Rain

I love the rain and it is raining today. I love the smell outside when it starts to rain and the sound of the water gushing by the front door (we don't have gutters here in Arizona so the rain puddles right outside the front door!)

I decided that I needed to go to the mall in Scottsdale to get Paige her Christmas stocking from here so she could match the rest of the family. And the closest store is about an hour away. So the kids and I made a day of it, we got our lunch made and then headed out. It started to rain on the way so it took a little extra time but we got there parked ate our lunch and went shopping. It is always amazing to me how many people comment about shopping with 3 kids. Of course I had Kylie and Paige strapped in the stroller and Tanner did a pretty good job of holding on and not wandering too far from me. It was a pretty productive trip and I was quite pleased with myself that I made it without any castrophies. Paige was so good, except we had a blowout and I didn't realize it until I picked her up and put her in the carseat. I had to change her before the long drive home sorry for the car that was waiting for my parking space!

Saturday we went shopping again, we had to get some presents for the party that we were going to that night, and take back some prior purchases that we decided not to keep. And of course we had to make our weekly Sam's club lunch date! We always have lunch at Sam's which consists of hot dogs, pizza, and the blue drinks. This week since the kids have been sick we got everyone their own drinks. We haven't spilled but for some reason we had trouble today. Kylie dropped her whole cup and spilled her entire drink all over the floor, and then Tanner dumped part of his on his pants. We went to Old Navy and I got the kids some new clothes for Christmas. Then we went home and got ready for the party. I finally had found a baby sitter after I swear 10 tries. I was excited for a night without the kids. Tanner kept asking me when his girl friend was coming that was pretty cute although she was a bit too old for him!

We had a great time at the party talking with friends and the food, and of course the gift exchange. We play the game that you can take a gift 2 times after it has been opened, and it always makes the night interesting and fun. My gift was stolen a few times, but ended up loving what I got! The best part of the evening is coming home to a clean house and kids that are sleeping!

Here is a picture of Paige and her new favorite past time....

I am grateful for..

Family....I had so much fun this past week. We had Jason's parents and two of his brothers and their families in town for the holiday. And can I say 3 two year olds that means trouble! I was worried that they might not get along but I think that maybe they got along too well because they.... got in makeup

trouble

More trouble

It was a house full but I wouldn't want it any other way. They came in early Wednesday morning and left Sunday afternoon. On Wednesday we baked 6 pumpkin pies a cherry (for me!) and apple pie. We got all the 3 salads done, and I even made taco soup for dinner. Thanks to all the help of my mother in law and sister in law! I was feeling pretty good. Thursday morning I woke up and went to get the turkey ready to put in the oven and found that it had leaked all over the fridge.....yuck! We got the turkey in and I got making the rolls and then all the last minute preparations. I think that it turned out well and hope everyone else did too!

After dinner, we needed something for the kids to do so Jason and his brother Mark took them to the pool and went swimming. I never would have thought we would be swimming on Thanksgiving, but it was warm enough thanks to the pool heater!

Jason went and played football with his brother and some guys from the ward, and on the way home he was supposed to pick up a paper so we could see the ads. Let's just say I won't have him do that again, he got the wrong paper and so all the girls went to try to find a paper while the turkey was cooking and the guys had the kids at the park. We went to 3 different stores and finally got some at Walgreens. We had to look at the ads and plan for the next day's adventures. I have never been shopping the morning after Thanksgiving so I didn't know what I was in for. And lets just say it was an adventure don't know if I will do it again, but I did get some Christmas shopping done. Someone actually tried to take something from my cart, luckily Randa (my sister in law) was there to make sure they didn't grab it!

We tried to go to the mall on Saturday but decided that we didn't want to fight all the people and we couldn't even get a parking space. So we headed out to Cabela's and I was pleasantly surprised to find that it wasn't all that busy. We let the men walk around and look at the guy stuff and we took the kids to see the fish, and the animals. Next stop was Costco, my sister in law April had a costco card so we went and shopped there. I was able to get Kylie and Tanner a gift each there. So I did have a pretty successful day shopping wise.

Saturday we ended up going to Home Depot where we looked at the beadboard and crown molding....future projects and Jason got some things for our outdoor lighting. I think we ended that night playing Scene It, the game about movies. The girls beat the guys, and I don't think they liked it too much. Oh well, I don't think we'll play that movie anytime soon.

Sunday morning I got up at 5:30 and got ready for church, it ended up being that I didn't need to get up that early because I was the only one to go. I taught the lesson in Beehives so Paige and I went to churchand I actually was able to enjoy the meetings because I wasn't wrestling with kids. We got home and I made cookies and had lunch and then everyone left to go back to California. Tanner was so cute he and his cousin Landrie packed his bags so he could go with them. I told him that I needed him to be home with me and he said no you don't mom I just want to go to California. I talked him out of going by telling him we could put up the Christmas tree!

Love this picture of Jason's dad the glasses are perfect for him!

Flowers

I love flowers I don't have one specific kind that I love they are all so pretty. But on the top of my list is Gerber daisies. When we lived in California we went to Half Moon Bay I think the Pumpkin Festival and on the way home stopped at one of the farms. We looked around and they had flowers and so I picked out some Gerber Daisies. I love the colors and how they just seem happy. We just had Young Women in Excellence tonight and our theme was Bloom. Wish I could take credit for coming up with such a great ideas but Erin came up with it. She is amazing; so talented and I am in awe that she does all that she does. I love working with such amazing people, I have learned so much by serving in this calling. Each of the parents of the girls came up with a flower that they thought represented their daughter. It turned out so nice!

Paige was laughing so hard at Kylie yesterday and then Kylie started laughing too. I love little moments like that. Paige loves her brother and sister she'll watch them and she will stare. She likes to see everything that is going on she doesn't want to be left out.

We have been playing a lot of hide and go seek lately. It's the kids favorite game although I don't think that they quite get the idea of being quiet. Tanner will go and hide and start laughing and making noises so that we can find him really fast. His new favorite hiding spot is the hall linen closet.

Kylie calls Tanner "Tatter"...today I heard him say "Kylie my name isn't Tatter it's Tanner!!" Thought that was funny.

No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed!!!

This is what happens when you jump on the bed.......and that is with 15 minutes of ice! Bonus bedtime postponed for 2 hours!