Better Than My Birthday

I know I haven't blogged about my birthday, and I will... but I don't like thinking about being another year older! ;) So... instead of dwelling on that I thought you would like to see what Bryant and the kids were up to when I was out the other day... lol... take a look at them!!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9632175106


I'll blog about my birthday later tonight so you can all hear about how super it was and what my awesome hubby got me!

Gobble, Gobble!!!

Thanksgiving was a lot of fun at my house... well, at first it was a lot of stress then it became fun! We hosted Thanksgiving for 16 of our closest relatives! I cooked the entire meal (see, my culinary school wasn't a waste! lol) with the exception of desserts. I must admit, it was dang tasty!
The best part of the day was going around the table and hearing what everyone was thankful for. It's so good to hear that my kids were thankful for things like our home, our family, church, their teachers, each other and Bry and I (with the exception of Giovanni who was only thankful for Spiderman, Superman, and Blue Spiderman lol... nice). It made me realize how much my children do appreciate what we have.
After everyone left we watched Elf and decorated our Christmas tree. We bought at 9 1/2 ft tree... I'm so not smart and didn't realize how HUGE it is! Good thing we have 20 ft ceilings! At first I was really picky and wouldn't let the kids help then I realized how much they wanted to and set them free. My only regret was when Vanni got a hook stuck in his tooth...lol. Let's just say that there are probably 5 ornaments on every branch. Not to mention, my creative kids crawled UNDER the tree and decorated down there. lol. It's super cute though!
I am so thankful for my family. I'm thankful for my loving husband who shows me everyday what unconditional love is. I'm thankful for his job that provides for us and allows us the ability to have Bryant at home with us and allows me to be able to stay home with the kids. I'm so thankful for the atonement and for the opportunity I have to renew my covenants each and every week. I'm thankful for my children who teach me how simple life really is, and how wonderful they make it. I'm thankful that I am blessed with this family and with my extended family. I'm so thankful for all of my friends who have stood by me through the years and who are practically family. I'm thankful for the new friendships that I have made. I love you all and hope that your thanksgiving was as wonderful as ours.

Weekend Report!!!

I had such a fun weekend! A few weeks back Jess asked me if I wanted to do a Breast Cancer 5k with her and her work because my Grandma is a breast cancer survivor I didn't hesitate to say yes. The 5k was in Tempe at Tempe Town Lakes and started at 8am Saturday. Tempe is about 45 min from my house and I wasn't sure how traffic would be so I woke up at 6:30 to meet Jess by 7:30 and while I was getting ready I was super excited... I don't know if it was because Bryant was home so a lot of stress was off me but I know I was also really excited to hang out with Jess. Anyway, the walk was awesome. Jess works with some really nice people and it was fun to walk and chit chat with her. And just have some "grown up time" lol. We were done with the walk in a little over an hour and I headed home to hang out with my family.
Saturday night Bryant and I enjoyed a nice evening alone. We are so blessed to have some girls in our ward that are great sitters and our kids love them! Bryant and I went to Game Works (it's like Dave and Busters or Jillian's) and had dinner and played games for a few hours. Over the past few weeks I've been feeling closer and closer to Bryant. I feel our marriage is so strong right now. I see how much the Lord's hand is in our marriage and I'm so grateful for that.
I love Sunday's because our church doesn't start until 12 (well, starting this week until the end of the year it's at 11- long story) so Bryant and I usually sleep in (we've trained the kids not to get out of bed until we get them lol)and then we wake up and cook breakfast together. As part of my calling I organized a Thanksgiving dinner for a family in our ward that is struggling so Sunday I was finalizing some of that in RS. While I was talking to the sisters in our ward I was overcome with gratitude. At a moments notice I have sisters offering to do anything that is needed from them. Not only that. I felt so grateful for my calling, for being able to serve the families in our ward. I felt grateful for Bryant's job that allows us the luxury's we enjoy and having him home. I really do feel blessed. I have amazing children who are so funny, I have a great family, wonderful, supportive friends, a beautiful house... I'm blessed, though sometimes I forget that everything is a blessing. lol.
Sunday night I went to see So You Think You Can Dance (I know, it was a Sunday- I didn't realize the date when I bought the tickets and Bryant already scolded me lol) with Jess and had more fun there! It's our second year going I am so glad that I have a girl friend here that I can hang out with. Jess is amazing and I never thought that we would become as close as we have.
So, ya... that's my weekend!! :)

Welcome Carson Jared Pratt!!!

I am proud to announce the arrival of my newest nephew,Carson Jared Pratt! Summer's water broke at 1 am this morning and baby was here at 11:23am! He is weighing in at 8lbs 4oz and is 20 inches long! Mommy and baby both are doing great!

Long Week Ahead!

I'm totally not into this week at all. It's going to be really stressful and I'm already feelin it. Bryant has a trip to San Fran this week, he leaves at 5am tomorrow and won't be back until like 9pm on Friday... I'm so sad. I didn't really get to spend much time with him today because he worked and the kids and I decided to finally use those passes we got to the Zoo (ya, we've had an annual pass for 7 months and used it for the 2nd time today... lol) and went with my sis and her kids. So basically I'm not going to see Bryant at all this week. What makes Bryant being gone even harder is my parents are in Utah because Summer is having her baby next week so I'm literally all by myself. It's not as bad when my parents are right behind me to help out, you know?
What else about this week besides having all 3 kids, our dog and my parents dog by myself? Oh, ya... Thanksgiving dinner is at my house this year and I don't have anything except cranberry sauce. lol. Not to mention Saturday I am doing a 5k breast cancer walk with Jess... though by that time it'll probably be the most relaxing moment of my week! :)
Most stressful moment of the week happened at like 7:58 tonight when I found out that Prison Break won't be on again until January 14th! You can't leave me hanging like that, it's just not fair!!!
But....to leave on a happy moment, a week from tomorrow (November 20th) I will have a new nephew! And look how cute his Mommy and big sister look!

Mommy's Little Helper!

The mornings are always really crazy around here trying to get all the kids ready, fed, and out the door on time. This morning after all the craziness of getting Andy and Nati to school I was trying to get the kitchen cleaned when Vanni came in and said, "I help you Mama". Sure enough he went over to the dishwasher and started handing me all of the clean plates then as he was pulling out the silverware he would tell me "fork, spoon, knife" so that I could make sure to get it right! lol. The cutest thing was when he went and got a folding chair pulled it up to the sink and started WASHING the dishes! He totally got into it, got out the scrubby, the soap, the works! He even put a little elbow into a dirty pot! It was sooo cute! When the dishes were all done (don't worry, he saved the knives for me!) he got the sponge and wiped the table. What a little man! It was for sure the highlight of my day!

Happy Halloween!

My kids had so much fun trick or treating with their cousin Makenzy! Before they were dressed we enjoyed some yummy potato soup (it was yummy cause I made it!) and the kids could hardly contain their excitement! After dinner we got ready quick and went around the neighborhood getting lots of good candy! It was a long night, and the kids went to bed right as soon as we got home!
They looked so cute in their costumes! I think the funniest part of the night was when Vanni went to a door and when no one answered he yelled "open up!" It was super funny! They loved running up and down the streets and having everyone tell them how cute they looked! The highlight of their night was going to Papa and Grammy's and getting a special Halloween treat and some popcorn!
It was so fun watching my kids enjoy themselves and just be kids!