Wicked

For Christmas this year Brent gave me tickets to Wicked.  I'm a sucker for good music, costumes, theatrics, etc.. and this did not disappoint!  I'll never watch the Wiz of Oz the same way again.  Without giving too much away, it's about the power of friendship.  And it was absolutely beautiful!  Good friends are an amazing strength and joy in my life.  And I'm most grateful of all for the blessing I have of being married to my best friend.  Thank you, Brent, for an awesome nine years.  It just keeps gettin' better an better!

Christmas letter

Although I sent out a few cards, and I did just post pictures of the kids, I neglected to include a family letter.  There are several reasons for this, the first one being I just didn't make the time to do it.  And second, I'm leary of the brag fest kind of letters..."my life, husband, and kids are all perfect.  We all get straight A's.  I lost 20 lbs and just ran a marathon, ect, etc.. " Those things are all great ( I wish I just ran a marathon).  Of course on the flip side, you wouldn't want to share your family dirt.  Truth is, I just find it difficult to sum up an entire year in a letter.  Just know we are doing well.  We are healthy, happy, learning every day, and very, very grateful for our blessings.  I asked the girls this morning what they are most thankful for.

Tyler is just happy to be here!  He can now say Mom, Dad, hi, and baby.  So I guess those would be the things he's most thankful for.
Lauren is thankful for Jesus, angels, cows, horsies, deers, dogs, and cats.  And choo-choo trains.
Abbey is thankful for Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and her family.

Sarah is grateful for fairies, her family (including Molly the guinea pig), her bed and everything on it.

As for me, it's hard to put my gratitude into a list.  There are too many things.  I'm grateful for Brent and for my children.  For sunshine, green grass, good food, and baby kisses.  I'm grateful for my life and each day I get to share it with the ones I love most.  I'm grateful for my Savior. Because of Him, we have the opportunity to change ourselves, to become better, every day if we choose to do so.  And because of the Atonement we have the opportunity to be with our loved ones into the eternities.  We have perspective and that often means the difference between joy and misery.  This Christmas we choose gratitude and joy.  Merry Christmas friends!

attachment issues

He wouldn't give it up for his bath.  I think it's time to wean that boy. 

smart home

So for those of you who don't know me, one of my somewhat obsessive hobbies is learning how to simplify, cut back, minimize.  If you haven't used it in a year, then for heaven's sake, throw it out!  Let it clutter up someone else's garage.  You get the picture.  So I've been reading this book and I gotta say, it's pretty good!  The main idea is to buy higher quality "home goods" that work great and if possible, live longer than you do.  One thing she recommends is tossing all your nonstick cookware/utensils and using cast iron pans with a stainless steel spatula.  I read that and laughed.  Visions of scraping nasty burned scrambled eggs off of some old cast iron pot came rushing back.  Of course, we were camping, and I was ten.  So anyway, I decided to try it again and picked one up at a local discount store.  And I love it!!  It works just like non-stick (seriously, it does), but you don't have to worry about a high temp.  It sears meat perfectly and because of the even heating, fried eggs don't get those crusty, hard edges.  Ok, it's late and I'm beginning to sound a little freaky about cooking.  So there you have it.  My "home goods" discovery for the week.  Night all.  

Nikon D60

After saving my pennies for an entire year I finally had  enough for a new camera.  Truth be told, it's not just any camera.  It's an awesome camera!!  I've had my eye on something like it for about five years.  Currently about only one third of my pictures turn out, but man am I having fun!  Here's a few of the kids I took at the park the other day.  Happy friday everyone.

Merry Christmas!

I realize it's been quite a while since I  posted.  We left town for Thanksgiving and I've just felt very, very busy since then.  Not the I'm-having-so-much-fun kind of busy, more like the my-house-is-a-wreck-and-I'm spinning in-circles kind of busy.  I seriously need to change that.  So in the spirit of the holiday, and to preserve what little sanity I have left, we put our books away and went to visit Santa.  And I gotta say, South Coast Plaza has a great looking Santa! Could be because we were the first kids of the day, but he seemed genuinely jolly.. twinkly eyes and all.  He was really, really great and so sweet with the kids!  I had to fight off the urge to sit on his lap, give him a hug, and ask for a new filter for my camera.  We really try not to focus on Santa too much at Christmas time.  But it is lovely to see such a sweet old man, who obviously loves children, spreading some holiday cheer.