The Week before Christmas!

Well its down to the wire and the count down to Santa coming has begun. I love this time of year. It is filled with lots of love, and kindness, but also is centered around Christ. The pure love that the savior has for each of us truly is the greatest gift of all. I am thankful every day that I can get up and try harder to be better each day, and know that the Savior made up for the rest of it. I don't think I could ever thank him enough for the opportunity that I have to be with my family again someday because of the sacrifice that he made for me. This year for us has been filled with so many great blessings. Our being able to purchase our home is nothing short of a miracle. Aaron finishing school.. again nothing short of a miracle.. ( haha just kidding hun) but we are glad that he is done... graduation is not till April though. Our children are growning up and the things that they say and do are wonderful.. (most of the time). Our jobs that we have are pretty great and in a time when alot of people have lost their jobs ours have remained steady. To be surrounded by family and friends is also wonderful. We love you all and hope you have a Merry Christmas!
ps.. pictures of the kids with Santa are still to come. Stay tuned!

Random Thoughts for the Day!

I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately wipe clean your computer if you die.
Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.
I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.
There is great need for a sarcasm font.
How the heck are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?
Was learning cursive really necessary?
Map Quest really needs to start their directions on # 5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my own neighborhood.
No one wants to say it but obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.
I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.
Bad decisions make good stories.....as long as you don't end up in jail.
You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren’t going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.
Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't want to have to restart my collection........again.
I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save my changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.
"Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this -- ever.
**My Favorite one, MH I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Dang it!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voice-mail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?
I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.
I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call. My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day "Dad what would happen if you ran over a ninja with magic powers?" How the heck do I respond to that?
I think the freezer deserves a light as well .
Last but not least Life is short eat dessert first!

A friend of mine sent me this in an e-mail. I thought.. well.... these past couple of weeks have been like this for me, so what the heck. I had to laugh! Hope you all have a good laugh to and a Happy Thanksgiving!

The Power of a Prayer.

The power of prayer. Things I have learned in the last week.
When you pray with a sincere heart you can feel the veil become thin and Heavenly Father close by.
When you pray for a righteous desire, it often doesn't come imediately.
When you pray and don't get the answer you want it doesn't mean that the Lord doesn't love you.
When you pray and need the comfort of the Holy Ghost he is there, you just have to ask.
When you think you can't handle what the Lord is giving you, you can. You just have to open up to the spirit and learn what needs to be learned.
Heavenly Father is aware of my pain and my needs in my life.

"But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance" (1 Nephi 1:20).
The word chosen in 1 Nephi 1:20 is central to understanding the concept of the Lord's tender mercies. The dictionary indicates that chosen suggests one who is selected, taken by preference, or picked out. It also can be used to refer to the elect or chosen of God (Oxford English Dictionary Online, second ed. [1989], "Chosen").
Some individuals who hear or read this message erroneously may discount or dismiss in their personal lives the availability of the tender mercies of the Lord, believing that "I certainly am not one who has been or ever will be chosen." We may falsely think that such blessings and gifts are reserved for other people who appear to be more righteous or who serve in visible Church callings. I testify that the tender mercies of the Lord are available to all of us and that the Redeemer of Israel is eager to bestow such gifts upon us. ( taken From Elder Bednar's Confrence)
I know this to be true I know that I have been truly blest in my own life. This week has been a huge struggle for our family. I was yet again expecting a baby. This week I miscarriaged. Not a fun experience. During this time I prayed alot, I never felt alone. Its been a hard week to go through. But perhaps in the Lord's time things will be resolved. The power of the priesthood is real. The blessings that the Lord has to offer us are real. Its really hard sometimes though to put our faith in these things when we feel like our world is crashing down around us. But I know that if we can gather our strength and put our faith in the Lord we will be blessed.

Happy Halloween!

Black spiderman and the skunk!
Ammon sure makes a good spiderman!

Black spiderman!

She's a stinker!

But a cute stinker at that!

Yeah I think we'll keep her!

Cait really liked my blue wig so I let her try it on... I think she looks better in it than I did!

All in all Halloween in our new neighborhood was tons of fun! So much trick or treating and hot chocolate. I was really happy that it was so cold this year! I am really happy to be living in our neighborhood. Its a great place to raise a family!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!

Monster Mash!

The Coaches! Jon, Jessie, Andrea, Sara, Megan Brooke, Me!
The Coaches goofying off during the clean up!

Sara and I!

Brooke, Megan, Me & Heather.

Brooke, Me, Heather!

Face Painting!

Mellissa teaching Bars!

Megan and I

Brooke and I!

So the night before Halloween.... there was a MONSTER MASH at Jump Up Gymnastics! It was alot of fun. We did a fund raiser to help us get some more equiptment for the gym. Hope you all enjoy these fun pics!

Pumpkin Carving!

You get that pumpkin Hun!
Ammon with his spider pumpkin! Does this surprise anyone?

Caitlynn's is a kitty!

Cait is really happy about pumpkin carving!

This year was a lot of fun! The kids really got into helping pull the seeds out of their pumpkins! It was really alot of fun!

Chloe and Caitlynn!

While attending Mansel's funeral, we were able to let the kids play with their cousin's. They loved it. Sorry these are the only pics I snapped the whole time we were there. I wish I had taken more. But my kids sure had fun. Chloe and Caitlynn were both really sad we had to go home. Anyhow, all in all I wished I had taken more pics. Especially since I got to meet Noah for the first time. He sure was a lot of fun.. and I taught him to say aunt jewey! Well perhaps there will be more next visit.

Tribute to my father in law who passed away last week!

Mansel Manuel Spencer, 70, died October 13, 2009 at Hospice of Saint John in Lakewood Colorado.
Mansel was born Feb 26, 1939 in Hartshorn, Missouri as the fourth of six children.
He was a dedicated printer at The Denver Post for 36 years and received many awards and achievement from the Denver Typographical Union, which he was a member of. He enjoyed the company of his children and grandchildren, and consistently expressed compassion and open arms to help. He was an avid fan of Colorado’s professional sports teams, had a droll sense of humor, and was always up for a good conversation.
Mansel was preceded in death by his parents, John and Ethyl Spencer; and his brother Rex and wife Dolly.
He is survived by his eight children and their mother Lyla Spencer (Ellibee); five daughters, Marquette of Denver, CO; Daliene of Lafayette, CO; Lana Garcia and husband Kyle of Frederick, CO; Andrea Kelley and husband Jason of Lehi, UT; and Elizabeth Magnus and husband Jonathan of Portland, OR; three sons, Jon of Frederick, CO; Paul of Denver, CO; and Aaron and wife Julie of Saratoga Springs, UT; one brother, Roy Spencer and wife Patty of Arvada, CO; three sisters, Shirley Daugherty of Summersville, MO; Gay Durnell and Husband Earl of Cabool, MO; and Darleen Hutton of Springfield, MO.; 25 grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; many nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.
He will be greatly missed by his large and extended family and friends.

Welcome Home Megan!

The mission quilt that was made for her by my bro and mom! She is explaining the pictures on it to us!
Megan before she opened the quilt! She got home yesterday mid after noon!

After eighteen months of serving the Lord Megan's mission must come to a close. Not to worry though I think she will keep on going with doing the work that the Lord has for her to do. She is now on to doing her best to find a man to marry!

Dalton Family Reunion!

Aunt Natalie and Bridger forge a bond!
Grandpa teaches Ammon to fish!

Now, it's Caitlynn's turn to learn to fish!

Grandma and Cait get close for a picture!

My Mom! She actually let me take her picture!

Colin caught the first fish! Look's like a big one!

Jessica Cowgirl's up! Lovin the hat!

I am still waiting for my dear mother to get me some more pictures but this was about all I took the entire trip. So if I get some more good ones then I will post a few more! All in all the trip was alot of fun though. We went to my parents cabin for a couple of days. Their cabin is close to salina. Its very pretty up there and their cabin is really nice. We played horse shoes, Aaron and I won! We had a scavenger hunt... I think Justin and Natalie won that one.. but hey you try treckin in up and down the mountain for clues with two small kids.... anyhow, the food was good and so was the company. All in all it was a fun trip! oh and Congrats to Justin and Natalie who are pregnant with their first baby!

Our trip to Parawon for a Maxican Friend!

Jessica learning how to become a pro wrestler!
The fire we saw on our way down there!

The fire from a distance!

Sorry there were a couple more but I couldn't get them on here, I think saved them wrong or something. Oh well... Anyhow, the trip was a lot of fun! Not much to do, we had a picnic lunch up the canyon and that was about it and came home. It was a quickie trip, but the kids had fun and so did we!

Charlotte comes to visit!

The girls are not sure what to do here... but the boys are posing as super heros!

Ammon and Andrew became fast friends!

Ammon and Andrew playing in the river!

All of us together at the park!

One of my very dear friends Charlotte came to visit. Currently they live across the country. But once apon a time we were roomies! We had a lot of fun times living in the Glenhood together! Its even more fun now with kids and oh the fun we let the kids have together. Needless to say I think that the picutes speak for the themselves!

Busy! Busy! Busy!

While Aaron was away in Africa I did pretty good at keeping things updated here... well when he got back that all flew out the window due to us being so busy!

Well, as you know Aaron was in Africa for a month while he was gone I under took many a project to keep busy, camps for the kids, gymnastics with Andrea, and well yes I under took painting at my house while the hubby was away. Here is my green wall I am very proud of it and I love it! Before it was all white, it was driving me nuts mostly because there are so many doors on the wall as well, so as you can see I spruced it up and Viola~ ! It's beautiful and adds so much more!

Princess Camp!

So again with the teaching I taught princess camp. Which was alot of fun! Caitlynn got to go this time instead of Ammon. Cait had so much fun being a princess I am still having a hard time trying to get her to wear anything but her princess dress. Lol! At camp we even invited a queen to come and teach the princess's about the way to decorate and get ready for a ball/party. It was alot of fun. I will have to post more pics from it when I get them back in a week or so. But here is one that I took at the camp!

Super Hero Camp

At my sister in laws gym this summer we offered a # of camps to kids. One of them included training super hero's. Well you all know how Ammon most of the time thinks that he is spiderman, so since I had to be there to help coach Ammon came along and I am proud to say graduated at the top of his class. Those of you who are in need of a super hero you now know who to call!

I Know I know!

So I have been sooo super busy lately that I feel like I am lagging so far behind here. Aaron spent the last month in Africa, in an area called Nambibia. He was there for school, nothing major this time around. While he was there he toured around, helped the african people learn how to digitalize their important stuff, helped with a documentary, and had a good time. Poor guy got in so late on friday night that I don't think he is quite caught up yet with our time zone.
So while he was gone I had alot to do as you can imagine! I had both kids and kept working, not only that but my sister in law Andrea has officially opened her new gym for gymnastics. It has kept me sooooo busy that now with Aaron here and gym stuff being done I am not really sure what to do with myself. I have been teaching super hero camp, princess camp, taking the kids to swimming lessons, Ammon did go to pirate camp but I didn't end up having to teach that one! whew! I have also been coaching gymnastics two days a week. It's been really good for me and the kids.. the best part being I am getting back into shape.. It's about time! Having Aaron gone was challenging but we learned alot and I can not even complain, even when I took the kid's to the Ellibee fam reunion they were pretty much angel's. We had one really really really bad day while he was away but other than that it was pretty much filled with good times! I even painted an accent wall in my kitchen... pics to be posted later on..
Anyhow, I have so many pics to edit and so little time.. I promise to get around to it soon though. Now that I should have a little more time to myself.
Either way our family is doing really well and getting along little by little.
For those of you wondering if you should put your little kids in the gymnastics program the answer is YES! It's alot of fun for the kids. If you want more info on go to jumpupgym.com . We are hoping all is well with everyone!

A little Taste of Africa!

So we all know that Aaron is in Africa right now and loving it.. ok well he misses us. I thought I would put some pics on here that he FINALLY sent me.. Anyhow hope you all enjoy!

Ellibee Family Reunion!

The Spanking... By Holly and Dez.. poor Lyla!

Paul and Liv on the Hay ride...

Lyla driving the hay ride!

Dan and Alec Medley.

Peyton ( hope I spelled that right.. if not sorry Nicke).. playing.. oh so cute!

Eric gives Paul a bad time.

Jana, Lyla, Aunt Lavonna.

Aunt Lavonna givin' us girl's a cookin' lesson!

The kid's loved playing on the hammock. I am surprised that it didn't break, I think that's all the kids did while they were there... come up with new games to play in the hammock! They loved it!

Cait, Caden, Liv... They played so good together.. Poor Caden I am sure he got bossed around by these two bossy girls.. What's with the sticking the tongue out at me?

Andrea, Ethan, Ammon on the fence.

Nicke and I.

Aunt Lavonna's fam.

Aunt Lavonna and her kids.. all but Cristi... sorry hope you are better Cristi!

Dez and Holly looking sweet and innocent.. ok ok they really are for the most part
But this was also taken before they gave the Spanking to Lyla!

The Brown's

Randy's family.

Uncle Larry and Aunt Bonnie's Fam!

The Whole lot of us together!

I liked this one with Liv in it.. cuz well it was funny!

The Spencer Fam.. we missed the rested of you that didn't come.. Perhaps now you know what you missed out on.. you'll come next time.. hehe... you all know who you are!

Andrea, Lyla, Paul.

Aunt Lavonna teaches these two how to play nice!