A Glance Back

A random picture from each month of 2009. I don't think any of these made the blog before. :)

January


February


March


April


May


June


July


August


September


October


November


December

Merry Christmas to All and to All a Good Year!

Every year our Christmas tree downstairs is "my" tree. I decorate it myself with all gold and red decorations. I even match the wrapping paper for the gifts underneath. The tree upstairs is the "family" tree. The kids decorate it with all the homemade ornaments and the one of kind ornaments that we've collected over the years. Last year, Devynne and Dylan had no desire to decorate it (to my chagrin) so Dakota and I did it.

This year, there was no room for the "family" tree upstairs since we now have a heavy buffet (which we use for a book shelf) where the tree usually goes. So I decided to do the "family" tree downstairs with all of its wonderfully fun ornaments with lots of character. I even bought what I thought was mix matched wrapping paper for the gifts. (Melanie Cannon said I didn't quite pull it off because the paper was definitely coordinated) Anyhoo, Dakota and I decorated it together and it turned out beautifully.

I mailed out Christmas cards in plenty of time. We made homemade hot fudge, magic cookie bars, chocolate chip cookies dipped in white chocolate (yum, thanks for the idea Missy) and pretzels dipped in white chocolate. I put together our yearly scrap page and made copies just in the nick of time (Christmas Eve) and had all the gifts wrapped and under the tree weeks before Christmas day. We had visits from many friends and neighbors who came bearing all kinds of yummy treats for our family. And we even had a few carolers. :)

Christmas Eve was spent with a stop at Bryce and Keri's for a wonderful visit and some yummy pumpkin roll. We love them tons and are grateful for their friendship. We then went to Steve's mom and dad's house to spend time with family. We had lots of great food, fun games and truly wonderful conversation and love.

Christmas Day we opened gifts around 8:00 in the morning. That is the latest we've done that. Which tells me the kids are getting older although, they were excitedly waiting for us at the top of the stairs so we could all go down together. Devynne got a digital camera, Dylan got a video camera and Dakota got Rock Band 2 for the XBox, plus several other surprises each. Steve had a very, merry Pittsburgh Steelers Christmas. Lots of Steelers gifts and he was very happy. I, in case you haven't read previous posts, got a furry little bundle of joy named Benny. :)

We had a delicious breakfast of crepes and were joined by our good friend Korby Miller. She is always fun to visit with and we love when she comes by. The kids then spent the rest of the day with their dad for more good food, fun, friends, family and a few more gifts. Steve and I went to the movies to see Avatar which we absolutely loved and can't wait for it to come out on DVD.

We truly are very blessed and I'm so grateful for all that we have. I'm grateful for this time of year to remember the birth of Christ and to remember what His birth has meant for all of us here on earth. He is our Savior and has provided a way for us to return to our Heavenly Father and that I'm truly grateful for and feel the blessing of. I'm grateful for our family and friends and the love that everyone shows me and my family throughout the year. I love Steve and my children and I'm so grateful for all that they bring to my life. There have been ups and downs this past year and I feel ready to move on to a new year and look forward to all that the year will bring. I hope we all have a really, really great one. :)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Cute Puppy Pictures

Benny missed our family Christmas card pictures so here are some of his Christmas "shots". Isn't he the cutest? :)

Flashback

The kids and I had dentist appointments today and after I signed us in, I turned around and all 3 kids were sitting side by side and were flipping through these books. Devynne said "Mom, remember when we used to read these books all the time?" I sure do. We used to read these books to together when they were real little and then when they were learning to read, they would read them by themselves. Even today, they looked so cute flipping through them. It was a good flashback. :)

The Christmas Card Picture

Over Thanksgiving while Cadie, Cody and Carson were here we took our family picture for the Christmas card. The kids had so much fun doing this, it was hilarious. The ones where the kids were behind Steve and me, we had no idea how they were posing. Everytime the camera clicked a frame they would change up. Here are some of our "shots". The last one is "the one". :)

We Have A New Baby

A puppy, actually. He is the cutest little thing. Steve and I decided it was time to add a puppy to our family. He's a Morkie, which is a Maltese mixed with a Yorkie. We were going to name him Spike, however, when we got him home it didn't fit. So his name is Benny. He's 9 weeks old and now the house training begins. :)

It's Toni's Birthday!

Things I love about Toni

I love her fun personality (which is what drew me to her in the beginning)
I love her quick wit
I love that she is taller than me - :)
I love when she calls me Daddy-O
I love her beautiful smile and the way she flashes me a grin from time to time
I love that she likes my cooking and the little moaning sound she makes when something taste really good
I love the way she supports me, especially in Church callings
I love the way she snuggles up to me to watch TV in bed
I love how much she cares about the kids
I love the way she takes care of our house and makes it a refuge from the world
I love how she makes me laugh ALL THE TIME
I love our long talks about everything
I love how she accepts and loves my family
I love how she always encourages me to play golf with my dad. She gets how important that is.
I love how she loves her family…and shows it.
I love how she doesn’t hold a grudge for anything anyone may have done to her in the past
I love that she has a testimony of the gospel and wants to always be a better person
I love that she wants life to be simple for everyone
I love that she keeps me grounded, reminds me to relax and not be up tight over the little things
I love that she is beautiful, inside and out
I love that she pretends she wants to give me a piggy back ride down the stairs all the time, just for fun.
I love that she accepts me for who I am and doesn’t try to change me (but I always seem to want to be a better person around her. She inspires me to be my best.)
I love her with all my heart and I hope she has a wonderful Birthday today.

Steve

18! 18! 18! 18! 18! 18!

Devynne is now 18 years old. Her birthday was yesterday and I'm still blown away that I have an adult child. I remember the day she was born vividly. I went into labor the night before I was scheduled to be induced. She was born at 4:40am and I was scheduled for the induction at 6:00am. She was born 7 days past my due date and after 13 hours of labor (starting with mild contractions) she came into the world at 9 pounds, 2 ounces and 21 inches long. She had black hair and a very round face.

After a few weeks she was very round all over with round eyes and whenever her eyes were open she looked like the pillsbury dough boy. She was a round, chubby, pink skinned bundle of joy. Now she is a tall, thin, beautiful young woman.

She is smart, funny, messy, silly, goofy one minute, serious the next, full of life, quick to share, loyal to family, kind to strangers, romantic at heart and we love her tons.

She is my first born and I love that I was blessed with her the last 18 years. I'm so grateful that she chose me to be her mom. I have learned so much from her and she has helped me to grow as a mother and I absolutely cherish her. I can't wait to see what she does with the next few years because I know she can do anything she puts her mind to.

Happy 18th Birthday Devynne! :)

Happy Thanksgiving

Today was a great day. I feel really grateful for all that we have and I feel really blessed for our family. We spent the day with all 6 of our kids and Steve's parents, his sister Jenn and his brother Mike. We love hanging out with them and we love eating lots of good food. Steve cooked a really awesome turkey (which I'm told since I don't eat turkey) and he made sweet potatoes in the crock pot (which I did eat and they were delicious) and he made mash potatoes with gravy. Grammy made stuffing and a different version of sweet potatoes and she made awesome rolls. Aunt B (Jenn) brought, not 2 pies, not 3 pies but 7 pies! It's so great to have that kind of choice. Mike brought the relish tray and Grandma Dover's "goup" dip. I provided the cranberry sauce even though I'm the only one out of this group that thinks that is a must at Thanksgiving. Anyhoo, a great day and here are some pictures of our goings on. :)

Glad to be Me

Sometimes being a mom feels like a thankless job and I sometimes feel like I'm not important to my kids. Unless they need something or want something. However, there are times that they surprise me with an act or words that really make be feel like they really do appreciate me and that feels so amazing.

The other day Dylan was waiting in the car while I ran into a store and when I got back in the car Dylan said "I'm glad you are my mom". Just out of the blue, I hadn't even done anything. I got choked up and said "I'm glad you are my son".

Today Devynne sent me a text message that said "Hey mom I just wanted to tell you I love you and I don't tell you enough how grateful I am for you. You're the best mom ever" (Again, I hadn't even done anything) Teary eyed I replied with "I love you too and I'm very grateful for you."

I'm truly grateful for all three of my kids. They tell me everyday that they love me and I them. I feel so blessed that they chose me to be their mom and I hope they know how much they mean to me. :)

It Went to Locks of Love

I did it! Saturday I had my hair all cut off. I had been wanting to do it for about 2 months and I'm so happy I did. I feel so light and free. I had been growing my hair for about 2 1/2 years and it was getting so heavy and cumbersome and I was ready for a change. My pony tail was long enough for Locks of Love so I donated it (locksoflove.org) and I hope they will be able to use most of it (some layers were a bit too short I think). So there we go. :)

Two Postings in One

(#1)
Last Wednesday Dakota's theater class put on a Halloween show. It was called "The Dracula Rock Show". Dakota, as you can tell, was Dracula and he was awesome. He did a really great job as did the other kids. We're very proud of him and he is very talented (if you ask me). :)






(#2)
Devynne, Dylan and I went to Salt Lake City with the priests and laurels (16, 17 and 18 year olds) from our ward last Thursday for a couple of days. On Thursday we went to Welfare Square, the Humanitarian Center, the Church Museum, the Visitor's Center at Temple Square and watched the movie "Legacy".

Friday we went to the Church Office Building, the Visitor Center at Temple Square, toured around Temple Square, toured Brigam Young's house, toured the Conference Center and we did baptisms at the Salt Lake City Temple. We ate dinner at the Lion House (house that was built for Brigam Young's wives and children) and then watched the Joseph Smith movie at the Joseph Smith Hotel. Saturday, we headed home.

It was a fantastic couple of days and I teared up a couple of times at almost every place we went and there were times that I flat out cried. The kids were awesome and it was so much fun to hang with them and to experience such spiritual places together. This trip really strengthened my testimony and I learned so many new things. I am so grateful for Joseph Smith and his family and for all the pioneers who experienced such incredibly hard and terrible trials to bring us the truth of Jesus Christ and His gospel. I am truly grateful to have been given the oppurtunity to go on this trip and I'll never forget it. I am so grateful and happy to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Here are just few pictures of our trip.