December Re-Cap Part 1

Well, I decided to re-visit the last couple of weeks in December in parts mostly because it was CRAZY busy . . . and I have a TON of pictures to go through (I literally took over 500 pictures!~~ crazy, uh?). . . and if I sit at the computer all day, my house will be destroyed.

So, here's a re-cap of December little by little...

Thursday, December 18

Temple Square with our buddies, The Breadys!!!

Seriously, I think they are some of the best friends & neighbors ever!

This picture is missing David. . . I don't know where he went - but I think Alex is about to join him! The kids were pretty sick of pictures by this point. They just wanted to play on the ice. Can you blame them?

Gingerbread House Night

First I need to preface our gingerbread house decorating night by saying

THANK YOU

to GRAMMY and GRANDAD

for sending us the supplies

(candy of all sorts, powdered sugar and even a recipe for the frosting) to make

gingerbread houses!

They sent each of the girls a small wooden birdhouse to use as the base for their gingerbread house. This was GENIOUS!!!

We didn't have to fight to keep the walls from falling down and when the Christmas season is over, you just scrape all the frosting and candy off & pack 'em up till next year!

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Mom, for making my life just that much easier!!! :)

WE LOVE YOU & MISS YOU A LOT!!!

Next, I need to say thank you to my wonderful mom and sister !!! Monday was a bad day for me as I was feeling sick, AGAIN . . . so Lisa came out to my house (a 45-minute drive), got Syd & Taylor dressed and ready for the day and then took them back to Salt Lake with her for the day. They spent the day shopping, watching movies and napping at Grandmas' house - I'm sure being spoiled the whole time, too!

In the meantime, I popped some benadryl in my mouth so I could actually get some rest, and took a nice long quiet nap!!!

Later that evening, Lisa returned with the girls, Casey, my mom & dad, and our cute friends Erin & Jared to make gingerbread houses. Mom stepped right in and got the frosting made and everyone else helped get the girls going on their houses. That, my friends, is why

I LOVE MY FAMILY!

They are always willing, at a moments' notice to step in & help!

I love that we are such good friends and love being together so much...

We missed having the boys there, (but know that they are where they should be) and also missed having Bryan & Jessica there, but they were in Salt Lake celebrating their anniversary --(ALSO, where they should have been! :)

Now to the frosting and candy everywhere . . . and trust me, it was EVERYWHERE!!!

Here are a lot of pictures. . . BUT, this blog is for posterity, so I figure they won't mind a bit.

Syd and Kylie constructing their houses and concentrating very hard.

This is my sister, Lisa with Sydney. You can see where Syd gets her photogenic talents!

They look like twins to me in this picture.

My beautiful mom, Taylor and Casey (with Dad in the background)

Erin, Jared and little bunny Kylie

The FINISHED Products!

A close-up of the house built by Taylor. Grammy, I was specifically told to tell that this is the house at the NORTH POLE! Notice to the left of the house the actual POLE, complete with shiny gold ball on top... just like in the movies. Pretty creative, uh? She also tiled the roof very methodically and outlined it with the little m&m's you sent. (I think this picture must have been taken a few minutes after she finished it because I just noticed some of the m&ms are missing!!!)

Kylie's house. Slap those gummy bears on that roof and cram as many as you can on there!

I LOVE her little flagstone sidewalk!!

This is a picture of Kylie that she had me take of her missing you! So sweet! They really do miss you! I'm not just saying it! (Notice the candy coming out of the opening in the birdhouse... she crammed it as FULL as she could get it with all the left-overs!)

This is pretty much what Syd did ALL night long.

For those of you that don't know, she is a pure SUGAR-HOLIC!

Thanks again, Grammy & Grandad!!! We Love You and Miss You!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Time to catch up!

First on the agenda:

For Grandmas' Sake . . .

So last week my mom & dad went shopping in Park City and found THE cutest dresses

for the girls. (The pictures really don't do them justice!)

Well, it occurred to me yesterday AFTER church AND lunch (Syd has ketchup on her shirt) that I should take pictures so Grandma could see how stinkin' adorable they looked...

Our Little Christmas Angels

Next up:
Christmas Decorations...

One day a while ago, I was flipping through a Pottery Barn catalog and saw these pictures:

I instantly fell in love with all of it and quickly did the math in my head:

Wreath: $99

+

Garland:$144 for two (yes, 144 #!&* dollars)
=
YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING!

So, I headed down to my friendly Tooele Wal*Mart and although it pales in comparison to the PB version, here are some pictures of my $40 (TOTAL) wreath AND garland!!! (Which I happen to be mildly proud of... and yes, in case you really care, the garland goes to the ground.)

Family Pictures

At the beginning of November, we had some family pictures taken by AK Studio & Design. The photographer, Abbey, was great. She met us at Wheeler Farm and got some great shots of our beautiful girls and a good one of the family that will be used for Christmas Cards.

I've got a lot more pictures and stories to share, but they'll have to wait till tomorrow....

Tonight we're making GINGERBREAD Houses for Family Home Evening-

so Grammy & Grandad, stay tuned for pictures!! The girls are so excited to

make their houses with the stuff you sent for them!

Single Word Tag

You can only type ONE Word! Not as easy as you might think. Change the answers to suit you and pass it on. It's really hard to only use one word answers.

1. Where is your cell phone? Desk
2. Where is your significant other? Eating
3. Your hair? Ponytail
4. Your mother? Angel
5. Your father? Birthday
6. Your favorite thing? Family
7. Your dream last night? Odd
8. Your favorite drink? Milk
9. Your dream/goal? -35
10. The room you're in? Messy
11. Your hobby? Innumerable
12. Your fear? Cockroaches
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Home
14. Where were you last night? Restaurant
15. What you're not? Anorexic
16. Muffins? Chocolate
17. One of your wish list items? Hawaii
18. Where you grew up? Sandy
19. The last thing you did? Eat
20. What are you wearing? Pajamas
21. Your TV? Off
22. Your pets? Evil
23. Your computer? Slow
24. Your life? Blessed
25. Your mood? Placid
26. Missing someone? Always
27. Your car? Van
28. Something you're not wearing? Makeup
29. Favorite store? Target
30. Your summer? Short
31. Like someone? Immensely
32. Your favorite color? Red
33. When is the last time you laughed? Yesterday
34. Who will retake this? Sister

I'm with Becky: If you're reading this, then you've been tagged!
(And yes, I did use a thesaurus! I don't regularly use the word "placid.")

Prayer, fasting and one year later . . .

Chad says his prayers and fasting have finally paid off.

I, on the other hand, am way more than extremely DEVASTATED!!!

When I found out, I cried. OK, not really. My eyes just teared up a little.

Here's what happened: One year ago, I purchased two tickets to

Celine Dion's Taking Chances World Tour Concert.

I have always been a Celine fan. I even bought one of her Cd's while I was in Paris more than ten years ago. Of course the entire thing was in French, but that didn't matter. It was Celine singing in French. It's beautiful! I really wanted to go see her in Las Vegas, but time, money, etc... just never allowed me the chance.

So, of course, when I found out she was coming to SALT LAKE on November 21st (this Friday), I absolutely jumped on the chance and bought tickets THE VERY DAY they went on sale.

Then, this morning, I get a phone call from my dad. He was reading the paper and came across this announcement:
Celine Dion forced to postpone concert
Published: November 15, 2008
The Celine Dion concert scheduled for Friday at the EnergySolutions Arena has been postponed due to the singer's illness.
The rescheduled concert will take place at the arena on Sunday, Feb. 22, 2009. Tickets purchased for Friday's concert will be honored in February.
Those who want refunds can obtain them at the point of purchase.
Dion is recuperating from a recurrent nasopharyngeal infection and inflamed vocal chords.

For those of you actually paying attention to my ranting, not only has the concert been postpone three months from now, it's on a S U N D A Y.
I have been taught since birth to honor, respect and reverence the Sabbath Day.
And, I know that my relationship with God is way more important than a Celine Dion concert.
But really?!?!?!?!?!

Life can be SO not fair!

(You can call me a two-year old if you want to! I don't care.)

So, if anyone out there in blogger land CAN go to a fabulous concert in
February 2009,
on a Sunday,

please let me know.

I will sell you my tickets.
If not, I guess I'm heading to the ticket office for a refund.

However, this battle is NOT over. I will see Celine Dion in concert one day!!!

"A stone cut out of a mountain" . . .

So the events of the last few weeks have caused me to do some thinking (ouch!) about the world & our nation, religion & politics, faith & obedience, family & God's laws, and so much more...

Maybe I am naive, but I'm not afraid.

Yes, there are many sad, terrible and tragic things happening all around us. Natural disasters abound, the economy is unsteady, and the family is under attack. ("The family is ordained of GOD. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan." -- see The Family: A Proclamation to the World)

Yes, I worry and pray daily for my beautiful girls that they can be safe, make right choices, do good things and be good people.

Yes, I realize that Satan is casting his incredibly powerful influence over the earth and none of us are immune to that power -- which includes jealousy, hatred, discrimination, dishonesty and a whole slew of other horrible traits.

Yet despite all of this, I'm not afraid.
Know why?

I have faith in God and His plan for all of us. We are all His children and He truly loves all of us. Faith gives me the strength to obey His laws and move forward. Many times I do things out of complete blind faith -- knowing not why I am doing something other than the reason that I have been promised I would be blessed if I would obey.

As I was thinking about all of this today, a scripture came to mind: Doctrine and Covenants Section 65:2 "The keys of the kingdom of God are committed unto man on the earth, and from thence shall the gospel roll forth unto the ends of the earth, as the stone which is cut out of the mountain without hands shall roll forth, until it has filled the whole earth."

Do you know why I'm not afraid? Because I KNOW this is true. The gospel will indeed roll forth until it has filled the whole earth. My two little brothers are part of the fulfillment of this prophecy RIGHT NOW. They are far from our family taking the gospel to parts of the earth. As I obey and prepare as we have been counseled to do, I need not fear -- for "if ye are prepared, ye shall not fear" (D&C 38:30)

The Gospel of Jesus Christ stands firm in these days of confusion, chaos and contention. The one constant I have in my life in the middle of "CHANGE" is God's firm, UNchanging laws.

And for those unchanging laws, I am grateful.

100 Things

Things I Learned About Myself
I copied this off of a friends' blog. (Thanks, Julie!) It was so fun to read about her and all the things she has done, it made me want to remember all the things I've done in my life -- especially so I can remember to be so grateful to have been blessed with so many simple opportunities to enjoy living my life! And, so I can have a list of things I still need/want to do!

To participate just copy and paste in your own blog, and bold all of the things you have done.
Happy discoveries!

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language (does speaking fluent "infant and toddler" count??)
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp (Where I went was a memorial for those who suffered in a concentration camp. It was absolutely one of the most heart-wrenching, humbling, spiritual places I have ever been)
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter (I overcame a HUGE fear to do this!!)
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar (NEVER, ever will I do this!!)
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
It seems like there should be one thing on this list to make an even "100", so I'll add another (which I can't take credit for -- thanks to the movie "The Bucket List")
100. Found true JOY in your life

October is gone already!

This year for Halloween we had an ER doc, Alice in Wonderland

& a little white rabbit.

(A lost costume and some cold weather required a last minute change from a princess and a fairy to Alice and the rabbit!! Thank heavens for hand-me-downs!!)

More Pictures

Last week I took the girls to the Benson Grist Mill to have their pictures taken by our friend, Keli. She is a FABULOUS photographer! I love the pictures she took of the girls! Taylor was feeling a little mellow that day and went for the more serious look, but even those turned out so cute! If you are looking for a good photographer, please call her! Her website is http://kelibphotography.blogspot.com

Thanks again, Keli! We'll be calling soon to have you do some family pics!

Friday night

I went on a date Friday night!!!

(And it didn't include grocery shopping!)
This is what he brought me when he came home from work to pick me up:

Don't I have the sweetest hubby ever??? We went with some of our very good friends, the Holbrooks, to eat at the Olive Garden and then went out for some dessert.

An absolutely wonderful evening!! Thanks for the roses, honey!

I wuv you!

Pictures

I found a few (ok, more than just a few) cute pictures on my computer that I thought I'd put up today just for fun... I love looking back at my little angels and seeing how they've grown and changed -- time goes by way too fast!Kylie (May 2006)
Sydney (1 month old 5/2006)Taylor (May 2006)
Kylie & Taylor (2006)
Sydney (Dec. 2006)

Kylie (March 2004) KylieTaylorTaylor The girls (Christmas 2006)
Kylie (Fall 2007)