Christmas

So, I know that it is a little bit early, but if I don't do it now, it won't be done. Plus, I love Christmas and Christmas music, and it makes me happy. I have this theory. Listening to Christmas music (at least the good kind) makes me focus my life more on my trying to be like my Savior, and my heart is in a better place. So, anything that will make me nicer, why not? So, if you don't enjoy the Christmas theme yet, wait a couple weeks and you will be there too.

Viva Las Vegas!

Okay, so I haven't posted for a while, but that has been because we have been pretty busy. We had to make an emergency trip to Las Vegas. Scott's brother Alex told us on Tuesday October 21st that he was getting married Friday, October 24th. Wow, not much warning. So, we figured out a way to go, and off we went Friday morning to Vegas. We got there and hit traffic. We were afraid that we were going to miss the whole thing. Fortunately, we did not. They looked great. Brianne was beautiful, and Alex looked so happy. I took about a million pictures, so here are a few.

Here are the kids, don't they look so cute! Everyone looked so nice!

Hallie cracks me up. She doesn't really care for me too much, but I think she is so funny.

Aliesha will probably be mad, but I thought this was a really cute picture.

This was Ben's favorite part. All the kids played in the fountain. He got really, really wet.

We turned around and came home Saturday morning. It was tough, but we were really glad to be able to be there. Congratulations Alex and Brianne! It was good practice for California the next week...

Here We Go Again!

Yea, I am so excited. Only 3-1/2 more weeks until we are off to Disneyland yet again. I am so ready. The great thing is, is that everyone, including Ben, is excited. Scott has the kids watch the parades on YouTube on Saturday morning every week. Ben laughs and waves at the people on the computer. So, to prepare for our trip, I am going to put on a bunch of Disneyland pictures past and present. Hope this doesn't bore all of you...but, you have got to figure we do this a lot and so it is kinda a big deal at our house.

This is just outside of Baker. It is on the way to a Ghost town. We stopped here the first time we drove, and now we stop every time. Here is the first time (actually the second time to Disneyland, but we flew the first time).

Here is the first time (actually the second time to Disneyland, but we flew the first time).Can you believe how big they get. It seems to go by so darn fast.

This is one of my most favorite pictures at the big D. Sean loved Eeyore at the time, and we got him one that he used to have to take everywhere. Wow, this is making me feel nostalgic.

In 2007 we went to Disneyland with my Mom and Dad, and Scott and Shirlee. The kids absolutely love them. Sean would not let go of Scott's hand. They bought matching sweatshirts and Katie got a Minnie Mouse dress that was way cuter than any princess dress.

When we went for Christmas in 2007 it was so fun. It was the first year they decorated Sleeping Beauty's castle and it was so cool. They were also doing a Snow White thing, and although Sean protests and says he does not want anything to do with those princesses, he is always there getting an autograph.

May was our last trip, and it has just been too long. This time will equal 7 for the family. It is Ben's third time (fifth if you count while he was still waiting to be born). We are very excited, and can hardly wait. Like I said...Here we go again!

Do We Have Suckers Imprinted on our Foreheads?

So, yesterday we were attacked by a door to door salesman...Scott is a big sucker for anyone selling something that way. He has purchased cleaning supplies this way, and now we are proud owners of a home security system. Yes, I know what you are all thinking, and yes, I probably think it too. Scott changes his mind from feeling like it is a great thing to a horrible thing three or four times a day. Who knows what will happen. The benefits I see from it are when we are gone on vacation, or wherever, and someone will be watching our house, and when I am home alone at night with the kids. I don't get nervous during the day, but at night sometimes it bothers me. We have a very dark little circle, and really if someone wanted to break into our house it wouldn't be too difficult. As a matter of fact, I have broken into our house with a credit card in less than 30 seconds. The security system was installed for free and it was activated for free. We have to pay a monthly fee to keep it connected to emergency services, but that is it. The only catch is that we have to keep a sign for it (which is small) in our front yard, but I would think that you would want to do that anyways to work as a deterrent for people breaking in.

Although I am not as susceptible to door to door salesman, I am a sucker for infomercials. I want everything I see on them. Especially if the person doing the infomercial is that guy from the Oxiclean commercials. I think about buying whatever he is talking about. Whats his name, Billy something.

So, if you really want to get some money out of us, come by the house and sell something, I don't even know if it matters what you are selling, just have something, and we will probably buy it.

School Days

Well, back to school to prove to dad that I'm no fool. (Yes, here again is my penchant for movie trivia. I don't know why my brain can fill up with useless movie quotes and then I can't remember important things for the life of me. Oh well, back to what I was really going to talk about.) Sean and Katie both started school this week. Sean's first day was yesterday. He was so funny. I asked him beforehand if he wanted me to take him into his class. He said "No." I asked if he wanted me to walk him to the door, and again "No." I asked him what I was allowed to do and he told me "You can wave at me from the car." Isn't that flattering. Then he conceded and said I could "get out and wave." That little monster. Once we got there though he wanted me to walk him to class. He was not anxious at all when I left. I was.

Katie is getting ready to go to school right now. She is all dressed and she looks like a hippie. She is such a pretty girl. She is really excited and keeps telling me she is going to be late. She is really excited and not nervous at all either. I guess that is good. It just seems so much harder for me than for either of them.

They also are going to start swim lessons tonight. Again. They love it. I love that they are having fun. Hopefully they will learn to be good enough swimmers that they will always enjoy the water. Scott wants to sign Ben up for a parent tot class as well. We will do that soon. Ben already likes to blow bubbles in the bathwater. He is so cute and funny.

Why in the world did I go?

So, Saturday was my 10 year high school reunion, and boy was it ever fun. (Sarcastic eye roll inserted here.) There was just not a whole bunch of people there that I cared to see. It is not that I dislike them, it is just that I have my own life to worry about, and I can't really worry about people that I haven't seen for 10 years. The exception though was Jay and Ginger Neuteboom, and Natalie and Josh Fowler. I had a great time talking with them. Natalie is a lot the same as she was, and it just reminded me of why we got along so well in high school. She is about as cynical and sarcastic as I am (which I think is a good thing.) She was fun to talk to and there wasn't any real weird pauses or a lot of small talk. It was just nice to see her. Josh is really nice too. She found someone who is really good with her and a really nice guy. Jay and Ginger are just about the nicest people in the world. I don't see them very much, mostly at Target, but Jay was really fun to talk to. He is just fun to be around. Ginger is so sweet. She and Jay are in my mom and dad's ward, and my mom talks about how nice she is. I believe it. I haven't talked too much with her, but she just seems to be so nice, and not fake nice or icky sweet nice, but just nice and fun to be around.

Dinner was fantastic (another eye roll). I swear, $44 for two tacitos and nacho cheese pretty much sucked. It felt like we could have gone to Maverick and picked up a better dinner. Oh well, I just have to tell myself I didn't go for dinner. It was worth it to see the few mentioned above. I just think that next time we should go somewhere else and ditch out on the reunion.

How can I pick just one?

I don't know if anyone has noticed, but I put a playlist on here. Let me tell you, this was not an easy task for me. Even now as I look at it I want to change it. There are things that you want to listen to when the mood hits. Other things are classic. When I thought about putting one on here I thought that it would be fun. You know, give people a sample of the stuff that I life. Little did I know that it is like choosing who is your favorite kid. It just can't be done, or at least not well. I pretty much love music. I have no talent except to listen, but boy do I love to listen. Music is something that is pretty important to me. I basically feel like my life runs in soundtrack. All of my memories are associated with songs. Certain songs remind me of people or places, or things that I have done. Basically, I just love it. So, how do you decide which songs are representative of yourself. Well, I don't think that all of these are. I picked some things that I really love, and others just found themselves there because of my mood. I will probably continually change it, and update it, but for now here it is. Hope you enjoy it. Also, there are things on here that some people might not like. Sorry. Just skip ahead to the next song or turn your speakers off.