Thursday, December 4, 2008

Thanksgiving

We had a great thanksgiving and I hope you all did too. Eric is building bed's for the girl's for Christmas and they are looking amazing!!! He is so talented. I am hoping he will be able to get into our attic soon to get down our Christmas decorations. I am itching to get our tree up.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Aunt Sharon



My dad's sister Sharon came to visit this weekend. She has been doing genealogy work and found that they have a first cousin that lives in AZ. From what I understand the cousin comes from my grandmother's side. She had a step sibling and it is their son that is the cousin. Cool, huh? What a fabulous person Sharon is and I hope we see her more often. Love you Sharon!





Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Halloween Picts

















































































I made a huge Turkey for the first time with all the fixings by my self about 3 weeks ago. Clay, my father-in-law carved it up for us. Super props to all you mom's and people who make Thanksgiving so delicious every year, it is a lot of work! It turned out awesome! YEAH ME!














This is Lana, Jaynee and (L to R) my nieces and nephew Lauren, Elaine and Collin. My sister-in-law Emily and her kids stayed the weekend with us about 5 weeks ago when Eric and Larry(brother-in-law) went quail hunting. It was a blast we went to the zoo and watched Cinderella II. Lana and Jaynee had a blast having them over.

New stuff

So, Eric is now and has been a hunting man. Last year at Thanksgiving he got drawn for elk and didn't have any success. This past Halloween weekend he went out for deer and the season closes this upcoming weekend. He didn't get anything last week but hopes that this weekend to have some success. His dad went on an elk hunt about 2 weeks ago and got one and now our freezer is full of elk meat. Don't gag, it is really good and leaner than beef, who'd a thought it.
While Eric was gone the girls and I went to our ward trunk-o-treat, which I think is the one of the best idea's since sliced bread. The girls had so much fun. Lana saw another girl dressed liked Ariel and she said, "I want to go see Ariel". So, we went to go say hi to this little girl just a month or two younger than Lana. I think Lana kind of made her uncomfortable and she had major costume envy. Lana was Sleeping Beauty and loved every second of it. But every time we saw this other little girl Lana would say, "I want to go see Ariel" and if she wasn't within sight Lana would want to know where she was. On Halloween we passed out candy trick-or-treated a few houses down our street. Lana is totally afraid of anyone with a mask on it is kind of hilarious and sad at the same time. Jaynee loved it all and wasn't afraid one bit. Jaynee figured out real quick how to just reach into someone else bowl and help herself or take the candy out and put in Lana's bag or someone else's bag.
Okay so potty training was/is not fun. Lana really wanted earings and we told her that if she was potty trained she could get earings. Well she is now potty trained thank you know who. And when I took her to go get her ears pierced I made the mistake of thinking that telling her what to expect would put her at ease. Well after telling her they were going to poke her hear she decided earings was not her best bargain. So, I said okay when you want to get them you can, just tell mom and we'll go get it done. So, I would ask her anytime we were at wal-mart if she changed her mind, etc. She has a little girl friend named Page that is about a year older than her with her ears pierced and I spotted them and mentioned in front of Lana that Page had earings and asked Page if it hurt when she got them and Page said no. Then on Sat. we ran some errands and we went to Wal-mart and who did we run into Page and I needed a new watch and so we were in the jewlery department and I said nothing and Lana came right out and said "I want to get my ear's pierced" and I asked are you sure and she said yes again. So, she did and she only cried a little bit, she did a super job and they look so cute. She picked out green emerald's which is my birth stone but that surprised me, I thought for sure pink, nope, green.
Jaynee is getting more vocal with her "no's" and it makes me laugh. I know I shouldn't but I can't help it, it is too funny. I try not to let her see.
My is a principal at Settler's Point Elementary School in the Gilbert Public School's. I am so proud of her. I really admire her for the person that she is and how she treats other people. She really is a high quality, classy lady. I can not remember her ever dressing up for Halloween and I can understand why, busy mom, four kids, full-time job, etc. Getting 4 costumes for your kids is a big enough task. Well this year she and 7 of her office staff member's dress-up. My mom was Snow White and the lady's were the dwarves. It was super. I took Lana and Jaynee down to the school to see her all dressed up and they loved it. What they loved even more was following my mom and the dwarves around the school into all the classrooms watching them sing part of the hi, ho song. Lana was marching singing, laughing and smiling the whole time. Jaynee even sang along too sometimes. It was great! My mom made a HOT older Snow White. Go MOM!

Monday, October 27, 2008

Halloween:0

So, I went for a walk with the girls tonight. We went and "Boo"ed some of our neighbors, by anonymously leaving treats on their door step with a note. I think that idea is so fun, whoever started such shenanigans is a genius. Lana loved going around the neighborhood and seeing all the pumpkins, ghosts, witches and grim reapers(well not the grim reapers) She calls them pirates and she doesn't like them very much. Lana is good at singing the Pirate song from "Pirates of the Carribean" I heard her sing it several times during our little walk.
Pirates makes me think of a funny story. So, my piano teacher's husband won a bunch of Halloween decorations and Lana came with me to a lesson and they have this big life size skeleton pirate. Well she didn't feel to comfortable with the pirate around so she sat on my lap the whole lesson. The story get's better. Later that day we went to Grandpa Clayton's Suprise 60th Birthday Party. My mother-in-law Maureen and my sister in law Erin had some entertainment come. It was some woman dressed up like Elvira (spelling) and the grim reaper who Lana was convinced was the same pirate from the piano lesson earlier that day coming to get her. I didn't get to stick around for the entertainment, Lana and I went inside and watched Ariel, one of her new favorite shows and tried to take our mind off the pirate in the yard. Kids are so great!

More Pictures







Family Pictures










Here are some recent and not so recent family photos.

Alright Already!

Alright already! I am going to try keeping up a blog not only for friends and family, but mainly for myself as a reminder that I am living and participating in this human experience. I am not a good journal keeper and I struggle to keep in contact. But, it is something I want to do and want to be good at so I am going to give it a try. Come along for the ride if you want too. Disclaimer: The thoughts and views posted here are that of my own and do not express the thoughts and views of other. Even though you might be a victim of what I put on here. Sorry honey:) and my girls if I embarrass you that is not the intent.
I am going to spew. Life is interesting, it is interesting because we are not alone. Our experience here is not one dimensional. Our choices and decisions effect/affect those around us for the good, bad or indifferent. So many things in history have brought us to the point we are at and each time we make a decision/choice it can open up something new, close down something else, but our decisions narrow us or expand us so we are expanding and narrowing all at the same time. Not to mention our own personal limitations or abilities that we come pre-wired with. What a roller-coaster I sometimes feel like I am on. I feel like I am coasting sometimes and other times it feels like ROLLING!!! I love roller-coasters even though they sometimes scare me I ultimately love them and as soon as I get off I want to get back on and go again. Life totally feels like that some times. Eric and I along with my brother in law Larry and sister in laws Emily and Erin hiked into Revis Ranch. I couldn't help but in non-talking hiking moments think about how hiking is like life. Sometimes it is a down hill coast, sometimes it is an uphill battle and sometimes we fall, sometimes the trail is really rocky, sometimes the view is senic and the trail is easy breezy, sometimes we get wacked in a face with a branch, we turn an ankel, we get sweaty, tired, wore out, blisters, sometimes we are energized and sing as we go, some give up and don't finish, I am a finisher and a pusher I discovered. I sometimes don't enjoy every part of the hike but there are some great spots, some memorable experience, sometimes I want to stop and rest or quit or turn around and go back but inevitably I push through and finish. I love my family and friends and look forward to all of the fun, easy breezy, memorable, senic moments as well as the trails, obstacles, hard work and sweat that makes up this lifes experiences.