Tiffany's choir concert

Tiffany has been involved in the school choir and back at the beginning of December they had a concert.
She did great, she really has been enjoying choir. There were more kids in the choir than I thought there would be.

Tiff was asked to do two extra songs along with some of the other older girls, She loved it.

She has been a very busy girl, not only has she been in choir, but still in dance, plus Kendra, Tyler and Tiffany are all in a school play that is coming up in February. Tiff loves being busy and having so many projects going on, I don't know how she does it all and keep up her grades but she does and we are so proud of her.

Winter Dance Recital 2009

On Saturday the girls were in their Winter dance recital. It was at a new location this year and we had heard that it was snowing quite heavily up in that area so we headed out early, it's really only about 15 minutes from our home but there was a ton of snow there that we didn't have at our house.
I liked the new location, it was bigger and nicer. I hope it stays up there.
Tiffany was in one dance this year. Her costume was so pretty, I loved the colors. She always seams to have such a good time dancing.Deidra was in 3 dances this year, the first one we couldn't get a good photo of her in, but this is her second dance. All the girls got to pick the color of shirt they wanted, and they are so cute, this photo didn't do it justice. This is her third dance, more ballet. She is getting close to earning her "pointe shoes" and she is super excited for that. She has been having a great time dancing and loves every minute of it. Here is Kendra, they were little princess's. Super cute. Her best friend Ashley is in her class so she has been loving it. She had a smile on her face the whole time she was up there.

We were on the front row so we got some great shots of the girls and their friends. We can't wait for the spring recital, they always do such a good job. We love you girls!

HaPpY tHaNkSgIvInG

Today I am thankful for:

My warm house that I can stay in while it's snowing & freezing outside.
My sweet husband who supports the kids and I and make it possible for me to stay home with them.
Having the ability to know how to find a good bargain on lots of things to make our house run.
My car to get me to and from the store to pick up my bargains!
Tyler whole always wants to "snuggie" with me---he's the best, I love it.
Good friends.
My wonderful in laws.
Deidra and Tiffany who are always willing to help me cook, and I love that they enjoy doing it.
The Gospel.
Kendra who always has a smile for me or well anyone, she loves to smile and she can always get a smile out of anyone.
My sweet mom.
This beatiful country we have to live in.
Our freedom.

I hope you all have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving.

Tyler won a TuRkEy!

Of course when the girls are gone Tyler needed to have a little fun with dad. They headed up to the annual Turkey shoot which happens the weekend before Thanksgiving every year. We have been going up for the past few years.
They have something where you can buy "pieces of pie" on a paper, then they take that paper and put it on a board and spin it, then someone shoot's at it. Then they take it off and count up the bb hole's in each piece of pie, and if you have the most you win a turkey. We have never won before (maybe that is a clue that this should just be a father/son bonding thing) but this year Tyler.
He was cold can you tell?Here is his winning ticket.He was so excited, he called me to tell me. And here he is collecting his turkey. He was so happy that he won. When I got home this afternoon he made me go check the freezer and see his turkey. I can't wait to cook this. I love turkey. Good job buddy, your the best!

A girls day, well morning anyway

So this morning the girls and I had the opportunity to go see "The Nutcracker Ballet", not the real one but one that is put on by a lady who teaches dance and alot of girls we know go to her for dance lessons.
We went with our good friends Sarah, Rebekah and Julianne.
We started the morning off at Doug and Emmie's cafe. It's a total dive, but they have really good food, and they are pretty cheap for the amount of food you get. I didn't get any photos of us there, but I should have with how big the scones and pancake's were.
This is us getting ready to go into the ballet. They had a cute setup, it was up at Weber State University. Here's all the cute girls just before it started. These girls did an awesome job on their performance, they even had some people come from Ballet West who do perform in "The Nutcracker" in Salt Lake. It was very impressive.
We all had a great time. Thanks again for the invite Sarah!

MuSt GeT tIcKeTs!!!

My most favorite talk show host is saying good bye after next season. I think she is an incredible woman. She does so much for other people, she has a very good heart and truly care's about people. She isn't one of those "hey I'm really rich and better than you" kinda person. I love her, so many of the shows she has done have truly touched my heart. I will miss seeing her.
I have a wonderful husband who has said I can go to see her if I have someone to go with (I guess that was a hint that he didn't want to go). So who's in? Seriously! We need to be going onto her website every day to try and get tickets. If anyone can do this with me let me know. I'm ready to go. I would truly love to see a taping of her show before she leaves. It would be such a fun trip!

Mindy Mints?

These are the mints that I usually make every year and give out to my neighbors, family and friends, along with other treats for Christmas (except for that one year, and boy did I get in trouble for not giving out mints that year). They are actually just mint sandwiches, but everyone loves to call them "Mindy Mints", well because I'm Mindy and making mints I guess.
Anyway I was asked to do another class on how to make the mints (I've done one before, like 3 years ago) and today was the day. They turned out great. One different thing is that the lady who I get my chocolate from accidentally gave me a dark chocolate and a light chocolate for my top and bottom layers. They were still super yummy and everyone loved them. And a few of the ladies are making plans to make some of their own.
My family loves these mints, and with them being so easy to make I love making them. So if your my friend/neighbor/or a family member that lives close you may just be getting lucky sometime in the next month! Enjoy!!

Isn't he cute!!

I have been wanting to get new photos take of the family and it seams like every time I have it planned something comes up. So with Mike having today off, he snuck Tyler off to get some photo's of him. The girls and I had other things going on so yet again family photo's have been put off. But at least Mike got some fun shots of my little man.

There are some nice big rocks and cool tree's right by our house that they ran over too. They may not make it up on my wall but they are still cute. I think he liked playing on the rock's best.

He is so handsome. Oh how I love this boy!

My handy man!!

So I was out and about the other night and got a text from Mike saying he is cutting down the light above our entry way! I was confused to say the least. So when I got home, he told me that the light itself was hanging just from the electrical cord. Scary! We don't know how long it had been hanging like that. What if that had fallen, the thought makes me nervous.
We had thought about getting new lights for the whole house, but decided that right now isn't the best time to do that, so he rewired the light and hung it up.
He rigged it on a pulley system (that Tyler thought was way cool by the way), I helped pull it up and let him do the rest.
Mind you I was extremely nervous the whole time he was up there, he had the ladder rested on our coat closet, then up against the wall to our bedroom. But he was safe and we have light again! The above photo shows how the ladder was rested. We have a very high ceiling in this part of the house.

He also did a little dusting up there after he was finished with the light. Before working on the light he fixed my dryer that was making a horrible squeaking. Then after he took me to lunch! It was a busy day for him, and he thought he was going to have the day off. Ya gotta love a built in handy man!

Thanks again babe.

She's 13!

Can you believe we officially have a teenager!
Mike pulled up some old photos of Deidra for me to add to this post.
Look how cute she is, she was born with brown curly hair, But most of it came out when she was between five and six. Oh how I miss those curls.
She loved getting her picture taken and loved to be able to take pictures even more (it's so fun that she still loves that). She has always loved carving pumpkins, even back then she was a good little helper.She is so fun, always has a smile on her face.
I love this picture. That hat would light up and she thought it was great. And those cute pants she has on, Mike had brought them back for her from Amsterdam, she wanted to wear them all the time and she looked darn cute in them. (I even still have them, they are all tucked away in a box as one of her favorite things from her childhood).

Seriously Deidra is one awesome girl. She truly is the best daughter anyone could ask for. She is always very helpful. She loves cooking. She is very diligent about reading her scriptures. She loves school (and is doing very well I might add). She is an awesome babysitter, she's first choice for many of our neighbors. She loves her brother and sisters unconditionally. She has a good sence of style. She can be so silly but serious when she needs to be. It's so weird to think that in three years she will be driving and dating. In eight years she could be going on a mission likes she has been talking about, she could be getting married in ten years and having kids anytime after that.

We are so proud of her and the wonderful young lady she has been become. We are so excited to see all the things the future hold's for Deidra.

We will never stop worrying about her and wanting to protect her, but as parents you know you have to let them grow and do things on her own. She has wonderful friends and they are all such good examples to each other. I'm glad she makes it so easy to let her grow.

Thank you Deidra for being our first born, and for being the wonderful daughter that you are.

Happy Birthday. We love you so much.

HaPpY hAlLoWeEn (a day late)

We have had a great couple of days. Friday the kids were off and Mike took work off, well sort of, he still did some conference calls from home. So during lunch we headed to our friends house for lunch and some much need catching up time. They moved some time back and the kids don't get to see each other all that much so it was needed.
Then we got home and Mike and the kids started on their pumpkin carving. I didn't get many photos of them hard at work, but at least I got some after shots with and without the kids in them. In between all this Deidra and her friend were in and out, then the other three kids and I hit an awesome sale over at Payless shoes, Oh happy day 50% off everything.
On Saturday I was busy with shopping and a wedding shower, then home to finish Tyler's costume and make the annual soup dinner. (I tried to get out of it this year but the kids would have nothing to do with it) So I guess it stays.
Ok where was I....
Kendra our sweet princess choose this creepy skeleton to carve, she loves it. I was a little shocked by her choice, but didn't care as long as she was happy. Tyler loved this spiderweb with the spider. Yet another shock because he HATES spiders. (I think we can blame his older sister for that one)

Tiffany did ghost's for her pumpkin and she did it with out any help. We are pretty impressed because this did take her a long time to do, it looks great. This is her right before her friends came to pick her up.

Of course this is Deidra's pumpkin. I love it and it's so her!So having older kids means they no longer think it's cool to go trick or treating with mom or dad. Tiff's friends came to pick her up to head out for a long night of trick or treating and movie watching.Deidra was a hippie and this is just before heading off to her friends house. Deidra with a Amanda (the ghost) and Kayla (the dead nurse)

Tyler was a glow stick. He loves glow sticks so this worked out great. He loved it, and apparently so did everyone else along his path. Kendra was Dorthy from Wizard of Oz. She looked so cute. Here she is with a better shot of her pumpkin.

We all had such a good time. The pumpkins were a hit with the visitors we had. We so thankful for our little munchkins and the joy they bring into our lives. And Connie thanks again for coming to enjoy our night with us.

The pumpkin patch!

Yesterday we took our annual trip out to Pack's pumpkin patch. We love this pumpkin patch because it is so big and they have so many pumpkin's for the kids to choose from plus they have a hay maze that the younger kids love to go in.
For some reason one of the highlights is being able to pull this cart with the pumpkins in it.
Here's Tiff and Kendra pulling the cart. Kendra finding her pumpkin. That thing probably weighs more than she does.

These two truly are best friends. They were so cute, they were holding hands walking and talking about the pumpkins. It was darling.

Here's a new friend. I thought it was a guy, but Kendra said it was a girl, who knows. But it was a pretty good costume. This was a fun photo of the kids all together. We also got some cute photos on them individually that I have put on my side bar.

We came home with some big pumpkins and can't wait to carve them. Tyler keeps telling us that we can do it on the 30th, not sure why he picked that day but we may end up going with that.
We will post some photos of how they turned out when we get them done. We can't wait for Halloween, the kids are very excited.

Las Vegas.....

Last Thursday and Friday the kids were off school for UEA so we thought this would be a good time for us to have a mini vacation with out them. And Mike's parents were able to come stay with our kids to help make this happen.

We headed out Thursday morning and drove to Las Vegas. We had a very busy weekend and had a great time.

We headed over to the Bellagio to watch the fountains. They are stunning. I really missed the kids while watching the fountains go off, they would have loved it, I guess that is a hint to myself that we need to take them back if just to watch these.

We headed inside the Bellagio to check out this talking tree. It was pretty cool. They must decorate for every season because it was all "Fall" in there.They also had this hugh but very cute scarecrow.We also headed over to the "Coke" store to do a little shopping, and look who we saw, the Coke polar bear. He was a little flirty, but super cute.On Friday we headed over to the Hoover Dam, we had taken the kids there last year, but didn't get the chance to take the tour down in the "dam" wall so we decided to do that this time. I admit I was a little nervous about this but i'm glad we did it. These are the generators. They have an Arizona side of the dam and a Nevada side with 7 generators on one side and 8 on the other. Alot of work going on inside this wall. They are so big, you would think they would be noisy but they weren't really bad at all. I also thought it would be cold down there, but it was surprisingly warm. I love the American flag hanging on their fork lift.This is the new bridge they are building. Last year they only had 2 parts of the arch on each side done, now that is finished and they are working on the rest. It's amazing how big this is, but will help with the traffic coming from Arizona.Friday night we went to "The Blue Man Group" it is an awesome show. We had a good time.On Saturday we found my new favorite place to eat. I know all of you have probably been there before, but I had not and now i'm in love with it. And how lucky am I, apparently we are getting an IN-n-OUT burger right here in my little ole town of Centerville. YEAH ME! Can't wait for this. Lunch anyone?This is before heading to Disney's "The Lion King". This was a wonderful show. I highly recommend it. The lower photo is Rafeki (the monkey from the show) The costumes in this production were incredible. We were in aw of it all. We loved this show. After the show we went to another favorite restaurant of ours. "The Cheesecake Factory" yummy food, and yummy deserts along with the best company made for one great dinner.

We are so thankful to Mike's parents for staying with our kids while we had this fun get-a-away. The kids had a great time (a post will come about that later). We love you so much, Thanks again.