we're off!

We're leaving this afternoon for a wonderful few days with my family in Vernal! I'm changing my playlist to the Christmas songs, because it's THANKSGIVING and to me THANKSGIVING marks the beginning of the season!

Happy Turkey Day! Be safe, have fun, and eat so much you have to pop open the top of your pants!

Hope

a big boy. in a big boy bed.

Carson is now in a big boy bed. (Does he look adorable here, or WHAT?!) It happened sooner than we thought it would, but our crib had basically become a deathtrap. This kid...sigh...if there's a way to get a limb stuck inside something (a toy, a shopping cart, you name it) he'll do it. This proved true with our crib as well. At least weekly he'd get his arm or foot stuck between the wood slats. It made me nervous, but I was always able to get him out without any major drama, and I really wasn't ready to give up the "confinement" a crib offers at sleep times. Then one day he got his leg stuck all the way to his thigh. The poor guy was really uncomfortable and it was only made worse with my efforts to loosen him. I was just beginning to feel desperate, as though I'd have to break the crib in order to save my poor baby's chubby leg, which was now red and raw from the tight fit, when it finally occured to me: DUH! VEGETABLE OIL! I ran downstairs, listening to him cry out to me, "Ouchie, Mama, ouchie!" Sure enough, once he was slicked up like a greased pig, his leg slid right out. The toughest part was getting his knobby knee, but with a little encouragement, even that gave way. But that did it for me. That was the final blow and a week later he had a new li'l bed and the old was on it's way to crib heaven. It was fun to finally get out some of his room decor from our house in AZ (I had waited because I had figured I would put it up when the boys shared a room. I've now accepted they may never share a room, what with Wyatt's night terrors, etc.) Part of his decor is a charming and oh-so-cute quilt Dixie made him when he was born. It's vintage fabric, which went with his super-cute vintage nursery he had in Arizona. I even found a grocery sack full of leftover fabric scraps! He was all set, except I ran into a problem with the pillow. If I used a regular pillow, it took up so much space on the bed that he was no longer protected from the short guardrails. I needed a pillow that didn't go so far down on the bed. So...I took a leap of faith and decided I'd brave the sewing machine. For those that know me well, the idea of sewing something is as about as appealing to me as a root canal. It stresses me out. Things always go wrong and I have absolutely no patience for it. One tiny thing goes wrong and I throw up my hands in defeat, "That's it! I'm done!" Anyway, I held my breath and you'll never believe it, but...I DID IT!!! I custom-made a pillow and it turned out darn-stinkin' cute (if I do say so myself)! I took my "regular" pillow and cut 1/3 of it off, making it just the right size. It only took me an hour and a half (that may sound like a long time for you experienced seamstresses, but for me, it was a pleasant surprise) and when I was done, I was ready to show & tell to everyone and anyone who would listen! If a vacuum-cleaner salesman would have shown up at my door, I probably would have pulled out my prize-winning pillow with pride!

I wanted to do some fancy-schmancy stuff.

Isn't it cool?????? Also, I wanted to take a close-up

of the cute red clown pattern. I love it!

~

The amputated pillow. How sad.

~
This part took forever. I had to twist and turn

the fabric to sew the "Z" of the ric-rac. But I wanted

to do it right and my mom thought this would be

the best way from the ric-rac (sp?) bunching up

when I have to wash the pillowcase.

~
Here it is with the quilt Dixie made.

How can you make Disney characters even better? Put 'em on skates.

Last Saturday we had the awesome opportunity to take our kids to an incredible show, Disney On Ice! It was at the Energy Solutions Arena, which made taking Front Runner and Traxx ultra-convenient. The kids were about to burst from excitement as we waited for the train. When it finally pulled up, I tried to capture their reactions on film. See How Wyatt's fists are balled up? He could barely contain himself!

~

While we waited for the show to start, Brett treated the kids to some cotton candy, which came with a Mickey Mouse crown. Each "kid" had to take a turn wearing it, including King Brett! Halle's and my favorite part of the show was the Mulan segment--too bad I enjoyed it too much to remember to take any pictures. I'm usually not one talented enough to recognize stuff like choreography, but this...ahhhh! This Mulan number literally took my breath away and I'm kind of embarrassed to admit it, but it was so well-done, everyone so in sync with one another, that it made me cry a little! Wyatt's favorite part was seeing Woody and Buzz, and Brett thought Nemo was totally cool--seeing 2 skaters so fluid with each other as they played the part of "Bruce" the shark was pretty impressive. I wish my pictures were better, but that was as far as I could zoom in and everyone was always moving so quickly--it was hard to get a clear shot.

Here they are, mesmerized.

Buzz & Woody - All the Princess Couples
Finding Nemo - A replica of the "Small World" from Disneyland

Aladdin & Genie

~

After the Fun show, and I do say FUN with a capital "F", we walked over to Gateway where we at a scrum-diddly-umptious lunch at The Dodo. Six hours from the time we left home to the time Front Runner pulled back into the Woods Cross station, we were exhausted. But we all lay down for naps with giant smiles on our faces! Thanks to the generous, warm, and always-so-thoughtful people who got us the tickets! We wish you could have been there with us--you'd have loved watching the kids almost as much as you'd have enjoyed watching the ice show!

At The Dodo (yum) the kids each took a turn taking our picture. Here's Wyatt's photograph.
~

And this one? Courtesy of Halle, the photographer. I teased Brett that he didn't look "ecstatic" enough to be with me. I told him I wanted him to smile for the camera and display how enamored he was with his wife! Below is the result...he gave this cheesy smile and by the time I took the picture we were all laughing so hard, it distorted his face and it came out like this (HA!):
This is Brett. Enamored.

a moment of thanks

Just wanted to give a shout out to some very generous people (you know who you are) that gave us an opportunity to enjoy a wonderful Saturday morning and afternoon with our kids! Thanks to you, we created some fun memories that will stay with us forever. The only thing that would have made it better would have been having you with us. Thank you.

More to come later with pictures and details.

Our cutie, Carson

Here are some silly little videos Carson and I made

together last month. He's so cute!

The first one I made because I wanted to record him saying "Mom, again?"

I think it's adorable the way he asks me to repeat something!

And the encore...

life after elections.

http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stories/church-responds-to-same-sex-marriage-votes

I Choose the Glass Half-Full

I must admit I was disheartened last night.

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Clearly, I preferred my candidate, John McCain, and wanted him to win. Otherwise I would not have voted for him. However, I don't think I realized how much I'd wanted him to win until he gave his speech. As much confidence as I've got in Senator McCain, I wasn't surprised he lost. Barack Obama had created a great momentum in the country and I think it was obvious to everyone he'd had the lead for a couple months now. But as our Arizona Senator very graciously admitted defeat and delivered an eloquent speech, so dignified and refined, I found myself weeping. I was proud of John McCain. Proud of what he accomplished and the kind of man that he is. Proud of his love and devotion to his country. He wasn't the perfect candidate and would not have made the perfect president. Even though I voted for him, I had issues with some of his policies. I had serious issues with his running mate, as well. But for the most part, I have great admiration for him and I believe that, if given the chance, he would have proven to the world that he was good on his word and a gifted leader. I was extremely moved by Senator McCain's speech, and I think others from both party lines were as well. Disappointment in loss is expected, even when you anticipated that loss. But McCain's words inspired me and helped me on the road to accepting Barack Obama as our president-elect.

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McCain's speech would be difficult to beat--it was truly that stirring. I definitely think it topped the night. However, I have to admit that Obama's speech was also rousing. One thing to his credit, is that I do believe, and have always believed, that he is sincere in his desire to better this country. That gives me hope. I am disturbed by some of Senator Obama's opinions regarding several moral issues. But he is going to be my president. And I have to believe that he will do some good for this country, hopefully making some positive changes. I am praying that he will be a servant of integrity and of morals. I am praying that through time he might come to see that as a Christian, which he claims to be, he must take a stand in the true teachings of Christ, especially in reference to abortion and homosexuality, as well as other controversial issues.

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Time will tell what changes the next four years will bring. But I believe America is a blessed country--watched over, and like all other nations on the earth, ultimately part of a Plan designed by our Creator. I know the Lord is aware of our government leaders, and I believe that if we pray for them, the Lord will bless them and us. I did not vote for Barack Obama, and I wish that John McCain would have one. I would have been much more at ease with John McCain in the Oval Office. But I do believe that Obama has the potential to be a good president, even a great president. I am going to do my best to support him. I am going to do my best to speak good of him and be proud of him.

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Finally, despite any negative feelings I may have had towards him as a candidate, I will say that I felt very good about the fact that America has made incredible progress in the past 150 years. It is telling that an African-American will be serving as Commander in Chief. In that regard, America is turning a new page in racial-acceptance. That is a victory all of America can share.

Patches, Carving, & All Other Things : "PUMPKIN"

I love carving pumpkins!

Everything about it... I love the slippery, slimy pumpkin guts, squishing them between my fingers and pulling the stringy stuff away from the inner cavity. I love the smell of pumpkins! It's kind of like play-doh. Not that it smells like play-doh, but it has the same effect on me as the soft clay: I can't resist sniffing and sniffing over again and again when I'm around it. The entire time we're cleaning and carving, I find myself leaning in for a closer whiff of that yummy pumpkin smell. This was also the first year I've been successful at toasting the pumpkin seeds. I did three flavors: salted, BBQ, and traditional (with Worcestershire Sauce). The BBQ was a total bust (gross!) but I devoured the salted and traditional seeds happily...forget being cautious about sodium levels here. They were DE-LISH! We carved 4 pumpkins, all picked from Pack's pumpkin patch during Wyatt's preschool outing. Here are some more pictures from our Pumpkin Adventures last week:

Halle took these of me.

This picture was my famous "sniffing" pose

after Halle told me to smell the pumpkin.

(How do you show yourself smelling for a still shot?????)

YES!!!! PUMPKIN GUTS!!!!

~

The boys are holding their Halloween cards that I'd
left out for them the night before. That was something fun.
I'd picked out a dollar item for each of the kids and put it
next to their breakfast for Halloween--Halle got
an orange & black hairbow, Wyatt got orange pumpkin socks,
and Carson got a small Elmo boardbook about pumpkins.
You'd have thought it was Christmas morning by their reactions!
I love having kids that express
themselves so openly...it makes life fun!
~

Here are our final creations. What do you think?
The bottom two were mine--it was fun drilling holes
into the one on the right. I felt very "Martha Stewart"!
The top left was Wyatt's design and the top right was Halle's.
I loved her unique idea of doing a music note!
~
Wyatt with two of his preschool buddies
(Red Power Ranger & Indiana Jones),
all dressed up from their class party
~

Pack's Pumpkin Patch...

Here's Wyatt and Carson sitting still for story time
The boys were so cute together!
I'd asked Wyatt to help keep an eye on Carson
and he took his brotherly duties very seriously.
They walked around holding hands the entire afternoon,
especially in the hay maze. I
love that they are such good friends!

(Carson pushed his head so far into the ghost-hole,

for a minute I was worried it would get stuck!)

~

Carson insisted on carrying his pumpkin himself,

barely making it to the wheelbarrow before nearly losing his grip!