I love Christmas

I saw a quote in a magazine that said,


"Christmas isn't a season , it's a feeling."


That is exactly how i feel. I love everything about Christmas. I love the feelings I get when I see the decorations, the cards/photos I receive from family and friends, giving presents, my Christmas CD's, Christmas movies, ornaments, lights, and most of all the birth of the Savior Jesus Christ. I love how this time of year reminds us of His love and service. This time of year makes me want to be a better person and to show more love. I love how this time of year "feels". I hope we all can remember the true feelings of Christmas and that we can return those feelings to others.

Happy Thanksgiving 2008

I have been trying to find a picture of Thanksgivings past but it's been hard. Looking through my scrapbooks I discovered that the last time we had a family Thanksgiving with my side was in 2003!! And the last Thanksgiving with Derek's family was in 2005. This picture is from Thanksgiving 2007 after we had just moved here to Nevada (Derek was taking the picture). The last 3 years we have had our own little family Thanksgivings and it has been great because I am so Thankful for my husband and children and I love them, they are my life.

I do however, miss my family terribly!! The holidays always bring out the emotion in me and the homesickness comes back. I have a lot of fond memories of the holidays with family, mine and Dereks'. We are so lucky to have such wonderful families and traditions. . Today I am grateful for that and for all the many blessings we do have even though we are far from family. I am grateful for cameras so that I am able to capture all of the many memories and preserve them and have them for my children to treasure. I am grateful for the gospel and the knowledge I have of my Savior and for His sacrifice so that I could live here on this earth and have a family and enjoy this journey here. I am grateful for loving and hardworking parents who are there for me and my family when we need them. I am grateful for such good friends who are such a big part of our lives. I am grateful for my health and my children/husbands health. I am grateful for Derek and for his job and that he is willing to work hard to provide for us and makes it possible for me to stay home and take care of our 3 beauriful girls.

We hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving wherever you are and whatever you may do. Make lots of memories and never take your family for granted!!

Dance, Dance

Recently we put the girls in dance here at a local studio. They LOVE it!! It's only once a week and they ask when they get to go to dance the night we leave their class. It's so good for them! The dance studio was asked to perform at the high school during the craft fair this past weekend. All the girls practiced their dances and then went to the HS for the big performance. Our friend Raychel was there too, and she was so sweet to give the girls some of her flowers after their performance.

The pictures aren't very good but it's all I have.

Dads-n-Donuts

Our elementary school puts on a dads-n-donuts every year and this year Bryanna and Gracie and Abby w got to go with their daddy. Since I am part of the PTA I was helping with all the food/drinks while Derek sat with the girls and ate breakfast. He even won a prize and let the girls pick it out )a ball). Derek is such an awesome Daddy to our girls, they are so lucky to have him. Me too!!

Sleepover!

My girls had their very first sleepover with friends. Our friends in our ward had a baby and I offered to have their girls over to our house. They had a lot of fun and although it was hard to get them to sleep I enjoyed watching them have so much fun!!

One Word game

"One Word Game".

Where is your mobile phone? bag
Where is your significant other? work
Your hair color? brown
Your mother? inspiration
Your father? hardworking
Your favorite thing? crafts
Your dream last night? dunno
Your dream goal? skinny
The room you're in? front
Your hobby? crafts
Your fear? dying
Where do you want to be in 6 years? Kuna
Where were you last night? shopping
What you're not? fake
One of your wish-list items? camera
Where did you grew up? Oregon
The last thing you did? email
What are you wearing? clothes
Your TV? Dora
Your pets? none
Your computer? Dell
Your mood? anxious
Missing someone? parents
Your car? blue
Something you're not wearing? shoes
Favourite shop? Target
Your summer? busy
Love someone? Lots
Your favorite color? green
When is the last time you laughed? dunno
When is the last time you cried? tuesday

To all of you who want to , play along and add this on your blog, but fill in your own answers (obviously)

Happy Halloween!

For Halloween this year we used costumes that were in our "dress up" box. Thanks to Uncle Shawn and his international gifts to the girls, we had a variety to choose from. Bryanna and Abby were China girls and Gracie was a witch, wearing a dress from Dubai. They were all as cute as can be. We went trick-or-treating around the block and thankfully it wasn't too cold. There are alot of kids in our neighborhood so we didn't stay out too long. After the girls picked out their favorite candy the rest was bagged up and sent with daddy to work. We also got a pumpkin pizza from papa murhpy's. We have done that the last few years so we're making it one of our Halloween traditions!!

Carving Pumpkins

This activity I hand over to Derek because I can't stand dealing with the guts of pumpkins. The girls each drew a face on their pumpkin and then they proceeded to empty the guts out and cut out their faces. I happened to have latex gloves for them to wear so they didn't get too messy. We baked the pumpkin seeds but nobody ate them!! The girls were most excited about putting the candle in the pumpkin to see them glow in the dark!!

Monster Cupcakes

I made these for Gracie's Pre-K class Halloween party. It took some time but it was fun to see the end result. I got the recipe off of Familyfun.com.

School Halloween Parties

Bryanna and Gracie had Halloween parties at school. Gracie was a princess and Bryanna a witch. They got lots of sweet treats and had fun playing with school friends. Gracie's class put on a play of 'Where the Wild Things Are and then went on a "costume parade" at the "big" school Abby was happy to tag a long too!