Back to normal life!

As always we have had a GREAT holiday, but a part of me is always grateful to get things back to normal. We got totally spoiled for Christmas- Thank You everybody!- & got to spend some much needed time with both sides of our family. Between lots of presents, great food, sledding, swimming & games- it has been a wonderful Christmas:) But now back to regular bedtime- YEA!- & school soon- YEA! (Oni & Havie need a little time apart:)- & getting the house back to normal- on my list for tomorrow:) Our Gingerbread House

The girls loved their stockings! Almost more than the presents!

New helmets so we are finally legal on the 4-wheelers:)

The long awaited "Barbie & The Diamond Castle presents!

What Em did to all the presents as we tried to open them:)

One of Dad's new presents- a very LOUD Bull Bugle- this is what the girls do when he blows it:)

My AWESOME new Kitchen Aid- Cinnamon Rolls are raising even as I type this:) Our little Ra-Ra'sMom made the girls new Piggy Banks since they are getting so rich these days:)
Sledding/Tubing with both sides of our Family- Havie & Em usually end up inside the truck while Oni never wants to quit!
Gotta love all the new clothes! O.K.- sorry if it is total picture overload but this time of year there are so many fun pictures! Hope all your Holidays were GREAT!

Christmas Card

Well, since I am not mailing very many cards this year and not putting a family newsletter in the ones I did mail (I know- I'm a little lazy, or is it just plain busy:) I thought I'd do it here on the good ol' blog. Not quite as personal but I'm sure nobody really cares right? I may start going completely Blog/e-mail next year anyway:) Most of you that read our blog already know most of what is up with our family so I'll make it short and sweet anyway!

Update on the family:

Greg is still learning the ropes at his new job at ACT- he is the Quality Manager for the Aerospace division and learning SO much all the time. Sometimes he is overwhelmed since this is not what he went to school for, but we still think we made a good decision in this job change. At church he was put in as Elder's Quorum President and that is quite the change for him (us) since he has been in Young Men's forever.

I am still a happy stay-at-home Mom and loving it- most days:) I am SO grateful that I get to stay home with the girls while they are little and changing so much everyday. I was put in as Young Women's President and still just trudging on after 4 years already:) I don't really enjoy being in charge, but I have great counselors & secretary so that makes all the difference in the world.

Anya is almost 6 & started Kindergarten this year and I am learning what it's like to start all this fun new stuff. She loves school & is very smart (of course I'd say that:) She is such a good big sister & she & Haven are truly best friends most of the time. She LOVES to draw, color, and is starting to read- I didn't know they did that in Kindergarten!

Haven is almost 4 and such a funny thing. Her favorite thing to say if I ask her something is "Let me think about it Mom". She also loves all things artsy and basically copies everything Anya does. She can't wait to FINALLY be out of nursery & go to Primary.

Emerson is 15 months & just a busy little stinker most of the time. . . but an awfully cute one:) She is still fairly tiny for her age but what she lacks in size she makes up for in spitfire! She is into everything, hates to be cuddled, wants to feed herself and do everything her sisters do. She is starting to talk and mimic sounds and it is so cute. She has been a great addition to our family- one our family would definately be boring without.

Well, that wasn't too painful was it? Though it wasn't as "short & sweet" as I intended:) We hope you all have a wonderful Holiday Season and get to spend lots of time with loved ones. May we not forget the true meaning of Christmas as we get caught up in the commercial aspect of it:)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend everyone! We went to my house this year and it was fun as usual. We had everyone there but Jamie, Martin & Dylan who are in England:( We had some fun crafts to do for the kids and women and the boys (& men) went on a four wheeler ride up the canyon. We of course all ate too much, but as my friend Marcie says "Gobble till ya wobble!"

We also went on our annual Tree Hunt with Greg's family & found the perfect little tree. We decided we are done trying to wrangle the huge mammoth tree:) So today we are decorating the trees (we have a fake one also) & house- I am totally in the spirit of Christmas with Christmas music playing in the background and the girls watching their Christmas DVD's. The girls also wrote their letters to Santa and all I can say is that they are SO easy to shop for still! I am enjoying that now because I know it will get harder and harder as they grow up:)

9 Years- where did the time go?

Greg & I- Happy Anniversary soon!

1) Where did you meet? Snow College- he was my FHE Dad

2) How long till you got married? 15 months- I was gone 5 months of that nannying in New York

3) How long have you been married? 9 years- crazy!

4) Your favorite feature of his? His eyes & lips:)

5) Your favorite quality of his? His commitment to the Gospel & his family.

6) Does he have a nickname for you? Ang or Babes

7) His favorite food? Any of my home cooking- says I'm determined to make him fat:) He especially loves homemade lasagna or chicken & broccoli fettichini.

8) What is his favorite sport to watch? Football or Basketball

9) When was your first kiss? After a couple of dates

10) Whats your favorite thing to do as a couple? Just be together with our kids- we love to rent movies since we don't go to the Theater as much now:)

11) Do you have kids? Yep- three beautiful girls

12) Does he have a hidden talent? Not hidden, but he is a GREAT handyman/builder & GREAT dutch oven cooker & treat maker:) Oh- and he is a great steamroller- a game he plays with the girls on the carpet that makes them scream and laugh their heads off:)

13) How old is he? 33

14) Who said I love you first? Him definately- I was going to go on a mission!

15) What do you admire most about him? He is such a hard worker & such a great husband & daddy.

16) What is his favorite type of music? Alternative

17) Do you think he will read this? Nope- he is not much of a blogger unless I show him things:)

18) I tag: Anyone who hasn't done this yet.

P.S.- Check out the very bottom of my blog if you want to know the exact countdown to Christmas- yeah!

So Grateful

Naturally this time of year my thoughts turn to what I am most thankful for. Of course at the top of the list are my family, my religion, a roof over my head, Greg's job, our health, an abundance of food & clothes. But as I went to Stake Standard night with the Young Women last night I started to really think about all the things we have to be grateful for every day. The family that spoke talked about their humanitarian project in Ecuador and showed a lot of pictures of the people and their living conditions.

At the top of my list that I need to be more grateful for is my washing machine! Yes, I grumble to Greg about all the laundry I have to do, but how easy it is to throw a load into the washer & then the dryer. These people are hand washing everything they own (which sadly is not a lot) which leads me to my next thing- our material posessions.

Greg and I are not wealthy by any means, yet our closets are overflowing with clothes and toys. These children are lucky if they have one outfit and maybe one toy. But how they treasure that one toy:) While my girls are so spoiled that it doesn't mean anything to them if one gets lost or broken. These children would stand in line so patiently to receive a toy or a piece of candy and they were so polite and almost reverent about it. I think my girls would probably be jumping up and down and impatiently waiting:)

Another thing is our flat garden. Greg & Bryan planted our garden at Murrell's house this year and had a fairly easy time of it. The Ecuadorians have to plant ALL their gardens on the side of steep hills and then harvest them on the hills while trying not to roll down them.

Another thing is our education. Some of the children there walk 2 hours one way to get to a school. And the teachers are scraping to get paper & other school supplies to even teach the children. Our kids never want for those things.

And what about our dishwasher, microwaves, & vehicles? These people walk everywhere they go- often carrying a baby or toddler on their backs.

And our homes- these people mostly live in cinderblock buildings with dirt floors and uncovered windows the size of our bedrooms.

And what about our health care? Here we are as a country complaining about our health care system when we are still able to get any care we need at basically any time. These people have no dentists, eye doctors, or medical doctors. We are SO spoiled!

Anyway, I hope we can all focus more on what we DO have instead of all the things we think we need that we are lacking. We are truly so blessed:)

Happy Halloween!

What a crazy fun few days we've had & now back to real life:) We painted pumpkins for Family Night- yes I said painted- since the girls LOVE to paint & not carve their pumpkins:) Maybe they will want to when they are older but for now- LESS MESS for me!

Then we had a Ward Halloween Party where the youth were in charge of the games- meaning my counselors and I- and we helped do an awesome Spook Alley- chainsaw and all. On Halloween my sister-in-laws, some friends from town, and I all walked around town with the kids, their friends, & cousins trick-or-treating- I called us the stroller brigade since there were about 8 of them:) Then we ran to the School Carnival for less than an hour so we could run back to Seth's (a cousin) 18th birthday party- HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Saturday the girls had a friends fairy birthday party & we went looking for a new couch set in Richfield. Sunday we went to Nephi after church to celebrate Trev's (another cousin) 9th birthday- HAPPY BIRTHDAY TREVIN! All in all it's been a very busy week, but now we are looking forward to Thanksgiving and planning Christmas festivities- fun stuff:)

"Thriller", Red Ribbon week, & tiny walker:)

I just got back from a GREAT girl's weekend to St. George with my Sister-in-law's & niece. We saw Odyssey Dance Co. in "Thriller" at Tuacann (awesome, but a little creepy at times:) and basically shopped till we dropped. It was SO great to go shopping without my kids! I got to look at what I wanted to & didn't hear nonstop girly chattering & questions- just from us adults:) I'm trying to not even think about what I spent though- way too much of course but I did get some killer deals:) Anyway, it was so nice to have a break from my kids but boy am I glad to be home with them & Daddy again:) Greg was awesome with them this weekend- they can't stop talking about what they ate (pancakes, french toast, frozen pizza, hot dogs, hamburgers, dutch oven- who wouldn't love to eat all this?) & did (went for rides, had a campfire & roasted marshmellows, played outside, did a Halloween craft (amazing with Greg, I know), & played Monopoly (yes, my 3 & 5 year old:) So really they didn't even miss me- can you believe it?Anyway, it was a ton of fun and a much needed break- thanks Rie, LaLa, Hay Bob, Katie & baby girl (haha- just kidding). Now hopefully I can have at least a girl's day with my sisters & Mom sometime when Jamie is here from England- hint hint:)
Oni had Red Ribbon week at school and just loved to dress up every day so we took pictures. As she says all the time now- "Drugs are not cool!" I think you can pretty much tell what they had to dress up in each day. I had a VERY hard time letting her out of the house in the last mismatched outfit:)

And last, but not least, we have a cute little new walker at our house! Em is on a roll- walking 5-6 steps at a time. She is very off balanced, but getting where she wants to go. Funny that she is walking but still has not one tooth:)