Blessings and a little bit of bragging....

With Thanksgiving over and Christmas on its way, I can't help but feel excited. I love this time of year. We got some snow this weekend and while I was driving to meet my students this morning I got a phone call from Brandon with some good news. I was overwhelmed with gratitude as I finished my drive and enjoyed the sun hitting the snow. I feel tremendously blessed. I would have never pictured my life where it is, it would have been impossible to. It just goes to show that the Lord has a hand in all things. The kids had really struggled with their last ward, that whole year was really hard. As Brandon and I were looking for somewhere to live, one of our biggest concerns was the ward and neighborhood we would be in. I've mentioned before that the kids love the new ward and are making friends in the neighborhood but this weekend I saw the blessings being given to us even more. Lilly is in Young Women's and our ward had their Night in Excellence last week. The kids records are staying up in their ward in O-town but I have been blown away by the love shown towards our family. Since Lilly wasn't at the activity, her leader saved her the treat from it. A bag of gum balls, and gave them to Lilly on Sunday. Lilly cleverly stowed her bag in her boots, which was hilarious when I look over in sacrament meeting and see her pulling them out!! Liz colored a picture for her teacher and told Brandon that she was excited to go to church. I had not slept well. Ok, I didn't sleep at all Saturday night and finally fell asleep around 5 a.m. When I woke up at 8:20 a.m. everyone was dressed and ready to go. Laura has been leading us in family scripture study at night. We are so blessed by their example. Knowing all to well how hard these kinds of changes are, I feel so blessed that our family is somewhere that we love. Lilly is going with the young men and women this Saturday to go to breakfast and then to the Temple for Baptisms. I am so excited for her. I feel like I am rambling all my emotions but to be honest, I can't help it this morning. I am too excited!!!

I am just so grateful for the blessings that keep coming our way. Moving and getting married and establishing ourselves has left our bank account a little bare to say the least but we have not gone without. With Christmas coming, I think Brandon and I both have been a little stressed. Neither of us had a tree and buying a fresh one, while the best, was going to be hard. Then just a few days before Thanksgiving, my sister-in-law, Andrea, called and offered their spare. I was almost in tears. Silly? Maybe. But I was so excited that we could borrow her tree and lights! On Friday night Lilly, Laura and I went over to Brian and Andrea's and got the tree and some decorations. The three of us had a lot of fun, we drove over to my mom's as well. As I'm talking to my mom, I glance over to see Laura. Standing there, shoving hand fulls of pretzel m&m's into her pockets with the most fantastic grin on her face!!! I believe she filled both her pockets! We drove home and Luke and Brandon put the tree together. We put on Christmas music and the girls danced around. After B got the lights on, the kids put on the ornaments. So, Christmas is officially here!!

On Saturday, Laura and I took off to go see the new movie Tangled. We went into SLC to the Gateway. She had chose to go for dessert after but then I think the smell of popcorn got to her! So we got popcorn, candy and drinks and headed to our movie. I have to say I really loved it. And I shall continue to be cheesy and say just how much I loved my afternoon wit La La. I love to sit and gab with her. Just being around her makes me happy. After the movie I took her up to the State Capitol. She said she had never been there, so, we went. Nothing was open since it was Saturday so we just ran around checking out the dome and some of the art. We then hit Starbucks for Carmel Apple Cider and Salted Hot Chocolate. To my good fortune, Laura thought both were gross (I forgive you Laura) so I got to drink both and we went to the gas station for some hot chocolate. In case you didn't know, regular hot chocolate is much better from a gas station than Starbucks, unless you get the salted kind. TRUST ME.

When we got home Brandon and I took the kids and their cousin Gabe to the library. Luke loves the library. Well, they all do. But when we get there, he takes off and heads right to his favorite sections and starts grabbing books. He checks them out all on his own too. He and I have a routine at night where he reads a book to me (I get beginning reader books at the library) and then I read a book to him. I love that he reminds me every night to do this. He is coming so far in his reading too!! I am very proud of him. Saturday night we made stir fry. Lilly and Laura cut up the vegetables for me and Lilly did some of the chicken. Luke helped me make the rice (pictures soon to follow!). After dinner we went over to my mom's where mom and I introduced them to the game of Donkey! I'm just going to let you sit and be curious as to what this game is. But it was a hit! Sunday we had dinner over with Shelley and Huh and Aunt Cami and MaCayla. I have to say that I had a wonderful weekend with my family!
And now for the bragging.........

Brandon, after 12+ years of schooling (The man has multiple degrees, 1 associates and 2 bachelors) is finishing his Masters Degree; a Masters of Science in Nursing-Nursing Administration. He graduates on December 10, 2010. I am in the process of planning a big old bash for him that night! Brandon spent last week finishing up his project and getting it turned in. He has already heard back and they like it! Which does not surprise me one bit. One of the things that I love about Brandon is how much he values an education. He has sacrificed so much over the years to get his education all with the desire to be able to provide for his family and to help others. He has been working full time for IHC and teaching for Weber State all while finishing his Masters. And in all that, he still made plenty of time for me and taking me out on dates and doing things with our family. I still can't quite figure out how he did it all. If I'm not home to cook, he makes dinner. He starts my car for me in the morning, he spends time with me and the kids. He dances with me in the kitchen. I could go on and on about all the things he does for me....I think I may have married Super Man. Just sayin'.

Brandon, you are quite a man. I hope you know how proud of you we all are. You are amazing for how hard you work and how well you take care of me and the kids. You are always present and listening. I don't know how you do it but know how much we appreciate and love you. There just are not words for how I am feeling.

Well, there ya go. Our blessings and bragging. The kids rock. I totally forgot to mention that Laura is mere inches from having her middle splits!!!! Lilly has her Christmas Dance this Friday and I can't wait to see a picture of her dress....it sounds soooo cute!!! So things are hectic and crazy but we are blessed beyond measure. I hope our families know how grateful we are to them for all their help over the past few months. Brandon and I would be lost without you!

MORE

Here are some more from the wedding. I like the ones of people dancing. Especially the little girls. It was fun to dance with my B and to dance late into the night. Well, late for me that is.

Park City

After the party on the 25th, B and I went up to Park City for a few days. We got a condo at the Silver King Lodge and had a lot of fun eating, swimming and relaxing. I completely forgot to bring the camera so we went and bought a disposable one! I am really big into taking pictures so this was somewhat devastating to me!

During our stay we went for a drive in Heber and decided to go bowling. Last time we went bowling I kicked B's fanny and won a back rub out of the deal. That did not happen this time. I think he had better Karma that day due to paying for the Missionaries who were bowling next to us. I guess I can't win every time. Later that day we rode the Heber Creeper. I will never the face of a man on the train when I asked him to take our picture and handed him a disposable camera. He was really confused!

While we did eat out, we also cooked in our condo. That was a lot of fun. Brandon made me steak and shrimp one night and we rented movies. With it being the end of the summer season, there were not a lot of people up there so things were really quiet. We were on main street late one night and B took me into a chocolate shop and we got a bunch of chocolates and chocolate covered strawberries. It was so yummy! It was a lot of fun to get away and relax. I hope we can do it again soon!

The last few pictures were taken since we've been back and others are just random. One is of the duplex we are currently living in. There is also a picture of what La La put up over our bed. She put it up several weeks ago and we have just left it. We love it. Brandon's dad is subbing as a crossing guard and so that is included in here for fun. He is such a neat man, we are so blessed to have him in our lives.

Random

We had the idea to put out disposable camera's at the wedding. The kids took most of the pictures and we ended up with some really fun ones. I still look back at how fun this all was. It was such a fun night with our family and friends. Thank you to all of you who were able to come!

I have more pictures from the wedding and from the last couple of weeks...will post soon!

Enchilada's anyone???

I have to say that B and I were so excited to have the kids again the other weekend. It wasn't our weekend to have them, but we lucked out. So...two weekends in a row!!! I had been counting down for this Friday. La La has been asking for Enchilada's for a while now. When B and I went grocery shopping last week, we picked up the stuff to make them. When they got in the car, I let her know the menu for the evening, and all four kids were excited. We got home and the twins played while the two older girls sat in the kitchen and talked with me while I got dinner ready. I love that. It is so fun to have them in there telling me about their week and what's going on. La La tends to dance around the room while she talks. I love it. I used to do the same. Her older sister, gets so excited talking about school and friends. Our gab fest ended and B came home and we had dinner. Someone took a bite of the much-anticipated enchiladas and goes; "hmmm....this is different". Uh-oh. The kids keep eating and so does B. But then the youngest girl takes a bite and says; "This is disgusting!". I look at B and he tells me it's the sauce and he keeps eating. I take a bite. Oh man, it tasted like the can. Really? Metal flavored enchilada's. I do not recommend them!

Into the garbage they went and it was breakfast for dinner. The kids didn't want to hurt my feelings, and were willing to eat it. Goodness, no! We got out the cereal and sat at the table and laughed about my enchilada's. I made some cookies later to eat during our movie, and the night still turned out great! WHEW!!! I am going to have to tackle the enchilada's again....just not that sauce. :) On Saturday, B had to teach at the hospital and so the kids and I went to the Library before the oldest and I had a hair appointment. The other three went to spend some time at my mom's while we got our hair done. It was a lot of fun to have some one on one time with the oldest. And now we both have smashing hair!! Wahoo!!

My mom turned 60 Saturday, so that night we went to a surprise birthday party for her at a Chinese restaurant. It was a lot of fun. The kids and B got to meet some of my old youth leaders and more of my family. They had never met my older brother and his wife before. My sister-in-law is from Russia and the kids were fascinated with her accent!! We had a lot of fun going up to Gramsy's after to play games and eat yummy chocolate cake. B is not a fan of chocolate which means I had to sacrifice and eat his piece. It's what you do when you love someone. Sunday was the first time that we were all at church together for all three block meetings. I am excited to say that the kids love our new ward! B and I have prayed that they would be ok here and it was such a relief to see the two oldest come back giggling and excited about their classes and the friends they made. Knowing all too well what it is like to have your parents get divorced, I am so grateful for this blessing of them making friends at church and in the neighborhood.

So, who has an Enchilada recipe for me????

Our friend, Elvis

Well, here it is . . . the moment of truth. Though our personal goals of family and marriage reach much higher, Elvis and all the glitz of Vegas did not disappoint! This was a night not to be forgotten. This time was for us, but we want to share it with you . . . We didn't know the people supporting us that night. We had met them about an hour before the ceremony. The couple in front was renewing their vows after 15 years of marriage. Their ceremony preceeded ours, and they waived off their limousine service to celebrate with us. Sometimes you just have to be spontaneous and have fun . . . Jill, for me, I get "all shook up" as every day since that night gets even better than The King . . . I love you

-B

Halloween Fun

Over UEA weekend, I took the kids to Gardner Village to check out the witches. I'm itching to get back to wander through the stores!! We had a lot of fun eating on the lawn and wandering around. We also went with my cousin Katie and her girls to a corn maze. I think they should give you a map and have a snack shack in it so that you can grab a coke. However, I think the hay slide was the bigger hit! They spent what seemed like forever on it and B and I even tried it out. FUN!! I want one in my backyard! We tried to go all of the girls at once, it never seemed to work out but it was fun trying. Brandon had the kids for Halloween last year so we had them the weekend before, so along with the corn maze we made a haunted ginger bread house. It was a lot of fun. We had some architectural problems and tried to solve them by putting it in the freezer....yeah, that didn't work out so well.

We've been having a lot of fun in our new place. Reading has seemed to become our thing. Whether it's one person reading to the group or everyone with their own book, the two older girls read like crazier and finish a book in one weekend. The kids and I went and got library cards for each of them last weekend and so we've had a lot of fun going to the Library and checking out books. We took B with us this last Wednesday and instead of watching a movie, everyone read! Wahoo!!

Below are some pictures from our trip to Gardner Village, reading and home, the corn maze and the ginger bread house....

Wedding Pictures!! Wahoo!!!

On September 25th, we had a reception in my Aunt Suzi and Uncle Wally's backyard. This would not have turned out so perfect without all the help of our family and friends. I am overwhelmed at the help and support we received. I really can not take credit for anything. Exactly what was envisioned became a reality. We ate and danced all night long, surrounded by candles, lights and amazing family and friends. B and I are blessed beyond measure!Enjoy!! (click on the picture and it will take you to a new window to see them larger....)