THANKFUL

I LOVE Thanksgiving. It's probably my favorite holiday. I love having a day to focus on what I am grateful for. I think we would all be happier if we focused on what we are grateful for instead of what we don't have, etc. This year I am so THANKFUL to be able to stay at home with my children and capture these precious moments...

avaree made a hat at school and of course weston had to have one too. he even had to sleep with it on.

this boy loves cereal.

avaree put this outfit together. the best part is her hat is a dolls skirt that fit her head perfectly.

avaree came running to me the other day covering her face and totally serious, screaming "i have a bloody nose!" i rushed to her to clean her up only to find out it wasn't real blood. she totally had me fooled.

To Come...

It's been a busy couple of weeks for me and I've had no time to blog.... look forward to some Thanksgiving and Christmas updates to come!! It's the most wonderful time of the year and it's already going by too fast!

Family Night @ Primary Children's

Yesterday I received horrible news. My cousin Lana's 8 year old daughter, Emma, was diagnosed with Luekemia. I've blogged about Lana before... the amazing mother of six under 12! She left 5 kids behind in Burley, Idaho (where they live) to be by Emma's side at all times. Emma will be at Primary Children's Hospital for a couple weeks undergoing extensive chemo treatments. Her treatment will last 3 years if she responds to it. We are praying that she does and that she can be cured from this awful disease.

I've been super emotional about this all because I could only imagine if one of my children was going through this and I feel so bad for Emma. You just never know what the future holds. Lana isn't just amazing because she has six children... it's her attitude. She is happy. She gets what is important. She loves her children and has the best sense of humor. I wish I had her wit. I went and visited her last night and I can't get over how STRONG she was. She was cracking jokes and at the same time was so optimistic and loving and patient with her daughter. I left that hospital room uplifted by her and her husbands courage and example. I've looked up to Lana all my life and I do now more than ever. I am so THANKFUL especially during this THANKSGIVING time for my children and their health, for my friends and family, and my faith that I have to rely on in times like this.

Date Night

We had a MUCH needed date night this weekend. There is nothing like good old dinner and a movie with good old friends!!

Big Week for Baylee

It was a big week for Baylee... she got her drivers license! Yippee! It's such a relief for both of us to have that done with (although she can't take the car alone just yet, almost). The other BIG news is she made her highschool basketball team! She is so excited. I'm happy for her even though it's such a big commitment. She's so busy, my time with her is short now. I guess that's what happens when your child starts highschool.

Welcome Tate!

My sweet cousin Loni and her hubby Troy live around the corner from us. Troy works with Jason and they are our good, loyal friends. Last year Loni carried her first baby full term and he was born stillborn (every Mother's fear). It's been so heartbreaking to see them go through this but I'm so happy to announce that just a little over a year later they welcomed their second baby boy into this world. They delivered him early to be safe and he was still 9 lbs 3 oz. Can you believe it? I got to meet him the other night and he has such a sweet spirit. You just look at him and realize what a miracle he is! Congrats Troy and Loni. We love you and know how ready you are to be amazing parents!

Frenchies In Town

Jason's relatives from France were in town so we spent the weekend with them in Park City at our time share.

Tatty Lily, Tatty Martin, Grandmere, and Grandpere.

We ate LOTS of food, including fancy French appetizers. I was brave and tried the smoked salmon but I couldn't bring myself to try the pig head.


We played multiple, INTENSE games of Rummikub. When I say multiple I'm talking like 10 games. Grandmere called us " the rummikub queens" in her strong french accent. The first night I couldn't be beat but the second night Jason's Mom was the big winner. Rummikub is my favorite game!

We also got a start on our Christmas shopping and look Jason is still smiling after watching the kids so I could shop! I'm sure it helped that BYU won. I thought I had endurance to shop but nothing like these ladies. They were quite a sight walking around too because they were all dressed from head to toe in leopard print. I loved it and wish I had a picture. I wore my leopard print scarf so I could fit in. :)

It was a fun, loud, dramatic weekend full of entertainment! My kids were great... I'm sure it was because they got so much attention. None of us have ever received so many kisses.

Lucky #7 Tag

I got tagged a few times so here goes...

7 things I can do:
1. clean my house (i'm obsessed)
2. do LOTS of laundry (and it will smell good and be folded nicely)
3. LOVE my kids and my family will all my heart
4. multi task... laundry, bathe kids, make a grocery list, plan den meetings, blog, etc. all at once.
5. SHOP anytime and anywhere. well almost, sometimes screaming, tired kids forces me to stop.
6. play piano
7. manage 6 people schedules and have BIG Sunday family dinners. (this one was hard for me at first but i'm getting pretty good at it now)

7 things I can NOT do:
1. sing. i've always been jealous of people who can.
2. dance. same thing as above... jealous of people who can.
3. touch my toes. i'm not flexible at all.
4. bite into an apple... thanks to tmj.
5. drink LIQUID medicine. it's nasty!
6. i can't stand having dirty children... they get a bath everyday!
7. scrapbook... that is why i love blogging.

7 things that attracted me to Jason:
1. tall, dark, and handsome!
2. unselfish, he has the BIGGEST heart and LOVES his family.
3. hard worker (little did I know how hard).
4. testimony and strength, jason has held to the rod and i love him for it.
5. funny... he is hilarious.
6. smart... i've said this before but he KNOWS everything about everything! no exaggeration. just ask him a question. i dare you.
7. jason is a man of INTEGRITY... seriously, how did i catch him??

7 things I say most:
1. no, avaree.
2. no, weston.
3. clean up, clean up everybody everywhere.
4. love you.
5. how was school? (to baylee and griffin)
6. how is your back feeling? (to jason)
7. what's the latest with the stock market and economy? (to jason)

7 celebrity admirations:
1. kelly ripa (she's a mom, she's funny, and has great style)
2. reese witherspoon and
3. jennifer aniston (they both great style and class)
4. will ferrell, ben stiller, and vince vaughn (how can you NOT laugh at a movie with any of these guys in it?)
5. sarah mclachan, neil diamond, cold play... anyone who can sing, dance, and play an instrument is pretty impressive to me.
6. glenn beck and mitt romney (i'm pretty much fascinated by mormon celebs)
7. and of course the church leaders but seriously how can you people not have any celebrity admirations? there are a lot of talented people out there.

7 favorite foods:
1. homemade bread with homemade jam
2. white sticky rice
3. dr pepper
4. warm chocolate chip cookies
5. fruit smoothie made by jason
6. chips and salsa
7. fresh pineapple

there you have it. join in on the tag if you'd like!

Petting Zoo

I've been sick with strep throat and it's been cold so we haven't been up to much. We did take advantage of the last fall day that we didn't need jackets and headed to the petting zoo... My kids always LOVE to see the animals and so do I actually.

this llama had a crush on baylee.

we were there at the perfect time. the horses hadn't been fed lunch yet so they were hungry and were eating from our hands. it was awesome. avaree was very brave!

enlarge this picture to see baylee's face.

i love this picture of weston and the cow.

Where has everyone been?? Has the blogging world seem slower to anyone else lately?? I guess it's that time of year!

Fall Ball

Baylee played fall softball and Griffin played flag football this year.

The top left picture Griffin is throwing a touch down pass. His team only lost one game. Aren't the mountains in the background beautiful?

The fans. The season started out beautiful but by the end we were watching the games from the car. Now it's time to bring on basketball season!

Proud To Be An American

I am so proud to be an American! I love our country and all the freedoms we enjoy for being American citizens... including the oppurtunity to vote. Barack Obama was not my first choice for president (I REALLY wanted Mitt Romney and still do) but Obama has been chosen and I will support him. It actually feels good to have the election over with, doesn't it? It's obvious that our country is divided and it's my hope and prayer that Obama will work to unite us.

Yeah for Proposition 8 passing! That is such good news for all my Cali friends. Except Jason and I couldn't help but think that if it didn't pass then maybe some of you would move to Utah! That's okay. We' ll take a visit. I admire so many of you for all you did to fight for Proposition 8.

My friend, Jana, posted some inspiring articles on her blog that if you have time to read I recommend. One is about George Bush and is a good reminder that we should RESPECT our President and my favortite one is written by Mitt Romney called "One Matters For Impact." http://www.jana-lifein2008.blogspot.com/

Lastly, Jason's brother Brandon is leaving next week to Iraq. Deep down I'm scared to death for him but I'm so grateful their are soldiers willing to fight for us and our AMAZING country!

God Bless America, Home of the Free, Land of the Brave!

Griffin's Fourteen!

Since Griffin's Birthday is on Halloween. He gets a few days of celebrating...

10/30~ Jason and I took only Griffin out to dinner. He had just gotten his braces tightened the day before and his teeth were hurting so he chose Olive Garden hoping that pasta would be easy to eat but it still hurt. Poor guy.

10/31~ He spent his actual birthday playing and trick or treating with his friend Harrison.

11/1~ He took his friend, Bridger, to lunch and the movie Eagle Eye.

11/2~ We had our traditional family party and he FINALLY got to open his presents!

(avaree thinks every birthday is hers too)

Good things about Griffin:

~He is so obedient. He will do anything asked of him. I hope that my kids can learn this from him.
~He is smart and gets good grades. His teachers adore him.
~He is SO good with little children. No one can make my kids laugh like Griff.
~He is funny and very cute for a boy going through puberty. :)
~He has a righteous heart... he just earned his Duty to God award in Scouts, he served as the Deacons Quorum President and is now in the Teachers Quorum Presidency. Jason just ordained him a Teacher on Sunday, which was a special thing to witness. In the blessing Jason said, "what a great example he is to those around him especially his older siblings. He also mentioned, "how proud people on the other side were of him." I don't doubt that my Mom is SO proud of him and the kind of person he is becoming and has chosen to be.

We love Griff and are so glad he is a part of our family!!

Halloween!!

Griffin was a halloween baby because he was born on Halloween!! Happy Birthday Griff!! (more to come)

Baylee turned a pumpkin garbage bag into a cute costume.

I was a doc and Jason was my patient. (my costume was a little boys size 6-8... does anyone have a child that would like to borrow it next year?)

LOVE my lady bug and chicken!! I can't get enough of those cute faces.

Party #1

We didn't do much trick or treating this year because...
1. it was raining
2. we have a lot of candy already and
3. Princess Leia and Hans Solo were in town from Vegas so we had to go SEE them!

The spider family through a great party and won for best costumes (in my opinion). The food was a hit with homemade pumpkin bread bowls and green finger breadsticks. Kids played hard and late and we left WAY too tired!!

Party #2

Annual party at the Rice's. Lori LOVES halloween and goes all out. This year was especially fun because Linda (Jason's mom, the HOT cowgirl) and Ed (her hubby) were in attendance. FYI... Jason built the Rice's house and it is beautiful and held a lot of people well.