Ward Christmas Party

That Friday evening was our Ward Christmas party. It was great this year...We had it at the Stake Center since there would be lots more room. Again, lots of great food and good times visiting and meeting new families in our ward. After dinner, the primary kids sang a couple of songs and the we had a little talent show, then our usual Carol sing-along. It was fun! Of course, Santa was there for the party (wow, twice in one week). This was the best ward party yet.
(yea, bad picture..sorry)

Just for my own memories....the next day was probably one of the funnest (i know..not a word) days I've had in a long time. Met a cute guy from a lds singles site and we went shopping for the entire day. Outlet mall in Milpitas, then got to ride in his MINI down to Gilroy outlets. What a sweet ride! Had a great dinner at Outback, then the long drive home....I could go on...but I'll spare you, and myself a trip down memory lane once again. Lesson to self *don't fall so hard for someone so fast* UGGGG

Christmas Craft Night at School!!

Tuesday, Dec. 2nd was craft night at the kids' school. I had wanted to take them last year, but don't remember what caused us not to go. I didn't think there would be much of a turn out, but that cafeteria was packed! All the crafts were $1 and they had pizza for $1. I guess I was just not expecting much, as I was thinking these were gonna be just these little hokey crafts, but these were great. They got them from Oriental Trading Co. and they were actually really nice. The kids got to pick 3 or 4 to do. They had Christmas music blaring over the speakers and it really set the mood for the Christmas season!!! Santa was even there! Wasn't expecting to see him so early! It ended up being a great night out with the kids!


Mackenzie explaining to Santa the babydoll she wants that goes on her back...lol

Give a kid a camera...

And this is what you get

Early Christmas gift!

I think I'm pretty darn lucky...for many reasons, but I have a MIL who loves to spoil me. She actually won this cute tote set from another blog. She found the blog and to get entered into the contest to win it, she had to leave a comment telling the girl who she would give the bag to as a gift and why. She left her comment telling how she would give the bag to me as a gift. She could have kept it for herself if she wanted to (but lets face it...its just wayyyy to small for all of her shtuff ;)
So, just by chance, she won it and I get to enjoy it. She knows me and my love for bags and she hits the nail on the head every time she gets one for me. Just wait til my Christmas morning post and you'll see why!!!

Isn't this the cutest bag you've ever seen...even comes with a matching coin purse and a tissue holder...A TISSUE HOLDER!!! LOL

Thanksgiving 2008

Our Thanksgiving was a wonderful day full of fabulous food and lots of visiting! Really, that's nothing out of the normal, but you get what I mean! We, of course, had the usual Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, etc etc., but with me being raised from the south, I have to bring some of our fine cuisine into the mix! No family get-together is complete without homemade Macaroni and Cheese and Deviled Eggs!! My favorite part of the day was sitting down with the kids and making our Thanksgiving turkeys. Deb did this for Sharing Time in Primary with all the junior primary kids. They turned out so adorable and all the kids had so much fun making them! There are so many things I am thankful for not only during this time of year, but every day! I'm so grateful for my family and children and the gospel. Without those three things, my life would be meaningless. Of course, I am grateful for so many things, the list could go on for hours. I will spare you! Here's just a few pics from our Thanksgiving Day!


Sean's helping Mackenzie with her Turkey

How cute!!

Our beautiful table!

I'm soooooo behind

Yea, I totally slacked off blogging (for like 2 MONTHS) . Not good. Thanks Molly for noticing I havent blogged in centuries....keep me on the ball, girl!!! I figure I will start way back when....back in October. Yep, haven't even posted Halloween pics. We've kinda started a tradition of going for Chinese before our ward party, so this year was no exception. There's this one place in Hughson that has be BEST orange chicken I have ever eaten. So, we went to the Golden Bowl, then off to our Halloween party at the church. (Reminder to self, once kids decide what they want to be for Halloween, just go and get the costumes!!!) I thought it would be cool since we got some extra spending money from Auntie Mary to take the kids to the store so they could choose their costumes since they really didn't know what was available. What was I thinking...Especially 2 DAYS before Halloween. Anyways...it turned out to be a fun night!

At Golden Bowl w/ our waitress

Sean-Happy.....Mackenzie-Mad

Sean-Mad......Mackenzie Happy! What's the deal??

This kid had doughut glaze everywhere!!!



YumYum!!!

This will put you in the Christmas Spirit....Enjoy

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

I'm Obsessed

So, I have seen the movie twice now. I love it! Now, I admit there were some very comical parts of the movie. Such as the look on Jasper's face, Eric, and a few other places that I can't think of this late at night. I also just loved when Edward made is Grand Entrance, all the teenagers just giggled and screamed and clapped...It made me wish I was 17 again...so I wouldn't look so stupid if I screamed EVERY single time Edward came onscreen. I don't know about all of you, but he was definitely not who I imagined for the role. The first cover Kristin and Robert did, I think for Entertainment Weekly, was just horrible. Of course, that image has been deleted from my brain. He definitely grew on me during the movie.
It was so fun getting together with Emily S to go see it. I hadn't seen her for so long and I was just missin her like crazy! Although we didn't have much time for chit chat, it was so nice to be in the company of such an AMAZING friend! I'm still getting the hang of this blogging thing. I brought my camera and I even told her that I just HAD to blog about our outing. I guess I was just so Edward-stricken, I totally forgot about it. I guess that just means we'll have to go see it again!
Actually, I did treat myself to a little more. Last Saturday, I went all by my little lonesome to see it again. Luckily, I did see a gal from my old ward who just so happened to sneak in my row after the movie started...so she sat with me!
I could go on and on and on....but I will spare you. Especially since it is almost 11:30pm. I will just leave you with a little clip of the movie I found on photobucket...(nevermind, wouldn't work)
Almost ready to make this Saturday my 3rd time...LOL. We'll see

I've been Tagged...AHHHHHH

My good friend, Peter, tagged me on myspace. Since I do not have a myspace blog, I figured I would just post it on this blog.

Write 7 weird/random/fun/interesting facts not many people know about you. Then tag 7 more people and have them do the same!

In no specific order...

1. I've sang at Carnegie Hall back in HighSchool with my choir. It was amazing!!!
2. I've driven cross country only once, but once is enough!
3. I have the WEIRDEST concoction of a salad ever....since i do not eat lettuce, my salad consists of cheese, hard boiled eggs, 1000 island dressing, croutons, and sesame seeds...WOW, what a relief to finally get that off my chest. (but OH! So good...especially with a Pizza Hut breadstick)
4. I have to have some type of noise going when I go to bed...Usually I will wait to dry a load of laundry at night so they dryer will be going while I fall asleep.
5. I've seen Twilight twice in the theater and am willing to see it as many times as I can get away with...the only movie I can watch more than twice
6. I flat-iron my hair every single day no matter if I'm just dropping the kids off at school.
7. I live with my EX inlaws...now how weird is that.

Now, I tag Deb (only if you want to put it on your chic blog, you don't have to)Emily S., Emily K, Emily D., Allison, Molly, Christal....and whoever may want to do it! I know I have seen a lot of them, so just use this for a rainy day...hehe

100th Post...WooopWooop

Yay me...It only took me 10 months to do it!! Now, I expect 1o0 congratulatory comments =)

Kids' School Pics

It's been several weeks since the kids had their school portraits made. However, I didn't even think to blog about it until my friend, Allison, posted her kids' pics. I actually had sort of a theme this year for them. They each wore Navy, Red, and/or White. I'm pretty happy with Mackenzie's. Sean's were ok. I just didn't care for the weird little underbite smile he has. And, I should have atleast spiked his hair or something. Oh well, there's always spring pics. They are a ton better anyways.

Our First Rain of the Season!!!

Being raised in NC, I'm pretty well used to rain and thunderstorms. Even snow at some times...So, when I came out to California, I was pretty disappointed that there weren't too many thunderstorms and hardly any rain at all. Of course, until Fall comes. So, on Conference Weekend, the rain came and I was so happy! I love Conference weekend. For those who aren't LDS, we have General Conference twice a year, April and October. This is where we hear from our Dear Prophet, President Monson, and many of our leaders.
I have wanted to start some sort of tradition with the kids for conference weekend. Haven't had much luck, yet. Although, the 5 of us throw a nice, big Sunday morning brunch together and eat during the first session. Well, on Saturday morning, it was raining and therefore it was excellent sleeping weather. I hopped up a few minutes before 9 and TRIED to turn it to BYU, but our power was out. Soooo, i called next door and they didn't know what was going on. Obviously, CA drivers have no clue how to drive when it rains. Someone knocked down a power line or something. Being the intelligent one I am, I decided to go next door and get their laptop so I could watch atleast a portion of it. Well, the battery was dead and with no power, it could not be recharged...UGG. A little while went by, and I had a great idea. We have a power adapter that plugs into the cigarette lighter in the car. AH HA! I took the laptop out to the car (along with the 10 feet of cords) and plugged it in. I was able to watch conference....in my car.....in the rain : )
Couldn't have been better. The talks were wonderful. My favorite talk of the whole conference was the one by David A. Bednar on prayer. You can read it HERE. Morning Prayer should be a continuation of evening prayer and evening, a continuation of morning. We should always be in prayer. I feel as though I have been praying extra hard the past month or so. Especially with my new quest to find Mr Right, and even more-so, the controversy about Prop 8. Never in a million years did I think I would have to be faced with such persecution and such hatred towards us (Mormons). Prayer is so important. I am so grateful for the sweet prayers of my children. Most of the time, they give me guff for asking them to pray, but usually they are willing to do so. Sean has really gotten the idea to think outside of grateful for this day, grateful for this food, please bless us....He really tries to think about his day and what may happen in the future, and he'll add that. It sure warms my heart!
After conference was over, I could hear the kids just screaming and laughing. Bryce was outside with them (maybe Deb, too) and they were splashing in puddles. These kids were drenched. It was so fun to see them having such a great time splashin in the big puddles.
So, I am already so excited for April's conference....Hopefully I will able to actually be in SLC and attend a session. My friend Celeste and I just may head out there for a fun girls weekend (that I am in such great need of). Here are some fun pics of the kids outside!

Such Great Buddies!!

Sean's Rock
Mackenzie on the Fence

Mouth-Watering Deliciousness

Ok, I'm spending all night tonight looking at other people's blogs instead of updating my own (which I had every intention to...I promise) I just so happened to run across one gal's blog. She's from Utah and this blog is dedicated entirely to recipes...I have never seen such an awesome recipe blog. My mouth has been watering for the past 38 minutes since I have been looking at every single thing she has made. I guess I will just have to keep her site tucked away in my special hiding place until I finally start making dinner on a regular basis...whenever, if EVER, I do get married again. Ton's of desserts, too!!! YUM-O!

Oh, I guess you want the link....HERE it is : )

Reminiscing

My mother-in-law, Deb has finally started her blog and it is up and running. You can go check her out here. We have spent a lot of time scanning and uploading pictures for her blog. There have been tons of pictures that I have forgotten about and I just thought I would share a few with you. When you go without having a baby around for almost 6 years, you kinda forget how cute and cuddly they are. Especially when they are fighting, back-talking, and misbehaving most of the time!!
My friend, Lauren and I...high school days (Thank goodness for flat irons!!)

Opening gifts at Mackenzie's Baby Shower


Christmas 2003


Wasn't he a ham??? So adorable

Proud Grandma...Kenzie only 4 days old.

Hopefully I look a little older now. I now see how young I looked...I mean, come on..I was 20 or younger in those pics!

Yes, I'm Alive

Man, it's been a busy month. I think this is the longest I have been without blogging since I started blogging. Just wanted to check in. I'll hopefully be updating this very soon...Maybe even tomorrow. If I don't, REMEMBER TO VOTE ON TUESDAY... I have voted already;)
Be sure to take a look at the Yes on 8 video I have on my sidebar. I'm just hoping and praying that we have done enough to get the word out to people on this very important subject.

Who Am I?

Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!
Thanks Allison!


Can't wait for the movie!! A well deserved girls night should be in store!!
I can't even watch the new trailer for the movie. For some reason, the sound isn't working when I bring it up. Don't feel like restarting the computer, either!

I Did It!!!

I did it!! I joined the gym this morning. I even worked out this morning. The owner is such a nice guy. He showed me around and even showed me how to use their newest treadmills...They are pretty awesome. They're touch-screen and there is a built in tv. I plan on going every morning that I do not have to work. I'm excited to start my friend, Kristin's classes. She didn't teach this morning, but I hope to go tomorrow or Friday. I'm assuming the owner guy (Joe) kinda helps people along the way...sorta like a personal trainer. He wanted me to start with 30 minutes of brisk walking. He said he likes to work with people and help them reach their weight loss goals.
I really feel that this time around, I have the motivation I need to stick with it. I guess exercising is the easy part of it all. I am such a picky eater. Anyone that knows me will definitely agree. The hardest meal for me is lunch. It is so easy for me to swing by a fast food place since the kids eat lunch at school. I would love to have a piece of fruit and yogurt for lunch, but I just don't like it. Sandwiches get boring. So, that is going to be my toughest challenge. Any suggestions are welcomed!!
So, I hear it is going to rain on Saturday. Do you know how excited I am!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE the rain. I also love a good thunderstorm. Neither of which do we get often.
Can't believe it is already October. The holiday months have officially begun. The way I see it, once Halloween passes, its Hello New Year. Can't believe how it's flown by. Anyways, hope everyone has a great day!

Commitment

I figure since I will be hitting the dating scene soon (hopefully, if there are any suckers out there..lol) I want to feel better about myself. I really want a change, heck I need a change. I have really become so tired all the time and I definitely do not eat right...So, I have decided to join a gym. My good friend, Kristin, is an instructor there and my friends Emily K and Krissy go there so thats a plus! I need all the motivation I can get. Plus, it is very reasonable considering all the amenities they have. It is just like the other gym I have went to without the pool and bball court and it is almost half price. So, I called and I can get the student discount! I will probably be going when the kids are in school, or before I go to school. So here's the deal...I will keep you all updated on my progress if you promise to send me encouraging comments REGULARLY :)
Kristin gave me encouraging words. She told me about a girl that comes to her class that has been coming for 7-8 months. At the beginning, she could only do about 10 minutes but slowly worked her way to doing mostly the whole hour. She has cut out fast food and soda and she has lost 70 pounds in these short 8 months. Thats pretty much my goal right there. So...wish me luck and hope to hear from you all very soon!!

Disneyland!!!!

It took forever to get here, and it flew by in a blink of an eye. Our Disney trip was truly amazing! I have never spent 3 days in one theme park, but I think we needed at least a week to see everything we wanted to see.
We left on Wednesday right after we picked Sean up after school. Once we really got going, it took us about 6 hours to get there (not including potty breaks along the side of the freeway and dinner). We stayed at the Portofino Inn and Suites which were just a block (ah hem, a very long block) away from DL. It was a very nice hotel. We had a kid's suite. It was a room with all the normal stuff (king bed, bathroom, but then it had sliding double doors that opened into another room with bunk beds and a sleeper sofa,tv, kids table and chairs, etc. Very nice! We had a pretty good view of California Adventure from our window.

Anyways, we wanted to get to the park as soon as it opened at 10am on Thursday. Our plan was to spend the first 2 days in DL, then Saturday in California Adventure. We pretty much stuck to that! We rode pretty much everything. I was excited for Space Mountain. I found it to be more fun the second time around. There is just so much to do, see, eat, buy...It would take me hours upon hours to blog about all that we did. Sean was a little reluctant to ride some of the rides. Even if he decided to ride them, he made sure to let us know he was NOT going to do it again. His favorites were Splash Mountain, the little roller coaster in Toon Town, and Autopia. Pretty much the same for Mackenzie, but she was a little more brave that he was. She wanted, so badly, to go on California Screamin with me...the huge coaster in Ca. Adventure, but she was just a tad too short. Same for Indiana Jones, but yet she could ride Tower of Terror. Of course she did not like that too much. To my surprise, I LOVED that ride. That and Ca. Screamin were definitely my favorites. I'm all about the thrill of a roller coaster. It about killed me to go by Magic Mountain where they have atleast 5 huge ones. (I looked on their website and they have 14....oh, that would be heaven) Oh well, maybe sometime soon! I have a few pics, and one huge slide show. That's not even half of the pics I have. If you don't want to watch the whole slide show, I will be posting an album on my Myspace page that's not a slide show. Oh, one funny thing that Sean did throughout the whole trip: When we went to pick out their mouse ears, he did not want them. He wanted the Pluto hat. It was so cute and it fit him perfectly! So, from that point on, anytime we were waiting in line for a ride and a little kid was around us, he would say hi to them and say "I'm just a boy, I'm really not a dog" and he would take his hat off. He is so funny! Sean (and even Kenz) was in awe of the Jedi training...but we didn't get there in time for him to try to be picked. Not even sure if he would have done it. Then, Mackenzie (and of course Sean) was in awe of the Princesses. I just had to get Mackenzie's face painted. At the time, I didn't know they did boys too, so Sean stayed w/ Yaya and Bah while I took Mackenzie. She was so proud of the design she picked. It was really beautiful! Then, we got to listen to a story told to us by Snow White. It was so cute...then, the kids got to learn the proper princess and knight etiquette. They got to decorate crowns, learn to bow and curtsy, and other things. It was truly worth everything to see how fun these kids were having. I am just grateful that they are at the age where they will probably remember this trip many years from now. So, even among long lines, heat, walking, feet killing us, it was probably the most fun I have had in a very, very long time.
Oh, I even got some time to myself. Saturday night, the parks stayed open later, so I got about 5 hours to myself. It was fun, but I didn't even make it til the park closed. I was so tired, and hurting so bad from walking all day in Ca. Adventure, then going back over to DL, then back and forth again, I called it quits around 11:30. Next time I know to bring better tennis shoes, and plenty of sprite and crackers...LOL. I do just want to say how grateful I am for Bryce and Deb who love my kids enough to want them to have such special memories, and who graciously let me tag along, too ;) Hope you enjoy the pictures

Photobucket" border="0">

Here goes...again

I have yet gotten wayyyy too behind on this blogging thing...Lots of things have been going on and half the time, I just don't feel like going through the whole thinking process to come up with a blogworthy post.
I'm so glad summer is over! (Although it is still hot) Think it's supposed to cool off real soon. The kids have been doing very well in school. Can't believe they have already gotten a progress report. Sean has (thankfully) gotten over that so-called phase he went through at the beginning of school. I am so grateful for that. That was truly a trial for all of us. Mackenzie is doing very good as well. She was evaluated for speech therapy, so hopefully all will go well with that and she will start seeing the therapist soon.
I am now officially single! Although I am anxious to get out there and start meeting new people, I am not trying to rush into anything too fast. I now know what type of person I am looking for and I KNOW better than to just settle. Yes, I have a list of standards that one must meet now ;)
So, to all of you lovely ladies out there that actually read my blog, let me know if there are some single guys anywhere to be found...LOL
Here are some pictures of things that have happened since the last time I blogged. Mackenzie helped Deb can a bunch of peaches and she even made peach pie. Then, we went to the church farm and picked a TON (almost literally,lol) of tomatoes. We helped can them as well. Now, we are looking for an electric wheat grinder so we can make our own bread! (Dang, are we a Mormon family or what??)
Our cat, Belle, had kittens. Five adorable kitties are now about 7 weeks old. The kids did not know she was going to have kittens, so when I actually found where she had hidden them, we planned out a treasure hunt, the kitties being the treasure. The kids really enjoyed it!
I have lots more to write about (which I know you will be reading before you read this since the most recent post goes on top..hehe)

Kenzie pouring the Sugar

Mmmm, peaches for pie and jam

Picking Tomatoes...

Sean reading a clue for the treasure hunt

Our cute little treasures!!!