My most favorite Christmas present!

This is the present that Hagen was working so hard on for me! You can tell just by looking at it that it took hours upon hours of work. The craftsmanship is of the best quality. Each layer crafted with love and excitement! I was most shocked when I opened this gift. It is amazing! It is priceless. I will cherish it always. Thanks so much Hagen. I love you with all my heart! YOU are my Favorite!

This is a pic of the one he made for Bree. He picked her favorite colors pink and purple. Do you notice the little straps tied to the top?? He is so clever! Bree calls it her munchie??

I have a million things to tell you...

Hagen has been working on his Christmas present for me for about a week now. He has been working every day at school, and even brought it home on the weekend to work on it. So he completed my present yesterday and he brought it home, wrapped it and it is currently the only present under our tree. While he was working on my present he decided he would make Breeley one just like mine, only a little smaller. So he worked on that at school today and yesterday.

When he came in the house after school he searched our house to find me to tell me he is "So excited for Christmas!" I said "Really" (What nine year old isn't excited for Christmas??) and he said "Yes, I have a million things to tell you, but I can't or it will ruin your present!" I just laughed and hugged him because he had the biggest smile on his face. He truly is soooo excited for Christmas.

How lucky am I to have a nine year old so excited for Christmas because of the things he is giving and not receiving!

Daring Abell to Graduate!

Abell Graduated from Dare!

I am so proud of him for making the decision now to say NO to drugs!

I love Abell so much.

He is getting so old and so... teenagerish! (Heaven help us both!)

Seriously, he is so funny!

Last friday night I was driving home from Addison's basketball practice. I had my four kids and my neighbors two kids (Adam and Ethan) with me. Adam was saying how happy he was that he was able to go to basketball with us. He thought he was going to have to miss it because his parents are out of town and he was staying with his grandparents for the weekend. I had talked his mom into letting me keep the two boys so they could go to basketball and then our ward Christmas party and then I would take them to their grandma's house after. (Does this make any sense??)

Anyway,

We were driving home and Adam (Addi's friend) was saying how happy he was that he got to go to basketball and I was saying loudly
"Who's the coolest?? Who's the coolest??" (Pointing a finger at myself) since I was the reason he was able to go, and Addison, sitting clear in the back of the excursion says loudly... David Archuleta!

I was like... "What???"

What a humbling month.

Christmas 2006 I love this photo!

I have had a really hard time getting into the spirit of Christmas this year. I kept trying to figure out if it is the lack of snow, or the lack of ideas for gifts for everyone. My kids Christmas list's are short, sweet and simple. Abell wants hunting items, Hagen wants basketball cards, Addi wants pixo's and a bike with a kick stand, and Breeley wants a Snow White Dress and new Snow White slippers/shoes because the ones she had got broken. I have been searching for something fun to get them that will make their eyes sparkle on Christmas morning but I haven't found a thing!

Then tragedy struck. Two of my brothers live in Craig Colorado for their jobs. Since their work requires them to travel they decided to rent a house together so their wives and kids can be together while the men are at work. Well last Wednesday night the chimney for the wood burning stove that they use to heat the house caught on fire and part of the house burned down. Everyone in the family and the pets were able to get out safely, but what was not burned has been destroyed by smoke and water. They have nothing!

Then one of my sassy scrapping sisters Laura lost her baby Ella at 32 weeks along. She had to have the baby and go home without a baby in her arms. It breaks my heart to think of the pain that she is and will go through.

So I have been worrying all month about finding the Christmas feeling and I have finally found it. I am so blessed. Adam and I have a nice house and two cars. We have oodles of warmth from our furnace. My children have tons of clothes. We have a washer and dryer to do laundry. I even get to do the laundry during the day since I get to stay home with our children. We just are so lucky to have happy healthy kids and a warm house.

Instead of thinking of about the craziness of Christmas, I am trying to think of ways that I can help my brothers and my friend. I don't have a lot of money or items to give them, but I think we as a family can find a way to serve them, and I think it will be a great experience! It will help us all to have the true feeling of Christmas!

Miss Cutie Pie!

While I do Breeley's hair we often say the ABC's, count to 20, or sing a song to get her mind off it. With all those curls comes a lot of tangles. It doesn't matter how much spray in conditioner I use, or how slow or fast I go, she still whines/cries about getting her hair done.

So for the last week, we have been singing the primary song "I Love to See the Temple". She knows all the words by herself and I thought it was so cute, I would share it with ya!

Special Day Today!

Today is our anniversary! December 8th 1995 Adam and I were married in the Logan Temple for time and all eternity! It was the best decision both of us ever made. Not only do we have a fabulous life together, have four wonderful kids, but we get to wake up to each other every single day! I love Adam so much and am so greatful that he didn't think he was too good to date a young girl still in high school when he got home from his mission.

I met Adam the day after he returned home from his mission. He came home on Christmas eve, and on Chistmas day he went over to the Chandler's house to visit. I just happened to be at the Chandler's house hanging out with my friends. We had the long Christmas break off from school, and he didn't have a job yet so "conditions were perfect" for us to have plenty of time to get to know each other.

When he asked me out on our first date, he asked me about two weeks in advance. My friends had told him I was pretty busy so I would need to schedule it. I became a really popular topic of conversation at school when word got out that I was dating an "RM". Not in a million years did I ever think I would get married right out of high school. I had two scholarships to Dixie College and had definite plans of attending! But I have a feeling that Heavenly Father knew the choices that I probably would have made down in Dixie and he thought I better stay clear of there. Adam and I started talking about getting married early on in the dating process, but I refused to have a ring in high school. So he waited to propose until after I had graduated. We waited until December to get married since he was attending Weber and didn't want to miss a weeks worth of classes. So we were married the day after he took his last final.

Thirteen years later, we just spent 11 days together in Cabo and we still like each other a lot!

Fun Fun Weekend!

This weekend has been so much fun! For a couple of years now Adam's mom has given all her kids and grandkids a night at a hotel in Park City for her Christmas present to us. We really had a good time hanging out at the pool, eating too much pizza, playing ping pong, domino's and letting the cousins have time together. We are so busy these days that even though we live so close to each other we still don't see each other very often. Jenny and I had fun at the Walmart in Park City buying all of the day after Thanksgiving doorbusters that they still had in stock.
Abell, Hagen, and Addison really enjoyed skipping ice across the pool after it was closed. Breeley was such a sweetheart and fell asleep while watching the Barbie Princess and the Pauper. It was nice to have her asleep so we didn't have to worry about her while we were sitting in the hot tub. (Our rooms were all pool side and had sliding glass doors so we could watch her sleep from the hot tub)
There was even a big group of girls there for a birthday party that were the same age as Abell, cousin Adam, and Hagen. It was funny to see the three boys in a hot tub with about 10 girls. Boy are we in for a world of trouble when those boys will actually dare talk to the girls. I made a joke to Madi (the cutest 9th grade cheerleader ever) that she should do a survey to the girls and see what boy they thought was the cutest. The boys heard me say this and were so excited to see what the results were. But it was just a joke. The boys stayed up until midnight and were sad when we made them go to bed.
Saturday we did family pictures with the whole dang family and it was a nightmare to get the kids ready. NOT ENOUGH SLEEP THE NIGHT BEFORE! They didn't want to change their jeans, they didn't want to wear that sweater, do they really have to brush their teeth, blah, blah, blah... NEVER again will we plan it in that format again. I don't care how convenient it is for 22 people. We really had a lot of fun getting our pictures taken. We went to the new popular place of the Union Station and got some really great pics. The photographer was awesome and I bet she took more than 500 pictures. Every time we asked for a specific backround or anything she would just say "Let's do it". I am so excited to get them back. I will post them asap so you all can see how cute we look with puffy sleep deprived eyes!