Happy Thanksgiving

Today is/was Thanksgiving. Now that I'm married and have kids I have so much more to be thankful for but it seems like I have no time to sit quietly and be grateful. We went to my dad's house and had Thanksgiving dinner with him and Jennie. Our friend Joel came over as well - he doesn't have much family so he spent the day with ours. Dad and Jen fixed a wonderful dinner and we enjoyed the beautiful day outside. The kids played, some lights were put up outside, food was cooking and tasted so good, and no naps were taken. Santa visited Kaitlyn since she won't be here for Christmas this year. Santa came to Papa's house because we were all together as a family and felt like today would be a good day. She received some books, a blow dryer, some fun twilight stuff, make-up, jammie pants, and some pretty boots. She'll have another visit from Santa in UT when she is with her mom and that side of the family. We will miss her but are so glad she's with us all year and we could have today.

I want to take a minute to just express my gratitude to my Heavenly Father for watching over me this year. He has truly blessed my family and me this year. It's been a little rough for us and He has kept us together, safe and healthy. Heavenly Father truly is aware of us and loves us. How thankful I am for that .

I'm thankful for my Husband and my children. I know they stress me out at times and every day isn't the most plesant but overall we love one another and have fun. We enjoy being together and love each other tons. I look forward to the day we can get to the temple and be sealed together forever. I sure hope that day comes sooner rather than later. I'm thankful for the good health we enjoy. We do have health trials but those too make us stronger and more faithful. The trials help us turn to our Father in Heaven for guidance, strength, and build our faith.

I am thankful for my job. I am so blessed to be able to work from home. To be able to see my kids grow and to be there for them. I have a wonderful job with a fantastic company. I'm blessed to have the job that I do and to work with the people I do.

I love TX and the beautiful weather we enjoy. I am thankful for family and friends who love and support us. To those who are there for us and set good examples for our children. I'm thankful for the gospel in our lives. I'm thankful for the scriptures and the Priesthood.

I'm grateful for my senses and being able to enjoy the world and loved ones around me. I know I don't appreciate them as much as I should but I am deeply thankful for those around me and all that I have. I struggle at times but know I'm loved and I love in return.

Thank you to everyone who loves and supports me and my family. Thank you Heavenly Father for the blessings and trials. Thank you for another year I was able to live and serve and be served. I miss my mom but am thankful for the live she led and all she taught me. I love you, everyone. There is so much more in my heart but thought this could be a start and hopefully I can continue to be grateful and thankful each and every day.

Happy Birthday Drew

Yesterday was my lovely brother's birthday. He turned 37 if I remember correctly. As we get older he becomes a better brother than the year before. Aging does wonders. Drew was a pain when I was young but my freshman year and his senior year of High School our relationship was started to change. I guess we finally got old enough to help each other rather than torture each other (although that happened too I'm sure). His friends were no longer weird and I was proud of him as my brother. He is smart and talented and married a great girl. He has great kids and is a good dad. I love you and all your quirkiness Drew! Hope you had a Happy Superb Birthday!

Training

I thought I'd do a post about my new goal. There are a few ladies in the Ward that are going to do a Half Marathon. I thought I'd join them. What is better than friends supporting eachother? Since I am so completely out of shape it's taking me a bit to get back into shape. I have been "In Training" for 3 weeks now. I jogged/walked (more jogging actually - shocking I know) 3 miles today. I feel like I'm doing pretty good. The Half Marathon is April 11th so it's kind of a birthday present to myself. In the process I was hoping to lose some weight. 3 kids in 3 years has taken it's toll plus being over 30 doesn't help. I have also started attending the yoga/pilates class at our Ward building. I am loving it! I'm sore but it feels good. I haven't been weighing myself because I don't want to become obsessive about it but couldn't help myself today. I thought for sure that after 3 weeks something would have changed. Boy did something change! Instead of losing weight like I thought I've gained weight. I've gained 7 lbs! I'm so frustrated. I was kindly reminded that muscle weighs more than fat so to keep up the good work. I love comments that push me, support me and help me reach my goal. I really want to be able to do the Half Marathon in April. I figure if I go up a 1/2 mile to a mile each week I'll be running 13.1 miles several weeks before the Marathon. That gives me some weeks to get used to running that far. I also figure it will take me like 4 hours to walk/run it and to keep my mind motivated and busy for that long is also a trick. I've been borrowing Kaitlyn and Larry's IPOD's but need to get music on them that I like or find money to get my own. Hmmm a goal for me to save up for. Plus there is a fee for the marathon that I've got to come up with. I will and can do it! Eventually I figure after some muscle builds I'll finally start losing the weight I so desperately need to lose. I've also started to try and eat healthier and not snack as much. I hope I can stick to everything. I will with all y'alls support. I'm enjoying the exercise and having fun getting the kids involved with it to. Here's to training for the Half Marathon!

Haircuts and New Moon

Here are some pictures of us getting new haircuts this week. Our friend Joel, who is a stylist, came over and gave all of us haircuts and Larry a new color. All of our new styles are cute and it was fun to have him over to do it. He is a great guy and he did a great job.


This is Richard, Jen (holding Kai), and Kaijsa at the New Moon Showing. We had so much fun and the movie was fantastic!

Larry and Kaitlyn were also part of the group and enjoyed the movie. Kait is the Twilight Saga fanatic and had all the trailers memorized before we went. But she behaved herself and only sighed a couple of times for Jacob. :)

This is my self portrait with my cutie patootie hubby. We don't get to go to the movies together very often because one or the other of us is at home with all the kids. This time we got a babysitter (thanks a ton Camille) and got to see New Moon together. This movie was better than Twilight I thought and so much fun to watch. I want to go see it again. Now to count down to June 30th when Eclipse comes out!

Kaijsa the Budding Photographer

Here are the pictures Kaijsa took with the new camera. I think the pictures turned out so cute. I didn't put captions to them because y'all know they are of Kamden and Kinsee Belle mostly. She took them outside and went for a walk with them. My kids are so photogenic but I'm biased. My kids are growing up so fast. I always laughed hearing parents say that when I was a kid because life felt like it was going so slow but now that I'm older time goes by so fast. Thanks Kaijsa for the pictures capturing the babies. I love all my kids and am so blessed to have them in my life. Thank you Kaijsa, Kaitlyn, Kira, Kamden, Kinsee Belle and Kaileigh for being so wonderful.

Family Ramblings

We got a new camera because the new one we got last year goes through batteries like we drink water. It was such a nuisance. We love that camera but my Dad got us another one. It has a rechargable battery so that is nice but I'm not sure it takes as good of pictures. Kaijsa went out and took some of Kamden and Kinsee, I only put up one of those although they are all cute, and then we took some others to get a feel of the camera. My family is so cute! I love them all! Kamden and Kinsee are so sweet but so wild and crazy at the same time. They have the softest, sweetest hearts. I love watching them play together. They can't go anywhere without the other. Kaileigh is growing up so fast. I can't believe she is almost 5 months old already. She has the funniest laugh and the cutest smile. She is still the greatest baby. Kaijsa and Kaitlyn are doing well with being home and getting school work done. Kaijsa's job is going well and so is mine. We'll both be working the holidays but that's ok. Larry is doing well and is a help around the house with all the craziness of kids and life. He even got up and made us all breakfast in bed today! Love breakfast in bed. Thanks honey! I love listening to Kaijsa play the piano. She is getting so good at it. I'm glad my mom started her on the piano and with lessons. Kaijsa has a good talent with it. Kait sings along and has a beautiful voice. We are looking forward to Christmas. I got me an advent calendar that looks like a village! I'm so excited! Each day we get to open a door and pick something out. I need to find something to go inside of them but that will be fun too. I love villages and every year try to add a building to my little village. This calendar will help. Jen came over and helped me glue back my mom's christmas block tree. It no longer looks like a tree which is sad to say but I can still look at it and think of my mom. She loved Christmas and I miss her most this time of year. Soon we'll put out our Christmas decorations and I can't wait. I'd do it now but Kaijsa won't let me. I also love the music and can't wait to listen to it all the time. Again, Kaijsa won't let me listen till after Thanksgiving. My favorite is "I Want A Hippopotomus For Christmas". Such a cute song. Anyways...the days are going well. Family is good. The Holidays are here and we are blessed. I'm going to try and type more later this week. Afterall we have Twilight-New Moon ahead and I need to list my blessings for Thanksgiving.

Playgroup

This week for Playgroup we went to a friend's house that was so much fun! They had goats and a pig that the kids could pet and chase around. Kam loved this, Kinsee not so much. They also had a zip line that the kids could use and Kam did great! I was so proud of him for going. Kinsee surprised me by not going when she is usually so daring. She had fun jumping on the trampoline and swinging. They also got tractor rides which was fun. Again Kinsee didn't seem to like that at first but enjoyed it by the end. They also had a Jeep the kids could play with and drive around. Kinsee and Kam loved LOVED this. They have a fantastic yard and cute house and we loved our time there. Thanks Jane for letting us enjoy your home and family. Kam keeps asking when can we go back. It's so wonderful to have such a good group of moms and kids to spend time with and hang out with. I love our Playgroup Group! Y'all are wonderful friends, mom's and families. The days here are perfect to be outside enjoying the fall. I'm really starting to love this time of year more and more the older I get.I love autumn smells, the crispness in the air, the fireplaces burning and Christmas just around the corner.

October is Over...November Begins...

This post is mostly for y'all to see the pictures. We went to Papa's Trunk-or-Treat on Saturday. We all got dressed up again, but as you notice Kaijsa got rid of her wig. We had a great time with Papa and had some chili and dessert as well as going around to get candy. It was a beautiful day and a fun time. We love you Papa! We hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween. We have WAY too much candy but I'm sure we'll eat it and quickly. Now it's time to get ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas, mostly Christmas. I've discovered things weren't packed too well last year and are broken so I need to spend the next couple of months going through it all and either fixing it or replacing it. I'm hoping for more fixing than replacing. Halloween was fun. The kids looked great. The weather has turned fantastic and now time for the rest of the holidays.

On a side note...Graeme turned 5! Happy Birthday Graeme! We love you! Hope you had a wonderful birthday. You are such a cute sweet kid. Graeme is a year older than Kamden and I hope that they can be great friends even though we live so far apart. I hope it doesn't stay that way forever. Hugs to you Graeme.