Merry Christmas!!

MERRY 

CHRISTMAS

  EVERYONE!!!

Sledding!!

Today we all went sledding and had so much fun!!

Laptop before and after

So for my birthday Bill got me a new keyboard for my laptop...this might seem like a strange gift, but I LOVED it and here's why =)
A few months ago maybe even 3 or 4 months ago Liam decided to bang one of his toys on the keys of the laptop...

Here is the result of that destruction!!

The sad part is that I have been typing on this broken keyboard FOREVER!! The worst part of it was the space bar...even the little touchy pad was missing so I'd have to hold my finger on the circle for half a second in order for it to register...so frustrating...

But now my laptop looks like this...

Happy B-day to me!!

Today for my birthday we went over to my mom's house after church. My mom made a fabulous dinner...mmmm...it tasted sooooo good and then she made a pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting...do I even need to say how delicious it was!! I was so stuffed!! The kids gave me a beautiful bracelet and some peanut butter christmas trees!! I got some slippers from my mom, some jeans and a sweater from my dad and a new keyboard for my laptop from Bill...Liam had beat most of the keys off my old one =) I'll show before and after pictures in a later blog =) I got lots of birthday wishes from friends and family on Facebook and calls from Bill and my brothers!! I't's been a wonderful day and I feel very loved!! A humongous thank you to my parents...I love you guys!!! And a big thanks to all those who remembered me on my special day =)

Blob the Snowman

I've really been wanting to build a snowman but the last batch of snow we got was too powdery. Well today it was nice out and warm compared to the single digit temps we've had recently...I think it was in the mid 40's today... so before dinner the kids and I went out to attempt to make a snowman with the powdery snow...I think he turned out pretty cute...but not as cute as those three kiddos with him =)

SNOW!!

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas" We got a little snow Saturday night and then it snowed all day Sunday but it was a very light and powdery snow. The weatherman called it "crystaline snow" on the news. It must have continued to snow through the night last night. It was so beautiful to wake up to a winter wonderland. The school district was on a 2 hour delay so the kids got dressed and went out right away to play in the snow. They didn't stay out too long because it was freezing cold out!! 3 degrees to be exact =) We're supposed to get more snow tonite and tomorrow!! I hope we do but I also hope we get more as it gets closer to Christmas...once all of our family has come in of course!! =)

O Christmas Tree

We are ready for Christmas!! We put our tree up the day after Thanksgiving =) It's probably been 2 years since we put our Christmas decorations up and I forgot a lot of what we had...it was fun opening tupperware bins and seeing what all we had =) It was funny because as we were getting things out I said that I wanted to get a small tree for the kids' homemade ornaments and in one of the bins there was a small tree that I'd forgotten we'd bought one year to put up when we were coming to Colorado for Christmas =) Plus it's always fun decorating a new house =) We are supposed to be getting some snow today and more this weekend and it is FREEZING cold...I hope we get quite a bit of snow...I want to build a snowman =) I absolutely love this time of year!! Welcome Winter!!

Thanksgiving...

We had a wonderful Turkey Day. My mom did most of the cooking and everything tasted sooooo good!!! We had waaaaaay too much food and of course yummy pies for dessert...apple, pecan, PUMPKIN, banana cream and chocolate for the kids =) I was especially thankful this year to be here in Colorado and to be able to spend Thanksgiving with my parents =)

I'm Thankful For...

I am thankful for so much, where do I begin??

Well, I am definitely thankful for my family...for my goofy, loving husband and for his great service to our Country...for my crazy, sweet kids that bring me so much happiness! =)  I am very thankful for my parents and for their guidance, support, example and generosity.  I am thankful for my brothers who always make me laugh and for their wives that are so much fun to be around.  I am thankful for lots of great friends =) I am thankful for the holiday season.  Thankful to live here in Colorado and to be so close to family.  I am thankful for my religion and for all the blessings my Father in heaven gives me and I am thankful for so many daily comforts.  I am also thankful for Thanksgiving and for the opportunity it gives us to reflect on all the many, many things we have to be grateful for =) So if you are reading this "count your many blessings"...have a wonderful Thanksgiving...and know that I am thankful for you too!!! =)

Look what I did!!! =)

Liam's New Friend

Our neighbor just got a puppy and unfortunately he leaves this little guy outside all day. The kids have all made friends with him and Evan even asked me to ask the guy next door if I could babysit the puppy. I told Evan, but you guys are at school all day. He sweetly replied, but you would play with him mom =) They have definitely inherited my love of animals. Yesterday it was in the 70's here and when I didn't hear Liam for awhile, this is where I found him. I just thought this was too cute!! =)

Halloween!!

So Halloween afternoon was a weird day for us!! The door handle on our front door broke...it will turn but it won't catch the bolt thing to actually open the door. Then about an hour before trick or treating, our power went out...spooky! Thankfully it was only out for about 30 minutes or so. We carved our pumpkins, visited with Nana for awhile, had some pizza for dinner and then Bill passed out candy while I took the kids around our circle. When we got back, Liam and I passed out candy and Bill took Evan and Sarah to another neighborhood. Liam was so brave...he wasn't afraid of anything. Sarah got scared at one house that had decorated their garage. You had to go in it to get your candy from a scary skeleton...she doesn't like it when things pop out at you =) It was a fun afternoon and night. The weather was a little chilly but no rain, wind or snow...thank goodness!! =) Hope everyone else had a great Halloween too!!

Late birthday present =)

So Evan just turned 12 and just started the braces process. He has a headgear thing to wear when he's sleeping to help widen his mouth. He'll probably wear this for a good year...now without the braces and also once he gets braces. Poor kid...no more gum, caramel, hard candy, etc...all the good stuff he loves and Halloween is just a few weeks away...guess I'll have to eat his share =)

Evan turns 12!!

Last Sunday was Evan's 12th birthday!! I can't believe it!! Evan is growing up so fast!! He is a great kid!! He is very thoughtful, funny, very entertaining, responsible and good at just about everything he does. He is one I can count on to do whatever he is asked. He is a good big brother and loves to play with Sarah and Liam...most days anyways =) For his birthday he got to spend Saturday afternoon with Nana and Papa...they went suit shopping. Then we all met up and went to a movie together. On Sunday, he got all of his favorite meals. Cinnamon rolls for breakfast with eggnog...popcorn chicken and orange soda for lunch...and chicken alfredo, caesar salad and garlic bread for dinner. And of course we can't forget the ice cream cake...I don't know who enjoyed it more, Evan or Liam =) And the best part of the day was that he received the Aaronic Priesthood!! He was ordained by his Papa. He looked so handsome in his suit and so grown up!! I am so proud of Evan and so thankful for the blessings our family and others will receive because he is a worthy priesthood holder. Happy Birthday Evan...we love you so much and are so grateful you are a part of our family!!!

Pumpkin Patch

This year we didn't go to a "real" pumpkin patch...instead, we went to Turkey Creek Ranch which is just down the road from us. We got to go on a wagon ride which took us out to a hay maze. IF you made it through the hay maze you came out to the "pumpkin patch" =) We each got to pick out one pumpkin. They also had a bouncy castle for the kids to play in while we waited for the wagon to come back. It was very small scale and I really liked it that way. It was us, another family with four kids and then 2 moms who each had a toddler and that was it. The kids had a great time and it was a beautiful fall day!!

First Snow

Here are some pictures of the snow we got yesterday...the first snow of the season!! It wasn't much, just a little dusting, but still so pretty and fun!! As soon as the kids saw that it was snowing they immediately ran outside to be in it. Of course that didn't last long because it was COLD!! We're supposed to get more snow tomorrow!! Woohoo!!

Heaven for an hour

I LOVE the salon I go to for my haircuts!! I spent most of my morning yesterday cleaning my house really good...I probably spent a good hour and a half on the upstairs alone...so much dog hair that needed to be vacuumed...ANYWAYS, at 3:00 I had my hair appt and what I love is that I didn't just get my hair cut. I got an incredible scalp massage after they washed my hair...I LOVE that!! I could seriously go in weekly just for a wash and massage!! And then while my hairdresser was blowdrying my hair I got an awesome hand massage! It was just so nice to be pampered!! Plus I got a great haircut!!

"Bust your Backpack" was a bust

So Sarah brings this flier home from school and yesterday was early out so when Sarah got home I took her and Liam with their empty backpacks over to this event. We got there about 5 minutes to 3:00 and it was soooooo crowded...of course it was...the word FREE was involved, right? =)

So we wait in line for 30 minutes and were about 10 people back from finally getting up to get our supplies and all of sudden people start getting out of line and leaving and someone passing by says "They're out of supplies" I couldn't believe it!! I was so frustrated that for one they didn't set limits on what people were taking so that there was enough for everyone and secondly that if you aren't going to monitor what's taken then you should pretty much have an endless supply, ya know? One of Sarah's friends came to show us her backpack while we were still in line and she had like 5 calculators, 3 or 4 packs of markers, pens, pencils...etc and her backpack was stuffed!! No fair to those of us who got nothing =(

First Day of School

Here are Evan and Sarah (and Liam) on the first day of school!!

Evan is in 6th Grade and goes to the Middle School which is just across the street from the Elementary School that Sarah is at =) Evan is on Student Council and helped give tours of the school during registration so he knew where to go and what to expect. He has a homeroom and then changes classes each period like high school. I think his favorite thing so far is lunch. There is an outdoor patio off the lunchroom with tables AND in addition to regular school lunch they have an "Ala Carte" menu where you can get burgers, pizza, chips, soda...basically junkfood =) So of course he thinks this is cool!!

Sarah's teacher is super nice and Sarah likes her a lot. Sarah is in 4h Grade. Her teacher does "Silly Song Fridays" which Sarah is excited about =) There are quite a few kids in her class that she knows from last year.

It's kinda nice having Evan and Sarah at different schools...Evan leaves about an hour before Sarah so they each get some one on one time in the morning. Sarah is ususally just waking up when Evan is leaving so it's a little less chaotic for me =)

And I can't forget about Liam...he carried Sarah's lunchbox for her and thought it was pretty cool to take Sarah to school, until he saw the playground and got upset because he couldn't play on it. Thankfully he is pretty easy to reason with and stopped crying when I told him we could go to the playground at home =)

Happy Birthday!!

Today is Bill's birthday!! I wanted to let him know how thankful I am for the great husband and father he is!! He is very loving, a great provider and is always making us laugh. =) He is the fun in our family!! We love you very much and hope you have a wonderful birthday!!