happy thanksgiving

i wanted to say happy thanks giving from our family to all that read this. i am going to list some of the things that i am grateful for at the bottom of this post so sorry for the length of it. lily had her thanksgiving program at preschool today. some of them dressed up as pilgrims and some as native americans (i wanted to say indians but i thought i would be politically correct.) obviously lily was a pilgrim and have you ever seen such a cute pilgrim before?

50 things i am grateful for
1. heavenly father & jesus christ

2. my husband
3. lily
4. jackson
5. asher
6. parents and inlaws
7. friends
8. love
9. the temple
10. a house to live in
11. my dogs
12. being healthy (minus the common cold)
13. my family being healthy
14. a good book
15. long phone conversations
16. puzzles (my kids love them)
17. the rain (we see a lot of it) after weeks of really hot weather
18. the sun after months of rain
19. lily and jack singing
20. steven playing the guitar
21. writing songs with steven (we have been recording lately so maybe you will hear them soon)
22. lily and jack don't wake me up in the morning they go immediately downstairs and read
23. sleeping in
24. a good kiss
24. pancake mix (without which i wouldn't be able to make a pancake)
25. coke (i had to put it)
26. indian food (no matter how expensive it is)
27. crockpot (it makes cooking so easy)
28. music (helping me through many hard times)
29. learning new things (i never thought i would miss being in school)
30. steven going back to school
31. playgrounds in the mall
32. the kid drop off at the grocery store (you have an hour to shop by yourself)
33. steven doing the dishes without asking him to
34. bandaides (why do they make everything better?)
35. the library (without which i would spend a ridiculous amount of money on books)
36. blogging (it keeps me connected to my friends i never get to see)
37. forgiveness
38. understanding
39. trust
40. that the elections are over (i mean, who wants to see another election commercial?)
41. long silent drives (usually involves sleeping children)
42. that i am still connected to my friends even though i don't ever see them (thank you phones)
43. iphone (thank you steven)
44. a good movie that you want to watch over and over (i think twilight might fit the bill)
45. the laughter of my children
46. their smiles
47. their unconditional love
48. steven always lets me lay on the big couch (even though his feet hang over the one he's on)
49. he gets me things when i don't want to get up
50. his unconditional love

wow, it is harder than i thought to stop at 50. i have so much more i am grateful for. i have such an amazing family and wonderful friends. things definitely go wrong but so much more goes right. heavenly father blesses me every day and i just hope that i will always be able to recognize that. writing it all down every so often definitely helps. i have so many great examples around me and i wanted to thank each and every one of you for everything you teach me by just being who you are. thank you and i love you all!

asher

this kid is so funny. he saw these fangs and thought they were so funny. he immediately tried to get them in his mouth and he loved it.

along with being funny, he can also make the stinkiest faces. when he is put out in any way whether it be not being aloud to play with sharp objects or not sitting on the kitchen table he has a face to let you know how he feels about it.i wasn't able to get my favorite face but here are a few good ones.

paige

since steven's sisters are a bit older than him, most of lily, jackson and asher's cousins are in highschool, on a mission or married. well paige is one of the exceptions. paige is 10 months older than lily and soo cute. i apologize for the pictures but my camera i left my camera in the car overnight and it was really cold. these were taken right before we left to take them to the airport. just so you know, camera in a cold car not a good choice. i couldn't thaw is quick enough to take good pictures, it just kept fogging up. it is fine now but that didn't help me get good pictures of them. well they had a really good time together anyway. they played, sang, colored, read books, watched high school musical 3 and much, much more! lily misses you paige and talks about you daily.

wedding

ok well steven's nephew bradley got married on november 7th to camille. it was a beautiful wedding in the spokane temple and we were glad that we were able to be there for it. welcome to the family camille!

out of the 125 pictures that steven took, we didn't take one picture of the bride and groom. steven took pictures of pictures of them so maybe you can see them here. these were in the temple foyer right after their wedding.



i thought their cake was really cute.

waiting for the reception to start.

waiting for the reception to start as well.

i am glad that we got a picture of him smiling because this was a long day for him. we actually had to leave the reception early because he finally lost it and just cried and cried. he was literally sick and tired and needed to go to bed.

.jackson was quite the ladies man all night. i can't say enough about him and the ladies. the other day i walked into nursery and he was scratching a little girls back while she did a puzzle. i have had moms say how sweet he was to their daughter telling them how pretty they look and comforting them when they were having a hard time. i think it is really cute now but will i think that when he is 16? well he was true to form at the reception and was taken with one of the brides friends. he followed her around and sat by her and tried to strike up three year old conversation. when she left, he flirted with an older lady at the candy station and managed to get her to get him a large bag of candy. he then moved on to another young women who had him sit on her lap and eat cake with her. i practically had to peal him away to take him home.

lily ran around with her cousin paige the whole night. paige is only 10 months older but she lives in utah so this is the first time they have really gotten to play. they were inseperable.

lisa and dave (parents of the groom) me and steven and lani. lani's husband couldn't come so steven is going to be photoshopping him in.

twilight

so, i just have to start out by thanking my mom for a wonderful evening. first we went to cheesecake factory, then walked around our amazing new mall then went and waited at the theater for 2 1/2 hours until the movie started. my mom was so good, i think i looked more tired than she did. well, once we got to the theater, my friends showed up and fortunately jenni brought a camera and vampire teeth so the night could be documented. on wednesday we all got together and made these shirts at kailey's house. i bought the wrong size shirt so yes, it is a little snug.

kailey and i coming back from one of our many pre-movie bathroom/drink refill trips.

pretty scary vampires huh?

if you look close enough, you will see that our eyes are golden so we aren't too scary (maybe a little creepy.)

as for the movie itself? well it wasn't as good as the book (but what movie is?) it definitely had it's moments. i really like the robert pattinson, i think he was a perfect edward. he was as close to my idea of edward that anyone could get. i am looking forward to the next one and am hoping that it will be a little bit bigger budget, maybe that will take care of the issues i had with this one. i had a really good night. i am paying for it today but i definitely think it was worth it.

the after party

after trick or treating during our homemade donut party the kids played like crazy. it sounded like the upstairs was going to be crazy messy but all they were doing was playing dress up.

lily was in her bride dress when this picture was taken. she looks like quite the little model.

the kids were playing dress up and this is how the boys were found. i thought it was really funny.

lily got hurt at one point and i was comforting her. i don't really know why i included this picture since i look kind of funny but for some reason i like it. also, i know you can't tell in this picture but, my hair is actually braided and then twisted up. for those of you who haven't seen me in a while, can you believe that my hair is so long that it's almost halfway down my back?

halloween

well our halloween started out with lots and lots of rain. i thought for sure they were not going to be able to walk around the neighborhood. well as luck would have it, the rain decided to stop a few hours before it got dark so it was nice and dry when trick or treating began. we had dinner with a group of friends and then after trick or treating we came to our house and jenni warner fried up some homeade donuts and we hung out while the children pigged out and ran around like crazy. thank you jason for most of the pictures, you rock!

with costumes this year we decided not to spend any money. lily really wanted to be a unicorn and i searched online for cheap ways to make one but i couldn't find anything. i happened to be at a playgroup and was mentioning this when the hostess of playgroup ran to the closet and came out with this. she said lily was welcome to borrow it and oh was she happy.

jackson and his friend payton. at one point during trick or treating payton ran up behind jack saying "fireman, fireman, fireman" and when jackson turned around he say very sincerely, "i love you."

jackson's costume was a little easier because he didn't really care what he was. steven called his sister lani in utah and asked if they had any old costumes and she sent us a bunch. it worked out really well. he decided to be a fireman like his uncle dave for the actual day but at other events he was also a teenage mutant ninja turtle as well as buzz lightyear.

asher's costume i found for .99 at children's place the year before and i thought he was so cute in it. the problem was that as soon as i put it on him, he refused to smile. he just walked around like a little zombie the whole night. he didn't complain but he wasn't happy about it either in fact i think he just seemed confused the whole time.

bring on the curls

well someone in our house is finally coming down with steven's curls. asher had curls as a newborn but they went away as he has gotten older. fortunately they are now coming back with a vengeance. this kid has the funniest personality that it fits him perfectly. you gotta love it, well, maybe you don't, but i do!

his hair is curlier in the back so i thought i would show a picture of the back as well.

issaquah fish hatchery

last weekend we decided to go the Issaquah fish hatchery to see all of the salmon going upstream. it is amazing to see the salmon jumpin up these ladders trying to get upstream to the fresh water to spawn. we saw some of the fish jump almost overhead. it is amazing. well enough about fish, this is a picture of my beautiful babies. i don't know why it is so hard to get a good picture of all three of them together but i thought this one worked.

cutest baby?

i am not going to say that i have the cutest baby but...maybe he is the cutest baby in a costume. well i never really thought much about this costume when i bought it for $1 last year but when i put it on asher this morning i about died at how cute he looked. i tried endlessly to get a good photo of him but in the end, this was the best shot. the boys got dressed up today while lily was at school to go to Potterybarn Kids for a Halloween sing along. my camera started acting up and i didn't get any of jackson but there will be plenty on the actual day.

kelsey creek farms

lily's preschool takes them on several field trips throughout the year and this was her first one. fortunately jackson was able to go as well because he through a huge fit when he heard she was going to a farm. they got to see horses and pigs and learn how to get a barn ready for cows. farmer jane was very nice and they had a blast.

just before they pet a horse.

this little girl in lily's class wanted a dust pan so lily offered her pail. i thought it was really cute that they knew what they were doing.

raking sawdust for the cows bed.

at the end they got to each pick a sugar pumpkin to take home with them. lily searched high and low for the perfect pumpkin and jackson choose his by dropping the first one he picked up. he got a pretty good one anyway. i already cooked it and got 4 cups of pumpkin puree.

while i was taking this picture, lily was taking her class picture which really upset him because he couldn't be in it. it took all he had to give me a smile and i think it was pretty convincing.

books i've read lately

enders game, orson scott card
well steven has been asking me to read this for a long time and i finally broke down and finished it last night. i have heard some mixed reviews. i feel like people i know either love it or really hate it. i have to say that i fall into the love it category. i know that some have felt it was offensive but i didn't feel that way at all. if you like science fiction as well as a good story you should definitely pick it up.


rebekah (women of genesis series), orson scott card
i picked this up when i went to the library looking for enders game. i couldn't find enders game but i am "oh so glad" that i got this instead. i haven't read the book of genesis much and didn't know much about the women of genesis soi was thoroughly intrigued. it actually made me grab the bible when i was done to read their acutal stories. though mostly speculation, it was so interesting to see these women as real people with real lives. i would recommend this to anyone. i also have the first book in the series "Sarah" waiting on my counter to be read. i can't wait.

the red tent, anita diamant
i read this on recommendation of kimberly dee and i am so glad i did (thanks kim). once again i was facinated hearing the story of jacob and his wives. it is hard to imagine the people of that time but it really helps you understand what they could've gone through. if you like historical fiction, i think you will really enjoy this and the one above.

pillars of the earth, ken follet
this book was a really hard read for me not mention it was 1100 pages long. their were a bunch of stories that eventually weaved together to create an amazing story but it took a long time to get there. one of the reasons it was hard for me to follow is it kept jumping around to different narrators. it was a bit confusing in the beginning but once you get the hang of it, you are hooked. if you are at all offended by rape scenes and some british cus words "DO NOT READ." if you can handle a little, ok maybe a lot, of craziness i think it was a good read.

i want to hear what other people have been reading and if you have any must reads please let me know.

mischief maker

ok, so let me begin by saying that my 16 month old child sleeps in a pack and play and yes, he does sleep in my closet. that aside, he loves his bed. i have never seen a child love being layed down for naps and bed time more. well, i guess there is a first time for everything and yesterday he decided not to take a nap but to play instead. he was in his bed for maybe 45 minutes when i just heard him making some noise. when i went to check on him, this is what i found.....

twenty-one pairs of pants and 3 broken hangers were piled up in his bed. the funny thing was, he was so proud of himself. he thought it was the greatest thing ever. i guess that i have to make sure he goes to sleep now when i put him in his bed. i just had to laugh because it could definitely be worse!

some other things i've made

i thought this was the cutest fabric. i know that it isn't conventionally baby fabric but i thought it would work and i think it did.

either side can be the front but i wanted to show the difference between the two.

ok, this is something that i just made for lily(thanks kristin for the patterns.) the dress (see below) i made with an old pillow case from steven's single days and the apron is made from a sheet (thanks carrie.) i have been trying to recycle fabric and i think it turned out really cute. the dress is a peasant dress and a little plain so i decided to make the apron as well and spice it up.

i couldn't get any good pictures of lily in it but...she loves it and just had to wear it today even though it is rainy and cold outside. i thought the apron would be cute over jeans and stuff, is that too weird? maybe aprons will come in style?

olive moore

happy birthday olive!
we went down to portland a couple of weekends ago to celebrate olive's birthday. amy made the cutest mini cupcakes i have ever seen and everyone loved them. we had a great time and enjoyed seeing them. it is always nice to see california friends though i have to say it does make me a little (ok, a lot) homesick. sorry the picture isn't more clear but of the 100 pictures steven took, this was the best of more than just one child. there weren't any of everyone and i thought this was the cutest.