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!