'tis the season

Red rock

We got the opportunity to go out to RedRock today for a little photo shoot done by my friend Jamie. She is SO awesome to do this for anyone who wanted to participate. She took a bunch of family pics, which she's going to put on a cd, and let us have later. I can't wait to see them. Thanks Jamie!!!

So, we of course snapped a few of our own on the way out.

Stopped at Red Robin for lunch on the way home. Justin was being so cute looking up at daddy. I didn't catch the cuteness very well. But, it was really very sweet.

Hope you're having a great weekend!

Happy Birthday Mom

Happy Birthday Mom!!! We love you so much.
Hope you have a fantastic day.

Friday Funnies

A Blonde is watching the news with her husband when the newscaster says 'Two Brazilian men die in a skydiving accident.' The blonde starts crying to her husband, sobbing 'That's horrible!!! So many men dying that way!' Confused, he says, 'Yes dear, it is sad, but they were skydiving, and there is always that risk involved.' After a few minutes, the blonde, still sobbing, says, 'How many is a Brazilian?'

bloguphoria

Got some bloggy love in the mail.....

This little package came yesterday. Shauna is SO sweet!!! The cocoa was yummy!! (so were the kisses) Thanks Shauna!!!This came today from Amy. This was for the stocking swap that The Robins Nest hosted. The stocking is loaded with more goodies. I can't decide if I'm going to open them now, or wait til the big day. Thanks Amy!!
Here is a bag I finished tonight. It's for a friend from church, who's daughter is being baptized on Saturday. I love the colors in this. I just love girly colors. I hope she likes it, if not, I'll be adding it to my shop.

All this blog love reminds me that I need to get busy with my Christmas cards. Yikes!!

Ho Ho Ho

Just posting some pictures from the weekend.

Here are my boys giving y'all the evil eye....

Our tree, all decked out.....

My choir boy.....(that's the Christmas tree skirt)

Santa's little helpers...or not!

And finally, some pictures with Grandma and Grandpa.....

Thanksgiving wrap-up

I can't believe I haven't posted about our lovely Thanksgiving weekend yet. So, I figured I'd better get it down before I forget my memories. My brain grows fuzzy these days. ☺

My brother and parents came for the week. It was so nice to visit with them. Mom pretty much caught me up on my laundry, but now I'm already behind again--sigh!

Mom and I spent part of Wednesday baking pies and prepping for Thursday. She baked her lemon meringue (for my dad-he loves lemon meringue) and her cream cheese pie, which tastes like cheesecake--YUMMO!!

I baked a Dutch apple pie and two pumpkin pies. I was bummed I couldn't find my trusty apple crumb pie recipe, so I had to find one off the internet. It came out fairly close I think to the one I usually use. I tossed the recipe into the trash before I tried the pie though, because I didn't think it was going to be any good. Good grief! Now I have to hunt down that recipe one more time.

Thanksgiving day was lovely. We actually got rain here on Wednesday and it was still rainy a bit on Thursday. So nice for a change. I made two of my super easy, super yummy cream cheese pies and Jon got the turkey going. Doesn't take long for that bird to start smelling the house up with delicious aromas.

We had an early afternoon dinner. I had a huge plateful of food, didn't go too much for seconds. Guess I was saving room for dessert. I had four slices of pie, then went back an hour or so later for two more slices!!! I'm sure I gained ten pounds that day. We spent the rest of the evening watching Christmas movies on tv. It was a lovely, restful day (well, aside from all the food prep and cleanup).

I did NOT hit the sales on Friday. Jon wanted to hit Target though. He wanted to find a battery charger for his camera. He left I guess around five or six. He woke me up at about 7:30 with the phrase: "You should see it outside!" I asked "Is it snowing?!?!?!?"

Here's what it was:

Fog!!! We haven't seen fog in Vegas in the ten years we've lived here. Pretty amazing stuff for us. It was still hanging around when I got up. Began to dissipate though as the sun rose higher in the sky.

We thought it was pretty awesome (as long as we didn't have to drive in it).

Spen Friday pulling out the Christmas decorations. We got the tree up and called it good for the day. I'm going to have to post pictures later. I can't find Jon's camera with all the pictures on it-dang it!!!

Friday night, my mom was so kind to watch the kids so Jon and I could go on a date. We saw Twilight. I went in prepared to be disappointed, because I figured it wouldn't live up to the book. movies just never do. But, I really enjoyed it. No, it wasn't as good as the book, but I thought it followed along pretty closely. I kind of thought Jon was going to think it was lame, that it was too slow moving, or chic flickish or whatever. I was surprised at the end, that he was like--Oh Man!!! I want more!

It was a really nice week for me. Loved having my parents and brother here. I was sad to have them go home.

Hope you all had a beautiful holiday!

Blessed

Well, it's the last day of the month and I just wanted to squeeze in one last gratitude post.
I have a few things on my mind right now that I'm so grateful for.
We've been a little sick this week with the cold. So today, I left the boys home with Jon while I went to church--no fun for Jon, but great for me. I am so grateful to be able to attend my meetings again. Not being able to attend for almost the last two months was the pits. I love to be embraced by the spirit there, and without the boys today, I was really able to tune in to the lessons and partake of the spirit.
Many of the lessons today were on the subject of gratitude (go figure). Funny, that it's been on my mind even more than usual with it being Thanksgiving. I've been reading a book called Redemption Road by Tony Sorenson Brown.

It's set in Africa, and is about a woman finding her way back to the gospel. It's a beautiful story. What has really touched me though, is the background. The story of the people of Africa. I know it's a novel, and is fictional, but I know that what is written about this continent and it's people is true. I am astounded sometimes by how much I take for granted. Not having to boil my water for ten minutes before I drink it. Not having to worry about being bitten by a mosquito because it could be a death sentence. Instead, I gripe about small discomforts that would be warmly welcomed by these beautiful people. Oh, I only got two meals today-instead of my usual three? Darn! For many in Africa, one slice of bread a day is a feast.
I see those commercials on tv for the suffering children of Africa, and it breaks my heart. But do I ever do anything?
It's going to be a small Christmas in our house this year, and I'm glad. I'm sorry not to be able to give my kids' their every desire, but what we do have is infinitely more than so many people in our world.
I truly am so grateful for every little oddball blessing that I take for granted. I have SO MUCH. I pray I can learn to give more of myself to the world around me.

Something to chew on

As we embark upon this crazy, hectic and insane time of year; here's a little something to ponder.

(whoo hoo!! my first you tube imbedded in my blog!! Go mikki!! j/k)

Today's funny email

haha...some of these i never heard of...but they are still funny...





I just want to thank all of you for your educational emails over the past year.

Thanks to you, I no longer open a public bathroom door without using a paper towel.

I can't use the remote in a hotel room because I don't know what the last person was doing while flipping through the channels.
I can't sit down on the hotel bedspread because I can only imagine what has happened on it since it was last washed.

I can't enjoy lemon slices in my tea or on my seafood anymore because lemon peels have been found to contain all kinds of nasty germs including feces.

I have trouble shaking hands with someone who has been driving because the number one pastime while driving alone is picking your nose.

Eating a Little Debbie sends me on a guilt trip because I can only imagine how many gallons of Trans fats I have consumed over the years.

I can't touch any woman's purse for fear she has placed it on the floor of a public bathroom.

I must send my special thanks to whoever sent me the one about poop in the glue on envelopes because I now have to use a wet sponge with every envelope that needs sealing.

Also, now I have to scrub the top of every can I open for the same reason.

I no longer have any savings because I gave it to a sick girl (Penny Brown) who is about to die in the hospital for the 1,387,258th time.
I no longer have any money at all, but that will change once I receive the $15,000 that Bill Gates/Microsoft and AOL are sending me for participating in their special e-mail program

I no longer worry about my soul because I have 363,214 angels looking out for me, and St.Theresa's novena has granted my every wish.
I no longer eat KFC because their chickens are actually horrible mutant freaks with no eyes or feathers.

I no longer use cancer-causing deodorants even though I smell like a water buffalo on a hot day.

Thanks to you, I have learned that my prayers only get answered if I forward an e-mail to seven of my friends and make a wish within five minutes.

Because of your concern I no longer drink Coca Cola because it can remove toilet stains.

I no longer can buy gasoline without taking someone along to watch the car so a serial killer won't crawl in my back seat when I'm pumping gas.

I no longer drink Pepsi or Dr Pepper since the people who make these products are atheists who refuse to put 'Under God' on their cans.

I no longer use Saran wrap in the microwave because it causes cancer.
And thanks for letting me know I can't boil a cup of water in the microwave anymore because it will blow up in my face...disfiguring me for life.
I no longer check the coin return on pay phones because I could be pricked with a needle infected with AIDS.

I no longer go to shopping malls because someone will drug me with a perfume sample and rob me.
I no longer receive packages from UPS or FedEx since they are actually Al Qaeda in disguise.
I no longer shop at Target since they are French and don't support our American troops or the Salvation Army.
I no longer answer the phone because someone will ask me to dial a number for or which I will get a phone bill with calls to Jamaica , Uganda , Singapore and Uzbekistan .

I no longer buy expensive cookies from Neiman-Marcus since I now have their recipe.

Thanks to you, I can't use anyone's toilet but mine because a big brown African spider is lurking under the seat to cause me instant death when it bites my butt.

And thanks to your great advice, I can't ever pick up $5.00 dropped in the parking lot because it probably was placed there by a rapist waiting underneath my car to grab my leg.

If you don't send this e-mail to at least 144,000 people in the next 10 minutes, a large dove with diarrhea will land on your head at 5:00 PM this afternoon and the fleas from 12 camels will infest your back, causing you to grow a hairy hump. I know this will occur because it actually happened to a friend of my next door neighbor's ex-mother-in-law's second husband's cousin's beautician...

So thankful for....

Shimmy Mom recently posted a list of 100 things she is thankful for.
I think it's a wonderful exercise in gratitude. So in honor of Thanksgiving, I'm going to give it a shot. Here goes:
(in no particular order--well, except maybe the first one, or few)

1. A loving Father in Heaven
2. The Savior
3. His infinite atonement
4. the gospel
5. My husband
6. My kids
7. my mom
8. my dad
9. my brothers and sister
10. in n out burgers :p
11. chocolate
12. pumpkin pie
13. cheesecake
14. food, in general
15. warm fuzzy slipper socks
16. hot, hot baths
17. hot, hot showers
18. lotion
19. pedicures
20. toddler kisses
21. back rubs
22. the wonderful smell before the rain
23. the wonderful smell after the rain
24. the fact that it rained here in Vegas all day today
25. our warm, comfy home
26. food in my pantry
27. my hubby's job
28. the computer
29. the blogosphere
30. flowers
31. toothpaste
32. the delete key
33. the backspace key
34. wonderful friends
35. a wonderful ward
36. Christmas time
37. prayer
38. Advil
39. Pepsi
40. my comfy bed
41. two bathrooms
42. unemployment pay
43. the internet
44. notebooks
45. springtime
46. snow (although I don't get to see it very often)
47. my grandmas and grandpas (this should have been closer to the top of my list)
48. Shining examples
49. education
50. my sweek kitty cat
51. my sweet poochies who passed away already
52. life lessons
53. helpful friends
54. a kind neighbor
55. that the school is right across the street
56. that church is right behind the school
57. romance
58. movies
59. American Idol
60. magazines
61. good books
62. imagination
63. fluffy clouds
64. raindrops on roses
65. gerbera daisies
66. tulips
67. lilacs
68. the scent of lilacs
69. a caress
70. my husbands kisses
71. my daughters' hugs
72. my washer and dryer
73. plumbing
74. babies' laughter
75. our car
76. fresh cut grass
77. leftover turkey sandwiches
78. peppermint candy
79. the smell of fire in a fireplace
80. Christmas traditions
81. music
82. the warmth of the suns rays
83. starlight
84. birthday wishes
85. comfy old shoes
86. the phone
87. cameras
88. make-up
89. deodorant
90. relative good health
91. healthy kids
92. our prophet (also should be up near the top)
93. Scriptures (again " ")
94. comments on my blog
95. my bishop
96. the temple
97. sleep
98. breath
99. tissue with the lotion in it
100. all of you, my blogging buddies

Hope I didn't repeat anything. That's kind of tough.

Hope you all have a beautiful and most blessed Thanksgiving!

insert big sigh of relief

I am so grateful to be done with this past week.
I was wiped out by the end of the day Saturday, my officaial last day of work.
I'm not too happy to be out of a job, but I am Titanic-ed out. I've worked in the gift shop for the Titanic Exhibition here in Vegas for the past three years. Usually it's only in a spot for six months to a year, but I guess Vegas is just a special circumstance. I've been fortunate to have this job, and my boss. She's been very flexible with me. I was the assistant manager up until I went on maternity leave last year, which I had to start early since I was prego with the twins. I wasn't able to work the extra day shift when I went back, so I was demoted to a lead cashier position (although I still performed many of the same jobs I did as an assistant). That was ok with me though. It still paid very well, and I was able to work fewer hours than I would have had to work in any other retail position out there. So, in that instance, I'm a little sad to see this job end. Now I'll have to actually work for my money! LOL

Anyhow, it was a busy week for me. I worked ten days in a row (of course, most of them were only 5 hour shifts), and Friday and Saturday were pretty long days for me.
Saturday evening, after we'd finished up our workshift, the district manager wanted to take us out to dinner to say thanks. It was a lovely dinner. We went to a steakhouse, I had filet mignon. I've only had that one other time in my life. It's so yummy. I'm not a big steak person, but that's the way to go if you're going to eat a steak. So, anyhow, Saturday I worked from about 8:30 in the morning, got off work at 4:30, then had to hang around that end of town until six o'clock to go out to dinner (wish I'd taken a nap in my car). We got to the restaurant at about 6:30 and didn't leave until 8:30!!! Why does it take so long to eat at a higher end restaurant?

I was SO happy to walk into the doors of my humble abode. Which brings me to my true gratitude item today. My home. I'm so thankful for my home. It's definitely nothing fancy, and most days it's dirtier than it is clean. But, its warm and welcoming after a LONG day at work, or even after a week away on vacation.

Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your friends. Okay, here's what you're supposed to do, and try not to be a SCROOGE!!! Just copy (not forward) this entire email and paste into a new e-mail that you can send. Change all the answers so that they apply to you. Then send this to a whole bunch of people you know, INCLUDING the person that sent it to you......Tis the Season to be NICE!
1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I love to wrap presents, so wrapping paper
2. Real tree or Artificial? both. We have a huge prelit artificial tree that we usually use, but sometimes I just love to get a real one.

3. When do you put up the tree? thanksgiving weekend
4. When do you take the tree down? Usually the day after New Years.
5. Do you like eggnog? Nope
6. Favorite gift received as a child? Pink and Pretty Barbie
7. Hardest person to buy for? My dad
8. Easiest person to buy for? my kids
9. Do you have a nativity scene? yep, four or five of them
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? mail
11.Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I can't think of one.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? It's a Wonderful Life

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Usually in December
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Can't remember
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? fudge, divinity, cookies, peanut brittle
16. Lights on the tree? Yes. Usually the multi-colored ones
17. Favorite Christmas song? Mary, did you Know?

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? stay Home
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Yup 20. Angel on the tree top or a star? star
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? One, on Christmas Eve (usually pajamas) All the rest EARLY Christmas morning.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? grumpy shoppers
23. Favorite ornament theme or color? red, green, gold and silver
24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? turkey sandwiches and finger food. (chips and dip, olives, cheese stuffed celery sticks, crackers and cheese log, home-made candy etc. etc. etc.)

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? a new sewing machine and a new digital camera

26. Who is most likely to respond to this? Mom, Aunt Myrtle Rae
27. Who is least likely to respond to this? dont know

If there's no rest

for the wicked,

I must be freaking

EVIL INCARNATE!!!

Wordless Wednesday (does video count?)