HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! What a wonderful time to be able to take a second from the "rat race" and to ponder on what is most important in our lives. And what is always most important, is the people around us. We should be remembering these times every day of our lives, but our check lists and daily tasks seem to consume our lives and push out those that are most important. It's great that we have these holidays because it's a national reminder for those who have forgotten.

I gave a lesson this month on a talk given by Elder Uchtdorf during the General Relief Society Conference on Happiness. We need to remember, day in and day out, that we only have one opportunity here on earth and that we need to find HAPPINESS. We all have struggles in our lives, that's a given. But how we choose to act because of what we know, will make all the difference. We can choose to dwell on the negative or choose to dwell on the positive and turn it into a learning experience.

As I have gotten older this earthly experience seems to be getting shorter and shorter. I know I am still relativly young, but I can remember when I was little, and one whole day seemed like forever. I was always looking forward to the next day or the weekend and so on. Now, my days seem to pass me by in minutes. Let's try not to forget TODAY and make TODAY last forever. Learn to enjoy all good things. This month has been a forgetful month, let's make next month better! I love you Jon, Rylee and Brody!

Brittons for Dinner

The Brittons decided it was time to get together again. It's always fun because you never know what happens when we get together. We decided everyone would be the chef for the evening. The menu was homemade pizza! Jon made the sauce (his specialty) and I made the dough.Rylee was such a good helper and cook as well. She loves having the tools she needs that are just her size. She really felt apart of the whole pizza making experience. We had every condiment you could dream of, except anchovies and olives, YUCKY. Here is everyone contending for the Iron Chef Title.The Brittons brought dessert! YUMMY! Fruit tarts and carmel apples.Can't you just taste the sweet fruit from just looking at it? Wonderful!Chris, do you think there's enough sprinkles on that apple?Brody had a good time as well, but he pooped out early for the night and went to bed.A night together is never complete without a game of some sorts. It's always interesting playing with THEM!!!...Sequence, Scattergories, Apples to Apples?..."bees are...what was it...exhausted?" I didn't think so, but who thinks like me anyways. We had a fabuous time as always!! You two are welcome back anytime!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!!! I woke up this morning to wonderful gray, gloomy skies with drizzles of rain. I LOVE this weather! Now it's starting to feel like fall. Like I mentioned earlier, fall is my favorite season...now if we could just convince the weather that it's fall. I will have to admit, fall in the sacramento area is usually warm and sunny, borning. I look forward to those long days of rain and more rain (which is pretty minimal). That's the closest we get to snow.To start our day off, I got Rylee all dolled up in the morning to go to the gym. She loved getting her makeup and hair done, again. This time she was a ballerina. I love this tutu and so does Rylee! Thanks Oma. Brody was a red M&M, my favorite color. Thanks Alycia!After the gym we went to Addie's birthday party, yes she is a Halloween baby.There the kids played pin the tail on the donkey,...ate pizza and opened presents.Gotta love those converse, just like Daddy!We all had such a great time!

That evening, she dressed up again to go house to house.She enjoyed ringing the door bell and saying "trick-or-treat".We ran into Brooke and Louie! By the way, what is Spiderman's theme song?It was a lot of walking but well worth it in the end because...The great thing at this age is that when she goes to bed, Jon and I eat her candy and she doesn't even know it! We look at it as doing her a favor :-)

Halloween Party

Today was Joy School's Halloween Party. Today it was just Rylee and Addie. They made sugar cookies, ate pumpkin seeds for their snack, and had a little program for the moms. They dressed in their costumes, had a parade and a small program that consisted of 3 action songs they learned...sort of. Afterwards was their refreshments - (hard as a rock) sugar cookies and punch! Addie was an adorable lady bug and Rylee was Sleeping Beauty. Later they switched costumes and danced around to music. The two of them are such characters! We also had a pre-birthday celebration for Addie. She's a halloween baby!! Happy 2nd Birthday Addie!!!

The Pumpkin Patch

I know, it's a couple days to Halloween and we still haven't gotten our pumpkins to carve. Time is just slipping away so quickly.We finally visited the pumpkin patch in Folsom, which happens to be the last farm in Folsom. Since we were so late going, there were just a few big ones left.Rylee helped Jon pick out the big pumpkin for carving and she chose 4 small pumpkins, one for each of us.We walked through the corn stalks......indian tipi's......saw covered wagons......old tractors......goats, and 2 cows.I should have taken a picture of their "long neck gourds". They truly were long necks. Some were 3 feet tall!I had to look up gourds and this is what I found: they are of the pumpkin family and are native to Africa, Gourds can be used as a number of things, including bowls or bottles. Gourds are also used as resonating chambers on certain musical instruments. Generally, gourds are used more for utilitarian uses than for food.It is amazing how much Rylee has grown mentally since being in Joy School. She has a wonderful thought process of her own. She is not just repeating things anymore. She has moved up and is articulating! It's amazing some of things that come out of her mouth...all good, of course!!!In all seriousness, she is so loving, kind and thoughtful of others. She's full of please's, thankyou's, and lots of hugs and kisses. Brody is crusing furniture and loves the fast mobility of crawling...oh, and he always has a smile on his face! We love you both!!

Spooktakular!!

We had a tri-ward activity called "Spooktakular". It was so much fun! There was a chili and cornbread cook off, a carnival and "trunk-or-treating". Rylee loved going fishing for candy and walking around the numbers for the cake walk. Trunk-or-treating is where you decorate the trunk of your car and the kids go treat-or-treating trunk to trunk. Everyone was dressed up and there were some creative costumes!As you can see, I attempted dressing Brody as a firefighter, yet he hated the hat and was sweating to death in the jacket.As for Rylee, she was Tinkerbell! She loved putting on make-up and getting into her costume. After every piece of candy she got, she would pull it out and say, "LOOK! Candy!".This made for a long trunk-or-treating experience.We had a blast, and we sure missed you Jon!

Family Home Evening

So as you know we have been commanded to have family home evening once a week every week. Since we have been married, I have been bad about doing it, but this month we have been consistant. It can only strengthen the home and family as the world crumbles around us. This is my first Rylee-ism:

Me: Rylee, go tell Daddy we are ready for Family Home Evening.

Rylee: (Yelling voice) Daddy, ready for Family Home Depot!!!!

Today she had spent a considerable amout of time with Jon at Home Depot getting wood to FINALLY finish our pull out drawers in our entertainment unit. Jon you did a FABULOSO job!!

5 year Anniversary

Happy Anniversary Lover!! Can you believe it, 5 years of marriage under our belts? Then again it actually has been 14 years. We have almost known each other half our lives. I look forward to many more celebrations with you!

5 reasons why I love you:
1. You are my best friend.
2. You love our children and me.
3. You love to learn and workout hard.
4. You can cook, and you do so when I don't feel like it.
5. You can fix or build anything.

We decided to take a little weekend get-a-way to North Lake Tahoe. This is where we celebrated our 1st year anniversary. It's one of our favorite places to be because of the beautiful fall colors and chilly weather. Those aspen trees are spectacular! Love the bright reds and yellows this time of season.Driving up with just the two of us in the car was a nice trip down memory lane. We had many laughs along the way. We checked into the hotel, ate at a little mexican place and then saw a movie. The cold air at the beach was a nice cool down after the movie. I'm so glad I married my best friend, so we can have talks like we did...and do. The next day Jon decided to test out our communication skills with one another. Family, you guessed it...we rented a tandem bicycle. This is the true test in all relationships. Let's just say, I wasn't allowed much time in the driver's seat, thanks to the back seat driver. Hey, what's wrong with going fast and getting a little silly?This is Jon taking a picture of us as we are pedalling.After doing some balancing tricks on the tandem (what can I say, I'm a gymnast at heart), we stopped off along the way to enjoy the scenery and watch a fly fisherman.Our legs were quite fatigued afterwards. Not a bad workout, thanks to those hills! That evening after dinner it was on: Kimbo Slice (MMA Fighter) vs. Crush (MMA Fighter/American Gladiator) at...bowling and air hockey!!! After a few strikes, spares and a little left handed air hockey...Kimbo Slice walked away with the title. I can admit I was a little "crushed".The last day we were in Tahoe we just went for a walk and talked. It's amazing how much you can miss your little ones when they are away from you and how they just seem to always pop up in most of our conversations. Then again, what park doesn't remind us of them? After a back tuck dismount we headed out to the rocky beach to take a few photos. Though they are redundent, I really want you to look at the cloud formations because they are very whimsical.I wouldn't want to spend this life or the next without you. I love you...Lover.

Addie Visits

Aly went to a photography convention and we had the privilege of watching Addie for a couple days. We went shopping, ate at BJ's, played outside, and...of course, with girls you can't forget dressup!!! Too cute Addie!!!Sad face...but we loved the beads and the Ariel nightgown!!!! Thanks Oma, all too generous as usual! Man how boys grow faster than girls!!! They cycle through clothes so quickly!

Apple Hill & the American River

Well, it's FALL! The best season of the year!!! We decided to take a trip up to Apple Hill. We stopped off at High Hill Ranch to start. It was rainy and cold but it felt, OH SO GOOD! Utah is my favorite place for the fall season. Provo Canyon and Aspen Grove are just gorgeous at this time of year with all the changing colors. It truly is picturesque. I'd love to go there just to see the beauty.

In Apple Hill we started with a short pony ride. When I say short, I mean short. Rylee got on, we took a picture, the pony took one step and she wanted off. Thats ok. Maybe next time.We then ventured over to the train for a little ride around a pond. This train ride sure turned her frown upside down.Waiting for the train ride.After some goodies at Apple Hill we decided to take the scenic route back home and stop off at the American River to let them run and throw rocks in the river.They really do love each other.Jon having fun with his timer and using the stroller as a tripod. Ingenious!LOVE those sweet hugs, or should I say "anaconda squeezes"!Sweet boy.