Some of my favorites!

I thought it would be fun to list some of my favorites about Christmas time so here it goes:

Treats inculde: toffee, peanut brittle, gingerbread (anykind), Egg Nog (mixed with half milk), peanut clusters, Andes Mints, and pretty much just about anything.

Movies: White Christmas is at the top, Muppet's Christmas Carol, Mr. Kruegar's, The Santa Claus (1), Home Alone, Elf, and of course Miracle of 34th Street.

Activities: I love to see all the fun lights, make gingerbread or graham cracker houses. I like to decorate my own, ALONE! Caroling on the hay wagon (oh the days with Grandpa Vern), putting up my Nativities, getting Christmas cards, and seeing my mom's decorated house.

Traditions: Cream cheese croissants and oj Christmas morning, unless we are with the Ross' then it is Mtn. Man breakfast (yum yum). Reading the Christmas story. Trying to see the lights at Temple Square. We have been gone for a few years so hopefully this year. New Traditions are fun too hopefully we will make some of our own with the kids. I heard a fun one; when going around to see the lights, let the kids judge which house they like best and then leave that house a treat and Congrats for winning our "best lights" award.

Music: I am tard because I don't know how to put music on my blog but some of my favorites are Bing Crosby, Kenny and Dolly's Christmas, Cindy Lou singing "Where are you Christmas" (and any other version), Voicemale, MoTab, and singing at Sacrament.
Specific songs: "White Christmas", "Mary did you know", "We Three kings", "Away in a Manger", "It came Upon a Midnight Clear", and "Christmas Bells".

I love the giving and I must say I like the getting too (who doesn't), but the giving outways the getting by far. I have really wanted to find someone to be of service to this year. HOpefully I can and try to involve the kids as well. There are so many fun magical things to do with the kids around this time of year that teaches them so much good!! Now if I just really TRY! Well this post is all about me, sorry but it has been fun to sit and think about Christmas. As I am thinking I remembered that this month's Ensign it AWESOME! Every single story touched me so much, and almost all of them made me cry. I don't like to admit that but they were so neat! Read it if you haven't. We are so lucky to have the knowledge of our Savior Jesus Christ and the words of a wonderful Prophet and Apostles.

So as I say adue I do so with the words of Ebeneezer Scrooge "BAH HUMBUG" hee hee Just kidding how about "I will honor Christmas today, forever and always".

Thanksgiving 2008!

Okay so I don't have many pics of Thanksgiving, I know lazy me, but for a little small excuse I was sick most of the weekend, and another little excuse is that the Ross' are actually really hard to take pictures of. I am crazy and like to make faces or smile when the camera is pointing at me and I guess I am like that because I want my kids to be like that. I want them to remember me and have pics to look at my face, not the back of my head. Also for some reason it is just hard to get my camera out. Sorry Ross' I will try harder to take better and more pics at our events, so be prepared and be happy about it! Hee Hee, that is all meant in the nicest way! Thanks Cheri for sending some other pics.
So on to the weekend. It was full of food, shopping, movies and games. The biggest down side is that we didn't actually spend a lot of time all together as a family. Cheri and Brett had Thanksgiving dinner at their home, thanks guys, and it was wonderful. We ate, talked and let the kids run around after Brooks (brad and Jen's dog) they had a blast. On Friday, Audrey, Cori and I did some early shopping. Audrey and Cori were newbies to black friday, but they did very well, but I don't think they will ever go again. I wasn't going for big ticket items, but got some good deals on movies. I went to Joann's twice without success, the lines were just too long. After a big morning of shopping and a little nap, Audrey, Jen, Cheri and I went to see Twilight. I have read the books once and if I ever have time will probly read them again. I thought the movie was good, not great, but okay. Saturday we looked at houses that Dave and Audrey are interested in, we will not go further into that except they didn't get the one they wanted. We are all so bummed and will remember them in our prayers. Then that night Jason,Cori, Dave, Audrey, josh and I played "80's Trivial Pursuit"! I WON, now I have to give some credit to my partner, Dave, but I say "I" because he ditched me and went to bed. So I think it is very funny that I being born in the 80's won against others who are well, umm, OLDER!! Ha Ha! Sunday we packed up and went home!

Okay well that was long and probably really boring for anyone who is not me animating my sentences with correct grammar in my head, sorry!

Here is an I'm Thankful for list:
My family, the opportunity that I have to be a mom and to have 3 wonderful healthy kids. For Josh and his hard work to support our family. His humor, unless it is directed at me! I am thankful for a beautiful home and a good start on my food storage. I am grateful for forever friends and the experiences I have had in my life being away from home and needing to find great friends. I am thankful for food to eat and warm blankets to cover me and my children at night. I am grateful for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I would not have any direction or meaning to my life without the gospel and the knowledge of my Savior Jesus Christ. I am grateful for a Prophet who lives today and the rest of the 12 Apostles. I am thankful to be a daughter and a sister. I love my family with all my heart and am so grateful for their examples. I am grateful that prayers are answered and that we live in the United States of America and for all the freedoms we enjoy and take for granted everyday.
Okay a little less serious list:
I am grateful for bathtubs, peace and quiet, children's naptimes, books, make-up, ugg boots (sp?), my scentsy candle that burns "Grove and Clove", the falling gas prices, cute jeans, cute haircuts, cell phones, the chance to laugh, Disney DVD's, Christmas AND tampons. What would we ever do without them. Sorry I thought that was funny!! OH I feel like this post is out of control because I am trying so hard to get it done in a hurry, man I need to use spell check oops out of time. I'm out!

Elder Wirthlin

I am truly saddened this morning as I found about about Elder Wirthlin's passing. In the last couple of years I have come to love him and really take to heart his talks. Two conferences ago he was shaking so bad at the pulpit, but he continued his talk and another apostle held him steady. What love they have for eachother. That has been imprinted on my soul. Then at the last conference his talk was titled "Come What May and Love It". It was a great talk and fun to think of him as a great football player. What an amazing man, I will miss him.

Halloween, Birthdays, etc. etc.

I know, I know I haven't blogged forever so here it goes. There are a lot of pics from our fun ventures the last couple of weeks. There are pictures from Halloween; Boston was Speed Racer, Kenna was Minnie Mouse, Griffin was a Lion, and I was a cat (I had so much fun painting my face). We went to trunk -or- treat at our ward and then headed over to Nikki's for dinner and games. She is so creative and kids just love to be at Aunt Nikkens. I experimented and made a "bread spider", the kids thought it was awesome. So FUN! Next Josh and my Dad took the kids to "Golden Spike Monument". It was off season so the trains were housed in the warehouse but they still took the tour and had lots of fun. I stayed and helped mom with painting her bathroom.
Okay so the BIG stuff!! Kenna turned "7" and Boston turned "4"! We partied hard for about 4 days and one of the best things is that Grandpa DAve was able to come down and visit for the week. We got KEnnedy from school a little early and headed to Twin FAlls to meet Grandpa DAve. He rode down with Brett and Cheri. So Kenna spent her most of her birthday in the car, but she said having Grandpa with her on her birthday was the best present. So sweet! We celebrated with a birthday dinner at Chilies and then on Sat. I took Kenna to "High School Musical 3" with some of her cousins (I am so bummed my camera battery was dead and thus I have no pics of this), and Boston got to go bowling with his new friend Bryton. PS I whooped Josh at bowling, sweet! On another day most of my family ventured to our house for pizza and ice cream. It was so fun. Jessika made the awesome cakes and we had a great ole time!! The kids played pin the tire on Speed Racer Mach 5 and it was fun. I cannot believe that my kids are getting this old. It is so fun to watch them grow and learn new things but it makes me sad too. Kenna loves beading and polly pockets. Boston's new favorite toy is geo trax and is still loving Speed Racer. I think his most favorite gift was Speed Racer underwear. (So easy to please) They both are great kids and we love them so much.
Okay here is the picture fest! ENJOY!

American West Heritage Ctr

Josh and I took the kids to the "American West Heritage Ctr" on Monday. It is such a fun place right here in Logan. They do events all through the year. Kenna went with Amber to the Baby Animal Days last year, so we decided to go for their Harvest/Halloween event. Nikki had called a few days before and said it was way cool and then Steff said the same thing. We got to ride in a covered wagon pulled by big horses, Belgiums? It reminded me so much of the hay rides with Grandpa Vern. We got lost in the corn maze, knocked over some milk bottles and the kids went through a fun straw maze. There was awesome Halloween lights, better than some Christmas lights. There was also a place where you could jump off straw bails into loose straw, but Griffin pooped his pants and me being the great mother I am forgot diapers and wipes. Oops, we had to leave early but it was still awesome. Thanks JOsh for going, I know it isn't your cup of tea. When we got home we enjoyed hot chocolate w/ marshmallows. Doesn't get better than that!

Disneyland!!

Josh and I just got back from a wonderful weekend at Disneyland! Yes, we went just us two. We dropped the kids off in Middleton and flew out of Boise. It was so much fun being with Josh at Disneyland! The park was all decorated with Halloween, it was so cool. They changed the Haunted Mansion into "Nightmare Before Christmas" with Jack Scarington all over. The characters were in their halloween duds and the giant pumpkins were amazing. We got to be kids again, well until Josh got sick, not from the rides but nonetheless sick. He was a trooper and we still did a ton. We walked so much and so fast that by Sat we were exhausted. We rode every ride we wanted to and only waited about 20 min in each line. Well the new Toy Story ride was about 30 min, but worth it. We ate some great food including Blue Bayou (inside Pirates of the Carribean ride), Hook's Pointe and Goofy's Kitchen. Blue Bayou was by far the BEST! Some of our favorite rides were California Screamin, Tower of Terror, Toy Story Mania, Splash Mtn, Space Mtn and Pirates. The fireworks were great, we watched from on top of the river boat. We saw a lot of characters the most friendly- Pluto; the most unfriendly- Sully! We had a really nice room at the Disneyland Hotel and it was nice to be right there, I couldn't have imagined walking any farther to a hotel. We missed a few things like the tea-cups and Mr. Toads's wild ride but we'll get to them next time. I am so glad we had a chance to go just the two of us for a couple of reasons: first it was a much needed getaway for us, it is great to fall in love AGAIN, and second, now I know what I would and wouldn't do with the kids with us. With that said it was great to see the kids on Sunday, and a BIG shout out "THANKS" to Dave, Audrey, Jason, and Cori for watching our little munchkins. They had so much fun in Idaho! They all loved the Mickey and Minnie Ears we brought back for them (picture coming soon). Josh made the comment that only at Disneyland could a grown man wear mickey ears and not get crap for it. He is right. It is such a fun place where imagination is overflowing! I can't wait to go again!! WAHOO!

Boston started Soccer!

Boston started soccer this week, and he is so EXCITED! It is indoor soccer and still just as crazy as outdoor soccer. They have eight kids on a team and they all play at the same time. They all struggle to not pick up the ball with their hands and they run like a herd of cattle. It was hilarious. Boston was aggressive and scored 2 goals, one for each team. I don't think he has EVER ran that much continuously. He fell down a lot and then would sit there for a minute and catch his breath, yes in the middle of the game. Hee, hee. It was fun for him to finally have something of his own. He sees Kenna in dance and going to school and I think it makes him sad. So it is great that he is old enough for soccer!

I heart Fall!

I love this time of year, it is my favorite! The leaves turning their amazing rich colors and then eventually falling and leaving their sign that winter is approaching. I love the coolness of the morning air and the wonderful evenings that are perfect. I love the scents of fall, my scentsy "Grove and Clove" is absolutely wonderful. It makes my house a home. I love Brigham City peaches, the fair, my birthday, and canning yummy stuff. I could probably go on and on about how much I love fall but I won't. I just love this time of year!

Island Park and Yellowstone!

We had a lot of fun this year and hope to make it a tradition. The food was awesome, sights wonderful and the company was great!!
River trips, water fun, campfires, too much Yellowstone, and pinochle parties; it was awesome.
The kids played hard while we were at the cabin and our favorite thing in Yellowstone was probably throwing rocks in Yellowstone Lake and getting to see a herd of buffalo an hour before we left. Kennedy also really like Dragon's Cauldron, pee yew! Most of these pics are on Dave's new fun and fancy camera.
Griff was a trooper through the whole thing. Next year will probably be more fun for him.
Till next year!

Kenna's first full day of school!

It was Kennedy's first day of 1st grade yesterday! Oh, she looked so cute and was so excited to go. We had back to school night on Tues. and were able to meet her teacher. Her teacher seems really friendly and experienced which I think is great. She sits by a boy from our ward so it will be nice that they have something in common. It is hard having her gone all day, she is my helper but I am excited for her education and expanding her horizons! Watch out world here comes Kenna.

Update on my garden.

Our garden is growing like crazy, and it is so much fun and overwhelming at the same time. One of the hardest parts this year is the hundreds, yes I said hundreds, of grasshoppers that have decided that they really like my garden and flower beds. I have read a little bit about how to get rid of them and it seems that unless you have live chickens or fowl most likely they won't go away. The picture with the pink flower is really not suppose to be artistic but to show the ugly little buggers up close. Whenever we walk by the garden or flower beds it is like they can move because the grasshoppers start jumping all over. It is quite disgusting. Next post I will show the contraption Josh built for capturing them, it is humorous. Okay the varments have done damage on a couple of tomato plants and a few pepper plants, but the fruit seems to still be in contact. Cross your fingers that it stays that way. Now onto the positive. The cucs and zucchini are wonderful and I cannot wait to try the spaghetti squash. I really think I could feed the entire lane with squash this year. We already have about 14 good sized squash. I am looking forward to the tomatos and canning salsa. Today I picked quite a few jalepeno peppers. Kennedy said this morning "Our garden is really fun". I think she was referring to eating what has grown but it could be because they like to catch those horrible grasshoppers.

A Week of Fun!

Last week was a fun one. The older kids stayed with Grandpa Dave, Grandma Audrey, Jason, Cori, and their kids for a few days. Kenna and Boston had a blast. Water parks, picnics, forts, bike riding, you name it and they did it. I missed them but I knew they were being taken care of and having the time of their lives. So on Thurs. I went to Twin Falls to pick up the kids. We were able to visit with Grandma T for a little while and then say our good-byes. It was hard especially because Boston just loves uncle Jason so much. Then the kids and I headed to the open house for the Twin Falls Temple. Well I cannot say my experience was as grand as my sister in law's but it was nice. Boston was a regular boy and it was hard being by myself with all three kids, but I know my prayers were heard because the wife of the tour guide stayed in the back and helped me take care of Boston. I will forever be grateful. And even though I was on edge the whole time, afterwards when Kennedy was asking questions made it all worth it. The Temple is beautiful and it was neat to take my kids in before it is dedicated. The State flower of Idaho, the syringa, is patterened through out the Temple. Kennedy and I had fun looking for it in the carpets, windows, iron work, everywhere. Even though it didn't end up being a super reverent time for me it still brings tears to my eyes when I think of it. I really think they will remember this forever. After the Temple, and some amazing cookies, we ventured out to Shoshone Falls. It was such a neat waterfall, and the sounds were amazing. .

Beets!

Here is our first crop of beets. We pickled them and they are good good! We love our garden.

A Great Place but even better Friends!

Most of the pictures are worth a thousand words. We had a ton of fun with the Bennett's in Island Park. Their whole family was able to be there and we were excited to be a part of it. Too bad I don't have pictures of the one big room with 30, yes that's right I said 30, beds in it. Four playpens, 17 kids and how ever many adults it was tonz of fun and total craziness when bedtime came. We spent a day in Yellowstone at Old Faithful and some hot pots, went swimming a ton, had some traditional reunion stuff and ate like it was the last time we ever would. MMmmm, good. We traveled home through Jackson Hole and Bear Lake and we even got to stop at La Beau's, too bad I didn't get a raspberry shake. So in between no sleep and Boston throwing up we had fun. It was great to be around our friends from WA and to get to know the family that did not live there while we did. We miss them a lot! Oh but we did get to have them all stay at our place Sat. night, it was awesome and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Mindi, Griff's party was the week before so I am not amazing just a couple weeks behind in blogging. Hee, Hee!
So enough words look at the pics.

Griffy turns 1!!!

So it happened all too quickly! Our Griff has turned one year old. He is such a cutie and a good baby, except when he is teething but let's not get into that. He brings me so much happiness and joy. He is sweet beyond compare. He took his first steps about 6 days before his birthday and has been trying more and more everyday. He loves to play with Kennedy, and sometimes Boston when Boston isn't trying to harm him. He loves to play on the stairs, okay not that safe but we are usually watching. He loves to be outside and loves to take baths. His newest curiosity has taken him to the toilet, yuck. Now all doors must be closed and seats down. He is a total momma's boy but loves to smile at anybody as long as I am holding him. He has all his teeth except for canines along with that comes a beautiful smile and contagious giggle. He loves to play pattie-cake and is getting really good at all the actions. Griff looks a lot like Kennedy and has a very similar build. Griffy has followed Kenna's growing pattern and therefore will probably be a skinny bum his whole life.
As you can see at his party he didn't like his cake very much. I must say the cake was AWESOME! Thanks Jess. I think the Ross Reunion the day before really tuckered him out. So when he wouldn't eat any Josh decided to shove his face in it, So sad yet a little humorous. After a nap on the floor during wii homerun derby he was ready to go again. Thanks all for coming it was a great day!!

A little of what has been going on!

This is a long post with a lot of pictures. We have been busy and had lots of fun. Enjoy!
So the last few days have been full of fun and very busy. We started out last Wed. going up Logan canyon and spending some time with my great friend Natalie and her family. It was so much fun. Our kids get along so well and finally Josh and Justin we able to meet. No pics of this because we took them all with Nat's nice camera.
Then Josh had a couple of days off for the 4th of July. I am so grateful to live in this free land. I cannot begin to express how I feel. I got all choked up singing "Battle Hymn of the Republic" at Church last week. It is not something I think about often enough but for others, like my friend Brooke, it is on their minds everyday. Having such great people defend our country so long ago and this very minute, they are making such a huge sacrifice for us. Thanks to all those that serve our Country, you are great and always in our prayers for your safe return.
On a lighter note. We spent Thurs. at the pool and it was lots of fun. I was glad that Josh was with us. Boston only escaped once and we found him at the top of the huge slide. I wish I had a picture to show how high it was. Funny, but not. The little stinker. Despite my best efforts and sunscreen Josh and I got toasted and poor Kennas cheekers got burned. Thank heaven for sunshirts. Thurs night we enjoyed the Logan fireworks with a wonderful view from Gossner's. It really was the perfect place. Griff would go "OOOOO" and point and Kenna and Boston really liked them as well.
Friday we headed off to Mantua to camp with Mom. Nikki's fam was there and we all had a great time. Thanks mom for the good food and thanks Nikki for letting my kids mooch. Walker, Kennedy and Halleigh found a fun stream that was beautiful, and it had a rope swing that went over the creek. It was fun until the camper's who paid for the spot came and kicked us out. j/k.
Saturday we were able to see Halleigh get baptized. What a wonderful day it was and we are so pround of her and her decision to be baptized. Jessika and Gary put on a fantastic bbq and we had a great time visiting. About 1pm Nikki and I headed up to the salon for hair-do's. Audrey came into town and got fixed up as well. Thanks Nikki, we are beautiful once again. Hee, Hee. That night we took Audrey and Dave to meet my fam at the Logan Cruise In. It was so cool to see all the antique cars. The kids had a blast!! Especially my dad. Yes I consider him a kid when it comes to classic cars, he gets so so excited. After the cars we went and pitched some more horseshoes. DAve and I whooped Josh and Audrey!! Hey and I got my first ringer. Wahooo!
Well, that was a lot and we are very tired. Now for a few days at home to clean up before our next adventure. And a big shout out to Brad and Jen and their inventro process. Congrats and Good Luck!! Love you.

My Garden!

I have been so excited to have my very own garden this year. That was a must when looking for our home. I had a small container garden in Vancouver and it got me hooked. It is something I really enjoy doing. Now I really am just a beginner so this one is trial and error. I didn't really realize how much I planted until I started typing it up. I have already had failures: broccoli and cauliflower. So I pulled those out and planted pickling onions yesterday. My best growing plants has to be my tomatillo pepper plant and the tomatos and beets aren't doing too bad either. So the contents: tomatoes (a few varieties), jalepeno pepper, red and green bells, cylindrical beets, cucumbers, onions, tomatillo and in the pics you'll see the broccoli and cauliflower. Around the house I have some zucchini and spaghetti squash. If it all works then we'll have a busy canning season and lots of good eats!
Sorry about spelling errors. Also these pics were taken a couple of weeks ago, I will post a more recent one in a couple of days. Everything is a lot bigger now. The slide show has kind of a crazy design, but cool.