Christmas morning

Tanner & Greg hooking up the new TV
Brandon & Breeann looking in stockings

What? Does Santa think I stink? I got body wash!

Charlie even got a new sweater and treats!!

Wow! Santa brought us a new TV!

Christmas Eve

Greg reading the Christmas story at the second part

of our evening.
New PJs

from the first part of our evening, Joanna &

Nathan making a gingerbread house

Rob, Nathan & Conner

Yummy dinner!

Christmas Eve

The first part of our Christmas Eve was at our friend's

house, Rob & Joanna Mantz. The kids played Christmas

Carols on the bells.

Bryce & Conner trying to make beautiful music on the

bells.

Garrett & Tanner reading their part in a Reader's
Theatre of the Real meaning of Christmas.

Christa & dad making a gingerbread house

The finished product

Its cold but beautiful!

We finally got a snow storm this last week! It has

been sooooo cold lately (getting below zero at times).

I was kind of hoping the snow would wait until right before

Christmas, but then decided it would have to warm up a

little for it to snow so that would be a good thing. This is a

view of our front yard.

This is our side yard. It just looks so fresh and

pretty!

This is our view to the East of the mountains. The
ski resort is opening this week so that makes the boys
very happy!

Frugal Challenge

I was worried about the month of November because we have two birthdays and Thanksgiving. I have so much food storage that I already had a lot of what I needed for our Thanksgiving meal. I also already had a

turkey in the freezer, but Walmart had them for so cheap that I was able to get a 22 lb turkey for $8, so I let

Tanner donate the other one to a fundraiser at school (for extra credit points!) So....I spent....drum roll

please.....a total of $290! YEA! I'm already worried about December, and have decided if I spent more it

will be ok. But, I will still try!

FINALLY!!

We have needed a new stove for about two years and I finally got it!

Our old one had problems with the burners. Greg replaced them

several times, but they kept going out. I have been cooking on a

stove that only had two SMALL burners for a long time. This one

is a flat top, so easier to keep looking clean and it is a regular and

convection oven. Plus, a feature I really thought would be nice

is the bottom element is hidden so it will be easier to clean. Also,

besides the self-cleaning feature it has a "steam clean" feature. The

bottom has a dip in it so you add a cup of water and turn on the

steam then wipe out. I can't wait to try it!

Tanner was ordained a Priest!

Tanner turned 16 and was ordained a Priest today by

his dad with Bishop Peterson and Brandon

assisting. Doesn't he look handsome in his

new suit? We are proud of this wonderful boy!

Bernice & Vernon's 60th wedding anniversary

We were invited to attend the 60th anniversary of Aunt Bernice &

Uncle Vernon. Aunt Bernice is Grandma Law's sister and

they live in Arizona, but they traveled to Provo to

celebrate their anniversary. It was a fun reunion with

their children (cousins Greg hasn't seen for years!)

My Christmas quilt

We decorated for Christmas this year on Thanksgiving day because

all of our kids were here. My wonderful, talented best friend, Bliss

made this for me last year and I love it!

Thanksgiving 2009

This year we had Thanksgiving at our house, with just our family.

It was nice, but we missed all of our extended family!

It was hard getting a picture of everyone at the table

at the same time, but it was a wonderful meal!

We are thankful for each other, a warm house and

good food to eat, the gospel, family, good friends

and much more!

Frugal Challenge!

Well, I didn't do so well this month on my frugal challenge! I ended up spending almost $360, so that is $60 over my budget. But....I am going to blame it on my purchase of 50 pounds of chicken breasts ($65) which I took to the cannery and canned. Oh well, November I will do better. Hopefully, even with Thanksgiving I will stay within my budget. I guess I will have to be really careful!

More Fall!

These pictures were taken on the "Island" in Logan by Breeann& Brandon's

new apartment. Its so beautiful this time of year!

Fall

This picture is for my best friend Bliss! I wanted to take

some pictures of trees in the canyon, but my camera doesn't

take them too well from that distance. I love the color

of this bush in my yard. Hopefully before the leaves

all fall from the trees I will be able to take some more to

show all the colors! I love the Fall and it is especially

beautiful this week! Wish you were here Bliss!!!!!

Front Page News!

Greg and some friends from work were out biking the

other day during their lunch hour. A photographer

from the Herald Journal took their picture and wrote

down their names. So, a few days later this

was on the FRONT PAGE of the paper! Bryce &

Tanner thought that was pretty cool and were

impressed that their dad didn't even have to do

something wrong to get on the front page!!

Cheap & Cute!

I am always inspired by a blog that I read by the creativity of some people!

I decided that this idea was one that I could do and the exciting part is that

I actually did it! Usually, I just think, "oh I bet I could do that" and then

that is as far as it goes. To do this project all you have to do is:

1. Go to The Dollar Tree

2. Buy a little styrafoam pumpkin

3. Buy a silver platter (kind of by the other plates)

4. Take a large knife and cut the pumpkin in half leaving the whole stem

5. Spray paint the silver platter

6. Tie some ribbon around the pumpkin

7. Hot glue pumpkin to the plate

8. Display on a little easel (which you can also buy from a dollar store)

TOTAL COST: $2

(I already had a can of spray paint, ribbon and an easel)

The blog that I got this from is so fun to read! Check it out:

http://www.granvillehouse.blogspot.com/

Mexico trip!

Tanner is turning 16 next month so Greg wanted to take him

on a trip (just the two of them). Tanner is constantly asking

when can we go back to Mexico, so that is where they decided

to go. They flew into San Diego and rented a car, then drove to

Rosarito Beach, Mexico. The last time we went to this same

place as a family, we got really lost on the freeway and I thought we

were for sure gonners! But, Greg saved the day with his Spanish.

So this picture is of them after they found their way to the condo

WITHOUT getting lost at all!! Way to go guys!

These are those horses that are still on the beach from the

last time we visited (5 years ago!).

They went out to eat for lobster. They were
the only ones in the restaurant!

Tanner boogy boarding

They rented a four wheeler and played on the beach.

Greg having fun on the four wheeler

One of the things Tanner loves doing is shopping

at the flea markets. I think this picture

is something Tanner thought looked cool when

they were in town.

Tanner walking around town

Tanner bought a bunch of M-80s to blow up on

the beach. He had lots of fun doing that.

Some cool pig display.

Tanner was really impressed with this Jesus statue.

Tanner running away from the waves

My boys being cute!

Tanner met a nice man at one of the shops, they

became friends!!

Drinking a Non-alcoholic PinaColada on the beach!!

Fun Park in Idaho

Bryce & I went to visit Grandma & Grandpa in Idaho
during UEA vacation. We went to a fun park with Toni.
It was kind of chilly outside, but they still wanted
to do the bumper boats (they said they didn't want
to squirt each other, but of course, they DID!!)

Tyring to get away from each other so they wouldn't
get wet!

Race car driving! This was really fun, they like
going fast!

Toni coming around the corner

This is a simulated roller coaster! They also
went miniature golfing and played laser tag and
some arcade games. They had a good time.

Grocery Budget

I am reporting how I did on my grocery budget this month today, because I am leaving town and won't be grocery shopping any more this month. I spent $272.85 and even bought quite a few cases of food at the case lot sale! I love coupons and good deals and am really excited that this won't be as hard as I thought it would be! I have learned from my friend, Bliss, that when you set a goal, if you write it down and have to be accountable, you are more likely to be successful. That is why I decided to post this on my blog!!

Aggie Football

We were invited by a friend to watch the Aggie football game last

night in his "Box". This is Greg talking to Judd Eades (owner

of the box) and to the left sitting is our Bishop and his wife. It was

a great view and we are able to watch from in this room or go

outside onto a balcony.

My camera battery died after just a few minutes, so I

wasn't able to get any real great shots.

This was one of the times when they were getting ready to
make a touchdown. They played SUU (Breeann's old
school) and the score ended up being something like
54-31. It was nice to see them win a game!