Thankful

Thanksgiving was great, even though it didn't turn out like we had planned. I decided I should post it, because nothing like this has ever happened to us before...

This year, Thanksgiving was supposed to be with Jim's family. We switch off every other year...next year will be with my family(in Cancun yeah!!!). My assignment was to bring rolls. So, I got up early to roll out 8 dozen rolls (Jim's family is huge!) so they could rise all day. We all get dressed up, because we were going to have a family picture. Our family was supposed to wear brown, every family a different color. I had to go out and buy a couple brown shirts for the kids, but that's OK. So, we got all pretty (and handsome for my 2 boys), and headed out the door to Jim's brother's gigantic house over on the east side. We hadn't been in the car 5 minutes when we get a phone call and I hear Jim say,"OK, we're not coming, then." Jim turns to me and says, "All of David's kids have LICE." What??? My first thought is, Oh crap, all we have to eat for Thanksgiving is 8 DOZEN ROLLS!!

Apparently Wal-mart only closes on Christmas day, so I ran over there. They had 3 unfrozen turkeys, so I grabbed one, along with potatoes, gravy, stuffing, etc. I got home and Jim already had the turkey frier outside ready to go. About 45 minutes later we had a really yummy Thanksgiving dinner! It was a great day. It was rainy and cozy and relaxing! I am thankful to have been able to be with my little family and spend the day together...and eventually my kids will get over the fact that they didn't get to play with their 85 cousins...

Proof that I have other children besides Dylan

Tate had her 10th birthday on November 16th. I'm a little late posting it. I love this girl. She is such a good girl. She always follows the rules, and hardly ever does anything wrong. She is very mature for her age, and her teachers always describe her as focussed and serious. Taylor is content to be on her own. She has alot of friends, but usually only has 1 or 2 really close friends at any given time. She's very independent and doesn't feel the need to always be around friends. She loves to read and work on the computer. I say work, because she is always writing stories and making power-point presentations. She loves clothes, shoes, jewelry, Radio Disney, Miley and the Jonas Brothers. She's growing up way too fast. I wish she would slow down.

I missed her blowing out her candles, so I made her fake it for the camera!

The party was a "pretend sleepover", so all the girls came in their jammies.

The girls sang karaoke and had a sweet dance party!

There was ALOT of screaming and giggling! I guess I should get used to that...

My handsome boys!! All the little girls loved Westley!

Dylan mostly hung out on top of the table with the snacks. Her hands are covered with Cheetos. M&M's anyone? Yummy, huh?!

We heated the spa for the girls. They liked that. Some of them were even crazy enough to jump in the pool!

Cousins! Blake can't take a picture without giving bunny ears!

I caught Taylor taking a short break from all the madness. It was a crazy night! What a great group of girls! Every single one of those girls comes from amazing, strong families. I am so thankful that my girls get to grow up with such good friends. It helps you rest just a little easier at night knowing that...

Twilight

Yes, some of us girls went to Twilight in the middle of the night with all the crazy Edward fans (and some creepy ones)! Had a bite to eat first and got there about 2 hours early only to find that we were at the end of the line for the 12:10am showing. What??? We overheard one of the girls that worked there say that they had a 12:30am showing (not advertised), so we switched our tickets. We had great seats and all of us got to sit together.

There have been mixed reviews, but I loved it! I didn't really have high expectations in the first place. No movie is as good as the book. I really liked the cast, and I thought Edward and Bella had smokin' hot chemistry. I would definitely see it again!

Not everyone's house is "Diddy Proof"

Jim and I both had an activity at the church tonight, and Kelly and Brandon were so sweet to offer to watch the kids. They are they coolest Aunt and Uncle ever! They don't just baby-sit, they always have a huge party with the kids. This time they ordered pizza and went in the spa. After we were done at the church, we went by to pick up the kids and found Diddy like this...


Diddy badgirl colored all over their couch in green marker. Thank goodness it came out! Markers are not allowed at our house. If I see one, it immediately goes in the trash. Sorry Kelly and Brandon!!!

Disneyland 2008

That was the look on the kids' face when we woke them up last Wednesday morning and told them that instead of school, we thought it would be fun to go to Disneyland! I think I was probably more excited than them. I LOVE Disneyland!

We got to California in the early evening, so we decided to grab dinner at The Olive Garden. This is the only restaurant where the kids will just sit and eat non-stop, because they love it so much. It makes it much easier to take 5 kids out to dinner when they are all just stuffing their faces, and not talking. After dinner, we decided to check out Downtown Disney. The kids went crazy! They loved the lights and the music! They danced around the whole time. It was a blast!

My girls sharing a famous Disneyland Giant Pickle. You can't go to Disneyland and not get one of those. This was taken after we went on Big Thunder Railroad twice in a row. Brooklyn was so brave. She even went on Space Mountain! I love taking my kids to Disneyland, because they LOVE rollercoasters. We never have to skip a ride because someone is afraid.

Tarzan's treehouse!

Dylan, showing some love to her dad!

Lincoln was really sick the whole day. He had a fever, but after a nap in the stroller he was good to go.

We managed to catch Buzz Lightyear as he was going on break. That was the highlight of Lincoln's day!

We spent an hour waiting in line at "Pixie Hollow" to meet all the new fairies. If you have little girls and you don't have the Tinkerbell movie yet, you should get it! It's really cute!

Diddy was having a very imporant conversation with Tinkerbell!


After waiting an hour in line, Brooklyn was sooooo shy talking to the fairies. She had her hands over her face in about every picture I took of her.

Dylan LOVED Pixie Hollow. She was not shy at all!

What an amazing little vacation! The kids were so good! We ran them ragged, too. We stayed from open to close, and there were no lines at all! We walked on every ride several times in a row! We didn't take many breaks, so the kids were exhausted by the end of the day. We had no fighting, no melt-downs, no complaining...we just played and played, and ate lots of junk food!

Can't wait to do it again!

A new post is coming. Someday...maybe...if I can find some spare time

I really want to post Disneyland, but I just haven't been able to find the time to sit down and do it. So, just a quick post...This week we had Young Women in Excellence and Medallion Night (it was great, but glad it's over), Enrichment where I had to do a musical number (it was a fun night, girls!), and tonight is Taylor's birthday party (which I am really far behind on planning). Plus, the missionaries called last night reminding me that I promised to feed them tonight. So, they are coming to Taylor's party to eat pizza and chicken wings! On top of that, I have felt like I am coming down with a cold, and I am feeling slightly under the weather today. So, I just need to get off this computer, and start getting some things done, I guess.

32 or 23?

It was my birthday on Friday. It had been 2 years since we took the kids to Disneyland, so I decided that is what I wanted to do for my birthday. We had a blast! I will post our trip, but I have to shuffle through about 200 pics first.

My family came over tonight to have cake and ice cream. My mom made me her famous chocolate cake (from scratch). Soooo yummy!! I switched the candles. I am definitely not 23 anymore, even though I still feel like I am. I am well into my 30's which seems crazy to me. I have a daughter who will be in Young Womens in 2 years! I am in a new phase in my life. No more babies. I can watch my kids grow and experience new things. No more diaper bags and bottles. Instead, I have "tween-aged" girls who want cell phones and lap-tops, and where every other day was the "worst day of their life". Having 4 girls brings alot of drama...

Jim snapped this picture of me the other day. It just might be the only picture of me you see on this blog. This is for all of my friends who I haven't seen for several years. Amy- thanks for thinking of me on my birthday. I think of you every year on your birthday, too. It's wierd how those things stick with you, huh?

FHE at our house

Every Monday night, we attempt to have FHE at our house. It is not always a success, but we give it our best shot. Our opening songs are usually random..."Twinkle, Twinkle"...once I think we even sang "Had a Bad Day". Our FHE's may not be ideal, but they are ours, and I am quite proud of our consistency. We don't usually miss a Monday night.

Yesterday, Blake spent a great deal of time preparing her FHE lesson for tonight. She looked up a topic in the Index, and found a corresponding scripture. She then, went on LDS.org and found a story in "The Friend" to go along with her scripture. She made the usual assignments; opening song, opening prayer, etc. I was really excited thinking this may actually be a successful FHE, and I was proud of all her preparation and she would be able to pass it off in her "Faith In God" book. So she presents her lesson, and did a really great job. She read her little story about a girl who had a bad attitude about helping her little brothers and sisters clean up. This story applied to our family PERFECTLY!

After her story, I said, "So what can we all learn from this story?" Lincoln, who is sprawled out on the couch, looks at me and says,"I learned that I'm only gonna clean up if I get paid."

What in the world??? That is just great! Why do we bother??