How do you? round 2

First a little update: We attended a nice funeral service for Dean and his mom last week. God is a God of miracles, Dean's little brother is recovering very well.


Here's another "How do you?" post:

How do you store extra bags and purses when not in use?

and

What do you eat for breakfast on Christmas morning and at what point in the festivities do you eat it?

Sweet Dean

To Dean, one of the sweetest little boys we have had the privilege of knowing. He is one of Lily's friends from school.



And to his loving, devoted, faithful mom. She spent a lot of time in the kids' classroom doing volunteer work.

They passed away Thursday night in a car accident. Dean's little brother is in the hospital recovering. His dad was not in the accident and is with his little brother.

This loss is hard for Lily and all of her classmates. My heart has been warmed as I've spoken with other moms and heard how their children too have simple, yet strong, faith that Dean is with Jesus and we'll get to be with him again some day.

I'm utterly grateful for Jesus Christ. His grace and Atonement make it possible for all to live again and for us to be reunited with those we love.

Dean's dad has requested prayers in behalf of his family. May I request that you also consider sharing monetarily, to help relieve some of the financial burden that accompanies this situation. Money can be sent to Adam's Traditional Academy, which will then be sent on to Dean's family. Thank you.

Embroiderer, anyone??

Hey local friends,

I'm making Hazel's Christmas stocking and need to have her name embroidered on it. Do any of you have an embroidery machine or know where I can have it embroidered??

Thanks!

Ummm, adorable.

My heart goes pitter-pat when Carter wears that hat! Lily couldn't believe that little Hazel could stand with their help. It was cute to see Lily so excited for her baby sis.

Santa's elves dropped these snuggly jammies off at our house this weekend. The kids were so excited to find presents on our doorstep! Carter was amazed that the elves dropped them off unseen. He wants to find the elves that are stationed around our house, watching to see if the kids should be on the GB&G (Good Boy & Girl) list. He wonders where they're hiding.

I looked over at Lily after they had unwrapped their jammies. She was looking at me knowingly, so I winked at her. She winked right back, then mouthed "thank you!" to me. I don't know why, but it touched me and brought tears to my eyes. I'm realizing that my little girl is growing up.

These little guys make life bright!

Hikers and a mountain biker

While Kristen and I rested (sort of) following our Black Friday shopping trip, the daddies and kids went for a hike. Those kids were awesome hikers! I was surprised to hear how far and how high they hiked. They hiked to the peak high above the King Saguaro!!

This peak is right by our house. What a great view.

Apparently, Lily kicked one of the rocks on the pile she's standing next to, and discovered a geocache hiding underneath. The kids loved putting their names in the book!

This was Carter's first mountain biking experience and I hear he loved it. I wish I could have seen him!

Thanksgiving Day 2010

We started the day with a cold, windy 5k. The three youngest kids were going to ride in joggers for the run, but it was so stinking cold! We left four of the kids with Jason, and Carter insisted he wanted to ride, even in the cold. It was a great run. I ran hard and felt good about my time, especially considering I was pushing a double jogger into the wind nearly the whole way. It felt like I was pushing a sailboat against the wind. Yeah, tough. It felt so good when I was done. Kristen and Aaron were awesome. They don't run regularly, they just jumped in and ran a 5k...pretty impressive if you ask me.

This is my dreamboat, putting the herb rub on the turkey. He thought it was a gross job, but somebody had to do it. Lily was pretty much grossed-out by the sight of the raw turkey too. It turned out sooo delicious.

I made my aunt Lynn's make-ahead butterhorn rolls. Aaron and I first tasted them 12 years ago and were hooked. My children are hooked on them too. I daresay, Jason and Kristen and their kids are probably hooked too.

Pie. Yum.

Pumpkin pie. We made my favorite pumpkin pie. It's not too strong and pumpkiny...it's just right. We also made a pecan pie, for the first time. I used a butter (as opposed to corn syrup) recipe. It turned out so yummy.

No pie...just ice cream.

Ice cream too.

Ice cream!

Sweetness.

This little guy loves playing in the dishwasher. If we were working in the kitchen, he was nearby...either playing at the dishwasher or in the pantry.

It was a wonderful Thanksgiving.

First house guests!

It was so great to have my brother and his family visit us!! They were our first house guests in our new home. I really enjoyed time with my brother and his wife. I especially loved watching my children play with their cousins.

Braving the cold for a polar bear swim. Brrrrrrr.

Jason was the only adult to get near the water. We were way too chicken. Actually, he didn't want to get in either, but did so at his little girl's request. What a sweet daddy!

The wee babes watched from the side. Aren't they cute? This little guy reminds me a lot of my kids. He and Carter could pass as brothers with their blue eyes and blond hair.

The bakers, making rolls for Thanksgiving.

Jason and Kristen brought us an indoor smore maker. The kids thought it was the coolest thing in the world.

Love it!

I love this movie! My expectations going into the theater weren't extremely high for a few reasons: 1. the last few Disney princess movies were only so-so, 2. the trailers had a slap-stick feel to them, which I don't enjoy, and 3. the title was rather random, not classic. I got the impression this was just a shot at Disney having one more thing to market. But I was wrong! I completely agree with my sister-in-law when she said this is the best princess movie since The Little Mermaid.

I love this movie! The characters are lovable and engaging, the music is fantastic, the art is beautiful, and the story is the traditional Rapunzel fairy tale, with a super fun twist. I loved it and am itching to go see it again.


*Spoiler alert!* If you haven't seen Tangled yet, go see it then come back and finish reading my post!

My family saw the movie with my brother and his family who were in town for Thanksgiving. Curiously, my beautiful long-haired blonde and their adorable short-haired brunette resemble the lovely princess.

I'm so excited!

Tonight at dinner Aaron told the kids and me that he had a surprise for me. He said I could have it after dinner. I thought it would be something small and funny, or if I was lucky, a Milka chocolate bar. Whoa, my baby really took me by surprise! He gave me tickets to see The King's Singers perform a Christmas concert in December. I am so excited!!

Their music is so much fun! Aaron and I saw The King's Singers way back in 1998 when we were first dating. It was such a lively, fun concert. I'm so looking forward to seeing them again next month! Aaron won some serious points with this one!

Awesome Halloween cookies

Carter and I made the Halloween cookies this year. He wanted a gingerbread man one.

So he got one.

Right after I snapped this photo, the tray tipped and cookies slid onto the floor. Don't worry, they still tasted good.

More of Awesome October. Here are a few pictures that I loved. My Grandma and Pops are so dear to me. It was special for us to spend an afternoon with them.

Papa read the coolest construction book to Carter.

Hazel and her little cousin Ian.

Rise and shout, the Cougars are out!

I love BYU! It's my alma mater. I learned so much there, in the classroom and out. I had so much fun with friends there. I met the love of my life there. I am utterly grateful for the time I spent at BYU. I would love for my kids to have similar experiences there as young adults. And so, I've started early to instill a love of BYU in their young hearts.

Whenever we go to Utah we spend a day at BYU: eating ice cream at the Creamery, bowling in the Games Center, getting a souvenir from the BYU Bookstore, hunting animals in the Bean Museum, listening to the carillon bells, and walking around campus. I always point out where I lived as a freshman, including the freezing cold concrete outside that their daddy and I sat on late at night, talking and sipping hot chocolate. I love that place and want them to love it too. How can they not when it includes BYU ice cream and chocolate milk??

I came across these ferocious cougars in the Bookstore. I stayed far away from the second one...it was particularly wild. They both calmed down, however, after I took them to the candy counter and let them choose some candy.

On this trip we went somewhere new: we meandered through the HFAC and briefly enjoyed some exhibits in the Museum of Art. The memories came swarming back to me as I walked through those buildings. (The MOA got me all lovey dovey and missing Aaron because we used to go on dates there all the time.) Those buildings smell exactly the same as they did 10 years ago!

I wanted our day at BYU to be perfect, but it was much more like the above picture. :)

I told the kids about the amazing library. They thought it was so cool that they were walking on the sidewalk, and there were people under them studying in the library! Carter was enthralled by the sidewalk sweeper pictured above. He thought it was so dang cool!! I told him that when he grows up and comes to BYU, he can get a job on the maintenance crew and drive one of those sidewalk sweepers. He was in heaven. He looks forward to that day!

Like I said, I'm instilling the love of BYU young. Isn't it great?

Cousins and corn maze

I love seeing so many cousins together! We live far from these guys and miss them so much! Four of these boys belong to my big brother, Jaren. The other little guy belongs to my little brother, Jordan. I adore this picture because it's all kids and babies, no grown ups. It's fun to see the little kids growing up enough to help take care of the babies.

Run!

One little person cried in the maze because we kept hitting dead ends and he thought we were lost. Poor kid.

The unnamed little person was relieved when we saw the exit sign, and absolutely ecstatic to see a huge excavator dumping dirt onto a conveyor next to the maze!

This is a great photo! Look at J.J. man's face! I love it!

Hazy and I had fun too!