Amazing 2010 Valentines day!

Valentines Day was a Blast this year. This time of the year seems to always be a little disappointing and sometimes it just passes me by. This year I had no expectation nor did I really even think ahead with plans for a date. This year however, John did a fantastic job of surprising me with a gift this year. Of course he couldn't wait till the actual day, because he is not great with keeping things from me. Two days before the Big "V" day I asked him if I could use some money we saved to take us out and stay a night at a great place. His reaction of course was in defense because he had spend it, but didn't have a good excuse as to what had happened to it. He tried really had to come up with something, but in the end just ended up pulling out the box. When I opened it I was surprised to see he had been paying attention when we went jewelry shopping for his mom's birthday a week earlier. I had loved these but no one else did. I give him a big A+ for this surprise he was able to pull off even though it wasn't on the actual day.

SO since john had out-done himself with my great present I was stumped as to what to do for him with little to No money. So I went digging! Here is what I came with....The strawberries that I had intended for a desert but never made it, brought the best idea to my mind. So I grabbed the white and milk chocolate bars that I had left-over. and began to create hand-dipped choco. strawberries. I know it's not quite the best gift for a man, but believe me they were a part of a great night!! We got to have a some time together with some yummy deserts after, and that is what a perfect Valentines day is for me after 5yrs of marriage!!~

Thanksgiving 2009

Thanksgiving this year was with my family! We had planned to have all of my siblings together to be able to take our annual family picture. Unfortunately Hyrum and his family were in the process of moving from Oregon to Idaho. After the loose of his business he decided it was time to go back to school. He got accepted to BYU-Idaho in Rexburg, ID. They made it to Idaho the day before Thanksgiving, but were homeless for the whole weekend while the previous owners moved out. instead of leaving all the belongings in ID to come to UT they had Thanksgiving with the Smiths, a family my brothered lived with in High School. We were all sad we weren't going to have then with us, but extatic they are living closer!

During the Thanksgiving weekend my older sister Susan and her girls were able to join us. They live in WY. I had the priviledge of taking some family pictures of them. It was alot of fun, and some good practice for me. I think they turned out Beautifully!

I also did my sister Rachel and her family! Rachel has never had pictures taken like this of her or her family so it truly was a priviledge to take these! These are some of my favorite!

Our little Skeletons~Halloween 2009

Finding the right costumes for the boys happened last minute this year, which I don't regret seeings that all costumes the week before Halloween are on sale.

I had it in my head that the boys should dress up as woody and buzz from toy story, but when it came down to it all the costumes had been picked over so I could only find one buzz in baby size and no Woody. Skip that idea, and back to a pirate like Braxton had been talking about all month. That was a whole lot of fun as well trying to pick out just the right one. he could decide on the three that they had, and when Braxton gets overwhelmed with a decision he starts to throw a major tantrum. He saw a cheap superman costumes and got hooked. It was $15 and could believe that was what he wanted. So not well made. Luckily my sisters were with me. Meghan picked up a Baby skeleton costume that couldn't be cuter. Normally I don't like the scary costumes that have mask, but this one was shaped with cutie lines and a very cutie hood with a skeleton face on it. I bought both superman and the baby skeleton and returned home to try them on. When I put Jaidens costume on, Braxton kept telling us that he was going to be a skeleton too. I kept reminding him that he choose Superman. John saw Superman and said "absolutely NOT." The next day, on the way home from work, he ran by walmart and grabbed the last descent looking skeleton costume they had. We both don't like masks, but in Braxton's costume we made the mask work since it had no gory look to it, but instead a very cute smile.

The boys loved their costumes and it was a blast showing them off at John's parents ward trunk-r-treat. My favorite part of the night though is when we left the kids with Gramma to go to our own little traditional Halloween bash with our close friends, Danny and Shannon. We have gone to this part since the first year Braxton was born, and loved it. I look forward to it every year. The hot homemade chili, and donuts YUM!~ It was a great Halloween that came a went in the blink of an eye.

These are our prized craved pumpkins of the '09. This was my first year actually doing something other than a smiley face, and I was very, very proud of the end result. John loves to challenge what he did in years previous so of course frankinbob was the result and it looks fabulous!~

Bye Bye BlueBerry~ Hello Black Beauty

For the last 3yrs we have been Leasing our Mazda CX-7. I feel I was so spoiled to have gotten a car brand new, and to have it for the perfect amount of time. I dubbed it our little Blue Berry the first week we got it, and it stuck. It truly has been absolutely perfect for us and our growing family, but seeing as our family is growing, I have been feeling the need for more space.

Our perfect little Blue Berry was sure to see it's end with us, and our newly dubbed Black Beauty came to us with a very unique story...

A few months before our Mazda was due to be turned, I felt a great concern of what kind of car we needed and could afford. I knew we needed to get something a little bigger than what we currently had, but all large options were quiet pricey and out of reach for us.

One day, out of the blue, a fellow Co-worker informed john of an buddy of his who was looking to sell his Toyota Sequoia for what he owed on it. His situation was leading him to need to get out from under it rather quickly. You see his wife has terminal cancer and they needed the money to help her receive treatment. When John told me of this car and how little he was asking for it I was sure it was too good to be true. I felt that maybe not all the truth was being told here, since salesmen are known for doing that. I was very much mistake because it was everything I wanted and more! Had all the bells a whistles! Needless to say I was sold the minute I climbed into the car.

The next day I made all the arrangements with the bank, and we all met together to sign papers. When I saw his beautiful wife she was pale in the face, and wearing a long wig and mask. It was so hard not to notice the sadness in her two teenage kids eyes as they clung to their mom's side, and her husband was so sweet and soft toward her. It was the hardest business transaction I have ever made. Conversation during the process was very scares with such a gloomy situation louring over our heads. But they were so kind, and I truly know that this was a blessing for both parties~

Adventures at Thanksgiving Point: The Petting Zoo

The Next week, which was the last week for us, was the petting zoo with Ryan, Brittani and Weston. I think this was my second favorite. They had lots of different farm animals, but not your everyday american farm animals. They had farm animals from all over the world. I think I liked the different kinds of chickens the best.

There was a baby colt that was curious of us. He stood right next to the fence, close enough for the boys to touch, and I'm sure it was a thrill for them. We had alot of fun, and hopefully we can do it again soon.