L-A-Z-Y!!

All of my children have great qualities. Andy is so smart, funny, and a great big brother. Natali is so sweet, loving, and a people pleaser. Giovanni is so unintentionally funny, sweet, and loves loves loves his brother and sister (most of the time). Along with good qualities each of them have their "need to work on" qualities. Andy has an attitude lately that will send me to my grave if it doesn't change. Natali is super ditzy at times. Giovanni... well, I think pictures say it better than anything.


Andy doing the dishes, he's such a good helper!



We bought these little vacuums the day after Thanksgiving for $9. Our kids LOVE them and usually fight over who gets to use them! Good thing we bought 2!!


Giovanni is eating a Popsicle... is that a chore?!


Natali is such a good helper, she even empties the vacuum bag!


Andy scrubbing away!


Giovanni is done with his Popsicle and what's he doing? Ya, running in the hall! Can we say LAZY?!?! lol

Playin is hard!!

Andy and Natali were downstairs talking to me and Natali tells me that Giovanni fell asleep in the playroom. How does this happen? I went upstairs and THIS is what I found! I would be tired after making this HUGE mess, too!!





And he tries to tell me he DOESN'T need a nap! lol

It's begining to Look A lot Like Christmas!

Our Tree! The kids decorated it, they didn't do that bad a job, huh?! (this was after the bottom strand of the lights went out and I tore them down in frustration. maybe that's why it doesn't look so bad because I re-put everything up?! lol)

This is the little half wall thingy that divides my kitchen and my living room. It's a perfect spot for my little snow men!

We don't have a fire place but I love this screen that was given to us as a wedding gift. We decided the front entry way of our house would be our makeshift fireplace! I really like it there and the kids LOVE seeing their stockings when they come downstairs in the morning!

These are our office doors. I didn't decorate the office but I like the touch of the garland. The garland with lights on it is also going up our banister but I neglected to get that pic for ya!

K, so this is my front door and I LOVE the way it turned out! The wreath is my Mom's and I wasn't really thrilled with it, but I like it and I added the little "Let it Snow" in the middle because it totally makes me laugh when I walk in the door sweating from the heat!

The day after Thanksgiving I noticed my neighbors were all doing something I totally wanted to do... decorate their yards for Christmas. Now, I knew this wouldn't fly with Bry after what happened last year (we hot glue gunned our lights to the stucco on our house and it didn't exactly "pop off" like we thought) so I decided that I would decorate our house instead!
Monday for FHE I wanted to go get a Christmas tree but by the time Bry got home and we ate dinner it was just too late. So Tuesday I said I was getting Andy from Scouts and went and got a tree with him after. It was fun taking him with to try and find "the perfect tree" he would smell all of them and let me know which one he wanted from there. It was funny. We came home and surprised Natali and Giovanni with the tree. Wednesday my parents came over and brought me a bunch of decorations for the tree from when I was a little girl. It was so fun hanging them up with the kids and telling stories about the different ornaments. Then I got my stuff out and we decked the house out! I think it looks pretty good! And for sure it puts me in the mood for Christmas!

Happy 27th Birthday to ME!!

Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving, too!

This year was one of my best birthdays ever! Seriously, EVER! My birthday was on Thanksgiving and my family did such a great job of making me feel so special! Tuesday I got my hair done (hence the picture!) and can I tell you I feel so refreshed? I LOVE IT! But the spoiling didn't stop there. Thursday we went out to breakfast (to Burger King NOTHING was open but it was still nice not having to cook), I opened presents from the kids and Bry. Then we went into hurry mode and got everything done for Thanksgiving dinner.

About 2 Bry's Mom and Sis came over and I opened gifts from them and then my parents came over and I opened gifts from them (I liked the gift opening part of my day the best! lol) then we ate! Everything was soo yummy! The thing that was the worst is that you spend all that time making dinner and it's over in like 2 min! Urgh, but it's totally worth it. My favorite part of dinner is when we all go around and say what we're thankful for.

That night Bryant's sister took the kids back home with her and they spent the night at their Bambas house (that's what they call Bry's mom) while Bry and I went to see TWILIGHT!! I LOVED IT! Yes, it was slow, yes it wasn't as amazing as my imagination but it was still REALLY good and left me wanting more! :) After the movie we drove around to the stores to see if people really did camp out the night before Black Friday and I'm amazed to say that people really do! In front of Best Buy people had tents and everything, it was crazy! The next morning Bry and I enjoyed Christmas shopping without kids and I'm happy to report that as of today I'm DONE with Christmas shopping! YAAY!!

I'm so thankful for my family. I'm thankful especially for my amazing husband who tries so hard to make sure that I'm as happy as I can be. I'm thankful that he stands beside me even when I do things that I'm sure he wonders about, he may laugh but he still supports my whims! I'm also thankful for my awesome kids who try so hard to do what's right. They are the best kids EVER! I love that they come and give me "the hug" or "the kiss" just because! I am truly blessed!

I hope everyone had an awesome and safe Holiday!

I really am Grateful! :)

Honest, I am a grateful person, but I am also a VERY busy one, too! :) This last week was crazy busy. My sis-in-law got married, my cousin went through the Temple, and we had to plan our Sharing Time for this coming week!

The wedding was beautiful, sorry I don't have pictures, my camera broke, remember?! But it was good times. A long day, but good times! I will just say one thing- I LOVE that Bry and I didn't do the luncheon and then reception later that night thing, I wouldn't have lasted a minute longer than the few hours we did at our reception! :) I am so happy for Britni (my sis-in-law) she married a guy who is PERFECT for HER. I'm happy they are starting their lives together and wish them all the happiness in the world!

Saturday I was glad to share in Jen going through the Temple. What a packed session! No joke, we were there 45 min early and I didn't think we'd make the session, it was that busy! I am so proud of the accomplishments she's made in the last few months to get her to the place she is now. I loved being in the Temple with my cousins and my Aunt and Uncle. It was so neat. I also noticed that I'm learning more every time I go to the Temple. Could this be that my nerves are finally calming down enough that I can remember what happens next? I'm not sure, but it's a neat thing, too!

This week is equally busy, we're having Thanksgiving/my birthday at my house so I'm trying to get all that ready. Bry gave me an early birthday gift and I went and got my hair done today. I LOVE IT! When Jen gets home I'll take a pic and post it! :)

Today I am Grateful For Gas

Funny thing to be grateful for, huh? But I guess I'm not really grateful for gas as much as I'm grateful for gas prices being low! Yesterday it was $2.05 a gal and today at my lovely QT it was only $1.99!!! Actually, it was $1.99 last night there!! So thank you to whoever is causing it to only cost me $30 to fill up my van!! :)

I am Grateful for Nieces and Nephews

I am grateful for all 14 1/2 of my nieces and nephews, but today I am grateful for 2 in particular. Today is Michael's (my big brother, Jason's oldest son) 15th Birthday and he shares it with Emma (Summer's oldest daughter) who is turning 3!!

Michael lives in Spokane, WA and sadly, I haven't seen him since he was probably 9. He is such a fun, loving kid, and a good big brother to his 2 brothers and his sister. He is over 6' tall, wears a size 15 shoe so I think it's obvious that he loves to play football (he's number 99 in the pic), is the President for his church class, and even COOKS for his parents who are super busy! Good kid, huh? He was my first nephew and has such a special place in my heart. I wish I were with him to spend his birthday with him! Hopefully one day we'll have a huge reunion!

Emma lives in Cedar Hills, UT and I haven't seen her in a year and a half (are we all thinking the same thing I am? I really need to travel more! lol). I was there on the night that Emma was born and I remember waiting, and waiting, and waiting for her. When she finally decided we'd waited long enough she came and was such a beautiful baby girl with a huge head of DARK hair. She has the cutest little laugh and is super smart and a good big sister to her baby brother!

Happy Birthday Michael and Emma! I love you! :-)