CHRISTMAS MEMORIES

Another busy Christmas season just wrapped up at our home! I just wanted to highlight a few of the things we enjoyed this Christmas season:

1. Hands Down - REAGAN
All Christmas season we heard "I am wishing for a Snow White dress!" This was the only thing she wanted. I few days before Christmas, she found out that you can actually ask Santa for more than one thing and her eyes lit up! Then we wanted Snow White dress up shoes too.

During Dan's family Christmas party, Reagan was not shy at all. She was the highlight of the evening. When Santa came in, she was jumping up and down. Santa had one of the cousins come and sit on his lap and ask her what song they should sang and Reagan started shouting out, "I know what we can sing, Rudolph, Rudolph!" She then went right up to his lap to sing the song. When the time came that she was supposed to sat on Santa's lap and receive her present, she was so cute. Her package was a small box and as soon as she sat on my lap, she said "Do you think it is a Snow White dress?" I told her the box was too small for a Snow White dress, so then she thought it was Snow White shoes. Unfortunately for her, it was neither of the two; but she enjoyed her gift any way.

On Christmas morning, Reagan opening up her Snow White dress very first, she just happened to pick out the right package, so off when the pajama's and on went the dress. She received few other dress ups for Christmas as well and each time she opened one, she had to change clothes. She loved getting her princess story book and immediately sat down to start looking it over. She wanted someone to read it to her right away. So a princess Christmas is was for her and I loved every minute of it. It is so fun to have a little girl again.

2. CHRISTMAS EVE
Every other year Dan and I switch off going to different families house for Christmas. It got a little too crazy trying to open presents, load up the kids to grandma's and them load them up again to go to the other grandma's house. I started not enjoying Christmas day because there was simply no time to enjoy it. hence the reason our tradition began. One year is Christmas Eve with one family and the other family gets Christmas Day. Then the next year we switch. This has made such a difference in not only my kids being able to enjoy Christmas, but also myself.

This year was my families turn for Christmas Day and Christmas Eve was supposed to be spent with Dan's family; however Dan's mom forgot about Christmas Eve and no one else in the family could get together that night. So we ended up spending the 23rd with Dan's family instead. This gave us the night off for Christmas Eve. WE thought about going to my dad's family Christmas party; however we decided to bail and just spend the evening with our kids and I am so glad we did!

We ventured up to Park City and went sledding at Gorgoza Park. Being Christmas Eve, the sledding hill was not crowded at all and the weather wasn't bad either. At night they light up the hill with lights; plus they tow you up the mountain, so it is effortless! (My kind of sledding) The hill was moving pretty fast, so they would only allow 3 tubers to connect their tubes at a time. We spent the time training down the mountain with a couple of kids or one of the kids. All we had was smile and laugh, we all had a spectacular time. Reagan loved it too!

After sledding we went out to dinner at the Cheesecake factory (a family favorite) we got right in because it was late and it was Christmas Eve.

After all of our gallivanting around we headed home (it was already 9:30 PM) and we still had to give the kids their presents. It is tradition in our home to give the kids new pajama's to wear on Christmas Eve; plus I give the kids an ornament every year for the Christmas tree. One that represents something in their life for that year. It is one of my favor tie things to shop for each season.

Reagan - Belle ornament (She was Belle for Halloween and has loved dressing up this year. She even makes everyone call her the princess name when she is in the dress up. She gets down right mad if you call her Reagan.)

Jaxson - Baptism ornament (He was baptizes this year and I couldn't think of anything more significant that becoming a member of the Church.

Madi - YW ornament (She turned 12 this year and entered into the Young Women's program at church. To me this is a huge symbol of her growing up and becoming a young lady. I made her ornament by using a colored jewel representing each of the young women value colors. At the bottom of the ornament I attached a YW.)

This was my favorite Christmas Eve ever! We all believe this needs to become a new tradition in our house. We are just going to have to convince my family next year to go sledding with us on Christmas Eve.

3. WHITE ELEPHANT GIFT EXCHANGE
Another family tradition is to exchange white elephant gifts with my parents and siblings, in lieu of exchanging gifts. We start looking for items months before Christmas arrives, just to pick out the perfect gift. This year I had the idea to give the gift of tongues! I had purchased a blow up tongue in Florida at Harry Potter world in Universal islands of adventure, so to add to this, I ordered a cows tongue from the butcher. It was disgusting! I found some articles in a different language and included it in the package. Melissa was the lucky one to open it (She always picks my gifts and knows it's going to be bad, but continues to pick them anyway) Everyone get a huge laugh out of the surprise. Nobody wanted to take home the tongue (I can't imagine why). At the end of the night, my poor grandmother ended up with the tongue.

4. MADI THINKING MY BEST GIFT WAS A TENNIS BALL ON A STRING
A few days after Christmas, Madi was spending some time over at a friends house. Her mother asked her all about Christmas and then asked what I had received. Madi proceeded to tell her that I got the coolest gift ever. (She was completely serious) She told her that I received a ball that looked like a tennis ball, that I hang from the ceiling in the garage to know where to park the car. My friend then asked her again if that was the best gift I had received. She responded back with "Yes!" After this conversation, my friend had to call me to find out if I had received anything else for Christmas (she was a little worried).

5. DINNER FOR THE WOMEN'S SHELTER
My friends decided this year that instead of giving each other gifts that we would do something for someone else in need. JoLynn put together a night where we could all make and serve dinner at a women's shelter / drug rehab facility. Everyone took a portion of the meal to make; in addition we all purchased some items to donate to the shelter. When we arrived at the shelter we set up in the kitchen and served dinner to all of the ladies living there. The women were all so appreciative of our service and it was such a small task to complete. I know we all felt better about ourselves that night and wished we could of done more to help them. I know this will be a new tradition amongst our friends during the holiday season. One I am looking forward to being a part of again.

GINGERBREAD HOUSES

I decided it would be fun to do gingerbread houses this year and let the kids each decorate their own. I have never made gingerbread, so our house were going to be made of graham crackers! I thought it would be brilliant to hot glue the houses together first and then let the kids go to town with the candy and frosting. (It seems that the hardest part of doing gingerbread houses is getting your structure to stand up, so I knew this technique was going to be helpful)

I invited my brother Jared and sister in law Erin over with their daughter Lydia, so she could participate in the fun too. Little did I know Jared had his own creative juices flowing and decided to take part in the building. The kids had a fantastic time adding their own creativity to their houses. Reagan and I worked together, while Madi, Lydia and Jaxson all had their own houses. Reagan was more interested in eating the candy rather than putting it on the house, but her little cottage turned out cute anyway. (It just didn't last long, because she kept picking at the candy)

When the kids had lost interest in decorating and decided they were done, Jared was still constructing his house / fort. It was hilarious! He was cutting and intricately designing every last detail.

Finally after I got everything cleaned up, we invited my parents over to judge the gingerbread houses. My mom being the kind person that she is, decided to give everyone an award. We didn't like that response, so we asked my dad what he thought. I believe he liked Reagan's house the best, but I can't remember (it could have been Madi's too).

Jared was very proud of his design, even though it didn't win, so we decided to make it the center piece of our Christmas dinner table. It was pretty funny!

The kids kept their houses in their rooms for about a week, until they started getting soft and I threw them out. It was a messy project, but worth it!

UGLY SWEATER PARTY

We had such a great time last year having an ugly sweater party with our family for Thanksgiving, that we decided for Christmas to throw another party with our friends.

Everyone got into the spirit of the ugly sweater, It is so fun to see what people come up with and have no problem wearing in public. My favorite was that Craig Bonham wore his cream sweater and green Dickie to church the following morning and was complimented on his attire.

Dan wanted to deep fry a turkey for the party, so for an early Christmas present, he received one from his parents. We had a delicious meal that everyone helped participate with; we had everything from rolls, fruit salad, salad, mashed potatoes and gray and even stuffing. For dessert I made a yummy chocolate bundt cake!

After visiting at dinner we headed downstairs for a white elephant exchange. I laughed pretty hard at some of the gifts that were passed around. WE had everything from the shake weight, to a Robert Pattinson calendar, to a half eaten box of chocolates. There were even romantic coupons from Dan and a night of guilty pleasures (romance novel, records, a picture of Rusty), etc.

We also played our favorite game the "Dollar Game!" Lora went home with the jackpot! My favorite part of the evening was just hanging out with everyone, watching YouTube videos and laughing hysterically. I has introduces to the Flight of the Conchords and "Business Socks," something I will never forget.

It is good times when you have fantastic friends you can share fun memories with enjoy one another's company. This turned out to be one of those nights. (I think next year we will have an old geezers party!)

TEMPLE SQUARE AT CHRISTMAS

For our extended family night this month we loaded up everyone and headed downtown to see the lights at Temple Square. There were several things to be excited about this year with our annual excursion:

1. The weather was beautiful! Especially when comparing it to last year and how bitter the cold was. You could actually stand to walk around and enjoy the lights, family and the Christmas spirit.

2. They opened up the gates to the temple and we were able to have our kids walk right up to the temple. We took family pictures with all of us standing in front of the gold doors. My kids have never been so close to the Salt Lake Temple except during a wedding. This was definitely a special occasion for everyone.

3. We visited grandma English after looking at the lights and took her some Christmas goodies and presents. We all had hot chocolate and cookies for dessert at her home.

4. After wrapping things up with Grandma, we all came back to our house in preparation of delivering the 12 days of Christmas to my parents. We all wanted to deliver the presents since they were from all the kids and we figured this would be the best opportunity we would have getting all of us together during the busy and crazy schedules leading up to Christmas.

My parents stayed at Grandmas a little longer than us kids, so we waited in our cars with the lights off for them to arrive home. (It was 11:00 PM on a school night) Then we quickly got out of our cars with the presents - Reagan was quicker than the rest of us, so we were all chasing her and trying to get up to the porch before mom and dad answered it. We all sang "We Wish you a Merry Christmas" on their porch. We were obviously invited in and we handed over the box of gifts with tags and instructions for each day. Mom cried (it was expected). We were hoping to bring a little Christmas spirit into their home and I think it worked. Everyone left feeling content and happy. It was a great way to start off the holidays.

GRATEFUL FOR MY KIDS

I decided to write each of my kids a letter this year for Thanksgiving because this year I am most grateful for being a Mom. I wanted my kids to know how much they mean to me and what a privilege it is to be their mother. I copied the letters on my blog. so I would never forget the feelings I had on this Thanksgiving Day...

Madison –

Due to the Thanksgiving season, I have been reflecting about my life and what I am most grateful for. It is a wonderful time to consider all the many blessings we have been given that we sometimes take for granted. I wanted you to know that I am most grateful for the opportunity to be a mother! Not just any mother, but a mother to three amazing children, including you! Heavenly Father has given me a special gift and I could not imagine my life or our family without you in it. You have given me so much to be grateful for. Madi, you always seek to do what’s right, you are kind to everyone you meet. You have a beautiful smile that can light up a room, you are a fantastic older sister, who loves and cares for both Jaxson and Reagan. You are smart and do so well in school. You listen and obey your parents and the commandments our Father in Heaven has asked us to do. You are a strong and valiant young woman and I am so proud of the person you are becoming. What more could a mother ask for! Thank you for being the best daughter I could have.

Love, Mom

Jaxson-

I have been thinking about all my many blessings and I wanted you to know that you are one of my favorite. I am so lucky to be your mother and I am grateful you are my little boy! You have given me so much to be grateful for because you are such a good kid. Thank you for always being happy in our home and giving us reasons to laugh. Our family wouldn’t be complete without you. You are an amazing kid with a zest for life and you make me smile! You always try to choose the right and be more like Jesus. You are a fantastic brother to both of your sisters, by caring for them and treating them well. I am proud of you, thanks for being the best kid a mom could wish for.

Love, Mom



Reagan –

Mommy loves you! I’m so happy you came into our family. You have turned our world upside down for the good. You pull at my heartstrings with your sweet personality; yet you are so stubborn that it scares me because you are just like me. I love you little girl. Thanks for being a blessing in my life.

Love, Mom

TIME OUT FOR WOMEN

I attended yet another fantastic Time Out For Women seminar again this year. This is such a great way to spend a weekend together as women and be reminded of who you are and how much your Father in Heaven loves you. These speakers and musicians are fabulous and I learn so much each year. It is an inspired program and I am grateful they decided to bring it to Utah. Everyone needs a good pick me up sometimes; in addition to some inspiration.

My favorite speaker/song writer for the past two years has been Hillary Weeks. She is amazing, funny and very talented. I absolutely fell in love with her music two years ago and have been addicted ever since.

I learned a lot about our beloved prophet Thomas S. Monson. He was quite the character growing up and he has the biggest heart. I can see him smile when I think of him. How blessed we are that he is our living prophet today. I can't wait to read his biography to learn more about this amazing man.

There were several other incredible speakers - all with good messages to share.

One of the other highlights of the weekend was spending the night at the Marriott with 14 other women. We enjoyed dinner, breakfast and lunch together. We stayed up into the wee hours of the morning talking, giggling and enjoying each others company. I have remarkable friends who I love and adore and it make this weekend even better.

MOMENTS TO REMEMBER...

Tonight we had some friends (Bastian's and Murphy's) over for dinner, after we finished the ladies went downstairs into my craft room so I could make them some flower clips for their girls hair. The guys were upstairs and most of the kids were in the basement playing video games on the Wii. I heard Reagan say my name; however I didn't respond because I thought she was in the family room playing with the kids and I figured it wasn't important. A few minutes later, she came marching into the craft room, with her pants and panties around her ankles. With fire in her eyes, she looked at me and yelled the following, "Freak Mommy! You need to wipe me!" As she turned around (because she had made her point) I noticed a little poop hanging from bum and I replied "Yes I do," and followed her into the bathroom.

ALMA THE YOUGER - DISCO STYLE

I was called (yet again) as the roadshow director for our ward this year. Three years ago, I headed up the roadshow and here I am again. The funny thing is - everyone thought I was called again because the roadshow was so fantastic the first time and we took the award for best show; however it turns out that the bishopric forgot that I headed it up the first time. I guess that's what I get for having a creative mind that doesn't stop thinking.

This year the theme was "Have I Done Any Good." I immediately thought of missionary work and thought it would be fun to do the story of Alma the Younger. The previous time we did the roadshow, I set it to the 1950's and we did Grease music (which was a big hit), so this year I thought it would be fun to do 1970's and set the music to Abba. I knew that the music would be fun and we could take advantage of the fun colors used during that time, in addition to the Afro's!

The roadshow started out with King Mosiah and Alma discussing what happened to their kids. They wanted to know where the happy days had gone. They sang SOS asking their Father to help them. The stage was dark with only a table chairs and a lava lamp.

The second scene opened to the sons of Mosiah and Alma the Younger at the disco, trying to convince some of the town to stop going to church, to sin and lie. After they succeeded in getting others to fall away from the church an angel appeared and told them they have a second change to preach the gospel. The angel also told them they were Sons of God and to use their time spreading the gospel plan. The words of the song Dancing Queen were changed for this scene.

The third scene was Alma the Younger recognizing that he needs to repent and live his life to the fullest being a missionary. He sings Take a Chance on Me to his Father in Heaven and asks Alma for his forgiveness.

In the final scene, you see a drastic change in both appearance and attitude with the Sons of Mosiah and Alma the Younger. The Afro wigs and disco clothing is gone, turned in for missionary tags and ties. They have their scriptures in hand and are preaching the gospel to everyone in the street. We closed the show with the song Mamma Mia but changed the words to Missionaries.

With the script being set in the 70's we used all kinds of 70's slang throughout the show, in addition to having some of the cast members be the Brady Bunch. We had all the towns people wearing ti-dye shirts and bell bottoms.

This was a six month project in the making because I had to write the script, figure out the music and encourage the youth to participate. I also had to come up with the choreography, set design and direct the play as well. We had weekly rehearsals for months - however it really paid off in the end. The kids did a fantastic job and I was so proud of them and all of their hard work. Although they didn't give awards out this year - in my heart I know we were the best!

HALLOWEEN

Halloween fell on a Sunday this year, so all the festivities happened on Saturday. It was fantastic because both Dan and I were home. We started out the morning with our Jack-o-lantern pancakes. They were such a hit last year, that my kids wanted them again. We even invited Grammie and Papa over for this tasty meal.

That afternoon, we dressed Jaxson and Reagan up and we went down town to the Gallivan Center for a free festival. The kids got to trick or treat to the vendors, make a craft and take pictures (even Freddy Kruger was there). The best part of the festival was the pumpkin drop. The fire department took pumpkins up the ladder on the fire and would drop them from sky. We got to watch in amazement as these pumpkins smashed to the ground.

Later that evening we gather up our things and headed to Grammie and Papa's house for dinner. We had the usual dinner in a pumpkin, bread sticks, stew, wassail and spud nuts (all family traditions). The kids took pictures before heading out to trick or treat with their friends. Papa did Madi's makeup to make her look scary. He did a fabulous job. The little kids all went out together - Reagan, Cash, Crew, Avery, Landon, Spencer and Brendan.

On Sunday after church we made sugar cookies, another tradition we started doing years ago and delivered them to several families in the neighborhood.

FHE - CARVING PUMPKINS

Once a month my family gets together at my mom and dad's house for FHE. This month due to Halloween being around the corner, we decided to carve pumpkins after the lesson. Who would of thought that Scott would have gotten into carving spirit as much as the kids (I mean more than the kids). He brought technical designs and a head light to create his masterpiece. We were all done carving while Scott was still working away. The kids had a great time spending the evening together and making their own personal jack-o-lantern. They loved cleaning out the guts and scooping out the seeds. I think this is the worst part - I prefer the actual carving!

Some of the creations were Napoleon Dynamite, a spider, a ghost, skeleton and more. After everyone was finished we lined them all up on the counter with lights and took pictures. I must admit, Scott's pumpkin was pretty cool!

The pumpkin carving was a success and the best part was, the mess wasn't at our house!

WITCHES NIGHT OUT

Last year a few of my friends and I started going to "Witches Night Out" at Gardner Village. Every year they put on a weekend of festivities just for witches. Including cackling contests, dressing up, dancing, fall food, mini-spa treatments, raffles and shopping. We haven't quite got into the spirit of fully dressing up; however we do wear witches hats and socks.

This year the weather put a damper on attending the event (rain and cold temperatures), we pondered cancelling; but we decided to brave the cold anyway and I am sure glad we did. We took our time wondering around the shops and then had a fantastic dinner at Archibald's restaurant. I even walked away with a $50.00 gift certificate to the Cottage Day Spa.

Thanks Jo, Erica, Melissa and Jaime for a fun evening! Gotta love girl's nights!

CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF DISNEY!

We ventured to Florida over last week because Dan had a seminar in Orlando and my parents had a time share week they needed to use before November. It wasn't an ideal time to go considering the economy and due to financial reasons; however sometimes you do things to create memories for your kids - even though they aren't the smartest decisions you ever made. We were able to spend a few days with Dan before he was out of commission at the M5 seminar.

Our intent when going on this trip was to take it easy and relax at the hotel, while spending a few days at Disney. Well that never happens because there is so much to see and do in Florida. We went through a ticket broker to get our tickets because we were able to save a lot of money, instead of buying tickets directly at the gate. Our original plan was to buy tickets with 2 days to the parks and 1 day at the water park. Our tickets ended up having 3 days at the park and 3 extra activities including water parks. So instead of relaxing at the pool, we decided to take advantage of our tickets and go to Disney every day. By the end of the week we were all completely worn out.

We couldn't of asked for better weather, it was sunny and in the 80's every day! Something we are missing now in Utah, now that is it October. We must of hit every one's fall break, because out of all the times we have been to Florida, I have never seen Disney World so crowded. Despite the crowds, we had an amazing time. The only night I got a little claustrophobic was trying to get out of Magic Kingdom. After spending the entire day there, the kids were beat and wanted to leave before the firework show, that was a complete joke because all of Main Street was completely packed with people. I have never seen so many people in my life or have had a harder time trying to get out of the crowd. As we worked our way toward the front gate, we were separated from my parents. I told my kids to hand on to me and not let go! It took us at least 30 minutes to get out from the crowd - and I was so pleased to be able to breathe again. What was amazing was to see the rush of people exit after the fireworks, I cant even describe it.

As always my favorite day was visiting Blizzard Beach! What made this year even more exciting was that this was the first year we didn't have to hang out at Tikes Peak - and watch Reagan play in the kiddie pools. She was tall enough to ride the majority of the slides and she enjoyed every minute of it. It was great to be able to experience the park together as a family and all race down the toboggan rides.

We also ventured over to Universal Islands of Adventure to check out the new Harry Potter world. The architecture was incredible. The street were packed and filled with all sorts of stores and things from Hogwarts. (This being a new attraction - it was extremely crowded, plus the new Harry Potter ride - made all of us sick! We did however want to ride Dueling Dragons. We even bought Jaxson some Dr. Schols insoles, so he would be just a little taller and could ride the ride. Unfortunately we was still a tad bit too short. He was so disappointed - as we have been building up Dueling Dragons and the Hulk roller coasters. On our way out of the Harry Potter land, so stopped for lunch at a fantastic restaurant in the Lost Continent called Mythos! We enjoyed the Sindbad Stunt Show and the Poseidon's Fury (although the fire effects during the show scared Reagan more than I had ever seen). On our way over to Comic Strip land, Dan found some landscaping bark and we put them in the heels of Jaxson's shoes. Our efforts paid off, as we was able to ride the Hulk roller coaster. He was quite thrilled and it made every one's day.

The next couple of days were spent at Animal Kingdom, Epcot and Hollywood Studio's. We rode the safari at Animal Kingdom, saw our favorite show the Celebration of the Lion King and had pulled pork sandwiches! At Hollywood Studio's the crowds we were big that we were only able to ride Tower of Terror once (Bummer for Madi and I, as this is our favorite ride of all time) The lines were super long at Hollywood Studios, Toy Story Mania being the longest wait at 2 1/2 hours. We did not stand in line for this ride - I wasn't about to wait for over 2 hours. We did get to experience the Rockin' Aerosmith Roller Coaster - what a thrill and complete entertainment the entire time. We went to the Voyage of the Little Mermaid and Reagan started belting out the songs during the performance. As I tried to quiet her down, she looked and me and said "Mom, I'm singing!" We also ate at our favorite restaurant 50's Prime Time Cafe! The food is home style cooking, in addition you better have manners and eat your green beans, or waiter will give you a mouthful. Such a fun atmosphere and fabulous food!

On our last day we enjoyed Epcot, we spent a lot of time in Future World, there were a lot of new things to see and do - the kids really enjoyed it. We met Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto - Reagan was so excited she was jumping up and down. Later that afternoon Reagan and I had lunch with the Princesses. This was the highlight of my trip. I had told her we were going to have lunch with the princesses and she couldn't wait. She asked everyday if this was the day she was going to have lunch with them. She had been dressed up in her Belle gown all day and the moment was finally here. As we arrived at Asershus Royal Banquet Hall in Norway we immediately got to meet Belle and Reagan got her picture taken with her. She was super sweet, they were both twirling around in their yellow gowns and the smile on Reagan's face was priceless. Belle asked her what her name was and she responded without hesitation, my name is Belle. When we sat down for lunch Reagan wanted to know why the princesses were not eating with us. I told her they needed to visit with all the girls and that they would come over to our table and meet her. That was not good enough because "You said, we were going to eat lunch with the princesses." (She takes everything so literally) While Reagan was in the little girls room, we missed Sleeping Beauty, however she was kind enough to come back to our table and meet Reagan. I love Disney's customer service - it can't be beat! Next we met Cinderella, followed by Snow White and Ariel. Reagan was so excited to meet Ariel that she almost overlooked Snow White. Reagan was singing her "lovely song" from the Little Mermaid. (This is the song Ariel sings to Ursula, when she gives her, her voice. Reagan's sings it loud and off key. It is hilarious) Ariel couldn't help but over hear her sing as she was visiting with the other girls and she stopped and said to Reagan "Are you practicing for the concert? Just don't forget like I did." The lunch ended with the girls parading around the banquet hall with all the princesses. Before leaving we were given an 8x10 photo of Reagan with Belle. it was a magical experience - one I would do over and over again!

By the end of the night, everyone was exhausted and ready to call it a day. Even though it was the end of our trip, we could of stayed a few more days relaxing around the pool and the resort.

PUMPKIN PATCH... IN THE DRIVEWAY

Late last Spring Dan noticed a weed growing out of the crack in the middle of our driveway and thought "That looks like a pumpkin plant." Being curious he decided not to kill the weed to see what would happen. Sure enough as days turned into weeks, our little weed grew and grew into a huge pumpkin plant. We thought it would be fun to see how it developed through the summer and to see if it would actually produce any pumpkins.

Every year we plant pumpkins in our pit of despair (it helps keep the weeds down and it is a cheap way to have pumpkins in the fall for decorating and carving)

We planted and watered the pumpkins in the pit; but never watered and cared for the pumpkin plant on the driveway. Funny thing is, the pumpkin plant on the driveway grew more pumpkins then any of our other pumpkin plants! We are still not sure how it got there - but it gave us some great entertainment this summer watching and checking out the growth of the pumpkins.



We still made it over to the pumpkin patch around the corner - a family favorite this time of year. I get excited (I mean the kids get excited) to pick out the pumpkins from the huge rows and take festive fall pictures.

TURNING 35

I have often complained about my birthday and sometimes the gifts I receive from my husband. Through the years I have had some funny memories of gifts he has shared with me.

Take for example the year I had to go to the mall to get a gift certificate for a wedding, Dan responded by saying I need to go to the mall too. In the 15 minutes it took me to get the certificate Dan had purchased all of my presents. The next morning I woke up to Dan giving me a Levi jacket (although cute, he gave me one the year before for my birthday) a shawl from Sears and a green turtle neck (very skinny long necked) sweater. Needless to say his 15 minute shopping trip didn't turn out so well and everything went back.

Then there was the year that Dan gave me a red cape for Christmas, it even had a muff. It was a wool coat that had slots for my arms to come out and put in the muff/pocket in front. I almost cried when he gave it to me. he told me it was red (which is my favorite color) and that it was from Dillard's. We also told me his mother liked it. I told him that should of been his first clue. That present went back to the store as well.

Then there was the year that for my birthday he took me water skiing on Willard Bay. It was the end of September and it was cold. A storm was coming in and nobody was out on the lake except us. Now this would be a great story if I was a die hard water skier, but I don't like water skiing. Boating was Dan's thing, so my birthday was just an excuse to get on the lake.

I also remember the year I was pregnant with Jaxson and all I wanted for Christmas was a new outfit to wear. I cant remember a Christmas that I didn't have something new to wear and I look forward to this every year. When I opened my gift on Christmas I pulled out a pair of sweats. I was so disappointed because the last thing I wanted was a pair of sweats. Being pregnant I already felt fat and ugly and I wanted something to make me feel beautiful. Although Dan didn't know at the time, I went upstairs and cried in the bathroom.

My brother recently reminded me of the time Dan gave me a psychic reading for my birthday. He was so excited about it and thought it was going to change my life. All I can remember is thinking why would he buy me a psychic reading and not being very pleased about my gift.

Since that time Dan and I have talked and he makes sure that I have something new to wear every year; however the condition is that I pick it out first. This has been working well.

I don't want you to think that Dan isn't thoughtful, because he is. He loves giving and most of the time does a great job (if he plans ahead). One year the kids and him gave me a red ipod with an engraving on the back MOM ROCKS! This was a great gift, it only took me a year and 1/2 to start using it.

This year Dan planned the best birthday and I wanted to write it down, so I wouldn't forget what a happy day it was for me and how his efforts (for the good) did not go unnoticed. My birthday happened to fall on a Sunday this year and i wasn't really looking forward to it. Mostly because we are currently the nursery leaders in the ward and I wasn't thrilled to babysit on my birthday. Let's face it, I don't think anyone hopes for this on their birthday. Anyway, I was feeling pretty blue and sitting in sacrament meeting with Reagan. She was being her usual self, noisy, distracting and all over me. I was getting frustrated because I wanted to listen to the testimony meeting as this is the only time I have to really feel the spirit at church. I told Reagan she was making me so mad and she immediately look at me and with concern and love in her eyes saying "Mommy, I don't want to make you so mad." She melted my heart, which was something I needed and I began to feel the spirit. When sacrament meeting was over, Dan told me that he had found someone to cover nursery for me and that he wanted me to be able to go to class. I was absolutely thrilled! This was the best present he could of given me. Although I can't remember what the lessons were about that day, I soaked them up and thoroughly enjoyed myself and time without the kids.

When we arrived home, I was in a pleasant mood - then Dan and kids gave me my "real" presents (Although I had already been given so much and didn't need anything else). I received the movie Letter to Juliet, which I had been wanting. A gift certificate to the spa to receive a massage and 2 pairs of jeans. Dan even picked out the right style and found them on his own. He was very proud of himself and he should be, because everything was perfect. I didn't even care that the pants were 2 sizes too big. He really got it right this year!

Later that afternoon we went to dinner at my parents house, then ended the day by having our close friends come over for cake and ice cream. IT WAS THE PERFECT BIRTHDAY, spending it with friends, family and the gospel!

LADIES NIGHT OUT

A few of my friends and I attended a special "Ladies Night Out" over the weekend. The event was located in Lindon at an outdoor location. The weather was beautiful and the night was filled with fun treats and pampering.

We started off the night by receiving mini-massages (Jaime was the lucky one and had her massage in a tee-pee)! Then we signed up for laser hair removal - this procedure HURT - but I didn't have to shave for a few weeks! Dinner was catered by Costa Vida, and we all got our nails painted, or hair done, or facial waxing.

We sampled dove chocolate truffles and received free Mac eye shadow. We even met a cute make up lady who gave us permanent lipstick (for the day).

We shopped and and ate yummy desserts -it was such a fun evening to spend with friends. What a great lead into my birthday this year!

RUN YOUR MARATHON - RACE TO THE TEMPLE

Madison had a great opportunity to participate in a run to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple with the young women in our ward. This Saturday morning run was a lead into Night of Excellence called "Run Your Marathon." We dropped off Madison at the church and then we headed to our station along the path to hand out fruit, water and encouragement. The girls had to run about 3 miles to get to the Temple. Madi has not run before, so I was so proud of her in making it all the way and achieving this remarkable feat.

The parents all surprised the girls by being at the temple - waiting for them at the finish line. As the girls ran up the street, the temple was there only view - a small glimpse of Heaven! As they arrived with cheering fans, they all received medals for accomplishing their goal.

This experience touched me because I thought it was so inspired. What a fabulous young women's presidency we have that they would put together such a neat opportunity for these girls and run along side them.

After talking with some of the leaders, I was even more proud of Madi, because she had a positive attitude the entire run, even though it was extremely hard for her to accomplish this task. She is a fighter, and I love her!

CAMPING - OR NOT TO CAMP?

My family decided it would be fun to go on a camping together this year. We were on the fence for quite a while, knowing that we are not campers and the plan was to go a week after we got back from Lake Powell camping. Going twice in a a year is a stretch for us, let alone twice in one month.

The first evening we set up camp and Scott and Ali proceeding to make dutch oven chicken with potatoes and vegetables. It was Delicious!

Going during the middle of September was very chilly at night - I had no idea what to expect, but this was not it. The days were gorgeous but the nights were freezing. The first night, I held the leftover dinner in a Ziploc bag to try and keep me warm. Surprisingly it worked really well.

On Saturday, we took the kids down to the lake - the water was low, but the sun was shining. Most of us girls sat out on lawn chairs and read, while the guys walked around the lake with the kids. Some of them even swam and fished. We spent a lot of time playing card games and eating good food! At least with this camping trip I didn't have to worry about scorpions, plus there was a toilet (it didn't flush, did we had a real outhouse).

Saturday night Dan and I were in charge of dinner, we made spaghetti and garlic rolls in the dutch oven. We also tried some new recipes in the dutch oven for dessert (pumpkin spice cake and a Carmel, raisin cake), both were delicious - we were all just really full.

Later that night Chip, Scott, Dad and Dan took the kids out on a snip hunt. They all really got into it. Scott had flashing red lights that they told the kids were the beady eyes of the snipe. I think Jaxson was really frightened, when Scott said he had been bitten by a snipe.

Sunday morning after breakfast we packed up and headed home. Not my ideal vacation - too much work for 2 days of camping. (Packing, set up, take down, clean up laundry, put away, etc.) I much prefer someone to make my bed while on vacation. That being said - it was a great way to spend time with my family - I would do it again, but not in September. It needs to be much warmer in order for me to go camping again.

BREAK YOUR HEART

Reagan and I were in the car the other day and the song Break Your Heart came on. Reagan said the funniest thing - I had to write it down.

"Mom, that is so sad, he is going to break our hearts. What are we going to do, we won't be able to love our families, if our hearts are broken."

At the end of the song she asked if we could listen to it again!

LAKE POWELL CAMPING

We were invited to go on a camping/boating trip over the Labor Day weekend with our friends the Sanford's. We have been wanting to take our kids camping for quite some time so we jumped on the opportunity. After we committed, then it sank it that this was going to be a lot of work and I wasn't sure if I wanted to go. I was very nervous about the sandstorms. There was no backing out so the adventure began. There was alot of prep work involved, especially because we had to pack light enough to get everything on the boat to get to our camp site. Dan decided to put up our tent before hand so we could remember what it looked like (It had been 7 years since our last camping trip - that is how much I enjoy camping) The tent was smaller than we thought, so we ended up borrowing a tent from my brother, along with his shade canopy. At least someone in our family our campers.

We left Thursday afternoon for the lake, about an hour outside of Lake Powell, the boat trailer got a flat. It was dark and we were on a road with no shoulder. Fortunately for us, we pulled over and there was a side road we were able to turn on and replace the flat without being in the middle of the road. I know Heavenly Father was watching over us and again I am grateful for his presence in my life.

Friday morning we met the rest of our party and headed out on the lake to find a spot. The boat was very heavy with all of our stuff; combined with getting through the channel the boat ride was very bumpy. Reagan kept saying she wanted to go back to the hotel. We found an incredible beach for the kids to play in and set up camp. The only problem was it was so hot that just walking up the small hill to our tent site was exhausting. The sand was so hot it burned your feet. We got things set up enough to go out boating and decided we would continue our efforts when the sun set and it wasn't so hot. The next couple of days were spent, wake boarding, surfing, and tubing.

On Sunday we spent the day swimming, exploring the lake and cliff jumping. The kids lived in their life jackets from sun up, til sun down. Dan and Scott took a bunch of the kids on a hike up the mountain which was harder that they first anticipated. The best way down was to come down on the other side of the mountain and swim back to shore. No one had life jackets and they had to abandon their shoes to get back. The swim was further that they thought and as Jaxson was swimming back with Dan. He said "Dad, if I don't make it. Tell Mom, Madi and Reagan I love them."

Jaxson has really picked up water sports. He was able to get over and back on the wake. He surfed with Scott and loved, loved. loved tubing. That kids' smile is a mile long. We had people asking us if he ever stopped smiling. (That's my happy kid!)

Reagan loved the water as much as Jaxson, she was the first one in the lake every morning and the last one out. She went tubing with the kids and was grinning from ear to ear. Scott also took her surfing and she loved it. I was freaking out as a mom, because she has to balance with Scott to get up and then hold onto his legs. The first time she looked a little frightened; however was so excited when she got back in the boat. The next day she surfed again and had a huge smile on her face the entire time.

Madi enjoyed tubing and didn't enjoy tubing. She kept telling Dan she was scared, but it was fun. Overall she took it pretty good. (I personally can't stand tubing, it scares the life out of me, not being in control.) The second day tubing Tyson took them out on the lake and thrashed the kids on the tube. Madi took a pretty big hit having the tube flip and cried. She told Dan she was never going to go back on a boat again.

On day two I gave up on trying to keep sand out of our tent and beds. It was an impossible task. I had to loosen up and just enjoy the experience, including the sand. The second night the Harline's found a scorpion in their tent as they were getting the boys ready for bed. Glen tried to find it and couldn't so the adult males started pulling everything out of the tent one by one and shaking it. They still couldn't find it. They ended up sleeping on their boat (I don't blame them). Madi and I had a hard time wanting to go to bad after that, we were both scared. As we made the journey up to the tent, we tiptoed in and started looking at all our bedding. We said a prayer to calm our souls and help us to sleep. The following morning the scorpion was found right outside the tent and was captured.

We met some fantastic families on our trip. The company we traveled with have known each other for quite some time and have been on several boating trips. It was nice that they know what they were doing. There were a total of 24 people including our families. Tyson and Ali Florence put the trip together - they have three beautiful children (Kaitlyn, Zac and Bridger). They brought with them Dave and Julie Smart and two of their children (Conner and Kylie) They also brought a friend Sandra. We found out that Dave is the brother of Ed Smart and we were able to talk about Elizabeth a little and get some incite on how well she is doing. Dave told us that she along with the rest of her family were all given blessings from the first presidency of the church shortly after her return. She was given a blessing by President Hinckley. He told her that none of this was her fault and that she was still as pure as the white of snow. I really touched me to hear that and I will always remember that conversation. Glen and Stacy Harline were the other family that traveled with us and their 3 children (Olivia, Mitchell and Owen.)

The kids all got along really well. Jaxson and Jade are two peas in a pod and went lizard hunting every day. They actually caught a few. Reagan and Ivy (or Iby as she calls her) Loves playing together as well. It was nice to have Kylie Smart there for Madi - both of them were 12 and got along great the entire trip.

Although it was hot, the water was a great escape to cool down during the day. Lake Powell is a beautiful place and we had gorgeous weather. The last day the wind kicked up a little so every time you opened your mouth, you got a little grit. but nothing terrible or scary, thankfully. We couldn't have gone with a nicer group of people. For not knowing anyone but the Sanford's it worked out really well. Everyone was welcoming and so friendly. It was a great way to end the summer!

OCD?

I have always thought Reagan was a little OCD. Tonight she proved it to me once again with her cup formation.

We were downstairs watching a movie with the kids and my parents. When the move was over we all headed upstairs to find Reagan sitting on the floor lining up all of the plastic cups on the floor. My mom was the first one to see her and said, Angela you need to come see this.

I need to back up a little to tell you about the second funny part of this story. It is August and the weather has been quite warm. 90 degrees or more. Recently Reagan has enjoyed turning on the fireplace throughout the day. I am constantly turning it off and telling her not to turn it on due to the temperature in our house and the AC battling the fireplace during the day.

Now back to the story - When I arrived upstairs, low and behold the fireplace was on again. I immediately said "REAGAN!" She turned to me and in a quiet voice without stopping. "oh, I'm sorry mom, I turned on the fireplace." Then immediately went back to lining up cups. We all had a good laugh; she is such a turkey!

BOBCAT!!!

Jaxson earned his bobcat award at pack meeting this week for scouts. We are very proud of him and the accomplishments he is making towards the scouting program. He loves attending scouts and learning new things. We have set a goal for him to earn his wolf award before the end of the year. He is making huge strides in accomplishing this. We have tried to set aside Sunday afternoons for him to work on some of his scouting requirements; which is a good way to spend part of the afternoon as a family. Way to go Jaxson!

DINOSAUR MUSEUM or SPLASH PARK?

Thanksgiving Point does $2.00 Tuesday's during the month of August. Jamie Park thought it would be fun to take the kids, so Kris and I joined her and we all ventured down the Dinosaur Museum. What we saw when we got there was not what we expected. Lines out both downs, wrapped around the building. We decided we didn't want to take that adventure after all and headed back to South Jordan. The kids were a little disappointed until we said "Let's go get some ice cream." We went to San Gelato in Day Break and sat outside to enjoy the summer afternoon. The kids located the fountains next store and didn't waste a moment getting drenched from head to toe. I think the definitely enjoyed the fountains more than they would have the Dinosaur Museum. (Why do we try to educate them or spend morning when they enjoy the simple things for FREE!) Lesson learned - it turned out to be a very enjoyable afternoon visiting with friends and eating ice cream. What could be better?

MADI TURNS 12

 

 

My little girl is growing up! She turned 12 and has entered Young Women's, gone to girls camp and started Junior High all in the same month. I can't believe what a beautiful girl she is inside and out. I am so proud of her and the person she has become and the young lady she is becoming. She has a beautiful spirit and truly cares for others. She is an amazing big sister to both Jaxson and Reagan. They both look up to her so much. Reagan wants to be with her whenever she is around and follows her like a little lost puppy. She has high standards, wants to choose the right and is a very sweet girl to both her family and friends. (I'm not sure why I am so lucky to be her mother; but I thank my lucky stars every day that I am.)

All Madi wanted for her birthday was a cell phone, she has been asked for one for years and we kept putting it off stating that when she turned 12 or started junior high she could have one. That came much too quickly! We tried to down play it and told her that we couldn't afford a phone right now. I think we were doing pretty good until Jaxson opened up his mouth and told Madi that she was going to love what she was getting for her birthday and that it was something she had been wanting for a long time. Funny thing is, he was talking about a backpack she wanted for school and Madi assumed it was the phone. We put all of Madi's little presents in her backpack including her cell phone and I walked around the house until she noticed that I was wearing it. I placed a present in each pocket (little calculator, razor, mascara and eyelash curler, leggings and shoes) I also put in tickets to go see Tarzan at the Tuachan theater. When she found the phone she was jumping up and down, screaming. I have never seen a bigger smile on her face. For the next couple of weeks her phone was attached at her hip (literally). Hopefully the newness wears off shortly.

In lieu of a birthday party this year, I took Madi to St. George on a girls trip along with our goods friends Jen and Hailey Winterton. We had a complete riot spending some quality time with the girls. We left Thursday morning and when we arrived we started shopping immediately - before we even arrived at the condo. The only unfortunate thing that happened on the way down was the phone call I received from Dan stating that he went into the dining room and found a pink and brown polka-dot bag. (Which was Madi's suitcase) Reagan had been dragging around the bad earlier in the morning and left in there. When we were packing the car, I had (so I thought) all the bad in the mud room ready to go. I didn't even realize it was missing. Thankfully Dan was able to get a hold of the St. George shuttle and drop off her bag, we just had to meet the driver to pick it up. Crisis solved!

After we picked up Madi's bag we made pizza bubble for dinner, watched a chick flick and ate chocolate covered strawberries with sparkling cider. We also became crafty and made our own headbands. They are all the rage today with the skinny headband and the fabric flower on the side. They turned out darling and it was a lot of fun to make them with the girls.

The following morning we got up and headed to the St. George Temple to do baptisms for the dead. This was both Madi and Hailey's first experience, due to them just turning 12. It had been ages since I had completed baptisms and it was a wonderful experience to go and feel of the spirit. The St. George Temple is is the busiest temple for baptisms currently, due to both the Oquirrh Mountain and Draper Temple opening up in the Salt Lake valley. The temple is extremely white and set against the red rocks in St. George it is absolutely beautiful. After we completed our baptisms we went over the the visitor center and I learned something new. There is a picture and a story about the St. George Temple I found fascinating. When the temple first opened the temple president was Wilford Woodruff. He had an experience where the founding fathers of our country appeared to him and asked him for their temple work to be completed. I just goes to show that the hand of God was present when this country was put together. I am grateful for thy hand in all things.

After baptisms we went straight to Las Vegas (what a contrast from the temple) During the drive we listen to 80's music and brought back the good old memories of Tiffany, Debbie Gibson, Madonna, Paula Abdul, etc. We got the girls hooked on Tiffany and it became our theme song for the trip. As we pulled into Vegas we went to the premium outlets to school shop and then we enjoyed dinner at Serendipity 3. The decor and atmosphere here at the restaurant was so much fun.

The following morning we hung out at the pool and soak up the sun rays until check out. We went shopping again and found and H&M. Madi and Hailey were so excited because it stood for there names. We were very successful here with all of our purchases - plus they had good prices!

That evening we headed back to St. George to attend Tarzan at Tuachan. Madi has loved the music from this Broadway play since Dan and I saw it in New York in 2006.

On Sunday morning we soaked up the sun again and then headed home.

The weekend was full of laughter, singing, shopping, silliness and lots of treats! What could be more fun.

I will always remember this trip! My little girl is growing up and it is fun to start sharing the same interests with her and having fun together. I hope we will always be close friends.

JON SCHMIDT CONCERT

We had the privilege of attending a private piano concert this week. Madi's piano teacher arranged for Jon Schmidt to come and play for the kids for about an hour. Our family had never seen him perform before and what a delight it was to see his talent. During the concert we were able to ask him questions and make requests. We were all mesmerized by his ability! He started taking lessons a seven years old and started writing music at the age of eleven. He told the kids how he didn't like the piano at first and hated practicing; however told the kids not to give up and that it was really cool to be good as something. I think this was great for Madi to hear, because she has been wanting to quit lessons. Unfortunately for her, we are not going to let her quit. We told her that when she could play Road Trip by Jon Schmidt, she could quit. (ha ha) Jon played the piano upside down and with his toes; Jaxson thought this was awesome! We walked out of the concert with Jon Schmidt piano books and cd's. It was an amazing opportunity and I'm so glad we got the privilege of going.

Right before the concert Reagan told me she didn't want to go and that Papa wanted to play with her and that it was his turn. I called Dad and asked him if he would be willing to spend some time with Reagan because she said so. He laughed and told me to bring her over. It really made the concert more enjoyable for us having her with Papa, so I was glad Reagan thought of it.

PRESCHOOL BEGINS

I can't believe my baby started pre-school today. She was super excited to go to school like her older sister and brother, it makes her feel so big. Reagan is going to pre-school with her good friend Mia and both of them walked down the stairs with their backpacks on ready to take on the challenge in stride. While all the moms were getting the kids checked in, Reagan looked at me and said "Bye Mom"; then started pushing me out the door! She was ready to be a big kid all my herself and didn't want her Mom spoiling it. She is a crack up and knows what she wants and when she wants it.

When I picked Reagan up from pre-school I learned that her teacher got a little taste of her darling personality. I guess when they were having snack time, Reagan got distracted by something else and left the table. When all the other kids were done with snack, Ms. Elke started cleaning up and Reagan came back saying "But, I wanted my snack." (in a pouting voice) Ms. Elke responded by saying, "Your mommy is going to pick you up soon and then you can have lunch at home." Reagan immediately stated "But I don't want lunch, I want my snack!"

She enjoyed her school very much and even brought home homework to return the for the next day. She is growing up way too fast!