The one from John

I mentioned in the last post how my sisters, friends, family and I are sending my missionary bro packages of homemade ornaments - just for fun. Cuz we miss him. :) We also ordered him a small Christmas tree. He will be getting several packages this week of ornaments from all of us. Don't you love the holidays?

He was scheduled to get the package with the tree on Friday. It must have arrived cuz here is the email that he sent me today. It was so great, I just had to share:

"Now it came to pass that in the 13th month of his mission (being thirteen out of 24), while going about his many labors, behold, a great and tremendous box of exceeding size arrived at his tent. And the great and tremendous box was made after the manner of the cardboard, and the box measured about 4 feet long, 1 foot wide. However the box was not exceedingly heavy, nor was it burdensome to carry.

"However the words of his sister came to him, giving him a warning, and these are the words of his sister: 'Behold, thou shalt not open any box that thou recievest from thy sister, for thy sister sent it, and you will receive it, and thou shalt not open it until the day of thanksgiving, less thou be cursed from further receiving of any box.'

"So when these words came into his mind, he feared greatly lest he be led away into temptation and open the box before the day of thanksgiving come. And such was his fear that he did tremble much and his knees did smote together.

"Nevertheless and notwithstanding, he did not open the box but did await for the day of thanks.

"However when the sun came up the next day, he received another box, however this box, nor the first box, had a name of who the sender was. and this box was wrapped in much wrappings, and taped with much tape, and behold the box was wrapped after the manner of the pagan who give themselves unto much celebration for the occasion of Christmas.

"Therefore, he did receive this box with much gladness, however once again the words of his sister came into his mind, warning him to not open her box until the great day of thanks.

"So he was troubled in his heart, for he did not know which box it was that his sister sent. And once again he feared much lest he open the wrong box. Therefore, and hithertoo and until the day of thanksgiving, he has decided to not open either box. and he doth look forward to the day of thanksgiving with much eagerness.

"For in the day of thanksgiving he shall open both boxes, and receive much gladness, and great will be the rejoicings in the land."


See why I miss him so much?

The one about last week

I've got a little behind on the bloggin'. Here's a quick catch up.

Last week I. . . :

*. . . visited some friends in Eagle Mountain when taking the kid's to Trevan's bday party. It was so strange being there and not driving into the old driveway. Wonderful to see Mandi, Haley, Cristianne, Jen, etc though. I'm missing all of them today.

* . . . went to my childhood friend- Candice Morgan's baby shower! It's so strange seeing my old friends as adults! It's been waaaay to long. Here's Ashlee, Annie, me and Candice...the "adults":

* . . . made the best dinner I've ever made. mmmmm. It's these stuffed pork chops with onions, jalapenos, stuffing, little bacon...I was planning on posting the recipe for you all to enjoy. I should say your hubbie's to enjoy. Maybe later. Kevin was oh so very happy. Though I don't think of myself as a big meat eater, I still can say these were awesome.

* . . . spent a day getting ready for Young Women in Excellence. (If I haven't mentioned already I'm the second counselor in Young Woman's--the best calling ever.) The girls in our ward are really exceptional. I put together a little tile for each of them:

* . . . took the kids to the dinosaur museum! I'm not sure who was more into it; Kevin or the kids?

Ok, I admit it- I had a really good time there too. There's this one room with two

"Long Necks"

(ha ha- can you tell I grew up in the 90's?) and they were so much bigger than I realized! Wowzers! For whatever reason they're extinct- I'm not complaining.

(above: my hubby and his clone)

.

* . . . made Christmas ornaments with the kids. We sent my baby-missionary-brother a small Christmas tree for him to decorate next week. My sisters, some friends and I are all making ornaments for him to hang on it. Anyway, here's the one's Halle, Drew and I made. Cute, eh? (Actually they're MUCH better than in these pics. O well.) They'd better be cute after the HUGE mess we made making them!

* . . . then, in the spirit of making Christmas decorations, I finally got around to decorating my house for fall. Just in time, eh?

* . . . watched the BYU/Utah "game" at Ora's.

No, I don't want to talk about it.

* . . . Drew randomly just came in the room and shouted
"Church Boys Alive!!!"
Explanation anyone????

* . . . and right now I have 5 (yes, I'm serious) cold sores. (thanks, Cougars) Anyway, I've decided that the word "cold sore" doesn't cut it. "Fever blister" is a little closer. But I think I'm going to start calling them:

"Flaming Festered Lesions of Death".
0 0
I
*****

(above: my face)

And on this happy note, that was my week.

The one that just happened

What happens when you're 5 & 3 year old

get themselves dressed up, pose themselves on the couch,

smile sweetly and say

"Mom,take our picture!"

?

I'll tell you what you do.

You don't waste any time asking questions or recovering from shock.

You just start snappin'.

The one where we're gonna PARTY!

Kevin and I decided months ago that if gas prices ever hit $2.50 we'd have a party. When it reached that marker, we decided to test our luck and keep going...if it ever dipped below $2 we'd reeeeally celebrate.

Well, baby, check this out!
Party town here we come!


go to http://www.utahgasprices.com/ to find stations with these prices.

Does anyone even remember when it was this low? Incredible. Maybe we should test our luck a little further...$1.50 anyone?

:D

The one with some ideas

This is just a temporary post to show Ora some ideas for her Christmas cards. It's easier than via email. :)

I am so bugged the others will not upload. Why?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wga85wQzbwQ

Oh, btw, Ora dear. You need to change your settings on your blog so that people can make comments on your posts. Emily's request.

The one where Halle read a book and Drew got potty trained!

On Sunday, my sweet Halle read her first couple of books- cover to cover- all on her own! After a few years of perfecting her ABC's, it really was so rewarding to watch. And she's FAST! I am insanely proud. It was one of those mile-stone days.
Here's a clip:

You know what is another mile-stone day that leaves a mom insanely proud and even more JUST SUPER THRILLED? The day your son decides that he is potty trained! Oh yes. About a month ago, Drew just decided he was done with the whole diaper thing and has been potty trained ever since. Sure there has been a few accidents, but overall ...

WA-FREAKIN-HOO!!

Except, weren't they just born?!?

The one for Ora

I took some pics yesterday of Ora's beautiful kids, Bailee and Trey. Here's a few:

The one of nine lives (at least one)

They say that cats have nine lives. I think our little Ruby used at least one of hers today.

This morning we went down to Payson to get my hair done by my good friend, Kara. Before getting to her house, I dropped the kids off at my sister Autumn's to play. Then I drove to Kara's house, picked her up and we went on a few errands; Sally's, Chevron...

Then we went to her house and colored my stubborn hair (Kara thank you for your patience, getting it just right). Around 5pm I got in my car to leave when a cat shot out from underneath my car. I thought "Hmm, that looks like Ruby", and without another thought, started to drive away.

Luckily, something in the back of my mind stopped me. I pulled back in the driveway, went over to the cat (thinking the little stray would run away) but she came right up to me and started to purr and cuddle up under my neck. Could this possibly be Ruby? In Payson?

She had the little bit of orange stripes on her neck, the coal black tipped tail and -incredibly- the extra toe on her back right leg!! Just to make sure, I had her microchip scanned at the animal shelter and IT WAS OUR KITTY!

How the....?

Did she go under the car all day? Why did she decide to get out in Payson after all my errands all over the town? What made me stop and think twice about a cat that looked like ours...miles away from home. The whole thing is just weird. Either way, we (especially Halle) are really really really happy to have her home. She's getting a lot of extra love today.

The one Halloween my honey got to come

We were sooo so so happy Kev was able to get his tests/homework/work done throughout the week so he could be with us on Halloween. He is amazing.

I sorta feel like I cheated with the costumes this year- since we did a repeat of last year's costumes. But first of all, it was easy. Second, it was cheap. Third, we are in a new neighborhood and no one here had seen just how cute they looked!

Drew as the Cowardly Lion:



And Halle as Glinda, the witch of the North:

As for me, this is more decked out than I've been in a long-Halloween-time.

We went to our ward's trunk-or-treat (what a great idea btw!). I loved Kev being there. Did I say that already? I just wish my camera wouldn't have died (or I'd packed the spare battery) before I'd gotten a picture of us all together. Dang it.

Here's pictures of the whole Wizard of Oz cast last Halloween. Glinda, Lion, Dorothy (by Bailee), Toto (by Trey), and my favorite the Wicked Witch of the East by Ora! hahahah! See why I don't dress up? Who can compete with that!!! :D