Christmas Tree

Well another year another tree. We decided to go get our tree this year the day before Thanksgiving. I just looked at our calendar and there was not a free weekend day until late Dec that we could go and get one. . and I think that if you are going to go cut a tree down you need to at least have it for a month or so to justify the death of a pine so that is when we went. hee hee
We usually go up to the cabin and get one, but we didn't leave until 2:00pm so we thought that we could get one a little closer than to go all the way up in the mountains. So we just pulled off the main road and got out and started looking. Josie and I walked and played in the snow for about 20 or so minutes before we decided to go back because I hadn't even seen one tree that I would even consider. So we met Joshy back at the Truck--well my parents had come with us and my dad had just disappeared into the forest. We decided to wait for him to come bck so we could drive farther in. We waited and waited until finally we were getting nervous. We then get a call on the phone. It is my dad and he is lost somewhere. He said that he could hear cars so he headed for the road. Luckly we found the road and him walking down it. It was pretty fun then, but I just keep thinking about what could have happened. Scary--
SO to avoid that senerio again we hustled up to the place where we ususally get our trees and cut one down there. It was pretty dark by then but we got it home. And it looks great!! I love love real trees. It was super fun.

Josie and Trooper helped me put up the lights and decorations. I went to Troops bedroom to get him some clothes and when I came back Trooper was at the top of the ladder having the time of his life. He was super super giggly so I couldn't help but snap a picture. Later Josie was helping me untangle some lights. I hear here in the corner say, "Oh no, OH Shoot" and kinda whining. I was like "Josie are you ok? Is something wrong?" She says "No mom, I am just having some DRAMA over here with the lights." ha ha She is so Drama herself, sometimes I have to remind myself that she is just 3 and not 15.
I think that they had a lot of fun playing in the lights and with the ornaments. So on to the Christmas season we go. It is crazy like at the top of the rollercoaster, the anticipations is awful but super fun. So from the shopping and baking and decorating and sewing and scraping, to parties for family, Church, work, friends and neighbors, to young woman and Elders quorum and then Joshy's birthday festivities we defiantly have a full plate but I love Christmas it is my favorite time of the year.

Gobble Gobble

Wow I haven't blogged for a while. Oops. Things just got super busy fun. Like the rest of you. Thanksgiving was really fun. We spent the day with Joshy's family. It was so fun for our kids to play with their cousins. And we really enjoyed being with almost (we missed you Sara and Daniel) all of his brothers and sisters. The day was absolutely gorgeous so the kids mostly spent the day outside. Dinner was wonderful. I love yams. I don't know why I didn't like them as a kid cause now I think that they are almost better than the pie. This year Joshys mom made them with apples and an oatmeal crispy stuff--ahh they were so good.

The boys played with guns after dinner for a while. Trooper, much to my dismay was super excited about that. We played a few games, looked at some Black Friday adds, ran out of gas (that is whole different story) and then had some pie. It was a great day. We did attempt to get a picture with all of the cousins and that was super super funny. Here is a fav:

The day after we packed up early and took our kids down to SLC. My parents like to take all their grandkids down to see Temple Square at Christmas. So they got hotel rooms downtown and we spent Friday and Saturday there. It was great. I asked Josie what her favorite part about the weekend was, thinking it would be something like the christmas lights or swimming or pizza or McDonalds or the Dino museum but she insisted that it was the "elagaters"--you know those huge elagaters in the conference center. hee hee She makes me laugh--we had to get special permission from the couple missionaries in the center so that she could go down them.

I was sooo soo soo impressed by the primary children's center in the Church History and Art center. They have a whole set up for kids to learn about being a child of God. It had a place for the kids to pretend like they were mommys and dadies with newborn babys (Josie was in heaven hee hee no pun intended), a place for them to go to church and lead the music, dress up clothes for a Christmas nativity, had puzzles on the walls about gospel topics (Troop loved that) lots and lots of art projects and activities. It was a lot of fun and I am so glad that we did it. Josh and I were talking in the primary room about how there really is just a great feeling there. Crazy that in the middle of a huge busy city on a crazy busy weekend there could be a place of such peace and contentment. Then again not crazy, wonderful and awesome! We had a great Thanksgiving--so much to be grateful for.

Sweetness

I should have posted this a long time ago but as things go we get busy and I forgot. Josie says funny things to me probably each and every day (like most kids do). You think that you will never forget them but I do. So I am going to try and be better about writing them down so I will remember them. Here are two things that just warmed my heart.
Josie and Trooper really really love each other most of the time. They are both getting big enough to really start to play with each other. It is so fun to see them play together. One morning Trooper and Josie were wrestling on the floor and Josie says to Josh and I, "Trooper is my good buddy, I really love him", One of us said something back to her like "I am so glad that you love him Josie" Then she got this excited look on her face jumped up next to us and said " Guys! Guys! I know something, when he gets bigger, bigger, bigger, I can marry him in in in the Church!!!" She was so excited that she came up with little plan. We talked about who we marry and why we marry and where we marry, but it made me smile and giggle that she loves him so much that she wanted to marry him.



The other super cute one was that the other day we were headed down to Gra'mas house for the afternoon. Josie almost everyday asks me if we can go to one or the other of her grandmas houses. And we really don't go that often--(well often compared to some people but not often enough for her), so she was super super excited. Josh and I were talking on the way down and I could hear Josie talking quietly in the back. So I asked her what she was saying. She said in the sweetest little voice " Mom, I was just thanking Jesus for letting us go to gra'mas house again." I wanted to cry. It was so sweet and tender. I love it when I am reminded of how sweet,and pure and how receptive little children are.

Cats and Dogs

Here are some fun Halloween pictures of the kids. Some from a carnival and some from a Trunk or Treat! I think that both kids had a great time this year for Halloween. I wanted some cute coordinating costumes for them--or for our whole family. Like Wendy, PeterPan and Tinkerbell and Capt Hook or a chicken, an egg and Farmers or a Flower and a Bee and bee keepers--but when it came down to it Josie wanted to be a kitty and I couldn't resist making Troop into a puppy. . . so here they are:

CAN NOT WAIT!!

Ok so I have had a few minutes to surf the net tonight. I am giddy as a little school girl and am laughing at myself right now. I don't think that I have ever posted anything about this topic but I am just thrilled so I am going to!! I cannot wait to see TWILIGHT! Cannot wait! Counting down!! I loved the books as most who read them do. But I watched the trailers on Fandango (I have seen them before) and I got all silly excited again. Then somehow I found myself taking a silly little quiz and this is what I came up with . . . .














Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

I have mixed feelings about this. I took it again and again and came up with some different results but I felt that I needed to go with my first one. hee hee I don't think that I am totally Bella --especially since I know some of you don't like her and she really bugs others--however, I do see myself in her and I think that most girls that do like or love Twilight have to see themselves as her too. So I will take it! Please please take this quiz and post it!! I really want to see who my fellow Twilighters are!!!

TROOPER'S ONE!!!

My baby boy is big!! Trooper had his first birthday on Saturday! He loves puppies and dogs so we decided to throw a puppy party. I made some cute puppy invitations where you pull out the doggy's tongue and it has the information on it. It said "Its a PAW-ty! Wag your tails, bark hooray! It's Trooper's 1st Birthday! Sat Oct 25th at Trooper's Kennel blah blah Come for some puppy chow and doggy treats. Woof your Arf!SVP!"
Troop loves the outside so we had it in the garage--which I thought was funny and fitting! We heated it up with heaters because it has been super cold. We decorated tables with newspapers and stuffed dogs and bones. We served hot dogs with salad and chips(in doggy dishes) and then cupcakes and ice cream. I tried to think of a drink that would be dogy-like and we teased that we should drink out of a toilet-- but we would need a NEW toliet so it wouldn't be too gross for everyone--and then suddenly we got asked to pick one up for my grandma and I thought it must be destiny. So we served bottled water out a a NEW potty! It was pretty funny. We had everyone secretly record their best bark and then played it for everyone so they could try and guess whose bark it was. Then Troop opened his presents and ate his cake and then crashed for his nap! I think he had a ball!! We gave our guest doggy bags with "puppy chow" to take home and I found gram cracker doggy bones too. I hope everyone had as much fun as we did! We love Trooper so much! I cannot imagine our family without him. He is such a boy!! He has the sweetest personality! He is so funny, and happy. He loves to cuddle with his mommy, loves Josie alot and thinks that he can do everything that she can and LOVES to play and wrestle with dad. Man that year sure did fly by--but we cannot wait for the next one! WE WOOF YOU TROOP! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

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Run

Yeah!! We just finished our first 5K! A little while ago Josh and I had a discussion about our hobbies together as a couple and well we don't really have very many things that we do together that I would consider a hobby. We LOVE to be together and be with our kids and we LOVE to work together alot, but I don't think those qualify as hobbies . . .So we decided that we would start doing some more fun hobby-like things together. Josh surprised me and we went crosscountry skiing last January together and it was a blast! We might get into that as our hobby but there hasn't been much snow for that. . .yet! So we thought that we would try the 5K running thing. For those of you that didn't know Joshy in HS he was smoken fast and I think still holds some records at Snake River. hee hee I am bragging about Joshy. But I was never really a runner so this is pretty new for me. Anyway we thought that we would try this and kinda keep it on the down low cause well less pressure right? hee hee But I did tell our Martin friends cause they are like professional runners and run like marathons and stuff so I thought that for safety reasons we should ask their advice! hee hee
The Run was on the coldest morning ever! Later that day it snowed several inches so we dressed super warm. We ran with the Martins and I totally stole this picture from Becky! I hope that is ok Beck! I was the last in our little group but I feel pretty happy about it--especially since this is my first race ever and well I didn't train very well either. I think I was 39:06 and Becky and Nick were 34:48 and Joshy was 31:26! I was so proud of him he did awesome! AND he was even sweet enough to offer to run with me so we could finish together but I am glad that he did so awesome and left me all by myself . . in the dust!! This was so much fun! I really think that we could have this as a hobby! Thanks Martins for doing it with us it really made the run funner! hee hee

Potato Harvest!!

Yeah for Thompson Farm they finished their potato harvest!! I think that they finished the Friday before conference weekend even!! That is pretty impressive I think. I can remember plenty of harvests when I was trying to listen to conference in my ten wheeler. Not that you could really cause the reception was bad and the radio was worse. But oh the memories that I have of harvest. It was miserable picking potatoes, riding the combine, the wind, the rain, the dirt boogers but the funny and irreplaceable memories of Jana's shirt getting caught in the machine and being ripped off her body, of being dared to eat a dirt clod and being dumb enough to do it, trying to go potty in the middle of a field with 6 layers of clothes on and and laughing so hard that you didn't quite make it, feeling your truck sinking in feet of mud, driving my truck with the park brake on (oops), having a mouse living in my truck and wanting to die in the middle of a dark field in the middle of the Fort Hall reservation driving a fully loaded truck down the road and your lights go out. Ahh what fun. I don't think that my kids will ever get to experience the real harvest like I did but I still wanted them to get a look at what grandpa was doing. They had a great time. Troop loved the tracker and the dirt and grease and Josie loved all the "Tatos" and getting to ride with Grandpa. Thanks DAD!!

What is with my kids and mud

I have to post this as well. There was one day a while back when we still here having days in the 80 degrees that it rained. It beautiful and still pretty warm outside after so I let Josie go outside with Aspen her little friend. They came back in a few minutes later. Josie was covered in mud (which isn't rare she seems to be a magnet to it) so I washed her off and sent them downstairs. Later that night We saw what she had been up to. I didn't really have time to clean it up right then. . . or even a week or so later. BUT I cannot tell you how many comments and looks I got from this little art project. People would pass me on the road and turn around to look and smile. hee hee so I had to take a picture of it with the culprit. The picture doesn't do it justice. it was really cute, hand prints all the way around.

BUSY Busy! When the cats away. . . .

Things have been uuper busy for us lately. I think that it is mostly just us trying to get into the swing of things. Between family stuff, work and our church jobs we don't really get to spend much family time together. One night for mutual, at least one night for Elders Quorum, one night for RS stuff and then add in some family parties, friends and recreation and we are not home. I am sure it is like this for all of you as well, it is hard sometimes to find a balance--but it has made me really enjoy and cherish the time that we do get to be together as a family. AND it lets Joshy have at least one night with the kids by himself. So far every Tuesday Joshy has taken Josie and Troop on a little mini date--to the park or to get kiddy cones or to visit friends. Josie tells me all about it the next day. She and Troop love it. I am so grateful to have such a sweet husband who is such a great daddy. However as I am going through my pictures I found these:


Now I know that I already posted one of Trooper eating a dirt clod--but I didn't really let him eat it-he just had it on his face. This time Josh took like 20 pictures of him eating handfuls of dirt out of a little play kitchen that we have out side. He just let him eat it I guess. No wonder on mutual nights Joshy says not to worry about dinner he will take care of it. Now I know what he is feeding them. hee hee

Joy School

Josie is doing Joy school this year!! Yeah!! She has been asking me about school for a while and wants to know when she could ride the bus. hee hee I wonder how long the excitement of school will last once she really is in school. We went school shopping and she had a ball. She carried around her bookbag for like a week before anything started, carefully laying out all of her "things". We have been doing it for like 6 weeks or so and I forgot to take a picture of her first day!! (I know, what kind of a mom am I?) anyway so when the kids were here at our house I took a picture. They have on thier Dotted Doggy Ears cause we learned the letter D.



Then this is a picture of her this week. She is growing up so fast!!

Harvest

It is that time of year again isn't it. I don't know if I am ready for winter just yet! I do love the fall colors and all the fall things like cooler nights, frost on the grass, harvesting the veges, canning, pumpkins and football--(Joshy thats for you). BUT when fall comes, winter is just around the corner. Yesterday October 9th there were snowflakes in the air!! Yes snow! Megan called me yesterday just so I wouldn't miss it. Nothing stuck but still it was snow. I do love the excitement of the first snow and am sure that when we do get some to stick it will be fun but after that it is like an eternal frozen dead land. BUT I am not going to dwell on that.

I decided to harvest most of our garden cause it is supposed to be in the 60's and 50's this week! So I pulled up the tomatoes and picked all the corn and I have to say that it is the BEST corn that we have had all year!! It looks pretty pathetic cause the cobs are so little you have to eat a whole one to get a mouthful but it is sooooo good. I love that we grew a garden--even if it didn't do as well as I would have liked and was lots of work. I am grateful that we have the means to grow our own food. Someone discovered that he loved it too! Trooper cannot seem to get enough of it. I think he might sit in his highchair and eat it all day if I would let him. Here are some good pictures of him enjoying it. hee hee

Tag

Did you know...

I have never been one to enjoy the whole chain letter thing or the forwarded emails or even the blogging "tags" however, I love reading and learning about my friends funny little quirks and since I was tagged by two of my friends (Nicole and Megan) I thought I would try to do this one.

Here are the rules:
1. Link the person(s) who tagged you
2. Mention the rules on your blog
3. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours
4. Tag 6 fellow bloggers by linking them

1. I love to watch pre-teen movies. You know the kind that they have on the Disney channel. I know isn't that dumb. Its not an addiction or anything, but if I am flipping channels and see one I have to watch it or DVR it. The cornier the better. Joshy thinks it is super funny that a grown woman can get all gushy over some highschool drama. But I like them!

2. I love to eat cold meat. If there is left over steak or chicken in the fridge from dinner, right before I go to bed I have to have a little bit of it. The best is roastbeef with mustard! hee hee

3. When I sleep I have to sleep with a heavy blanket. It could be 100 degrees and I would still need something heavy around me. We have a feather down on our bed and the whole thing usually ends up on me even in the summer .

4. I hate seeing things killed on the road. Probably everyone hates that too but it REALLY bothers me. We once saw a family of raccoons that had been ranover on the highway, two babies and then a mother. It was so sad to me that the mother was probably killed last and had seen her babies killed first that I started to cry. Josh hasn't let me live that one down yet!

5. I cannot ware gloves! I hate wearing gloves to do things. So if I am gardening or pulling weeds or anything--unless absolutely necessary--I will do it bare-handed.

6. I suffer from nonbuyers remorse. Most people buy too much and regret what they bought later--I am just the opposite. I get empowered by walking away from something that I really wanted. It is some sort of funny self discipline. So I am usually regretting what I DIDN'T buy as opposed to what I did. hee hee but I am richer in the end I guess.

Now I tag Brandy, Jess, Jilly, Jen, Erinn and Erin. I know you all have really cute and funny quirks. hee hee AND anyone else who wants to.

Curious of Curl

Ok So I need some advise!! I know some of you have fabulous hair and would like your input. I have a little bit of natural curl in my hair-- just enough to make straightening difficult but not enough to wear it curly. Anyway I need a change and am thinking curly but I don't want to get a perm I did the whole curly permy thing in Jr High and don't not wish to repeat it. So what do you suggest? I went to the store yesterday to buy some kind of product and wondered if these even work. They have all sorts of curly shampoos and conditioners, curling spray or gels. Have any of you tried these?!!

Cabin

Last weekend we went to the Cabin. It is probably one of my favorite places to go, with so many memories there! It is so fun to now get to share them with my own family and to see Josie be fascinated by the same things I was. Pine cones, tree sap, flowers, dragonflies, rocks and the water. It was lots of fun to just go and relax. Thanks Mom and Dad for sharing!! It wasn't super warm but still beautiful. We took the kiddos swimming, for walks, and a little boating. We found a whole bunch of little frogs by the waters edge that Josie just fell in love with. Here are some fun pictures we took.

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Me and My Daddy

Here are some cute pictures of Trooper and Joshy. Troop sure loves his daddy and Joshy sure loves his little boy! I just loved these pictures of my boys. The older Trooper gets the more I am convinced that he is a little Josh. They have the same facial expressions. Sooo cute to me!

Fair time!!

So it has been a while since we have posted. We have been busy doing the Fallish things. I cannot believe summer is over and fall is here. We took our kids to the Fair this last week. Joshy mostly complained about it the whole time but he was still pretty sweet about it. I know that it is a huge rip off and dirty and mostly the same every year, but I cannot remember a year of my life without it. Its is just one of those funny traditions that I look forward to. So thanks Josh for putting up with the Fair for one more year. We went pretty early on the first day and it was great. There wasn't a big crowd yet and things were still pretty clean. We let Josie pick a ride that she wanted to go on and of course it was a "pink" one. Funny girl. Both our kids loved the animals. Troop LOVED the petting Zoo and giggled at the goats trying to eat him. I didn't bring our camera so no good pics. But we did have some great/awful food including the scone nuggets, chocolate dipped cheese cake and peach smoothy. We saw lots of our friends; the Vasas's, the Larsens, the Todds, the Sauers, the Greens, and the Thompsons. It is always fun to be in a hometown and run into old highschool friends as well. Anyway the kids and I had fun and I know at least Josie (and I) cannot wait for next year.

The Grass is Greener

So Josh brought home these pictures of one of his jobs that he is currently doing. I couldn't help but share these. I guess this family works overseas and came home after being gone for 10 months to find that their water had been running in their house the whole time. Wouldn't that be a fun thing to come home to. Grass growing in your living room. Their carpet was burgundy but it looks pretty green to me.

Pie Plunders

Our ward had a combined ward carnival/corn social this last weekend. It was so fun! Not only was the food delicious but the company was too. So here are a couple of pics I took of the pie eating contest! Enjoy!