The Halls are Decked

This past week we have been very busy getting ready for Christmas. The halls are decked, and I've been adding a few new little things this year. One of my favorites is floating ornaments..I got the idea from someone else and thought it would be fun. So they are hanging over our island in the Kitchen. And I plan on changing it each season/holiday so check back to see what will be next.

I have also been busy making homemade candies. This is something my family does every year, we usually do it altogether but I had to work the day they did it so I just did it on my own. I had my nieces over last week and they had a great time helping with it. They also helped me make tags to go on the gifts. I added a new favorite this year called pretzel hugs. I posted it on the recipe blog you can check it out, I did Christmas M&M's this time. These are the little gifts boxes I filled with the homemade candy.

Not to mention the annual Christmas cards I send out. I know these probably aren't that important since most of the people we give them to we see quiet often. But I enjoy doing it and being able to look back each year and see what we did. This year I attempted to make digital cards (with the help of Gina) it was a lot harder than I thought. I'm not that savvy at photoshop yet, but I like how they turned out.

Well in the last week I was able to accomplish all the shopping, baking, mailing, and wrapping that I had to do and now I can just sit back and enjoy the season. I have also finished Birthday shopping for both my hubby and Tyler whose birthdays are the week after Christmas. Well I do still have to help my mom wrap, I am one of those weird people that really enjoys wrapping, and I don't have that much myself so I help her every year. I am also weird in the fact that I have to have matching wrapping paper and bows for that year. So this year you can see the colors below.

My sweet husband surprised me and bought tickets to The Forgotten Carols, which I am absolutely in love with. I have never seen it, but I could listen to the CD year round. It was so good and I loved it. We have attended two Christmas parties already and they both have been really fun. We had a big family party for my mom's side with games, and a pinata for the kids. And we had a surprise visit from Santa, which surprisingly Tyler was very upset about. He has been talking about Christmas and Santa for at least a month, but once he seen him forget it he wanted nothing to do with it. Oh well maybe next year. We also did a Sub for Santa and we brought all the gifts to the party. I took Tyler shopping with me and explained to him why we were buying gifts for other people. Hopefully he understood it somewhat. Then this past Friday we went to my Work Christmas party at the Little America. (pic below) I always love going to this because it's the one time a year we get to dress up nice and go to dinner, and the best part is we don't even have to pay for it, and the food is delicious. It's just a nice relaxing evening with no kids, and I always look forward to it.

Hope you are all enjoying this Christmas season as well.

Grateful for the SEASON!

I absolutely LOVE this time of year. It forces me to recognize all the things I have to be grateful for, I wish that I was aware of it more often. But these are just of few things I was thinking of today.

Thanksgiving..I know it usually gets skipped over. It seems we are all in a rush for Christmas to come. But I am glad we take the time to enjoy a day with our family. This year we were with Kevin's family, and we had so much fun.

Family...I don't know what I would do without them. It's like the old saying "You can't live with them, you can't live without them." It's so true, but I love them all. I'm glad they listen to me complain, and they are always willing to take care of my little man.

My Husband...He works so hard for us, and he hasn't had a lot of time over the past few years with every going on in his life. But he keeps going and for that I am grateful. I love him so much, and I can't imagine life without him.

My Little Boy...He is my everything I spend more time with him than anybody else, and although some days that makes me crazy. I am so grateful that I have all this one on one time with him, and I hope some day he will look back and remember it, and be glad. I know I'm not always the best at being a mom, but I'm glad I have the opportunity that I can improve.

My Savior...I know we tend to think of Christ more this time of year, but during this time in my life I need every reminder I can get to think of the wonderful blessings I have because of him. I have made it a goal lately that if ever I am down, I try to turn my mind and heart to the spirit. It doesn't usually take away the problem, but it helps me gain a different perspective and have peace. I am so blessed to know I have a Father in Heaven who is mindful of me, and that I have a wonderful brother who suffered for my sins so I would not have to.

The Temple...We went to temple square the other night to look at the lights, and I couldn't help but think how blessed we are to have all these beautiful temples so close by. I know I don't get there as often as I would like, but I love the spirit it brings just being on the temple grounds even when you can't make it inside.

Christmas...I love the music (I have been listening to it since before thanksgiving). The spirit of giving..my family does a sub for Santa every year, and this year Ty is old enough that we can actually explains to him that we are buying clothes for other little children that don't have as many as we do. And it makes me feel so good inside to know that we are helping others, and that I can show that to him so he understands. And especially the reason for the season..CHRIST, also this year we are trying to get Tyler to understand more why we celebrate Christmas, I figure if he can understand about Santa, he needs to know about the birth of our Savior.

Trials

Search diligently, pray always, and be believing, and all things

shall work together for your good, if ye walk uprightly and

remember the covenant wherewith ye have covenanted one

with another. --D&C 90:24

Life can hand you some pretty interesting things when you least expect it. I was just thinking the other day that things are finally starting to settle down for us. We moved into our new house and it's finally becoming a home. Kevin got a promotion at work that he has been trying to get for awhile, and we were feeling good about things. Then all the sudden something happens that changes your perspective in life. Naturally when challenges come our way we tend to go to our Heavenly Father for help, we try to be a better person and we commit to making changes that we know we already should be doing.

I recently read a talk by Elder Quentin L. Cook Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles "Hope Ya Know, We Had a Hard Time".

As I read the title I new that immediately this applied to me. We all experience difficult things in life, and it's okay to go to the Lord and tell him "Hope ya know I'm having a hard time." I know that he cares about me and that he will see me through this hardship that I am facing, even though right now it feels like my whole world has come crashing down. A quote in this talk gave me some comfort...


“My son (daughter), peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high.”

I won't go into details of what happened, but I will say that this is one of the most difficult things I have had to face. I am on an emotional roller coaster..some days are good some days are bad. But I am comforted in knowing that I have a wonderful family and husband that cares about me and that they are there for me day and night. I have a good friend who has also been there for me, and I can't even tell her how much her friendship means to me. Life is challenging and stressful and even disappointing at times. But we must not give up we must press onward and make the best of what we have. We are often reminded that when we are struggling and when it's most difficult for us..is when we should be serving others.

President Thomas S Monson said.
“Find someone who is having a hard time, … and do something for them.”

We don't always know when other people are struggling and most likely we never will, but if we remember to be a friend..always, then we won't have regrets as to if we weren't there for someone when they might have needed us the most. This is a reminder to myself that I need to do better, and like I said most often we have to go through trials to remind us of these things. But there is a reason for all things and the Lord wants us to grow and to learn from these trials, and I hope that, that is exactly what I can do.

President Hinckley Stand A Little Taller:

Reach Beyond yourself (November 10)

And also, ye yourselves will succor those that stand in need of your succor; ye will administer of your substance unto him that standeth in need; and ye will not suffer that the beggar putteth up his petition to you in vain, and turn him out to perish. --Mosiah 4:16

October Fun

Besides getting our own individual family Pics..Kev's family decided it was time to get family pictures of the whole clan. Mind you this consist of about 27 people and 13 of them are children, so just picture this as you are looking at these. We went to Memory Grove behind the capitol. It was a beautiful day and the fall colors were gorgeous. I don't have one of the whole group yet these are just ones that I have taken. I also didn't get every family sorry Kris and Devin. We were not that happy with the photographer so I'm sure we will be redoing these in another few years. Oh well this is our family now.

We have been super busy this fall with moving and trying to get settled..but we did manage to get down to Gardner Village. Everybody is always talking about it and I thought Tyler might enjoy it. So last Monday we made the trek with my Aunt (who is also one of my good friends). We had a lot of fun..who would've thought, but Tyler loved the witches and all the pumpkins. We also went on a pony ride he thought that was pretty cool too. So everybody had the same idea we had because it was absolutely packed, but the kids still enjoyed themselves.

We Also managed to make it over the ward Halloween party for a few minutes. So needless to say Tyler wasn't dressed up since we came straight from family pics, but him and princess Aria still had fun. We were super busy that day, but we wanted to support the new Activities Committee since we've been there done that. And they did an awesome job, especially on such short notice.

This pic is for black mail later in life..aren't they so cute though

Our Family Photos

2008 Family Photos

On September 29, 2008 we went to Wheeler Farm, and had our family Pictures taken. We had so much fun, and our photographer did an awesome job. Thanks Melissa, if you are interested you can check her out here. Tyler was so energetic and loved looking at the animals and the various things that were going on. I'm so glad we did these photos, I can't wait to put them up in our home. And even though Kev wasn't too excited to take family photos, I think he is very happy with how they turned out. We also did some individual shots of Ty for his 3 year, which is coming up soon. I can't even believe it.

We've Moved

Our new address:

176 Boston Court

Phone 296-1619

I know can you believe the snow! Well anyway feel free to stop by anytime to see us. We are still a mess but it's coming along. And can I just say I love how much storage space I have!