See ya 2008!!

I am still on the lookout for some fancy battery for my new camera, so this picture is from my old one. We spent a great evening at our friend's house for dinner and games. I was surprised how well the kids held up as we didn't get home until 10:30. We had lots of yummy food and great company playing games while the kids watched movies or played games. On our way home we saw these deer just down the street, on our loop. I may have forgotten to take pictures at Erin and Bryan's but the kids agreed that these deer were there to say "Welcome to 2009!"

We're Back

My new camera's batteries are already expired and Greg is out right now buying new ones, so this will be a picture-less post. We had a wonderful time with my family this Christmas. It has been four years since we last made the trip (at Christmastime), and after all the delayed airplanes due to weather I know why we won't do it again for a long time.
It was a lot of fun being with my whole family and watching the cousins interact (only one mild concussion and one kicked out of nursery-neither mine though:). We did a lot, but at the same time had a lot of down time to just relax and be together. Greg and I definitely got spoiled by our parents, not to mention the kid's stuff. I think they were just really glad to have their 6 kids, 5 in-laws and 8 grandchildren all together.
Thanks to all the people that helped out here at home. Greg's brother drove us to and from the airport, and threw away our dead fish before the kids saw it. There were some goodies left on the porch and while they were soaked through so we have no idea who they were from, it was the thought that counts and we appreciate it all. I heard our driveway was cleared at one point. I wish we would have thought to put some salt down or something since this morning when I headed to the gym (a much needed thing after 10 days of gluttony), I got stuck in an embankment and had to dig myself out before I could leave.
We had a great little Christmas celebration here at home last night. Santa came to our house while we were gone, along with the couple things we got each other and the kids. It was nice to open the gifts and then actually get to play with some. With 23 or so people at my parents house we told the kids to just take their toys and hide them in the back until later. It is always good to go and see my family, I wish we could do it more, but it is always good to be home.

Christmas Letter

I really wasn't thinking that I would get around to Christmas letters this year. I just had to many other things to do and I thought I could use the excuse of "going green" and just email everyone. Well, it turns out that my computer loving husband thought that wasn't personal enough and so I compromised. I took a quick snapshot of the kids in front of the tree, not really caring what it looked like (I didn't know Nate's eyes were cross-eyed until later that night and I didn't want to try again the next day), and made 50 copies for family and far away friends. I figured anyone who lived close enough to us see my kids enough. I didn't even write a cute poem like I usually do, it is just the kids on a Costco generated card...and I feel great about it. For those of you who are seeing this, you have also seen the other 100 blogs this year and you know what is going on in our life. No big surprises like some Christmas cards we have received. We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year.

Blurb and Bloggled

I don't know if anyone has noticed, but Blurb is currently not supporting Blogger right now (only Livejournal and Typepad). It has been this way for a couple months and they are working on the problem. There has been discussion that it will be back in 2009, but who knows. I recently found a new program called Bloggled. On its website it says they will have a blog to book program coming in the new year. So frustrating! I know a lot of people who were really looking forward to making a book from their blog. I have been doing mine month to month, so I have thru October. I am just cutting and pasting the rest of the year and then will decide what to do come 2009 for next year. I have found a program that says they can take your blogger blog and turn it into a livejournal account, but Greg and I couldn't figure it out. Anyway, I just thought I would let you all know what I have learned. Have a great day!

Nate the Great Plays the Piano

I don't think I have mentioned these two things. Nathan now goes by Nate the Great at school. I guess his teacher read a book with that title at the beginning of the year and it just stuck. Nathan even got a letter from Santa at school that was addressed to Nate the Great, and he was so happy that Santa got his name right. Last year Nathan didn't like to be called Nate...I guess it just wasn't great enough.

Also, my Nathan has started playing the piano this school year and has amazed us with how quickly he picked it up. For his recital he played "All I Want For Christmas" and "Tree Hunt." When he started playing the first piece he had one of his front teeth missing. Tonight that space had filled in and the other tooth was missing. Nathan loved learning this song (though I was a little skeptical at first thinking it was WAY too hard), and wowed us, his grandparents and Aunt Katie with his playing. We can't wait to take the music home to play it for my family.
My good friend Tomie is Nathan's teacher and her little girl Hattie and my Annie are the best of friends. They have had a few ups and downs, but lately they are so cute together. Tonight was no exception. As you can see, they wanted to be a part of the recital as well.

Beadworks

That was a name of a store I frequented often as a teenager. I loved making bead necklaces, bracelets, earrings...you name it, I made it. Some of the pendants I had were quite attractive, a huge peace sign being the one I remember being one of my favorites. Now beads are coming back in to style and I am getting into them again. In this picture on the far right are two pieces that I bought a local store.

Together they cost $60 and though expensive I was hoping to get more bands for the face. Thanks to Holly and Marci I am happy to say that I made these other two bands and matching earrings, and I can't wait to make more. It was a lot harder than I thought to make it long/short enough and even in between the spacer bars. And while the beads were not cheap, I am pretty sure that I made them for less than I paid for the first. Now I just have wait to get more spacer bars in the mail so I can continue.

Temple Square

We headed over to Salt Lake again this year to see the beautiful lights at Temple Square. While there was no snow on the ground like last year, it was still pretty cold. We met up with Greg's sister Amy and her family briefly too. Annabelle was SO happy to see Ellie and they had a bunch of laughs before we parted ways. I can't imagine the time and patience it would take to string up all of these lights. My children seemed to appreciate the hard work and loved dancing around them. While parking is really tricky and it was pretty crowded, I hope we can continue this winter tradition.

Cookies with Grandma

My kids are so lucky. Last week they got an invitation in the mail for the 2nd annual Christmas cookie party with Grandma. They looked forward to it all week long. Greg and I were able to enjoy a few hours to ourselves while Grandma, and uncle Jeff, had fun with the kids. We browsed some stores, had a delicious lunch at Red Lobster, and watched "The Dark Knight". It wasn't a movie I really care to ever see again, but it was nice to hang out with Greg for awhile without the rugrats. The kids were so excited to show us their cookies when we got back and were eager to share... well, some of them were. Thanks Grandma for being so fun!

Star Gazing

Thanks to beautifully clear skies, an unusual thing this time of year, Greg brought out his telescope and we looked at Venus, Jupiter and the Moon. The boys thought it was pretty cool, especially the craters on the moon. I have to agree, but the hot chocolate after was pretty great, too.
While I openly dislike the snow, I am definitely missing it right now. It surprisingly doesn't feel much like Christmas without it. I guess it is growing on me, a little.

Counting to 1000

Nathan was so excited the other day when he brought home strips of paper with the beginnings of his count to 1000. It took a couple days, a lot of tape and paper, and lots of patience on both our parts. Nate was so impressed with himself, he couldn't wait to take it to school to show his teacher.

Thanksgiving to Christmas

It has been quite a relaxing last couple of days. We had Thanksgiving with Greg's family close by. The kids had a blast playing with all of the old fisher-price toys and we all enjoyed eating a deep-fried turkey (a first for me). It was a pretty relaxing day, I just had to make rolls and an apple pie. I tried a new roll recipe and they were delicious! It was nice to go home stuffed, though with no left over turkey for sandwiches, I am looking forward to cooking my own turkey this week sometime.
On Friday I actually headed out at 5am (another first for me) because I wanted to find a Christmas tree and a carpet cleaner. I may not have seen any rushing of the doors, but the line at Kohl's was enough to remind me why I would rather be sleeping. We took the kids to Bolt later that afternoon and then decorated for Christmas the rest of the day. Ryan kept asking me to decorate more and more, even after there was nothing left to decorate.
Saturday brought on more relaxing and not getting ready for hours in the morning. It was nice to not have much to do and just go at a snail's pace. After dinner we decided to decorate the tree (no arguments from the kids), and read lots of Christmas stories. That is my favorite part. We have many fun books, some from my childhood, and the kids look forward to pulling them out each year. Bring on Christmas!!

The Black Eye Montage

Thanks to Greg, I finally have all of the pictures I took of Annie's bruised and battered eye put together. I love looking more at her expressions that her owie. Before her newest accident, her face was looking much better. Click on the image yo see it larger and I hope you enjoy seeing her cute face so many times!

We Missed the Black Eye...

...And so we had Ryan drop a peanut butter jar on her eye. Actually Ryan was being such a good helper at lunch and was getting the peanut butter for me to make Annabelle a sandwich. Annie was standing right next to him, telling him thank you for helping her reach the butter, and then it slipped and caused another beautiful eye-sore (literally). Poor thing.

Thanksgiving

It has been a busy and hectic week and a half since we got back from our trip. Like my sister said, the kids reverted back to their old crazy ways real quick, I am glad I was able to see how much they missed us, and each other, for a day or two. For Family Home Evening we did a lesson on being thankful and tied it into prayers since the kids have a hard time remembering to say they are thankful for anything except the day. We came up with a nice list surrounding our little turkey friend, but I thought I would make my own. Maybe it will help me see the good, instead of the crazy.

1. Gregory
   
2. Nathan
3. Ryan
4. Annabelle
   
5. Family-sisters, brothers, cousins, parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and that includes all the in-laws
   
6. Gospel
7. Scriptures
8. A living prophet
9. Prayers
10. Friends
11. Books-both for me and the kids
12. Computers
13. Phones
14. Greg's great job
15. My house
16. Warm bed
17. Clothes
18. Shoes
19. Free Country
20. Temples
21. Airplanes
22. Blogs-I love keeping up with friends and family all over the world
23. traveling
24. Dance Dance Revolution-we have been having fun with that this morning
25. Exercise
26. The Sun
27. Nighttime
28. Quiet time
29. Lunch dates with friends
30. Dinner dates with Greg and friends
31. Parks
32. Cameras
33. Animals
34. Rain and I guess snow
35. Spring
36. Smoothies
37. Homemade Cookies
38. Cinnamon rolls
39. Mindy's bread recipe
40. My primary calling
41. Public School
42. Preschool
43. Thanksgiving dinner-I can't wait!
44. New recipes
45. Sewing machine
    
46. Great friends who teach me new things
47. Neighbor friends for my children
48. Baby-sitters
49. Washing machines
50. My testimony

If you made it all the way down here, I won't leave you hanging. What is a testimony? To me it something very special. It is why I am the way I am. I know that I wouldn't be where I am today without it. I have been blessed to be raised in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I have been taught from my infancy that the Savior of the world knows and loves me. That knowledge has helped me make mostly correct choices as I have grown up. Knowing that I am a child of God gives me the strength to know that I can do great things. I know that I am a member of the true church of Christ. I know that it is led by Jesus Christ and that He has called a prophet to be on the Earth at this time, to lead His people in truth and righteousness. I know that Thomas S. Monson is that man, and that about 150 years ago it was Joesph Smith. I know that Joseph Smith saw the Father and the Son in a grove of trees and I am so thankful for the witness that I have of that heavenly vision. I know that having been married in a temple of the Lord I am married for Time and all Eternity to my wonderful husband, Gregory. I know that in the heavens above I will be with Greg for forever. The scriptures, the Book of Mormon and the Bible, are sacred to me and have helped me throughout my life to make good choices and to understand of the Savior's love for me and others. I know that the scriptures were written for us today and that if one reads them with an open heart they will feel of the Savior's love for them. I know that I can pray to my Heavenly Father, anytime, and He will hear and answer my prayers. The answer may not be the one I want, or it may take a long time to receive it, but with faith, I know it will come. I know that I am a mother not only because there is nothing else in this world that I would rather be at this time, but because I was preordained to be such. I only hope that I will live up to the potential the Lord sees in me. I know this was a little deep for my blog, but this is me. I know that I am a Child of God and I know that we all are. I leave this with you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

PARADISE

We are home, safe and sound. What a wonderful, needed, vacation. I am so blessed to have such a smartie for a hubby. From the ocean to water slides and conch shells to Miami Vice daiquiris, we had an awesome time and there are just too many pictures to display. I will publish a book as fast as I can for anyone who wants to see more. Here are a few highlights:

This is the majestic building where we stayed, the Royal Towers of Atlantis. We were on the 11th floor and had a nice view of the harbor and the mainland. That bridge in between the two buildings is a 10 room suite that costs $25,000 a night!!

The grounds were spectacular. There were fountains and aquariums everywhere you looked. Water slides, swimming pools, and lounge chairs were all over. It was quite romantic, especially without worrying about the kids. (a BIG thank you to all those who helped us out!!)

The beach was beautiful. White sands and clear water. The first day on the beach the waves were really big and we got tossed onto the sandy shore while trying to body surf. I was literally COVERED in sand! Then then next time we headed there, the waves were calm and we even saw a couple fish by our feet.

I have always wanted to try snorkeling and what better place than in the Bahamas. We tried it at the resort first and even though I got bit by a little fish while trying to feed them, we decided to head out into the deep ocean and try it out there. Little did I realize that I would get a little seasick while being tossed by the waves. I was thinking that since I was "the swimmer" it would be a piece of cake. However, it was Greg who was the resident pro at snorkeling.

We headed to the mainland of Nassau for a day and were able to catch a glimpse of what Bahamian life was all about. How sad that a little girl wanted to sing me a song for a dollar. It didn't affect me as much in Spain as it did here in the Bahamas, probably since I now have my own children. This picture is by the Queen's Staircase, a historical spot from when England owned the island.

We truly had a wonderful time, and while I thought the resort was great, I will probably never return. It was made for people who want to gamble and drink. All of the pools shut down at 5pm, which leaves food, the casino and bars left. We did lots of eating and walking around in the evenings. I was amazed to see so many people wasting their money on mindless games and then there were many rich drunks making fools of themselves. It was an interesting people watching opportunity. Now we are home and back to reality. School, piano, scouts, primary, kids, cooking dinner (not sure if that will happen tonight), and all the fun stuff. While that may sound depressing, this morning when the kids greeted each of us can never be recreated. Annabelle ran at me and gave me the biggest squeeze ever. While trying to wake Nate for school he finally realized it was me and jumped out of his bed. And then Ryan, when asked what his favorite part of the week was, he said, "When you came home." What a reunion. I better go because my sis said I better enjoy it since it will probably only last today. BUT, I could probably go on forever, so you are warned if you ask!

No More Naps

I am having a hard time accepting this fact as both of my boys took naps all the way through their 3rd year and Annie is not even 2 1/2. She does play quietly in her room for an hour or more, but she is SOO fussy in the evening. This picture shows Annabelle at her quirkiest. She loves to lay out all of her clothes, in very neat piles mind you, and then she loves to lay them back in her drawers. I have been meaning to take pictures of this for months, and finally remembered. It is kind of funny, a little OCD, but also really annoying to fold it all and put it neatly back in her drawers, over and over again. Today she said she was making a fort out of them. Oh well, as long as I can get a little time to myself.

Paloma Downgraded to Tropical Depression

And why do I care? Well, months ago I mentioned in a blog that Greg had some patent pending and in August we found out that his new company, Symantec, rewards the inventors in their company with a big trip. This year that trip is in the Bahamas, this coming week. On Friday Greg informed me that a hurricane was headed straight for the Bahamas, but not to worry until I needed to. Last night we were both getting worried as we saw the projection of the hurricane to hit when we were to arrive. It was a pretty depressing evening as we contemplated the possible loss of such an anticipated trip.
This morning (Sunday) we talked to the kids about the hurricane and asked each of them to say a prayer that the storm would go away. Nathan gave a talk in church today and his closing remark was, "I know that I am a child of God because He answers my prayers." As I helped him write his talk I thought about that and how I knew that the Lord wouldn't let my kids down as they had prayed for the storm to dissipate. Then, I got to thinking, I am a child of God as well and did I know that the Lord wouldn't let ME down?
I got my answer after church when Greg checked online and found the above report. I was speechless when he read it to me. I even cried a little. I know that the Lord answered our prayers. Hurricane Paloma was downgraded to a tropical depression while we were at church, after all of our prayers. We all right then said a prayer of thanks. I know that I am a child of God and I know that He answers my prayers because He loves me.

Loud and Crazy vs. Quiet and Safe

As a mom I sometimes have to choose to let things go or go nuts trying to control everything. Today I decided to let some things go. It was a little loud and a little crazy over here, but we all survived and I even had the kids all asleep before 8, so I rewarded myself with a banana split-thank goodness I work out so much!

First Snow Day

I forgot to take pictures of the kids and I outside enjoying the snow, or enduring it which is what I do. I may have lived here 10 years, but I still don't love the cold and the snow. Here is my least favorite part of the whole thing:

The piles of clothes that you have to put on to go outside, and then when they come back in they are wet and sometimes muddy. I hate all this stuff.

Here is the good part of winter, the hot chocolate. I need to stock up some more for the winter, but I love the smell, and taste, of hot chocolate in the winter. It just feels so great going down. I even got these boys to try some pomegranate, and most of them even liked it.
I am sure we will have plenty more stormy days and piles of wet clothes, but at least Greg and I will get a break next week...

Igloo at the Library

I love going to the library. The kids sit (most of the time) and listen to some songs and stories and then we get to pick some books out that are different from the ones at home I have read so many times. This past month the librarian has asked for us to bring in milk jugs and today we were able to see why:

Quite impressive, huh!? The kids thought so, too, and were having a blast in it. They were just about to start up a game of house when Ryan got a little crazy and for some reason kicked the igloo. Luckily only one jug fell off, and they said it could be fixed. Anyway, for those of you around here, it will only be up for 1 more day (Thursday) so head over and check it out. I promise we won't be back to demolish it any more.

Super Woman to Super Trooper

I bought this beautiful outfit at D.I. my sophomore year of college. My roomies and I were planning to be super heroes and each picked a color. When I saw this, I knew I would be blue. You can't really see the moon boots, but they were awesome! (not sure what happened to them though). I even wore the costume to a BYU football game on or around Halloween, and it was blue. Greg isn't the biggest fan of the get up and so it has been stored away for the past several years.

Well, I know I have mentioned Mamma Mia before, but since I love the movie and the music so much, I thought I would unearth my outfit once more. It reminded me so much of the part when the mom sings Super Trooper to the bride to be. I had a lot of fun wearing my glitter clogs and gluing on some funky eyelashes. Greg swears he wasn't too embarrassed and I think I even got him to want to dress up some day.

Whether he wants to or not, I had a lot of fun. It brought back lots of memories of crazy college days and now I can't wait to buy Mamma Mia so I can show Greg my inspiration.

Halloween Night

This was our first year as a family that we didn't have a trunk or treat AND we didn't go to Greg's office. We decided that a trip around the neighborhood would be something new, and then we would have less candy to throw away or get sick on. Here are our cute kids:

Nathan was our Knight. He is the most easy-going one we have and really didn't care what he was going to be for Halloween. When I mentioned that we had the knight stuff from his b-day party he was willing to wear it and be happy. I love that about Nathan. He is such a great oldest kid.

Our leopard, Ryan was having a tough day. I think he was just really tired, and for some reason when I told him it was time to get ready to for trick-or-treating, he fell on the floor crying. Luckily he got happy and LOVED walking around and knocking on doors. This costume was actually worn by my older brother and one of my little sisters (maybe more). I had to sew up a few holes, but it worked great.

Here is our little fairy ballerina. I made this tutu with help from my cousin, Sarah, and bought the cute wings at a craft fair (I am not as daring as you, Anne). She loved putting the makeup on and those red little streaks were originally hearts, but oh well. She, too, loved getting candy.

After walking around the neighborhood (just a small portion of it) we headed home with enough candy to last a long time. We attempted to have pizza and games with some friends, but Annabelle was impossible. She has decided she doesn't take naps anymore and was SO tired. We will have to get together on a less crazy day!
I was so ready for bedtime.

1st Grade Fun

I had the great opportunity to spend the majority of my morning on Halloween at Nathan's Elementary school. There was a parade in the morning and we waited for an hour (ridiculous!!) before we saw Nate. I got tons of pictures of the kids running around before the parade came, and then my camera freaked out when Nate finally came by, but here is one of his good friend, Kaylee. I think I said this last year, but I loved being able to say hi to LOTS of kids in the parade, thanks to being in the primary presidency.

I also am lucky enough to be Nate the Great's room mom (Nathan signs all his papers like this at school). 5 of the 6 1st grade room mom's got together and decided to rotate the party, so I was only in charge of the game. The other moms had another game, 2 crafts and a room with treats and a story. This way had its pros and cons. I liked that I didn't have to plan much and I got more efficient after each class came through. BUT, I didn't get to spend much time with Nate and it did get a little monotonous doing the same thing. I am not sure what we will do for Christmas.


It was a busy morning and I had lots of help from friends either saving me a seat, watching my kids, or helping out in the classroom. It made me, and the kids, pretty tired the rest of the day though.

Carving Pumpkins

We almost didn't make it to this fun tradition this year, but of course the boys kept asking so I finally relented and started the project before Greg got home. Our friends Colton and Zach came over to try their hand at carving also (their first time). It was fun, but of course I ended up pulling out most of the guts, which I don't like either but I am too nice. The project was left unfinished as I ran off to a presidency meeting and luckily Greg finished it up and cleaned up the mess. We make a great team. He even saved the seeds and baked them in the morning with a recipe from Megan's blog.

Only Me?

Yesterday we got some ads for the local grocery stores and I like to browse, but never really worry too much about them. However, the ads this time had multiple things that were "buy 1 get 1 free". I called Greg up and told him about it and mentioned that I couldn't buy anything since our freezer is too tiny. I then proceeded to tell him I wanted a deep freeze (we have talked about it forever) and asked him to pick it up that night, I even gave him the dimensions we had space for. Lucky me, he agreed and I am now so happy to say that I have a big freezer in my garage that is just waiting to be filled up. I went to the store today and got $100+ worth of free meats and other things. I just wonder, am I silly to be so excited about something so normal and not fun? Is it silly that I can't wait to go to Costco and buy a bunch of frozen goods that I normally wouldn't buy due to lack of room? Well, silly or not, I can't wait to go. Thanks Honey for being so willing to indulge me.

A BEAUTIFUL DAY!!

I wish all Fall days could be as beautiful as yesterday was. It was warm, with just a hint of coolness in the air. The kids asked to go to the park and I just couldn't resist. We actually got a little hot walking over there. Ryan is now brave enough to go down the fire pole and LOVES to show me each time. Nathan is in his Pj's not due to my lack of getting him ready, but it is Red Ribbon Week/Spirit Week at his school. And then there is cute little Annie. I remember she was yelling something funny in this picture, but I can't remember what. We still haven't gotten the results in from her x-ray, but the swelling is almost all gone and we just see lots of bruising (I bruise really easily, and I assume poor Annabelle has the same genes).