Happy New Year

Happy New Year to everyone! I hope that it is going great so far! I'm including some more Disneyland pics in this blog- enjoy. There is one of Ryan in fairy wings with our other two Tinker Bells... just to set the record straight, he won a new hat and $10 for wearing the wings LOL. It was great! Just don't tell him that I posted the pic. The other ones are of the kids with Mickey Mouse and Jessica adoring Pluto- the look on her face is why I love Disneyland so much! Kids should always be allowed to go somewhere very magical as much as possible!
On to my story for this post... the other day I was taking Jessica to school and she asked me when I was born. I told her my birthday and she goes, "no, what year?" So, I tell her I was born in 1977. She paused for a minute and then says, "Whoa, that was when George Washington was around". OK, so I feel old LOL! I never thought I would get to the point in life when my kids would think that I was around with the dinosaurs... apparently I was wrong on both accounts. It isn't dinosaurs, it's George Washington.
Everything is going good around here. We are all very busy... well, mom is busy. It's rare that Ryan and I see each other and much more common for us to exchange kids in between work. This too shall pass... I know that it will all be worth it when I can work three days a week and that's full time, while making a good amount of money. Have a great day!!

Christmas in Disneyland

Oh how we love Disneyland! We spent two days before and Christmas day at Disneyland this year. We took all of the kids (Taylor too), my parents, and my brother Ryan and his kids. We had a blast. Just the warm weather alone was worth the trip! When we left Utah it was 12, in California the next day it was 75. Talk about a major difference! Disneyland was decked out for the holidays in true Disney style with huge Christmas trees, snow on the castle, and even Santa at the beach in California Adventure. The kids were amazed once again by all of the Disney "magic". They even make it snow every night on Main street. Everyone had a great time.
We hope that your Christmas was memorable and wonderful as well and that the true meaning of the season was in your heart. And may all of the holiday season be blessed for you and your families as well as the New Year.
We are sending out New Year's cards this year instead of Christmas cards because I wanted to include pics from our trip, so watch the mail for it.

We Moved

So this blog is almost a month late- Sorry- life has been crazy!! We moved at the end of November into a home in North Orem. Matt and Kim wanted the basement apartment, and well, having our own house is nice too! I have found things that I forgot that I had because it was in storage. LOL! Everything else (phone, email) stayed the same. The girls are now attending Bonneville Elementary. It's fun because I went to kindergarten at this same school and Jessica is even in the same classroom I was. Things are going good and we are adjusting to the move. Keep in touch.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I had to add a blog today just because I am very thankful for my family. We spent the day playing games at my parent's house and then went to Ryan's parent's house for dinner. The picture I included is from a couple of days ago. Taylor LOVES to eat and loves to put it everywhere! It was a cute pic so I included it. School has started again for me and I also started working part time on the Med/Surg unit at Utah Valley Hospital so life is just slightly crazy! Time seems to be flying by... I do have to say though that I am very thankful (especially today) for all that we have. I know that my family is blessed. Even on the crazy days, I don't have any reason to complain. I hope that your day was great and that you have taken the time today to be truly thankful for all the has been given to you. Happy Thanksgiving!

The Compassion of a Grieving Mother

I just wanted to share a quick story that happened in our lives this week. On Monday, Jessica came to me after school and told me that one of her classmates had died. He had been killed in a tragic accident in his own backyard. Her and I talked a little about it and then that evening we sat down with both girls to really discuss death. We gave Jessica the option of going to the viewing. I was a little apprehensive about taking her and made sure that both of the girls understood what they would see there. We explained that the little boy's spirit wouldn't be there, only his body in a casket. Jessica was steadfast in her decision about wanting to say good-bye to her friend, so off we went to the viewing. After waiting in line for about 45 minutes we finally approached the parents of this little boy. We introduced ourselves and I explained that Jessica had been in the boy's class. I was so incredibly touched when the grieving mother of this small boy took my daughter by the hand and led her over to the casket to see her friend. The mother didn't cry, she didn't act sad, instead, she took my five year old by the hand and explained to her that her friend wasn't really here. She explained to her that he had gone home to Heavenly Father and that it was ok. The exchange happened in a minuscule amount of time but I think that it will impact me forever. I cannot express the effect that this act of compassion had on me. The mere fact that this grieving mother, who had lost a son, was willing to take the time with my daughter to make sure that she understood meant more to me than words can ever express. I hope that one day I am able to be that compassionate. I know that I am not there yet- maybe one day- but for now I can look back at the true meaning of Christ-like compassion in a person that I should have been showing compassion to.

Hannah Montana

How can you describe excitement? Try taking three girls to a sold out Hannah Montana concert. We were lucky enough to get some of the very sought after tickets for the Hannah Montana show. The girls were able to go with their cousin Audrey and they all had a fabulous time. This was the first concert that any of the girls had been to. The concert opened with the Jonas Brothers- Jessica was not impressed by them and even went so far as to tell me, "they're stupid, where's Hannah?!?" I had to laugh. Thank goodness my 5 year old isn't boy crazy, right! It really was a great concert for the girls and an enjoyable mommy-daughter date(although expensive) The picture is of the girls outside before the concert in front of the Miley World bus.

Toilet Paper Picture

Most probably think this is crazy- and it is! But, my mom has a picture in her bathroom of each of her grandkids at age 1 playing with toilet paper. It's a cute decoration and fun to look at all of the kids at the same age. So we took Taylor's today. Now we just have to deal with him thinking that toilet paper is a toy!