~Homeward Bound~

We woke up Sunday morning to SNOW!!

And lots of it!

It snowed the whole time we got ready and loaded up.

It looked so beautiful!

We were hoping the snow would only be in town

and not follow us all the way home.

We had such an amazing time away.

It was sad to head home

knowing "real" life awaited us!

~Temple Square~

Saturday we did lots of shopping looking for the perfect

Christmas dresses and a baptism dress for Jolene. The girls

had so much fun trying on every dress in their size

until they found THE dress.

After shopping Raychel had her appointment for her

Pointe shoes. She was so excited!!! As we walked into the

ballet store Raychel said she had been waiting for this

day since she was 3!

She was so excited!!

After getting fitted for her shoes we headed to lunch.

I can't remember the last time we all laughed so hard!

After lunch we headed over to Temple Square to see all the lights,

they were beautiful!

The streets were so festive with all the decorations.

We drove around the square taking it all in until

we found a place to park. I don't think I have ever

seen so many people in one place.

As we walked into the square we could

hear the Christmas music. There was a beautiful nativity

scene which was all set up over the main lawn.

It was so spiritual to stand and listen to the

narrator tell the nativity story

and the music that would go along with it.

The girls and I couldn't take it

all in! There was so much to see! We took lots of pictures

and walked aroundseeing all we could.

As we left the square they was a table selling

cookies and hot cocoa, which only added

to the whole experience!

~Thanksgiving Trip~

This trip was so much fun and so needed. It's funny how you don't realize you need time away with your family until you are away and you feel your self relax. That is how this weekend ended up being. It was a very last minute trip because of the ever changing weather. We were suppose to get a pretty big storm that literally BLEW threw not leaving much snow behind. Thanksgiving the day was beautiful and Friday when we got up it was even better so we thought "lets go!" The purpose of the trip was to get Raychel her Pointe shoes for her ballet class she will be taking the first of the year. I had made an appointment for her fitting earlier in the week just in case the weather worked in our favor, and it did. As we dropped down out of the mountains into the city it was amazing. The view was breath taking.
We were really away!!! We checked into the hotle then went to get something to eat at this great Italian resturant, they had the best brick oven cooked pizza!! We laughed, ate, told stories, and ate more!! It felt so good to be away and not have a schedule to follow. Needless to say we are looking forward to this time way!!!

~Happy Thanksgiving~

Happy Thanksgiving!!

We had a really nice day. Ward and Drake

got up super early and went duck hunting, they

came home happy with stories of success, and

very cold. We had to get a picture of Drake and the

ice hanging around his neck. He was so tired he was

able to spend the day inside on his blanket, sleeping!

We had a wonderful meal, took naps, played games and

had a Wii challenge going. I am so grateful for my little

family and the love we share. I look at each one of them

and I get so overwhelmed with love for them. I can't thank

my Heavenly Father enough for the life he has allowed me

to live. The older I get the more thankful I am for my blessings.

I have more then I can count, my family is always

number one! I love them more then they could ever know.

Sunday Photo

What a lazy day!!

We ended up staying home from church

because Ward was sick most of the night and Jolene was

up off and on all night with sleep issues. We laid around most

of the day reading, sleeping, visiting and enjoying our quiet Sunday

at home with the first snow fall outside. After a light dinner

we started FHE {family home evening} by making our

favorite cookies together then while they baked we wrote

letters to our missionaries. We have three nephews out right now

so we each drew names to see who we would write too.

It was the perfect ending a little less then perfect day.

~New In Town~

It only took 396 days to get from groundbreaking to the

Grand Opening!!!

We finally have our new library.

It is wonderful.

We wentwith some friends to the Grand Opening Celebration.

We stood out in the cool beautiful Fall day and listened to the

opening remarks about the new library and patiently waited

to see the inside. There were so many people also waiting to

get a look inside that we decided to go the the craft show out

of town for the morning and then see the inside in the afternoon.

It was well worth the wait!!!

Here are a few interesting facts about he new and old library.

Before~

Square footage~ 4, 353

Number of public computers~9

Number of books~21,792

Number of media items~3,436

Study rooms~0

Meeting room capacity~25

After~

Square footage~30,000

Number of public computers~30

Number of books~33,072

Number of media items~4,407

Study rooms~4

Meeting room capacity~25 & 155

Checking out all the books!!

Raychel and Nicole got to be interviewed for the school announcments

about the new library.

The beautiful stain glass window that was also in the old library.

~Braces~

Jolene finally got her braces on!!

She has been waiting "patiently" to get this stage going.

8 weeks ago when we went in she got a piece

put in the back part of her mouth on top that

comes down to the lower jaw and behind her

bottom teeth. All this is to help reshape the bones

of her jaw. Jolene had an over bit because

her front jaw came out and is narrow and the

bottom jaw was slightly in. So with the

"mouth piece" it moves the bottom jaw out and

brings the top jaw in. By moving them both it

keeps her face shape the same.

If you look closely you may notice she has

puffy cheeks, that is because

of the "mouth piece". Now she has

her braces in and the real work begins. She

only needs them on the top teeth and will

wear them about a year. We have already

notice some major changes in her teeth.

She is good about keeping them clean, eating

the right foods, and she still

smiles and laughs

all the time!!!

Sunday Photo

This morning shortly after we woke up

it started to gently snow. I must admit it

did look pretty, but it was so cold! Jolene was

hoping it would snow the whole time we were in

church so she could come home and play in it.

Not only did it not snow long but it didn't stick.

The girls had gone outside after dinner to feed the dog,

Raychel stayed out longer messing around with

Drake, but Jolene who wanted to be outside

the most came in, climbed under a blanket and

turned on a heating pad to warm up!!!

~Happy Birthday To Me~

Yep, it's my birthday!!

It was really a great day!!

We headed out of town with friends since the kids had the

day off from school. We headed out to do some

shopping, eating and of course laughing!!

We went to lunch at Red Robin, where they will sing

to you for your birthday. My great friend put in that

request against my wishes. The poor waitress didn't know

what to do!! We had a great meal, lots of visiting

and of course more laughing! Well, when the meal was over

the waitress brought us the check and and my

"free" ice cream. She kindly explained to my

very disappointed friend that she

was going to honor MY wishes to not be sung to!!

Well, by the look on Jodi's face it was obvious she

wasn't happy!! She sat there for a few minutes while all of

us samples my yummy birthday Sundae. I could tell

she was going to do something. I never would have guessed

she would sing "Happy Birthday" nice and LOUD all

by herself!!! It was the the best, the girls and I laughed

so hard we were crying!! Nicole pulled her sweatshirt over

her face, the others slid down in their chairs, I am begging

her to stop at any time!!

But no!!

She continues loud and proud to the end!!

It was a birthday I will never forget!!

When Ward got home he took me out to dinner just the two of

us. While we were gone the girls decorate the TV room like

I do for them on their birthdays. It was a very nice surprise to

come home to, along with the best gift!!

A Belgium Waffle Maker!!

YUMMY!!!!

Surprise

Jolene has a great teacher again this year.

Miss Bacon is young, and so much fun. When I heard

she was having a birthday Jolene and I thought

it would be fun to give her a surprise party from her

class!! I have worked in her classroom many times so

I knew her schedule and what time a party would work.

I asked her if I could "take over" the last 30 minutes.

She gladly said yes!! Well, we made her leave the room

for a few minutes while we decorated the room,

pulled out cupcakes, drinks, and of course the gift!!

We even had little gift bags for the kids to take home.

The party was a huge success!!!

Sunday Photo

The girls love new skirts!!

We love to going to fabric stores and

picking out new fun fabrics, looking through

cute patterns and then we create!!

They help if they can and they learn

something new as we go. This past

Sunday they both wore their new skirts

and looked so cute. They wanted a photo

session after church, they had so much fun

posing and being silly!!

Fall~Aspens

I love Fall!!

I love all the yellow Aspens as we drive

around. I love seeing all the colors changing and

how beautiful they are! This is the one in our yard.

The day was beautiful, the weather was perfect,

so we cleaned up the the yard and enjoyed our time outside

before the weather changes to snow!!