Some Of The Things I'm Thankful For This Year

I am thankful...

That one of my new friends in the ward, Tammy, decided to plan her own "Fabulous Friday Craft Night" at her house and taught me how to make this cute Pumpkin Stand.

I am thankful...
That I was able to go down to Shelley the night before Thanksgiving and make pies (with my mother-in-laws supervision.) I was able to work hard and have fun. Baking can really bond women together and make them laugh and giggle uncontrollably - more serotonin!!!


I am thankful....
That Susan was able to cheer me on as I made a homemade apple pie with a homemade pie crust and everything. She said I have talent and she's taught a lot of people how to bake so I take that as a MAJOR compliment!


I am thankful...
That I was not only able to make my first apple pie, but I made 4 pumpkin pies, 4 banana cream pies, 4 chocolate cream pies and one candied yams! And I didn't mess one thing up!! (In fact, for the first time ever, I now love candied yams!!!)



I am thankful...
For my family. They are the 4 best things I have in this world!


I am thankful...
That we noticed Audrey's hair was getting in her food in time - so we could tie her braids up!


I am thankful...
That Audrey enjoyed all of my pies (she was able to taste every kind throughout Thanksgiving day and the 3 days after.)


I am thankful...
The same thing went for Kaden.
And for Kyle, too, but he didn't get to any pies until the night of Thanksgiving (we ate at 1pm.)



I am thankful...
For a husband and brother-in-law who are happy helpers
(they're washing dishes in this picture.)
And also for their friendship, for my friendship with Steve's wife, Mindy, and for the friendship between my kids and their twin boys!


I am thankful...
For a husband who is fun. He's always ready, willing and happy to play with the kids. Here he is trying to steal the ball from Josh, one of Steve's twin sons.


I am thankful...
For some great cousins Kevin has. Here is one of his cousins, David, giving Audrey a fun ride!

I am thankful...

For my mother-in law Susan and all her hard work this year. (She was in charge of Thanksgiving for her side of the family.) She reserved the church which was perfect for the little ones. And she even had fun crafts she sat and did with her grandkids.

I am thankful...

For the friendship my kids have with one another. When they are playing nicely together, not a lot can match the joy I feel in my heart from that.

I am thankful...

That Heavenly Father gives us children who have the same talents, interests and habits as us.

It's so fun to watch my daughter stretch while she watches t.v. just like her mom. (Or to watch her and Kyle watch t.v. upside down like her mom did as a kid.)


I am thankful...

That after the festivities we were able to have my parents babysit Kaden while he took a very late nap. Then, Kevin and I were able to take Audrey and Kyle to "The Bee Movie" for a special treat. (In my opinion it was more for adults and I would imagine was mostly over the kid's heads, but we all enjoyed it!)

And of course as in any year, I'm thankful for...

The Gospel of Jesus Christ,

The Scriptures,

The Prophet and all the Leaders of the Church,

And a free Country to live in!

And basically I'm thankful for every good thing and person in this world - and all the experiences I'm able to go through - good or bad because I am thankful for what's in my heart and mind and soul and spirit more than any "thing" in this world.

Also, this year I have the wonderful blessing of being a part of the blogging world - to be able to share my thoughts and feelings and to have a way of preserving memories for my family.

I'm thankful for anyone who reads this and likes it and/or me!

Birthday Clusters

Anyone else have these?!?!
Well I have a fall cluster of 8 in my family. And I failed to post about all but one so far...
woops!

First, on September 20th (o.k. it's 3 days before fall starts but it's in the September part of the cluster) is the best father in law I could ever have - Larry's birthday!

Two days later on September 22nd is Kellie's oldest - Ian's birthday. Kellie is Kev's youngest sister.

This year Ian turned 2!

Not even a week later is Audrey's birthday on the 25th and the best mother in law for me - Susan's on the 26th!

Not even a week after that is my brother Greg's firstborn son Liam's birthday on October 2nd.

This year he was 1!


Not even a week after that is Kevin's Dad's Mom's birthday on October 9th. (She is such a great Grandma, friend and one of my best Mary Kay customers!)

Then there's Greg's wife Liza's birthday on October 24th. This year she turned 28! Yes, Greg married someone 3 months younger than his baby sister. (He's such a stud!)


It all ends today - November 19th - Happy Birthday Kellie! I can't believe you are 23!!! And pregnant with your third child!!! You still look 16!!! This picture was taken last Saturday - What do you think, does she look 23 to you?!?!

Goodbye Dutchess :(

Well last Saturday was happy and sad. Happy because Kevin's sister Kellie came to visit from Arizona where she lives.


Sad because the reason she flew out was because she came to say goodbye to her 10 year old dog (who her mom and dad have taken care of for the last 5 years.) Dutchess was not doing well so Kellie and Kev's parents decided it was time to put her down. She was just too miserable - blind and deaf and tired.


So we all went down to Shelley to play with her one last time.


Our kids have known and played with her their whole life - and I knew her as long as I knew Kevin -we wanted to say goodbye.

So here is what she looked like before they left for the vet...

And within 20 minutes, they were back and there she was looking like this in her grave. I have to admit, I was pretty shocked with sadness. But, I brought out the mommy strength and said nicely "now she is running and playing in dog heaven where she can see and hear again!"

Kev's dad Larry mentioned that in South America (he served an L.D.S. mission in Bolivia) everyone puts some dirt in the grave. So we all did.

The kids chipped in too.

Kaden wanted to help his dad shovel dirt in.

And then Grandma helped Audrey put flowers on top...

Followed by Kyle. (The grass was put back on later after Larry watered the dirt.)

I have to admit that it was an emotional day for me - even though I hid my emotions (which I don't normally do unless I have to for my kids.) I never had a pet growing up other than fish, birds and hamsters - and seeing them die still wasn't easy. But seeing a dog die kind of shook me - although I ignored it until a few days later and finally let myself cry (after the kids were in bed.) It was just weird to pet her one minute and within a short few minutes after that, she was gone.

TELL ME, HAVE YOU EVER BEEN REALLY SAD ABOUT A PET DYING?

Pretty Kaden?!?!?!

Kaden says...

Why does Audrey dress me up...



In her fancy boa, necklaces and earrings...

When mom and dad...

Are NOT looking?!


I may look pretty with it all on but really I'm meant to look all boy - I'm naturally my daddy's

mini me!!!

Flashback Friday - A Little of This, A Little of That

So when I started the blog I thought I'd update every other day or so - maybe twice a week, definitely at least once a week! BUT my life is so busy that I haven't been able to find time to do that! (I hope to be able to figure out how sooner than later, though.) So when I posted the Halloween slide show I didn't even mention that...

The night before Audrey's Kindergarten class's Halloween Party I was making these treat bags. The other room mom for this party, my friend Cristal, and I had $25 to work with and she took $5 for the games, so I had $20 to work with for treats. I was able to get these cute Halloween bags, and in each one there was a Halloween pencil, a Halloween fruit rollup, and 4 different mini candy bars.

I had 25 made up for all of the kids and one for the teacher, the teacher's aid and one for Cristal. I also had one made for my friend Vicki who wanted to help - and it's a good thing she volunteered last minute because I couldn't go. I was sick, sick, sick with the stomach flu! I must say, I've never been that sick in my life!! I think I threw up part of my small intestine once!!! I was bummed not to make it to help with the party but didn't feel that sad because I go and help in Audrey's class once a week. I was actually very lucky to make it out on Halloween night! (I would have stayed home but Kev was out of town training for a new job - same company - more info. below.) And I felt awful all during Halloween night and many days after. It's been a week and a half and I'm still trying to work solid foods back in.


And here's some fun stuff that's been going on around here...
This is how Kyle looks when he falls asleep on the couch.


And this is how he looks after his sweet big sister puts a blanket over him!

Speaking of sleeping, this is what Kevin has time for on a Friday night now - being with his family. Due to his change from Car Sales to Service Writing at Teton Toyota we actually get to see him in the evenings. This was last Friday Night - movie night WITH Dad! All I can say is yay!

We get to see Kevin every night now instead of trying to catch up on his old days off - Monday or Tuesday and Sunday. (Now he gets most Saturdays off as opposed to none of them!) So he was able to give the boys a haircut the other night after dinner (Which by the way, you guessed it we get to eat dinner with him again!)

Thank goodness Kaden has that lovely miniature toy vacuum to take care of all of the hair!

And guess who is still creating art on his little brother? (Pre-haircut.)

And guess who moved to using himself as a canvas? I wish this was a remorseful face but actually, he just didn't want his picture taken.

Obviously this is not going to be a one time thing like it was with Audrey, so if (when?) he does it again, I'm going to need to do some "Love and Logic" disciplining!

Halloween Events!