Ho Ho Ho... .Happy Helpers !

So, as most of you know, my FAVORITE time of the year is now. However, I have been in a slump or something because I haven't been happy about any of this. I'd been wishing that it was all ready over! I know that this will be my last Christmas wtih Jared for a couple of years and that has made me really sad. As the old addage goes, Tis better to give than to receive. So we put that into action. Our neighborhood has sponsored 3 families in our community to help out with Christmas, and our family was priviledged to get to fill stockings for 8 children. We had been buying necessities, toys, treats and little surprises for them. Last night, I spent 2 hours wrapping and filling the stockings. Gary sat across from me on the couch ( I was curled up by my favorite place.... the fireplace on the floor !! ) and as he watched me, he said... 'Thank you for doing this. It's such a good thing that you are doing. Your Mom and Dad would be proud of you!".... well, you know that the tears just streamed down my face as I expressed what helping out means to me. I can't stand to think of a child on Christmas morning being disappointed. It breaks my heart. We have this tradition each year since my kids were little and we always try to help out where we can and give back some of the blessings that have been given to us. I wanted to thank my friend Cherri at work who also helped me out ... she makes a great elf !!! I want you to know that this morning, I have the best Christmas spirit around and am so excited for the holidays. I'm excited to get to spend time with the loves of my life ~ my family, my Yaya's, my friends and those that I am priviledged to see each day. Merry Christmas to all of you !

Thanksgiving !

So, I know that it's been a little while since I've made a post. We've been getting our house ready for the holidays / Jared's farewell. We had a lovely Thanksgiving dinner with my family as well as Christina and her mom, and Josh's gal pal, Jessica came as well. It was so nice to have everyone together. I wanted to take this opportunity to list some things that I am grateful for. Being married to my best friend... and how hard he works for our family.
Having 4 wonderful kids that I love with all of my heart.
Being a member of the Church with all of the blessings that that entales.
Having friends know when you need a hug. And be willing to just listen.
My Yaya's that are my sisters in my heart.... who needs blood????
Having wonderful jobs that enable us to take care of our family.
Being able to send Jared to Switzerland for 2 years... tears and all ~
Watching home movies and missing those tiny babies to hold in my arms.
Knowing that we are no farther away from our families than just a phone call.
This wonderful time of the year.
Well, those are a few things that I am totally grateful for... the list goes on and on. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and my love goes out to all of you.

January 18th Farewell January 28th MTC

Hello everyone..... So, after much ado, Jared's farewell has been finally scheduled for January 18th. He will have 10 days after that before he enters the MTC. He is very excited. I am very stressed. I have so much to do still to be ready. He will make a wonderful missionary and he will be greatly missed. We have all of his travel documents submitted along with his passport and visas, etc... I'm excited and dreading it at the same time. I just better buy stock in Kleenex as I will be using a ton and a half I am sure ! More info to come as it gets closer.....

Who Knew????

So, gals, fellow cricut owners... I found out this new way to make your cutting mats for your cricuts last longer ! My neighbor sells Close To My Heart and she said that the Spritz that they sell to clean their clear stamps will clean the cutting mat. I was skeptical, but tried it on some old ones. She said to spray it on the mat, let it sit for 5 minutes, (( I let mine sit for about 10 because they were really bad )), and then wipe it off with a baby wipe. I wiped it clean. She said to let it dry and it will be as sticky as new. I didn't believe her, but MAN ~ It works !!! I had 2 old ones that I was going to toss... I cleaned them up and they are as sticky as new. I'm wondering if there is something in the spritz that is different than my Stampin Up cleaner. Remember, the Close To My Heart stamps are all clear and acrylic, and when you clean them, it makes them sticky again as well. Anyway, I just thought that I would pass on this little tip because it will save a bunch of $$$$ that you can use to purchase other doo dad scrappy items. There you go gals... tip of the week !

Jordan River Temple is the place !

So, Jared has an appointment to get his endowments this Saturday, Oct 18th for the 10:20 session. He is so dang excited and we can't wait for that day. We were shopping this weekend for some of his clothing and when he was trying on one of his suits in the mirror, I glanced over and started to cry. Yes... I know that you can't believe that, but it happened. He looked so handsome and so grown up in all of his missionary apparel. It was a nice day that we got to spend together. He got a temporary calling in church, and he's going to be a ward missionary. How appropriate, huh? His companion ( is that what they call them?? ) is a returned missionary who just got home a couple of months ago. I thought that that was cool so that he could get some practice time in. He is also reading the French Book of Mormon ( thank you Lindsay for the suggestion! ) and preparing everyday. We wanted to post this so that if we missed anyone with an invitation, please come and share this special day with us.

When The Saints Meet, The Angels Weep

So much for getting our pictures taken. It rained all day Saturday, and Sunday, the boys were sleeping as they had to go to work graveyards. So, we shall try again. Gary's mom, my sweet little mother in law, used to always say, "When The Saints Meet, The Angels Weep! " I guess that I should have taken her advice and not planned it for that day. Oh well...
Update on Jared's mission prep
We've been buying his clothes and necessities. He's gotten all of his shots... ( OUCH ! ) and his passport and visa applications are done and in process. He has been to the Stake President's office twice to get his recommend signed but hasn't been able to make that happen yet. Hopefully this Thursday, it will. He's very excited to attend the temple for the first time. We will post his date and time for the session so if you would like to attend, you may. His birthday is on the 17th and I thought that it would be fun to go the next day, but the temple won't assign a spot until his recommend has been signed. So we will keep this updated and let you all know. I can't believe that October is all ready here. Christmas will be here before we know it. And then, January 28th is right around the corner. Someone give me another tissue !

Fall Family Fotos

Hello everyone!

So, I've had this idea in my brain that I wanted to take our photo up in the canyon this weekend because we won't have another chance for a couple of years. I just heard on the news that it's going to be yucky, but I'm hoping for one bright spot that we can do it. I'm excited to post some pics with my whole clan. I know that they aren't real excited to go, but hopefully they will all show up and we will get this done. I want a new photo to place on the piano that I can look at when Jared is away. Maybe it will make me miss him less..... or maybe even more ! I'll post when I get them done. Wish me luck !!!

12 Things That I'm Excited For !

So my darling great neice Kylee tagged me... So here goes
1. Going to the temple with Jared for the first time.
2. Jared's Farewell
3. Jared's first letter from the mission field.
4. Christmas Morning
5. Painting my house.
6. Finishing all of my Christmas projects.
7. Zoe and Ali having puppies.
8. Picking Jared up in Switzerland in 2011 !
9. Seeing Jenna go to her first real high school dance.
10. Our little family expanding.
11. Getting 3 new daughters and 1 new son!
12. Grandbabies !

12 People that I'm Tagging:
1. Ashlee
2. Debbie Brown
3. Stephanie Lancaster
4. Jill
5. Ginger
6. Marci
7. Jaime
8. Stephanie
9. Becky
10. Jenna
11. Kirk
12. Jared

Drum Roll Please

So, ladies and gentlemen, after much ado, we finally have Jared's mission call. When it came in the mail, my heart was beating so hard. We gathered as a family and he ripped it open. Many tears later, the words sunk into my head and my heart..... Geneva Switzerland. He's going to Switzerland to serve a French speaking mission ! I can't believe it. His dream has been realized. His mission is huge !!! It emcompasses Switzerland, France, Belgium, and Luxembourge. He will report to the MTC on January 28th to begin. He has taken 4 years of French and I'm sure that that had a little bit to do with the fact that he was called over there. I told Gary that we have to start saving now, as I WILL be going to pick him up. I'm so proud of him. I don't think that his feet have touched the ground yet. They probably won't for awhile. I was so praying for him to stay in the states, but he has always wanted to go foreign. I guess if he has to go overseas, this isn't a bad place to be at all.

Terrific Thursday

So, everyone, I just got a call from Jared and the papers are in the mailbox. He told me that he would wait for all of us to be there ... ( okay, real story... he knows that I have threatened him within an inch of his life if he opened them without us being there !!! ) ... I can't wait to go home today. I've been sick and was planning on leaving early anyway, now there is a real reason to go home. I will post later when we all find out where he is going. Thank you for the kind words and the prayers on our behalf. I'm a missionary mom now....Wow !

Wednesday Worries

So, here it is ... Wednesday again... and we all have the same thing on our mind at our house. Will it be today? For Jared's sake, I hope that his papers come today and that we will finally have one hurdle down and over with . We are at a standstill as far as getting him ready as we have done all that we can with the info that we have. We now need to wait until we have his actual call to complete our purchases for him. I'm praying really hard that it comes today. I will update this as soon as I have any info.

8 is GREAT !

I was tagged by my sweet neice Jaime... so here goes:

8 TV shows that I love to watch....
1. King Of Queens
2. Everyone Loves Raymond
3. Clean House
4. Designed to Sell
5. Forensic Files
6. House Hunters
7. Dancing with the Stars
8. Biggest Loser

8 Places that I love to eat......
1. PF Changs
2. Chili's
3. Cafe Rio
4. Olive Garden
5. La Frontera
6. Tucci's
7. Macaroni Grill
8. Mandarin

8 things that happened yesterday.....
1. Jared was ordained to an Elder.
2. We talked with Christina's mom.
3. We went to church.
4. We had Christina and Justin over for dinner.
5. I cried.
6. Jenna made cinnamon rolls for breakfast.
7. Our YW presidency was changed.
8. Skipped Sunday school to turn on dinner.

8 things that I look most forward to....
1. Jared getting his mission call.
2. Jared coming home from his mission.
3. Christmas morning
4. Seeing Jenna turn into a beautiful young woman.
5. Josh and Justin getting married.
6. Grandbabies!
7. Fridays
8. Seeing my Yayas

8 things I love about Fall....
1. Crisp morning air
2. Taking a ride to see the leaves changing colors.
3. Thanksgiving dinner.
4. Cute trick or treaters!
5. Pumpkin spice candles
6. Grandma's famous pumpkin chiffon pie!
7. Snuggly Sweaters
8. Fires in the fireplace

8 things on my wishlist....
1. Getting out of debt sooner
2. Lasix
3. A new car when Jared comes home
4. Shelves for my paper in my scrapbook room
5. Grandma getting to go home to see Grandpa again soon
6. Knowing where Jared will spend his 2 years
7. A new living room couch
8. Painting my bedroom and getting new bedding

8 People I am tagging
1. Ashlee
2. Jill
3. Marci
4. Ginger
5. Becky
6. Stephanie
7. Jenna
8. Tricia

Okay Jaime! I did it ! Now it's your turn gals! It IS harder than it looks !!!

Jenna After !

Ta Daaaaa ! Here is our beauty after her gift of love to someone who is struggling with cancer. I was amazed at how unselfish she was and the gift made me cry and her smile! I told her that I miss her really long hair, and she said, "Mom~ Think of how happy YOU would be if I was in that position and someone else gave it to ME! Wow... she had me. And a child shall lead them, right? Well, she may be young in years, but she is a very good teacher to this poor student, her mom. I am priviledged to be her mom. Hence my opening song... In My Daughter's Eyes. Every word of the song is true, and it speaks to my heart each time I hear it. I am so very proud of my beautiful Jenna, however, on this occasion, I believe that she may be even more beautiful on the inside. I love you sweet girl !

Jenna Before !

I wanted to post Jenna's huge gift of love on our blog. Her hair was an amazing length... Over 3 feet long ! She graciously decided to cut her hair and send it in to locks of love. She learned of this in school and was so sad the whole day. She couldn't image anyone, especially a little girl, not being able to have beautiful long hair like she does. When we were getting ready to cut 10 inches off ~ the minimum required length ~ she said, "No Mom ! More... So I went to 12 inches, and she said, "More Mom ! I was amazed. When I got to 14 inches, I asked her to not cut anymore. I still wanted her to have long enough hair to put up for her.

Three Weeks and Counting ~

So, Jared's Mission papers have been in for 3 weeks and we are all so excited that we can't stand it. As each Wednesday approaches, I'm on pins and needles until the mail has been checked. He is so excited to go on his mission and we are so proud of him. He will be such a good missionary. He received his Duty to God award this month and he worked so hard on it. The program was started after he was all ready in Young Men's and he went back and did all of the requirements that he needed to do for not only the Teacher but also the Deacon as well. He is such an awesome young man and he will be an amazing missionary. He has such a strong testimony of the Gospel and can't wait to share the Good News with everyone that he meets. It's harder than I thought it would be to see him prepare to go. I just usually go in my room and cry !!! But this will be such a great experience for him and many people will benefit from his service. I'll keep this updated when we get his call.

Sick of Scrapbooking ?

Now... How could I be sick of scrapbooking? I love it... It's my passion... I have a room dedicated to it in my basement that I love. But today, believe it or not, I am sick of scrapbooking. I started this scrapbooking class at church and once a month, I teach a layout class. I chose Disneyland as a favor to one of my friends, with Mickey and Minnie and several delicatally small pieces to put on the page. Well, my page was a hit and over 30 people signed up. Holy cow ! I had to cut out so many things... thank goodness for my cricut! It will be a long time before I make a Disneyland page again or any other page that I have to duplicate over 30 times! :)

On a side note, our 2 baby girls, Zoe and Ali went to the 'beauty shop' today and got groomed. They look absolutely darling. Ali was very scared... it's only her second time to the groomers and she is just worn out ! She's been the sweetest little lap dog ever tonight! Zoe is still running around licking everything in sight !!!

We finally did it !!!

Welcome to our blog. This is our first post. Thanks so much to Ashlee who helped me set this up. I could have never done it without her. You Rock Ashlee !