Cousins+Cookies= LOVE

Yesterday My kids and I had the chance to spend the day with some cousins from Don's side of the family. 

Zac and Jake spent the day at Luke's Birthday party,,,while Glenda, who is Don's cousin and her daughter Sophie and Ashlee made, frosted and decorated Valentine Cookies.  We  had so much fun and ate WAY too many cookies:).  It's funny..We just met at Thanksgiving time...but it seems like we have known them forever.  Back in the fall, Don was on his way home from a business trip and he was on her flight, they were always close as children, so it was fun to reconnect with her and her children!

Matthew Reed Smith ~~~1980-2005

It has been 5 years today since our family's precious Matthew passed away! Matthew was my nephew,  who was serving in Iraq, when his helicopter crashed.  30 Marines and one Naval officer were killed.  I always think about him and I am so grateful for the sacrifice he made for me and his Country.  He is a true hero in my eyes, giving his life for a cause he truly believed in.  We love  you Matthew and we know we can thank you in person some day:)!!

I love my Family:)!

I have been thinking alot lately about how grateful I am for all of my blessings.  The greatest blessing I have is the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the opportunities it brings me in my life.  In the midst of such turmoil in this world it gives me security & happiness.  Yesterday I had the chance to go to my nephews farewell. I want Brad and my other neices and nephews to know  how proud I am of them, and how much their example means to me & my kids.   As I visited with my family I realized how much I really have.  I was TRULY born of goodly parents, and was blessed with a WONDERFUL mother. I love all of my brothers and sisters and my nieces and nephews. I was really blessed with some great ones. Obviously I love my kids so much, but it's so much more. Because of eternal families, I will be with these people Forever.  What could be better than spending eternity with those we love!!

***These are my greatest blessings..and I  LOVE them so much!!

On the mend...FINALLY!!

So It has been 23 days that Jake has been really sick.  It started the day after Christmas.  At first, we thought it was just the flu, but after about a week of not getting any better, I started to get worried... sooo many things can happen and my mind went a million places.  We took him to the Dr. and they took a blood test that showed that his blood count was high, but the Dr.  was still baffled as to what it could be.  After another week of no improvements,we took him back for another blood check.. his numbers were still high, although they were going down.  I have to say I have been a nervous wreck thinking of all of the possibilities.   Life is so fragile. 

Since October I have had 2  high school friends pass away from cancer (One of them just today).  You just never know!!  I am so happy that Jake is finally getting better.  I love him so much and hate to see him sick.

Please pray for Jacob...

Since Christmas, we have all been under the weather a little....However Jake has been a very sick boy!  The day after Christmas he started the day by "throwing up", (we  thought that that it was just  a 24 hour thing)...apparently not, because here we are January 6th and it shows no sign of letting up.  He asked Don for a blessing, which made him feel a little better and  the Dr. drew some blood to see if they could find something there.  So please keep him in your prayers...It would mean alot to us:)! 

"Out with the old" & "In with the new"!!

Wow, another year is coming to a close, and I just have to ask myself…Where has the time gone?!? It seems like 2009 just flew by. For the most part things have stayed pretty calm, but there have been a few changes that are worth mentioning********


*Out with our old Toyota Corolla….In with our new Mazda 6.

*Out with driving James everywhere he needs to go…In with James having his own driver’s license.

*Out with Primary….In with Young Women’s and Young Men’s.

*Out with eating not so healthy….In with eating healthy.

*Out with church at 11:00….In with church at 9:00.

We look forward to seeing what’s in store for us in 2010.***Bring it on!!!

*Buddies*

Kyler was jammin' with James on Christmas! They both just happened to get guitars from Santa. He loves James so much and it was so cute to see how he looked up to him and copied everything James did.

Santa came to our house!!

We had a wonderful Christmas this year!! The kids made a haul...as usual!! I think for the most part, they all got what they wanted. Everyone is so thoughtful with the gifts they give each other & they had so much fun "giving",Jake gave a tie to Don. I love his creative wrapping:)!

These are some of the favorite gifts this year:

• James... Electric Guitar & Amplifier.
• Jake...Too many video games and movies
• Ashlee...Nintendo DS with some games.
• family...movies, movies and games.

All the kids got clothes, which is a Christmas Tradition.

Christmas Eve Traditions

Some of the funnest memories I have, are of the traditions that were started by my mom. From the time I can remember my mom would spend the whole month of December baking candy & cookies for Christmas. As a gift to her children and grandchildren she makes a Christmas Eve Dinner, that includes a turkey, ham and salads and lots and lots of sweets! It is a labor of love, and it is something we really look forward to every year. We are so grateful to her for all of the wonderful things she does for us.

Spending time with cousins....After all, isn't Christmas about spending time with those we love?

Tasha, James, Michael, Megan & JakeCute Ashlee!!Christmas pajamas are another tradition for our family, my kids LOVE to open a new pair of pjs to wear on Christmas Eve, I guess they want to look and feel their best for Santa:)! Here they are modeling their new jammies..

******Some things will never change*******

Family pictures

***There were just too many pictures to post, they were all so good!

Thanks so much Becca!

Dance, Dance, Dance...

Ashlee's winter dance program was last night. She did such a good job, and was so cute. I'ts always so rewarding to see your children's accomplishments. She really loves dance, and we often see her dancing in front of the mirror in our house. Your hard work is paying off, Ashlee! You did GREAT!!

CLEOPATRA

**Ashlee dressed like Cleopatra**
for her presentation...

Ashlee had her 6th grade 'Ancient Civilization Fair' at school this morning. Each child has to pick a topic or a person to do a report on, and then give a short presentation of it to the teacher, the school & parents. Ashlee chose to do her report on "Cleopatra". She worked really hard getting all of the information she could about Cleopatra's life. We learned some interesting facts about her. Ashlee did a great job on her powerpoint presentation... She even dressed up like her 'subject' to make it even better!! I give her 2 thumbs up:).

Tis the season . . . to be JOLLY?

Isn't Christmas supposed to make ya happy? It seems that people get SOOO cranky around the Holidays. The other day I was shopping at Wal-mart. I needed some chocolate chips, when I got down the aisle I noticed an older woman standing with her cart, right where I needed to get to. I politely said "excuse me".....she did nothing, so I politely said "excuse me" again, this time a little more loudly . (just in case she didn't hear me), and again she did NOTHING!!! So I tapped her on the shoulder and asked her if I could just grab some chocolate chips, she looked at me with an angry face and said "all you had to do was ask me to move"! Oh REALLY!!!!!!!

*****just some friendly advice.. When you are in the grocery store, be aware of those around you, and don't block the chocolate chips!!

#1 Utah fan~~~ whether he likes it or not:)!!

Any questions?!?

End of the Season Football Banquet

James

So the Football season has come to a close, and last Monday night we were able to attend a banquet honoring all of the football players. The theme was "Solid as a rock" for obvious reasons. Congratulations Titans on a great year!!