My new purchase

This is my new purchase from Deseret Bookstore....it was on sale and I didn't have to make it!!! I would've spent more $money$ if I made it myself. Yay for me and I LOVE IT!!!!

Red Rock

We went to Red Rock and found that we couldn't cross the road yet because it was covered in 13 inches of water, so we walked across it and before we got across we were numb from just below our knees (for Justin it was to his thighs) and down.

This is Justin on the hike up (we all hiked in our Crocs except for dad because he didn't want to be seen in the baby blue ones he had to borrow of Dani's).

Justin always wanted to be in "first place." This is Justin strategizing the best way to get past Grandpa=)

This is Brandon and our attempt to keep this white boy from getting a sunburn on his head by using one of Kobe's onesies=)

And this is what we did the whole way back down the hike....in the creek!

This is Justin and Grandpa going down.......

....and Kelli and Brandon. Brandon was a little dare devil and was up past his belly button a couple of times. He didn't think Kelli went fast enough =)

Tide Pools

We went to the Tide Pools out by where we used to live (remember the Rudy Studio?)

Here's Justin nervously picking up a big Sea Star

And here he is after many coaxings (word??) that they don't bite

And here is daring Grandpa with the big Horseshoe Crab we found

And the 3 Amigos afterwards =)

My Favorite Walk

This truly is why I live here!

I took the kids for a walk the other day along Shorline and down to the end of Stearns Wharf

(my favorite walk and it never gets old).

I snapped this picture in about 2 seconds and then put the camera away.

I was so excited when I got home that the 1 picture I took

was this one, and it turned out perfect!!

.....my small little digital camera and no enhancements needed,

it truly is beautiful!

Chocolate Toothpaste

Would you buy "Toothpaste Choco?"

I did............

Justin liked it!

And so did Brandon!

I would NEVER,

NO NEVER

use that tactic to get my kids to brush their teeth.....better off not brushing!

What the kids really did was eat Chocolate Covered Bananas...........

Justin gave them a thumbs up!

And Brandon says hands in they're delicious!

Christmas Morning

Justin and Brandon on the couch Christmas morning

Justin with one of his presents...this one is Flicker From Handy Manny!

Brandon on the lookout, making sure no one steals his "cell phone" (yes those are all his chins too and no you cannot have those either)

Justin and Cassi (she's holding the present he bought, wrapped, and wrote her name on). It only took him about 1/2 a roll of tape, 2 pieces of green construction paper, some scissors to cut a tag for her name, and about an hour!

Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving......it was the first Holiday we spent together with just our family (we've been married 7 years)! It was nice not traveling, wondering if we had enough gas in the car, worrying if we had enough supplies for the kids for the whole day, making sure we had what we were supposed to bring, etc. However, it was a fun day spent in the kitchen. I got started around 8am and finished around 1pm, then we waited for the turkey to finish for another 3 hours (details later). here I am in the kitchen cooking away.....

some of the the homemade Rolls.............

The homemade crust and Pumpkin Pie............

...........and the dreadful Turkey.........

so we had an 8.5 lb. turkey and it said it would take 2.5-4 hours for a 7-11 lb. turkey....so I did the math and thought it should take around 3 hours-should've been done around 1:30-2:00 at the latest......we ate at 4:00 (the dark meat only because that's all that was done and we stuck the white meat in for another hour!) STUPID (no other word to describe this process, sorry PG readers)

Here's the place settings, looks Christmasy but it wasn't - the lighting made the burgundy plate look more red than it really was.

and that's all the pictures I took---I'm bummed! Oh well, at least I remembered after we cleaned up to take pictures of the leftovers in the fridge - possibly the most important part!
Stuffing, Ham, Turkey, Corn, Gravy, Mashed Potatoes, Pumpkin Pie, Cool Whip, and an extra bottle of Martinelli's (not pictured)!

So....I'm giving thanks to all of my family members for the COUNTLESS hours they have spent in the kitchen on my behalf (prepping, cooking, cleaning, etc.). I'm giving thanks to all those little details that will never go unnoticed again, to me at least. And I'm giving thanks for having to travel near or far so I can enjoy more family time and relax more! And a big Thank You to Aunt Deena for being so understanding! To wrap things up-I enjoyed it! A memory I'll never forget:)

Justin's Medal

Justin finished his first season of soccer playing on the Giant Green Frogs team! Here he is proud as can be with a cupcake, juice, MEDAL and chocolate in his teeth! Yay!!!

It's MY party and I'll cry if I want to!

Brandon's not crying because he doesn't want this cupcake, he's crying and holding his head because he just had a super cold drink of water and got a brain freeze...poor Brandon couldn't figure out what was going on=)

Brandon's concentrating on his fingers trying to figure out the best strategy for getting the last crumbs off his fingers and into his mouth!

...........and now for the sugar low/crash

Happy FIRST birthday Brandon!!!!!

CAUTION! May Cause Drowsiness

CAUTION! When your kids are sick (they just had colds last week and NO I did not medicate them) they get drowsy really easily, which is great because they can wear their pajamas all day long and fall asleep wherever they want.

--Exhibit A: Brandon asleep in the front hall--

--Exhibit B: Justin asleep on the couch--

Apparently those soft cushiony "choir seats" at church have the same effect.........