Give thanks...

I love Thanksgiving if not for any other reason than taking an extra minute to really think about my life and what I am thankful for. This morning as I was vacuuming, I was listing everything in my head that I have to be thankful for and it got a little overwhelming to think of all the blessings in my life. I have incredible children. Yes there are days when I think I might lose my mind, but they are so great.

Atwood...FUNNY! That is the word that comes to mind with Atwood. He is so much fun. He also keeps a good spirit in the house. He is so smart and loves going to school. I absolutely love those big, brown eyes.

Kendall is our little girl. She is growing up so fast. Her eyes and smile make us all melt. It is so fun to watch her grow and start saying more things as she gets older. She loves her big sister and brothers.

Dilan is the best big brother anyone could ask for. He is always watching out and protecting his younger brother and sisters. When Aaron is at work, he likes to be "man of the house".

Megan has the softest heart. She absolutely loves everyone and everything is so special to her. If she can bring a smile to someone's face, it makes her so happy. She is so talented too. She is definitely the second mother of the house.

I am so blessed to have four beautiful, healthy children who love each other.

I have an amazing husband. I am who I am today because of him and his love. I wish every child could have a father like Aaron is to our kids and that every wife could have a husband like he is to me.

Both Aaron and I have great families. We always have a good time when we get together. Our wonderful parents have given us one of the best gifts that we have...they taught us the gospel from an early age. The knowledge and testimonies that we have bring us so much happiness.

We have also been blessed with many friends. We have friends from church, friends from work, friends from our neighborhood, and others we have just met along life's journey. We have friends who are always there when we need them and for that we are so grateful.

There are so many other things that I could list, but that might take me all day and I have a turkey to go eat! I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving and take a second to remember those things you have to be thankful for.

My kids are growing up...

The other day, Megan said to Kendall "You are getting so big". Then she turned to me and said "Mom it's sad Kendall is just getting so big, she needs to stop growing". I told her now she understood why I always tell my kids to stop growing. I don't really want them to stop growing, but when you look back, it is crazy how fast time goes by.

One of my favorite things to do is sit and look at all of my old pictures on my computer. It is just fun to see how they have changed and how much they look like each other.

Here are a couple of pictures from back in September 2005. Megan used to play with these silly McDonald toy dolls for hours. She was supposed to be getting in pajamas for bed, but instead I came upstairs and she was sitting there posing for a picture with her favorite dolls. When I saw her face in this picture, it totally reminded me of Kendall.

Here are my two handsome boys. I just can't believe how little they look.

I was on a blog a while back written by a woman who had lost her daughter in an accident in their spa and read this: "So I guess my message for the day is -- Love your little ones--even the ones that drive you crazy. If you could see them the way God sees them -- you would be astounded at their glory".
I am so thankful for all four of my kids and can't imagine life any different. There really are amazing little people!

Happy 2nd Birthday Kendall!

So, I am a few weeks behind on blogging this, but better late than never. Kendall celebrated her 2nd birthday on November 1st. It's hard to believe that my last youngest child is already 2.

It seems like yesterday when she was born. I still remember how it felt to have my brand new, warm baby girl laid on my chest. I think I remember this feeling with her more than the others because at the time, I was pretty dang sure this was the last time I would be giving birth so I wanted to cherish it and remember it. Either way, I am thankful I still have this wonderful memory.

Here she is a couple of weeks old. She had fallen asleep with her hand in her pocket...so adorable.

Here she is at her 1st birthday all nice and messy!
And here she is now. She was so excited to have her own cake. It's fun to watch her as she gets older and starts to understand more about what's going on. When she first started opening her presents, she was a little uneasy because all eyes were on her. After she realized that she got to keep everything she was given, she loved it. I have great family and friends who love my kids and I am so thankful for that.

Happy Birthday to my sweet ballerina!

(Thanks Aunt Robyn for the cute tutu)

The Middle Finger...

If you get squeamish (not even sure that is a real word), don't look at the picture, just scroll down enough to read the story. It's not that bad. It's one of those things like ooh that is gross, but I really want to look.

So you don't always realize how important something is until you don't have it anymore. Yesterday, I was feeling so good heading in to do my dishes, my transcription work was all caught up, my kids were being so good...Life was good. So I am sitting there washing my cheese grader and dangit...I totally sliced my finger (not on the grader part, but on the inside of the bottom part where the metal is turned up). This incident did not fit into my "Life is good" day. However, an hour and four stitches later, life is good again.

I have bumped this stupid finger so many times since then and it reminds me how much I rely on it to do things...wash face, put on make-up, change diapers, do dishes, prepare food, write, type, cut waffles, tie shoes, oh the list could go on and on. I have a new found love for my middle finger.

FAMILY...

I love this time of year. It is cool outside, the leaves turn colors, and holidays are approaching.
This is a picture of the tree in our front yard. The colors in person were even more vibrant and amazing. It has never changed colors like this before and it was gorgeous. As winter approaches, the leaves are falling off now, but it was so beautiful while it lasted.

This time of year also makes me so incredibly grateful for the life I have and the family I have to share it with. I feel so blessed to be able to spend every day with Aaron, my husband and best friend. He is incredible.

We recently had a neighbor who offered to snap some family pictures of us. Since we have never had "official" pictures taken as a family since Kendall was born, we figured we would take her up on her offer. So we went up to the little park in our neighborhood. The trees were such great colors and the kids were very cooperative (the pumpkin patch trip after was a good bribe for them to be still so we could get to the pumpkin patch quicker).

Here's the whole family.

Dilan is getting so old. I keep telling him to stop growing up. He is a great boy...loves friends, food, video games, and does great at school. He got an award last month for "great school work" in his class. He is such a help to me, especially when dad's at work at the fire station.

Oh, my sweet Megan. She is so creative and artistic. She will sit and make books, draw, color, and make necklaces or bracelets. She does it for her friends and people she loves. She is a very compassionate person and wants everyone to feel loved.

This smile is so Atwood. He is the funniest kid in the family (and he knows it). I know I have said it before, but he definitely has Aaron's sense of humor. He is so excited to be going to school and works very hard.

Kendall is just simply adorable. She was trying to be so serious, but we managed to get a little smile from her. She has such a cute, fun personality, but is definitely a bit more on the shy side. I wish I could have a secret camera on her at all times so people could see the "real" Kendall.

Me and my girls...

Dilan was cute. He said "Mom, I really like this picture of me and dad".

Atwood had just bonked his elbow on a rock so he was still a little teary eyed in this picture. Poor kid!

Me and my man!

Life is good!

Happy Halloween!

Every year, Paul and Deanna invite our family over to go trick-or-treating with them and then have hot chocolate, doughnuts, and cinnamon rolls after. In the past, we have never come because our kids usually have school the next day and it gets to be a late night. BUT-this year Halloween was on Friday so we were able to spend our Halloween with lots of friends. We got the kids off the bus, went to the Whites, had pizza, got in costumes, and went on our way trick-or-treating. Here are some miscellaneous pictures from the night.

Atwood is very excited once again to be getting some candy!

These three girls were hilarious. Brooklyn (not my niece Brooklyn, my friend's daughter), Kendall, and Dallis walked nice and slow to each door. Dallis was the group spokesperson making sure to say "thank you" for the group.

Here is the whole clan. Well the whole clan before trick-or-treating (the White kids, the Alfrey kids, and our kids). After trick-or-treating, there were about 6 other families that came over. The older kids had a blast playing hide and seek out in the dark.

Here is our cute little bunny ready for some candy.

Here are all of our kids before trick-or-treating. Megan is a Barbie sorceress (she had a cute pink witch hat in the car), Kendall is a bunny, Atwood is a teenage mutant ninja turtle, and Dilan is a ninja.

Carving Pumpkins

There's nothing like waiting until the last minute to get things done right? Well, we definitely waited on carving pumpkins. Aaron had a union meeting on Thursday night, October 30th. Right as he was leaving, he reminded me that we had to leave right when the kids got off the bus on Halloween to go to the White's for our Halloween celebration. So, I was blessed to have the honors of carving all four pumpkins myself. Of course, my kids don't love the gooey mess inside the pumpkins. Actually, Megan doesn't mind it.

Before we started I reminded the kids that there were four of them and one of me so everyone would have to be patient. Kendall, only 2 days away from turning 2, did not understand what patient meant, so her pumpkin was first. My kids were great and were all very patient. It was a fun night and they loved it because they got to stay up past bedtime.

So here they are with their finished products.

(you gotta love their outfits...Atwood's mismatched camo, Dilan jammies and flip flops, Kendall's nightgown and leg warmers, and Megan's fancy coat and outfit she changed into after school)

(check out Atwood's face...he's such a cheeseball)
Megan and Kendall
Kendall was fascinated that her pumpkin had a face and glowed in the dark. She was very proud of her pumpkin.

Dilan

and...

The Karate Kid (Atwood)

Mommy's little helper...

Because Kendall gets up earlier than everyone else and because she is here while the others are at school, there are many times that she is my "helper".

We were making cupcakes for our ward party. (notice the white cupcake batter on the side of her face and in her hair?)

Here we are making Swedish Pancakes (Aaron calls them crepes, but I grew up calling them Swedish Pancakes). She wanted to help, but didn't understand that at some point, I would have to borrow the batter to pour into the pan. She just screamed when I took it away. After she realized she would get it back she was okay with it.
She loves to clean the fridge, well wipe it down anyway. She will use babywipes usually. She goes to the bathroom, gets a wipe, goes to the fridge and looks at me and says "I help".
Don't you love the leg warmers. They are called Baby Legs. Deanna showed me some forever ago, but Kendall needed a pair for the bottom of her Halloween costume. She loves to wear them and of course I think she is adorable in them.

My two sweet girls...

I found this blog that a lady has. It is http://www.shedoeshair.blogspot.com/.

It is seriously the coolest thing. For Halloween, she had posts of how to create all of the Disney princess hairstyles and Tinkerbell. Megan usually just wants her hair left down or in a headband, but because it was "princess hair", she was all about letting me experiment. This is the first morning that we did what we call "Tinkerbell hair". Of course Kendall had to get hers done too...she is just lacking a bit in the hair department so we have to do a VERY modified Tinkerbell style.

More pumpkin patch...

We got some pictures from the Whites that they took at the pumpkin patch and had to share a few.

This is Dilan and Hunter searching for that ever-so-perfect pumpkin!
I love to watch Dallis and Kendall. Whenever Aaron and I show up at the White's house and Kendall is not with us, Dallis is right there saying "Where Kendall?" She's such a good little friend.

At the pumpkin patch, they had this big tube that they had cut to make a slide. Dilan decided to try it out.