A few things I learned last weekend

*I could have 6 children if...
a. I had a bigger car
b. I had a bigger house
c. Mark never had to go to work

*Caleb LOVES his second cousin Samantha

*I'm pretty lousy at doing little girl's hair (heck, I can hardly do my own!)

*Singing jingle bells at the dinner table is A LOT of fun (even the babies got into it)!

Move over Thanksgiving...it's time for Christmas

I know I probably offended some people by the title of my post, because Thanksgiving is often times over looked because of the rush of the Christmas season, but honestly, I can't help it....I love Christmas!!! I never really appreciated Thanksgiving as a child, and as an adult not much has changed. Sure I love eating until I can't button my pants, spending time with family and friends, oh, and thinking about the Pilgrims and Indians and counting my blessings, but Christmas is just so much prettier!! I mean look at all the lights....they are everywhere and breath taking. Okay, so I'm only half joking.....but before I go on, I guess I should probably write about our Thanksgiving. We really did have a great time with family. We spend the day at my parents house, had a fabulous dinner, played some games, slept at my brother and sister in-laws house so we could wake up at 4:45am to hit some black Friday sales. I always wonder why in the world we subject ourselves to such torture, but it actually is pretty fun and we do get some good deals. Friday night we had a GNO by first eating at Zuppa's (very tasty), and then going to New Moon. I'm not a die hard Twilight fan, but I really enjoyed the movie. It's also fun just hanging out with many of the girls in my life, and I definitely deserve some girl time!!! ;)

So that was Thanksgiving, now on to Christmas! Mark and I did go a little over board this year, but it's just that since about September every little thing I buy for my kids I save for Christmas (any clothes they are in need of , shoes, even shampoo!). Mark purchased something very big for the boys this year that he is really excited about (more excited than me), but I won't disclose it just yet (in case my 7 year old happens to read this), and it really does deserve a blog post of it's own, for many reasons. Actually we have two big presents that each deserve their own blog post. Now, before I start to sound too materialistic (probably too late), but there is a reason why I do my shopping so early. Get all the shopping done in November and then for the entire month of December we can focus on the true meaning of Christmas, by teaching our children about the the birth of the Savior, and how it is so much more blessed to give than to receive. My siblings decided not to give each other gifts this year, but donate to toys for tots or another organization of our choice. My little family did this last year, and my kids still talk about how we gave the transformer toys away. I also love giving neighbor gifts. I know some people despise that, but it is something I look forward too. I have fabulous neighbors! My house is already decorated and I have been listening to Christmas music for at least a month already. Our kids have their chocolate advent calenders and their red and green paper chains to count down the days until Christmas! We have already watched Mr. Kruger's Christmas and The Grinch! Now I just need to start making some yummy Christmas treats!!!

Happy Halloween

Caleb and I waiting for Andrews preschool class

Andrew's preschool class giving me a "trick" before I give them a treat

The spooky skeleton after preschool trunk or treating

My sweet little Caleb


James before school

Luke...I am your father...

Quack, quack

James' first junior Grizz basketball game was on Halloween

Trick or treating at Lee's Market Place and posing for a picture with "Big Blue"

After trunk or treating at our church, we came home and found this deer in our yard

It was so close to us, and not afraid at all.

The boys thought it was pretty cool

We were so thankful for the warm weather. It was a gorgeous day. Some other highlights of the day include, the Whittier Carnival, carving pumpkins, roasting pumpkin seeds, eating our yummy Halloween dinner, trick or treating around the neighborhood, and then counting up all the candy while watching a spooky Halloween movie!

The Pumpkin Walk

The pumpkin walk is a Cache Valley favorite (at least it is for me). This year the theme was commercials. Many people/companies/classrooms around the valley choose a TV commercial and design pumpkins surrounding that theme/commercial and put together their display. This year it was super crowded, but we were lucky we went early. My favorites were the Micheal Jackson Pepsi, and the Keebler Elves. Unfortunately I didn't get pics of either of those, but here are some of the kids favorites (star wars, m & m's, fruit of the loom, rice krispies....)!!

This picture is actually from last year....the Yoda line was a little too long this year

I LOVE this time of year! The leaves changing colors and falling off the trees, the colder weather, and of course....HALLOWEEN!! It's always been one of my favorite holidays. Andrew is going to be a skeleton, James is going to be Darth Vader, and Caleb will be a duck. Andrew had his preschool trunk or treating today, and James gets to dress up for school tomorrow (something his school hasn't done for quite a few years). Then on Halloween we have trunk or treating at our church, then we will have our traditional dinner of eye ball chili, frog eye salad and orange jello (a big thanks to my mom for starting this tradition when I was little), and then the boys will go trick or treating around our neighborhood.

Happy Birthday James

James celebrated 7 years last friday. He went to school, played at home, had a birthday dinner of pizza and crazy bread (his choice), had a treasure hunt, opened presents, had a party with his cousins, hit a pinata (that he helped make), made "witch hands", opened more presents, ate cake and icecream, and played with his cousins. Overall I think he had a great day. A lot better than today. This morning he woke up with a fever. :( Anyway, here are some pictures of his birthday party. I wonder if he will ever tire of a halloween themed party? Hopefully not, because I love it!

I had to include this picture. This is a typical position for Andrew.

This is why I do crossword puzzles

As I was getting James an after school snack today, he asked me, "mom, do you know what a proboscis is?" Luckily I had just done a crossword puzzle the day before that included the word proboscis so I answered (pretending that I hadn't just looked it up 24 hours ago), "yes, it's a nose." He said, "That's right, it's also the nose on a fly, and they eat through it. I read about it in a book today at school." Thank you crossword puzzles for helping me keep up the appearance of looking smart in the eyes of my first grader.

First Haircut

James and Andrew had haircuts when they were only a few months old thanks to some newborn mullets, but Caleb, up until a few days ago, had never met the scissors. I decided it was finally time to cut his long blond locks.

Don't you just love before and after pictures? I do.

Before

After

I think it makes him look older. He's not a baby anymore...sniff, sniff...

New Family Pictures

Connecting the past and the future

I absolutely adore older people. When I was in high school, I volunteered at a rest home for one of my church projects (the old personal progress "laurel projects"). Even after I accomplished the required 10 hours to complete the project, I continued to visit those amazing elderly people. I will never forget this quirky yet wonderful women named "Mae." She was over 100 years old. I also remember being truly saddened when a few of my friends and I arrived at the rest home to find her room empty and we were told she had died a few days before. I also remember George Catmul. He was a character. I truly believe so much can be learned from visiting and conversing with the elderly.



After my husband finished dental school, we had the opportunity to live with his grandmother for a year. At the time she was 96 years old and still very active and lucid. I remember going up to visit her after my children were in bed and asking her about her childhood in Wyoming, what it was like to live without cars, running water, or any of the modern day conveniences we have today. She is truly a remarkable woman. One of my sweetest memories (which is actually a bad parenting moment on my part) is when Mark and I were helping our next door neighbors paint the interior of their home one night. We put the boys to bed, got a baby monitor and knowing that grandma was upstairs we went next door and checked occasionally on our boys. After a few times of checking on them and finding them fast asleep, we all went downstairs in our neighbors home (where the baby monitor was not) and didn't check on our kids for probably 20 minutes. I eventually went back to check on them and to my horror, discovered our 3 year old was gone! I quickly ran upstairs and found him safely on the lap of his great grandmother. He woke up and realized his mom and dad were not there, so he went up stairs to grandma. She read to him, talked and sang with him, helped him with his letters, and just comforted him. I still have that sweet image in my mind and even though I dropped the ball on checking on my children, I am grateful for that time a great grandson and great grandmother had together.



Last night I had the pleasure of visiting with this same grandmother who now resides in a assisted living home and is about to turn 100 years old in December. She grows a little more frail each time I see her, but she is still doing amazingly well and she still has her mind and can recall many things from her past and she still knows much of the present. Each time I go visit her and see her old body I am afraid she will not know me (seeing as I have only been a part of the family for 10 years), but each time I tell her who I am (she is legally blind) I see instant recognition on her face. Last night was a sweet visit. Usually she tells me of her health ailments and personal worries but this time she focused solely on me and my little family. She remembered when Mark and I met and said how grateful she was that he was able to find me and how good we are for each other. She told me I was a wonderful mother and was very proud of how Mark and I are trying to live our lives and raise our children. She told me it is what every parent wishes for their child. I was deeply touched. I know I need to be better about visiting her and taking better care of her. It was easier when I lived with her and when I had less children, but I am just making excuses. I know I can be better. She still continues to be such a great example in living the teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Mark has been responsible of her finances as his parents are on a mission, and just last night when I saw her the first thing she asked me was if Mark was still paying her tithing and if it was up to date. I assured her he is and it was.



In December many of grandma's children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren are getting ready to celebrate her 100 years on this earth. We are making a scrapbook for her with 100 reasons why we all love her. I will of course dedicate a blog post to her on that day.



Seeing how full of life Mark's grandmother is, makes me think about my own grandparents. One of my grandmothers is very much like Mark's grandmother, although about 10 years younger. She is a faithful, wonderful woman as well, and I'm sad I don't get to spend as much time with her. My other grandparents have been stricken with dementia in their old age. When they see me there is no recognition which makes me very sad because I have such wonderful memories of them being amazing grandparents when I was younger. It's unfair why some lose their memories and some do not. But I am grateful for all of the older people in my life. Even in my ward and neighborhood I have the opportunity to be around such amazing people. The older I get, the more I realize how age is relative and people are still people regardless of how old or young their bodies are. For most people, great wisdom comes with age. Like I said earlier, the younger generations can learn so much from that wisdom. I love learning that wisdom and I hope I am applying some of that wisdom to my life and to my children's lives so it can help us in the future. And I hope that one day I will be able to pass down some of that wisdom to my own grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Andrew

I haven't done one of these in a while and I don't want to forget the cute things he has said.

This conversation took place a few weeks ago on one of our Sunday walks to the park.
Andrew: Mom, we are so fast. We are so much faster than James and Dad (I am pushing Caleb in the stroller).
Me: You are right. We are fast. James and dad are slow pokes.
Andrew: Yes, and we are fast-pokes.

This converstation took place a few months ago and was with Andrew's Grandma (my mom).

Andrew and Grandma are channel surfing early in the morning (probably trying to find PBS)
Grandma turns to one of the spanish speaking channels.
Grandma: These people are speaking spanish. Andrew, do you know that your dad speaks Portuguese?
Andrew: (thinks about this information for a minutes)....Yes, because he has braces!

There you have it folks. If you want to speak Portuguese, go get yourself some braces!

Labor Day Weekend in Strawberry!

Thanks to my sister in-law, we had a fabulous labor day weekend! All of us (minus my sis in NYC...we missed you!!) went up to her father's cabin. We did some fishing, eating, hiking, eating, game playing, movie watching, and oh yes, more eating!! My little familiy didn't have much luck in the fishing department, but they sure had fun trying.

Andrew and his gun, I mean stick!

Three cute boys

Don't worry, Caleb only went on a very short and slow ride. Then Melissa and I went out on our own and got in trouble for going too fast. :(

Father and son fishing

Zach caught a fish!!!

Enjoying some ribs!

Fresh trout....yum

All the older kids enjoying their meals

The younger kids

The "tough" guys

Heidi, Melissa, and Anji

Me and my sweetie

Grillin' up some fish