Christmas Time is Here....

Our tree is up, our halls are decked, & boy are we excited for THIS time of year! {Although its hard to want it to come for me cause its always over WAY too quickly!! I just wish life could SLOW down!!}
It's fun to have kids so excited for all the festivities. I am looking forward to seeing their sweet faces light up with delight over all the fun I have planned! {I wanna "elf on the shelf soooo bad!! ....Must.Get.One.Soon!!} I'm also glad I have old enough kids that I can decorate the WHOLE tree & NOT have them touch the ornaments all day long..... So far it's been awesome.... 1st time in 6 YEARS!!! I'm so grateful that this year will not be like last year ....& I'll get to have my hubby IN TOWN for most of the month. {except next week, but I'll take it over last year being gone from Halloween-the end of January!!}
I'm grateful to be able to have sharing time this week, where I teach the young kids in church, & get to start out the month focusing on the Saviors birth. What a great reminder of what this holiday is REALLY about!! I hope I can pass the spiritual importance of this holiday season onto my kids this year..... That's my goal!
I hope you ENJOY your holiday season .... Cause I know we will!!!

THANKSGIVING

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day!! We started the day off with a football game & bike ride for Daddy & a yummy breakfast of bacon, eggs, & homemade grape juice for me & the kids.
Then we started into the pie that I needed to make for Thanksgiving dinner .... Mmmmmmmm ---it was blueberry & being my 1st attempt at the Lattice top I was quite pleased with how it turned out.
Then I cuddled on the couch with Zach & Kye & watched part of the Parade ....once Al got home it was off for a run for me. I had planned to run 6, but I didn't think things through & it ended up being a lil but longer ....oh well, that means I could ENJOY all the food I wanted!
Then it was time to load up & make the drive to my brother Dave's house, who hosted this year, & enjoyed the FEASR!! It was soooo yummy with TONS of food that I just wanted to keep eating .....too bad you fill up so fast on Thanksgiving! :(
We cleaned-up & then had a delicious thanksgiving dessert bar .....mmmmmm!
After that clean-up some looked at adds, some played, we watched some Shrek video, & some slept. Al & I headed off with our kids to visit Al's parents & pick-up somethings they had for us.
It was a FABULOUS day!! It was WONDERFUL to spend it with my family ...we did miss my 2 sisters families who weren't there, but are so Thankful for them too!!!
After a lil hello .... I headed off with Dave, Char, & Mom. We did a lil Black Friday - Grey Thursday shopping. We had hit 2 stores ....got what we wanted & then they drove me home all by 10:30. Awhhh .... It was such a perfect day!!!

I Am Thankful ....

I am THANKFUL for so much!! I'm just gonna list a few...
-my handsomely, adorable, hard-working Hubby!
-for my 3 beautiful/handsome children!!!
-my Savior who understands all my aches, pains, & sadness!
-the Atonement through which I can receive forgiveness for all my short-comings!
-for my beautiful home that is warm & cozy!
-for SEASONS .... I love experiencing all 4!
-for a washing machine/dryer.... Boy do I despise laundry, but it'd be so much worse without the machines to do most of the work!
-for a healthy & strong body!
-for my families health!
-for my bros & sis!! {including ALL in-laws!}
-for my parents!!! {all 4 of them!}
-for my GOOD friends!! {good friends are the BEST!}
-for my calling of being with the children in my church..... I'm so blessed to listen & feel of their spirits!
-for my ability to be a women, a wife, & a mother.... Theses things can ALL be hard, but at the same time my greatest blessings!!!
-Food----oh boy, do I love it & I also love that I never have to send my kids to bed hungry!
-the Prophet, Thomas S. Monson, ---I'm thankful to KNOW that we still have modern revelation on the earth today!
-the Temple.... What a blessing it is to be able to partake in the sacred ordinances that bind families together!
-MY TESTIMONY..... I grew-up with strong parents who taught me well. I'm thankful that I have a strong testimony to get me through the yuck & muck of this world.... I wouldn't be where I am today without my strong belief in knowing what I KNOW!!!!
I have sooo many blessings! Too many to list, but these are a few. I'm so thankful to be able to reflect upon my greatest blessing during this time of year & then be able to focus on the Birth of our Savior right after!!!
Life is GOOD!
Happy Thanksgiving Y'all!!!
Now go enjoy some TURKEY!!!

Our First REAL game ….

So with Zach’s Soccer Registration he got a FREE ticket to a REAL game.  We decided that we would participate in the FUNDRAISER for the league & purchase tickets for our whole family. 

The first game they offered didn’t work out cause I misunderstood that we only had VOUCHERS & not tickets.  Oooops!

Luckily they ended up offering another game …. it was October 29th’s game & it was a LOAD of fun!

We had free passes for our kids to eat at Old Spaghetti Factory, from the Bees game we went to …..so we took them out to eat before the game.  They thought they were HOT STUFF getting to EAT out & ALL on the date with Mom & Dad!

We made it to the game right as the ACTION started!  Our kids were “interested”, but also couldn’t WAIT to get some kind of TREAT!

It felt like the game went by SUPER fast!  They ended up with a NO SCORE game, but they got pretty close to scoring a couple of times. 

It was a fun night out, but our kids were EXHAUSTED once we got home!!

side note: As we went to Zach’s last soccer game earlier that day our car decided to NOT work AT ALL in the parking lot after the game ….I thought that going to the game was once again not going to work out!  But on our 2 mile walk home, Alan was already making arrangements to get a rental.  It was a SATURDAY so NO rental place was open EXCEPT at the airport….. what?!?!!! Yep, rental places aren’t open Saturdays…..STRANGE!!!!! So, Al & I got a babysitter, ended up getting the car to magically start, drove to the airport, picked up our rental, dropped our car off at a repair place in Bountiful…. THAT place ended up being a NIGHTMARE!, & making it back just in time to load our kids up to head to dinner & then the  game…… WOW, no wonder we were so exhausted!!!

Halloween WEEK ….

For how busy October was we didn’t make it to a pumpkin patch UNTIL the week of.  So Monday after school ended the Kids & I went to the pumpkin patch near our home.  It’s owned by Day Farms & its lil & quant with UN-ROTTEN pumpkins … we had a wonderful lil hay ride, visited with some WITCHES, & picked the PERFECT pumpkins …..I always LOVE this EVENT!!!

That night we had planned a FABULOUS FHE with pumpkin carving, talking together, & having a caramel apple bar….. things were a lil thrown-off when Daddy couldn’t make it home in time to carve, but we still enjoyed DESSERT ….. MMMMMmmmmmmm ….. it was YUMMY!

{I AM NOT A PUMPKIN CARVER, NOR WILL I EVER BE!!} 

After school the NEXT day the kids & I CLEANED out the pumpkins, so we could be all ready to CARVE away that night …. Emma said during THIS process that she was NEVER picking a pumpkin from a field again cause she didn’t want to touch the insides ….hehehe …. SHE HATED it!!!

That night Alan carved Pumpkins with the kids, while I went to see a friend in the hospital who had just had her sweet baby girl …. YES, our week was CRAZY!

 

The kids CREATED there own drawings & then Alan carved them.  Alan drew out different options for Kye & then Kye picked the final look … it was so fun to see their personalities come out in their pumpkins!

Halloween night we at our Papa Murphy’s Pumpkin Pizza …. Mmmmmmm it was YUMMY & SO SIMPLE!

{Defiantly need to make this a tradition!}

Then, once again, we got dressed in our appropriate attire …..& off they went with Daddy to collect “the goods”!

We scored a LOAD of Candy, showered, & got in bed before 9pm …..October nearly did me in!

….Now onto THANKSGIVING!!!

                   

…..Where we have been tracking what we are Thankful for in our good friend Mrs. Gobbles {Emma named}…..” Cocka-doodle-doo”---- in Kye’s words!!!