Already???

This past Saturday, we were out and about in the car and Jackson asked me a very interesting question. He wanted to know what you are supposed to do if you get tired of dating your girlfriend. (keep in mind this is coming from my 6 year old who is in 1st grade!) I asked him if he found himself in this situation, and he said he doesn't have a girlfriend, but his friend Chase has 5! So, he said he has just been thinking lately that it would be really hard to tell someone that you don't want to date them anymore!

I told him that sometimes it is, but you should always be honest about your feelings with yourself and others. We discussed some ways that you could "break-up" with someone, and he seemed pretty satisfied. We also decided that he isn't going to have a girlfriend until after his mission! YEAH RIGHT - but it is worth trying to convince him!

When I told James about the conversation later, he said Jackson had already come to him for advise! I guess he really has been concerned with his dating question! I hope he will continue to come to us for "advise" through the teenage years!

CHECK THIS OUT...

My awesome friend, Abbey Wright, of Abigail Wright Designs, designs modest wedding dresses, and she has also started to design some occasion dresses as well. They are all so beautiful and unique, and are very affordable as well. If you know any prospective brides, you've got to have them check out her dresses online, or meet with her by appointment at her studio. I would have loved to wear one of her dresses when I got married!

Last Monday she was asked to show her dresses on channel 2 news, very early in the morning. She asked me to be one of the models. I was so excited to be able to try on her dresses, especially since we took the young women over to see them earlier this year and we all drooled over them - so to speak! However, another friend and I were "modeling" with two professionals which made me feel and look a little foolish. At least it was only for seconds! It was so fun to have the opportunity though. I never thought after 8 years of marriage and 4 kids that I'd be wearing a beautiful wedding dress again! So, here's the clip:
http://connect2utah.com/2news-this-morning-story/?nxd_id=127596

My Handsome Baby...

On Blaze's blessing day, it was too hectic to get any good pictures of him. Then I was waiting for Christmas to come to get my D SLR camera, and I just got around to taking pictures of Blaze in his tux last week. They all turned out so well - I love every expressions he is making in each picture. He was a very good sport for taking about 50 pictures!

New Year's Eve...

Santa left the kids a certificate to go to Pirate Island - a modern day "Chuck E. Cheese" sort of place with a Pirate theme. We decided New Year's Eve would be a great time to check it out. There are several animitronics there and an arcade game room that the kids all loved. Alanna was a little frightened of the pirates at first, but eventually warmed up enough to get a picture with some of them. A balloon man came to our table, and he made several creations for us. James decided to challenge him and requested a platypus. It actaully turned out to be an awesome platypus, and James loved watching it being made. Jackson got a sword, Paul a motorcycle, and I challenged the balloon man a bit by requestion a Tinkerbell balloon for Alanna. She turned out beautifully, and he hadn't even made one before. It's great that kids are entertained by the simplest things (and sometimes we adults are as well)! Our kids are begging us to go back there already, but I think next time we'll eat at home and just play there. The food is not good enough to eat again!

We continued our party at home with soda floats and Tim Tam Slams. The boys were so excited to stay up and watch the ball drop, but when the time came I couldn't wake them. I was yelling at them and shaking them, but neither one of them even stirred! Paul came into our room at 4am and asked if it was midnight yet and wanted to see the ball drop! They were disapointed with me and wanted to know why I didn't wake them :)

Between Christmas and the New Year...

James got to do I FLY! I just can't get enough pictures of my Blaze-a-roo!

Christmas Day 2010 !!!!

We spent Christmas morning at our own home this year and Syped my parents so they could share our experience. Paul had been insistent about coming down in the middle of the night to play with his Santa toys before anyone else was up. So, Santa outsmarted him and hid all the toys and had the kids do a scavenger hunt to find them. When the boys came down stairs it was kind of funny because they didn't see anything from Santa and decided that they must have been on his "bad list"! They loved doing the scavenger hunt and they finally got a Wii system, along with some other gifts. I even got a HUGE surprise! For the last 4 years I have been asking for a flat screen TV that we could just hang on the wall so the kids wouldn't touch it and we could get rid of our ugly set "entertainment" set up. James always had some excuse about why we couldn't get one though. This year I had finally given up after we recieved some 3-D goggles in the mail. I called James at work very irritated that he had bought 3-D goggles for our crappy old TV when he wouldn't even buy a flat screen. He made up a bunch of junk about how he thought they would be really cool even on our old TV etc. So, Santa left an extra stop on the scavenger hunt, and when we went in the basement we found ourselves a 3-D flatscreen TV! We were all very excited, even James!

Alanna got Tinkerbell undies in her stocking, and she put them on immedietly. The problem was she refues to use the toilet or baby potty, so she quickly peed her pants and wanted to put on a different pair of Tinkerbell undies! She had quite the fit that morning, but we ended up compromising and putting the undies over her diapers :) She also got a fake snake in her stocking that she carries around with her princess dolls.

My parents gave Paul a band set with a piano, microphone, recorders etc. It was so much fun to listen to the kids talking and singing on the microphone and making music. Paul and Alanna really get into their music and close their eyes while they sing and do hand motions. My parents were laughing so hard!

Jackson will tell you that his favorite Christmas gift were the chocolate covered cherries in his stocking. He ate the whole 12 pack on Christmas day!

I'm always so sad when Christmas is over. The world transforms back and takes down the decorations and lights. We can still celebrate the birth of our Savior all year round though!

Christmas Fun...

Blaze is our jolly baby still! Thank goodness for that!

Alanna got to make these cute reindeer antlers at preschool. She loves her beautiful holiday dress and wanted to wear it on Christmas day even!

Alanna has her brothers wrapped around her finger too (most of the time anyway!). It's so fun to watch our kids play together and love each other so much!

Christmas Eve 2010 ...

At the beginning of December, my dad was traveling on business and colapsed in his hotel room in the early morning hours. He woke up and was paralysed, and layed in his room calling for help for hours before they called an ambulance. He has been diagnosed with Guillan Barre syndrome and is on his way to a full recovery. It has been pretty scary to learn of his condition, and he has been stuck in a hospital in Bakersfield and will remain there until mid January. My mom has been able to be there with him the whole time to help with therapy and provide emotional support. They had to spend Christmas in the rehab center, but we were able to Skype them for all of our festivities here in Utah. Hopefully he will be back here with us in mid January.

We had my brothers and sisters-in-law and baby Peter over for Christmas Eve. We did a non-traditional but very delicious dinner of Olive Garden's potato soup, Chicken Carbonara, and lots of finger foods. I made this amazing Pommegranite Cheescake from My Kitchen Cafe's blog. It was like Cheesecake Factory Cheesecake, and even those of us who don't prefer cheesecake loved it! It's a festive dessert because it is bright red - you should try it! Anyhow, we did our traditional Nativity play for my parents and read our favorite Christmas story about Christ. We opened up our sibling gifts, and Uncle Andrew had our family. He once again managed to get our kids their favorite gifts - we should just pay him to do our shopping next year! Jacko got a remote control tarantula, Paul got a remote control dinosaur, Alanna got a Fur Real kitty that she loves and has named "Mickey Mouse", and Blaze got a big Curious George stuffed animal that he loves to suck on. A little funny story about Alanna I want to remember: I went to pick her up from nursery the day after Christmas, and her teacher asked me if Alanna received a Mickey Mouse for Christmas. I said "no", and thought that was really strange because she said Alanna was talking about Mickey Mouse that she got for Christmas. When we got home she showed me her cat she has named "Mickey Mouse"! What a silly girl!

This year my parents gave up a really cool opportunity for Christmas. After Thanksgiving dinner they gave each family money for Christmas, and then a seperate envelope with money in it to do secret Santa for a family of our choice. We were to tell everyone about our experience on Christmas Eve. This was really a way to remember what Christmas is all about, and I think we will make it a tradition in our family, because you really don't have to look far to find a family in need. As we all told our stories about secret Santa on Christmas Eve, it was amazing to hear about how many people the 5 couples had helped to make Christmas a little brighter this year. And of course, we were serving Jesus Christ which is more important than anything else that comes with the hullaballo of the Christmas Season!

I am so grateful to know that Jesus Christ is my Redeemer and Savior. I am so grateful for His sacrifice for us, and to know that it is possible to live with our Father in Heaven again because of the atonement. My son Paul asked if all of his uncles would be coming for Christmas Eve, and when I told him they would, he asked if Uncle Paul would be there. I told him that he would not be there in body, but I think his spirit would be with us as our family celebrated Christmas. He said if Uncle Paul saw him, he might think that he were Jackson. Then he would have to explain that he was not Jackson, but he is Paul too, named after Uncle Paul. I'm glad that we will be with my brother Paul once again. He is the spice of our family, and I miss him everyday. Since he has been gone, the gift of the atonement has brought a whole new meaning and understanding to my life. I'm thankful that my kids can understand the Heavenly Father's plan and have an eternal perspective about their Uncle Paul.

Breakfast with Santa!

We attended our annual breakfast with Santa at Paul's preschool this Christmas. Paul LOVED Santa, and sat on his lap for a long time stroking his beard and asking him questions. Alanna didn't mind sitting on Santa's lap and asking for a candy cane either. Blaze didn't scream and cry, he was happy to get a picture with his siblings and Sant too! The boys asked for and LED flashlight and made all the other moms laugh at their simple request from Santa. They all asked why it had to be an "LED" flashlight. The answer: James lectured them about how LED is the best light, etc. etc. They have become obsessed with LED, and they are constantly asking if different lights are LED. Sure enough, they will tell you that their favorite gift from Santa was not the Wii, gift certificate to Pirate Island, or anything else but their $3 LED flashlights found in their Christmas stockings!