YeeeeeHaaawww!!

My girls each have a pair of boots, and I guess you could say that Anson's been a little jealous. He keeps trying on Ashley's boots. She does NOT like that either. Monday night, during FHE, Ashley tackled him to the floor (face down) and ripped the boots off his feet. Sounds ferocious, but it was kinda funny to watch (no one really got hurt). haha. So, now he does it while she's at school (on the days she's not wearing them). My Mom just found these today and wanted him to have his own. You should have seen the smile on his face when he saw them! It was the cutest! He put them on immediately! He was more than happy to pose for the camera!

I couldn't wait to create this layout! Credits HERE.

That's Amore'

Ok, I've never done a youtube in my blog before, so I hope this works. Anyway, this is for my friend JULIE because she loves to sing this song on XBOX's Karaoke! I never saw this show "America's Got Talent" but this guy is flippin' Awesome!! He has several more videos on youtube so you have to go check him out!

Holiday Questions

I want to know these things, and my answers are included. Copy and paste it and do yours or reply back in a comment. Or if you don't blog, you can email me (who doesn't love mail?)!

What is your...


Favorite winter beverage? hot cocoa
Fave Christmas candy? toffee
Fave candy cane flavor? color? original peppermint - red & white
Favorite christmas cookie? frosted sugar cookie
Favorite Christmas song? to sing? to listen to? Jingle Bells & Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
Fave Christmas movie? The Christmas Story
Fave christmas story? The Gift of the Magi (or similar ones)
Fave christmas colors? Silver, Red, Green, Gold
Actual color scheme for your decor? Silver, Red, Green
Fave christmas tradition? as a kid? with your own family? Throughout Dec & esp Christmas Eve - driving around to look at lights & going to see the Temple Lights
Tree topper? star? Angel? other? do tell! pictures score extra cool points. Lighted Star
Christmas lights display?your house? to drive by? small bulbs? large bulbs? white? multi colored? simple? Griswald? again pictures are a bonus here too. We use white icicle lights, plus other multi color lights outside. Love to see houses w/ TONS of lights & displays & decorations! I just told my neighbor (cuz he was asking about more lights) that I would't mind if his house looked like "Christmas Vacation" - the Griswold's house. ha ha. Also, have you seen "Deck the Halls" w/ Danny DeVito & Matthew Broderick? His house is AWESOME!!! Lights coordinated w/ music. ha ha LOVE IT! Wish we had more lights!
fave holiday icon collection?? Santa? nativity? snowmen? We don't have a collection of one particular item, just a few decos in the house. I think Santas & Nativities from around the world are so cool. Last year the Temple Visitors Center had a stunning Nativity from around the world Display. I should find out if they're doing it again. Loved it!
christmas card? picture? letter? Christmas card w/ picture, love getting everyone's family pictures!
what is more fun for you White Elephant? or Draw secret Santa names? Secret Santa
Holiday budget? extravagant or low budget? what do you wish it was? Our budget is very low this year, totally wish it was more
Tree? real or fake? prelit ? Green or flocked? Fake green tree not prelit, we add our own lights & ornaments (lots of homemade/kidmade ornaments)
best gifts are? homemade? or store bought? Both! Wish I was more creative to do homemade gifts!
which is better in your opinion? surprises galore? or being sneaky and peeking? I LOVE surprises! Growing up, I was always my Mom's "helper" and knew everyone's gifts & sometimes even helped pick out my own (which I thought was so cool being the helper). Now that I do most of the shopping myself, it's nice to get surpised once in a while.
do you do thank you cards for christmas gifts? Not really. I definitely say "Thank You!" and show my appreciation/gratitude and also send emails

Ok, here's my lame attempt at taking a picture at our house lights (w/o the flash)

Here's a picture of our Christmas Tree (couple yrs ago in TX). We only put presents under the tree on Christmas Eve, otherwise the kids would probably tear into them! We just can't take that chance, plus they're usually not all wrapped until then. ha ha :)

OK people I really need to know these things! (if you post this on your blog, leave me a comment, so I can come check it out!)

Lights, Decorations, Tree

On Monday, Ben and I put the Christmas lights on our house! YAY! For our Family Home Evening (FHE) we put up our tree! Lots getting done! Although, the star is not on top of the tree, need another extension cord. We used them all outside. ha ha.

FHE was fun and my parents came over to help/watch. We had hot cocoa, sang some Christmas songs, and the kids all helped put up the tree (it's fake) and ornaments. Poor Felicia thought that decorating the tree was cutting into our lesson/activity time for FHE. Half-way thru ornaments, she said she wanted us to hurry cuz we were wasting time. ha ha. Apparently, she had some sort of little activity she wanted us to do. (She is really enjoying being in charge - self appointed of course.) I had to explain to her that the tree was the main event for family night and that we don't always have to have a lesson. Family night can be anything we want it to be. Usually there's a lesson involved, but it can also be other things. Ashley insisted that my Mom help her "read" a short story to the group. But it wasn't planned, it just sort of happened cuz we were all sitting down enjoying the pretty tree when she got up and took charge. Maybe that's what upset Felicia, the fact that Ashley got to do something that she wanted but not her. I'm not sure. When we were done we ate birthday cake because Ben's birthday was Sunday. All-in-all, it was a good day!

Turkey Day Scraps

I just had to create some layouts using my Thanksgiving pictures! So, here they are:

Credits HERE

This layout I created for a challenge at DSO (u have to use 11 photos).
Credits HERE

Brrrrr

It's chilly outside (and inside my house cuz we haven't turned on the heat yet). I drove the kids to school today because Ashley needed help carrying something that didn't fit in her backpack. I had to put on a long-sleeved shirt w/ jeans and I am still a little cold. I know it's not actually cold yet, but it's starting to cool down. I just finished drinking some hot chocolate. Mmmm my favorite drink in the winter! I love adding a little sprinkle of cinnamon and fresh ground nutmeg to my hot chocolate. Now that my tummy's warm, I'm feeling a little better.

B E N ~

MyHotComments

You are the greatest! And since I already did a tribute to you HERE, I will just wish you a fabulous day!

We Love You!!

Little Known Facts About...

myspace graphic

I was tagged by Kristy! So, here they are:

1. I do NOT like cold weather. It's ok when it starts to cool off a little like in the fall or like today. But I can't stand it when it's super cold. That's why I live in AZ. I like snow, but I don't want to live in it. I only like to visit the snow for a few hours then go home. I don't like wearing jackets. My favorite seasons are spring and fall.

2. I am such a night owl. Those who have gone to our mommy's night already know this cuz I'm one of the last few girls to stay out super late. I'd rather stay up really late than get up really early. I've been like this since I was younger, especially in high school. Not that I can't get up early, I can if I have to and I'm not a super grouch early in the morning just maybe a little slow-moving.

3. I mow our lawn to help out Ben. He works so many days and hours, so I try to give him a break. I actually don't mind doing it. It's fun to get it done and see how pretty the yard looks. I don't think it's hard, well our yard also isn't that big, so it doesn't take very long. I have edged our yard before (in TX) just to learn how to use the edger, but haven't done it again since. I leave that job for Ben. It takes longer and I consider mowing kind of like vacuuming, not that big of a deal.

4. I like to sing in the car! Only when I'm alone or my family is in the car. My kids are kind and don't tell me I have a bad voice and they like to sing too. It's fun! I like a variety of music, but not a big fan of country music.

5. I enjoy repeating funny movie lines, esp w/ my hubby! We have some fun inside jokes because of them. We don't have to see a movie more than once to pick out a line to repeat either. We also like to do sound effects when we're talking. I know it sounds weird, but I've always done that and so has Ben (he's way better at it than me). See we're a total match. ha ha

6. I love HGTV decorating shows and Lifetime movies! I get tons of ideas from the decorating shows, it's great! I know that most of the Lifetime movies have pretty much the same story, but I love them! They hook me in so easily. ha ha. One Saturday, when we were living at my parents' house, my Mom & I watched several movies in a row. Ben & my Dad weren't home, so maybe they were javelina hunting or something. It was chilly outside and the kids were playing or they'd come hang out w/ us while we watched tv in her room while sitting/laying on her bed. We kept laughing every time a new movie would start and it sounded good to us, so we'd say "ok just one more." It was one of the most relaxing days ever!

I already tagged everyone last time I did this, so I'm not gonna do tags this time. If you want to carry this on, be my guest. I love reading everyone's random lists & learning about them. Thanks Kristy for tagging me. Now you learned more weird stuff about me. tee hee :)

THANKSGIVING!!!

I hope everyone had a HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

We had an awesome day! We all had a lot of fun! It was definitely a good holiday for us! Lots of laughter & the food was so delicious! We couldn't stop eating but eventually our tummies told us NO MORE FOOD! LOL :)

I took a ton of pictures and want to share a bunch of them. And for once, I managed to get into a lot of pictures. So sorry if you get sick of looking at me! ha ha :)

Heather curling Felicia's hair

Heather and ME

Trevor & Nathaniel

Me & the Girls

Ben & Nathaniel playing XBOX 360

Heather (Ben's sis) & Tom

Some of us while Ben's carving the Turkey

Ron & Joy (Ben's sis)
ALL OF US

Nancy (Ben's Mom) & Jim

My Niece, Chantel & ME
Me & My Niece, Tiffany

My Mom & ME

My Mom & Dad
ME & My Dad
ME & Ben
Ashley got so tired after Ben's family left that she just passed out on the couch! So, when my parents came over later for a treat, we took our family picture around her (so she wouldn't be excluded)! ha ha

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

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Super Silly Girls

Felicia and Ashley were playing around the other day making Ben and I laugh so hard. They kept trying to "talk like a MAN." Ben and I were talking about how it's so funny when women try to repeat something that a man has said, sometimes they do it in a little lower voice or when they say how their husband is complaining about something, then they use a higher pitched whiny voice to imitate it. Then when a man is talking about a woman, they try to use a higher pitched voice to sound like a girl. Anyway, we were teasing each other and changing our voices and the girls heard us and started doing it too. Ashley would stick her chest out and say, "I'm talking like a Man. heh heh heh!" with her deep voice (you know as deep as she can get). And then Felicia chimed in copying her, but if you've heard Felicia's voice, she's already on a higher pitch than Ashley, so she didn't sound much different than usual cuz she can hardly deepen her voice. LOL! So Ben was teasing them and asking if they had a mustache...Ashley nodded her head and quickly put her hand above her lip. She was so cute! Then he asked "what about a beard?" And Felicia nodded and covered her chin w/ her hand. We could not stop giggling! It was fun being completely entertained by the girls! Well, yesterday the girls we were wearing their new matching shirts & looked so cute, so I wanted them to show me their "beard" and "mustache" poses so I could do a scrapbook page and document our fun time!

So here you have it...their MAN poses!

Credits HERE

My Hunter is Home

Ben went north for elk hunting w/ my Dad for a few days. He just got home tonight! YAY!! The kids love when he gets home cuz they've missed him and he usually brings home some of his snacks/treats. They are very quick about helping themselves to his treats! ha ha. This time it was pistachios and a few leftover cookies that my Mom made. Thank goodness I spent late last night and today catching up on all of our laundry. As soon as he walked in, we could all smell him (you know that dirty camp fire smell). So, the washer was empty and I had him empty his bag (clean & dirty clothes) and put them straight into the washer. And he hopped into the shower immediately. Mostly because he had pre-ordered the game "Mass Effect" for XBOX 360, and he wanted to go pick it up tonight (since it just released today) before GameStop closed. He left the receipt with me, just in case I felt like taking a stroll to the store and picking it up for him. It's a single player role-playing game, so of course, I don't have that much interest in it, except to watch him once in a while just to keep up w/ the story. I only like multiplayer games cuz I don't really want to play by myself. Anyway, I was busy and didn't feel like going to the store, so I didn't make it out. That's ok cuz he got home in time to get it himself. So, finally he's off checking out the game!

I cannot believe that Thanksgiving is only a day away! ONE LAST DAY to make final preparations! I'm pretty much ready, just gonna make my pies tomorrow and finish cleaning up (and have the kids do some of their chores after school). I'm also informing Ben tonight (if he can hear me over his xbox) that he's in charge of finding 10 chairs for our family dinner. I know it's last minute, but I keep telling him that we need chairs. I have shopped and planned and cleaned and done everything else for this BIG day, so I think he can figure out the chairs. Wish him luck! tee hee :)

I love Thanksgiving, especially being with family! I also love all the cooking, even though sometimes it can be frustrating - mostly cuz several things have to be worked on the very last minute - like fluffing the mashed potatoes or mashing them if they're ready at the last minute, working on the gravy, stuffing (I use Stove Top my favorite), not to mention carving the bird and laying all the food out. But once everything is done then we can all SIT and EAT!!! My favorite part! Ben's family is coming over and they're each bringing food items to share. We end up having SO MUCH FOOD it's crazy! But it's all yummy and our tummies get full. Plus we all get to spend time together and the kids love playing with their cousins. Lots of photo-ops! Since we still have my Dad's tripod, maybe I can even set it up and get one big group photo! That would be so cool, we've never attempted that before. We usually do adults then kids. We'll see if we can get everyone to sit still for a minute! Sounds like a fun challenge!

HOPE Y'ALL HAVE A WONDERFUL THANKSGIVING!!!

Car Trouble Again

UGH!! I am so tired of car problems. I just had my car worked on just before Halloween. Saturday early afternoon we tried to go to my nephew’s birthday party, but guess what?? The car wouldn’t start! It made that horrible “tick tick tick” sound! Let me guess a dead battery? Well, Ben came home during his lunch hour to check it out. Yep it’s the battery. So, he jumped it and it started. Maybe it just needs to be charged. So, he hooked it up to the charger and let it charge til he came home after work. It started fine, so I was able to go buy my turkey & ham (both on sale at Albertson’s).

Ben left Sunday morning to meet my dad for elk hunting. Before he left he checked my car…started fine again. Whew! We would be able to drive ourselves to church. Guess again! Just a couple hours later, it wouldn’t start when we tried to go to church. Dang it! I forgot to mention that we were running late, so we skipped sacrament meeting. Ashley had a talk in primary and I was also teaching in primary. So, we had like 10 minutes to get there. I called my Mom and asked if she would be able to drop us off. She rushed over and we (me and 4 kids, plus my Mom) all squeezed into her cute little Toyota Rav4. We never ever squeeze that many people into a car that doesn’t have enough seat belts, but this time was an emergency. At least I got Anson’s car seat, so he was safe! She’s so awesome that she also picked us up after church!

So, this morning, my Mom took me to Wal-Mart to get my battery checked. Turns out, it was bad and also that same style is now discontinued. I got a new battery free and got 3 dollars in change. Thank goodness for their 3 year warranty (that battery was less than 6 months old).

I am so grateful for my awesome MOM!! Thank You MOM for helping us!!! You’re the BEST!!

This is my Mom & Dad

Me & my Mom (last year at Amazing Jake's)

Christmas Already?

I noticed a few days ago that one of our neighbors (behind us) has already begun to hang his Christmas lights. I know the lights at the Temple have already started because it takes so long to put up soooo many lights to be ready for the day after Thanksgiving. And last week I noticed another neighbor (around the corner from me) already had their Christmas tree all lit up in their house! Already? I think last year, we started to put stuff up the weekend before Thanksgiving or the week of because Ben was going to be working the day after and that whole weekend. He also went out of town beginning of December, so I bought more lights and hung them myself while he was gone. It was FUN!

So, my question to you is...do you put up lights and/or decorations outside, decorations/lights inside? And when?

(^pic from www.walmart.com)

(^pic from www.michaels.com)

Also, when do you put up your Christmas tree (and do you have themed ornaments or a variety)?

(^pic from www.samsclub.com)

Also, do you do the stocking thing? I mean, do you have stockings for everyone in your family and do you hang them? or where do you put them?

(^pic from www.potterybarn.com)

We haven't started our outdoor lights and decorations yet (for Christmas). We have a fall wreath on our door still. We will probably start next week, maybe I'll start the day after Thanksgiving while Ben is at work. We usually put up our tree the weekend of Thanksgiving, too. Growing up we always had a real tree, and we didn't get it til the week of Christmas. I loved our trees but a little jealous that so many other people would have their tree up much earlier. When we got married we bought a fake tree (it doesn't look fake cuz so many people have asked us if it's real, so now you know), so we could put it up much earlier and enjoy it the whole month of December. We have mostly silver ornaments (a few hand made from the kids), silver garland, and a multi-color garland and a lighted star for the top of our tree! Depending on my mood, we usually put out the indoor decorations (which we only have a couple) at the same time as the tree. We have a different stocking for each person in our family, not personalized just different picture/colors. We finally bought nicer ones 2 years ago. And last year, I bought a stocking rack/holder from Kirkland's. We don't have a mantle above our fireplace, so this sits in front of the fireplace and has hooks for each of our stockings. I love it! All the other years, we would just keep the stockings in our closet and bring them out Christmas Eve for Santa to fill. I just figured they would get kicked around or go missing before Santa arrived. I mean I found Ashley walking around one year (on Christmas Day) w/ stockings on her feet calling them boots! It was pretty funny, but that's one reason why we had to buy new ones! LOL :) Ok, just thinking about all the fun decorations makes me want to get them out! I can't wait...just a few more days!

So tell me, what are your decorating traditions??

Crazy Hair Day & I'm So Thankful...

The kids told me today is CrAzY hAiR day at school. So, even though we woke up late, I hurried to give them weird hair (or at least weird for them). Here's what we came up with:

Nathaniel's spikey mohawk

Felicia has 6 ponytails

Well, to be honest, we were running out of time, so
Ashley just has 2 ponytails that stick out


They were still pretty excited about their wacky hairdo's !

I haven't done my "thankfuls" for a couple days. Well, I guess you could say that by posting our fun family pictures...I'm thankful for my digital camera! It's not top of the line but it's also not bottom of the barrel...it's just RIGHT!! I love it! I love taking pictures - I don't claim to be the best photographer, but I think my pics turn out pretty good. And if I didn't take pictures all the time, no one else would. I enjoy documenting our family life with pictures!

So, here's another "thankful" for today! Using my wonderful camera, I took pictures of our lawn to see how it would do. To be honest, I wasn't sure our winter lawn would actually grow. I was hoping, but also trying to be ready for disappointment just in case it didn't grow the way I wanted. Remember, we've never put in a winter lawn before, but to my surprise it actually grew! YAY!! I'm so thankful for our winter grass that grew right before my eyes! (Oh and I'm thankful for all the water we have so that it could grow!)

Here's our lawn just 5 days after seeding

(it's kinda hard to see, but there are tons of green sprouts)

And now here's our lawn this morning! (just 10 days after all our hard work) I think it's gorgeous!! Yes, it has a few bald patches, but for the most part, it's a thick lush lawn! Apparently, we need to get a little more seed to fill in the "not-so-lush" areas. (our neighbor gave us that handy tip that we had no clue about) Our backyard is filling in also, but not quite as great as the front. Probably cuz we didn't really prep the backyard, we just threw the seed out there and a little fertilizer that was left. So, actually, it's doing pretty good considering we didn't put much effort into it.

Sweet Sisters

Ok, I was saving some of our better family pictures for later, so I could digi-scrap some of them. Anyway, here's what I made last night. Tell me you haven't seen anything sweeter?! I will love that picture forever!

Credits HERE

I created this layout for a Template Challenge

If you want to see other layouts I've created, you can also view My Gallery Here

Family Pictures

Yesterday we were busy taking our family pictures. Usually we go have them done at Wal-Mart, but we decided to do them ourselves this year (you know, set the timer on the camera & run over to be in the picture). Yes, we're cheap when it comes to paying for pictures, but I also wanted to do it outside. Ben dreads the chaotic family pictures every year. Anyway, it was frustrating as usual, but surprisingly, they turned out pretty good. A few of them are slightly blurry because there was always at least one little finger (or other body part) moving. Oh well, we got some fun ones (or at least we look like we're having fun even though I had to give them mean stares or remind them if they would just sit still we could get this over with faster). So, I'll share a few highlights of our fun trip to the Mesa Temple for our lovely family pictures!

One of our family pictures (see Anson's "spirit fingers")

The Kiddos - Nathaniel, Felicia, Ashley & Anson
The Girls - Felicia & Ashley

The Boys - Anson & Nathaniel

Ben & Me - This is the spot where he proposed

Anson decided to take a walk around the fountain

Look who had to retrieve him

Found Anson in the background running again!