We had a Merry Christmas!

In lieu of a huge Christmas post, I leave you with this lovely picture of all of us in our matching pj's made by me and of course Shelia (the sewing machine). We had a great Christmas-- kids were thrilled with their gifts, we got to stay warm and dry in our house while the snow covered the ground, no fighting , etc. etc. Hope yours was great as well!

Mery Christmas!

I will post pictures and stories soon, but I just wanted to say Merry Christmas to all my friends and family! Also, Tristan won the OMSH coloring contest! Go look! http://www.ohmystinkinheck.com/ He's pretty excited!



Have a fun and relaxing day with your families!



LOVE YA!

Seeing Santa

Last night we had our Ward Party. We had a really good dinner (we could have roast beef, ham, or turkery, or all 3) and mashed potatoes and gravy and lots of yummy desserts to choose from. The Primary did a lovely Nativity play and then Santa came! It was the first time we have seen him this year. All the kids sat on his lap.


Not too old yet!

I'm changing my whole list ha ha ha!

I want to stay little forever (wait, that's what mom wants, not me!)

Thoughtfully contemplating the universe as we wait in line.

Oh my gosh, I am so grumpy

"All I want to do is sit on the couch and not do anything at all." That is a quote from Tristan, and I agree wholeheartedly! I have so much to do tonight and I am soooo tired. The kids at school are just plain crazy and today was exhausting! I am so ready to take a break! Hurray for Christmas (or I guess I should say Winter) vacation! 2 weeks off. YAY!

Sharing the Christmas Spirit

Tonight was the kids' school Christmas program. It was really a good one. They combined the classes so there were 4 songs performed. Just right! The kids all did great and lots of friends and family came to see them all. They performed in the church that is right next door to the school because our school gym is too small for an audience.

For your viewing pleasure:
Anna's group sings "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer"

Connor's group sings:

"I Want a Hippopotomus for Christmas" (warning, this is a bit longish because I recorded the whole entire song)

Tristan's group sings:

"Mistletoe Song" (it has a different title, but I don't know it)

Cousin Party!

Hold on to your hats!! This post has lots and lots of pictures! We hosted a cousin party on Saturday and had so much fun! We decorated "gingerbread" houses with yummy candy, opened our gifts of books from each other, and played played played! Everyone had a good time! We had all the cousins except Jack and JT, we really missed you guys! Enjoy the pictures, I think I got everyone at least once. (please forgive the lack of captions and the weird organization--it's late and I wanted to get this up tonight).

Merry Christmas! We Love You!!!!

Things I like Saturday (or wednesday.....) and other good things.

I would like to introduce you to my new friend Shelia. Shelia was a Birthday/Anniversary/Christmas gift. My birthday was on Friday.

I love Shelia. She has helped me sew things already. My last machine (never even had a name, sad) worked well, but he was OLD. Stopped sewing backwards and then stopped winding the bobbin. It was time for a new friend.

I feel a bit spoiled at this gift. But I have a feeling it will last me a good long time. I'm excited for all the new things we will learn together. Also: being able to backtack. It's awesome!

So Friday was my birthday. I am proudly 34 years old. I used to think that was starting to get old. I don't feel old yet so I guess I was wrong. I had a great day. I did have to work, but that's ok. One of the students I work with has the same birthday, so we celebrated. I brought treats. Then that night Chris and I went out to eat at Little America at the Steakhouse there. It was soooooooo good. Definitely a special occasion type restaurant for sure!

I feel like I've learned a lot in my old age. I'm learning how not to care about what people think. I've learned that stressing and worrying about things doesn't help. I'm much more calm. I've learned that even though I'm a wife and a mom and a daughter; I'm also a woman. One who is smart and creative, one who has good ideas and is fun to be around. I like that I can do things that make a difference.

Elf Yourself

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

I am truly thankful

1. My Family. I'm happy that I got to spend time with my parents and my brother and his family. I'm glad that I know that we can be together forever.

2. Cousins. The kids had fun seeing their cousins. They get along so well and have a good time together.

3. Chris. Love, love, LOVE this man! He is the most patient loving person I know. He just makes my life complete. He takes really good care of his family and is such a great Dad. He's also one fine man.

4. My parents. This picture of me and my mom is so cool. I'm so glad that my mom is taking such good care of herself and kicked that cancer in the butt! I'm also thankful for my dad. I know they love us very much. My parents are so great, I love them a lot. I'm glad we got to go spend Thanksgiving with them. It was a very relaxed holiday.

I'm also thankful for my other brother and my sister. They had to spend the holiday with their girlfriend/boyfriend and their families.

There are so many other things that I am thankful for, this has been a really good year for us. I'm glad that we have this holiday to make us think about all we have been blessed with.

Getting the tree

On Wednesday, we traveled to Fishlake National Forest and cut down a Christmas tree. This was something we did almost every year when I was growing up. We've also done it a few times since we've been married, but it has been a long time. I decided it was time for the kids to have this experience too!

We got all bundled up and hopped in Grandpa's truck. It was starting to rain in town and we (at least I was) were worried about the weather. Just before we got to the turn off to Fishlake it started to snow! The kids were thrilled! We had to drive a while because we can't cut trees in the park, but soon turned off on a sideroad and found this beauty!

We had a lot of fun walking in the snow and looking for the perfect tree. I think this is a tradition we need to visit again!

Things I Like Saturday

Traditions!

Every year since 2002, I have traced and stitched my kids handprints. The first year I made them into a wall hanging. Then I decided to make some pillows (not all are shown in the picture--and I'm a bit behind (gotta get caught up on this one for sure!) Someday I think I'll make all the handprints into a quilt. I love looking at these handprints, it's a fun way to see how the kids are growing! I also have them write their name in the handprints so we can see how their writing changes through the years.

Christmas is a time for lots of different traditions, and today, my Thing I Like is traditions. What kind of traditions do you have for this holiday season?

Pay It Forward

I'm participating in a Pay It Forward Exchange. Who wants to play? I will send a handmade gift to the first three people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this Pay It Forward Exchange. You will receive your gift within a month from leaving your comment. The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog. I signed up for this fun exchange on my good friend Tennille's blog. She is a very creative person and she sent me this darling picture. It's really cool, because it opens up to more and more cool pictures (I tried to take pictures of it, but they aren't the best, but maybe you get the idea.)

I can't guarantee it will be anything amazing, but who cares if it is FREE! Remember, you have to have a blog to participate and must Pay it Forward on your site as well. Who's ready to play?

Things I Like Saturday

Slave Labor!

Today the kids and I cleaned our little hearts out. I bribed them with money and they really earned it! I love when I hear,"what else can I do?" and I can't think of anything. That is my favorite thing on this Saturday.

Jazzed

On Monday, I got to go to a Jazz game! My dad got tickets at his work and invited his girls (my mom, my sister Lexi, and me) out for a date.

Me and my Daddy

The Utah Jazz played the Phoenix Suns. Had it been a football game I think I would have gotten bored in the first few minutes. As you may or may not know, I'm not an athletic type of gal. But I'm not one to pass up spending time with my family (that I don't get to see as much as I would like since we moved). I do understand Basketball (most of it anyway) and sat by my Dad for the first half of the game and he reminded me about some of the things I'd forgotten. (I'm actually sort of embarassed to say this, but I haven't watched a Basketball game since my days at Snow College... it's been awhile).

Mom and Me

Well, you won't hear any kind of commentary about the game here, I went, I watched, I cheered, I left. That about sums it up for me. But I will leave you with some pictures of the best looking spectators there!

Lexi and Me

Aren't we a great looking family?


Oh yeah, the Jazz won! Here's the final score. We had pretty good seats. It was fun, but the best part was seeing the family. It seems like we usually just see each other for a few minutes. I got to be the daughter instead of the mom and wife. It was really fun!

Thanks Dad for getting the tickets and taking us all out to the ballgame!

Overwhelmed by the craftiness.....

As I have mentioned before, I like to do crafts. I'm happiest when I have a big project to work on. Right now I am making a cross-stitch Christmas light sampler ( I love samplers best of all).

I also have a baby afghan I am crocheting, I bought fabric to make our family matching pajama pants, and I just went to a huge scrapbook sale and bought a bunch of supplies to do scrap booking.

I love all these things, and I really want to get back into scrap booking. The only thing I don't like about it is not having room to spread out and really get it done. It seems like once I get all the paper, cutters, embellishments, pictures etc. out, it's time to put it all away! I would love to have a craft room where I can have huge tables and organized paper stackers and all the fun things for scrap booking on one side of the room and then another side for sewing. If everything was already ready for me then I think it would be easier to get things started and finished. It seems like it's harder getting things ready so it's just easier to put it off and not do it at all.

I talked to Chris about it and asked if we could set up a place for me in the basement. We are thinking over our options and wondering if I can handle extra mess in the bedroom. It's really the only option. I'm sure I can keep things neat, especially if I don't have to put everything away, just tidy. who knows?

Someday, when we have our own house, I will make a spot just for me. Until then I will have to make due, even if it means carrying everything up to the kitchen table.

Things I Like Saturday

This is something I really like. It is my husband's style. He's not afriad to do things a little different than other people. He has a style all his own. The thing that really attracted me to him was his nonchalant attitude and not caring about what other people think of him.

Just one of the many things I love about my man.

a little favor for my friends and family (and anybody else who reads me)

In trying to make things a bit safer in the blogosphere, I would like to ask anybody who reads this blog and posts a link to please not use my family's last name. I know that many people are going private and I respect that choice. I am choosing to keep my blog public with more precautions. If you would help me out by taking my last name off your links I would really appreciate it. Also, I would really really like to know who reads this lovely blog, so in the comments section, go ahead and say hello and tell me how you found me or know me. I love sharing my life with people and would probably like to share your life by reading your blog as well!

Happy Blogging!

Things I Like Saturday.

I have decided to to a weekly post called "things I Like Saturday" . I will be posting pictures and descriptions of random things I like. Today I am posting about a pretty cool thing I like. It is the Salt Lake Temple.

I got to go there today. I consider myself to lucky to be minutes away from such a wonderful sacred place. Going to the Temple today was something I really needed and I'm so grateful I can do so whenever I want to. Such a beautiful, reverent, special feeling I have when I am there. I'm especially thankful that Tristan got to be there with me. I am loving my new calling.

Exercise your right

Something new in the works......

I will now officially be crazy busy! I just got a new church calling. I am the second counselor in the Young Women program! I haven't been in YW since I was one (and a beehive? wow that was 22 years ago almost (wow, I'm old)). I'm really excited about it, still don't know exactly what I'll be doing, but from what I hear, I will be busy! I hope that I will be able to do a good job. I went on Sunday and I think there were more leaders there than girls. Hopefully we can get more girls to come to church. But even if they are all there, there are only 15 Young Women total in our ward. We need some families with teenagers to move into our ward!

give me something good to eat!

Halloween this year was really fun! We had the warmest weather I can remember. We didn't even have to wear our coats trick or treating so we could really show off our costumes.

We went trick or treating with our friends, the Flittons. We had a great mix of costumes. It was fun going with them, they live in a great neighborhood. Thanks for inviting us!

Tristan was a "recycled costume" he took bits and pieces from old costumes and put them all together into this beauty.

He won a prize at a costume party with the young men and young women.
Connor was a Ninja. Notice how stealthy he is.
Anna was a princess.
We got tons and tons of candy! I think that we trick or treated more than we ever have before.

We got home and got visited by ONE trick or treater! I guess we missed out on that part this year. So now we have all the candy the kids got and the 4 bags I bought to pass out.

can you say sugar high?

Kids say the funniest things.....

I am a paraprofessional in a first grade class. Today a student asked the teacher if she could wear her Halloween costume to school on Friday. The teacher told her she could, as long as she didn't have a mask or weaponry. I asked the student what she was going to be for Halloween and she told me "super girl". I asked if she had a mask with her costume and she said, "no, I'll just wear my regular face."

too funny. The teacher and I couldn't stop laughing.

What year do you belong in?

You Belong in 1988

Wild, over the top, and just a little bit cheesy. You're colorful at night - and successful during the day.

What Year Do You Belong In?

I'm not even a little surprized. How about you? Which year do you belong in?

My trip to NYC

Last week I had the opportunity to visit New York City. Chris went there for a job. He is a free-lance audio visual tech, and was doing a convention for the International AIDS society. I just didn't want to pass up a chance to see more of the world!

The kids went to Richfield and stayed with my parents and had a great time.

Our flight left right around midnight, and sleeping on an airplane is not my idea of fun! Luckly the flight was good, and I didn't have to sit by anybody too strange.

This picture is of my very first subway ride. It was about 7:30 in the morning, we hit the morning rush! There were so many people on the subway, we had to stand and hold on to the bars.
This is the famous times square sign, it's the the one that the New Year's ball drops every year. The signs that on the building earn the building more than $1,000,000,000 a year.
This is at the 3 story M&M building. Everything sold there is M&M themed. This is just one wall of candy you could buy (if you wanted to pay $11.99 a pound). They had every color imaginable!

This is our second subway ride. It was right after we bought my bag and pashmina at canal street. I didn't buy a knock-off designer bag, but I did get a pretty great one. We rode in a taxi down to canal street and I was scared for my life. Our driver almost hit a pedestrian! New York drivers a so much crazier than Salt Lake drivers, and that's saying a lot.
This is the view from our hotel room. We stayed at the Marriot Marquee, right on Times Square. Our room was on the 41st floor. It was a really nice room, the most comfortable bed I've ever slept in.
We went out on the town for a few hours before we went to bed (Chris had to be to the convention at 2am to get things set up so he needed sleep, especially since the night before was spent on the plane). We went to dinner at an Italian restaurant that had great ambiance, great service, but really crappy food. Then we just wandered around. This is me and my new bag.
I went to the Toys "R" Us at Times Square, it was so big it had a ferris wheel in it! This Lego sculpture wasn't life size, but it was really big. They also had an Empire State Building with King Kong on it.
On Friday, I went on a bus tour. I wish I would have bought my ticket the day before because I just ran out of time and didn't see everything I wanted to see. This picture is of the Empire State building. I went on the down town tour and saw so many cool things. I wanted to go to Ellis Island and see the Statue of Liberty, but again, I ran out of time. I did see the fashion district, Rockefeller Center, Chinatown, Soho, Little Italy, Wall Street, Ground Zero, Central Park, The United nations, and where lots of famous people lived or had lived, where movies were made and more than I can even remember. I would really like to go back someday and actually

go into some of these places I saw. It was a great vacation.

Juniors has the BEST cheesecake I have ever eaten.