I love to see the Temple…

Before Christmas we went to the Temple to see the lights.  I had never been there during Christmastime and was really excited to go!  It was so beautiful.  The Temple is already beautiful, but it was extra special at Christmas. 

There were two really beautiful nativity scenes set up on the lawns.  The lights were amazing.  My camera does not do them justice.  Unfortunately, it went a little wonky so most of the pictures I took there didn’t turn out so great.  But, the beauty of it is in my heart.

We decided to go to the Mormon Battalion afterward since it was pretty close to the Temple.

 

I had never been there either so it was a real treat.  We went on a weeknight and there was nobody there.  It was amazing!  I loved the movies and the themed rooms.  So kid friendly!  I love how they made the story so interactive.  It was like being at Disneyland.  Because nobody was really there that night, the boys got to try on all the cool gear the soldiers wore.  They had a ball.

We got there pretty late so we couldn’t pan for gold or look at the brick making equipment.  I’d love to go there some Saturday and then explore Old Town too.

We had a wonderful evening starting at the Temple and then learning all about the amazing pioneers of the Church.

Christmas Knock-offs

 So, I’ve been reading some awesome crafting blogs lately.  I’ve been inspired!  I love it when people share their thoughts and ideas on blogs.  What a wonderful way to share some great ideas with us lesser crafty folks!

I’ve wanted a Christmas Advent calendar for AGES but couldn’t find one that I really liked until I came across one I loved at Land of Nod.  Unfortunately, the picture is no longer available but I basically looked at the picture of it and did my own.  Here it is:

 

A good friend at Church held a crafting activity in which she showed us how to make a Thanksgiving advent calendar.  I used the same concept for this one.  I embroidered the “Merry Christmas” on a separate piece of felt and then attached it with the snowflake stitch on my machine.  I was too nervous to put it on the big piece of felt because it required moving the hoop.  I figured if I messed it up on the scrap piece, no big deal.  However, it turned out great and it wasn’t crooked!

I had so much fun doing this and my kids just loved getting their candies out of it every day. 

Ode to my husband, the unsung hero

Okay, this post might make you physically ill, but I’m going to do it anyway because it needs to be done…

I am so grateful for my wonderful husband!  Many times in our marriage I have wanted to beat the crap outta him.  Nothing we do is ho-hum.  We are either desperately in love or wanting to claw each other’s eyes out.  That being said, the usual marital disagreements are few and happiness is the norm.

When I made the decision to stay home with the kids, he wasn’t jumping up and down but was supportive.  He told me he would support whatever I wanted to do.  Our household income took a hit, my degrees started collecting dust on the wall, and my student loans still need to be paid back but, he wanted me to be happy.

Now, when I have those horrible days when my daughter uses me as a punching bag and teething ring, while my mouthy teenage boys won’t stop asking, “what’s for dinner?”; when I want to give up and go back to work, he BEGS me to stay home.  He tells me how important I am to the kids.  He tells me what an impact I am making in their lives.  He reassures me that my brain has not permanently turned to mush and that he thinks I am the most beautiful, most intelligent, and most wonderful person he’s ever met.

When he knows I am really down and feeling particularly under-appreciated by the lil’ monsters, he encourages me to take a nap or go out to lunch with friends or go for a massage (yes I know I’m lucky) while he watches all the kids.  He doesn’t make me feel bad about it or expect anything in return.  He doesn’t make me feel guilty.  He does these things willingly.  If he’s at work and I’m having a rough day, he’ll stealth call his parent and ask and them to come over to help me out.

He will run to the store when I ask him.  He will even go to Target or Walmart after a 10 hour day of work because he doesn’t want me to be overwhelmed.  He gets up every morning he’s home with baby girl so I can sleep in.  Most Saturdays you can find him at The Wild Animal Park with Julia and the boys (if they’ve been behaving).

He compliments my cooking every time I cook something even when its disgusting.  He tolerates my staying up late at night reading with the light on even though he’s sleeping.  He is uber smart but thinks I’m smarter than is.  He’s super spontaneous, making middle-of-the-day trips to Disneyland or wherever suits my fancy.  He also has an AWESOME sense of humor.

Whatever I’ve been through to be where I am now and to have such a wonderful person who loves me so much, was TOTALLY worth it.  I felt it was important to show my gratitude to an amazing individual who doesn't get much credit and who doesn’t ask for much.  He is truly the man of my dreams and I am utterly thankful for him.  And, I am not exaggerating one bit!

Thanksgiving Family Style

I love Thanksgiving.  I get to spend time with my family and there’s no mad feeling of shop, shop, shop like Christmas.  Don’t get me wrong.  I like Christmas too but its definitely different than Thanksgiving. 

Everybody helped out this year.  My mother-in-law made potatoes and rolls, my mom made all the pies and helped me with everything else, hence the high five photo.  It was so relaxing and fun.  My mom took Julia on a walk in the morning to tire her out, which was great because she slept for a looong time while we were cooking.

Just my immediate family came, which always makes the holiday cozy and fun.  We even had the opportunity to take pictures of 4 generations of women!  Sorry boys.

Both my grandma and I made deviled eggs because, for some reason, everybody absolutely loves them.  Although, it was hard keeping the men away from the eggs until dinner.  We finally gave up.

View Full Album

Everybody had such a lovely time visiting and eating.  What a great day!

 

Halloween and the Pumpkin Princess

Yes, I know I’m posting about Halloween in December!  I was going to skip Halloween pictures but how could I do that to this cute face?  We were going to dress her up like a skunk (very fitting because she can be the stinkiest kid) but decided to go for Pumpkin Princess.   Everybody dressed up including me.  It was so much fun!We went to the Church for the annual trunk or treat.  It was so packed.  Three wards attended this year.  It was craziness.   I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many little kids in once play – not even Disneyland.

Julia had lots of fun trick or treating.  She was a little nervous at first but got the hang of it.  The boys took off in the parking lot so we couldn’t get that many pictures of them.

Our car

 Pretty bold just reaching into somebody else’s car…

Brooklyn is such a doll.  I love her smile here. 

Daddy trying to pose for a picture holding a squirming, candy seeking child.

The elusive Mr. Cade passing out candy.

They had an awesome carnival inside.  Kids were running all over the place!  One guy dressed up like a monster from Where the Wild Things Are.  The costume was amazing.  Julia would not leave him alone.  She’s completely afraid of strangers but not afraid of monsters.  Huh?

The trunk or treat event was a blast as always.  I loved seeing everybody’s costumes knowing the adults would dress up too.  It was a super fun night!

I cannot believe this!

So, my daughter will not watch videos/movies/TV shows for any extended period of time.  What I mean by that is, she won’t watch anything for longer than 5-10 min max.  However, she will watch musicals like ummm….Yentl, isn’t that crazy?!?  But, she will only watch that for about 10 min.  We thought 10 minutes was her max which makes it very hard to get ANYTHING done in the house.  However, just the other day she sat and watched almost an hour of a whole program!  Can you believe it?!?  In order to get the full effect of the program, please watch below:

Is that the most horrible thing you’ve ever seen in your life?!?  The show is called “Yo Gabba Gabba!”  I don’t know what’s worse…having to watch this or not get anything done.  Can you believe this is the only stinkin’ show she likes?!?  I’m speechless.  My boys laughed so hard they had tears streaming downs their cheeks and were gasping for air when they first saw it. 

Then…I came across this:

I laughed so hard I pee’d my pants.  The guy dancing is Jack Black.  Did anybody notice the one-eyed monster on the right hand side of the screen?  Is this show actually for real?!?  Please tell me somebody else’s kid likes this show…

Julia’s 1st Birthday

My baby girl is 1 year old!  How is that possible?!?  It seems like I had her just the other day.  I can’t believe how fast she is growing.  *sniff* 

We went to Disney land for her birthday.  LOVE Disneyland in October.  It is the greatest place!  Everything is decked out for Halloween.

We decided to stay in a hotel for 2 nights so we could come back and rest if she got cranky.  The first night she went crazy running around in the suite.  The boys had a ball too.  They loved having their own hotel room (even though it was in the same room as ours) and ordering room service.

 

Above is the boys’s room.  We call it the fish bowl since you can see them through a glass window from the living room.

 

Julia going nuts

Unfortunately, she didn’t sleep very well in the hotel but my awesome husband got up with her (at 4 a.m.) and let me sleep.  She took a nap around 8 a.m. and then we left for the park around 10. 

Me with no make-up doing Julie’s hair.  Don’t you love the toilet paper she ripped up?  Hey, it kept her busy!

The first thing we did inside the park was to take some really cute pictures with Goofy.  The older boys didn’t really care about this but Henry and Jules were super excited.

We usually go straight to Pirate’s but the boys really wanted to go on the astro blasters.  Julia wasn’t too sure about it at first but once we got up in the air, she loved it.

Not too happy here

Totally loving it

The Haunted House was so awesome.  I love how they decorate it with the Nightmare Before Christmas Theme.  At this point, Julia was so tired due to her early morning escapades that she fell asleep on me during the ride.

While Julia was napping, we took the boys over to California Adventure.  It was soooo hot by this time that I actually had to buy a t-shirts for me and Julia.   We decided to try to get on California Screamin’ but the last few times we’ve gone to Disneyland, Henry was not tall enough to go on it.  But this time…

Woot!!!

Everybody was so excited he could go on the ride.  The boys were screaming and high-fiving each other.  He loved it and we went on it several times after that.

Of course we hit Tower of Terror and then went over to a Bug’s Life.  Julia loved the rides over there but dang are they short!  Also, if I had known it was going to be so hot I would have brought some bathing suits so the kids could play in the water.     She didn’t know quite what to do with the lady bug ride

We were supposed to have dinner at Ariel’s Grotto and then go to World of Color but she was waaaay too fussy for that.  Victor took her back to the hotel and the boys and I stayed to watch the show.  The water show was amazing as was dinner and I was super grateful to my rockin’ husband for taking her so we could stay.

The next day we only stayed for a few hours.  Everybody was pretty pooped.  We mainly hit the Fantasyland rides, which are my favorites anyway.  Peter Pan packed as usual

We had such a great time.  The boys were wonderful and Julia absolutely loved it.  I can’t wait to go again soon.  I think we’ll have to make a trip in December for all the Christmas fun!

Happy birthday to my special little girl!!!!