Matt was still out of town for Christmas sunday. We were sad he missed out again but we had a great day! The primary sang "Away in a Manger" with the Choir and they did a great job! I could here Eliza clear from the back. She was pretty stinkin cute in her santa dress singing her little heart out! Then we did the Nativity during Primary singing time and I had a hard time not getting choked up!

A Special Christmas Night

Matt went to Las Vegas the weekend before Christmas to meet some friends for the BYU Football game. I decided to do something fun with the kids instead of feel sorry for myself that I was left behind. My good friend Ryan was singing with his Acapala group at our downtown promenade. We decided to make a night of it and call it our "special Christmas night!" We first went to Old Navy and I let them pick out a hat and gloves. (I think our skin is thinner from when we lived in Idaho because it feels really cold here!!) Luckily for me they were 2 for $6. Then we walked around and looked at the christmas lights and decorations, sat in Santas chair, and then danced to the carolers. Afterwards we ate dinner, got hot chocolate and then drove over to see some insane christmas lights in a subdivision close by. We had such a fun night and it helped us really get into the christmas excitement!!

Breakfast with Santa!

Saturday morning we had our Ward party. It was really fun and pretty amazing! Full buffet spread breakfast with everything you would want! Santa walked around and would sit with each kid while they were eating their breakfast, let them ring his bell and then his elf would give them a stuffed animal penguin holding a sucker! (its nice when their is only 20 kids in the primary!)

They had cute crafts in the back of the room for the kids....
I was called as the primary chorister a few months ago. I taught the kids a dance to frosty the snowman and also a ribbon dance to let it snow. Eliza is on the left with her back to the camera. They were doing a spin. She was so cute and so proud of herself that she was big enough to do it with the older kids!
Porter is the cute little snowman in the far left hand corner! He was all business when it was time to shake his jingle bells. He loved it and afterwards asked me several times "Did you see me mom? I danced so good!"

LINDSAY LU-HOO!!!!

Lindsay is my friend from Boise. Boy do I miss her! She was my sanity, my go to girl, my friend, my babysitter, my girls night out girl, shopping partner, encourager, self esteem builder, cruise goer, frozen yogurt/chocolate lover, and so much more! Yesterday was her birthday and I thought I would give her the much do shout out!! Lindsay and I became immediate friends once we met. We have kids close to the same age that are the same gender. We both had baby boys when we moved to a new town with no family. What was a very hard time for both of us was made easier with eachother. Lindsay is the sweetest, most bubbly girl I know. She has such a way about her that makes people just cling to her! Making friends comes easy for her and I admire that about her so much. She is great at giving compliments to everyone! She is a great mom and is always striving to do better and give the most to her kids. Lindsay is the type that will always make time for you. I know many days she has been busy with her own to do list but dropped everything to be there for me! I am such a better person because of her and I am thankful for our friendship!
Happy Birthday Lindsay!! Love ya!

Getting the Christmas Tree

Eliza told me that her new friend Pauline from preschool told her that when people take a picture of you, your suppose to do "this"...


For family night last week we went to get our christmas tree. The kids were pretty excited. Although I think they were more excited about sweeping up the pine needles with broken branches then actually deciding on a tree. It was a fun night and we are happy that the season is here. Eliza asked me this morning when it was going to snow so that we could make a snow man. I had to break the news to her that it doesn't snow in California. She told me "we should probably go back to Boise Mom, it snows in Boise!" We were able to go to Disneyland though and see it "snow" on main street. It was fun to have the "snow flurries" fall but not have to bundle up my kids in their snow suits!

LIFE CAN RESUME....FINALLY!

Christmas cards are done....finally! I decided this year to not make my christmas card as I have done in years past. My life just felt too crazy. But for some reason finishing christmas cards still took a week! My mom is probably happier about it than I am because she can now have her kitchen table back! Hopefully I can now get to the 4 loads of laundry, a messy car, a messy house, wrapping presents, christmas shopping, make dinner, and not neglecting the kids? Hopefully? I realized everytime you move it adds more and more to your christmas card list.
ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY THREE!!!!!

Meet the Family!!

So this is my family! I love them alot! My Parents had 8 kids. 1-Scott, 2-Ben, 3-Christy, 4-Nanette, 5-Me, 6-Sam, 7-Heather, 8-Harrison. I couldn't imagine life without any of them. Thanks Mom and Dad for not giving up!!

Biscuit

Eliza is still just so in love with this dog. I was waiting for the "newness" to wear off, but so far it hasn't yet. Eliza is really good at remembering when to take him outside to go potty, when to put him in his kennel, when to feed him, hold him, dance with him, etc....Its pretty fun to watch my kids be so in love!

Southern California Fires

We are definitely getting the most out of our California experience. Unfortunately this wasnt a fun one. I am sure many of you have heard about the major fires that were going on in California a few days ago. Every year they seem to happen, but never right in my very own city. Half our ward was evacuated from their homes and luckily none were damaged. Huge clouds of black smoke surrounded our entire city and made it hard to breathe. The smell is still lingering even today.





These pictures are all of where we live. It was a pretty intense few days but I am so thankful for the firefighters that worked so hard. Its crazy to look at these pictures and see our little city burning.



This is the highschool I went to. It really hit home to watch it on the news and realize how close it actually was.

Eliza's Birthday Tea Party!

Nail Polish, Makeup, Jewelry and more
These are a few things us girls adore!
Oh Wonderful, Fabulous Friends of Mine
Come to a my birthday party…
It will be simply divine!

Wear something fancy and make sure that it’s frilly
So at our Tea Party we can all be silly!
We will set an extra spot,
so bring a stuffed animal friend
Arrive at 11:00 because 2:00 is when it will end!

It will be at my Grandmas House
because it is always so much fun!
Just have your mom drop you off
and pick you up when its done!

















This year we decided to do an all girls tea party for Eliza's birthday. Kind of a nice change from the usual Halloween theme. We let her choose 5 friends since it was her 5th birthday. My sister Heather was so nice to help do the girls Nails and hair when they arrived. She set up really cute stations that made the girls feel so special and fancy. We even both dressed up and the girls thought it was so funny! Then we made neckalaces, bracelettes, and decorated crown purses. Then we had our tea party where we showed the girls how to put their napkins on their laps, put their pinki's up when they drank and how to tap their spoons on their glass after stirring. It was so fun to be silly and fancy because the girls just ate it up and thought it was great. Then we opened presents and had cupcakes.