Our busy week!

The girls were out of school for a week for "Fall break", so last weekend our family went up to Snowflake to spend time with family for the entire week. These next few posts are all about our time up there.

For once we left early enough to stop at the bottom of Salt River Canyon. I have been wanting to stop there ever since we moved.

The picture with J & K is on the old bridge...the one that I would drive on (back in the old days) when going to and from college. It's now just a pedestrian bridge that runs next to the new bridge. It made me a little nervous while we were on it though, because they have yet to make it "child-proof". I was a little on edge the whole time we were on there...thankfully we were only there for a few minutes.

the new bridge

...and my cute kiddo's!!!

...playing with cousin's and 2 birthday's on Monday...

Monday afternoon my sister Lynnette and I took the kids to the Primary school to play on the playground there while Lynnette ran some errands.

That's Stevie on top of the slide.

They had lots of fun on the merry-go-round! My kids just LOVE their cousins!!!

Later that night we went out to Eva's (YUM!), and went back to my parents house to have a birthday party for my dad (who just turned 68!), and Lecia (who is now officially a teenager...YIKES!). I can't believe that she's only 13 and several inches taller than me...just one more niece to pass me up (although it's not really a hard thing to do).

...blessing day Sunday.

I was just too busy visiting with family to remember to take pictures, so I only got two. Jennah was just DYING to hold Paisley! (We really need another baby in our home!).

Lynnette made Paisley's dress, and my amazing mother did all the embroidery on it.
The Lunt's have the cutest little kids chairs at their house. Just the right size for Kirstie :D

...baby shower on Saturday

I threw a baby shower for my sister Lynnette and her daughter Paisley on Sat. the 11th at my mom's house in Snowflake. I was really pleased with the turn out, and all the creative gift giving. It was an ABC shower and the "gift-givers" had to come up with a gift that started with or represented the letter of the alphabet that I put on the invitations (and yes, I used them ALL...even X). We had a great time visiting and enjoying each other's company.

Here's the guest of honor...baby Paisley!

Natalie was being too cute, so I just had to get a picture of her on here!

Here's Lynnette holding Paisley. To the left is my Grandma Cheryl, and to the right is Aunt Tricia.

This is my Aunt Joyce (in the pink) with three of her girls Brindee, Kimberly, Barbara, Barbara's daughter, and my Aunt Pam.

Another shot of some of the guests. (Grandma Cheryl didn't want her picture taken, so you just get to see the back of her head.)

Milestone

For the very first time ever, Kirstie said family prayers tonight totally by herself. It's been frustrating for Steve and I because we were expecting this to happen MUCH sooner (she 6 1/2 now). We were patient though and always told her that whatever was in her heart, that's what she should say. There's nothing sweeter than hearing your child say a prayer. It finally happened tonight, and we couldn't have been more proud!

Hmmm...

3 months ago, I highlighted my hair, and as those of you who have done this know, it was looking pretty sad. Yesterday I bought some dye that I THOUGHT matched my natural hair color. I decided to use it today and well, I guess because of the highlights, it turned out auburn instead of the color I was hoping for. Weird thing about it is that my eyes used to be brown. Now with the red hair, they look totally green to me. (I know, this picture is LAME, I'm just not very photogenic)

So...does red work for me, or do I need some serious help?!

Hope...

Could there be any doubt that our church leaders are called of God? This last session of conference was exactly what I needed! Even though we had computer problems, and fighting kids, I was able to get more out of it than I normally do. Of all the talks, Elder Holland and Elder Uchtdorf touched me the most. I often have feelings of self-doubt, insecurity, and inadequacy. Elder Uchtdorf's talk about hope...I'm not good with words, but the words he spoke seemed to be meant just for me. I loved Elder Holland's talk about angels, and it got me to thinking, who are my angels? He left me feeling comforted when he said, very powerfully "God NEVER leaves us alone!" And of course, our wonderful prophet. Some of the things that really struck me that I had to write down were..."Make the most of today. Find out what is most important" and my favorite..."Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved". I can't wait until the conference Ensign gets here so I can see and read the words that were spoken!

Of one mind...

This is for my benefit only...so it probably won't mean much to anyone else...

Last night after supper Jennah was doing her homework at the table while Steve and I were talking in the kitchen. Out of the blue Jennah said "daddy, I'm drinking strawberry milk". To which Steve and I broke out into song at the same moment and ALMOST in the same key, to our own version of the BEATLES tune "Strawberry MILK for-ever"...then burst out laughing! Jennah kept asking what was so funny, and when we explained it too her, she just looked at us like we were out of our minds. We often have moments like these when we're "on the same wave-length"...like we can almost read each other's minds. Sure makes life FUN!!! (now if only his quick-wit would rub off on me...)

Goals

This morning I woke up around 4:30 and couldn't get back to sleep. After laying there in bed for 30 minutes, I decided to get up and go jogging. I left the house at about 5:15 and it was still dark outside, and as I've said in another post, I'm totally afraid of the dark! That was one of the scariest things I've ever done. There are NO street light here, so I was running blind. It's a good thing that this town is so small, otherwise I would've been to creeped-out to go. I think maybe it turned out to be a good thing, because my heart-rate was increase just by the adrenaline alone.

My goal is to be at my target weight in a year, but I'm making small goals every month so I don't become too overwhelmed by the enormous amount that I have to go. Hopefully some day my body will look like this again...

...minus the sequined dress and big hair :) I can dream can't I?