Mute...

For the past three days I have become grateful for something that we take for granted... the ability to speak. My gratitude is because... I can't! I mean truly I try to talk and all that comes out is a whisper... (and every once in a while an odd squeek). Any of you out there that think "My kids don't even hear me..." Ought to try having no voice at all. It really ticks ya off when you are "yelling" at your kids (in a whisper) and they are looking at you like "Chill out Mom, but we have NO idea what you are saying."

I need a bell... or a whistle!

Here are a few things that I have discovered...

1 - My girls are great secretaries for me. A phone conversations goes like this at our house... "Hi, is your mom there?"

"Yes she is, but she can't talk right now, like literally... could I give her a message."

That part hasn't been half bad, especially because Saturday, Tayler saved me from telling 3 people that "I was not taking any other custom orders, but that I still have stuff in the basement." I hate doing that, everyone sounds so disappointed... so maybe there are some perks to losing your voice!

2 - It wasn't so bad yesterday at church, I mean whispering there seems totally appropriate. But when someone calls to you from far away in the mall and you just wave and mouth a "Hello", one comes across as "not being such a good friend."

3 - Cute little Jadyn likes to whisper like me, the first morning when I was "whispering". She whispered back, "Oh... Daddy sleepy?" I shook my head no, she whispered with a confused face, "Mommy sleepy?" Now she thinks it is pretty funny to whisper with me.

4 - There is something about a whispering person that makes others think they need to whisper too. Then they catch themselves and say, "why am I whispering?"

5- Kids sometimes do hear things... several times Tayler or Saige will run into where I am and say, "were you calling us Mom." I whisper to them, "do you think you would actually have heard this whisper two floors down?" They chuckle and ran back to playing... I really do have good girls!

... and just in case you were wondering... I will be at the USU/Utah Game tonight cheering my heart out... but if you can't hear me... you now know why!

GO AGGIES!!

Christmas in Zarahemla...

Two weeks ago we had our "Ward Party"...

As Ward Activities Chairman, I, and my small but fantastic committee of three, Shane, Aleece and Ron (and Ron's fabulous wife Nancy (Shane's cousin) who is not even on our committee but might as well be!) stressed about the perfect Christmas Party. Last year's event was a fabulous success. I had taken pictures the whole year of all our activities, got other pictures from neighborhood parties, YM/YW activities, Primary stuff etc. and made a 1/2 hour video set to music. It was fun to reminisce about all the things we had done together in our ward that year. (Did I mention that I love our ward?) This year when it came time to plan... we drew a blank! So we starting searching and finally decided on "A Christmas in Zarahemla". Much thought (and prayer) later, this years' event turned out just as fantastic.

I found a perfectly written program... (if you come across this blog and are looking to do the same in your ward... go to "Yahoo Groups" - then join "LDS Activities" tons of information for all kinds of activities ), willing (not necessarily eager :)) ward members to participate in that program, the Cardon's who had FABULOUS props in their basement from a similar event years ago... it wouldn't have been the same without that! Helpful YW to help us serve (and sing), lots of sweet ladies to help prepare food, people there to help us clean up without even being asked! Aleece who took FANTASTIC pictures! And over 200 people that attended that night, More than half of which came in costumes of the time.

I thought it was a Night to Remember!

A Night to Remember what having a ward family is all about...

A Night to Remember how important friendships are...

A Night to Remember what service truly means...

A Night to Remember God's hand in our accomplishments...

A Night to Remember what it would have been like for people in Zarahemla.

A Night to Remember what Christmas is truly about... Jesus Christ coming to this world as a little baby to save us all.

Because of these things it was a Night I will never forget!

Merry Christmas!!

It's that time of year again... time for sending out Christmas Cards. I will admit that this year I feel like a complete slacker... don't get me wrong I'm still sending out cards, in fact the last will go in the mail today. But somehow I feel like I cheated! This year I did what so many other people do, I sent a generic Christmas card with no information about our year... no fun newsletter... or fancy card that took an entire week to make. Just a picture... that looks like this...

My reasoning for this laziness?

1 - Since April I have been blogging about everything our family has done. I figure that half of my friends/family already see this blog... so what more can I say! (and the other half can read as much as they would like! :))

2 - I am working on "Simplifying". That is not a word I know well... I am not a "simplifier". I do lots of "simplify" vinyl for people... but I don't put it in my own home... because it would cause me guilt since I know I should be... but I'm just not "simplified". So I am taking a fellow bloggers' advise and "simplifying SOMETHING." This month it was Christmas Cards! (And not cooking dinner! J/K I cook dinner... sometimes...)

By next Christmas I may be so "Simplified" that I don't even send a generic card... and if I feel no guilt about that... then I will be truly "Simplified!"

All kidding aside... this year has been fabulous we have had so many fun adventures together as a family. Lots of vacations come to mind... January started out with a 7 day Disney Cruise to the Caribbean with our family and my Mom and Dad (Thanks Mom and Dad - that was the best! And so are you!) In June we spent a week at Island Park/Yellowstone with our good friends the Carlsen's. Throughout the summer we spent a few fun weekends at my parents condo @ Bear Lake. And then in October we surprised the kids and drove to Disneyland. Shane had more travels than us of course working on LDS Temples in Villa Hermosa Mexico, Sydney Australia, and lots throughout Utah and Idaho, and then he will round out 2008 in Guadalahara Mexico.

The girls are growing and learning and entertaining us with all of their adventures and experiences. And we are loving our busy, crazy, sometimes overwhelming life.

We are so grateful for our health, for good friends, for fantastic families and most especially for our Saviour Jesus Christ... whose birth we celebrate this beautiful time of year. We wish each of you a very Merry Christmas and a fabulous 2009!!

Merry Christmas!!

8 things tag

I've been tagged by Kimi :)...

8 Shows I Watch:

1. Survivor
2. The Biggest Loser
3. The Amazing Race
4. Grey's Anatomy
5. CSI
6. Law and Order
7. Channel 5's 10 o'clock News
8. What not to Wear
(all on DVR - after the kids go to bed... Not all in one night! :) )

8 Restaurants I Love:

1. Firehouse
2. Fredricos
3. PF Chang's
4. El Sol
5. Olive Garden
6. Texas Roadhouse
7. Cafe Sabor
8. Chilis

8 Things I Did Yesterday:

1. Answered the door in my robe... straight from the shower. (thanks Shane for the heads-up that the plumber was coming at the crack of dawn.)
2. Took Saige to the dentist to have a filling and 2 teeth pulled.
3. Picked up pictures @ Sam's Club.
4. Shopped on line for Christmas.
5. Worked on vinyl for 4 people...
6. Helped Tayler with her Pre-Algebra and helped Kenna make a "tree" for Kindergarten.
7. I made cookies (and dinner.)
8. Cleaned out five bathroom sink "drains". I'm talking full on take the pipes apart and clean the disgusting globs of goo out. SICKO!
I also cleaned out my entire pantry... looking for one (hopefully not more :() menacing beasts... yes I had LOTS of mouse poop on the shelves in my pantry. It was time to purge all opened packages and clear it all out. (Except I was scared to death to move stuff from the back... what if a ferocious mouse jumped out from its hiding spot... pounced on my face and waged an all out war with me... I would have just fallen backwards, screamed, put my hands in the air and yelled "DEFEAT"!) That's why we made it our FHE activity... (Family fun at its BEST!) Only the girls helped at first, (it was similar to the fishing videos...) so we enlisted Shane, "our fearless mouse hunter"! An hour in my kitchen looked like this...
NO more poop... but no mouse either... GRRR. (Although 3 hours later I had a fantastic looking, Clorox smelling, perfectly organized pantry :)!)

8 Things I Look Forward to:

1. Getting rid of that stupid mouse
2. Christmas
3. Having the girls home for Christmas Break
4. Playing spades with Jeff and Kimi! :)
5. Turning OFF my vinyl machine for the rest of the month!
6. Seeing my girls faces on Christmas morning.
7. Sunday Naps
8. Going on our cruise in January!

8 Wishes:

1. That we will be blessed with another precious baby in our family.
2. That I had an extra hour our two in the day.
3. That the world wasn't so scary!
4. That Barrack Obama wasn't the next president :)
5. That it wasn't so cold outside. And that there wasn't ice on the sidewalks (this morning Kenna was running to the bus stop... with her hands in her pockets... she slipped... hard... and her check tells the story!)
6. That my family will always be healthy and happy
7. That my girls will make good choices.
8. That my girls wouldn't grow so fast.

8 People I tag:

Danae
Angela C.
Corynn
Megan
My Daddy
Shelly
Christie
DeeAnn

Dancing Elves...

Our family has been busy putting together some numbers for your viewing pleasure... Prepare to be amazed! (Poor Jadyn couldn't catch all the moves, that's why she didn't make it into our performances.)

Push pause on the music bar before you start...

Let's do the Charleston!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Country Elfs...

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Disco Elfs...

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

The Tree...

Like many people our day after Thanksgiving tradition is going to get our Christmas Tree. (Our other tradition is trying to NOT go to one store on that day... But a big thanks to my "die-hard shopper" sister-in-law Becky who beat innocent people down to get a few great things for me anyway... YOU ROCK! )

In our early years of marriage we always went to a tree farm on the Idaho border and had someone else "cut" our tree down. It was easy to find that perfect tree walking up and down aisles and aisles of them But then we discovered we could go to the mountains by OURSELVES and cut down trees there. Thus our day after Thanksgiving tradition...

We have a tall ceiling and we don't want a big bushy tree, but some years we have had what some refer to as "the tallest Charlie Brown tree they have ever seen." They lack that bushiness, we might say... So this year we headed to Montpelier to find a "tall, bushy tree". I always think that snowmobiling through the mountains looking for a tree will be a fabulous family event, which for the most part it is, but each year one (or more) child is bawling because their boots don't fit (1st snow event of the year...), their gloves are falling off, and they need a tissue. (Bawling doesn't help that last one any!) Kenna has been that child for the past three years. She is not a snow girl... nor does she like the cold at all. Even at swimming pools she just hangs out in the hot tub... I guess she's like me! :) So looking for a tree in the middle of the forest is not her favorite thing! (Plus I don't think she liked that she was on MY 4-wheeler, I tipped us last year on our "tree excursion", she held on TIGHT this year.)

Everyone else was happy though, even Poor Jadyn was a good sport considering she looked like the Christmas Story guy. Her snowsuit was too small and she kept falling over... without any bend in her body... just a "timber" right on her face... with her arms still out to the sides! She would just lift her head and call "Daaaaad, Hep". (Good thing she had her helmet on :))

Finding a tree is not as easy as it seems. Trees... aren't perfect. They look good from one side and not so good from others. We putter around on our 4 -wheelers getting off every once in a while to check some out. I found lots that looked great, but I was informed over and over by Shane that, "Those are way too tall... that's illegal" (grumpily by the end.) You can bet he drove all the way home at the exact speed limit... because he is REALLY worried about being LEGAL!! hahaha :) We finally decided on one (and another for Missy and Andy) after HOURS of looking and cut it down. It looked fabulous when it was with all of it's other little "tree friends" but alone... well not quite the same! The front half was OK, but the back... what back? Our tree is now nicely set FLAT against the wall! (But admittedly bushier than last year... if only by a little.) I am sure that our girls will always remember our "tree adventures", they are totally worth it in the end. And our trees are totally us! Not decorated up all fancy, but with ornaments made specially for us by our sweet little girls each year, "souvenir ornaments" from places we have traveled, ornaments from a "handmade ornament exchange" that I was in for years. A hodge podge of all sorts of memories. I love to see "fancy" decorated trees... but this is how I want us to celebrate Christmas... Charlie Brownish or not!

And the final product... tall... but not bushy!

Tree Permit... $10

Gas to Montpelier... (much less than 2 months ago!)

6 hours together in the truck and forest... PRICELESS!!!!