Thanksgiving

This year we had Thanksgiving with Jason's side of the family. Since we have been married we have rotated years with our families - one for Thanksgiving and the other for Christmas (priority) then we switch the following year. It works out great! Look how much fun Sara had! She was also glad she had molars (finally) with which she could chow down. Psst...a molar is visible in this picture if you look closely.

Being that I was the only woman doing any cooking outside of J's Mom's house (his sis Keri was staying there and both of his brothers are single), I got stove and oven things to bring - rolls and potatoes. Check out this massive batch of homemade rolls I made for the event. Yes, because there were 60, I transported them in a CLEAN trash liner. But, you never want to run out of rolls and they are a great leftover. Jason enjoyed them the next day with butter and jam.

It was a wonderful meal and great to be with all his family. The little girls had a particularly good time hanging out with their close cousins. Laura and Emily gave me great pictures!

Sara and Aysha were not quite so cooperative!

Two girls looking at the camera and smiling...no way!

Where's Aysha?

Are we done yet?!

This, this is all you're gonna get. So, it better be good enough!

Turkey Day

Our little turkey would like to wish you a "Happy Thanksgiving". She loves her "gobbow showt" and isn't it just appropriate on our busy Sara?

Getting in the Christmas Mood

I have broken one of my own rules. I have some of my Christmas decor up before Thanksgiving - GASP. But, I couldn't help myself. The blooms on my Christmas Cactus just got me in the mood.

And then, I found a fabulous sale on a tree and ornaments for my front room. The fat tree took up almost the whole room last year and drove me crazy. So, now we have two trees - the designer tree in the front room and the fun tree that will be in the basement. Thanks to Big Lots and Sears Grand my designer tree is up and beautiful for under $100. (Prelit skinny tree $40, 4 packs of ornaments at $6.50/ea, skirt $22, ribbon $3, star $7) The kids tree will still go up the day after thanksgiving. I think I did pretty awesome for that budget; what do you think?

Also, a big thank you to my parents who came to our house to listen for sleeping girls two nights in a row so that we could be sneaky shoppers. Yes, the purchases are done. Phew. We will be able to enjoy the holidays. Thanks again, folks!

Sassy Pants!

I went out with my girlfriends (Andrea, Andrea and Karyn) last night and had the best time! We ate at Chili's and laughed ourselves silly. My poor nose decided to bleed half the meal (stinking auto-histamine crap) but none of the ladies were too freaked out.

Then, the fun began. We went to Kohl's! Poor Karyn got tormented by having to try on a bazillion pairs of jeans while we complimented her. But, it was worth it as she ended up with 3 new sassy pairs. 11 months after her birthday and I finally got her present. Man, good thing I have another great idea and won't be 11 months late again. Andrea B. succeeded as well and got a cute pair of jeans and also a pair cords. Look we all came.

We kept at least 4 conversations going at all times and entertained the entire checkout line. And Andrea introduced us to heavenly Pomegranate gum. Oh, and we finally found someone to take a picture of all of us and the sassy pants!

Blah Blah

Life seems so boring this past week. Work, church, house, kids, school, family, dance...blah, blah, blah. I feel like the floor is never clean and I'm struggling with the serious disparity in age and physical ability of the girls in my dance class, but other than that, things are pretty boring. Good boring, but boring. I mean, really, with two adorable kids and a lot of family around, boring isn't really boring. (Here are the girls w/ great grandma!)

We did put a little excitement into our wardrobes this week. We got a Gap/Old Navy/BR friends and family coupon and made out like bandits. Shirts for $4, shoes for $6, sweaters for $9...it was amazing. Jason and I will look much better for fall now. The girls liked playing in the racks and were very tolerant of us.

We also went to a friend's house for a football game on Saturday. I enjoyed hanging out with some non-YW ladies in the ward and Jason enjoyed football. The kids, well, they enjoyed Jason!

We did, unfortunately, did have to use Lisa's amazing barf bucket. It is the best invention EVER. Big metal bowl lined with a no-holes shopping bag with a paper towel (splash prevention) in the bottom. Do not have a sick kid without it! Cleanup is so easy!

Someday, I'll Look Back

This picture is hilarious. Unless, of course, you have teeth marks on your cheek. Any suggestions for stopping this horrible habit? I would really like to be in the "Look back and laugh" stage with this one!

Simple and Happy

It really is the simple things that make me happy. Today I delivered warm bread to the other members of my YW Presidency and a drink to Deb who has no water in her house. Their smiles made me very happy.

Tonight I'll be picking up my folks from the airport after their trip to Jerusalem and Egypt. I'm super excited and happy to see them again and hear all about their trip of a lifetime.

Today I cleaned up the floor from a family dinner with Jason's brother and folks. It is so great to be surrounded by family. Feeding them makes me happy.
This morning I slept in because Sara slept in. It was delicious!

My house is warm, the Christmas lights and heater/melting strips on the roof are up (thank you, Jason) and I can see the temple spire from the front porch. We are snug and ready for winter. Definitely happy!

Simple day, but a great day!

Catching Up With Pictures

I have a lot of random things to catch up on, but not much to say about most. So, please excuse the list and piles of pictures.

I woke up Wednesday morning to THIS. Beautiful, yes. But also terrifying when I knew I'd be driving the Youth to SLC for that night's activity.
The activity was a taping of the DVD "A Brand New Year" to introduce the 2009 Mutual Theme. It was spiritual, chaotic, fun, and long. I was very grateful for my familiarity with the Conference Center: knowing my way around really helped my little group. The kids were great and funny. Here's my carload on top of the Conference Center.
We went over to J's Folks' on Sunday. It was great to see that Bret was there and had his youngest, Sophie. She and Sara are only 6 months apart and were able to bond very quickly.

Sara has been spending a great deal of time in the sink lately. She climbes up the barstools, over the counter and into the sink and does it all very quickly. I've been very grateful for my OCD nature in regards to a clean sink. She's also been loving her Halloween candy; suckers are her favorite.

The girls have been enjoying the leaves and the fall weather a great deal. Here we are playing in the Riverwoods.

Why did we go to the Riverwoods? To take our friends' family pictures for Christmas and their walls of course! For being a free photographer, I think I did a pretty good job! How I love Jason's gift of my camera.

Laura has been spending most of her time doing workbooks lately because it is colder outside. She is such a smarty pants and loves reading the instructions and filling the pages.

We've also been lucky to see Jason's parents a lot lately. We went to their place for dinner and they came to ours for dinner and a Jazz game. They also gave us a night to ourselves for our anniversary. (Thank you!) We ate at yummy Tepanyaki. And Laura couldn't be more thrilled to be able to see them so much!

Finally, we saw Jason's biological father and his half brother (who I'd never met) at a family funeral. Look at all these boys!

The Best Day

Six years ago today, I married the most amazing man in the whole wide world. I was crazy sick, it was crazy windy, but I was also crazy happy. (And don't we look crazy young?!)

I am so grateful to be married to Jason for eternity. My life is so much better with him. Our marriage today is better than it ever has been and I can't wait to see how much it grows as time continues.

Thank you to my honey for: our beautiful children, loving me, being the best daddy in the world, being an awesome teammate, looking super hot, making me laugh so hard, being a worthy priesthood holder, and just being you. I love you and Happy Anniversary, Jason!

Why I Never Get Ahead

This is what happened yesterday when I went to switch the laundry from the washer to the dryer. So much for the next chore! I got to sweep the floor and Sara instead. I seem to be in maintenance mode. But, really, how can I get upset?! Look at that little face learning and enjoying!

Trick-or-Treat

The girls did traditional trick-or-treating in our new neighborhood.  It was nice and warm that night, even though it rained, but I had to make sure they wouldn't get cold when the sun went down.  Layered under their costumes were tights, cami's, socks, long-sleeved shirts and leggings.  I think they look cute despite the massive layers.

Sara totally got the hang of it by the end and would walk to the door, hold out her bag and say "tweet" or treat, pick out her candy and put it in her bag.  Then, of course, she had to check out her haul when she got home.  I can't believe she is big enough to "get" halloween and trick-or-treating!