Lights on Temple Square...December 12, 2011

Temple Square with the family....

Me and my favorite girl

There is seriously NOTHING more gorgeous than the temple.  It's beauty never ceases to amaze me.... 

and the feeling you get, even on the grounds.
  I love it.

This is my favorite nativity scene of all, it is just beautiful.

The Assembly hall.

LOVE these guys!

James and Ashlee, such sweet siblings.  It was a wonderful night for our family.  I am grateful for the opportunities I have with the people I love more than anything.

Gingerbread fun..

Saturday night while the boys were out, Ashlee and I decided to decorate our Gingerbread house. 

I have a love /hate relationship with this activity.

  I love the tradition,  the time spent together and the decorating, but I really hate the assembly part....the roof slides off,  the walls won't stay up.  Well. The other day, while shopping I found a house that was pre-assembled.  I loved that it was all put together for me, but it really wasn't as cute.  I think that next year, we'll go back to the other kind, and just use hot glue.

I guess they really are worth all of the trouble.

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!!

I admit it....I have had way too much fun getting my Christmas decorations up.!!!

It's really no secret that I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!! 
It is just a magical time of year.  It is has been pretty stress free so far, mainly because we have a game plan and we're sticking to it. 
***
We're ready.......
Bring it on!!!!

AMAZING!!!

Now this is what I call a gingerbread house!! 

"A Day of Thanks"

We had a lovely thanksgiving as usual. Don makes the BEST turkey I have ever tasted, and the pumpkin pies (thanks to Laura) were just as yummy!  It was a nice relaxing day and we enjoyed it.  I even won a game of five crowns.  

***

As you can see the dogs even got in on the "turkey" action.......for that I am sure they were thankful!!!

I am thankful for.....

With Thanksgiving upon us, I have been thinking about ALL that I have to be thankful for. I know that things aren't perfect, but I do feel blessed every single day and something good always comes from trials and struggles. 

So here are the things that I am so thankful for.....
***

1. My Saviors sacrifice, and the atonement.. the gospel of Jesus Christ  brings so much happiness into my life.  I love it.  It completes me.

2. An amazing family heritage.  I was born of goodly parents, who taught me the things that I needed to learn by teaching and example.......I never once was told to do something that my mother herself wouldn't do.  She is truly a woman who I look up to and strive to be like. (I have a lot of work to do).

3. Don.....He is such an amazing father and supports our family financially and emotionally, by keeping a a beautiful home over our heads, and food on our table.... and most importantly,  loving us no matter what!!! .

4.Wonderful Children, who I love sooo much and who make me so happy.  They really are great, and they teach me things daily.

5. My precious 4 legged, furry kids...Max, Casey, and Benji, they are the best, and have helped our family through hard times.  They are also cheaper than a therapist!  haha.

***

Although life isn't perfect it fits me perfectly!!!

The "100 Dresses"

 **

Wanda wore the same faded blue dress to school every day. It was always clean but sometimes it looked as though it had been washed and never ironed. Peggy started the game of the dresses when suddenly one day Wanda said, ' I have a hundred dresses at home--all lined up in my closet.' After that it was fun to stop Wanda on the way to school and ask, 'How many dresses did you say you have?' ' A hundred, ' she would answer.  It turns out that she had designed 100 dresses on paper and had them hanging in her closet.

***

In the spirit of Thanksgiving and Serving those who are less fortunate, our Relief Society's November Enrichment night was titled "100 Dresses" based on this book.Our goal was to donate dresses for a few different organizations in need, the activity for the evening.was to make pillow case infant dresses to donate also. We also had the Y.W. model dresses in a fashion show. I am pretty sure that we made our goal.

 **

   I am grateful for the service in the Church Organizations, and for the opportunities that I have to serve those around me, and in turn serve our Savior!

Halloween...Twenty~Eleven

"Aloha"

Don and I had the opportunity to go to Hawaii October 3.  We stayed at the Waikiki Marriott resort and spa.  It was literally right on the beach.  It was such a relaxing vacation, we didn't do a lot of site seeing (unless it was a beach, haha).  We snorkeled in Hanauma Bay, and swam in the Waimea Falls.

  We also ate LOTS of yummy food, and a famous "MATSUMOTO'S" shave ice..It is sooooo good.

We went shopping at the international market every night and bought WAY TOO MUCH stuff.

Seriously, we had to ship one whole suitcase home,  full of souvenirs.

*Beautiful sunset on Waikiki Beach*

The view from our Hotel room.
26 floors up!

                                                                                 

Love these flowers, they are so cute!!

                                                                                   

*Hanauma Bay was so beautiful and so fun, we got so much sun this day....you don't realize how much you actually get, until it's too late.  Ouch.

                                                                             

For lunch one day we got this fresh coconut.
It was served with a straw to drink the milk and then you could scoop out the coconut.  It was not like any coconut I have ever had before, it was the consistency of Mozzerella cheese.

                                                                                     

Swimming in the falls.  It was so cold but it was fun.

                                                                                     

A view of Honolulu

                                                                                

For Don's Birthday we went to the Spaghetti Factory to celebrate.  We had so much fun, but we were glad to get home.  It was definitely a fabulous vacation.

                                                                                   

"Half a Century"

We were in Hawaii a.k.a Paradise on Don's Birthday, more on the vacation later though. While we were away the kids held down the fort and took care of things VERY WELL!!!
***
We came home to a clean house, and a yummy meal (Thanks Ashlee). 

***

And Ashlee being the sweet thoughtful girl that she is, made her dad a cake!!  It looked great and tasted yummy too.  What a fun surprise for him....  

It's hard turning "50", but cake makes it a little easier.

***

She even included the dogs on the cake....so cute!

Jake enjoying his piece......

Casey even got in on the action.  After all he was the star of the cake.

"GOOD WORKS"

Ashlee has been working on her personal progress for Young Women's.  She has earned 3 ribbons so far, Faith, Virtue and Individual Worth.  

This is no small accomplishment either, she has worked really hard on them.

She has been working on her Good Works ribbon, for one of her experiences.... she chose to make meals for the family for 2 weeks.

 Honestly, my family has eaten really well and really healthy too, which all of us appreciate.  She found her own recipes, made a list of ingredients, shopped for the food, prepared it and cleaned up after!  

I have to admit, I could get used to having a cook!  Ha ha.

Thank you Ashlee, for making your family very happy......YOU will make someone a good wife someday.
I LOVE YOU girlie, and I am so proud of  you!

OCTOBER, already?

I LOVE Halloween decorations!! 

  I'll bet you couldn't tell. 

THE WOOD CONNECTION......

..Is having a giveaway for 4 $25 gift certificates to their store.

*The goal is to hit 2000 fans on facebook.

*Sooo, to enter this giveaway, become a fan of the Wood Connection's facebook page.
(If you're already a fan, leave a comment on their blog.)

**For a second entry, share this giveaway on your facebook wall. 

***For a  third entry, share this post on your own blog.

****For a fourth entry, suggest The Wood Connections facebook page

to your friends.

Easy enough and so worth it.

~They will announce the winner when they have  hit 2,000 fans!
Good luck! :)

Falling for "Autumn"

I LOOOVVEE Fall !!!

.It's my favorite season.  I love the cooler weather, the turning leaves, the fall food....But most of all I love my fall decorations!!!!  

~Happy Fall Y'all~

It's true, I'm addicted

This is my addiction lately.  The Wood Connection!  I was told about this place by a friend of mine months ago.  They sale wood that they cut....all you have to do is sand (which I hate), paint embellish with paper, glitter, vinyl, ribbon etc.  They have samples of all of their projects and all of the things you need to make them.  ONE stop shopping!  It is such a fun place.  I usually go at least once a week.  Take a look at the web-site or you can stop in and see all of the darling things you can make.