You should see the other guy!

No, Seth has not taken up the sport of boxing.

Every boy needs a black eye at least once in his life right?



A size 10 foot did not react very well with Seth's face. I guess that's what you get when you play around with your big sister. It was not intentional and she did apologize, but Seth wishes he had a better story to tell than one in which his sister beat him up. (He was actually using a pillow to guard his face and then he moved it too soon--allowing Andrea's foot to make contact with his eye.)



The swelling went down after a couple of days. (Thank goodness we already took our family Christmas pictures!) We're hoping in a couple of years that he won't end up black and blue when goofing around with his sister.

New Fence

After the terrible wind storm that we had last January, we finally decided it was time to fix our badly broken fence. Nice look'in eh?

Celebrating the Holidays!

There are a lot of things to do and celebrate during the month of December. This picture collage shows the many things we have been doing. (You can click on the picture to see it bigger)



We drove to Paradise and enjoyed the SNOWY winterland.
We decorated a gingerbread house @ Grandma Leila's.
Seth & Kiana participated in our ward Christmas party--cute angels :)
The kids loved baking and decorating Christmas cakes/cupcakes.
Don't forget the annual family picture by the Christmas tree

There are still 9 days until Christmas--I wonder what we'll do next?

Christmas Card

What a great Christmas card! I have to brag because my sister-in-law (the one I don't care about and can't sit next to--ha ha) made our Christmas cards this year. If you're interested in having her make you some let me know--I'll hook you up! :)

Our Christmas Tree

O.K., I have to admit that I am a bit of a control freak and my husband does label me as a micro manager quite often. I can also be a scrooge with money. I am telling you this so you'll be able to understand the following story better. :)

A couple of years ago our neighbor offered us his artificial Christmas tree. We accepted and have used it for several years. I do miss the smell of pine from a live tree, but I don't miss vacuuming the dry needles that fall on the carpet or paying 50bucks to buy a tree each holiday season. We have in the past driven up to the mountains to cut down our own tree. The time and money in gas just doesn't seem worth it(this is where me being a scrooge with money plays into the story),besides I'm not too much into the look of a "Charlie Brown tree" that the mountains provide. Anyways . . . my eldest daughter continues to belittle our fake Christmas tree. She claims we need a REAL TREE. Since I am not giving in--I like my fake tree--I thought I should at least let go of some of my control and micro managing issues and allow the kids to decorate the tree anyway they want. (Yes, I am usually in control of how the tree is decorated too.)

I let the kids look at Christmas ads and told them they could spend 10 dollars to buy any extra things to help decorate the tree. When Aaron heard the plan he added another 5 dollars to the adventure--He always is the kids favorite! So, for family night we went out and the kids bought new decorations for the tree and came home and decorated our tree. I have to admit. The tree looks GREAT! I guess by letting go I was able to see things a different way and actually like it. I think I also guilted myself into letting go by realizing that someday my kids will not be here to decorate the tree--I need to enjoy my children while they are still young. I'm amazed it has taken me this long to figure out such a simple thing.

I love you Andrea, Seth, & Kiana. You did a great job decorating our tree. It looks BEAUTIFUL!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Another Thanksgiving has come and gone. Lots of food, family and good times. Here are a few pictures to document our fun holiday weekend.

Yummy Drumstick!!!

Halloween & Pumpkin Carving

It's not Halloween without a pumpkin carving night. Everyone was into designing their own pumpkin face and carving it out. However, Seth had quite an issue with pulling out the inside of the pumpkin. And you can't forget about roasting pumpkin seeds--Yummy!



Can you guess what the kids were dressed up as this year?
(See answers at bottom)





The adults even got into the Halloween spirit. Our dinner group decided to dress up this year. Can you guess who we are?
(See answers @ bottom of this blog.)



Halloween is not complete without the annual Trunk-or-Treat.



-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ANSWERS:

(Kids--A Dancer, Spy and Witch.)

(Dinner Group--From left to right: Greg & Melissa as Wesley & Buttercup/Warren & Melanie as A TREE & A Tree Nymph/Tyler & Bryn as Burt & Mary Poppins/ and Gina & Aaron as Red Riding Hood and her hero The Woodsman.)

Soccer Time!

Our soccer season is finally over. Andrea, Seth, & Kiana enjoyed soccer this fall despite the weekly practices, cold morning games, game losses, playing in the mud, wind, rain, & sun, and having their last game canceled due to rain. I'm sure we will be signing them up again for soccer next fall.

Andrea has played for 7 years now and loves to play a defender position especially goalie. At the age of 13, girls take soccer very seriously.

Seth has played soccer for 6 years and although he is a great goalie his favorite position is still to play forward and make the goals. We've rewarded him with a Slurpee for every goal he makes. 7-11 is getting quite a bit of business from us.

This is Kiana's 2nd year playing. Although she hasn't said that she loves soccer, she does play her best. She is a little hesitant about invading the pack when they have the ball, but she does has a great kick and doesn't mind being the goalie. We think she likes the attention!



Well, until next year---GO TEAM!

Thanksgiving Hangman

This should keep you busy during the Thanksgiving Holidays!



Hey family--remember this fun picture? I put it up on my fridge every Thanksgiving season so we can have a good laugh.

Taking a Stand!

As many of you know the fight for Proposition 8 in California has been a great battle for many months. Because of the important issues surrounding the cause, Aaron and I have involved ourselves in the fight.

I am not a very forward person, so when the issue of helping first came about I was very cautious. I donated money, put a bumper sticker on my car, and placed a sign in my yard. All of this seemed to be a great contribution, but I wondered if it was enough. The closer we got to the date of voting I found myself wanting to be more involved and to take a more active approach, not only for myself but for the future of my children.

I decided to walk the precincts with Aaron and explain to others the facts surrounding Proposition 8. Overall the response was good or they were just very polite. I was also able to attend a Proposition 8 rally--the first in my political career. :) It was actually very exhilarating to stand with a group of people from many different faiths and fight for the same cause. Aaron and I also chose to keep our kids out of school for a day to protest the CTA's contribution to the No on Prop. 8 campaign. It allowed us to share our feelings with each of their teachers and it also gave us a great "teaching day" with our children. I then volunteered to hold Yes on Prop. 8 signs by the mall on a Saturday afternoon. Our group received lots of thumbs up & down, and of course a few other hand gestures. I would just smile and wave knowing that I was standing up for my religious freedoms. This past Saturday, we were able to go and hang signs on the door knobs of homes reminding people to vote yes on Prop. 8. The weather was horrible and we were drenched by the time we were done, but we had a blast!

I am not recounting my duties to take pride in my involvement, I am only writing because I feel so strongly about the actions that so many people have taken to try and ensure a better future for families in California. I feel strongly that regardless of what the voting results may be, I know that I stood on the right side. The song from the Hymn book has often gone through my mind . . . "Who's on the Lord's Side?" I am so grateful to have had this experience in my life and to feel like I have done all that I could to take a stand for righteousness.

I'm not old. . . . YET!!!

Our family was riding together in the car the other day and I was explaining how I old I felt when I attended my college classes with all the young students at the university. Andrea proceeded to tell me that I wasn't old yet and that I wouldn't be old until I turned 40. WOW--Thanks Andrea! I have three more years until I'm officially old!

1960 ???

Don't we look cute?! I saw this on someone else's blog and just had to try it out. I couldn't stop laughing at myself. You should try it for yourself if you're in the mood for a good laugh.

16 Years!

Aaron and I celebrated 16 years of marriage this past week. Wow! The time has flown by! The actual date of our anniversary was filled with work, school, and soccer practice. So we decided to include the kids in our celebrating and we all went out to La Hacienda for dinner--YUM!

Aaron did take me out later for our official celebration to Chili's and to see the movie Dark Knight. Oh, and I can't forget the pink roses. Aaron hates buying me "dead flowers" but he knows how much I love them and him too.

School Pictures

It's time again--time to document annual school pictures!

Labor Day 2008

Well, we could not get enough of Lake Almanor this year. After having my family reunion there we decided to go back with our dinner group families and enjoy the Labor Day weekend together. We had a great time at the lake letting the kids play in the water and taking turns riding on the boat. We also took a drive to Subway Caves and were able to go into an awesome lava tube. We then took our families to Burney Falls. The falls were BEAUTIFUL, but by then the kids had had enough (note the picture of 13 happy kiddos.)

We loved spending the weekend together. Even the moms and dads had a fun time! We're already looking forward to next year's 3rd Annual Dinner Group Campout.

(side note: Aaron and I get together once a month with 3 other couples. We each take a turn hosting, providing dinner, dessert, and games. It is so much fun having a night out with adults. We have been together now for over 2 years.)

Happy Birthday Kiana!

What do you need for a great birthday party?

Friends to swim with, a flower pinata, and of course pink cupcakes!




We had a wonderful time celebrating Kiana's 7th birthday. There were a lot of friends, cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents to share this fun day with her. She received a lot of fun gifts from everyone. Her favorite seemed to be her musical barbie horse & carriage.

Italian Cream Sodas

My brother Kyle made a special treat for our family during our reunion. Italian Cream Sodas. Pick your flavor, add some ice, top with cream, and don't forget the straw!

Yummy!



Tasty!






Can I have some more?