More Pics

These pictures Adrianne took at Bridal Veil are amazing, but her camera is so hyperpixelated that the files are like huge. I dare only upload a couple at a time, or my little computer will just might have a temper tantrum. We had an amazing time, hiking around and playing.

These last two years...

It's this little muffin's birthday today! What a girl! She opened an Elmo movie today and immediately burst out with "la la la la Elmo's World!" It was cute. She also says "Peek eee boo!" instead of Peek a boo, which is darling. She absolutely loves sweet red pepper, altoids, and nuts. Wierd 2 year old foods! These photos are from a hike we took with the Brackners to Bridal Veil Falls. We love Adrianne Photography!

The Snow is here!

All ready for the Polar Express at Kindergarten. (I made this outfit)

Little Cindy Lou Who, who was no more than 2!

Little Jean Scout!

Yeah, all that biz about me getting into the Christmas spirit last time was just because we had no snow. Now I don't need any of that -- just joking. I do like the snow though, and regardless of its driving hazards (luckily I didn't have to go very far yesterday), it's pretty beautiful. Since we lived in Texas until I was three, I hadn't seen snow until the ripe old age of 3. My family had a laugh at my wonderment when arriving in Utah to a foot of snow. I called it Nosse. That's the best phonetic spelling I can come up with. Oh well, pretty good stuff anyway.

The Christmas Spirit

As the Christmas Spirit gradually makes its way into my heart and mind this year, a lot of things come together to put it there. First, nothing like this scripture really brought the Christmas season to the forefront for me. "And behold, he shall be born of Mary, at Jerusalem which is the land of our forefathers, she being a virgin, a precious and chosen vessel, who shall be overshadowed and conceive by the power of the Holy Ghost, and bring forth a son, yea, even the Son of God." Alma 7:10 I just read that in my normal reading, and it was surprising how much that made me excited for Christmas.
Before that, little bits of Christmas began inspiring me with music. I decided to download a few songs from Itunes. I had a stroke of memory hit me of a certain Christmas tape my parents had when I was a kid. Yep, a tape. I'm that old. I guess it could be worse -- an actual vinyl record or 8-track or something. My little sister and I kept rewinding the tape to hear a certain song over and over. The trouble was, I couldn't really remember exactly what the song was about or its name. Jeff's sister, Lisa, was over, and I began describing it to her. The more I talked about it, the more I remembered. I guess my brain neurons finally hit the right filing cabinet because I remembered it was "Ding-a-ling the Christmas Bell." Bless the Internet because not too many record stores would have a copy of this little song. I promptly burned it on a CD and popped it in my little sister's Christmas card. I hope she likes it. If she's anything like me, she might start dancing a little dance and shouting about a victory. Then, I downloaded "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" by BareNaked Ladies, added that to the CD's I imported, and I have a very pleasant little Christmas mix to pop on the IHOME anytime. Enjoying music and its memories has certainly been a fun way to get in the Christmas spirit this year.
Decorating has also hit the spot for Christmas spirit. I was kind of grinchy about it this year. I sort thought it would be fun to put the tree up like on Christmas Eve or something. So Quinton got on the calendar and scheduled it for the 21st of December. Once he scheduled it so far away, I finally gave in to the mess and chaos of decorating for Christmas, but I've been glad it's done.
Jeff was his usual effecient self and got the lights put on the house early, while it was still warm. We bought some fancy snowflake twinkle curtain lights which were a bear to untangle but look extra fancy and nice.
Finally, I declared full Christmas spirit potential, when last night, cuddled in blankets with the kids, we watched, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". I can still recite up to where he gets into town or so, and it really does the trick. Earlier, we had watched Elf together, and while I laughed by head off, it didn't really fill me with memories and sweet nostalgia like the Grinch does.
So that's it. That's the way the spirit of Christmas has found its way into my life this year. It's extra cozy isn't it?

A memorable Thanksgiving

Highlights to our Thanksgiving:

*Saw a 10:40 showing of Twilight with Sara and Siale the week before (Team Edward as if there was even a need for teams)

*Cleaned up throw up for a few days (at least everyone was healthy enough for Thanksgiving Dinner)

*Assigned many food items to parents for Kira's Kindergarten feast (nice room mother job)

*Dressed Kira as the cutest Pilgrim ever for her Kindergarten feast

*Used gift card to buy pre-cooked Honeybaked Ham Turkey (probably won't go that route again -- it was a little dry -- but it sure was easy)

*Welcomed Jeff's mom and sister with her family (Shoutout to Lisa. We had fun!)

*Sat back and watched Jeff cook a fabulous meal (Go Jeff Go)

*Set the table with nice china and tablecloths (cake job)

*Ate the fabulous dinner surrounded by lovely family -- Hey Annie!

*Cleaned up the fabulous dinner

*Played Last Word and Sequence (Our love of Sequence originated at the Simons' house thanks guys!)

*Scoped out the ads

*Decided there was nothing worth getting up for

*Got up anyway -- didn't get very many good deals

*Watched my kids play with very fun cousins (DJ Annie Madi)

*Ate some yummy turkey soup

*Went on a date with Jeff since we had babysitters (Four Christmases was funny but crude)

*Started cleaning up diarhea...