Thanksgiving Fun! Part I

My post was getting a little too long so I decided to break it up into two!

Our Thanksgiving holiday started Monday. I left with the kids to spend some time with my sisters-in-law in West Jordan, Utah. I am proud to say I survived the 7 hour trip up with my children and still had all three when I arrived!:) We drove by BYU campus to reminisce and I was surprised at all the changes there and elsewhere. (Windmills at the bottom of Solider Summit!)

It was nice to spend some time with my fun "sisters" and their kids. I am so lucky to have them and love to visit with them when I can. Kale was kind enough to watch my kids so I could get a much needed haircut and have some mom time. Do you like my new look?

It was nice to have Kirk join us with his mom and dad and other sister on Wednesday. He about knocked me down when I came out the door to greet him. He is so funny when I'm gone, he gets all mushy and sad. It feels good to be needed!

Thanksgiving was a great day. Kirk took Emily and cared for her most of the day and she enjoyed it. She turned into a little Daddy's girl this weekend and didn't want Mom much. I love my sweet husband.

We had dinner at the Hone's ( my brother-in-laws brother). We had lots of yummy food and plenty of pies. I think there were 7 pies! We were favored to a magic show done by my nephew. Then it was on to karaoke, I even got up! I think it ended with some crazy 80's dancing and the dreaded chicken dance. We really had fun. Thank you Jeff and Becky!

I am Glad for Many Things

Warning: The following may contain sappiness and could result in tears......

When I sat down to write this post it was originally all about Emily and how she has been sick lately. It really made me slow down and spend some much needed time with her cuddling on the couch. Moments like that really make you stop and look at life a little different. As I sat there and thought about all that I wouldn't get done, I realized what I was doing was far more important than any mundane task. I got to spend time with just Emily and that never happens.

With Thanksgiving just around the corner my thoughts start to turn to what I am grateful for just like everyone else. I am grateful for so much right now. For my sweet little Emily who teaches me how to be a better person every day. For her infectious laughter that fills our house on a daily basis. For my rambunctious Olivia who sings me songs and likes to be teased by her daddy. For my little man Mike (no longer Mikey :( ) He has such a great sense of humor and even after mommy has been grumpy has lots of hugs and kisses for me at bedtime. For my hubby who can drive me nuts, but loves me despite my many flaws. For our dogs even if the puppy is driving me nuts.

I am so very thankful for all the many wonderful people I have had the opportunity to meet and become friends with over the years. I'm thankful you all blog so I can still keep in touch even though we live far apart! I really believe that Heavenly Father watches over us through others and he has sent me some really great people. I am grateful for all my family and for my 3 "sisters" and a great mother-in-law that is like my sister. (Yes I know I am very lucky!!)

Most of all I am grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and the changes it has brought to my life. None of the above would have even come about without it. Many of you don't know this, but in exactly one week it will be 17 years since I was baptised as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I can't believe it's been that long and yet at the same time it feels like it's always been a part of my life.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog and for "listening". I hope we can all remember our MANY blessings. Take care......

Painting fun and experiments!

I have been meaning to post pictures of my big project I finished about 3 weeks ago. In September we started painting the exterior of the house and I finally finished the trim and it looks great. At first it was a little bit of an adjustment. I wondered if we had picked the right color etc. I think it was because it had been all white for so long. I still wish it was a little more brown than yellow, but after all that work I will settle for all most perfect. Here is the before and after, that's Olivia in the before picture being silly.

Yesterday I started to tackle the task of painting the great room. With the possibility of being unemployed next spring we are pinching pennies. So no more paint! We have 10 gallons of the exterior brown and 5 of some white. So I just started mixing the two until I got the shade I wanted. I was so proud of myself for saving us money that I took pictures. Silly huh?! It wouldn't be my first choice for the great room, but it will work and anything is better than white!!!

Now I just have to get it up on the wall, any volunteers?!!!!! I just want my house to feel all homey and finished for the holidays.

FUN BLOG!

I just wanted to let you know about my friends cute blog. She is a very crafty woman with some super fun ideas. For example, she made these super cute bats out of socks for Halloween. I don't consider myself very creative when it comes to craft and I love all the ideas I get from her. Take a peak! www.thechildrensnest.blogspot.com

BRRRRRRRR!!

When we woke up this morning we were shocked to see that it was VERY COLD. Now I'm not one to complain about the weather because we did choose to live here, but it's a bit early to be this cold. I took a picture of the thermometer, if you look at the bottom you will see 13, that's the outside temperature. The time is at the top. Kirk said when he got up at 6 am it was 9. Yikes.

It brings back memories of last winter, February I think, when it got down around -15 each night for three weeks. We had pipes freezing and heaters burning out. Not the best conditions for home building! At least now we are in our house and have a nice wood burning stove to keep us nice and toasty! I love the smell of a fire on a cold day, it reminds me of home!

Other than the cold life is good! Kirk and I are going on a real date tomorrow night which is long over do. Of course we may both fall asleep because we've been so busy lately!

The other picture is a random picture of our puppy. She likes to watch T.V. with her people.

Saturday projects

Life has been so hectic lately that we haven't done much work on the house. On Saturday we decided to take advantage of the warm weather and finish the outside of the shop. We spent the afternoon building a "door." Kirk was so excited he said he wanted me to do a post on it. If you look really close you might be able to see that it's not a real door, it just looks like one.

It was fun to work on something together again. We're finally to the point where most of our projects are just one or two days. Yeah for us!!!!! I'm hoping to paint the great room before Christmas and get some pictures up. We'll see how that goes. :)

The other picture is of our Halloween candy. Olivia wanted to take a picture, she's very proud of the candy she collected for us. She is so funny.

Trick or Treat!

Halloween festivities started early at our house. On Saturday the elementary school had their "Fall Carnival" complete with haunted house and trick or treating. That's actually why the cake came about, for the cake walk. Olivia did it three times so she could win a cake, lucky us.

Then it was school parties on Tuesday, the kids had the rest of the week off, so of course more candy and Halloween fun. Finally it was time for the ward trunk or treat. We ate chili and hot dogs, drank hot cocoa and watched the kids run from car to car over and over again. It was a fun night and the kids collected more than enough candy for all of us. I even dressed up as a bunny, which never happens by the way.

Here are some pictures of the kids. Olivia was Snow White, Mikey was a cowboy and Emily was Miss Behave. My friend Lori loaned me some costumes which made me a very happy girl! Thanks Lori!! Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween and survived all the sugar induced madness!!!