Thursday, November 25, 2010

Top Ten Tuesday (or Thursday this week)

I want to start doing a Top Ten list every Tuesday (I know, today is Thursday, but I started it on Tuesday and had every intention of posting it)....I'm stealing the idea from my sister- in-law who does it on her blog.  Since Thanksgiving doesn't seem complete without thinking about what you are truly grateful for, I'm going to start with that.  As I was thinking about it, I realized that I could fill a number of top ten lists just with all the people in my life who I am thankful for, but I decided to group them. Our family is incredibly blessed and I have so much to be thankful for...here's just ten of them:

1.  My incredibly smart and hard working husband....he does so much for our little family...I love that he makes me laugh every day...I'm thankful that he provides for us and allows me to stay home with our kids.  He makes me a better person and I feel lucky to be married to such a great guy.
2.  Jaxon and Claire...where to even start...I love my kids and would do anything for them...I remember my mom telling me that having kid's changes your life....how changed my life has been...for the better...there are so many moments with my kids that I know I will always cherish.
3.  My family...I was blessed with wonderful parents, two brothers, and a sister...all of them reasons why I am today who I am.  I love being with them and their families...we have many great memories and I look forward to many more. Being the youngest, I have always and continue to look up to them...they are great examples to me.  I am grateful for the many cousins my kids have that they can look up to throughout their lives (on both sides).
4.  Jeff's family...I am grateful for the in-laws that I have.  They are a great family...one of their friends said that they would kill to get in their family.  All joking aside, it's not far from the truth.  They have always accepted me and made me feel like part of the family.
5.  My friends....I have great friends from high school...when we get together, I love that it feels like no time has passed at all.  I love the friends I have in our neighborhood...I enjoy our monthly girl's nights out and watching the Bachelor together.
6.  My religion...I've wondered many times how I ended up LDS when the odds of it are so small...whatever the reason, I'm so grateful to know what we know in our church....I am most grateful for the knowledge that we have a very loving Heavenly Father and Savior and that families can be forever.
7.  My country...No matter what people think about the future of our country...I would still take it over any other country in the world.  I am grateful for the opportunities and privileges we enjoy for living here.  I am also so thankful for those who give up so much time with their own families to protect us and our freedoms...what they sacrifice amazes me.
8.  Health...I know this is something I take for granted every day...being healthy and having a healthy family...it can be taken away at any time...
9.  Knowledge/Books...I love learning and I miss college where I always felt like I was gaining new knowledge and using my mind...I still try to find ways to do that...which leads me to books...I've always loved reading...I'm grateful for talented authors who make reading an experience...
10. Warmth...I love warmth...especially the last few days that have been so freezing cold...I am so grateful we have a house with heat, cars with heat...a fireplace.  I also love and miss the warmth of the summer sun.

Friday, November 19, 2010

I Am Number Four



If you liked Hunger Games and Twilight, this book is for you.  It's the first book in a series written for young adults.  Instead of the main character being a vampire, he is an alien (really just a human with extra powers).  He came to earth from another planet and is number four.  There are other aliens trying to kill him and his people, but they have to kill them in order.  They've already killed the first three when the book starts, so he is next in line.  It was hard to put down and I really enjoyed the story.  There's a lot of action, romance, and suspense.  The author is James Frey...the guy who wrote A Million Little Pieces.    The best thing about reading the book now...it comes out in theaters in February.  Jeff and I are looking forward to seeing it since we've both read the book.  I give it an 8.

Saturday, November 6, 2010

What's not to love...

about Home Depot?  I remember family who would talk about how much they loved going to Home Depot, but it wasn't something I understood until we bought a house of our own.  I enjoy going to Home Depot...I love getting new ideas for home improvement, storage, anything really.  Something that makes me like Home Depot even more....free workshops for the kids on the first Saturday of every month.  They're just cool like that.  We joined my brother (who told us about it) and his family for this month's workshop.  They have different kits to choose....this month it was a spice rack....Jaxon opted for the fire boat from last month.  Claire chose to do a butterfly house.  They get an apron and a certificate once they've completed the project.  They provide everything at no charge...my kids both loved it and are looking forward to December's workshop.







Little Bee...


Little Bee was a book I really enjoyed until the last page...the book was a little on the depressing side with uplifting moments throughout.  It's about a refugee girl from Nigeria who ends up in the UK.  It is an interesting story with some pretty shocking twists.  I have read few books about refugees, so it was both interesting and hard to see what their lives are like.  The book made me feel SO blessed to live where I do and to have the life I do...certain things happen in the book that would be my worst nightmare....it's hard to imagine that things like that happen to people in real life, but I know that they do and that makes me so sad for them.  It made my life seem incredibly easy....on a daily basis, I worry about getting the house cleaned, cooking dinner, making sure my kids get enough attention....not anything close to wondering if I will survive to see the next day.  It put things into perspective for me and made me grateful for the things that really do matter in life.  I would recommend this book to most....it definitely left an impression on me and will be a book not soon forgotten.

Monday, November 1, 2010

October Highlights

I haven't been great at posting the last few weeks...it was a busy month with lots of fun Halloween activities.
Here are the highlights....

I attended the highly anticipated Witches Night Out with friends in my ward...we ate dinner at Chili's before and then hung out at Gardner Village....it was a great night spent with great friends...
One of my fellow witches and I got a witch makeover....
Here we are before:
 And after:
We also had a fun Halloween party for the young women with mummy wrapping and donut eating contests...


Some of our friends came over for Trick-or-Treating and pizza....the kids had fun even though it was cold and rainy...

Jaxon was Luigi this year and Claire was Princess Peach...she was being a stinker when it came to pictures so this is the only picture I have of her and you can't even see her costume...but she was a perfect Princess Peach...


We were down to the last weekend in October and still hadn't carved pumpkins....we went the day before Halloween to find pumpkins....the pumpkin patches were nearly empty...

We took the last 5 decent pumpkins and ended up with two white ones....
Note to self for next year....get pumpkins earlier in the month...

Claire was asleep in the car, but Jaxon had fun sitting on the tractors and helping me find pumpkins...


We carved our pumpkins on Halloween...very low key compared to past years...but we got it done and everyone enjoyed it...




Jeff gets the award for the most creative pumpkin...I'm thinking his inspiration came from the scary movie we watched the night before....


Jaxon....the pumpkin with the sharpest teeth....

And Claire....the pumpkin with the biggest smiley face....


Events that didn't get captured....our ward trunk-or-treat. Jaxon's preschool Halloween party and field trip to the fire station, Halloween family dinners, and my ward's Super Saturday.

October is one of my favorite months and I'm a little sad that it went so fast...but I feel better knowing we enjoyed it to the fullest!!