The END

This will be the last post for the year. 2008 that is almost over. Our Christmas was wonderful- maybe a little too wonderful. It's so hard to not get the kids the world each year. They definitely did not want for anything this year. On Christmas Eve we have a tradition of reading the Christmas story in the Bible after dinner and then opening one gift each- which is always pajama's. This year even Jeff and I got pajamas. Then we change into them and make cookies for Santa, then it's off to bed. This is the one night all year I look forward to because the kids go promptly to bed- no drinks, no extra hugs, no coming down stairs for one last kiss, etc. Jeff and I stayed up wrapping very late, watching Christmas Vacation and eating the cookies we left for Santa (Good thing the kids don't read this blog). This year it was a lot harder to keep Ashtyn from discovering the secret. She asked a lot of very hard questions and didn't like the "Because he is magic" answers we gave. I'm not sure she will last another year believing in Santa. Whitney woke up at 5 AM and came in to tell us she was hungry- knowing that we wouldn't let her go see the presents until 6. She layed in our bed and I went and slept in her bed. At 6:30 Ashtyn woke up and ran to each room yelling "It's Christmas". Jeff came and woke me up and I told him that you know you are an adult when sleep is more important to you than presents. I made the kids wait at the top of the stairs so I could catch their reaction on film. See here:

The first thing Ashtyn says to us as she sees the tree is "WOW Santa brought us way more presents than last year". She's right we went overboard. See here:

The reason I am posting that picture is so next year when we don't go overboard we can show her that she was spoiled the year before and didn't need as much. I have a habit of buying gifts through out the end of the year and hiding them- then forgetting about them and buying even more gifts- so that then when we bring them all out to wrap we realize that we may have purchased one too many things. I suppose we could have taken a few back- but I have to admit that the look on their faces when they see each thing is priceless- I get more joy from those few looks than anything else. This year the kids got most of what they asked for. However Whitney wanted a stuffed cat and "Santa" wasn't aware of this- so she didn't get one and there was a tear or two shed because Ashtyn got the stuffed dog she wanted and had told us about. But luckily at grandma's house she opened a stuffed cat from her cousin. Ethan loved all the transformers he got. Ashtyn got a nutcracker. Whitney loved her new water baby. Jeff loved the watch that I bought him. He got me two pairs of new jeans. Remember the perfest pair I got for my birthday- it got a hole in the knee- so I was super excited for new perfect jeans that have a 37 1/2" inseam- perfect.

After we opened all the gifts we played in our pj's until it was time to go to Nana and Papa's house. We stopped only for a minute to have a web chat with my dad in Maryland. The snow was very heavy on Christmas and we weren't sure we would make it to their house- my brother broke his shovel trying to clear the driveway and there were road closures- but we did. We got to talk to Jeff's parents on their mission also in a web chat then we exchanged gifts with all of his siblings and the nieces and nephews. The funniest moment was when Ethan was opening his present and when he opened the box there was some paper covering the gift and he thought the paper was the present and didn't know how to react- he almost looked sad and a bit confused and didn't know what to think- it was so funny and you should have seen his eyes light up when he saw the monster trucks under the paper.

After Nana's house we headed to Uncle Greg's house. The weather had cleared up and we made it out there just fine. We opened a few more gifts, ate some wonderful food and played games with everyone. I adored my gift! It was a black purse, tart pan and earrings. After we hung out here for a while we went to visit my grandma that lives in an assisted living home. We couldn't bring her with us because the snow was too deep and she can't walk well.

We ended the night driving home in a white out. I love the holidays! We are so very lucky to have so much. On Friday the kids slept over at their cousins house and Jeff and I spent the night returning the gifts that didn't fit right. The Sunday after Christmas we had a progressive dinner with Jeff's family. Dessert was at our house and I used my new tart pan to make the best white chocolate tart. It had strawberries and kiwis in top. It was great to get to see everyones decorations and what they got for Christmas. It's hard to believe that it comes and goes so quickly. Today Jeff took the kids sledding on the hill by our house. I remember sledding there when I was little too. I am not much for sledding any more. It scared me to death to see Jeff shove the kids down the huge hills. They had a blast!

Monday afternoon I went to lunch with my friends from High School. I love these girls! There was Jessica, Annie, Laura, Kathryn, Nicole and Tristan. There are more of us that couldn't make it- we missed them. I have known these girls for over ten years. They are all so awesome and I love that we are still friends. There was a table of gray haired ladies next to us and we got a glimpse of what it would be like in 40 years. Some of us have moved away and some have come back- we get together as often as we can. They are a huge support to me in my life. It was great to spend time with them. I have loved keeping this blog all year.

Breakfast

This morning we went to the annual Pearson Family Christmas Breakfast at Little America. This has been a tradition in Jeff's family for a long time. They use to go to breakfast on Christmas day- which was always too hectic- so the last few years they changed it to the Saturday before Christmas.

It was wonderful as always. The food is so good and because it is a buffet- there is plenty to go around. You can get anything you can think of. We love to see everyone and spend time with them. I love family traditions. This one has become one of my favorites. When we were first married I didn't really appreciate all the traditions Jeff's family has- but since we started our own family and our kids our getting older I value them so much more. Traditions are what hold families together. We have started some of our own as well. We hope this can continue to be our tradition even after his grandparents are gone.

Ornaments

Each year our family goes to Gardner Village and picks out a new ornament in the Christmas Shoppe. This year because it is so cold and also because the Christmas Shoppe is very fragile- we decided to go to Target instead.

Dad got a Utah Jazz Ball

Mom got a silver Eiffel Tower

Ashtyn got a nutcracker

Whitney got a peacock

Ethan got a silver snowman with a small glass jewel hanging in it's tummy

Zack(we had our cousin with us) got a pink high heel ice skate.

We love to have a reminder of each year on our tree. One day we will give all the ornaments to our children to decorate their own tree with. This is one of our favorite holiday traditions.

The Nutcracker

I had to cut this video into two parts in order to download it. Enjoy. Ashtyn is in the front-third from the right. Read all about this night in the next post.

The Nutcracker

Ashtyn loves ballet. This year we switched her to a new dance studio so she could focus on ballet. She loves to dance. We have been so happy with the new studio. This year they performed the Nutcracker. When I was a little girl my grandma took me to see the Nutcracker Ballet. I fell in love with ballet. I was so excited to see Ashtyn perform the Nutcracker. When we got there Whitney was crying that her stomach hurt. She had complained a few times earlier in the day too, but had gone to school and seemed fine. She gets a nervous stomach so it's pretty hard to tell when she is really feeling sick. I took Ashtyn to the dressing room to get ready. When we were finished she too said her stomach hurt. I asked her if she needed to throw up and she said no. I said ok let's say a prayer and ask that you can still do your dance and that your tummy ache will go away. A few minutes later she said that her stomach felt better. I left her there to go and find Jeff and the kids. When I found them Whitney was still crying. My awesome sister offered to take her home so we could stay and Ashtyn could dance. The performance started and Ashtyn was wonderful. When they were finished I went to find her and see how she was feeling and to my dismay she had gone off stage and thrown up. I felt horrible for her. She had throw up on her costume and shoes. She said she felt better- but we had to leave. When we came home we had found that Whitney had thrown up too and then a few hours later Jeff threw up. What a crazy night. They all stayed home today to rest. I feel so blessed that Ashtyn made it through her dance and that Whitney didn't throw up all over the auditorium. She has been practicing for weeks and on weekends too. Here are some pictures before her dance.

Weekend Update

Thursday we went to Jeff's work party. We started off with hors d'oeurves and then had a wonderful dinner. After dinner we got to enjoy a private concert with Peter Breinholt and David Tolk. It was amazing. He is such a wonderful performer and his songs are awesome. We loved it. He gave everyone an autographed cd to take with them as well. We were one row back. His music is so great live. It was a wonderful night. I have to admit that I looked hot- I'm only saying this because I never get dressed up any more- in fact I don't think I ever get out of my pj's..LOL. I love to get dressed up and go out. Plus I want Jeff to think his wife is the best looking wife at the party..LOL. Yep-I'm a babe!

Friday night we went to the annual Bud Party. The Bud's are Jeff's friends from high school- kind of like the Clan group of boys that I went to high school with. The Orgills have hosted the party for the last few years. We eat delicious food, catch up on each others lives and laugh our heads off. They do a white elephant gift exchange and this year we walked away with a sweet smelling candle from Salt City. Our friends the Rogers babysat the kids. It was so fun to see all of them. We all get along so well- even the Bud Wives.

Saturday was a crazy day. It snowed! It hasn't snowed for a very long time and I was beginning to get use to the nice non-December like weather. Ashtyn had ballet rehearsal for her up coming recital so we had to brave the elements. The roads were awful! No one was driving over 30 miles an hour on any road. Whitney and Ethan went to the Primary Christmas party. They got to see Santa. After dance we headed straight for the church to set up for the Ward Christmas Dinner that we were in charge of. Did I mention that Jeff was at work this whole time? We got to the church at 2 and decorated until a little after 4. Luckily we have an awesome committee that is very willing to help. We were expecting around 150 people. After we set up I ran the kids home to get ready and then gathered all the info we needed for our sub for Santa. The party started at six. I forgot to get the ice- so I had to run to the store. Luckily it had stopped snowing by this point. We had ordered turkey and mashed potatoes and gravy from an awesome local catering place- you might have heard of it- Meier's. I love the Meier family. I am friends with three of their daughters- one of which is on our committee (Love ya Melissa). Well the turkey arrived right on time, but their was a slight mishap with the potatoes so they were a little late- which luckily no one but the committee knew about and when they did arrive they were a huge hit. Wow their food is great! The Kearns Madrigals were scheduled to come and sing for us and one of their performers ran his car into a ditch on the slick roads so they were late too- but I have to give them a huge Thank You for coming any ways despite the crazy weather and situation. The only major thing that happened was a small person(child) called 911- hhhmmm didn't that happen a few months ago too? So the police showed up. I was mortified. Mostly because I had had the thought that I should unplug the phone- but I ignored it. You know the best part about these parties is that nobody is the wiser when things happen and the party was a huge success and enjoyed by everyone. We did a sub for Santa for two needy families and it was so awesome to see the support of the ward.

Sunday the snow was still coming down so Jeff went out to shovel before church. I bought Ethan a tiny snow shovel a while back, so he wanted to help too. It was the cutest sight to see my two guys out shoveling the driveway. Ethan loves to help. After a while the girls wanted in on the fun too.

Monday we went to a Christmas party at our neighbors house. There were three other families there. We had a wonderful hot soup dinner. They presented a lesson about the gifts of Christmas and then we played the game where you have to open a present with gloves on holding a spoon and a spatula- this was hilarious to watch the kids do. We finished off by decorating sugar cookies. It was so fun and so relaxing. After the stress of the ward party it was nice to feel calm.

Gingerbread

For FHE on Monday we built a gingerbread house and a gingerbread train. I love Wilton. They always sell the best decorating kits. I constructed the house and then let the kids go to town on it. Jeff did the train and despite his best efforts to create a perfectly symmetrical masterpiece- he too let the kids take over and go crazy with the candy. They turned out cute. We do this every year. It's really fun.

Tonight is Jeff's work party and I am so excited. They invited Peter Breinholt to perform a private concert. I don't listen to his music all the time but I like it.

The song Good Day is playing when you enter my blog and I put it on the playlist because it totally energizes me. A couple of years ago I started running three times a week to try and get a little healthier. I only made it six months because I discovered that I actually feel worse on days I run than when I just go about my normal routine. I struggle so much with fatigue. I spend at least half the day extremely tired- but that's where the song comes in- it's a total pick me up. When I was running it was on my Ipod and kept me going. It still does- whenever I start to feel tired I turn it on and it pumps me up at least for a minute. I'm still trying to figure out what makes me so tired (besides having three kids..LOL) but in the mean time it's nice to have a little pick me up. Some of my other favorite energizing songs are:

Pour Some Sugar On Me- Def Leppard

You Wear Flowers- Peter Breinholt

Real World- Young Dubliners

Fast Cars and Freedom- Rascal Flatts

What About Me- Keith Urban

Somebody Like You-Keith Urban

The Game Of Love- Michelle Branch/Santana

Crazy (James Michael Mix)- Alannis Morissette

Head Over Heels- The Go- Go's

Weekend Update

We spent the weekend putting Christmas lights on our house- I told Jeff that I didn't care if we had any, but the kids kept asking why we don't put ours up like everyone else- so he did. We went and picked out our Christmas tree- It smells so nice. Sunday we went to our niece Phoebe's blessing. I made an awesome new salad called BLT Pasta Salad- it was so good and everyone asked for the recipe. Here it is if you want to try it:http://www.recipezaar.com/BLT-Pasta-Salad-27195 . Then we came home and decorated the tree. We don't have a color theme or fancy things that we put on every year. We have a tradition of buying a new ornament every year. I love looking at the ornaments because each one represents something special to me. There are some that were given to me by my grandparents, some that I made when I was a little girl, some that were made by Jeff's grandma that is now gone, some the kids made when they were tiny, etc. It turned out beautiful. That night we had the missionaries over for dinner. Elder Heath from Idaho and Elder Valicola from Tonga. I made chicken gravy with mashed potatoes and raspberry jello salad. We were suppose to go to my brothers house afterward but the missionaries left later than we thought. Instead Ashtyn and Whitney made up two dances earlier in the day and they put on a recital for our family. It was so cute. We ended the night watching the First Presidency Christmas Devotional.

Photo Tag

I was tagged- yippee- I never get tagged, so thanks Nicole. For this tag you're supposed to open up your picture file, and blog about the fourth picture in the fourth file folder.

Here is the picture. This is rather coincidental, because here is Ashtyn with another black eye- the other one this time. She is seen here with Whitney and my sister Emily. My sister and my girls are best friends. They adore her. She is two years younger than me. We shared a room growing up, just like my girls do. I love having sisters! When we were little we would lay awake and talk for hours about what our houses would look like when we grew up and how many kids we would have, etc. In High School we did not get a long at all. But now I would consider her one of my greatest friends. Emily is amazing. She is the first person in my immediate family to graduate from college. Not only did she graduate, but she got her Masters Degree. She has lived in Utah, New Jersey, Arizona and now New York. She is smart, beautiful, very stylish, kind, loving, grateful, humble, sweet, honest, ambitious and spiritual. She loves music, art, running and probably a million things I don't know about. We are total opposites- a lot like my girls. I admire Emily a lot because she hasn't had anything handed to her and has had to work her way through a lot to achieve her dreams. I love her to death.

So now I tag YOU!

Aunt Ruth

I have a great great Aunt Ruth that is 95 and still living. We went to visit her yesterday because we had a picture that we couldn't identify and hoped she could help. She didn't recognize any one in the picture- but it was so nice to see her. She is as sharp as a tack! She loves the Jazz and was watching the game when we got there. She is so cute. She also loves butterflies like I do so we chatted about that. We didn't stay long because it was late and the kids needed to get to bed for school. On the way out Ashtyn was so amazed that she had met someone who is 95. She told me that she thought nobody lived that long, ever! She told Jeff today that we met a 95 year old woman who loves the Jazz. I hope we can see her again and I'll post a picture.

Thanksgiving Weekend

The kids were out of school starting on Wednesday. We spent the day cleaning and playing. The kids were so funny to watch playing. They decided to hold a pretend Food Network Cake Challenge. We love this show- where contestents are given a set amount of time to design and create a cake. Some have been wedding cakes, othere more whimsical like Dr. Seuss cakes, etc. The kids spent probably an hour using play dough to create their cakes and then they had to move them to the judging table and then they were judged and a winner chosen. It was really cute. They also made tons of play dough cookies for every one to enjoy. My dad also bought us a web cam so that we can talk to him and my grandma and my sister who all live far away. We tested it out that night and talked to my grandma and my dad. It was so fun to see my grandma. We miss her so much. The picture was great with my grandma, but then when we talked to my dad later it wasn't so good- so much for technology- but at least we got to see him. We'll have to try it out with Jeff's parents in Spain some time soon.

We spent Thanksgiving with Jeff's extended family this year. We went to his Aunt and Uncles house and had a great time. There were more than thirty people there so we pretty much filled the whole basement up with all the tables to seat that many people. There was tons of food- way more than enough for us to sufficiently fill our little tummy's. One of the cousins had brought this wonderful cheese dip with french bread- as soon as I get the recipe, I'll post it. The yams were divine- I am a huge yam fan and I believe that the yams will make or break your Thanksgiving dinner. They were perfect- gooey instead of runny, perfect marshmallows instead of burned ones and just the right hint of seasoning to make them sweet. My only regret is that we wait all year for this day and it is over in about ten minutes. Even our kids loved every delicious bite. Then I ended the night with pumpkin pie- I am the only one in my family that likes it. They had a barbie room set up down stairs for the kids to play in so they were out of the way most of the night and it was nice to not have to worry about where they were or what they may be destroying. We did have one small mishap when Whitney gave Ashtyn a black eye with one of the swings in the back yard. It was a wonderful day.

Yesterday we took the kids to see WallE in the theatre. What a cute show with a great message. The kids totally understood that if you sit around and watch T.V. all day you will look like the people on the ship. We ate so much popcorn that nobody wanted dinner until really late. We also held our traditional toy give away day- where the kids have to go through all of their toy boxes and get rid of anything that they don't play with any more. I was a little worried that they wouldn't want to give anything away but we have two big bags full of stuff and still have to go through Ethan's bins. Now we have room for all of the great new stuff Santa will be bringing.

Jeff also got the baseboards nailed up in the bathroom, despite a minor injury from the nail gun. We just have the vanity and bi-fold doors left to accomplish and then we will post some pics. I just wish I had taken a before picture.

Today we are going to the temple- I am writing it down so we can't find some excuse not to go. Today is our last kid party and we are going to take full advantage of date night. It has been great having the kids home all week.

Self Taught

I found Ethan spending an unusual amount of time in the bathroom one day this week and it was starting to concern me. He has been potty trained for almost two years now- so he is perfectly capable of going to the bathroom unassisted. After awhile I called up to him to make sure he was ok- I could hear him moving around in there. He answered yes- that he was fine. So I decided to wait a bit before barging in on him. When he still didn't come down I went and peaked in the door only to find him standing there naked by the toliet. I shut the door. He quickly put on his clothes and came running out with a sheepish look on his face. I asked him why he was naked and what he had been doing all this time. He told me that- the bathroom is a private place and I don't have to tell you what I do in there because it is personal. OK- well the bathroom was clean, he was fine and so I just let it go- thinking in my head that he was probably just curious about his body and trying to examine it. That's not uncommon at his age.

A few days later I was laying with him in bed cuddling and he told me that the reason he had been in the bathroom for so long that day was that he was teaching himself how to stand up to go to the bathroom like daddy does. He asked me if I wanted him to show me how he can do it- and I went with him into the bathroom where he demonstrated his new skill. He was so proud of himself. I was proud of him for wanting to be like dad- but also bummed that I would now face the inevitable messes that come from this particular position. We had taught him to sit down when he went to the bathroom to try and avoid such messes. He was so cute and wanted to show everyone else in the family how big he was. Way to go Ethan!

Vous etes vraiment une artiste

My good friend Claudia posted about a lovely art blog that she enjoys visiting with her children. We love art at our house and decided to check it out. It is wonderful and enchanting and we love all of the projects and techniques that are featured. Today we decided to try two different techniques and spend a little time being creative.

The blog is called http://www.artprojectsforkids.org/ . The techniques we tried are:

Finish the doodle picture featured here http://www.artprojectsforkids.org/2008/09/finish-doodle-picture.html and Art journal fireworks drawing featured here http://www.artprojectsforkids.org/2008/07/art-journal-fireworks-drawing.html

I love doing art with my children. It is something we all love to do so it is always fun. I am happy to have some new ideas to try.

Guest Blogger: Whitney

The things I am thankful for are:

daddy

mommy, sister

brother, baby ryan, jesus

god, prophets, grandpa, grandma

moses, cousins, school, friends, food, love

toys, house, bed, book of mormon, teacher, clothes

For All Our Celine Dion Fans

This is a special mini concert for all of our Celine Dion fans that will be missing the real concert that was suppose to be tonight. Get well soon Celine!

My Thankful List

The story is told of an old man who sat in front of a country store, whittling away, not making anything in particular, just whittling, chewing on a blade of grass and occasionally sipping a glass of lemonade. One day a station wagon with an out-of-state license plate and a car full of furniture, bags, pets, and children pulled up. A middle-aged man got out of the car and asked the old man for directions to a neighboring city.
" Can you tell me how to get to the next town?" asked the driver.
"Sure can," answered the old man, not missing a beat with his knife and wood. "Yonder," he said, pointing with his pocketknife. "Down that road a piece."
"Thanks," said the driver. "Say, what are the people in the next town like?"
"What were the folks like in the town you just came from?" asked the old man.
"Not very friendly," said the driver. "Always thinking of themselves and how to get ahead. We were glad to get out of that place."
The old man nodded his head. "I think you'll find the folks in the next town are about the same."
Disappointed the man got back into his car and drove down the road.
Not long thereafter, a second station wagon, also overloaded with furniture, bags, children, and pets, pulled up the alongside the country store. A middle-aged man got out of the car and asked the old whittler, "Can you tell me how to get to the next town?"
The old man told him, and the second driver asked what the people in the next town were like.
"What were the folks like in the town you just came from?" responded the old man.
"Some of the best people we have ever met. Friendly, always willing to help you out. We're sure going to miss that place."
The old man nodded his head. "I think you'll find the folks in the next town are about the same."
Pleased, the driver got back into his car and drove in the direction of the "friendly" town.

The old whittler in this story seems to know one of the great truths of life and one of the keys to interpersonal success: we tend to find what we look for.

Our mindset or orientation toward a certain place, situation, person or group of people usually determines the nature of that place, situation, person, or group of people. We can literally create the kind of experience we will have with someone or something by the way we perceive and what we expect from that person or thing. The essence of our belief in large measure determines the nature of our reality. Our thoughts and attitudes formulate our own self-fulfilling prophecies.

The Divine Connection by Lloyd D. Newell

I wanted to share this story to begin my list of things I am thankful for because it has changed my life and the way I see things. I did not find this story or fully begin to understand it's message until a few months ago. It has had a profound affect on the way I act and think and live my life. It continues to change me daily.

I am thirty years old and I have spent the last thirty years, six months and a few days living my life to please other people. I am a huge people pleaser at heart. Not the kind of person that always does things to genuinely make people happy, but the kind that does things out of a sense of obligation to what I think will make them happy. This is not to say that I never do things because I care about others, more that there are a lot of things I do because I think I have to do them to please others. Because I think this way I tend to create anxiety and stress in my life that wasn't already there.

For instance I will give you an example. Once a few years ago my sister asked me to pick her up from a concert that she and a friend had attended. When we pulled up to pick her up the concert had not finished and so Jeff suggested we sit and wait for it to end. We were in the middle of the street with two lanes of traffic in either direction. We pulled up to the curb and there was hardly any traffic and so we waited. After a few minutes I began to feel very anxious about sitting there in the middle of the street, despite the fact that we were parked against the curb, we were still blocking this lane of traffic slightly. I began to think about what all those drivers would think of me, sitting there, blocking their way. Yet I didn't want to leave either because I knew that as soon as the concert ended there would be thousands of people filling the area and how were we to ever find my sister. I just knew in my head that people were driving by and swearing and cursing my name and flipping me off. No one had honked at us, no one had yelled at us- but I just knew that we were about to be rammed from behind. I got so worked up in my mind that I finally flipped out and screamed at Jeff and cursed the concert for not being over and put the car in gear and sped off down the road and around the corner until we found an empty parking lot to stop in. I know Jeff thought I was insane and I frankly was. I continue to think this way ever time I get in a car. I purposely avoid driving at peak hours, taking left turns, driving on the freeway and well, parking lots scare me to death. I have a running dialogue for the drivers around me "Lady get out of the way!" "Where did you learn to drive?" "Quite blocking the lane- GET OVER, GET OVER!" These are the thoughts I think every time I drive. INSANE- yes I know- but that is what I had conditioned myself to believe and think. I have been driving for 14 years now and can you imagine how ingrained these feelings are in my mind. This is only one of several situations that I have come to make my anxious reality. The same holds true with lots of things like my neighbors, my callings, family gatherings, the kids school. How did I ever allow myself to feel this way? That is just what I have come to ask myself. Why would anyone want to live a life of anxiety and worry all the time. Now I have probably made my life out to sound like a wreck. I do not feel this way on a daily basis- I actually love my life. I have lots of happy memories and cherished times. I simply wanted to give you an idea of how powerful the mind can really be. I truly believe that the best thing about the human mind is that it will believe whatever we choose to tell it. I have just been telling mine the wrong thing for a very long time.

I want you to understand that I do know that all experiences we go through affect our reality and the way we think. I have been through hard things that have made me sad, angry, frustrated, desperate, lonely, etc. etc. I also believe strongly in the power of the adversary and that we are under attack all the time- Satan wants us to be miserable and to bring us down- to make us feel guilt, despair, anger, frustration, etc. That is not what we are meant to feel in this life. Heavenly Father wants us to feel love, hope, faith, happiness, joy and calm rather than anxious.

The story in large part has helped me to understand that we are in control of our minds for the most part. We can choose to feel sad or happy- we can choose to overcome feelings of guilt and replace them with feelings of hope. We can choose to make situations that have always been stressful- wonderful and fun. Am I perfect at this yet- NO WAY. But I am so thankful that I know this now though.

Some of the other things that I am grateful for are:

1. A loving Heavenly Father
2. Jesus Christ
3. Family
4. Jeff
5. Ashtyn
6. Whitney
7. Ethan
8. A warm house to live in
9. Home
10. Scriptures
11. Temples
12. Sisters
13. Brother
14. In-Laws
15. Grandparents
16. Mom
17. Dad
18. Marriage
19. My cozy bed
20. A car that runs
21. Dance
22. Writing
23. Poetry
24. Art
25. Blue skies
26. Flowers
27. Paris
28. Freedom
29. America
30. President Monson
31. Prophets
32. Joseph Smith
33. Love
34. Kindness
35. A calm feeling
36. 6 Nieces
37. 5 Nephews
38. Grass
39. Parks
40. Music
41. Violins
42. Hymns
43. Bread
44. Cake Decorating
45. Donuts
46. Never feeling hungry
47. Sub for Santas
48. Honesty
49. Gratitude
50. Izaac
51. Shoes
52. Warm showers
53. Best Friends
54. An awesome group of strong, smart, beautiful friends from High School that are still such a huge support to me
55. Butterflies
56. Long legs
57. Laughter
58. Little hands
59. Kisses
60. Hugs
61. Icecream
62. Pink
63. Valentines
64. Mountains
65. Hiking
66. Education
67. Rain to make things clean again and the smell of the fresh new Earth
68. Sunshine
69. White soft beaches with bright blue water
70. Hawaii
71. The ocean
72. Dinsneyland
73. Churches
74. Sacrament Meetings
75. Covenants
76. Books
77. Book Stores
78. Breezes
79. Babies
80. Journals
81. Walks alone and with my family
82. Bright pink trees in Spring and beautiful orange trees in Fall
83. Windows that let the sun stream in
84. Husbands that help all time
85. Drives to no where special and seeing streets I've never seen
86. Special plates to celebrate special moments
87. Polka Dot bowls
88. Zoos
89. Life
90. Stars
91. Mattress heaters
92. Hope
93. Smiles
94. Neighborhoods
95. Water
96. Traditions
97. Sitting by the bay window in the sunlight reading a new magazine
98. Faith
99. Inner Beauty
100. Prayers

These are just a few of the blessings I count everyday- I am so grateful for all that Heavenly Father has given me.

Farewell

My beautiful Grandmother is leaving for a spell. I adore her. She is one of the most lovely and genuine people I have ever known. We have had the chance to spend lots of time with her the last few years and even more so the last few months. She is going to stay with her daughter- my aunt in Colorado for a time. I am going to miss her like crazy! My kids are so lucky to know one of their Great-Grandparents- not too many people can say that. This is a picture of her and my Grandpa on their first Christmas together in 1941. Isn't she beautiful and isn't he handsome. Goodbye Betty Grace. XXXOOO Until we see you again.

Guest Blogger: Ethan

The things I am thankful for are:

marshmallows

flowers

scriptures

friends

toys

animals

bugs

LOVE

daddy

mommy

sisters

beds

laundry buckets

baskets

shapes

colors

sports

shoes

JESUS

Heavenly Father

balls

beds

pillows

blankets

sheets

wood

mattresses

Gobble Gobble

Last night for FHE it was Ashtyn's turn to pick the activity. She taught us a game called "Who's the Turkey". One person leads the game. All the participants close their eyes and then the leader chooses someone to come up and be the turkey. That person comes up and then makes a "gobble, gobble" noise. Then they race back to their seat and the leader asks everyone to open their eyes and guess who the turkey was.

This was hilarious. First because we were all sitting on two couches and you could easily feel when someone got up. Second the leader usually spoke very loud when they would ask someone to come up and you could hear them- after that we started to just touch the person who is the turkey to come up. The kids made us laugh so hard with their little "gobbles". Then they would get so excited to guess who it was. It was so much fun.

Guest Blogger: Ashtyn

The things I am thankful for are.......

mom, dad, toys, FAMILY, thanksgiving, fall,animals, sisters, brothers, grandmas, grandpas, cousins, aunts, uncles, colors, cats, friends, the temple, Jesus,

HEAVENLY FATHER, Prophet, CANDY, myself, scriptures, water, seasons, dogs, cows,

food, home, foxes, beds, school, teacher,principal, church, ballet, bishop, trees, leaves, red, LOVE, playgrounds, sports

Humpty Dumpty.....

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the Kings horses and all the Kings men couldn't put Humpty Dumpty together again.

This was Whitney's project for Question of the Week at school. She had to choose her favorite nursery rhyme. OUCH!

The New Leader Of The FREE WORLD

Photo by Jim Bourg

"I'm asking you to BELIEVE.

Not just in my ablilty to bring about real change in Washington......

I'm asking you to BELIEVE in yours."

Barack Obama

VOTE

Today was the first day I have not taught preschool and it was......WONDERFUL! I dropped Ethan off- he gave me a kiss, said goodbye and scampered down the steps into the school. Then I went and.........

VOTED

A wonderful nation is the one that provides a choice. I use to love learning about and seeing government in action. In high school I was the Senate President and got to see government in action on a weekly basis. I would spend many of my lunches in the library reading the Utah Code Books. I was on Orrin Hatches youth committee. It fascinated me. Now I am not so passionate. It is hard to pluck the truth from the empty promises that many candidates make. What makes me the most confused are the hateful anti-campaigns. When you have to tear down your opponent to get my vote- you won't. I would love to have an election year where they only focused on what they were going to do to make our country stronger and better- rather than a "he said, she said" type of race. It wasn't all bad and there were many good things that were discussed this year and I do see hope in our future for a better and brighter tomorrow. Change is coming and I look forward to seeing how it all plays out. I believe that a better world starts in our own homes- by raising good and knowledgeable citizens that care about their civic duty and contributing more than we take from this world. We talked about why we vote with the kids and Ashtyn's class even held a mock election. It made me feel proud to be an American today as I left my mark. Today I am so thankful for freedom.

After I voted I got the car a safety and emissions test so we can register it. I then went to the dollar store and bought some items to send to the in-law's for Christmas. It was amazing how much I could accomplish without the kids with me. I missed them like crazy by the time I got home, but it was still a nice and much needed break. Now we are off to make Humpty Dumpty for Whitney's school project.

Thankful

November is here. It's the month that we give thanks for all of the many wonderful things God has given us. Last night we had delicious, warm, gooey, apple crisp at Scott and Malia's house. Malia made each family a small paper tree. We wrote out the things we are thankful for on foam leaves and pasted them to the tree. I need to be more grateful and count my blessings more often. This month our family will take turns posting the things that we are thankful for- to help us remember- to help us find joy in every day.

Here are the things we listed on the tree:

Jesus

prophet

kids

family

gospel

marriage

Dad

church

sisters

grandmas

moms

baby ryan

scriptures

love

myself

Book of Mormon

sister

brother

family

friends

homes

joyness

sports

toys

temples

Fall Hike

Jeff has this amazing way of getting the kids to clean the house. He is such a great dad! On Saturday while I was at our Super Saturday making these:

He had the kids clean up the house so that he could take them here:

They had a blast on what will probably be the last hike of the season. We love going hiking and it has been a great summer for hikes. HOW FUN!!