Wordful Wednesday!

Ammon prepares to jump. We went to the dino museum and there are some pretty big rocks to jump off of. And well since my son thinks that he is spiderman like 95% of the time.. he decided what the heck... jumping off this sure looks fun!

They say a picture paints a thousand words. Well what more can I say.. If I were a kid I think I would have jumped too! lol!

The True Spirit of Christmas!

For those of you who know me well, you know how much I love Christmas time. It is absolutely my favorite time of the year! I love the goodies, decor, caroling(even though I don't sing well or harmonize well with my hubby). I think my most favorite part though is giving gifts. I love to think of things all year long that I can do for others during this time of year. With money so tight sometimes I wonder how I can make it all happen but every year I find a way.

I think of the gift that our savior gave us. His life. It definetly puts things in perspective. All the hustle and bustle and holiday shopping that is done. It makes me stop and think often of how the savior would be if he were here with us. I love this time of year mostly I think due to the compassion that I feel for those around me. Those close, and those that need help, those that are far away,and those that I am not even aware of that I have touched their lives in someway or another. Christmas time can definetly be stressful if you let it. But I know that by letting the savior by apart of our lifes, it takes that all away.

There’s Christmas in the home and church,

There’s Christmas in the mart;

But you’ll not know what Christmas is Unless it’s in your heart.
The bells may call across the snow,

And carols search the air;

But, oh, the heart will miss the thrill Unless it’s Christmas there.

(Taken from a talk given by Pres. Monson)

Remember that we have all been given compassion and love at some point in our lives. Remember how you felt when it was given and give a true gift this Christmas; Love!

Know that we are all children of God, that he loves us all; and that someday we will all have to return and tell all that we have done, and it's not our jobs, and how much money we made, or what we were able to buy that is important. Its the time we took to help those around us, whether in own families, or around the world. Our thoughts, our actions, our intents of our hearts.

I am Flat!

You know it's going to be a good day when you wake up and get ready earlier than normal, so you can get to the store and get your shopping done, you load the kids and go to back out and realize that you have a flat tire!

sigh

yes! this was my day yesterday and bless my husband who finally came to my rescue after his meetings at work were over.. two hours later mind you.

Lastly thank goodness that walmart repairs tires I was able to shop and get my tire fixed at the same time, so I was much later in getting home and the kids were onrey because they were hungry. But no harm done.. all is well. And today has been better.

What you've all been waiting for....

Ok here is your last chance to catch a glimpse of 5 tips to help you survive Thanksgiving....

1- Be on time... and be prepared.. ladies I have already addressed this one.. (LATE LARRY) need I say more?

2- If you are reading this on Monday night its too late give up now.. you will be fighting other late shoppers to get your turkey dinner trimmings!

3- I am stealing this idea from my vt companion... if your families that are visiting or if you are visiting them and they drive you nuts..... come up with Family bingo... ( think of things that will always happen in your familyand mentally mark them off) make sure you bring rewards! It doesn't have to be bingo but something else that will help pass the time and help you keep your sanity.

4- If leaving town be sure to do laundry and other nessecary things in advance so you aren't rushing out the door and leaving behind a messy house, it's the worst to get home from a trip and not only have to put away all you brought with you and then some, but then to have to get to work cleaning your house you gladly tore up in order to pack in a rush!

5- Be Happy! no body like Sally Sour. Thanksgiving is almost here and well it is a time to be Thankful! So count your blessing put on your happy face, eat well and enjoy the holiday!

Fun Sunday Activities to keep your kids busy!

One Sunday after church and before nap time I was busy trying to get dinner partly ready(aka home made rolls) well the kids kept bothering me and driving my crazy while Aaron laid on the couch due to tiredness... so I finally came up with a bright idea and told the kids that they needed to play doctor with daddy and I gave them and ace bandage to help their daddy get better... Well I think that these pics speak pretty well for themselves... and well I did get things finished in the kitchen and there was an aweful lot of giggling going on the other room. Moral of the story, give them and inch and they will go a yard..er..something like that right?

My weekly writting assigment.

My weekly writing assignment: I am trying this writting assigment thing out so bear with me and I am early this week, normally to be posted wed. nights!
I remember when…
For those, of you who read my blog you know that the first 18 months of my marriage my husband was in Iraq. Well, I consider myself to be a fairly religious person, and I prayed daily (if not more) that my husband would come home safe. The first few months he was there were very hard. Communications were few and far between we could only write letters and those only take about two weeks or more to get. Needless to say that as time progressed we were able to e-mail and do more phone calls even at the end we were able to see one another on a web cam. At any rate he had probably been gone something like eight months or a little more, and I had been able to chat with him online the night before, it was then that he told me that he would get on there again the next day about the same time (didn’t really matter the time to me I had a laptop and it slept with me, so I knew when he was online) well the next day came and I wait, it was evening and I wait and waited and waited. I finally grew tired and went to sleep. After a couple of hours I awoke with such alarming clarity that something was wrong… I checked online wondering what was going on and why he hadn’t gotten on like he had promised to do… nothing. Just one big sinking pit feeling in my stomach, I tried to go back to sleep but each time I was met with such horrible dreams that I just couldn’t sleep. I finally got down on my knees and began to pray, I don’t know that I have ever prayed so hard in all my life. Well finally I was able to feel the peace I needed and went to bed (at this point 4 am) I woke at 7 am and looked to see if he was online and nothing. By 9:30 am I had to leave to go to work and so I decided to call my sis in law and tell her about my night. That I was really worked up and worried, well right as I called her my husband popped up online. He told me how sorry he was that he hadn’t been able to get online that he had been called out on a mission last minute because the gunner on the first mission and gotten hit by some shrapnel and they had to come back to get a replacement for him. So they had gotten my husband out of bed to replace the first guy. Out on their second mission, they came across another road side bomb and they had to do security things were pretty bad. They finally completed their mission and came back to camp. No wonder I had felt so worried. Sheesh! I know that the Lord works in mysterious ways, and that what could have been a very bad situation for my husband the Lord was there watching over him. I never really knew how in tune I was to such feelings before then. I do know now. Thankfully the Lord watched over him and the guys in his unit; every single soldier in his unit came home safe, a few had some injuries and things like that but they all came home alive. I am so thankful for the sacrifice our troops and their families make on our behalf.

GIVE THANKS!

If we are commanded to give thanks and it is a requirement to be made whole then what action do we take? What do we do? In last year’s October Conference, President Eyring said, “I wrote down a few lines every day for years. I never missed a day no matter how tired I was or how early I would have to start the next day. Before I would write, I would ponder this question: “Have I seen the hand of God reaching out to touch us or our children or our family today?” As I kept at it, something began to happen. As I would cast my mind over the day, I would see evidence of what God had done for one of us that I had not recognized in the busy moments of the day. As that happened, and it happened often, I realized that trying to remember had allowed God to show me what He had done.” President Eyring said that this act of daily remembrance, of thanks-giving, builds not only gratitude, but testimony. Gratitude is at the core of testimony. When we stand to bear testimony, we say, “I am thankful for…”

I have been thinking and thinking about something to write about that is worth while here on my blog. As I have been pondering it finally came to me.. write about something I know... Well, those that know me well know how much I LOVE this time of year. With Thanksgiving quickly approaching and Christmas not far behind, I thought it would be good to write tips and ideas down. So, two things; 1- I want to write down 7 things that I am Thankful for.... & 2 I want to write 5 tips for the wk. Each week there will be 5 new tips to help survive the Holiday Season and be happy, healthy, and not stressed out!

I am thankful for:

1-My family, my kids and husband are wonderful, serving them each day helps me love them more.

2-Our jobs, they provide us with enough to provided for our family as well as serve those around us that might be in need.

3- Our second family's: cousins, parents, grandparents and siblings to Aaron and I. They give support and lend a hand when needed.

4-Our friends, those close and far away, the time they spend serving my family is awe inspiring.

5-A home, even though we still have yet to buy a home ( which hopefully will happen soon ) where we are living is good, clean, and nice enough, we definetly don't live in a dump.

6-The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, that provides us with organizations that enrich, uplift, and inspire our lifes to be better each day.

7-Last but certainly not least, my savior and redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. Who suffer bled and die for me, so that I can one day return to live with him. The sacrifice he made for me is a gift that I will always treasure.

Ok so on the the holiday help line:

1- Plan ahead. Planning ahead of time is age old, knowing what you will be doing for the holiday's is important. Making a schedual, can help ease the burden especially if you have young children. It will help them being happy instead of non stop crying during the turkey dinner!

2-Plan food ahead of time; this just doesn't include whose bringing what to turkey dinner but it also includes making it to the store long before the night before and doing battle with all the other nuts out there that didn't plan ahead. Trust me when I say, shop at least a wk prior if you can.

3-Plan your time, what time will dinner be at? How long will dinner and festivities last? This is key that you don't wear out your welcome but also that your children (if you have them) can keep to a more normal schedual., and that will make your entire day easier.

4-Plan out a route, if you are traveling, also make a route B in case weather is a factor.

5-Be on time! No body likes late Larry who shows up just in the nik of time to sit down and eat, and has forgotten his dish that he was supposed to bring. Moral of the story, be on time and be prepared and the rest should run fairly smooth.

Hope this is helpful, I have found that in years past when I run around scrambling to get things done that the holiday's are not as much fun! I think after 6 years of mariage that I finally have it down to an art. I hope!

Veteran's Day

In lou of veteran's day this year I decided to shared something very dear to my heart. When Aaron and I decided to get married in November of 2002, we had no idea that when we set our wedding date for Feb of the following year that he would get deployed six days after our wedding. I still remember the day that he left, I remember going to the armoury and feeling sorry for myself ( here I was newly married and my hubby of six days was going to war, what if he didn't make it back home?) well I got there and what an eye opening experience it was for me. When I left I didn't feel so bad I felt lucky. It was just me he was leaving. You see when a soldier gets deployed, every family has its stories. Whether someone is pregnant with their first baby or their third.. which children understand what the dads or moms are going out to do, I even had a very close friend who was very sick with cancer when our husband left. So I felt very fortunate that our family and friends were close by and I would be able to make do for a year till they got back.

That following sept... Aaron's unit got extended... there orders were now 365 boots on ground which in the military world means that since they spent 2 and half months in Fort Lewis Washington ( training) that their year long deployment didn't really start until they got over there. We dealt ok with that blow. The second blow came when they were about to come home. They had done their time, were packed up and ready to come home and waiting in Kuwait. About that time some real fighting began to happen over there, and they recieved orders that they would be going back in. I still remember that phone call as if it were yesterday. Aaron sounded so down, and all I could think was he's kidding.. in a second he will perk up and be like "just kidding! " But he didn't. I was so upset and began to cry..." why ?" was all I could choke out. I just didn't understand. Aaron told me then that things would be ok. Making the phone calls to the family were really hard. I prayed alot that things would change and they could come home. A meeting was held a wk later and the General told all the families what he could.. tried to help aid some of our hurt. I had women that told me that they knew that they were coming home, even though the orders had said different. I tried to have faith that they would. Well a little more than two wks went by and they hadn't moved their troop and they then on a MIRACLE decided that they had done their time and it was their turn to come home. They did come home a few weeks later. I stand by the fact that the Lord does hear and answer our prayers, he does show us miracles. I greatly appreciate all the troops that protect our freedoms. The sacrifces that not only the soldiers make but their family's to, is something that is truly a gift. I know that the sacrifice that we made at the begining of our marriage was hard, very hard in fact. But it was worth it. Our freedom to choose in this country is always worth fighting for. God Bless America!

The above photo is an article about us when their unit left... and yes its the day they left!

BaCk To WoRk OffiCiaLLy!

Well its about TIME! We finally opened our new store in the mall. I am now officially back to work. I am working 2 days a week... Thursday nights as that is one of the only nights Aaron is home from school/work before late evening. And Saturdays! which my shift kinda varies! Needless to say I am enjoying working again even though I am still doing lots of hair from home. So this is a pic of almost all of us working there.. yet we only have 6 stations in our new store.. it makes things a little more complicated.. but so far its working out ok. I think if I were working more it would really bother me. But I guess since working for Mastercuts is only a temporary things till we get a house and put my salon in it will do for now. The girls that I work with I love dearly. We are all such good friends. And that is rare to find in a salon... let alone one with ten women working there. I am truly blessed to know each one of these girls... all different in sooo many ways. My favorite part of this picture is the fact that this is the day before we opened our store.. notice there are no pictures in the frames.. well they came a day late. Lol!

Weirdo Things:

Ok I will say.. thanks to my sweet cousin Cristi who tagged me.

7 Things about me that are weird:

1- I have to sleep with at least three pillows in order to get a good nights rest. Ever since I was pregnant with Ammon I began to use more and more pillows to sleep at night. Now, however it is just very routine, and depending on how I am feeling sometimes I sleep with more than three. Poor Aaron... he wonders alot about this... he's lucky if I don't steal his pillow in the night.

2- I bite my nails when I am nervous or anxious, or upset about anything. I have tried lots of things to break myself of this and well I just can't seem to kick the habit.

3- I can't handle too much noise. To much noise gets me very worked up very quickly.. riding in the car the best sound to me is the quiet. When its bed time and the kids are in bed I like listening to just the quiet. Yelling is the worst though I tend to raise my voice all to often to be heard... hmm... there may be something to that..

4- I am fairly confrontational... I try real hard not to be. But I am. If I don't like something I have heard, seen, or something that someone has done, 9 times out of 10 I will probably talk to whoever about it. I know I know I am working on being more patient.

5- I can't stand going to the store without being ready for the day. I don't think people should leave their houses looking bad. Nor do I go a day without getting up and getting ready for the day. I feel yucky all day if I do that. Unless of course I am sick, then its ok.

6- I get my hair done when I feel any kind of distress, it makes me feel better. Sometimes it can be extreme and other times.. well a little more mellow.

7- I don't like being home alone at night. It makes me anxious and I can't sleep. I thought it would get better after having kids..nope.. its worse.

I have tagged Teresa, Lorina, Emily, Trisha, Jennifer, Emmie, Jennivee.

Time Changes!

Ok seriously who came up with the idea of time zones and changes and so forth... I thought to myself as the time change this year approached... good I am going to get 1 whole extra hour of sleep! So not true.............. I feel so lied to! Not only do my children now rise @ 6:45 in the am.. but by the time that 7pm rolls around I have had it up to the knees with the non-stop I am tired crying! .. I feel like crying myself my wonderful schedual is RUINED! The waking at 8 am and go to bed by 8 pm... Sooooooooo not fair... Who ever thought up the fall back in the fall and spring forward in the spring obviously didn't have children! If they did.... what were they thinking?

Oh well I guess this is life! I will survive and adapt!

The Canadian's are Here!

Ok ok compliments of my sweet cousin Cristi.. here is the one photo of us at her Halloween party... Eat your heart out everyone!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

TrIcK oR TrEaT!!!!

For Halloween this year I wasn't quite as Crafty as last year... But it'll have to do.. What can I say, some years are better than others. This year Ammon wanted so badly to be Batman. He loved every minute of it... Caitlynn I made her a tutu.. and she went as a ballerina.. I think she liked her little ballet shoes better than the tutu.. but she sure was stinkin adorable going door to door saying "trick or treat!"

Needless to say.. I don't have any pics of Aaron and I this year( unless Cristi has any she took from her party) mostly because we were lame and went to Cristi's annual Halloween party as Canadian's. Lol! I know I know... but hey it was cheap. Next year I vow to be better.

For now we are moving on to Thanksgiving and lots and lots of turkey!

HEE HAW FARMS!

Caitlynn really wanted to be a cheerleader for the Denver Bronco's yesterday! Eat your hearts out boys! I was going to put Ammon in his costume but the thought of having to pick out all the hay before the next day ... well I didn't and this isn't Cait's real costume.. so safe to wear and get dirty I can wash it later!

At first we thought that the kids were supposed to climb this.. However we found out that its really a slide, made of pvc piping. Its pretty bumpy going down but the kids sure enjoyed themselves on it. Either going up or coming down.

This is probably the biggest PIG I have ever seen!

Cait loved the baby pigs! She kept wanting to feed them!

Batman Jumps in the hay! ok ok its really just Che!

The kids actually holding still just long enough to snap a picture before they all disburse into every direction.

Hee Haw Farms was alot of fun! The kids really wore themselves out! We all had a good time!

Che, Parker, and Ammon.. sittin on the hay. This was about the only time they did sit! Lol!

Jennifer and Garrett. On the hayride!

Denise and Thomas on the hay ride!

Maddox, Brooklyn, Lorina, Teresa with Justin on her lap, and Batman ( aka Che) on the hayride!

Caitlynn's shoe fettish!

Caitlynn has always had a thing for shoes. This I have most definetly fed into. As we all know how much I love shoes. Well, she has since moved on from her shoes to mine. ( still not sure how I feel about this) Ok well mostly she just loves to wear this one pair of my and to be honest I really can't blame her they are cute! and she walks to well in them. I need to video tape it so you can see for you self. I asked her that day to go put on her clothes well this is what she came back wearing.

AnNuAl PuMpKin CaRviNg!

Last night we carved pumpkins with the kids they loved it! They had alot of fun. I finished helping Caitlynn and then began to clean up to bake some pumpkin seeds ( which my family loves) I make them every year. Well, then Aaron and Ammon finished up their pumpkin and they wanted to go outside and light them. So I hurried and put the pumpkin seeds in the oven and went outside... there we took pictures... by the time I got back in I could smell the pumpkin seeds burning so I hurried and took them out..WHEW! only like half of them were burnt. So I put the rest in a bowl for the family which they began to eat. I finished clean up and went upstairs to find my kids some pjs.. I was only gone about 30 seconds when I hear this from Aaron " JULIE! HURRY I NEED SOME HELP! HURRY!!" I run downstairs just in time to see Caitlynn throwing up all over her daddy. Now of course this is gross ( sorry) but as she finishes up she just wipes her mouth and says through a small cry " i sorry daddy" I of course began to laugh( of course I wasn't laughing so much @ 1 am when I was cleaning up more throw up) and then so did Aaron. I of course took Cait and began to clean up throw up.. and then Aaron took her up to the bath while I finished. All the while Ammon is just standing there watching. Lol! I guess the pumpkins seeds weren't such a good idea after all. Pumpkin carving this year will be a memorable one!

Ammon and Caitlynn pulling out the pumpkin goo!

The Pumpkins that we helped them do. Ammon even told me that mine and Cait's was scarey!

Family pumpkin time! sorry not the best picture.. but you get the idea!

Caitlynn after Nap time!

Caitlynn usually wakes up from her nap and is fairly happy. I enjoy this since Ammon has always been the opposite. Ok just like me, grumpy when woken to soon. Oh well life time flaw I guess. Anyhow, lately she has been waking up and crying..(great another one just like me) so I thought I would take a picture.

Cristi's 30th Birthday Surprise Party!

Lyla, Andrea and Aunt Lavonna, help celebrate too!

Cristi's closest friends and family help her celebrate her 30th birthday! yeah!

Grandma and Caitlynn eat together @ the party!

Caitlynn helps get ready for the surprise party!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CRISTI!
Congrats to Jeff for throwing a great surprise party! We love you guys!

Note to Cristi: don't worry 30 isn't that old! lol

Family Night @ Cornbelly's

Our Family Night last week consisted of taking the kids to Corn Belly's. We all had so much fun! The hayride as a family was quite funny. They had a teeage kid that brought up a second tractor and wagon to help ease the line. Well once we got a little way out into the pumpkin patch he stalled it and couldn't get it restarted. So we all had to get off and walk back and by the time we did that he was back with it started again. Lol! Needless to say the second time we had a good ride! The kids were pretty happy about it!

The second hayride!

Ok so there was a huge pit of corn. The kids absolutely loved it! We couldn't get Ammon to hold still long enough to even snap a decent picture... Caitlynn however... well I think her face tells it all.


Ammon on his tire horse... he was trying to race Caitlynn.

Ammon liked the pumkin's that were everywhere!

Caitlynn loved the princess castle, she went up and didn't come down for quite some time!


Caitlynn also enjoyed the tire horses.. as we all know that in real life she loves ponies!

They ate their pb&j happliy! They loved riding in the wagon.

Aren't they so cute as farm animals?