SO Thankful

I know I have been much of a slacker as far as blogging, but my life is so busy with so many things right now. I do miss my wonderful blogging friends that always make my day and have great things to encourage me.

I would feel so ungrateful if I didn't post something about the many things in my life that warm my heart and that I am so thankful for.

We had a great Thanksgiving. It was at our house, which is a first in a long time. It turned out great. Wonderful food, great family and fun.

I am so blessed with so many things. Especially this year, I am focusing so much on the things that mean the most, which aren't things.

I am grateful for

great kids that are always trying to be great examples in their every day lives

great husband that has put up with a wife gone every day all day long for 12 wks

Warm and comfortable home

Great friends that have helped to make me who I am

Great family that are so loving and caring

Health and strength to continue on

An end to my dream of wanting to be a teacher, I can't believe it.

A testimony of the gospel and all the joy it brings to me.

A son with a desire to serve the Lord in a full time mission in a couple of weeks.

I am so thankful for all I have and just hope that I can continue to be strong in all that I do.

I AM SO THANKFUL

Easter Memories

With Easter getting so close, I have been thinking and thinking more about past Easters. I really enjoy this time of the year. It is supposed to finally be Spring. I love to drive down the road by my house and see baby lambs. They aren't there yet but they will be soon. I love to ponder about the real meaning of Easter and the resurrection of our Savior.

As I was thinking, I remembered my husband and my first Easter together. On Easter growing up we had usually had an Easter hunt and possibly a new dress or something like it. Being the oldest, I was still used of this and wanted to start our own traditions. I decided that I would have to do something special for him. I bought plastic eggs and put candy in them and also bought him a shirt and a camera case for Easter. I decided that it would be fun to hide the eggs before he woke up and also have breakfast ready for him. I started to get everything ready for breakfast and hid the eggs. He woke up and started to look for the candy filled eggs and then we both noticed a bad smell, a burnt smell of some sort. He continued to look for the eggs and I kept trying to figure out what the smell could be and then I remembered that I had put a plastic egg in the oven for a hard place to find. I had turned on the oven to preheat it and it had melted the plastic egg and all of the candy all over the place. What an Easter to remember!!

We still laugh and tell our kids about our first Easter together. How crazy!!!

I hope you all have a great Easter and remember not to hide Easter eggs in a preheating oven.

Memory of a feeling

Do you have a memory of a feeling at Christmastime?? This time of year always has been very special to me, probably because my parents always made it a special time when I was a child, but I know it has much deeper and many more reasons for this memory.

This time of year brings back deep feelings of falling in LOVE. I remember the first time my husband picked me up on a blind date was at Christmastime and I was listening to Christmas music. We went on a double date and went to see the lights at Temple Square. We also saw Mr. Kruger's Christmas while we were there. Two weeks later he sent me roses. This impressed my mom but I didn't think much of us at that time.

We dated on and off for the next year and the next Christmas I made him a quilt. He loved it. It was at that time that I began to fall in love. I still have the Christmas CD that was playing both the first year I met him and the next year when I began to fall in love and when I play it even now it brings back many deep feelings.

The cd is "Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton's Once Upon a Christmas". There are many romantic Christmas songs on that cd, one of my favorites is " A Christmas to Remember". Maybe you need a romantic cd for this time of the year, check this one out. It has many beautiful songs. I have probably bought 4-5 of these cds through the year because they get used so much at this time of the year. I have a sister that also loves this cd, because it was played so much at our house when I was at home. It is amazing how music can bring back some wonderful deep feelings, in this case deep feelings of LOVE. What a great time for romance!!!!!

Little at at time

I must say that this is my most favorite time of the year, and I probably have stated that mildly. I have always loved this time of the year. This year is crazy because I haven't even had time to decorate my house and that is so unlike me. Today I finally had time to get out my Christmas Bedspread. Yep, I have a Christmas Bedspread that my mom made me a few years ago. This bedspread means a lot to me and took a lot of time and effort. She made it after a song that I sang as a solo when I was five years old at a Christmas Ward Party. I still can't believe that I sang it all by myself at the age of 5. It is called Christmas. Each of the symbols on this blanket symbolize the letters in this song and this will always mean a lot to me.

In case you are interested this is how the song goes so that you can see the blanket and realize why there are some of the pictures on it.

C- is for the Candy wrapped around the Christmas tree

H- is for the happiness with all the family

R- is for the reindeer prancing by my window pane

I- is for the icing on the cake as sweet as sugar cane

S- is for the stocking on the chimney wall

T- is for the toys beneath the tree so tall

M- is for the mistletoe where everyone gets kissed

A- is for the angels that make up this Christmas list

S- is for dear Santa who makes every kid his pet,

Be good and he'll give you everything in his Christmas alphabet

How early??

I can't believe how each year the day after Thanksgiving shopping gets earlier and earlier. The stores are opening earlier and earlier and some all night long. There are even some stores that have sales on Thanksgiving day.

This is a tradition that Mike and I have had since we were first married. We go shopping real early on Black Friday also known as the day after Thanksgiving. Some years we really find a lot of great deals and it is real worth it.

I remember one year I was so pregnant and I thought I was doing fine. I was standing in a very long line and I almost passed out. Everyone around me was worried, but all I needed was a little food and to move around a little. There have been a couple of years that we have gone with my sister Kristi or her and her husband. That is always fun.

This tradition has become harder as we have moved down here for the last four years. We have to be sneaky and pack what we purchase carefully into our Expedition. Many people say that we are crazy and that they can't believe that Mike will go with me, but he always does and doesn't even complain. We go to breakfast and shop and just enjoy being together. This always gets us a very good start on what we need to get for Christmas. The older that I get I wonder if it is worth it, because it is so hard to get up early on a long weekend, but it always ends up being worth the few extra hours.

I must say that I really don't enjoy standing in long lines and that is probably one of the things that I hate most about the shopping the day after Thanksgiving.

If you go shopping how early do you go??? I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving. Thanks for all your comments.

Hospital on Thanksgiving

As I am thinking about Thanksgiving and ones from the past, I remember one of our most memorable Thanksgivings ever.

It was probably about 7 or 8 years ago. We were living in Herriman at the time and Mike woke up to go play football on Thanksgiving morning with his friends from high school. It always ends up being about 75 or so men by the time everyone invites all that they know. I was enjoying the late morning and sleeping in as long as I could when I received a phone call from his brother, Max. He told me that I needed to meet him in the emergency room at the hospital and that Mike's ear had been yanked off. There I was picturing them just holding his ear and Mike bleeding all over and then Max started to laugh and told me that it had been ripped but it was still attached. I was a little irritated that he was teasing me. I got in the car and headed over to the hospital and sure enough he had a good majority of his ear ripped off from his head. They ended up stitching it up and then they wrapped his head with a red bandage all around his head. What a way to start my Thanksgiving off. I guess I was very thankful that morning that it wasn't worse and that it was still somewhat attached. After that I have tried to talk him into just watching football on Thanksgiving and some years he does and others he still plays.

Make sure that you make a great Thanksgiving memory this year and enjoy.

Autumn's Treasures

I received this idea from one of my blogging friends and loved it so I decided to do one too:

TOP 20 THINGS I LOVE ABOUT FALL (in no particular order)
1. The crispiness of cool weather in the air.
2. The beautiful colors of all the fall leaves.
3. Memories of homemade baked bread and soup after coming home from school as a child.
4. Reaping the harvest from my garden, some year better than others.
5. Fall and Halloween decorations
6. I love sitting by a fire all snuggled up with my husband and a blanket.
7. The smell of a cinnamon or pumpkin candle.
8. Soft homemade sugar cookies with orange frosting
9. Baking goodies with my kids
10. I love pumpkin cookies, cobbler, pumpkin bars, and pumpkin bread. YUMMY
11. The anticipation of the holidays to come right around the corner.
12. I always think about certain friends at this time of year.
13. Carmel apples or homemade carmel popcorn
14. I love wearing my sweaters, jackets and jeans.
15. All of the great movies to buy and all the new ones coming out to theaters.
16. I love rides to the mountains to see the fall leaves.
17. Giving out candy at the trunk or treat and at home.
18. I love to shop in the Fall.
19. I always look forward to General Conference on television.
20. I love Candy Corn.

GORGEOUS

I just had to take a picture of the beautiful roses that he sent me. Aren't they gorgeous? I just can't believe how beautiful they are.

This day will always be a GREAT day for me

Many years ago on Thursday September 11, I made the greatest decision of my life. I was married to my sweetheart in the Salt Lake Temple. I can't believe that it has been that long ago. Time has flown so fast. We have had so many happy and sad times together. We have seen our four beautiful children come into our home and bring us so much happiness. We have struggled together trying to figure out exactly how we are supposed to be parents. We have seen our children go through many great milestones and continue to grow and grow. They are awesome and continue to bring us so much joy. We have built our dreamhouse together and left it and started our own adventure down here in Cedar. We have made time for us throughout all of the years and I am so glad that I can still say he is my best friend and my lover. I don 't get a chance very often to talk my husband up, so here is my opportunity.

There are 22 things that I LOVE about my husband

1. His beautiful blue eyes.

2. Of course his red hair.

3. He is built.....

4. He has a great smile.

5. He has a great sense of humor.

6. He knows how to make someone feel better when they have had a very bad day( and not just me)

7. He loves my parents.

8. He always wants to be the best father he can be.

9. He makes me happy.

10. He is concerned about his health and works out daily.

11. He is very committed to anything that he says he will.

12. He is a TALKER, if you get him to open up to you he is a great talker.

13. He is a great friend and he has always felt that if I have a friend then they are his friend too.

14. He never forgets my birthday, anniversary, Christmas etc.

15. He is very sentimental.

16. He never forgets my siblings or his siblings birthdays.

17. He always tries to do what he knows is right.

18. He is in love with me still.

19. He thinks I look great and that I am sexy even though I am NOT.

20. He is organized. He is also very supportive of me in my own life.

21. He has put up with me for this many years.

22. He likes to spend time with his kids rather it is biking, swimming, vacationing, playing rockband, or computer games. He loves his family and is devoted to the Lord.

Happy Anniversary Sweetheart. I LOVE YOU!

I'm so thankful for all of our great memories and I am excited to make many, many more memories.

What do you do on the 4th?

Every year for the 4th of July we buy Tommies donuts and have donuts for breakfast and then go to the parade here in Cedar City. We woke up and headed over to the parade and realized that the information that we got about the time was incorrect so we ended up waiting for 45 min before it started. That wouldn't have been too bad if we would have been in the shade. A little hot to sit in the sun.
This is of Karrilyn, Todd and Angela waiting for the parade to start. The sun is real bright and Angela is having a hard time looking at me because of the sun. AJ had to work at Smiths so we ended up celebrating without him.
I was surprised how many people continue sitting down when the American flag comes through at the beginning of the parade and how many people don't put their hands on their hearts. After all what are we celebrating any way. We are given so much in our country, but so much is taken for granted.
We enjoyed the parade but my kids still enjoy getting the candy thrown at them but the people in the parade don't throw it at the bigger kids. One of the disadvantages of getting older but still feeling like a kid. Todd actually got a water bottle thrown at him and he caught it and he was grinning from ear to ear.
After the parade we began working on my computer. A month ago we broke our camera and now my computer has broken. At least I know that I will still be able to get all of the information, contacts etc off of my hard drive and put it onto my new computer. This is great because I don't have all of my friends phone numbers, addresses and email addresses written down any where else.
After working on the computer we all decided to go down to our new family room down stairs and play games. Well of course, everyone wanted to play "Rock Band". If you don't have the game and have never played it, it is great fun. My entire family can play this together and we just love it. The kids decided that they wanted to try the "58 Song Set". Which means that we play 58 songs in one day and they also review how well each member of the band did and if you don't get booed off of the stage then you can continue to the next song. They finally talked me into it and we began the long journey to finishing 58 rock songs.
We played and played and played. We did take a break for our barbecue and also to go and see fireworks.
At about 12:00 am we finally finished it. I don't know how many people actually accomplish this but we were thrilled. WE DID IT!!! 58 SONGS!!! I must say it was very long, but we had a great time. How many of you have conquered the 58 song list on "Rock Band"????