Our Temple Day

We had a wonderful day at the Arizona Temple. Dennis received his endowments at 9 a.m. and we were sealed for time and all eternity at noon today. It was so amazing. It was nice being in the temple with Dennis. I've been looking forward to this day for a long time.

Why am I up at 4 a.m.?

We are leaving for AZ in 4 hours and I'm awake typing on my blog at 4 a.m. What is my problem???? I think I'm just excited and can't wind down enough to go back to sleep. We were running a little late for bedtime so by the time I got Bryson a bath and in bed it was already 9 p.m. I fell asleep next to his crib. We put a twin mattress on the floor because he continually wanted to be in our bed. I couldn't do it anymore. If we let him cry in his bed, he would make himself vomit from crying so much. It was just too sad and not worth having to clean up the mess. He did it on two different occasions and I felt too guilty. Needless to say we needed to get some sleep and he needed to be back in the crib. We got tired of laying on the floor so we just put the extra mattress on his floor. Now we can be comfortable until he goes to sleep. I know he's spoiled, but what can I say. Sorry for the long story. Back to why I am up. I fell asleep next to the crib until 12:45 a.m. I can't believe Dennis didn't come wake me up, but he was busy finishing up some work that didn't get done today. He's been so busy at work lately. We're excited for a vacation. We actually had most of the packing done, but I still had all of the odds and ends to finish. I'm going to try to go get an hour or two nap, but we have to leave for the airport by 7:00 a.m. so we'll see. We are just so excited to see everyone and have our special day on Saturday. We hope each of you have a very Merry Christmas. Sorry I didn't get cards out this year. Maybe next year I'll do better.

More Cute Pictures from December 13th

Visiting Santa

Sat., 12/13 we took the kids to visit Santa. Shelby enjoyed getting Rudolph painted on her face. Bryson loved riding the train and getting a balloon (He wasn't happy to talk to Santa), and Alyssa enjoyed talking to Santa and drinking hot chocolate. We had a good afternoon.

Thanksgiving 2008

We have so much to be thankful for this year. We are enduring many trials, but our blessings far outweigh our challenges. Life has been extremely busy since I have gone back to work out of the home. In June I was also called to be the Enrichment Counselor in Relief Society, and Dennis works with the Cub Scouts on Tuesday evenings, Alyssa is in Brownies and has Achievement night twice a month, Shelby is in dance, and Bryson just keeps us on our toes. We are so grateful for the people we serve with in the church. They have brought such hope and strength to our family. I am very thankful for our ward family. I still get homesick from time to time. My family knew how much I wanted to get sealed in the Mesa temple. We feel so grateful for your help in getting us there. Also Steph and Mom sent us such beautiful roses for Thanksgiving. That was the best surprise. It's amazing how flowers can really brighten your day, especially when they are unexpected. Dennis' parents have also helped us in many ways throughout our marriage. We are truly blessed to have such thoughtful parents. All of you are wonderful grandparents to our children as well. We appreciate it every day. It's been great having Dennis' parents here, although it makes me miss my family even more. We had the flowers sitting on the dinner table and Dennis said we wouldn't have room for the food if they were there. I told him they represented all of the aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents that we loved and we couldn't be with today. Sorry guys you did get booted to the mantle. Turkey and fixings are very important too. We are very grateful for our children that help us lighten up and enjoy life even when it's challenging. I am especially thankful for Dennis taking the leap of faith and listening to the missionaries over a year ago. November 17, 2007 will always be a special day in our family. Dennis' baptism was the beginning of a new life for our family. I love you so much. I am grateful to all of our family and friends that have put up with us throughout the years. I treasure the times we have spent together even more now that we are in Charlotte. We hope each of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We will be leaving for AZ on December 17th. We will be getting sealed on December 20th. We can't wait!

Fall Festival for Highland Creek Elementary

I told you we were busy the last month. The Fall Festival was a family event hosted by Highland Creek Elementary. It was on Saturday, November 8th. We had so much fun riding horses, jumping in the bounce houses, riding a hay ride, face painting and more.

Bryson's First Black Eye

Bryson got his first black eye on Sunday evening on November 2nd. He had just got out of the bath and I had put footy pjs on him for the first time this season. He was walking between the two ottomans like he always does and slipped off and hit the space heater. I'm not sure if the footy pjs had anything to do with him slipping or not, but he hadn't fallen like that before. It swelled up so quickly. It broke my heart to look at his little eye. Luckily he could open it the next day. He didn't even act like it bothered him after the first night that it happened.

Fall is Beautiful!!!

We love the beautiful trees as the leaves change colors in the fall. This is the pond that is down the street from our house. It wasn't actually that cold, but the girls didn't have their hair done so we just told them to wear their hoods. Of course we couldn't let Bryson be different.

Shelby's Award

We are so proud of Shelby. Her class had first quarter awards and she was the only one awarded an individual award. Each class nominated one student to win the "Bee" All You Can "Bee" Award. The school discipline policy/rules are be kind, be safe, be respectful and so on. The kids earn little "bees" when they are caught being good. The classes have a contest to see who can earn the most. Shelby is our strong willed child so we're glad she does well in school. She loves learning new things in kindergarten.

October Update

I seem to be a once a month blogger. Sorry for the delay, but life just zooms by around here. Here are the Halloween pictures. We had a lot of fun at the Trunk-or-Treat. Dennis surprised us with his and Bryson's costumes. They were the Blues Brothers. How cute!!! We don't always dress up with the kids, but it was really fun this year. The girls and I had fun being witches. I actually made their witches costumes this year. They picked out the accessories at the dollar store.

Troop 862 Campout at Dan Nicholas Park

We had a great time going to Dan Nicholas Park with Alyssa's Brownie Troop. The Girl Scouts had a "lodge" called the Holly Hut. We were kind of expecting a nice cabin, but it was very rustic. Atleast that's the nice way to put it. We had a personal guide that showed us different types of animals and took us on a hike the next day. He was wonderful with the girls.

Alyssa's Fieldtrip to Latta Plantation

I got to go to Alyssa's fieldtrip to Latta Plantation. I really enjoyed spending the morning with her and her class.

Fun While Camping

Bryson loved the lake. It was so dirty though. The girls loved playing Bocce Ball. It's a great family game. Alyssa got it from Grandma and Papa Drury for her 8th birthday. They had come to visit in May and bought it for her then.

Labor Day Weekend

We went camping Labor Day weekend. It was Bryson's first time. He loved the outdoors. We went near Statesville, NC at a KOA crampground. We wanted to camp at Lake Norman, but they were full by the time we got there. It was a lot nicer at the KOA grounds because we had running water, showers, bathrooms, a store, etc. We were close enough to still swim, fish, and enjoy Lake Norman.

Shelby's First Day in Kindergarten

Shelby's teacher is Mrs. Bullis. Shelby has learned so much already in kindergarten. The other day she defined habitat for me. I thought it was cute. She is spelling small words and loves writing words and making up spellings in her notebook. She loves earning coins to go to the class treasure box.

First Day of School

Alyssa is in 3rd grade this year. Her teacher is Mrs. Banks. Alyssa is a very good student and loves riding the bus to and from school. We lost her glasses again over the summer so we're off to buy her third pair this weekend.