Be My Valentine

We've kind of had a Valentine/Love theme going for Family Home Evening this month. And as bad as I hate making these (because they seem to take FOREVER), I just had to make some Valentine cookies for my little sweethearts this year. I can't believe how happy it makes all of them. They love 'em! And unfortunately, so do I...you can't eat just one. Who knows how many calories I'm taking in after all the dough I sneak and the frosting I lick?? (Don't tell Maddy because I always tell her that she's not allowed to eat or lick her fingers while we're cooking)

I especially enjoyed having my little helper this year. It makes such a difference! Not only does it make it go by faster but it makes it much more enjoyable. And as you can see, Maddy adds the perfect touch- sprinkles!

2nd Annual "Heart Attack"

We had our "Heart Attack" Family Home Evening that we started last year. Maddy especially loves this and I love how festive it makes our house look. Plus, I think whether they admit it or not, the boys love it, too. It's amazing how putting in a little thought and effort for someone warms your heart to that person. Josh wasn't with us this year either (although we included him in our love notes), but I just loved watching the effort that Jake and Maddy put into this - both thinking of thoughtful things to write and also carefully decorating each heart. I learned that Jake is very creative and quite the artist! It definitely helped my heart and made our home a little happier. I'm so thankful for them and the spirit they bring to our home.

Christmas Memories

We had a wonderful holiday season and I enjoyed every minute of it! As always, we squeezed out every little minute we could, which means staying up until the wee hours of the morning and sleeping in whenever possible. Unfortunately, this can be difficult on me because I don't want to miss out on any action. I stay up late and then don't want to wake up in the morning (which is not all that unusual, I guess.) It's totally worth it, though, to have this special time with my family.

I feel such peace during this wonderful time of year. Life slows down (at least after all the shopping is done), people try to be kinder, we try to spend more time with those that matter most, and we put our troubles to the side, even if only for a time. It's amazing the happiness that comes when we focus on what matters most. This time of year, the whole world seems "right." I am so thankful for the season and the peace and hope it brings to my life.

Following are a few of our highlights caught on camera:

And others that may or may not have been:

food, family, and friends

snowboarding

Nutcracker

candlelight dinner

Daddy/daughter date - to dance performance and ice cream (Mom tagged along, too)

no snow = brown Christmas

new tradition - sharing the "light"

Tyrell's missionary farewell

no school/lessons/days off work

Maddy's own Christmas tree

late nights

Christmas Eve

Nativity pageant

new movies - Avatar, Inception, Prince of Persia, & Toy Story 3 (What would the holidays be without new videos to watch, right?)

chocolate!

good books

scented candles

no Christmas cards :(

weight sets

Just Dance 2 (Now THIS is what I've got to get pictures of! Watching people dance to the Wii game is hilarious! We had a blast and it was something everyone could do)

late mornings

And last and most importantly, celebrating the birth of our Savior and His gospel in our lives!

Christmas 2010

Merry Christmas to all... and to all a good night!
What is wrong with this picture?? I forgot to take pictures of my kids in their Christmas jammies this year! That makes me so sad :( How did that happen?? I think Santa needs some sleep.

Christmas Eve and a Nativity Pageant

It has become a tradition that every year, we head to Tremonton on Christmas Eve to spend it with Jeff's extended family. Since we have been married, it has been tradition to have tacos for dinner on Christmas Eve. In more recent years, we have started re-enacting the nativity scene and singing "The Nativity Song" from Primary. It's fun to see the the kids graduate from Baby Jesus to Mary or shepherds or wisemen. This year, we had no baby to play Baby Jesus so Morgan (@ 21 yrs. old) played Jesus this year. Especially fun to see, are the costumes that Grandma has rounded up throughout the year. New this year is Jake's lovely gown (check that out!) and Gwen and Thea's angel dresses, which actually used to be worn by Teri and Tina.

I think this picture captures the whole gang?? As you can see, my boys think it is funny to pull a serious face in EVERY picture. Although I'm sure the parts they are playing are obvious (ha ha):

Josh (with the mop on his head) was Samuel the Lamanite

Jake was a wiseman

Maddy was Mary

After the mayhem of all of that, we exchange gifts. Grandpa even wears a Santa hat as he and grandma pass out their gifts to the grandchildren. We can't leave without opening our new "jammies." That has been a tradition from my family since I was little. (Unfortunately, I forgot to get a picture of my kids in their PJ's this year! I usually do that every Christmas morning in front of the tree. I'm so mad at myself!!) I love Christmas Eve and especially the ride home where I can picture in my mind that night in Bethlehem so long ago. I am so grateful for that and often wonder what it would have been like to be a witness to that miracle.

But I must say that my very favorite part of Christmas Eve is in the wee hours of the morning after everyone is asleep and it is just me and light Christmas music playing by the glow of the Christmas tree. Even though I am completely exhausted by this time in the season, I love this! This is such a peaceful time of reflection for me as I think of my children, our family, the year we have had, and the wonderful blessings we have in our life. For those few moments, everything seems alright in the world, knowing that my children our all snuggled in their beds (well, Josh's bed) safely. It's a time that I realize how truly blessed I am! No matter what my trials are at that point.

It makes me want to do more, be more, love more...

I think that is what the Christmas spirit is truly about.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I thought this little turkey was so cute! The little girl our whole family is in love with, Kailey Parkin, brought these to us the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Her mom is so creative!

For Thanksgiving this year, it was our year to go to the Oylers. This year we had everyone there except Jordan, Jodie, and Jaxson. Even Morgan and Josh were both home from their missions. As always, the meal was delicious. It was a great day and we all ate too much. After resting, we played games, including a mean game of Twister. My kids loved that!

I'm so thankful for all of the blessings I have in my life! They are too numerous to count. I want so badly for my children to understand the blessing of gratitude. As I age, I continue to learn how gratitude can change my life as it changes my perspective. If we focus on what we already have instead of what we don't or what we want, miracles can happen. We start to realize how blessed we are and it makes us want to be more. It makes us focus on the Savior who gave us everything and it makes us want to give back. That is the miracle of giving thanks~

Happy Halloween!

This is my beautiful, 10-yr old Halloween punk fairy. Isn't she gorgeous?This year, her and her friends made these skirts at Apron Strings at Olivia's house. So they decided clear back in August what they were going to be for Halloween. At first, Maddy was a little concerned because we weren't exactly sure what a "punk fairy" wears. But as you can see in the picture below, they all turned out so cute! It's fun to see each of their personalities shine through.
They trucked all over the neighborhoods together. In past years, we have walked around with the Fuhriman's and all the little girls. This year, Mike was hunting and Jeff was getting ready to leave on a hunting trip so Sheri and I drove the girls around together. I really enjoy this tradition! I'm wondering if the girls will allow us to accompany them 1 more year? I sure hope so!


Sadly, Jake was not as "cute" this year. As you can see below, he was downright scary! He and his friend, Christian, decided to dress up as rock stars when they found these lovely zebra pants at the Halloween store. Once we saw how much Christian looked like Axel Rose, we decided to call them "Guns N' Roses." What a pair! It's especially funny because these 2 boys are both 4.0 students and such great kids. Hard to tell from the picture, huh? They left early to go trick-or-treat to close friends and their Young Men leaders. The pictures below show the beautiful weather we were having that night. It actually poured rain for about an hour. (Luckily, by the time the little girls went, the rain had almost stopped.) After that, Christian headed to a party and Jake went out to his cousin, Colton's.

And Halloween wouldn't be completed without Jeff and a mask. He went with a different choice this year than his usual mask. I think he fits right in with the scary side.

And what Halloween would be complete without Jack-O-Lanterns? We made pumpkin carving at the last minute this year. It has been so crazy with football, Nutcracker, work, etc. this year that we seriously started carving pumpkins (homegrown, of course) about 1 hour before trick-or-treating.

It was a great night, as usual. For some reason, I love Halloween! I love the autumn season, the fall colors, the crisp air and the wonderful smells it brings. I watch my kids get older by the second and have learned to treasure each year, each event. Happy Halloween!

The Witches are out!

Maddy and I love to go to see the witches at Gardiner Village each year. This year, Grandma Shay had meetings there so Grandpa invited us to go down and meet her after. We took advantage of getting there early in October. We enjoyed the shops, had a great dinner at Archibalds, and continued our tradition of getting candy at the candy shop. What a great way to kick off the Halloween season!

Party in the USA

We finally figured out our plans for the 4th of July weekend. I was starting to worry that we would end up doing nothing but it acutally ended up being a fabulous holiday.

On Friday, we decided to go up to Logan early for the Cache Valley Cruise-In on Saturday. That way, we could watch the fireworks with Jeff's sister, Tina, and her family and his Aunt Jane and Uncle Ray. We had seen them in awhile so it sounded fun. We originally planned to stay in a hotel to add a little adventure but Tina and Jane said we could just stay with them. So Jeff and I and Maddy stayed at Tina's and the boys stayed at Jane's.

We stopped at one of our favorite restaurants, Maddox, on the way up there. They have the best buffalo burgers anywhere. This is a place that Jeff has been going to since he was a little boy so it is fun to now share this memory with our kids. Plus, strawberry pie is in season and it is so delicious there that I can't pass it up.

Then we headed to meet the fam. We had a great time at the fireworks. It brought back alot of good memories for me of when we lived in Cache Valley and the times when we were dating and first married. Logan will always have a special place in my heart. And it's always nice to "party" with Jane. She adds fun to every event and always comes prepared with lots of treats.

As I sat an listened to the music playing with the fireworks, I felt such gratitude for the freedoms I enjoy. We are so spoiled in this country and we don't even realize it. I always feel nostalgic on the 4th of July and have feel such a welling up of emotion when I hear any patriotic songs or presentations. Although I have never been asked to sacrifice myself or any of my family members for service to our country, I am so thankful for those that have and the things they have given up for me. I truly mean that! I hope my children think of those families who go without their family members either temporarily or permanently, to protect our country and the freedoms it affords us. I also thought how grateful I am for holidays and time with family. It's amazing how beneficial just a short reprieve from the daily stresses can help rejuvenate my spirit. I love this holiday and especially the quiet time of watching fireworks where I can have a few moments to ponder on these blessings I have been given.

After the fireworks, we headed back to Tina's and visited until the wee hours of the morning...literally. I don't think we went to bed until almost 3 AM so when the alarm went off to wake us up at 7, I wasn't happy! But Jeff wanted to get his car registered by 8, so chop chop. :)

The kids still wanted to go to our local parade and since it would be a long, hot day just sitting at the car show, we decided to head back to the parade. Also, Josh had to work later so this took care of everyone. Plus it gave me a little time with my family. We met Dad & Shay and my brother, Jeremy, and his kids at the parade. It was not near as hot as it has been in years past so that made it nice. We even made time to go to lunch with my fam after the parade. We chose the restaurant that Josh used to work at which happens to be one of the only local restaurants other than fast food. It had chips & salsa and good Diet Coke, so I was a happy girl. After that, we headed back to meet Jeff at the car show and check out all the classic cars. It was fun because Jeff's car was one of the chosen few for an award. Pretty impressive! I think it meant alot to him.

We ended the evening with a stop at another favorite restaurant that we used to frequent back in our college days. I just had to have a Ham & Cheese Salad from Fredrico's. Although we missed getting back to the Clearfield fireworks with my family and Josh, it was an almost perfect ending to a great weekend. We even got "bonus" fireworks on July 5 in Layton. They were awesome! It was nice having the fireworks stretched out over several nights due to the Sunday holiday. We got to enjoy some of our favorites from the northern part of our state, spend time with both families, and celebrate our freedom. It really was a "party."