We wish we were HERE!

Sophie and I have been daydreaming a lot lately.......We want to be here...

And here.........

Ohh, and who could forget HERE......


~sigh~ (from me) ~sigh~ (from Sophie)

Baptism Day!

Dylan was baptized on 1/1/11! I don't think that he is ever going to forget that. What a great day this was, lots of family and lots of food, is there anything better? We had Grandma and Grandpa come and brave the "really" cold weather to be a part of this day. Grannie and Gramps came along with Aunt Lynnie, Brittney, Brady, Shaylei, Stephen, Sasha, Kenni, Uncle Steve, Aunt Linda, Austin, Whitney, Zacky, and Tessa. We are so lucky to have such a great family and so much support! My sweet hubby was so nervous, that we didn't see him all morning. He did an amazing job and his confirmation prayer was so beautiful. Grandma from AZ. made her famous pizza and fed the entire crew. That was a large order and she did it!





>After everyone had left for the day Dylan came up to me and said, "Mom I just feel really clean." I said, "Inside!" and he said, "Yes, I feel really clean inside and out." I then asked him what her felt when he was being confirmed and he said that he felt Sprite in his belly. He really felt the Holy Ghost that day. I told him to never forget that feeling it is the best feeling in the world! What a wonderful experience for him I hope that he remembers this forever. Below: My favorite picture, is this boy ready to receive the Holy Ghost or what! So precious!

December fun!

First~ My Dilly Pickle turned the big EIGHT this year.

It was a family party this year. (my fav) We went to Jumpin Jacks and then we headed to Fat Jacks.



What can I say about this boy he is truly one of a kind. He is very creative, he is passionate about building things, he is a problem solver, he is the best big brother ever, he is a extremely hard worker, he gets 100% on his spelling test every week, he really loves his dad, he is the Best Hugger ever, he says the best prayers ever, he wants to pay more tithing than he needs to, he loves spaghetti, he loves Sprite, he loves his Mom even when she tells him to clean his room so much, he is the best fort builder ever, (including multiple rooms, levels, wiring, plumbing, and decorations) What more can I say he is way cool! He is so special to our family, he brought our family together and made us what we are today. I am eternally grateful to My Heavenly Father for letting me but for a brief moment care for this special spirit, this sweet boy, I call My Dilly Pickle. OH and lets not forget the big day, 1/1/11! The day he is baptized!

Second- We had another wonderful time at Jackie's condo at the Gateway! We have so much fun there. I think it is because it's close but still far enough away, it's cheap, (except when we shop at Old Navy!) It's so fun to walk to the movies, dinner, shopping, & dessert and be home in minutes. We also walked from the Gateway to Temple Square to see the lights. It was great, warmer than usual, no snow, and the lights at Temple Square were amazing! Here is my favorite picture by the amazing orange tree. I could have looked at this tree for hours, it was so beautiful!


Third~ Snow Day! It snowed on Dec. 21st nearly 2 feet. I thought it was so fun to tell the kids that school was cancelled. It reminded me of when I was a kid and playing in the snow all day long! The kids had a great day, I on the other hand snow plowed three times that day. Thank goodness for the snow plow that we bought one month earlier, it came in very handy! It was pretty crazy!



Fourth- Christmas Eve Party at Aunt Lynnie's.



We had a really fun time. Lots of great food, laughs, and fun! Jesse laughed so hard at the game "Thinking" we were playing I thought that he was going to pee his pants. My handsome hubby sporting his new argyle sweater! Sasha and her reindeer undies! Gramps chilling on the couch! What more do you need at a Christmas Eve Party?

Fifth~ Christmas Day! Does it get any better with a 8 year old and a 5 year old I say not! The magic is so fun! I pray that never goes away, it hasn't for me yet! We had a super fun morning, the kids were so excited to run down the stairs to see what they got. It was so funny when they first came into the family room they were showing Ricky what Santa left in his stocking and showing him his treats, they were so cute. Then of course let the un-wrapping begin! I have the funniest video of Dylan opening his stocking and pulling out batteries and he was screaming like it was a new bike. It is hilarious, however I don't know how to download it to my computer. :(
Sophie was blessed with more pet shops and little squickies. Great more little things to fish out of Ricky's mouth! We played all day the kids didn't even get out of their pajama's. Gramps and Grannie continued their great tradition in going to all of our homes on Christmas Day. I feel bad that I live the furthest but they make it every year and we are so glad!!! What a fun day to spend with the family. Grandma and Grandpa in Arizona gave us a Wii so needless to say Jesse and I have sore shoulders and tennis elbow. We are pretty competitive at this house. It was a great day and I hoped it would never end. We had a perfect turkey dinner if I say so myself it couldn't have been better. What a wonderful time of year to spend time with family and remember our Savior and the life of service that he gave. I'm so grateful that I have such a wonderful family and that we have the gospel in our lives. What a wonderful life we have!
Before.....

After.....

Gingerbread house....

Peace..out....

Thanksgiving in the AZ!

Apparently I only blog once a month now....
We had a wonderful time in Arizona with Jesse's family. Warm, sunny, no work, no homework, no dieting, just playing and eating. Does it get much better? I wasn't really happy with myself in gaining 3 pounds in a week. I would like to think that I gained three pounds in muscle with the 7 mile hike up to the top of this mountain...

OR, the 20 mile bike ride, OR, another 9 mile hike along the road up the canyon. But I think it was all of the wonderful food that my In-Laws cooked. Grandpa's smoked turkey looked like it should have been on the cover of a magazine. (This picture doesn't do it justice. It was seriously sparkling!)

We went to the Arizona/Sonora Desert Museum that was really like a desert zoo. We saw Mountain Lions, Havelina's, Black Bears, Snakes, all kinds of crawling things, it was a fun place.


Did I mention that it was warm there? It was in the high 60's...beautiful. We did a lot of outdoor cooking in Grandpa's outdoor kitchen. I think I would cook out there all year long. We really enjoyed the fire and eating under the stars.




I think that these two look like twins!

We had a great time with family and the kids especially with their cousins. They see each other once a year and it is if they live across the street from each other. That's the way it's supposed to be right? Unconditional love! I love it!


P.S. Ricky Bobby got to join us! He loved AZ too!! I think he's smiling! :)

Halloween and other things!

Item #1 Blessings!

Last weekend Jesse and I had the opportunity to receive our Patriarchal Blessings. I have been thinking about this for about a year now and we finally made it happen. We both stop going to church around the age of twenty so we missed the opportunity to get it when we were younger. We had a wonderful experience last Sunday. Our kids were there, Jesse and I did it together it was great. His blessing talked of me and mine talked of him what a wonderful blessing to have the Lord recognize our eternal love for each other. What a wonderful teaching experience for our kids. I told the kids before we left that this man the Patriarch, is very special and that Heavenly Father talks to him. The kids thought that was so cool! We both cried like babies, several times that day. I felt the spirit almost constant that day. What a great day!

Item #2 Found!
Guess who found the camera? ME! Here are a few photos that I found....



Item #3 Halloween!

Dylan was a Lego this year, thanks to Grannie Joan for the wonderful idea. This boy is passionate about Lego's. He breaths, eats, sleeps, and dreams Lego's so it was perfect that he was a Lego this year. He was the only one of his kind in the whole school so he thought that was pretty cool. Cheap too!
Sophie was a cowgirl this year. She loves petty skirts and so I thought she could be a cowgirl this year. I look everywhere for cowgirl boots, Wal-mart, Pay less, Shop-KO, D.I., and I finally made the trip to Target and I found the cutest pink boots! She was so, excited and so was I, she wore them until she went to bed.

I was a witch! The kids loved that I dressed up, they thought that I looked scary.
I had my spider greet the kids at the door. He was a hit!


It rained and blew like crazy just before the kids were ready to go out, but low and behold the sun popped through at the perfect time. It was cold we had to layer up but they had a great time and got tons of candy!
Let the sorting and trading begin.....


The pumpkins! Dylan's did a skeleton pumpkin and Sophie a cat and a moon. They are getting to the age that they do it themselves. Sophie had a little help from Dad but Dylan did it all by his self!

Busy!

That is what you could call this beautiful fall month of mine! Busier than I would like to be that's for sure. We had another fun time with Grandma and Grandpa for a week. They started out in New Mexico to watch the famous hot air balloon festival and when the balloons couldn't take off because of the weather they were out of there and took a detour to Santaquin. A 600 mile detour to be exact. The kids really love when they come and who wouldn't they get tons of attention, love, tickling, kissing, long walks, hiking, donuts, ice cream, hugging, rides to school in the Corvette, card games, and much more. They are so good to travel all the way up here to see the kids. (they really don't care to see us, it's all about the kids.) They were also nice enough to take us to dinner before they left at Market Street Grill. Yum! Jesse and I would go there for our birthday's because it was so yummy (and I always received a gift card from my employer) but since moving to Santaquin we haven't been there since. I think that I said, "this is so good" about 50 times. I could have gone home after the Clam Chowder. It's always a good time when the "Whitney's" come in town! I would love to show some of the fun things that we did like, hiking the "Y", (this time Dylan passed gas on the "Y" OH, his Dad is teaching him young!), the Haunted Provo River Cruise, (nothing to write home about), the many trips to the fruit stand, (I'm still not sick of squash or peaches), but someone (Jesse) has lost the camera. Sad.