Of course the holiday season is upon us and we all find ourself pondering that which we are grateful for. I like to think that I am grateful every day of each year. I try to be. I consider myself a "grateful, intuitive, thoughtful" person. So, since I've been thinking about the upcoming holidays, I would love to share some of my thankfulness.
Working in the medical field, I see things every day that make me thankful for my/my family's health, foremost, but also for my "luck" as fate would call it, with life in general. We see a lot of patients that have pretty much been unlucky their entire lives. Unlucky in anything and everything. I am reminded every day "I am SO blessed".
I am most thankful for my sweet daughter. That I have been entrusted with this amazing little person. That she chose me, as her mother, to lead her in this wicked world to teach her right from wrong, and hopefully all that is good in life. To love her, rock her, kiss her owies, smile when she does her first dance recital, wipe tears from her eyes for her first heartbreak, and send her out into the world. She brings so much joy, laughter, and love into out home and our lives. We waited awhile, and then waited while not wanting to wait, and in the end, she was more than worth the wait. She is all that is good in both of us. She has an amazing father. Anyone who knows Mike will agree to this. He was born to be a father. I always knew that about him and probably what most attracted me to him. He loves me in spite of my many, many faults. He never goes a day without saying how much he loves us and is lucky to have Reagan and I in his life and that means so much to me. He works hard to provide for us. To give us a warm, comfortable roof over our heads & food in our bellies. He is a kind-hearted, funny, loving individual he is my best friend.
I am thankful for my family. I have loving, forgiving, sacrificing parents. I have great brothers and sisters. Heidi is a great sister, friend, babysitter, but most of all a loving, loving Aunt to not only my child but all her nieces and nephews. Reagan lights up when she comes into the room. I know my brothers and sisters love me and my family. I would love to live closer to them all but I am grateful for the ones we do. The bonds we share, and the memories we can create. I'm blessed to have married into a family that I love as much as my own. Mike's parents are wonderful people. They have raised their kids to be successful, respectful, and loving individuals.
I also feel like I have been "lucky in friends". I have always been blessed with wonderful friends. From the time I was little to my present life, my friends have always been there to laugh with, cry with, fight with (and still love me), confess worries to, and most of all to love with. They've shared heartaches, joys, and sweet, sweet memories. Although life creates situations that are harder to keep in touch, I love them all. They hold special places and memories in my heart. What is life without friends!
I am thankful to a God, who made all this possible and that I know he will love me in spite of my imperfections. And for all of this...I am Thankful.
11/20/08
11/16/08
A Magical Day
Spending a day in a world of fairytales and imagination isn't so bad after all! Saturday we went with Heidi, Matt & Yvette and girls to Disney on Ice. Although Reagan is probably the only 2 year old there who has never watched a Disney movie, nor really knows anything about who the characters are, we thought she would have fun watching the excitement as they twirled and danced on the ice. She was a little unsure of the loud music at times but spent the rest of the evening talking about the characters and thinking we were going back the next day.
Aunt Heidi and Reagan
She looks thrilled right!
Aunt Heidi and Reagan
She looks thrilled right!
11/10/08
George
Meet George. George is all ready to go outside this blustery day. He could only stay out for a short while, however, because according to Reagan, "he got very very cold".
Self Portrait
As most children like to..Reagan loves to grab the camera and take pictures. I've saved a lot of them (to scrap or just laugh at) because they are very good shots. Just of odd things, her dolls bum, the toilet bowl, a cracker, etc. However, this was one I thought justified posting. Apparently, it's her "self portrait".
11/2/08
Halloween
Here are a few pictures from Halloween night. To our surprise, Reagan put her costume on first thing in the morning to go have a party at school and kept it on all day. She didn't even want to take it off that night. She had fun going to the houses around the neighborhood, although she was nearly in sugar shock from a fun-candy-filled day! As Reagan told Mike that night "This is the best Halloween ever"!
10/29/08
Fall Fun
As much as I love summer, sun, flip flops and ice cream, fall is a welcome breath of fresh air. We continue to have beautiful weather. I feel sorry for those that don't live around the gorgeous changing of the seasons :) We've tried to take every opportunity to be outside doing something because we know that cold weather, ice, and snow haunt the background. Last Saturday we went with friends to Thanksgiving Point. Their "farm yard" was doing a fun day of Halloween activities. The kids got to make fun things, we took a tractor ride, and of course, they got to ride the horses. We then traveled to Spanish Fork for a fun trick-or-treating down town with Matt's crew. Reagan put on her witch costume with little fuss and once it was all she was all about getting candy. (they learn at such a young age!). She's been carrying that thing around all week. She calls it her Halloween purse. Yes, the beloved rotten teeth purse! I had so many from last weekend I thought I would do a little video and I'm sure more Halloween pictures to follow. (you have to scroll all the way down and hit the pause button on the music player in order to shut off the auto music while you listen to the song with the video- sorry!)
P.S. Fun things she's said this week....
When she thought she peed her pants "oh, that sucks" (oops, gotta watch the language)
"Mom, stop acting like me"
When I tried to use a wipe after going potty "those are for babies"
Her new favorite word: Actually - she uses it a hundred times a day like "this is dad's car actually" or "actually I'll be right back" and tonight "actually I wonder why?"
What a fun age this is. She says crazy things every day that crack us up.
She has her first boyfriend and his name is Alex. Her teachers told me that she likes to tell him he's cute and even kisses him. Yikes! So then it became a joke that Mike would say "You only kiss daddy" and she laughs and says "I only kiss Alex". She's probably scaring the poor kid, not to mention HER parents.
P.S. Fun things she's said this week....
When she thought she peed her pants "oh, that sucks" (oops, gotta watch the language)
"Mom, stop acting like me"
When I tried to use a wipe after going potty "those are for babies"
Her new favorite word: Actually - she uses it a hundred times a day like "this is dad's car actually" or "actually I'll be right back" and tonight "actually I wonder why?"
What a fun age this is. She says crazy things every day that crack us up.
She has her first boyfriend and his name is Alex. Her teachers told me that she likes to tell him he's cute and even kisses him. Yikes! So then it became a joke that Mike would say "You only kiss daddy" and she laughs and says "I only kiss Alex". She's probably scaring the poor kid, not to mention HER parents.
Carving Pumpkins
We carved our pumpkins the other night and Reagan was very excited. Me, on the other hand...icky! I won't touch raw meat so how on earth would you expect me to touch gooey, slimey, stinky pumpkin guts!! The raw meat I can get creative with arranging with all sorts of utensils, but I couldn't figure out a way to get the seeds and slime out of a pumpkin, so I was a willing onlooker. Reagan/Mike did a great job. Here's to Halloween.
10/18/08
Cookies, Witches, Pumpkins, Campfires & The Zoo..Whew!
It's been a gorgeous fall week. The weather is so perfect right now and you have to enjoy every second of the weather and the beautiful scenery.
This past week we spent a night making Halloween sugar cookies. Reagan is always a "big" help in the kitchen and she thought it was fun because I even let her crack the eggs (which consists of her squeezing them so hard they finally shatter and I spend a few minutes digging out the shells). She got to roll out the dough and stamp the cookies and even (only one) got to ice them. I forgot to take a picture of our final project, however, I'm sure that a few guys at Mike's work could testify of their yumminess since they eat them until they have a belly ache!
Saturday, Katie, Heidi, Reagan and I went to Gardner Village for the "Wee Witches Weekend". Always fun to go out here in the fall as they have really cute decor set up, and on weekends like this...ALWAYS A TOTAL MAD HOUSE". Anyone in Utah will have these pictures on their blog!! Reagan held true to form and was absolutely afraid of everything. So, as you can imagine, not very many cute pictures were taken. I'm guessing she's a no-go for Trick-or-Treating this year!!
A witch
Hurry and take the picture while I stand over here
After Rea's nap on Saturday we thought we would go to a "pumpkin patch". Much to our disappointment, it was pretty much just a huge field that had a million pumpkins dropped around and you got to walk around with thousands of others, to try to find a pumpkin. Not cute photo opportunity...but a pumpkin we bought.
Saturday night we pulled out our fire pit to roast hot dogs and make smores. Nothing like a camp fire in your own back yard!
Roastin' the Dog
Yummy!
Everyone say "Cheese"
Last but not least, we took a trip to Hogle Zoo today. It was SO perfect. The weather was great so the animals were out and active. Much, much better than trying to go in the summer when it is hot, sweaty, and miserable. Reagan loved it this time. Much more so than last year. She was excited to see all the animals and wanted to pet them all. When we were getting ready to leave she wanted to wear - well whatever she had on. Including the cowboy boots that she currently wants to wear with anything. I pursuaded her to at least change her shirt but the capris and boots stayed. Mike thinks they should make tags that you put on kids that say "I dressed myself today" :O)
Riding the Train
I thought this was cute because if you look closely the mommy monkey is snugglin' up to a sleeping baby monkey
I love this picture! She is looking down at the Gorilla's but my favorite thing is her feet. She has crossed her feet like this since she was born. Sleeping, sitting, etc. It's our little criss-cross
This past week we spent a night making Halloween sugar cookies. Reagan is always a "big" help in the kitchen and she thought it was fun because I even let her crack the eggs (which consists of her squeezing them so hard they finally shatter and I spend a few minutes digging out the shells). She got to roll out the dough and stamp the cookies and even (only one) got to ice them. I forgot to take a picture of our final project, however, I'm sure that a few guys at Mike's work could testify of their yumminess since they eat them until they have a belly ache!
Saturday, Katie, Heidi, Reagan and I went to Gardner Village for the "Wee Witches Weekend". Always fun to go out here in the fall as they have really cute decor set up, and on weekends like this...ALWAYS A TOTAL MAD HOUSE". Anyone in Utah will have these pictures on their blog!! Reagan held true to form and was absolutely afraid of everything. So, as you can imagine, not very many cute pictures were taken. I'm guessing she's a no-go for Trick-or-Treating this year!!
A witch
Hurry and take the picture while I stand over here
After Rea's nap on Saturday we thought we would go to a "pumpkin patch". Much to our disappointment, it was pretty much just a huge field that had a million pumpkins dropped around and you got to walk around with thousands of others, to try to find a pumpkin. Not cute photo opportunity...but a pumpkin we bought.
Saturday night we pulled out our fire pit to roast hot dogs and make smores. Nothing like a camp fire in your own back yard!
Roastin' the Dog
Yummy!
Everyone say "Cheese"
Last but not least, we took a trip to Hogle Zoo today. It was SO perfect. The weather was great so the animals were out and active. Much, much better than trying to go in the summer when it is hot, sweaty, and miserable. Reagan loved it this time. Much more so than last year. She was excited to see all the animals and wanted to pet them all. When we were getting ready to leave she wanted to wear - well whatever she had on. Including the cowboy boots that she currently wants to wear with anything. I pursuaded her to at least change her shirt but the capris and boots stayed. Mike thinks they should make tags that you put on kids that say "I dressed myself today" :O)
Riding the Train
I thought this was cute because if you look closely the mommy monkey is snugglin' up to a sleeping baby monkey
I love this picture! She is looking down at the Gorilla's but my favorite thing is her feet. She has crossed her feet like this since she was born. Sleeping, sitting, etc. It's our little criss-cross
The $12 Kitchen
I realized I never posted a picture of Mike's great find at DI :O) Of course, he ended up bringing home more "goods" than he was supposed to be "dropping off". (and P.S. the actual plastic foods are brand new)
10/13/08
A Domestic Day Off
Today was a very domestic day off. Growing up, most of the fall was spent helping mom can goods from the garden. By saying "help", I must mean that it was strictly child labor :) Long assembly lines of snapping beans, shelling peas, and cutting corn. It was a long process that probably lasted weeks if I could remember properly. As an adult, I have always wanted to can goods but have never pursued it because you hear about the time and mess, etc. I have friends that can and it always seems like so much work. However, Yvette was kind enough to help me learn how to can peaches today! It was relatively easy, and kind of embarrassing, that I would not know how to do something so simple. Although most of the day was spent separating Reagan and Zoe (it was an "off" cousin day!) Yvette showed me the ropes and I'm excited to be able to learn something new and add the very first "home-made" good to our pantry! Thanks Yvette and Zoe for a fun day.
Before.....
AFTER!!!
The one "happy" moment of the day!
Ok, maybe the "two" happy moments of the day!
Before.....
AFTER!!!
The one "happy" moment of the day!
Ok, maybe the "two" happy moments of the day!
Scrappin'
This past weekend was an annual girls trip to Heber City for a weekend of scrappin'. We rent this beautiful cabin in the mountains and spend many, many, many hours scrappin' (oh, and eating ourselves sick). I left on Friday and came home
Sunday. Heidi was heading to Idaho for my sister Heather's new baby girls blessing. What! you say? I was not planning on going? No, rude as I am, I had already had this trip planned and paid for so I sent Reagan with Aunt Heidi in my place :o) Needless to say, Southern Idaho had a HUGE snow storm. It took Matt & Yvette forever to get there Saturday and in Burley, where Heather lives, there was over a foot of snow that day and they cancelled church!! Baby Malia was blessed at home and some family was able to enjoy it.
Me, on the other hand, spent my weekend talking, laughing, eating way too much (as aforesaid), and of course scrapbooking! It was so much fun and it was nice to get away for a few days. It was very cold and snowed most of the time, although only an inch or so stuck. Bet you are wondering about Mike...well, he got to do whatever he wanted (that was, of course, after he did my job list). He spent hours scrubbing the kitchen floor & bought Reagan a new favorite toy....from the DI! And wait until you see the picture people. This thing was $12 and before you go all icky thinking about it, it is in GREAT shape! So, overall, a very successful weekend!
This is an amazing picture - only because Michelle DOES NOT EVER make a card! However, she spent most of the weekend making cards!
Some of the girls relaxin'
Abbey looks happy to be here but Tasha...it kind of looks like forced fun huh?!
The back of the cabin
View from the porch
A few of my favorite pages (sorry, I couldn't figure out how to put them side by side)
Sunday. Heidi was heading to Idaho for my sister Heather's new baby girls blessing. What! you say? I was not planning on going? No, rude as I am, I had already had this trip planned and paid for so I sent Reagan with Aunt Heidi in my place :o) Needless to say, Southern Idaho had a HUGE snow storm. It took Matt & Yvette forever to get there Saturday and in Burley, where Heather lives, there was over a foot of snow that day and they cancelled church!! Baby Malia was blessed at home and some family was able to enjoy it.
Me, on the other hand, spent my weekend talking, laughing, eating way too much (as aforesaid), and of course scrapbooking! It was so much fun and it was nice to get away for a few days. It was very cold and snowed most of the time, although only an inch or so stuck. Bet you are wondering about Mike...well, he got to do whatever he wanted (that was, of course, after he did my job list). He spent hours scrubbing the kitchen floor & bought Reagan a new favorite toy....from the DI! And wait until you see the picture people. This thing was $12 and before you go all icky thinking about it, it is in GREAT shape! So, overall, a very successful weekend!
This is an amazing picture - only because Michelle DOES NOT EVER make a card! However, she spent most of the weekend making cards!
Some of the girls relaxin'
Abbey looks happy to be here but Tasha...it kind of looks like forced fun huh?!
The back of the cabin
View from the porch
A few of my favorite pages (sorry, I couldn't figure out how to put them side by side)
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