How the Girls have Changed 2008

How the girls have changed...2008

(pictures I posted on the side of the blog.)

August

September

October

November/December

Temple Square

We didn't make it to Temple Square before Christmas but we did want the girls to go see the lights and they always love to see the temple, so on December 29th we went for Family Night.

It was BEAUTIFUL!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

We just wanted to wish everyone a

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Christmas Eve!

We spend Christmas Eve with Jason's family (grandpa & grandma Allen, grandma Green, Shawn, Jen & Cole, Mom & Dad and us). We had a nice dinner, did the Nativity with puppets and watched the Nativity put out by the Church. It was a great night.

(by the way this is the lamb not a polar bear.)

Nativity

The Nativity

December 23rd we went to my parents house for a Nativity Family Home Evening. Since this was our first year home for Christmas in 2 years Savannah got to be Mary, she loved every minute of it. The other cast consisted of my sister, Katie, the narrator, Jason as Joseph, my dad as the donkey, Madilynn, Spencer(my brother-in law), and Paige were the Wisemen, Jeff and Brandon (my brothers) the shepherds, Riley the Angel, and Josh as baby Jesus, the rest of us were the audience.

It was a really nice night. We had dinner, did the nativity, watched a part of "The Nativity", and sang songs while the girls played the bells. It was great to be home for Christmas and see the traditions that I had as a child carried on.

Happy Birthday Savannah!

Happy Birthday Savannah!

Today our Savannah turns 4 years old. She is such a sweet little girl. She loves princesses, dress-ups, high heels, make-up and doing hair. She likes to help mom cook and dust. She loves going to Primary and Preschool and loves the friends she has there, (every week after church she comes home and does her own primary lesson). She loves having Family Home Evening and learning new things. She is getting good at writting her name and recognizing letters. She likes to boss her sisters around and at times forgets she is not the mom. She loves hugs and kisses, we love giving them to her and getting them back.

We are so glad Savannah is in our family and cannot imagine it without her.

We Love You, Our Sweet Savannah!

8's Tag

Okay so a long time ago my sister-in-law tagged me, sorry it took me so long but here it goes.

8's Tag

8 places I would like to eat
1-my moms
2-my mother-in-laws
3-any Mexican food
4-Cool Basil (Thai Restaurant)
5-Chili's
6-Pizza
7-Flemming's Steak House
8-my own kitchen as long as I didn't have to clean up

8 show I like to watch on TV
1-The Office
2-Flip that House
3-Little Einsteins
4-Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
5-Jazz Games
6- College Football
7-?
8-as you can tell I don't have any control over the remote.

8 things that happened yesterday
1-Showered
2-got all of us ready
3-Primary Party with Breakfast and Santa
4-grocery shopping
5-cleaned my bathroom
6-Savannah's Preschool Christmas Program
7-Ward Christmas Party
8-Read some of my book

8 things I love about Fall
1-opening my windows
2-the colors
3-college football
4-Thanksgiving
5-blankets
6-decorations
7-the smells
8-getting ready for winter

8 things on my wish list
1-to be a better mom
2-to have a house and a fenced yard
3-storage
4-to have time to read, study, and clean
5-for my kids and husband to be happy
6-a vacation
7-Safety
8-Health

8 people I tag
anyone who has not done this one yet, I know it has been going around.

Thanks for tagging me Rachael, this really made me stop and think.

SANTA!

Today I decided to take my kids to the Valley West Mall to ride the train and hopefully sit on Santa's lap. Madilynn was so excited to ride the train all morning she kept saying, "Madi train, Madi, train."

The train is so much fun for the kids and it is only $1. If you haven't done it, your kids will love it. (It is only there during Christmas and Easter.) After the train ride Madi says, "that was fun!" and Savannah said that she laughed the whole time.

Then we headed over to see Santa, we waited behind only one family and when it was our turn it was only smilies (mostly thanks to Madi). Madi went right up to him and sat on his lap and that forced Savannah to do it too, then we put Olivia in the middle, took a quick picture, told Santa what they wanted, got crayons and a coloring book and we where off. I was so surprised!

We then went a wrote a letter to Santa and mailed it in the mailbox. The kids loved it and it was fun for me to watch them get excited for Christmas.

Last but not least we went to Costco and filled up for $1.48/gallon.

Happy Birthday Olivia!

Happy Birthday Olivia!

Today my baby turns 1 year old. What a joy she is in our family. She is such a good little girl. She is getting lots of teeth, she pulls herself up to furniture and walks around it, she stood yesterday all on her own, we loves to play chase with her sister, she love peek-a-boo and to read books. She loves to be held. She loves talking baths (until water is dumped on her head). She doesn't say much but she tries, she loves to make noise. She can clap, wave, and dance. She loves to give hugs and kisses and we love to give them back.

We love you!

Thanks for being a part of our Family.

November News

This is just a journal post to note a few more things that we did in the month of November.

I took Savannah and Madilynn to the tree lighting at the Jordan Creek Mall. It was fun but I am glad Jason and Olivia stayed home, it was really cold. The girls had fun seeing the tree light up and the fireworks.

Tree Decorating. I am ususally anti-Christmas before Thanksgiving but this year we went against everything. Bought a real tree and put it up the week of Thanksgiving. Savannah asked why we had Thanksgiving decorations and a Christmas tree up at the same time.

Our Ford Focus got a hole in the engine at 90,000 miles. So instead of paying $5000.00 to fix it and possibly have more problems with it...

we bought a 1998 Honda Civic, with 87,000 miles on it that will hopefully last a long long time, at least until we are making real money.

Then on Saturday we took the girls to Disney on Ice.

They had a Wonderful time.

Dad let them each pick out a toy. Savannah chose Arial and Madi chose Snow White.

There favorite part was the princesses...

and my favorite part was watching their faces as they watched.

WE ARE THANKFUL!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!

here are a few things we are thankful for:

family

friends

home

food

grandparents

parents

siblings

children

cousins

running water

hot water

beds to sleep in

blankets

clothing

education

our bodies

our health

the Gospel

our Savior, Jesus Christ

the Atonement

the scriptures

Missionaries

Church Leaders

Temples

cars

heater

A/C

to live in a free country

those serving our country

We feel very blessed to have all of these wonderful things in our lives.

We hope you have a wonderful day of Thanks!

Question?

Our vacuum is not working very well and we have replaced everything that we can think of to try and fix it. So my question is what kind of vacuum do you have and do you like it?

Thank you for your help.

I'm an Esme!

Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

You are thoughtful and care very deeply for your family. A loving home is of great
importance to you and you always try to make people feel welcome. Although you have a great capacity to love, you also have a great capacity to hurt, so at times you can be
sensitive. You're firm when you need to be, but people trust your judgment and
appreciate the kind way you always handle things.

this week at our house

We have had an eventful week.

Madi went potty (poo poo) on her toilet. I haven't started training her yet, just put the potty out. Monday night she got out of the tub, went potty, we all celebrated and she got back in the tub. Yeah Madi! (The things we celebrate as parents, who ever thought we would be happy for poop.)

Tuesday Madi's mattress arrived so we set up her toddler bed and Olivia finally has a real crib to sleep in.

Madi loves her new bed and doesn't even get out in the middle of the night like Savannah did, and still does. Wednesday when I put her down for her nap and locked her in the room. She was upset at first and actually got out, after I put her down again I could here her knocking on the door (it was so cute) after awhile that stopped and when I went to check on her books were all over the room and this is what she looked liked,

I could have looked at her all day. So Sweet!

Thursday it was Mom's Day at Savannah's preschool. Erica watched Madi and Olivia (Thank You so much Erica!) and Savannah and I went to preschool. She was so excited and so was I. A few weeks before she brought home the invitation and could barely contain herself. We had a great day. It was fun to see her in the classroom with all her friends and spend time with just her.

It was so sweet because in her prayer last night she thanked that it was mom's day at preschool and then this morning one of the first things she said was, "that was sure fun at mom's day, tomorrow." Yes, Savannah it was fun, mom had a great time.

Courtney, Kristen, Erica, Autumn, Jennifer

Alli, Laurie, Megan, Andrea, Jen

Andrea, Jennifer, and Alli

Then Thursday/Friday I went to the opening night of "Twilight". Last month I decided to jump on the bandwagon and start reading the series, and then bought my ticket for the movies. My friends all went and we had a great time. We were first in line, that is what you get when you arrive 4 hours early. We talked, took pictures, played games and ate while we waited. It was fun to get out and have a girls night out. I liked the movie but of course I liked the book better.

Then the BYU vs Utah game. Jason had a bunch of U fans over and since I am a Y fan, Autumn let me go and hang out at her house. Thanks Autumn, I had a great time talking and hanging out. Jason had a great time with all his buddies, food and football.

Gas Prices

Wow, we just filled our Van up yesterday for $28 and our Focus for $20. I cannot believe it. It is just like the good old days.

When we were in Utah this summer it got to over $4/gallon, when we came back to Iowa (end of July) it was $3.61 and we were very excited, that was great compared to Utah.

But now it is even better, FINALLY! We paid $1.76/gallon.

How are gas prices where you live? Hopefully getting better. :)

Grandma Gardner

My Grandma Gardner died 10 years ago today from cancer at the age of 67. Since my children have never met her I decided to post things that I remember about her. She was a wonderful lady and I love her very much.

When we would go over to her house for Sunday dinner she would always have roast and potatoes. I still remember the smell of her house when we would go there.

She gave me my first perm.

I remember helping her make apple pies, she had the apple peeler that hooked to the counter and would crank the wheel, then she would cut them up, put them in a big bowl and put the cinnamon and sugar on them. At this point I would help a lot by eating the apples. Yummy! and still to this day every time I see apples with cinnamon and sugar I think of her.

Her and my grandpa have a cabin at Bear Lake, where we would spend most of our summer. I love it there (it is like my second home). There are so many memories there.

During "Raspberry Days" up that Bear Lake after picking raspberry they would always go back to the cabin and make raspberry jam all day long.

During all the years at Bear Lake my grandma never once wore a swimming suit in fact I think I only saw her once get in a life jacket touch the water and get in the boat.

When she would come down to the beach she always had her pants rolled up and enjoyed watching everyone everyone play.

She was a very loving person, I never once heard my grandma talk bad about anyone.

My grandma loved the gospel and you could tell by the way she taught and lived it.

Her and my grandpa served a mission to the Washington DC temple. While they were there the cancer came back and she lost her eye but that didn't stop her. She still had a positive attitude.

My family went back to visit them in DC before their mission was over and had a great time spending time with them. Grandma could come every where with us because she got tired fast.

Eating at Fudruckers in DC. The only reason I remember this is because we where all tired and hungry so it seemed like hours before we got there.

Eating vanilla wafers and milk at her house.

Her and my grandpa would drink Pepsi all the time. It always looked so good and they let me try it once. I don't like Pepsi!

We always played down in their basement. She had paper from work and we would play office or school.

She worked in the Church Office Building, downtown Salt Lake City. We only went and visited her there a few times but when we would go we would go to the top of the building and look down on the city.

She always had open toed high heel shoes for us to play with. When they came back in style my grandma was the first person I thought of.

Her house was never dirty or cluttered.

My grandpa and grandma always had the "candy can" in the truck of their car. Everytime they came to our house they would open the truck and let us have a piece of candy, even the neighbor kids knew about it and got a piece.

When we were all up at Bear Lake every morning we would roll my grandpa out of bed. He would lock the door to tease us but my grandma always let us in.

They always had nuts and/or chocolates on their counter to eat.

She made the BEST chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.

I loved going over and talking to my grandma and grandpa after they retired they would stop what ever they were doing and talk as long as you wanted.

A few years before she died she gave me her opal ring that she got in Australia (where my dad served his mission). I treasure it very dearly.

When coming to her house she was always at the door waiting to hug us and then when we would leave she would hug us and then stand out side and wave until our car was gone.

Her and my grandpa collected swarovski crystals.

Eating Christmas breakfast at her house. (eggs, toast, bacon, sausage)

Eating her pancakes up at Bear Lake. I don't know what she did but they were the best.

She was born in Wyoming and never knew her mother. Her mother died due to complication after giving birth to her a few days later. What a reunion that was after my grandma passed away to finally see her mother.

She loved her family more than anything and we all knew it.

Grandma thanks for all that you taught me. I love you!

Happy Birthday Madi Girl!

Happy Birthday Madilynn!

Our Madi Girl turned 2 years old today. What a joy she is in our family. We love her sweet hugs she is always willing to give.

Here a few things Madi likes:
she loves to sing, dance, dress up like a princess, play with dolls, smile, run, swing at the park, tease her sisters and probably all the nursery kids, draw (she just does little circles all over the paper, it is really cute and she will do it for a long time concentrating really hard), she loves her sisters "Sannah" (Savannah) and "Rella" (Olivia), she loves to play chase, play with bubbles, she loves to watch me cook no matter how hot or dangerous it is, she does whatever Savannah is doing, she loves her soft blankets, she likes to do things by herself (because she is old now).

We Love You Madi Girl!

VOTE!

Remember to VOTE today.

Pro Life

As a mother I felt that I should post this. This is really sad and makes me scared for what could happen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kri8G-lGYfg

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

I decided to make just one post of all the things we did for HALLOWEEN so here it goes.

First Jason and I went to Murder Mystery Party at the first of the month that some friends did. Jason was the lawyer and I was a news reporter. It was a ton of fun, thanks Jankes for a fun night.

We made pumpkin bats for Family Night. I got the idea from the YMCA and thought they were really cute. Just don't make them too early, ours got mushy and I threw them out before Halloween.

We went to Night Eyes at the Zoo last friday with the Morris'. We had lots of fun, it was little cold and we thought we would get rained on but it turned out to be a great night.

We carved pumpkins. I don't know who loved it more Jason or the kids.

Savannah had a Preschool Halloween Parade. She got to be the line leader, which she thought was really great.

Then we went trick or treating last night, Beggers Night (for those of you who don't know, here in Iowa we are weird and go trick or treating the night before Halloween and it is called Beggers Night.? I don't know why.) This was the first year Savannah really got into it, we went together for awhile as a family and then Jason went home with Olivia to pass out candy. Savannah wanted to keep going and so did Madi so I took them around to some more houses.

The girls were so cute Savannah and Madi would BOTH knock on the door and say "Trick or Treat" (Madi's little voice was so cute) and then we told them if they don't say "thank you" you won't get the candy (I hate when kids don't say, "thank you" or they ask how many pieces they can have, pet peeve of mine.) so after they go their piece of they would say, "thank you" and run to the next door. It was so fun watching them. The best part was the weather, it was so nice I wore a short sleeve shirt. 100% better then the first year (2006) in Iowa when we got frost bite just walking out our door.

We also made treats thoughout the month. The tradition that I had as a child, making and decorating sugar cookies with different kinds of candy. Jason made caramel apples which we tried to eat (he burnt the caramel so it was really hard to eat, we ended up throwing them out but it was the idea the counts) while watching the classic Charlie Brown's Halloween. And then we made cupcakes with whitches hats, (I found the recipe at Target).

Tonight we went to our Ward Halloween Party followed by Trunk or Treat, just in case the kids didn't have enough candy already. It was nice weather again that it was all outside. We had chili, corn bread, salsa and chips and pumpkin deserets out in the pavillion and then the trunk or treat in the parking lot. It was lots of fun!

Hope everyone has a fun and safe HAPPY HALLOWEEN!