Annual Gingerbread House/Sister Gifts

Every year since I can remember we would get together as sisters, sister-in-laws and my mom and make gingerbread houses. We would usually do this the Saturday after Thanksgiving to kind of kick start the holidays. We also exchange gifts and have lunch. This year we wanted to wait for my mom to come home to do it, so we did it yesterday. I feel extra busy this year with stuff so i bought one of those kits, but instead of a house i got a gingerbread tree kit. It was much easier to do and it didn't require too many creative juices, which was nice. It was also a nice break just chatting and relaxing. When we were done, we headed over to The Cobblestone Pizzeria for lunch, and of course my dad came along too! It is so fun having them back!! The only thing that would have made it better would be if my sisters Nancy and Ashley could have been there!

Ward Christmas Party

Saturday was our ward Christmas party. They have a Christmas breakfast, so we had to wake up early on a Saturday morning, which isnt our favorite thing to do, but Tyler still likes to go and sit on Santa's lap, even thou he knows this year that he isnt real. Josh didnt make it, he slept over at a friends house of course they couldnt wake the boys up to get them to go. Here are some pictures from that morning, you can tell i am not quite awake yet!!

MY PARENTS COME HOME!!

Last Thursday afternoon, my parents came home from their mission to Australia for a year and a half. We checked the kids out of school and waited for them at the airport, my kids were so excited to see their Grandma and Grandpa again! I am happy to have parents again, it has been so nice knowing that they are around, I forgot how fun it is to hang out with my Mom and Dad!

Thanksgiving Dinner

Sorry it has been over a week and I haven't posted about our Thanksgiving dinner. We had Jason & Rachael and family, Jim & Melissa and Family, Jeff & Kelly and family and Julie (Melissa's Mom) over. Which added up to 21 people! Some of you know that a couple years ago I had thanksgiving at our house and we did it in our garage because we didn't have enough sitting space for everyone. Well I decided to do that again, I feel bad doing this, I know everyone thinks I am a psycho doing it, but really I don't have enough room in my house without rearranging all the furniture, plus the tables would have to be set up over carpet. Now if it was 21 adults i would be okay with that, but since we were out numbered by the kids, I just couldn't do it. So I spent the whole day before trying to make my garage presentable. It turned out good, Everyone brought over more than enough food. We had a great time. I love getting together with my brothers and families, It is sad we all live so close but rarely get to see each other, so that was nice. I now want to make sure the next house i buy has a room big enough to host a dinner for a large group, cause I feel really stupid making everyone eat out in my garage. but when cleaning up after everyone had gone, i did have some gravy and potatoes on the floor which i was very grateful wasn't on my carpet inside my house! Here are some picture from that day, I didn't take very many which makes me sad. Thanksgiving came and went too fast, I just cant believe how fast time is flying by, so now all my focus is getting Christmas ready, which i feel will be here before i know it!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

I just want to write and wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! I am thankful to have a holiday that will help me stop and think about all the things i am thankful for. There are many days that i wish i had a better car, house, body, I can go on and on, but if i really stop and think about it, I am so blessed, I have a wonderful husband who loves me for me, three beautiful boys that are happy and healthy, a house that is more than big enough for our needs and in a great neighborhood where i dont have to worry about my kids running free in. A body that although is showing signs of aging, has treated me fairly well concidering all the bad foods i eat and the lack of veggies in my diet! I am also grateful for my awesome family, I am so glad to be apart of a big family, Each one of my brothers and sisters are special to me in different ways, I cant imagine life without all of them! I am thankful for my parents who are such great examples to me. I am also lucky to have such good friends, I have some who I dont talk to much, and i really need to be better at that, but i know that if I pick up the phone and call they there for me at any time. With all of these things i feel i am truley blessed! I realize that i have more to be thankful for than i could ever imagine! Happy Thanksgiving!!

Christmas Pictures

Well Sunday I decided because it was so nice out and Christmas is going to be here before we know it, we should take our annual Christmas card pictures. Doug and I had this great idea of going over to the little vegetable stand down the street with the old tractor and truck and take some rustic pictures. I thought i would just go threw the boys closets and find something for them to wear. I picked out their outfits and you would have thought i was making them wear overalls or a cowboy boots or something! They were all "we look like hillbillies", they were pretty mad at me. When i asked them what they wanted to wear instead they said how about we dress up as gangsters or something, I was like what?, we aren't wearing costumes right now! They are so weird! Then we drove to the spot, which is off a busy road and then they were all "people might see us!". Although I remember a time when Mom made us get our pictures taken at K-mart and i think i was around Josh and Haden's age and i was completely mortified, So i can understand that one. Then Tyler anytime we try to take pictures outside starts to cry cause he says it makes his eyes hurt, so i was like this is going to be a nightmare, but after a major yelling at, telling them to knock it off, we managed to get some pretty good pictures. Also without Kelly coming out to meet us at a last minutes notice, we never would have gotten any of them taken, So thank you Kelly! I am just glad that ordeal is over with, well at least for another year!

TYLER'S SCHOOL PROGRAM

Today Tyler had a little program that his music and performing arts class put on. They sang and did a little dance, it was really cute. What freaked me out the most was, Tyler and another little boy did a duet, I had no clue he was doing that! If i was prepared i would have had my camera out and ready to record, but he never even told me! I did manage to get a picture, although my camera was almost out of batteries, so the pictures didn't turn out that good. He did a really good job, I don't even know where he comes from, I would have a heart attack knowing that i had to sing in front of everyone! He is a funny boy! I still cant believe he never told me, he has been singing around the house the last couple of weeks, but that is pretty normal for him, he is always singing, maybe i should look into singing lessons or something??

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HADEN!!

Yesterday was Haden's 13Th birthday. I can not believe he is 13, I don't know where the time goes?? He is now officially a teenager, which means i now have two teenagers in the house, which means even more gray hairs! Haden had been asking for a PSP for about two weeks before his birthday, I really didn't think he needed another gaming system, we have so many it is ridiculous, but that was the only thing he kept asking for, I put off buying him anything till the last minute and it is a good thing, cause a couple days before he decided he wanted a snow board instead. Well i wasn't too keen on that idea, to me that is more of a Christmas gift, kind of expensive, so i didn't know what to do. Well Doug went out to the store the night before and found a really good deal on one. So we kept telling him there is no way he is getting a snowboard, that is just too expensive, he was pretty bummed. That morning we wrapped up the boots and bindings and hid the snow board in the laundry room, so when he woke up that morning and saw those two presents he wasn't too happy about it you could tell. When he opened up the boots he got all excited again. After he opened up the boots and bindings we said, I guess you will have to wait for Christmas to get the board, cause it is just too much money to get it all at once, He was on the verge of tears,( are we mean or what?) So i quickly brought out the board and he was Happy! Haden just wanted a family party, he just wanted to go out to eat at Wingers. So we let him invite a friend. When we were at Wingers Haden got a text from Jim, he asked us where we were and he ended up coming in with Carter and giving Haden a birthday present, That made Haden feel real good. (Melissa and Cole had to stay out in the car, cause Cole is sick:() We then came home and sang Happy Birthday and had cake. His friend ended up sleeping over as well as Josh's friend, so I think he ended up having a really good day. Haden is a really good kid, he is my one who always tells me he loves me, gives me a kiss before he goes to school or a friends house, will sit down and talk to me about girls, and life, He really is a joy to have around! Happy Birthday Haden, WE LOVE YOU:)