Thanksgiving

We started out our Thanksgiving week with a feast at the kids' school.

On Thanksgiving day we went to Jeremy's grandparents.

It was so nice to just show up and eat!

You know it's a good day when you come
home and crash on the couch!

I have so much to be Thankful for. I am so blessed!!

Christmas Prep

Last Christmas we were on vacation in sunny California. I really enjoyed that Christmas more than any other. I think the warm weather played a part in it, but mostly it was because it was completely stress-free. We didn't put up any decorations, we didn't have to juggle family parties, and didn't even buy presents. We simply spent time together as a family. It gave us a lot of time to just sit and reflect on the true meaning of Christmas.

This year, we decided we needed to spend a Christmas at home and enjoy the company of our extended family. However, I really wanted to avoid the stress that typically comes with Christmas. My goal was to have all the shopping done and house decorated by Thanksgiving. No black Friday bargain hunting and no last minute runs to Walmart. That way I could just sit back and try to enjoy the holidays. So, I decided to do all my shopping online and the presents were delivered to my door this morning...exactly one day before Thanksgiving!

After school, I solicited the help of my little elves and we got the whole house decorated before Jeremy got home from work. We started with the Teddy Bear tree. The kids love this tree because they get to put up all their ornaments they made in previous years.

Livi loved this tree because she could put the bears wherever she wanted...



and then I can fix it the way I want...



Then we moved on to the "formal tree" in the front room. The kids were really good at straitening out the branches together.



Then on to the stockings!

and finally our pint-sized Tigger tree for the basement.

I think this is going to be a stress-free Christmas afterall!

A Perfect Ten

This is my husband and I on our 10th anniversary.

In 10 years we...

had three kids
lived in three homes
worked many jobs
started four companies
failed at two of them
took countless vacations
changed hair color, a lot
owned ten cars
wrecked five of them
(I only wrecked one)
laughed hard
fought hard
played hard
loved hard
made new friends
lost old friends
became best friends

I love you babe!
Here's to ten years of being 'comfortable' and hopefully
many more years to come. You are my everything :)


"A successful marriage requires falling in love many times,
always with the same person." ~Mignon McLaughlin

A rare November day at the park

Jeremy was in New York or California or Vegas or somewhere...I lose track. Anyhoo, we woke up to a beautiful sunny morning, which is rare in November for Utah. Knowing this would be the last nice day before a long winter, I decided to take the kids to the park.

We went to this fun park in my old 'hood' in West Jordan. It's set up like an old western city. The kids love it!

We are the Champions!!

Jeremy has loved the Yankees ever since he was a little boy. Over the last couple of years he has made it his goal to go to a Yankees game whenever possible. He was fortunate to go last October while attending a conference in California. However, as luck would have it, the final game in the World Series just happened to coincide with a conference in New York.

Here are some pictures of the happiest man on earth that day:

Unfortunately, being in the middle of so many people doesn't come without consequences...a couple of days later he got the Swine Flu. I think he would still say it was worth it!

The Big Bad Wolf!

After one really long year, Landon finally earned his Wolf in scouts.

Yahoo-o-o-o-o-o!

Fun Birthday Party

Our friends, Matt & Andra had a birthday party for their little Whitney. Andra always throws the cutest theme parties, like this one and this one.

I told Livi she was going to Whitney's birthday party and she kept telling me she needed a party dress. I have no idea where she got that idea from, but she insisted on changing. She looked so cute in her party dress, so I of course had to take a few pictures.

Then the rest of us got ready (Jeremy was out of town) and
took a few more pictures because we just looked so darn cute.





The party was a lady bug theme, which was so cute because both Livi and Whitney were lady bugs for Halloween. Everything was of course beautifully coordinated.





All the little bugs

This is Halloween, Halloween, Halloween

The kids got to dress up for school yesterday, but this year they didn't do a parade or any kind of school activity that involved the parents. So basically the fun came at 6:30 in the morning when we put the costumes on and took pictures.


When we got home from school we decided to go to the neighborhood Trunk or Treat. I really didn't want to go through the whole dressing up routine the next day, so I convinced the kids to celebrate Halloween on Friday and then they could hand out candy on Halloween. The Trunk or Treat was really fun and the kids loved seeing their friends.

Turns out Livi and Whitney had the same costume,
which Andra and I didn't plan.

They both looked so cute!

Livi Bug

This is the first year Livi really understood dressing up for Halloween. She chose a lady bug costume, but insisted it was a bee. She went around the store making bee noises. She asked every day if she could wear her costume, until finally, she had a Halloween party at school.

I must say, she is the cutest little lady bug bee I've ever seen!

While posing for pictures, I asked her if she was a lady bug and she kept saying "I a bee...see..." and would show me her stinger on her little butt.


Then it started snowing and she would no longer look at the camera and just kept yelling "Snow!"


Then it was off to the party. These kids are all such great friends and had fun trick or treating for the first time.