Tuesday, December 30, 2008
He is such a sweet little boy. He loves spending time with "just us" as he calls it when all the kids are in school. He helps me do the dishes and will randomly bring me a Coke in the middle of the day. He says the cutest things all day, every day. I'm so lucky to have such a beautiful spirit as my son.
We take the kids to Toys r Us to pick out 1 birthday present. There was so many choices poor Carson had a bit of a hard time.
We were there for over an hour for 1 toys. He was in awe of all the toys.
Here is his final choice (at least that mom and dad aproved of. He really wanted Thomas the Train)
Toys R Us gives them a balloon and announces over the speaker that it's his birthday. All the workers will stop them and wish them a happy birthday. It makes them feel so special.
Here is Carson at the Cake Cake Factory where his favorite Aunt Stacie works.
To finish off the day we met some of his favorite people at Leatherbyes for ice cream. He asked for a suitcase that he can take on trips.
Carson order this strawberry sundae all by his big boy self.
But when the waiter brought a little cup of ice cream with a candle in it and sang to him, he would only eat that.
Here's Grandma Pam, Stacie and Chris, Dale, Tabitha and Lincoln, and Easton and Avery
Christmas with the Rex's
Carson somehow got his head stuck inside this wrapping paper. He was so funny all day.
Here's Halle in her brilliant Christmas smile. Notice Carson laying on the floor. At this point he had thrown himself on the floor and cried out, "I give UP! I don't neeeed anymore toys!" He wanted to open each presant wrapping paper, box and all and start playing right then. It was so cute.
Here's all the kids and they're stockings.
We made another ginger bread house curtesie of the Gray's. So, in their honor they decorated it like the grays house. From the big red U, to the hot tub in the back
Notice the blue hot tub in the back.
Twister anyone???
Carson added a new level of difficulty to Twister. He would either jump on my back or come around and push everyone down.
Here's my neighbor gift. I'm not trying to brag, but I wanted Brenda to see how cute her little box's worked.
For my mother in law's Christmas present. The entire family went in and did a room make over, Extreme Make Over style. She had a substitute job that day and we showed up minutes after she pulled out of the drive way. Mikki, Jenny and myself, battle little kids touching wet walls, lamps exploding, and the ever encroching deadline. We were able to get it all done and cleaned up with about 15 minutes to spare. I think Pam really enjoyed having her own little oasis.
This beautiful saying, was meant to give her courage to make it through her daily challeges. The picture is called, "Let your light so shine."
New Christmas Eve Tradition
So, on Christmas Eve we went to one of my favorite restaurant, Rodizio's. Our reservation was for 5:00. We were back to our house by 6:30. Yes, ladies, 1 1/2 hours to be seated, eat until we were about to pop, loaded back into the car and home. No dishes, no burnt anything, no "I don't like that".
It was so much fun. We all got dressed up in our Christmas best. We invited my mother and brother in-laws, and had a great family dinner. Will we do it again? 100% YES!
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Finally a PTA mom
Well, I pulled some strings, used up my last favor for the year, and with the help of a little pixie dust, I managed to escort Easton and 26 of his class mates on a fieldtrip.
We spent the day downtown at the Gateway mall. Walking between the trax station, Clark Planitarium and the food court in the snow. The weather was nasty when we left. I would say with wind chill it had to be 10 degrees, it was FREEZING! It calmed down on the ride downtown and stayed mild until our way home, when it started dumping snow again.
This morning we were discussing the kids in his class and if they had fun. Easton said something silly about himself and I said, "You're such a dork," He responded with a straight face, "We like to call ourselves Genius's." I laughed till I peed.
Here are some fun pictures of the dorks, I'm mean genius'
Here's the entire clan, on the vacation to mars.
Here's Easton seeing if Neil Armstrong measures up to him.
Here are the girls getting a great tan on Mars
Halle's Winter Program
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Christams Dolls
Elf's little brother
The meanest nija in the world
He then preceeds to have Tabita kick the trash out of all the other nijas. It was so cute.
***Tabby, this was a term of endearment. It's cool to be able to kick everyones trash!****
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam
The primary is getting the new sunbeams ready to be in primary, by taking them to singing time. Last week Carson wanted nothing to do with it. So, this week I walked with him. He walked in like he owed the place. He spotted Halle on the front row and ran to sit with her. When there wasn't an open seat, he hopped up on her lap. It was the sweetest thing.
They sat there like that the entire time. Both of them sang Christmas songs and did the actions that went along with them. It was so cute I could have cried.
Just one last first that I'll have with my babies.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Black Friday
Later Tabby and Dale joined us for a movie. We brought in the Christmas season with "4 Christmas" I would recommend this to everyone. Simply hilarious!
I went to bed at eleven and was back up at 3:30. My sisters Stacie and Stefanie, and Tabby all met at Target at 4:00 am. It was raining when we left the house but stopped shortly after getting in line. It wasn't even that cold. We've suffered through worse. We got door busters at Target, Old Navy, Home Depot, and Walmart. Then we hit Bed, Bath and Beyond. Next it was a pit stop at Midvale Mining Co for breakfast. Then we stopped my the beauty supply shop, back to Target and then Inkleys. We were home by 11:30. My van was full to the top. Tabby was in the back and barely had room to sit.
JD went to work and I took a power nap from 4-5. Then it was off to the mall. I found great deals at Gymboree, Victoria's secret, and Bath and Body Works. Toys R Us looked as though a bomb went off in it. I walked in and went straight back out. It was a great day. I only have a few gifts left to buy.
On a side note. Every Saturday after black Friday, I have people come up to me and say, "Oh, I wish I would have come." Here's a tip: It never sounds like a good idea to get up at 3:30 am and stand in line at some store; but once you're eating breakfast with girlfriends at 9:00 am knowing that most of your shopping is done and you've saved over 250.00 (and that's a small figure) it is all worth it,and you'll actually say it was fun.
My sister goes with me every year, and every year I have to talk her into it. This year her boyfriend had to shove her out the door. But at breakfast she was smiling ear to ear about the purchases she'd made.
I have an open invitation to shop with me, but I always start at Target.
Merry Christmas
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
I’m thankful for….
Here's a list of little things that I've been jotting down that I'm thankful for, or at least simple things that make me happy. Things that can make me smile during a ordinary, stressful day. I love my husband and children. They are always at the top of my list, but these are things that are a reminder that simple things can make a big difference.
- New non-stick pans
- Christmas music
- Clean floors
- Fresh sheets
- Carmel apples
- A not quite frozen Coke
- A good book
- Hand-me-downs
- Fresh flowers
- Long conversations with good friends
- Cooking
- Watching my children dance
- Tacky decorations
- Blankets on a cold night
- Summer nights
Sunday, November 23, 2008
To the women in my life
I have also learned that each one of us is usually pretty good if not great at doing at least one of these things. For myself I believe that I'm pretty good at doing activities with my kids, (when none of the other stuff gets in the way.) Although I'm a horrible housekeeper, as anyone who has showed up at my house unannounced can attest to. But that's the point, I'm so busy trying to be good at all of those things I'm not being great at the one thing which I know I am. And the end result is that I do everything sub par.
So, back to the conversations. One subject was brought up. If Christ were to walk in my house right now, what would he think???? Is cleanliness close to godliness, or would he rather see 4 happy children making handprint turkeys and a cluttery, toy strewn house? I don't pretend to know the answers to these questions, but in preparing for my young women's lesson on change, I found these quotes from President Monson from a talk given during last October's conference, it's entitled "Finding Joy in the Journey."
-If you are still in the process of raising children, be aware that the tiny fingerprints that show up on almost every newly cleaned surface, the toys scattered about the house, the piles and piles of laundry to be tackled will disappear all too soon and that you will—to your surprise—miss them profoundly.
-Day by day, minute by minute, second by second we went from where we were to where we are now. The lives of all of us, of course, go through similar alterations and changes. The difference between the changes in my life and the changes in yours is only in the details. Time never stands still; it must steadily march on, and with the marching come the changes.
-“When I was around thirteen and my brother ten, Father had promised to take us to the circus. But at lunchtime there was a phone call; some urgent business required his attention downtown. We braced ourselves for disappointment. Then we heard him say [into the phone], ‘No, I won’t be down. It’ll have to wait.’
“When he came back to the table, Mother smiled. ‘The circus keeps coming back, you know,’ [she said.]
“‘I know,’ said Father. ‘But childhood doesn’t.’”2
-Let us relish life as we live it, find joy in the journey, and share our love with friends and family. One day each of us will run out of tomorrows.
-Said one well-known author: “Both abundance and lack [of abundance] exist simultaneously in our lives, as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend . . . when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that’s present—love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature, and personal pursuits that bring us [happiness]—the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience heaven on earth.”6
I love these quotes. Pres. Monson tells us to rejoice in the mess for one day they will be gone and we'll miss them. Childhood is only a blink of time in our lives. All too soon the messy little children will be grown up and gone. I know that I have to teach my children the lesson of a clean house, so they have chores and I'll keep trying to keep the house a managle mess. But as the prophet says they will be grown and gone all too soon, and when they are, I want them to look back on their childhood and remember those handprint turkeys, the paper plate spiders, home made pinata's, the wrestling matches, the times we made meals together and they spilled the whole thing on the floor or got eggs in the batter and mom laughed.
I would never judge another woman in the raising of their children. It is the hardest job on this earth. God gave women the ability to bare his spirit children and to care for them. To teach them and love them. It's my hope that we can all concentrate on the things we are great at, but keep working on the things where we struggle and that we can help each other in areas where one is more accomplished than another. And by doing that we may all be able to enjoy our little ones a little more.
I love all the women in my life. You each teach me something. You are all great at something and I love learning from you. I hope I offer something in return. Here's a pat on the back for being wonderful women, wives and mothers. Keep up the good work.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Utah 48 BYU 24, BCS anyone?
New Years in Pheonix anyone, email me, we'll talk.
GO UTES!
A beautiful site
JD and Easton were in heaven watching the Utes beat up on the Coug's
Nice pants J, are you the 8 year old?
Easton is reinacting Brian Johnson's kneeling on the field after the game.
I don't normally aprove of exploiting children...but come on, these are funny.
Sorry Dale and Tabitha
Easton with Alex Smith '04 team
Easton getting some football lovin from Bryce McCain
Rice, get it "Rice" eccles stadium
Paul Kruger didn't know he was posing for this one.