tradition...some more...

...the mall Santa..."okay everyone, on the count of 3, look in a different direction, but NOT at the camera!"

After a family dinner out, where my first born L explained to the waitress that her sister was using the potty and that "she is still going," then later asked if "that big girl went to the potty" too, meaning the waitress...

...we had a lovely evening at Salt Lake Temple Square. My second born, M loves beauty and love, she gravitates towards it, when she sees anything loving or beautiful she can not stay away or resist touching or gazing. Some quotes of the night from M:

We told her we were on our way to the Temple, the house of the Lord. We had to confirm over and over again that 'yes, mommy and daddy were married there...yes, mommy put on her pretty dress, no she didn't dance inside the Temple with Daddy, her prince, but outside, sure!' And we told her that we would see the Christus, the big statue of Jesus. This seemed to make her a little nervous. We explained that Jesus is very loving and not scary. She asked if she could bring her doll. I heard her whispering to her doll:
"Baby, you will not be scared, and I will not be scared..."

The whole way there we heard at every tall, decorated building:
"Is this Jesus' house? Is this Jesus' house?" over and over again...
"Are we going to see Jesus?" (yes... for the hundredth time...)
"Jesus had a hurt food and hand. When I had a scar, I had a hurt on it, when I was Jesus..." Hmm?

Finally we got out of the car, M ran down the sidewalk:
"We are running to see Jesus!" (that's the attitude, kid!)
"Are we going to see Baby Jesus? Are we going to see Baby Jesus?" over and over again...
"I think Jesus is coming out of His house to see us! We need to see Jesus!"
"And there is Snow Whites tower!" pointing to the Temple. (Okay, maybe we let the princess thing go a little too far)

And on the walk up to see the Christus:
"Lift me up so that I can see Jesus!" over and over again...
Finally, we get to the Christus:
"Can I touch His big toe?"
"Can I touch his scar?"
"I just want to give him a big hug!"

...then, "will he give me a bell?"
And then I realized, she thought she was really going to see Him on this night. And was so excited about it. Yet nervous. And I told her that one day, she will be able to give Him a hug. The real Jesus. And that He does love her, very much.

for that one person...

...who reads my blog but I don't have your email address to send out your Christmas Card:

...so I do email Christmas Letters each year now. Lame, huh? Well, I don't really think so actually. It's not that cards are way too expensive. I mean, I don't want to spend money on them, there are other things I'd rather spend money on. And they don't take all that much time to send, but definately more than an email. But, there is a reason that I actually love my email letters: I love to check my email for the next couple of days after I send the letter. This is the time I write to all my people. You know, the Christmas card people. And for the next couple of days after my letter, I get to hear good things back from all of these people... immediately. You can't do that with a 'snail mail' letter. Isn't that so much fun!

more traditions...

...I love the idea of having the kids choose from their toys to give away, to a second-hand store or toy drive...make room for the new toys...also, for one of our extended family parties, we have a theme each year. This year was Japan as my baby brother just returned from a church mission there. We ate Japanese Pancake (okonomiyaki), two soups (soybean-miso), Japanese sweets (Satsumaimo potatoes-yams), and "Japanese Christmas Cake." Fun!

traditions...

i love them!
"...traditions to keep us close to the great heritage which is ours to enjoy should be something every family should try to keep alive." -L. Tom Perry, 12 Apostle of the Lord

In the Spirit of Thanksgiving

This is a FABULOUS thanksgiving video called In the Spirit of Thanksgiving...I love it when he sings "If I were a rich man" from Fiddler on the Roof...haha...
...so here is how we concluded our Family Nights Gratitude Tree project. My friend Marci gave us the AWESOME idea to plant a tree that would grow and we'd always remember it and give thanks...and that is what I really really really wanted to do. In fact, our new home has zero trees and that would have been sooo perfect...except that it's winter...hmm, so we went more simple. The girls made cookies and painted thank you cards and we took them to their Sunday School teachers. They were sooo excited to do this too. That made it worthwhile.

girls in white dresses...

...with white satin ribbons...




...the hair bows are ribbon from my wedding bouquet as a matter of fact!

...with a nice camera, beautiful background, and my sister's energy we got some beautiful pictures!

...my red-heads...

dress up again?!

...Disney Princesses On Ice!!
...what we learned: don't tell a toddler three weeks in advance that you are going to see princesses...

...thanks to great friends for the borrowed costumes...and a compliment to my friend who made her Belle costume... without a pattern...it was one of the best there and got many many comments and people stopping us to take pictures...you are so talented!

ta da...

...so I went with the dark brown...


...and I like the way the curtains turned out...there is black out just on the top where there are no blinds...I enjoy the colors in my girls Americana room....

...and I thought I would share a bit more of this seemingly eternal project...it was a foreclosure, vandalized, graffiti, broken water pipes, mold, wind, etc etc etc...and in the perfect area...so we bought it, a few hours before I went into labor. I saw little of my hubby for the next month while he (and many other wonderful people) meticulously painted and repaired, following the plans and pictures that I had put together the month before...

...here is his Father's Day gift from me to him:

He wanted a curved fireplace hearth...Lowes and Home Depot said it couldn't be done...so we made it happen:

...and here is another of the many, many, many, many gifts he gave me in many hours of work... ...I honestly did not take many pics of this place before, and in the ones you see, they are touched up so you don't see all the mess that was left...it felt cold, yucky, and dark...now it feels warm, happy, and like home! (even though it is an ENDless project and I just can't wait for a fence and some BIG trees!!) I'll post some more before/after pics if you are interested....? ...and...what would you do with that white tile inside the fireplace...I can't really remove it...so what else??? Leave it?

italian pizza...

If you have never had it, don't expect American Pizza to be anything like it...but, do expect it to have an awesome unique taste all of it's own. My husband served a church mission in Italy where he fell in love with Italian food. He took me to the Salt Lake City restaurant called Settebello for an authentic Italian Pizza. Sooooooooooo good. I craved their margherita with italian sausage my whole pregnancy. They also have Gelato...the awesome Italian Ice cream. I would go there.

Now, in Provo valley, they have the restaurant Terra Mia. We tried it. Just as gooood. As we were leaving, we saw some couples walk to the door, look in, and decide not to go. WHAT!?! Do you not know how good this pizza is?! I would go here too. These places import the real ingredients. They also have Gelato...

one of the greatest lessons...

..."never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved"...

Our Prophet President Monson shares a minute message about what matters most...

"they do not love, that do not show their love" -William Shakespeare

this is halloween...

...take ONE...This is the Place Heritage Park...
...what can I say, it was game day...BYU monkey, Firefighter, sweet Pea Pod...

...take TWO...preschool parade...firefly,cow butterfly...first Halloween...

...Take THREE...HALLOWEEN DAY!...Halloween Princess...Lion...Octopus...

...so thankful to friends for letting me borrow adorable costumes!

The pumpkin story...

...the fall season, we love it, the leaves, the colors, the pumpkins...
...my husband's work decided to have a pumpkin carving contest, so they gave him a pumpkin...it's the little one in the picture...what kind of a pumpkin is that! All you can carve on something like that is a pair of eyes, maybe! So we did....

...we even managed to get a mouth...the girls got bored shortly after this picture about, like 30 sec after, and left. That's when things got a little scarey. Our BIG family pumkin, well, I think the little excuse for a pumpkin insulted him...so he took matters into his own orange head...

...literally...

..."I eat your sorry excuse for a pumpkin in one bite!

....next year, give us a REAL pumpkin to carve!"

OH YEAH! He won...10 whole dollars gift card to Star Bucks, Woo Hoo!!!

a grateful heart...

A grateful heart will give you a touch of refinement that can come in no other way. -Marjorie Hinckley, wife of President Gordon B. Hinckley I have wondered how we can teach gratitude and humility to our American children in the face of such abundance. Perhaps the best way is to be constant in the matter of family prayer.
It is good to kneel as a family and to hear daily expressions of gratitude to our Heavenly Father for the blessings we enjoy. The Lord intended His children to enjoy the good things of life. With all that we have, we must also have grateful hearts. We must teach our children not to take all that they have for granted. –Marjorie Hinckley
This is our gratitude or thankful tree that we are putting together the entire month before Thanksgiving. L was our Thanksgiving baby, born right on Thanksgiving morning after some years of infertility testing and many prayers. So this holiday has taken on extra special meaning to us. Our goal is to speak only positive things for this month (harder than you think for us!) and then daily write something we are thankful for on a leaf of our tree. I want to end in a culminating event during the thanksgiving holidays. Something they can look forward to. But I can't think of anything that would be meaningful for such young ones...any ideas, please? My blogging world always comes through for me, I'm thankful for you. :)

on becoming a new mother...

"Remember that this is the time in my life that I have dropped off the face of the world as I knew it, to enter the realm of motherhood. My eulogy will mention all of the accomplishments I’ve done before this time and after my children are grown. But the greatest achievements of my life, will be the children that come from this quiet anonymous period." –Me, written in my journal shortly after my first daughter came into the world.

calling all decorators...

...my latest little project needs a little help...this is what I started with...
...and after some lovely scrapbook paper, and mod podge, here is the final...however, which boarder around the clock? Dark Brown:

Blue:

Black:

Cream:

Or just leave it the way it is right now? I feel like the brown paint I oozed into the paper to make it look 'older' or 'worn' or 'distressed' makes it just look sloppy? What should I do? Help please? Then, very soon I have finished curtain pictures coming up!

hooray for modern medicine...

...even with all it's glitches...I feel we are a people inspired by God in the advancement of medicinal break-throughs...
...flu shots hurt! But we are thankful for them. When a flu rolled into our home this week, I stayed well (I was immunized a few weeks ago), both girls (immunized a week earlier) got a mild case clearing up after a day with only lasting weakness, and my hubby is still sick, sorry sweetie (no shot for him). Do I think the flu shot caused the girls to get sick? uh, no. And we might get the flu a few more times this season! But if it was as mild as this case, bring it on! My mommy nerves can handle it. Are we diligent in getting the flu shot? no, more as a convenience. Do I ever want a loved one to be 1 of the 500 in 40 million that contract a serious illness as a result of adverse reactions to the flu shot...never. Even knowing we were perhaps helping the greater cause would not ease the pain and suffering of loosing a loved one or remaining permanently disabled. But would I regret getting the flu shot and go on an anti-flu shot campaign? no. Because you do the best you can for your family. Would I stop driving my kids around because the stats of dying in a car accident are by far greater than them dying by the flu shot? no. You do the best you can in this world...and...I'll continue to luuuuv my epidural...

it's that time again...and we are enjoying it...

go BYU!

a little creativity of our own...

...my sis made me do this...we made these little dresses in a few hour burst of creativity one evening late into the night...I was sick of it after one dress...she persisted and encouraged and we got them all done...she will be good at encouraging her own kids efforts one day...

lights, camera, action...

...a friend has an etsy shop for her creations and my girls tried some on to display the pieces...and quality pieces they are too! I was impressed...creative and well done...check them out HERE. Hey, if we live close to you, I'll bet you can just pick it up from me instead of paying shipping!
Baby leggings, soooo cute and cuddley!

"I'm a little teapot..."