Happy Inside

Kirk and I had a wonderful Thanksgiving with both of our families.  We spent the weekend near Zion National Park in amazing weather.  I didn't contribute much to the food for the weekend, so Kirk and I took a ride up the street to Springdale for a few groceries and an ice cream.  I took this picture on my phone while we ate.  I love that blue sky and red rock, it makes me happy inside.

Yesterday

Yesterday was very eventful...kind of.

First of all, I went to run a few errands.  As I walked out of one store, I looked to my right and beheld a Banana Republic Outlet, what?!?!  Where did that come from?  Turns out it has been there for a few weeks, I just had no idea.  I like shopping there and I am excited to have one so close!

Secondly, Tyler had a little friend party last night, it was bonkers.  Tyler is a busy body and he is still wound up today and still driving us all crazy.  I feel so bad for his teacher today!  He got some amazing presents that deserve their own post, but I can't find the camera so those will be for later.

Thirdly, Kaitlin, my little sister on a mission in Chile sent letters and pictures yesterday.  It was her birthday on Sunday and it was fun to see how the people there made that such a special day for her.  Looking at the pictures brought back so many wonderful memories.  I remember my birthday on my mission.  I remember the sweet little things that people did to celebrate.  It really is just the thought that counts.  It was a good reminder to make my encounters with people more thoughtful.  Seeing the homes of the people was also a good reminder of how blessed I am and how simple life should be.  

Are You Ready?

After thinking about it for weeks, my house is finally decorated and ready for Christmas!  What a relief it is to have it all done.  We worked hard on Saturday and I even broke a sweat decorating!  

Going On At Our House

Yesterday I was standing in the kitchen talking on the phone with my husband.  

And then I threw up right while we were having a conversation.  

I am not sick and not pregnant, but boy did it remind me of pregnant days.  Nausea would hit me so fast that there were many times I would be in the kitchen and aiming for the sink.  

What really happened is I was taking my vitamins.  I hate vitamins a lot.  I have never been one to take them regularly even though I know they are good for me.  

Recently I tried some new vitamins that I really like and actually make me feel good enough that I want to keep taking them.  The thing is that I hate swallowing things everyday, but I really am trying.  

The vitamin turned sideways in my throat or something and immediately caused me to gag and throw up.  Poor Kirk, I'm sure that was the last thing you want to hear on the phone.

Soon we will be heading south for the Thanksgiving...

It will be a much needed break. 

I am looking forward to warmth, outdoors, late morning runs, and good scenery.

Last night we went out to run a few errands, it was soooo crowded!

And then I remembered, "Twilight".

The shopping center was swimming with women, teenage girls, and even one lady in her wedding dress. 

I have gone to those events in the past and it has been so much fun.

I don't know what happened this year. 

Did you see the movie?  What did you think?

In 5 Months

This is what gets me through the winter...

Freeze!

Picture credit goes to my sister in law, check out her website here

Today a dear friend of mine puts her oldest son in the MTC and it got me thinking...

I would like to freeze time.  I love my little family so much right now.  I love that the boys all go to the same school.  I love that we just finished up football and we get to reflect on lessons learned and good experiences.  I love that because football is over, we get be together again in the evenings.  I love that Tyler is the life of our family.  He is still young enough to be a silly kid, but old enough to enjoy the big brothers.  I love that they all build forts together.  I love that David and Jacob's feet are the same in this picture.  I love having twins, it really is such an interesting dynamic.  I love that Ethan tries so hard to be the best at whatever he does.  I love that Kirk is such an affectionate husband.  There are a gazillion things that aren't perfect right now, but as far as my little family goes, I am loving it and it feels pretty darn good.  

And before I know it, I will be putting 2 sons in the MTC and that might just kill me!

Hooray for Good Weather!

This is where my boys spend all of their free time and now that football is over, they have a lot more free time!  Thankfully the weather has been beautiful and they continue to play outdoors.  Since they started football about 3 years ago, I have noticed it coincides with a growth spurt for them.  I took Jake shoe shopping because he has got a hole in his shoes, he is now a men's size 7 1/2!  We actually bought a size 8.  That is quite a jump from the last time we bought shoes and quite a jump in price as well.  Those boys really are getting big!

Busy Weekend!

Friday night we hosted a really fun Couples Shower for my brother and his fiance.  It was such a fun night!  We had dinner, we visited, and we played the newly wed game.  My cute sister in law Chelsey had some fun and original questions.  One of the first ones was, "If Mike were going to buy a diesel truck, would he get a cummins, power stroke, or dura max?"  The look on JaKelle's face was perfect!  It was a super fun game and we all had a blast!

Saturday was the championship games in freezing cold weather!  Luckily we were on turf so there wasn't a lot of mud like the week before.  It was snowing during the twins' games, so I didn't even get the camera out.  The boys were lucky to have lots of support from family, thanks for coming family!  I love this picture of Ethan and Mike.

This little stinker has a birthday coming up.  He woke up his grandma at 7:30 to go to Target and get birthday cards (invitations).  They also shopped the aisles for presents.  He decided that grandma should buy a present later on her own so that it would be a surprise, but he came home with a BYU cougar pillow pet, he has wanted a pillow pet for so long now.  He told his grandma that is was just a "treat" and not his present:)  Anyway, if anyone has any great ideas for birthday parties, I welcome your comments!

A Story About Paint and Televisions

A couple of years after we bought our house, we finished the basement.  With the addition of another family room, we wanted to get another television, this was about 7 years ago.  So after Christmas that year we went shopping for a new tv.  It was terribly depressing if you ask me, they were all so expensive because my husband wanted one with a large screen.  He is such a good husband that I let him pick what he wanted.  But that is one purchase I will never forget because it about killed me.  So I have never liked that tv, ever!  And to put salt in the wound, right after we bought it, all the flat screen tvs came out that everyone has now.  The same week we bought the television, I caught the twins (oh they were fat, cute little things back then) pounding the screen with their little toy hammer.  I thought the screen was ruined for good, but luckily there was no damage.  After we got home we realized it needed to be up a little more off the floor, so we went back to the store and bought a little stand that it sat on.  I later bought some ladder shelves that stood on either side.  They were black and LOVED dust.  And that is what has been in our basement for 7 years.  The shelves held lots of cute decorations on the up top, but down below they were cluttered with video games and video game accessories.  Now if my twins were beating the television at age 3, you can imagine what the walls looked like.  So my husband patched up some holes this week and I took on painting one wall.  But I couldn't stop, it really needed paint.  So down came those black shelves and everything one them, the tv came out from the wall, and that whole room got a fresh coat of paint.  I really should have taken more before pictures, but when I finished I texted this picture to my husband, telling him that I painted the whole room and wondered if he would like me to go pick up a new television.  I was totally joking, but kind of not really.  Did I mention he is a good husband, because he is and he told me to go shopping!  

This was the picture I texted my husband at work.

These are those dust loving black shelves.

This is after I went shopping.  

I know we are not very exciting I probably should have considered painting the walls a different color, but I still liked the color after all those years, so I kept it the same.  

So the basement is totally getting gussied up after all these years!

Unfortunately it has been one of the busiest weeks ever for us, looking back, I really should have stopped painting...

Birthdays

Kirk and I both celebrated our 36th birthdays this year, we are getting old!  I love this picture of Kirk with the boys!

This was my traditional birthday lunch at Cheesecake Factory with my Grandma and niece.  I forgot my camera, this is a terrible pictures, but it is all I've got!

I remember my mom always talking about still feeling young inside, even though you age and grow old on the outside.  I totally know what she means.  I know that I probably seem ancient to some, but I honestly feel like I get better with age.  I treasure all of the wonderful experiences I have had up to this point, and look forward to so many more!

My soon to be sister-in-law recently took some family pics for us, these were just a few I had my brother take with my camera, I'm sure the edited ones will be much better!

Football 2011

So the good news is that the boys all made it to the playoffs and won their first game.  They play for the championship on Saturday.  They are all so, so excited!  It has been a really fun year.  

They all made touch downs this year!  I am grateful for good coaches who make this such a fun team sport for all the boys.  We happened to get Ethan's on film..

 David with the ball

 Jacob catching a pass

 Ethan is the punter on his team and has had a lot of great kicks!

Boy Stuff

I grew up with 5 brothers.  I was the oldest and definitely the odd man (girl) out.  I hate dirt and I don't like sports.  So I find it interesting that I ended up with 4 boys, but I do love those boys a whole lot!  So much that I don't think I would ever trade them, although it would be fun to have someone to shop with or just be interested in the same things I am.  That being said, I think my boys are pretty lucky I grew up with all those boys because they have the best uncles in the world.  I am so grateful to my brothers for being so kind and involved with my boys.  They love their uncles very much and look up to them as well.  

Kirk took a day off of work a couple of weeks ago to take the boys fishing.  They left super early in the morning and fished their little hearts out.  Tyler loves it the very most, but it was a great time for all of them.  I took a few photos of them bundling up before they left. 

  

Breaking the Rules

So it is officially November and do you know what that means?  It means Christmas music on the radio!  I had totally forgotten about this until we were driving in the snow to football games on Saturday and skipping through stations.  Suddenly we heard "all I want for Christmas..."right back at us and I knew it was going to be a good day!  My twins cringed at me, "but Mom what about Thanksgiving?!?!"

Thanksgiving is wonderful and I do love it.  It is a time to be thankful and I have a lot to be thankful for, it is also a time of great food, and I do love good food, so yes, I really do love Thanksgiving.  But Christmas has always been magical, exciting, romantic, and beautiful (that almost sounded like that song I keep hearing on the radio by Selena Gomez), and I have always LOVED it!

Last year about this time I went to London with Kirk.  It makes me sad to realize it has been a year since I was there.  We were strolling through Hyde Park when we came upon a little Christmas carnival complete with Christmas music, it was perfect!  And it was barely November!  All of London was decked out with lights, it was beautiful.  As we discussed this, Kirk reminded me that there was no Thanksgiving there, duh!  I feel like here there is an unspoken rule that Christmas can't come out until after Thanksgiving.  But then you only get to enjoy it for a few short weeks and that just doesn't seem right.  So don't be surprised if you see Christmas decorations at our home this week and of course plenty of Christmas music.

Halloween!

No more warm and fuzzy costumes for Halloween in this family, the boys are all growing up!  They had a great time dressing up this year and trick or treating!  Most of them went with their friends, before too long Kirk and I will get to stay home together and they will all be out on their own.  

Tyler was a hippie and really got into.  I got a kick out of seeing him at the parade at school as gave everyone the peace sign.

Ethan was Austin Collie.

Jacob was Napolian Dynamite and David was a hobo

It was a fun Halloween with perfect weather that lasted until today.  Now I am excited to put away the decorations and start thinking Christmas!

Lately...

• I can't wait for Halloween to be over with, I am very much in the mood for Christmas!  I loved it all about a month ago, but now I am just done.  I dread the buying and collecting of all the candy and the Halloween parade at school.  I know I sound awful, but I just want it all over with. I am anxious for the next big holiday, I have already started my Christmas shopping...
• After finding spinach in the fridge, Tyler asked, "Mom! Can I have a bowl of spinach?"  He was completely serious.  He really does like Spinach.
• We had family come for a quick visit and stay.  It was so much fun and so memorable, my only regret is that I didn't take any pictures, darn it!
• Kirk and I got away for a night and a lovely dinner at Ruths Chris Steakhouse.  It was so much fun watching Kirk eat that steak.  We have been there before, but it was even better than we remembered it.  Special thanks to Kirk's sister for staying with our kids.  
• We had a little flood in the basement, it was sprinkler related:(  Luckily it is all fixed up and we have clean carpets downstairs. 
• Football is almost over, we are on the count down.  It has been another great season and the boys still love it as much as ever.  Hopefully both teams will be champions again after the playoffs!

It Started Out Good...

So my kids have been off track for about a year now.  It was really exciting when they went off track, we had lots of plans and actually did a lot of fun things that first week, then it got cold, then I think I sort of went off track and it has been downhill from there.  I long for the days when the house would stay clean for more than 1 minute, when a bag a chips would last at least a couple of days, and when hours used to go by without the noise of the tv.  Oh how I miss those days, they seem like a distant memory or dream.  Lucky for me the boys are going back soon and I might get back on track as well.  Here are some pics from one of our favorite field trips...

 Can you feel their enthusiasm?  I get this every time I try to take a picture.

 I have never hiked the Y before and we picked a warm day to go, we were all hot and sweaty by the time we made it to the top.  About half way up the mountain, we thought it had to be right around the corner.  We were all a little discouraged when a hiker on his way down informed us we were only about half way.  

 And there it is!  We made it!

 The kids all enjoyed seeing Seven Peaks from this view

Afterwards we went on campus for some ice cream and a little shopping at the bookstore, it was a good trip, I learned a lot about hiking the Y, mostly just never go in the middle of the afternoon on a warm day.