Happy Birthday, Emma

I cannot believe that my Emma is 5 today! She is so fun to be around. She lights up any room that she is in. Emma also is learning and growing leaps and bounds every day. It is really neat to see it happen. I love how good she is with Lily and Tyson. Emma is such a huge helper. I am glad she came first.

Happy Birthday Emma

Wedding gifts

I never thought I would ever be grateful for duplicate wedding gifts until last night. I was in the middle of making waffles and I burnt one. No one burns waffles, unless it is the last one and you forget. Stan also came home from work about the same time so I thought I must have missed the light and is started cooking again. But the next waffle took 20 minutes and it was still not done. I remembered that I had recieve a waffle iron for our wedding and hadn't used it yet. So I pulled it out and dinner was saved. Who says duplicate wedding gifts are no good. Thanks to whom ever gave it to us 6 1/2 years ago.

Thanksgiving

We had such a great thanksgiving!!! We were invited up to my old college roommate's house in Idaho Falls. It was great because my sister and her family was also there. This was all brought to pass because my college roommate is the sister of my brother-in-law. Her other sister was there too. It was so much fun. We had 7 adults and 8 kids they all did remarkable well. It was so much fun to be up there. I went to Ricks, now BYU-I, and we were able to drive around and see the temple and how much the town has grown. Had it been like it is now when I was there I might have stayed for the four years instead of the two.

Anyone who has been up there knows about Big Judds. There burgers are the size of a dinner plate. Some people I know have eaten a whole one by themselves but we decided it was not the smartest thing to do so none of our group did it. But it was a fun time and a really good burger.

This was my first year doing the whole Black Friday thing. It was crazy. We were outside of Toys R Us at 3:30 in the morning and there were people ahead of us. It was nuts. By the time they opened at 6 am there were a ton of people in line. We made it in and out in 15 minutes and got everything we wanted(and then some)!!! It is so crazy. If you don't have a list forget having time to walk up and down the isles. We went to ShopKo right after and there was a mad house brewing!!! It was crazy. My brother-in-law was the greatest and stood in line for an hour and a half for us while my sister, her sister-in-law, and myself went to Kmart to be there before they opened!! We were done with everything and home by 8 am. It was nuts. Stan was a trooper and stayed home with the kids (who were in bed until 7:30). He cringed at the idea of standing outside and dealing with the mobs.

We had such a great time. My brother-in-law decided to fry a turkey this year and it was really good. THe guys had fun outside standing around the fryer while us girls we inside getting everything else ready. As we were seated around the table, we were reflecting on different things and one thing that hit us all was that we were the adults at the table. There were not parents or grandparents. It was really weird. For all of us there this was the first year there was no one older than us. It was weird but fun. It made us all seem old even though no one is over 32.

Kids say the most interesting things when you let them. We were going around the table saying what we were thankful for and when it was Tyson's turn he said he was thankful for Jesus. It was really sweet. He said it without hesitation or help. It got me thinking that I need to take a step back from the hustle and bustle of life and think about what I am truly grateful for. Stan and I have been so blessed this year. It has been one of many ups and downs but we have so much to be grateful for. Stan has a job and he enjoys it, Lily has joined our family and we are not in debt because of it, we have our health and so many more blessing. I know that blessing do come to those that endure! We hope every one had as wonderful a holiday as we did. We are defiantly talking about doing it again next year.

P.S. pictures are coming grandma

Lily time

So it has been a while since I posted some pictures of Lily. She is getting so big it is fun. She is smiling all the time now. She is also starting to laugh. I have gotten her to laugh a couple of times but Stan has failed in his attempts. Lily is a joy. She is starting to sleep though the night. Sometimes she will sleep 6 hours or 4 or one in a while she will sleep 9 hours!!!! She is getting easier and it is nice. Lily is pretty mellow. There are times when you cannot get her to sleep or figure our why she is fussy. But as a whole she is very good. Emma and Tyson are enjoying the fact that she is getting better able to interact with them. It is really sweet to watch Lily respond to them and follow the sound of their voices. Sometimes I think she wants to get down and play with them. It will be an adventure I am sure when she does.

Halloween

So this is a little overdue. We have had a crazy busy month!!! My dad came to visit the week before Halloween. It was so fun to see him. The kids thought he was great. Lily even warmed up to him. Pictures are coming as soon as I get them from a certain someone!

my cute little cow!

Now all we need is a horse!


The day before Halloween I got to go help in Emma's preschool class. It was a great time. I loved seeing how she interacts with other kids and how she does in class. It is hard to believe how she is growing up.

As for Halloween its self we went to the ward trunk or treat where the kids got tons of candy. It was really nice that is was so warm because we did not have to stress too bad about Lily being too cold. She was a great sport in her cow costume that Tyson also wore also. This year's costumes were just by chance. My mom found Tyson's costume a couple of years ago and Emma had everything in her closet. It is nice when things work out so well. It was a fun night. Tyson was very mellow around all the scary faces and costumes. I don't think he fully understood what was going on.