Tag, you're it!

Ok, so there are many, many wonderful blogs out there, but sometimes you just need to highlight those that make you feel good about yourself. So what do you do, you make them feel good right back!

So, here's what you do:

1. From your list of blogs, pick 1 blogger that you know or knew from AZ.

2. Tell a 2-sentence brief history of where you know them and how.

3. Describe them and their blog in 3 cool words.

4. Tag 4 bloggers you know or knew from AZ.

5. Click on the featured blog below then comment to invite them to come see yours.

Ok, I'm picking Carla's Place from Carla Engstrom.

We met at Gateway Ward in Mesa. She lived a few houses down from me.

CLASSY, PASSIONATE, BEAUTIFUL

Ok, I'm tagging Courtney, Molly, Brandis, and Laurel.

Go on, make someone's day and tag them right back! :D

Christmas

Well, we went to Thatcher for Christmas to be with Seth's family. We enjoy hanging out with them and we have loads of fun. This year, the kids and I met Seth's older brother Jared and his family. Jared calls us once in a while so it was nice to put a face to the name. They are an awesome family family and I really enjoyed getting to know them. For the first time my children were able to watch it snow and then have fun playing in it. It truly was a magical Christmas. Here are some pictures from our trip.

This was the view on the way up. Absolutely beautiful!

Here is a picture of James with snow in his hair.

This is our van getting snowed on.
(ignore the date)

This was our van the following morning.

This is the view from my mother-in-laws back porch.

For the First Time

James had his first shopping trip without being in his car seat. Don't worry I sanitized the parts of the shopping cart he would be touching (I need to pull out my cart cover). This picture is of James before we left home.
Here he is chillin' in his seat.




Here are some pictures of our other children.

Lots of Fun

Here are pictures of our yummy food, my aunt and uncle and grandparents, the children, and my brothers and sister.

Thanksgiving was a total blast. This was the first time I've hosted a party and I felt like it was a huge success. Everyone seemed to have fun, even the grandparents. Some of us played a game called, "You Might Be a Redneck if..." by Jeff Foxworthy. It was fun to see everyone laugh at the jokes. We had tons of awesome food with tons of leftovers that everyone took home. We're going to host the family Christmas party too since we'll be here for that, then we'll be up in Thatcher for Christmas with Seth's family. I'm excited to see how well the Christmas party at our house will go.

Getting Ready

We normally have Thanksgiving dinner at my mom's house with her side of the family but this year she is in Hawaii. So, we decided to have it at our place. It'll be a little cramped but we have enough couch space. I'm really excited which isn't like me. Normally I would be totally stressed about the house having to be cleaned and the food prepared, but this time it's different. My only explanation is that I've been doing pretty good at keeping the living room and kitchen clean so I only have to do touch ups and a little bit of clutter control. No one needs to go into the rest of the rooms so I don't need to worry about those. It's always been tradition to do a potluck, but this year I've gone all out. I don't know what others are bringing, but I want to be prepared just in case something gets left out. I have a turkey, two pies with whipped cream, three cans of cranberry sauce, all the paper products such as plates and cups, silverware, and two things of ice cream. I wanted to get rolls but I have a hard time buying things with MSG in them. I just can't justify that. So, hopefully someone will bring rolls. My sister usually brings dessert and my aunt and grandparents bring side dishes so we should be set. My brothers will be there too but they're not bringing anything. I'm totally excited for this and I'll let you know how it goes.

Jacob

This is Jacob. He is the family clown and loves to be the center of attention. In most of his pictures he's goofing off. He must have been pretty tired after playing for me to get him with a straight face.

Boo-Boo's

Jayson was running into his bedroom and tripped over the toys hitting his head on Rebeka's metal bed frame. Thankfully, the gash wasn't big enough for stitches but we still had to have it glued. He was so strong, holding very still for the doctor. He protected his "owie" for weeks. I had to convince him it was finally healed and we could touch his head in that spot again. He has a scar, but it's pretty light so it will most likely fade over time. He's such a strong and determined little boy.