I Woke Up To...

Thanks Baby! I love you.

Really Really Excited Mom = A Lot Of Pictures

We had the greatest past few days! Christmas Eve and Christmas day were so much fun. I am sad to see them over. Christmas Eve was a day filled with family basketball, cooking, late night games and of course Grandma's fun Christmas Party! I couldn't sleep on Christmas Eve and so finally when Kevin gave me the okay we woke the kids up. On Christmas we were pleasantly suprised. Santa found us so Andrew got his one wish....a Lightning McQueen Scooter! Seriously nothing is better than kids on Christmas Morning.

My amazing husband helping out on Christmas Eve. He makes great mashed potatoes.

B I N G O!!!

The famous Quarter Game...Andrew was so excited and all he could think about was just how many gumballs he could get with all those quarters.

My mom now has 19 grandkids! It was a fun hectic night.

Me sporting my quarters. I think I took the cake with $25.25. (The Quarter game is pretty much grabbing as many quarters as you can in one handfull out of a jar that is tricky to get your hand out of... then you get to keep them. Sound dumb? I don't think so ...my car will stay real clean for a little while.)

My cute little shepard in the Nativity we put on. It was perfect! Just as the narrorator stated that the Shepards spoke with one another Andrew perked up and said to his cousin "Am I a Shepard?" We got a good laugh!

Christmas morning!

Christmas PJ's

Andrew got some silly string in his stocking so we had to go try it out.







We love all this snow! Keep it coming. All I can think about is that I hope it helps Lake Powell again this year!

Santa!!!

We caught Santa Clause at our Mall today! It was fun to see Andrew get so excited. I couldn't get a good picture because Andrew would not take his eyes off Santa. Andrew made sure to tell him that what he really wants is a scooter. I tried to get more out of him but the only other thing he could think to ask for was a new towel... Don't ask me where this cute random kid came...like father like son!

Arizona

As you now know we spent the last week in Arizona. We had the best time! We had a few days with great weather and some filled with rain. We loved spending so much time with family and friends. Here are a few highlights...

*Late night games...thanks Tiff and Ty
*Birthday parties
*Fun Farm ... There was a huge room filled with corn kernels for the kids to play in. Jackson and Andrew had the best time.)
*Making all sorts of fun treats
*Kevin's "surprise" party paint balling...thanks Baby for teaching our 2 year old how to shoot a paintball gun.
*Going to see the lights with the Carlson Family
*Shopping, Shopping and more Shopping
*Some crazy Guitar Hero
*Running...I go running here and my lungs are shot thanks to the cold weather.

I could go on forever. We love having family down in Mesa and can't wait till we get to go down again.



some of the paint balling gang

AZ

Hey there! Slacker central over here. We are living it up in AZ so good posts soon to come. We have had a blast playing outside, running, paint balling, shopping and of course cooking. I have found some great new recipes! Since we don't have our card adapter here I can't post pics quite yet but we are home on wed. Hope you all are great!

Southtown Mall

Today we headed down to South town Mall with McCall, Amanda and their cute kids. There is a fun little soft dinosaur playground that the kids were able to run around a bit...great since it is freakin freezing and a blizzard is outside. We also let them go on the carousel. We had a great time and are so grateful for our Monday playgroups! ( I did not get a single good picture of the kids. They were not about the stop and let me get one so here is the best I could do.)

Treats!!!

The past few days I have made a bunch of yummy Christmas goodies.
Reasons include:
* Me being home a ton because we moved in with my mom to take care of her...if you know me very well I get very restless
* I love them
* Lots of visitor and they need something when they come
* I have been trying to make my mom as comfortable as possible...comfort = treats!
* I of course must try all my recipes before I make goodies to take around for Christmas presents.
* I love cooking in my mom's kitchen

This weekend was filled with a lot of family time, friends, and food. Yummy homemade bread, butter mints, carmel corn, muffins and of course Kevin's favorite oreo dessert. We have had such a great time...o ya and did I mention I have a scheduled run tomorrow morning at 9 AM sharp!!!

Happy Birthday Kevin

Well today my Kevin is turning the big 27. Can you believe it?
Here are a few things you may not know about my cute boyfriend and husband...

* He is really really smart

* He was voted biggest flirt in High School

* Through high school he drove his very own Shaggin Wagon

* He is a really good singer but doesn't sing to me nearly enough

* He is great at basketball.

* He gives amazing back rubs...keep um coming

* He wants to open up his own Pharmacy

* He loves tools...he keeps wanting these tools that he uses once and then we get to store them :)

* He is a Mama's Boy...I love it!

* In a high school play he kissed the one and only BROOKE WHITE! hahaha really

* When he lets his facial hair grow it comes in all red.

* He holds the name "Wrestling Champ" in our family although I am sure it won't be for long.

* He has about 80 cousins...only counting one side. We love HUGE families

* He is a really good cook and can whip up a mean french toast breakfast in bed!

* The first time he met my family he pulled out Elvis burns...You can see them in the picture

* He used to be a big pyro and burn army men as a kid

* He is just as dorky as me!

He is amazing. I don't know what I would do without him. I love you baby! Happy Birthday!

This is completely lame but I was laughing so hard I was crying. I had to post it. Enjoy!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Christmas

Another Tag...I know. I think it will be fun to have in the future. I also thought it was fun to see how others celebrate Christmas time.


1. Eggnog or Hot Chocolate? Hot Chocolate although I don't just love it.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or sit them under the tree? Neither. We set our stockings in our spot and then he displays our presents in our spot in the room. When we came downstairs in the morning it looked amazing...a room full of presents!

3. Colored or white lights on tree and house? We used to do colored on the house but this year they are white everywhere.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? I have before but not usually.

5. When do you put your decorations up? We always did it the weekend after Thanksgiving.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? To Butter mints count? I could have them and only them for any meal. Real food...Parmesan chicken and twice baked potatoes.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? I can't choose just one. I loved them all for different reasons. I love everything....the treats, the songs, the smells, the family time, the gifts, the giving, the snow...okay okay I could go on forever.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? What truth...If we didn't believe, even as adults we didn't receive a thing. I remember being about 20 and my mom telling me to go to bed at like 9:00 so Santa could come. I have a hard time going to bed on Christmas Eve let alone if it is at 9:00.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? I don't remember opening a gift but my little family does. We open our Christmas PJ's that we get to wear that night!

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? Red Balls, Ornaments and lights. I started giving each or my little boys ornaments each year that represented something. They are fun to have on the tree.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? I love new snow...It looks ugly after a few days. All black and icy.

12. Can you ice skate? ya, sort of, I took lessons for awhile. I haven't been for a long time.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? It is crazy but I don't really remember. I have received a bike, and an American girl doll and a few other really fun gifts but I remember the things I was excited to give more.

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Family time. I love being with family and we have such fun traditions.

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? Butter mints, Butter mints, Butter mints!Oh ya and they have to be homemade...homemade camel's are up there too.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Christmas Eve we have huge party. We used to do it at my Grandma's house but now my mom does it. We have dinner, the nativity, a program, play bingo and the quarter game. So much fun!

17. What tops your tree? A star

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? Giving!! Giving... Like I said before I get more excited with all the things I get to give. Especially when it comes to my three little boys...including Kevin (my other little kid at Christmas Time)

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? I love just about every Christmas song but I think "O Holy Night" and "Where You There" are my favorites.

20. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum? Don't love them don't hate them

I would love to hear how everyone else celebrates so do it on your blog too!

Black Friday

In this home we love Black Friday. As usual we could hardly wait for the adds to come out on Thanksgiving Day! I had a hard time sleeping thinking about my plan of attack and how to get the best deals. We woke up bright and early, grabbed some McDonald's breakfast and dragged our kids around town. Of course we found some things but others were already gone. Whether we were able to get things or not we had the best time.


I am grateful for my amazing husband...once again. He goes along with all my crazy dumb plans...like taking my kids out at 7 in the morning to save a couple of bucks. He thinks I am silly but loves me anyway. He's the greatest!

Happy Thanksgiving

Ambulance

My mom called me first thing yesterday and asked me if I wanted to go to IKEA to look for some furniture with her. Kevin was home so I jumped at the chance to leave during my kids naps. We had a great time...found some wonderful stuff and got ice cream as we were leaving. I stayed inside waiting for them to bring us some of our things while my mom backed up the car.

Next think I knew my mom was on her back on the ground. I walked outside thinking what in the world are you doing. Little did I know that while she was trying to fix the backseat of her car she tried to get out of the burb and her foot got stuck. She fell about 3 feet right on her hip.

We couldn't move her so they called 911 and we were taken to the hospital in an ambulance. To make a long story short she broke her hip and had surgery today. She is doing well but can't put any weight on it for 6 weeks. If you know my mom that is about a lifetime. The bank and the post office will receive about half their business with my mom down and out.

Today I am thankful for my mom. She is so amazing and does so much for me. I hope that she will allow me to help her during this trial in her life. I am sure she will need it!

Family Pictures

We finally got some family pictures taken. I love how they turned out...even though my little boys were pills and wouldn't smile or look at the camera. A good friend Mark Thackary took them and did an awesome job. His photography website is called AMBPhotography. I have it as a link. Check it out!






I am grateful for the chance I get to pay tithing. I receive so many blessings from it. Today we had tithing settlement and our bishop had some great insight about how important tithing is. The Lord is so generous when he lets us keep 90%. I love this gospel!

Go Cougs!!!

Here are a few fun jokes I found. I am of course cheering for the Y but really just hope it is a good game. Hope these make you smile!!


Q: What is the difference between the U. of U. football team and a bowl of Cheerios?
A: The Cheerios belong in a bowl!


Q: What's the difference between the Utes and a dollar bill?
A: You can still get four quarters out of a dollar


One day in an elementary school in Salt Lake City, UT, a teacher asks her class if the Utah Utes are their favorite football team. The whole class says yes, except for Little Jimmy.

The teacher asks, "What's your favorite football team Jimmy?"

Little Jimmy says, "The BYU Cougars "

The teacher asks, "Well, why is that?"

Little Jimmy says, "Well, my dad is a Cougar fan, my mom is a Cougar fan, I guess that makes me a Cougar fan."

The teacher angered by his reply says, "If your dad was a moron and your mom was an idiot what would that make you?"

Little Jimmy says, "Well, I guess that would make me a Utah fan."


I am so thankful that I have graduated and have a degree. There are sometimes that I would love to attend classes again. Kevin has been studying hard for a test and I remember how much I didn't enjoy that part of school.

Twilight

Last night my sisters, my mom and I were among the other 50 million people to go to Twilight at midnight. I am not going to say too much about the movie so that those of you who haven't seen it won't go with others opinions. Anyway, there were a few things that I couldn't believe...
*I think we were about the only ones without a Twilight shirt on. My sisters and mom dressed cute...and me in my PJ's
*People dressed as vampires and you could get your picture taken with them..biting you neck and all.
*It took 30 min to get popcorn...think of tons of hungry woman at 1 in the morning= long line for popcorn= paying someone who was first in line to buy and extra popcorn for us
* I forgot my vampire teeth...yes many people were wearing them
* Blood drives were going on...yes that is what I said Blood drives

Anyway, we had a great time. It was a fun girls night out. It did remind me about how old I am getting. 3 a.m. used to be nothing.


Today I am especially thankfull for nice long naps. After a crazy night I was able to enjoy one today...nothing is better!

Wheeler Farm

We had the best time at Wheeler Farm yesterday. We met some friends there and had a great time catching up. Andrew just loves playing with other little kids...especially Amanda's little Millie. Andrew told me..."Mom I don't like Millie, I love her." He just started giggling. He is already starting to take after his dad...the ladies man :) It was so fun to see you girls. I can't wait for Monday at the Zoo.

I am thankful for friends. If I didn't have them I would go crazy.