Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We spent it with my family in freezing cold Rexburg. There ended up being about 25 people there at any given time. So it was loud and busy and fun. Wednesday and Thursday were spent cooking and eating and the rest of the weekend we ate leftovers. My brother Tyler and his sweet new wife were there so it was fun to get to know her a little bit better. I colored my aunts hair Friday night and it was fun to get to visit with her pretty much on my own because we were banished to the bathroom. It turned out super cute. I know it is a little late for a thankful post but I was struck this last week with how blessed I am. I have an amazing husband who is a wonderful father to my children. I have three beautiful children who teach me so much and who make life an adventure. I have a wonderful extended family and for the most part we enjoy each others company. I was raised in the gospel and am so grateful for it. I have amazing friends who help me through difficult times. I have difficult times that make me appreciate the good times even more. I live in a free country. I have a car that makes it more convenient to visit family and go grocery shopping. I am grateful for this time of year that helps us reflect on all we have.

Making scones Friday morning.

Most of the crew. I didn't get a great picture.

Scotty making the mashed potatoes. We peeled 50 potatoes. Needless to say we had leftovers.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

You mean it's Family Night!

My husband has been the first counselor in the bishopric for a little over a year now and as you might guess that requires a lot of his time. Work has also been crazy for him. He has been putting in 50 hours a week. So basically we haven't seen him much. We have been trying really hard to make sure that we have Family Night each week. It wasn't something that our families did really well and so it has been a bit of a challenge getting into the habit, especially with three small children with differing attention spans. But it is finally a habit. Last night as we were sitting around the dinner table Malaya says "Mommy does Daddy have meetings tonight?" "not tonight" I replied " you mean it's family night! Yeah!" Scotty and I weren't sure how to feel. We were thrilled that the kids look forward to Family Night but sad that in their minds the only night daddy is home is family night. Even sadder is the fact that my husband did actually have meetings but was too sick to attend. So we decided to try really hard to make any time that Scott is home memorable. Last night we played chutes and Ladders and watched the Muppet Christmas Carol. It was nice to have "Family Night" twice this week.

Happy Halloween

So I know that it is the middle of November and I am just posting halloween pics but they are so cute and I just had to share.

My Celtish Sweetie and Me

Miss Malaya was Snow White. For those of you who might be wondering... No we do not dye her hair, It is really that black.

Natalie was Cinderella. She was so excited to be a princess.


The girls wanted to have a prince so Steven was the Frog Prince.

My in-laws got to come spend Halloween with us and the kids thought it was great that they dressed up with them!

We took the kids to the annual trunk or treat at the Mall and had a great time. We were planning on taking them out around the neighborhood but they all started feeling yucky so we watched Winnie the Poohs Halloween adventure and passed out candy. I think they were just as excited to pass it out as they were to get it. All in all we had a great time.

Motherhood

So my baby stood up by himself yesterday and it enlisted several emotions. First, of course, was excitement followed quickly by dread. He is trouble just crawling. It also made me reflect on the last 5 years. I find it ironic the way that things change. When Malaya was born I couldn't wait for her to say mom, now there are days when I wish that the name didn't apply. When Malaya was born I was going to be the perfect mom the house was never going to be messy, dinner would always be amazing and on the table at six, my kids were going to be potty trained at 2 and reading by three. Now reality has set in. My house is often messy, dinner sometimes is cold cereal, and my oldest wasn't potty trained until she was 4 1/2. With my first we did everything we could to make her walk. With the second we worked with her on walking but it would happen when it happened. Now with my third I am somewhat embarrassed to admit that I push him down. So not ready for him to walk. With my first I couldn't wait for her to reach all her stages with my son I cry when he does. Not that I don't want him to, but it means that he is growing up and reaching a more difficult phase.

As I sit here typing my three beautiful kids are sitting playing nicely together and tears are welling up. I love them so much. I am so grateful for all that they teach me and what they have taught me about my Heavenly Father. So even with it's difficulties I love motherhood. :)

A New Blog

So after months of enjoying others blogs I decided to start one for my family. I don't really know where to start. I have so many random thoughts that I always think would be fun to share and than I am embarassed so this could be fun :)