The Mall Santa

HO HO HO it's Saint Nick at Provo Towne Center!!! We managed to get to the mall the day before christmas. After going to visit it Santa we went to the Verizon kiosk to figure out what is wrong with Shayla's cell phone, but after 2 hours of darting through people and trying to stay together, we didn't have any luck. Ended up going to the Verizon store in Orem for another hour and a half to find out that it is her battery and they didn't have any in stock, so the waiting game for them to ship a new one, Shayla is tickled pink, she can hardly contain herself!!!!!! (LOL)

Who says you are too old for Santa?

My my aren't they a happy looking bunch? I can't believe I got Ryan to sit on his lap

Shayla looks so happy to be there! Santa kept calling JC "Isaac" he has no idea why either? I asked him if he asked for his name and he said no. Oh well, I'm sure santa remembers who he is

Wootton Christmas Party

Ahhhhh! The annual Wootton family Christmas party! We had it at our house this year because we have more room. Instead of the traditional ham or turkey dinner, we did a mexican fiesta. We had a bar where you could make burritos, tacos, and taco salads. We also had all the fixins including rice, 7 layer bean dip and chips. My brother brought "Horchata" a mexican rice drink. First time I have had this and it was pretty good. After we opened our presents from each other we had a wrapping-paper-ball-fight. Here is Andrew (my nephew) aiming at Shayla and her friend Kayla

I have 3 brothers, but only two could come (the 3rd lives in Las Vegas) My brother John is on the far couch with his wife Shelley, they have 6 kids Zach-14, Andrew-12, Regan-8, Jenna-5, Olivia-2 and Jack-3 months. My brother Jeff is on the other couch with his arms up and his wife Emily, they have 2 boys Brandon-6 and Aaron-4. We had a full house, but a blast at the same time!!

Ryan, Brandon, and Aaron watch me open our gift which turned out to be pictionaryman! I am so excited to play it!!!

Shirley has been my moms friend for at least a thousand years!!! She is part of our family and we invite her to all of our get togethers. Shelley is the blonde and Emily is the brunette. I love my sister-in-laws! They are the best!

Ohhhh! Poor sleepy baby!!! Jeff worked so hard at making his burritos that he needed a "siesta", but I think we all did!!!!

Brookside Christmas program 2008

Ok, you might be able to see Jc, he has a red hoodie on and he is NOT looking at the camera!

Here comes Santa Claus!!!!

Ryan just realized I was there

So, this is before he saw me!

Brookside elementary

christmas countdown

Christmas Countdown & MySpace Layouts

Making gingerbread houses

Shayla getting caught eating the "trimmings" for the houses!

Mom helping Ryan put on the finishing touch

Wow! Isn't JC quite the contractor!!

My two boys working together and not fighting!!!! Imagine that???

Shayla's Christmas band concert

Shayla at her Christmas band concert

Shayla's group with her band teacher Mr.Booth

Shayla with her Grandpa Witney

Shayla with her Grandma Witney

Shayla plays the oboe (the hardest instrument to play). She loves it! She has played it for two years and we are so proud of her. I love to go to her concerts. Her teacher works really well with them, and it is amazing to watch them get better with each year!

Enjoy a video of them playing Mission impossible

Molly's broken leg

My poor little Molly!!!

Yesterday we were going to go up the canyon to shoot guns. While we were getting the guns ready my daughter had our two dogs outside, she put them in the back of the Durango and Molly in all of her infinite wisdom decided to jump out! Ok so normally she has done this at least a thousand times, but oh no not this time she some how landed just right!!! In the house I heard her yelping and went outside to see what happened. She hobbled over to me with her leg dangling!!! Needless to say instead of going shooting we spent the next 5 hours at Banfield pet hospital inside of Petsmart with her. Of course they are surgery happy and wanted us to pay $1500 for surgery. I think not!!!! So they casted her leg and there we were. I had to call work and request to be on call because I had no idea when we would get out of there. It was a good thing, because we didn't get done until after 5:30. The poor little girl!!! This is the second time she has broken a bone. When she was just a little pup she thought it would be fun to "roll" off our balcony (10 ft drop) and broke her paw on the other side. Again they wanted to do surgery, but we couldn't afford it. Same hospital. Imagine that she healed just fine. I don't like them. Why can't animals get hurt during business hours at our regular vet?????

Mommy Tag

MOMMY TAG

1. What time do you wake up? Depends on the day. For school about 7. If I worked the night before then about 2 in the afternoon
2.What time are your kids in bed? Usually before 10 if I'm lucky
3.How long have you been a mommy? 13 years 5 months
4. How old were you when you became a mom? 18
5. What is your favorite chore? Folding laundry
6. What is your favorite meal to cook? Stir fry
7. What meal do you cook most often? Anything crock pot
8. What are 5 things about being a mom that make you smile? 1--my kids laughing together. 2--watching my kids perform. 3--Hearing how much other people like my kids. 4--Feeling proud when my kids make the right choice. 4--Hearing "I love you mom" 5--Getting hugs!!!
9. If you could take your kids anywhere, where would it be? On a Carribean cruise focused for kids.
10. When was the last time you went out without your kids? Today when we went to the Redbox to rent a few DVD's for Thanksgiving (we consider that a date! Sad I know!! You take what you can get)
11. What is your most heartbreaking moment as a mom? Not being able to take the "hurt" away!
12. When was the last time you told one of your kids I love you? Today
13. When was the last time you were told I love you? Today
I tag Becky, Maureen and Anna

Aunt Robyn this is for you!!!

This is for Aunt Robyn!!!! Here are some pictures of our kitchen. It is about 85% done. I wish I had before pictures. It is amazing the difference. It is brighter, roomier and just more enjoyable to be in. We are so excited about it!! When we get it finished I will put the pictures up

Clam chowder recipe

Here is that recipe that I promised I would put on the blog. It is so good!!!! You could probably even substitute the clams for something else if you don't like clams!

Clam Chowder

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)
3 (6.5 ounce) cans minced clams
1 cup minced onion
1 cup diced celery
2 cups cubed potatoes
1 cup diced carrots
3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 quart half-and-half cream
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
ground black pepper to taste


DIRECTIONS
Drain juice from clams into a large skillet over the onions, celery, potatoes and carrots. Add water to cover, and cook over medium heat until tender.
Meanwhile, in a large, heavy saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in flour until smooth. Whisk in cream and stir constantly until thick and smooth. Stir in vegetables and clam juice. Heat through, but do not boil.
Stir in clams just before serving. If they cook too much they get tough. When clams are heated through, stir in vinegar, and season with salt and pepper.

Family pictures

We finally did it!!! It has been 5 1/2 years, but we got new pictures. We had a lot of fun taking them!

Ryan lost his first tooth!!!

CHEESE!!!!!!!


See my beautiful tooth!


He is sooo excited!!

Ryan actually has already lost a tooth though. When he was 3 he hit his face on a metal bunkbed and his top front tooth started dying, so the dentist had to pull it. He was excited for his first "real" lost tooth. He pulled it out himself. My hero!!!!!

Halloween started off good this year. Shayla and her friend where going to take the boys so that I could stay home and get some homework done, well Jc ended up going with his friends, so Shayla and Kayla took Ryan. About 30 minutes later they called me to come get him. He was scared. So I took him around the neighborhood. He threw a fit the entire time we were out. We would go to a house and he would say, "I'm not going here. They are going to scare me with a mask!" Well, guess what? It didn't happen at any of them. Then we had to stop at my neighbors house because he had to "tinkle". Needless to say we made it about 2 blocks and he was done. That was ok with me because I really didn't want to go anyway! Overall it was a fun Halloween. We had our traditional homemade chili, rolls, hot apple cider and doughnuts. Now it is over and we can start preparing for Thanksgiving!
Happy Halloween!

Halloween!!!

My don't we look happy!!!!!!!!
JC the biker zombie

Shayla (punk rock fairy) and Kayla (Sally from Nightmare before Christmas)



Ryan the Storm Trooper

JC and Ryan carving their pumpkins


My cute little Ryan


JC working really hard


Oh come on mom!!!!

I hate school

Ok, so school is so frustrating sometimes. I feel like I am drowning and everytime someone tries to throw me a rope my instructors are standing next to them demanding that I do a dosage equation before they can help me, therefore I DROWN!!!!!!! I have heard people talk about how hard nursing school is, but man let me give advice to anybody considering this field. DO YOUR GENERALS BEFORE YOU GET IN THE PROGRAM!!!!!!!!!!! Because they don't care if you have a research paper, bioregional group project, and tests in all of your other classes! Nursing comes first. I seriously have an assignment due every 3 days in my mom/baby class. I don't understand why they waited until the second half of the semester to throw this all on us. And to add salt to an open wound (pun) they make you do most of your projects with a partner that you don't get to pick, so when he/she sends you their information that is due in 2 hours and it is in the wrong format and looks like they copy and pasted the textbook with no citation information, then lets just say you want to cry, pull your hair out and have a stiff drink all at the same time! (is that possible?)
Ok, so tomorrow will be better right?

Welcome

Welcome to the Wonderful World of the Witney's!!!!
I honestly can't say how wonderful it is right now, considering our 13 year old is at it again! And yes, I have fought against doing a blog, but after all the shinanigans going on at school, I figured it would be easier for my friends to read about it rather than try to text all my frustrations out!