Our Nativity!

We have a great Christmas Nativity around the world we have been doing for the past 7 years (Me 2yrs)and they do this great nativity where families can dress up and have a keep sake. I have decided to share ours with you this Christmas on the blog. I have not decided yet if I will print some out to send in Christmas cards, but I guess you will find out when you open your card this year. The kids look great all gussied up don't they. Oh how I love Christmas. The joys the reflecting of the year, and the most important part celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. I love being a member of the LDS church the gospel has made significant changes in my life. I am grateful that my kids see their mother praying and reading scriptures, and hope it will instill the importance of the gospel in their lives as well. Just think all this would not be possible if it weren't for the atonement of Jesus Christ. The other day Katelynn came to me and asked me if it would be ok for her to write a letter and make a gift for him. WOW is all I remember thinking, and then I responded Yes honey after all this is the reason we celebrate Christmas. Then she left me to my reading to Savannah and came back with a drawing and a letter and said "mom can I put this under the tree now?" I asked her if she would like to wrap it "Oh Yes can I". I am so blessed with her she has started to read the book of Mormon and praying with thoughts about what is needed to be said not to just get it out. She wants to learn and learn more and more about the church and Jesus Christ. I am so happy she has come to this on her own seeings how she will be baptized this upcoming August-September. I truly am grateful for the gospel. Happy Birthday Jesus...

Some Holiday cheer!

We have some fun pictures that we took while my side of the family was here for Thanksgiving.. The only one we are missing here is James so Merry Christmas James..

I love this picture of Katelynn putting an ornament on our tree it Great!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

My sister took these great pictures while they were here, and I do have to say a special thank you to Lucus for putting up the Christmas lights. Great Job!!! I love how the house glows red and the pillars even though they are uneven add a special light extravaganza.. Merry Christmas to all..

Cutie Patootie!!

Ok so I just had to share these great pics of Savannah. She is so cute with a big bow in her hair, and this last picture is her just tuckered out while we were putting up christmas lights. She is so cute I love that child even though she loves to color and she always chooses black permanent marker to color with. I am so happy to have all of my children the miracles that they all are.

Happy Birthday Steph!

Hope you had a wonderful birthday. This year my sister's birthday was on Thanksgiving she turned 38 WOW she is old. :) I tried my hand at a Boston Cream Cake which actually turned out pretty good. Steph got a pretty jewelry hanger which looked like a lady... very pretty! Also got Guitar Hero world tour which I did not play much of cause I did not want to ruin my Christmas darn you James... I love you Steph I so appreciate you being my big sister. You have not only taken care of me, but you share your life with me on a daily bases. I love our conversations and would miss not hearing you everyday. I love you Hope you had a great day.

Thanksgiving!

This year was fun minus James not being here, but we still made it work. Stephanie and Lucus came and they were in charge of the Turkey, because they were going to fry the turkey which I have never had. I have to say poor Lucus cause it was over cooked, and the only way I knew that was when the bottom came apart from the other half. If you look closely you can see where it separates. Its rather funny plus he thought he bought a 15 pounder and had actually bought an 18 pounder. LOL.. It was really not that bad.


My mom came and had fun with the kids and us adults. We made plenty to eat and I tried two new desserts a pumpkin trifle which I thought was really good and then I made Stephanie a boston cream cake only because it was her birthday on Thanksgiving this year.

All of us got a round at guitar hero and played wii sports which I still love. Katelynn was sooo cute when it was not her turn she still played guitar with us.It was a good Thanksgiving besides being a little sick it was great. We missed you James

Families in waiting dinner!

Well I decided to take the kids to our first Families in Waiting dinner. They had it at the Cattleman's Steakhouse which is a ranch/petting zoo/resteraunt/hayride... So lots of things to do. The kids had a wonderful time watching the animals, especially the goats cause they actually talked to each other one with a much higher voice than the other it was hillarious. They got to feed rabbits, and see peacocks for the first time( I could not get a good picture of these guys they were nestled in a section without good range of pictures, and my batteries went dead by then). There was a huge playground and the kids loved that. I got video plus pictures.




Then we took a Hayride which we had to wait 2 1/2 hours for, but I do have to say we learned many things about the area around here. Like for instance the movie Courage under Fire with Meg Ryan and Denzel Washington was filmed here, and they left the props for the Cattleman's Hayride pretty cool. The kids thought it was cool to see the Helicopter which is real and the tanks which are not real, the tents and burnt trucks LOL they kept saying "Hey is this what daddy is sleeping in and does he drive one of those"? So I hope you enjoy our day out I did, and believe me I totally thought I was going to be overwhelmed being the only one but it turned out great. I am looking forward to taking them bowling this month for free.Yeah!!

Families in Waiting dinner (Cont..)

Twilight

Ok so not even sure if I will be able to see this soon, but I thought I would share my support... I hope it's as good if not comparable to the books and they have not totally destroyed what we or I have fallen in love with..

Under the tree!

Under the Tree is about getting some of that Christmas magic right to some families who need it! This is a wonderful program to nominate families in need this Christmas. So go to this Website and sign them up today... Oh and don't forget to sign up for the Christmas giveaways for yourself... So much fun HO HO HO!!!!

I'm Esme!

I am Esme. I have to say it is pretty dead on. I am all about family and also a cry baby if you know me... LOL try it go to twilightersanonymous.com This is what it says about me..

You are thoughtful and care very deeply for your family. A loving home is of great
importance to you and you always try to make people feel welcome. Although you have a great capacity to love, you also have a great capacity to hurt, so at times you can be sensitive. You're firm when you need to be, but people trust your judgment and appreciate the kind way you always handle things.

The Sweetest thing!

Last night I had a meeting at the church and a good friend offered to watch my children so I could go. I got them bathed and in pajamas told them to behave and was off. I came back and Teisha was telling me that the three of them were laying in bed and Katelynn was reading stories to Austin and Savannah till they fell asleep. I just thought that was the sweetest thing, and I hurried home to put it in my journal so I would never forget. Katelynn is truly a blessing to me and her brother and sister, she really shines and shows us that she is letting her light so shine. I am so happy that I have my three children and these moments makes it all worth it. I can't wait to see how they will turn out. I hope this is a small glimpse of how wonderful they will be.

What a Handsome looking fellow!!

Ok Ok so he is not my husband, but he is one of my loves in life. He is my best friend (besides James). He is Fierce in battle and well he's just so darn Handsome..How can you not love that face.

Card Swap!!

Hey there I just wanted to post my newest creation. Some gals in my ward are doing a card exchange. If you have ever done one of these then you know that you make 12 cards to swap with others. I love this Idea cause you get 12 different cards with so many different Ideas. I just love how my cards turned out. Hope they will like them too...

Happy Halloween!!!

Tonight was a very special night for us we celebrated being a family even though James was not here. James was able to see the kids in their costumes before we left for the Trunk or Treat Party at church.. While he slept he left his computer on so we could call him when we were ready... The kids were having fun showing Daddy their costumes Katelynn (BATMAN) Austin (SPIDER MAN), and Savannah (FAIRY PRINCESS)... This is his Holiday, and hopefully we were able to bring him into the fun. After we got home we went around the block and the kids were so great for me; they stayed with me and did not run off like I had a fear of. Then we ran home so we could pass out our candy to the trick or treaters. The kids loved to see other costumes, and taking turns passing out candy even Savannah got a kick out of saying bye bye to all the little ones.. We settled in and spent the rest of the evening watching the movie "Journey to the middle of the earth" which I really really enjoyed.. So Happy Halloween to all of our friends and family Especially you James. We love you and miss you terribly.

Visiting teaching goodies!!

Well the fact that I am married to a man who thinks that Halloween is like the best holiday ever... I have always tried my talents making things for my sisters in my wards for holiday times... Here is my newest creation I am so excited to get better at it I was hoping to make the cookies more decorative, but of course with three kids I just had to get them frosted fast.. LOL here they are what do you think? There are three suckers in this mix along with the cookies Yummo!!!

Celebrating James' Birthday!!

So since James is not here to celebrate the day with us. We decided to do what he loves and dedicate it to my man and his day...So honey I hope we made you proud. I cut the top, and then let the kiddo's go at it getting the gooey brains out of the pumpkin muahaha... Then when that was done I had the task of carving a two sided pumpkin one side is traditional and the other well not so much,,, Darth Vader I hope I can pull it off I did do a drawing first then I used that to kind of cut around it... So Happy Birthday baby hope you love our pumpkin this year its soooo spooky... So what do you think? Did I do a good job on the starwars /funny theme... It's cute...and the #1 thing is the kids love it. we miss our pumpkin carver... Love you baby

Just a thought!!

Have you ever been doing the dishes, and started by making sure that your youngest is not around to be heard or seen? Then rush to get them done quickly to find out that they can hear you unloading it no matter where they are in the house, and still manage to rush to help you by grabbing the glass dishes first. Errr it drives me crazy!!! I have tried over the years with all of them to re-direct their help with giving them the plastic dishes; only to find that they still go for the glass ones.. Ha I have learned to try and get all the glass out first. Still sometimes just not quick enough!!!

Playgroup Halloween Party!!

Ok so I have a predicament with Savannah and her first Halloween Party!! I had to drop Savannah off for the first 45minutes of the party only because I had an appointment during the time, but I did bring my camera for when I did get there praying that I did not miss a whole lot. I finally arrive and they were all in back running around having a ball. I started to take pictures of my little fairy princess, and low and behold the silly blond that I am forgot to put back the memory card that was still loaded into my computer at home. So here is Savannah in her costume but not at the party. I know she had lots of fun. Thanks Jana for having it at your house, and for letting Savannah come play. (she was talking to daddy when I took this picture isn't she cute!)

Eagle Dollar!!

Katelynn came home today with an "Eagle Dollar", which is an award system at her school for doing good works. She and her friend returned some jackets to the office that were left in the girls bathroom. If she earns enough she gets to watch a movie with others. Good Job Kiddo!!!

How does your garden grow!

so for the last few months we have been getting tomatoes and jalapenos by the tons. I keep telling my self that eventually I will make some salsa and send it to James. Well I thought that time was over till tonight when playing in the back with the kids I looked over and it was amazing. Tomatoes and more tomatoes, and then more Jalapenos wow ok let's get to picking I say grab a bowl. As I am picking these delicious looking tomatoes Iam realizing that in a day or so I will have probably 20more to pick because there were tons of green tomatoes. Holy smokes maybe I should really learn how to can LOL.. Aren't they pretty though.

My Big SIS!

Ok I feel the need to address my sister coming and helping me out as I needed surgery and was not sure how long I would be out of it. She came the day before and kinda walked in my shoes not to full capacity, but enough that she knew what she needed to do. (you see my sister does not have any children so we figured this was a good science experiment for her) LOL we love you. So I left early in the morning and Steph had to get up early and get the kids up early, get dressed, get breakfast, brush their teeth, and hair. then don't forget your backpack's and your shoes. Get into the van and take them to school. Well I think she did a pretty good job and of course my kids had the fear of the devil telling them if they were bad terrible things would happen to them..LOL She brought coloring books and crayons smart move no fights over crayons they each had their own. She help with dishes and fixing the dinners for us. I am happy she came down to spend time with my children so that they have a chance to bond with her. I am very happy she is my big sis and that she is still willing to take care of me from time to time. My kids love her and I know she loves them. I look forward to the next couple of holidays spending them with you all. Oh ya and did I tell you the perks of being sick are the pretty flowers you get.. Check them out. Thank you to my mom and my sister for getting me those pretty bouquets.