, Taj and Livie went to Kansas with my parents and Ali to spend Thanksgiving with my sister’s family. Sei had to work so he stayed behind and the 3 oldest were at the ex’s house…
• Taj started pre-team gymnastics and is doing great!!

December

• Finished the semester with 4 As and a B. My Earth Science class was ridiculously hard so I was thrilled with the B!
• Tristan got his drivers license. We had to wait until after football so he had time to go take the test. He did great!!
  
• Loving being a psycho sports spectator at my kiddos games!! We have 2-4 games a week!
  
• Seiuli has Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off for the 1st time in 3 years. YAY!!

I am soooo looking forward to 2012! How was your 2011??

 

I had the opportunity to review another great Stanley Home Product. They carry a great line of home cleaning products and I have been impressed with the three I have tried: The Degreaser Concentrate, the Grimeguard Glass Cleaner foaming spray and now the G-X Disinfectant.

It seems like lately every other status I read on Facebook is about someone getting the flu. G-X Disinfectant aerosol spray gets into hard to clean places to help kill more than a dozen harmful germs and viruses, including Influenza A. I have 5 kids in my home. I have enough going on without someone getting the flu– and I certainly can’t afford to get sick! It makes me feel better to know that I am killing yucky germs and helping to protect the health of me and my family. I am going to continue to use G-X Disinfectant and I believe I will be one the of the few missing the “We’re are miserably sick…” status updates.

———-

Are you interested in taking advantage of Stanley Home’s many business opportunities to make extra money in your home? With Stanley Home Products, you earn 35% on every item you sell, and you can do so in a variety of ways. Whether through one-on-one sales, hosting Stanley Home house parties, or selling via the internet, “Your Success Begins At Home.” Start here for your Stanley Home adventure: http://www.shponline.com/english/opportunity.asp

 

I used Random.org to choose the winner….

 

My family has had the opportunity to enjoy Disney on Ice twice. We have absolutely LOVED each performance. This Thanksgiving break we are excited to once again enjoy Disney on Ice: Mickey and Minnie’s Magical Journey, at the Allen Events Center in Allen, Texas. Here’s the 411:

WHAT: Join Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse as they travel to four exciting destinations all in one fun-filled ice production!  Pack your bags and get ready for globe-trotting adventures in Disney On Ice presents Mickey & Minnie’s Magical Journey performing at Allen Event Center.  Audiences will be transported straight from their seats into the magical worlds of Disney’s The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, Lilo & Stitch and Peter Pan in this passport-to-adventure spectacular created for the entire family!  To discover more about Disney On Ice, log on to www.disneyonice.com or visit us on Facebook and YouTube.

WHERE: Allen Event Center
200 East Stacy Road, Ste. 1350
Allen, TX 75002

WHEN: Wednesday, November 23, 2011 — 7:30PM

Friday, November 25, 2011 — 11:30AM, 3:30PM, 7:30PM

Saturday, November 26, 2011 — 11:30AM, 3:30PM, 7:30PM

Sunday, November 27, 2011 — 1:30PM, 5:30PM

TICKETS: Beginning September 17, tickets will be available at www.ticketmaster.com. Tickets are $75 (Rinkside), $45 (VIP), and $30.  All seats are reserved, and tickets are available by calling Ticketmaster at 1-800-745-3000 toll free.  Tickets may also be purchased at Ticketmaster Retail Locations, including Fiesta Mart, or by purchasing them at the arena’s box office.

Doesn’t that sound great?! I cannot wait!!! And I am super excited to share that I get to host a giveaway for a family 4-pack of tickets!!! Tickets are for the Wednesday, November 23, 7:30PM performance. I have 4 tickets– that is all. There will not be additional tickets available to purchase next to you, just FYI.  PLEASE make sure you can attend the show before entering the giveaway. All winners will be notified via email and I will need to hear back from you within 48 hours to confirm you can go. If I don’t get a reply I will have to pass the tickets on to the next winner. (Sorry!!) Tickets will be held at the Will Call window under your name.

Ok, now that we have all that out of the way… Here’s how you enter:

Main entry, post a comment:

• Tell me your favorite out of: The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, Lilo & Stitch and Peter Pan. I love all of them, but The Little Mermaid is a fave.
  

Extra entries are as follows- post a comment for each one you complete:

This giveaway ends Nov. 13. And again- PLEASE make sure you can attend the Wed., Nov. 23 show BEFORE entering. Thanks!!

I had the opportunity to try out Degreaser Concentrate by Stanley Home. It’s an all-purpose, double-strength cleaner. And it rocks!

Stanley Home is pleased to introduce you to their new Degreaser Concentrate; four times more concentrated than leading cleaners, it powers out tough grease build-up and stains wherever they’re found. Since you use less, you save more, for better results! It is safe for septic systems, biodegradable, and phosphate-free.

There are so many uses to Degreaser Concentrate. It’s four times more concentrated than leading cleaners … so you use only 1/4 as much. 32 oz. of Degreaser Concentrate makes 96 16-oz. pump spray bottles. It works great to clean showers and tubs. I cleaned gum out of Isabel’s denim capris. I cleaned grease off the stove. And I used it to clean the rims on my van! You can use to to clean stainless steel, garbage disposals, clean in your fridge, clean lipstick or make up out of clothes…. You can even add it to your laundry water. Do you have grease stained walls in your kitchen? No? Oh, well I do… and it cleaned them.

It’s a great overall product and I recommend it for sure. It even came with a list of “50 Ways to Use Degreaser!”  Go check it out!

Congrats!!!! I am emailing you now!

Disney Live! Three Classic Fairy Tales, playing at the Allen Event Center in Allen, Texas on October 23 only.

WHAT: Prepare to step into a world of wonder where wishing is only the beginning and dreams really do come true in Disney Live! presents Three Classic Fairy Tales. This enchanting journey features more than 25 Disney characters in an unforgettable theatrical experience for North Texas families.

Join Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy as they embark on an unexpected quest to find a magical storybook hidden in Mickey’s attic. As the four pals curiously turn the pages, they magically bring to life the timeless fairy tale adventures of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast. Featuring dynamic storytelling, time-honored songs, such as Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo, Heigh Ho and Be Our Guest, stunning costumes and glittering special effects, audiences will be captivated by the humor, fun and adventure of these spellbinding stories performed live on stage.

For more information, visit www.disneylive.com or visit us on Facebook and YouTube.

WHERE: Allen Event Center
200 East Stacy Road, Ste. 1350
Allen, TX 75002

WHEN: Sunday, October 23        1:30pm, 4:30pm

TICKETS:    Tickets are available at www.ticketmaster.com. Prices are $60 (Front Row), $45 (VIP Floor), and $35.  All seats are reserved, and tickets are available by calling Ticketmaster at 1-800-745-3000 toll free.  Tickets may also be purchased at Ticketmaster Retail Locations, including Fiesta Mart, or by purchasing them at the arena’s box office.

BUT!!!! ONE lucky SWAMPBRAT read will win a 4 pack of tickets for the October 23, 2011 1:30 PM show!!!!

I am so excited!!! It’s super easy to enter, but 1st-

• PLEASE make sure you can attend that time and date: OCTOBER 23, 1:30PM.
• There are FOUR tickets available. I cannot get you more, so please don’t enter hoping to get a few more.
• The winner’s tickets will be held for you at the WILL CALL window to be picked up with ID.

Now that we have all that out of the way, here’s how to enter:

MAIN ENTRY Answer this question in the comments: Who is your favorite Disney character?!

BONUS ENTRIES After you have answered the initial question, you can leave additional comments for each of the following:

Subscribe to my blog. Let me know if you’re already subscribed. It’s in the top right hand corner.

“Like” Disney Live! on Facebook

Tweet this giveaway. You can do this up to 3 times day as long as the tweets are atleast 1 hour apart. Comment back with your Twitter status url each time!

Share this giveaway on your blog or on your Facebook page. Leave me a link to where you posted it. You can post on Facebook once a day for extra entries.

Fan SWAMPBRAT on Facebook. If you’re already a fan that counts also…

Good luck!! This giveaway will end October 15!!

I’ve bragged enough about my husband that you know he can play the piano by ear. You can see him playing on my Seiuli Saturdays. But what is kind of exciting is that I can see Taj and Liv have some of his talent. They both “hear” music differently. They can both pick songs out on the piano– nothing major or fancy, but they can. And Livie plays with all 5 fingers unlike most kids that are messing around on the piano. She also can remember songs easily. Here she is playing a little duet with Sei. She stuck stickers on the keys because she was afraid she would forget the notes!! haha What I find cool is she realizes when she’s off beat or when she hits a wrong note and she tries to correct it. I’m excited to see what the future brings for her and Taj with music.