Sister's Graduation

My sister Graduated from nursing school on Thursday. We are so proud of her for sticking to it and finishing. She has been a super busy lady working 2 jobs and going to school to finish. We know she will make a wonderful nurse and that she will help out many people. We went to a little ceremony that the school had on Thursday night and then we went out to dinner to celebrate. The kids were pretty good, considering they had to hold still and be quiet for over an hour. We are so excited for you Charyn and can't wait to be able to spend more time with you now that you will have some free time!!!

Busy Day

Today I seemed to have a burst of energy or something because I got so much done today. I am worn out right now from it, but I feel so good when I accomplish a lot during the day. I cleaned my bathroom, incluuding cleaning out 4 drawers. I vaccumed the entire house, did 6 loads of laundry - including washing big brothers comforter and sheets. I made 7 loaves of banana bread, did the dishes--twice, made dinner, dusted my bedroom, cleaned out the coat closet, and copied my Christmas letter to get it ready to send. When Matt got home from work he didn't say anything about it until I wouldn't let him just plop his stuff on my clean and clutter free kitchen table. Then I told him how I had worked hard to get the house cleaned up and he had better put his stuff away where it goes. Then he made the comment on how good the house looked. Although I accomplished a lot, I still have a few more things to do in order for my house to be cleaned good this week. Sweeping and mopping the kitchen floor, paying some bills and folding towels are on my list of to-dos for tomorrow. I do know why I don't usually get this much done in a day, 2 kids that make messes almost as soon as I get one cleaned up. But it sure feels nice to have a clean house at the end of the day!!!

Girls Night Out

So I posted about a girls night out on Saturday. Here are the pictures of us girls at the resaurant. Lindee, Tate, Melissa, and Me. We had a great time talking, laughing and catching up with each other. We sure need to do that more often. It was fun to get away and have a break from the kids. Thanks to Matt for watching the kids. He did have to call and tell me to come home after Paige cried for over a half hour. He couldn't seem to calm her down....she's a mommy's girl. What to do?? But I guess 2 hours is a long enough time for dinner right, haha!!! Love you girls, it was so fun!!!!

Countdown to Christmas

Only 24 days until Christmas!! I can hardly believe another year has almost come and gone. There is something about the feeling in the air when Christmas is apporoaching, no I am not talking about the bitter cold weather. I love the feeing of Christmas all around, the lights and decorations, the holiday baking...and eating, the buying and giving of gifts, wrapping presents, decorating the tree, the first snow fall, and the music. The true meaning of Chritmas and the real gift we have all been given!!! I love the fact that I know we will be able to be together as a family on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning and to be able to spend time together laughing, talking, playing games, reminiscing and enjoying one another's company. I truly love spending time with the people that mean the most to me. I can't wait for that special time. So today begins the Christmas countdown!!! Here is my list of to do's before the big day: (In no particular order)
1. Finish writing my christmas letter, copy family pictures, and send out Christmas Letters to family and friends.
2. Finish Christmas shopping
3. Finish gift wrapping
4. Make holiday goodies for neighbors, visiting teaching families, and home teaching families... (not quite sure what I am going to make yet)
5. Attend ward Enrichment night, it is about Holiday Traditions.
6. Attend ward Christmas party.
so far that is what is on the calendar. I am sure there will be more to come.

Thanksgiving

Well we had a great Thanksgiving with family this year. We spent the day with Matt's family this year. We managed to sneak in 2 dinners, way too much food, and were able to visit with his aunts, uncles, cousins, and siblings. It was a fun day to be together. Yesterday we decided to do a little shopping. I was not one of the early birds that were in the stores at 4 a.m. but I did manage to get a few gifts on my list bought. I only have about 3 more thing to get then I will be finished. It will be nice to be all done so early this year. I will even have everything wrapped and ready to go. It makes life easier for me if I don't have to stress about gifts for a long time. We got our tree up a few days ago and "It's begining to look a lot like Christmas" we are enjoying having the holiday decor out to look at and Parker loves to turn on the lights on the tree. I think Paige has some motivation to begin crawling. She sees all the ornaments and decorations and somehow manages to scoot her little body closer and closer until she reaches them. One of these days she will discover how to crawl and realize it is faster to get where she wants to go if she crawls. It is going to be such a fun Christmas with these two little kids in our home, I can't wait to see Parker's reaction on Christmas morning. Tonight I am going to dinner with a few friends from high school and I am looking forward to some alone time and adult conversation. It will be so much fun. I'll post pictures later!!!

Twilight

I finally got out and saw Twilight last night. I really wanted to go to the midnight showing last Friday, but decided that it would probably be better for me to wait for a few days. Paige has been waking up about 1 in the morning lately and I didn't want her crying for an hour while I was at the movie. Then the weekend was really busy, and yesterday Matt said he would go with me to see it. So we went, on a "date" together to the movie, without the kids. It was pretty good. I thought that they did a good job getting most of the high points of the book. Of course I still think the books are better, but how can you fit a 498 page book into a 2 hour movie?? There were a few things that weren't in the book that were in the movie and I was like, they didn't say that, or that wasn't how it happened. But they were minor details. I was a little bummed at how the caracter of Jacob was cast. I pictured him a whole lot different in my mind, he wasn't as cute on screen. And his role was very minimal in the movie. Not that I am a Jacob fan, I prefer Edward, but Bella and Jacob sure weren't as friendly in the movie as in the books. So for sure there has to be 3 or 4 more movies, and I am looking forward to them. In the meantime, I may have to reread the series and do some more comparison. But overall I thought the movie was good and it was fun to see it set to life. I am amazed that Matt went with me and he seemed to like it okay, not his favorite, but still, he went!!!!! I think he was a little confused and lost at times. I had to fill him in on certain places. Any of you out there that haven't read the books, read them first, then see the movie!!!

Ornament Exchange

For about the last 5 or 6 years I have been part of a group of ladies that get together every year and exchange Christmas ornaments. We had our annual get together and exchange last night. It was so much fun. Each person does about 15 of the same ornament brings them wrapped together in 1 box. We then each take turns unwrapping a "gift" and then pass the rest around. So everyone leaves with 15 new oranaments. It is fun because some people are good with wood and others are good with sewing and stitching so you get a variety of ornaments. I look forward to this party each year and all the fun ornaments that we get. It is so fun to remember who made what when I am decorating my tree with handmade ornaments. We also do a potluck dish, something new, and bring the recipe to share. So we always have wonderful food and leave with new recipes as well. It is a fun night out and a much needed break from the kids. Here is a picture of the ornaments I got this year.