An Attitude of Gratitude

We had a great thanksgiving full of family, food, and fun. We went to a cabin in Brian Head, Utah and had a huge feast. We cooked and cooked all day on Thursday and then enjoyed the fruits of our labors for the next few days. As you can see, the little ones were dying to dig in and devour the feast.
We had a couple of 4-wheelers to play on and had a blast but were bummed that the snow had not made its debut, that was until Friday morning. We woke up to the beginnings of a winter wonderland. I was so excited to get Cade out and snap some pictures of the kids in the snow. It was really the first time that Cade had played in the snow and he was somewhat unsure as what to think about it. He loved to kick in and eventually learned how to throw it so he could retaliate after a snowball in the face, it was great.

I started with pictures of the twins but then my camera froze. I was so sad because I had great plans for some snow pictures. Hopefully my camera can make it back from the shop before Christmas because my little point and shoot just doesn't do the job.

On Saturday morning we headed up to Provo for the BYU vs Utah rivalry game. We had a great time! We ended up taking Cade with us to the game and he loved it. He yelled and cheered and supported the Cougars. We were so proud of our little man.
It was a great Thanksgiving holiday and we feel so blessed to have shared it with so many special people!

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Now is the time for my attitude of gratitude...
I have felt so blessed this past year and know that our Father in Heaven has truly watched over our family and blessed us with more than we deserve.

I have been married to my prince charming for 3 1/2 years. I love my sweet husband and feel so blessed to have forever with him.

We have been blessed to have a full fridge and full tummy's.

We have been blessed to spend lots of time with all of our family. We have been blessed with hugs and kisses and feel so blessed to have been loved so much.

We have survived some not so great haircuts. Ooops, we got a little over zealous with the clippers.

We have been to the happiest place on earth...Disneyland. And it was truly one of the happiest places on earth!

We have played, and played, and played!


Cade has loved nursery and has been a champ. Oh thank heavens for Nursery!


Cade has been a great 2 year old and has not learned the "mine" word until just recently. We feel so blessed to have such a fun, exciting, and lovable little boy!

We have been a very happy and blessed family of 3....


And are so excited and honored to soon be a family of 4!

Donald Duck

Wow, once again it has been a long time in coming and not many pictures to show for the long absence. However, there is a reason for going MIA, which I will share with you later. On Friday night Jared told Cade that in the morning we would go get some chicken nuggets and Cade was so so so excited that he couldn't get into bed fast enough. As soon as the sun peeked through his window he started asking if we could go to "Donald Duck." So, we decided to forget our chores, dawn our BYU apparel(since they were playing that day) and head out to McDonald's. We were lucky enough to get there for breakfast and so I got to fill my quota of 1 egg Mcmuffin for the year and the boys got some sausage egg mcmuffins.

Jared was rather happy with the event but was so excited for the cougar game to start that he kept his eye on the clock. He actually found another cougar fan at the McDonald's playland that he got to talk football with for a little bit.

Cade wasn't sure if it was more fun to eat or play so he would stuff his mouth as full as he could get it and head off to play until his mouth was empty.

Last night as I was cooking dinner I turned around to see that Cade had plopped Jared's hat on his head and was just hanging out waiting for dinner to be done. For some reason it really struck me as funny that I couldn't help but snap some pictures.
Thanksgiving is coming up and we are so excited. We get to spend the holiday with Jared's family at a cabin in Brianhead so we are hoping for snow. There are so many things in this world that I am so thankful for and cannot wait to actually write down because for some reason that makes the blessings seem even more real and the gratitude sink deeper in my heart. However, now is not the moment for that post, strange I know, but there is a reason. So, I wish you all a wonderful and happy thanksgiving. I hope the Turkey is moist, the family is close and hearts are full of thanks and gratitude.

The Laundry Mystery

How exactly does this happen? I did all the laundry, and I mean ALL, on Saturday. ALL the whites, ALL the colors, ALL the towels, ALL the delicates, ALL the odds and ends. It took forever but it was all done, clean, and folded. As I was putting it all away today I turned around to see another pile of laundry to fill the basket and cause another load to be thrown in today. How exactly does a family of 3 create enough laundry in a day and a half to have to start laundry all over again? Ugh. And on top of that... not only does it cause the washer and dryer to be used but the iron too! Ironing is NOT my favorite thing to do. Oh well, I guess it could be worse and I am sure it probably will be when there are more little munchkins to wash for and clean up after. The beauties of motherhood.
(This picture is when Cade was 4 months old... My how time just passes us by!)

Utah With A Bang!

We had a crazy and way too quick weekend this past week. We took off to Utah on Friday night and pulled in at about 1 a.m. With a restless night behind us I woke up early and headed to the salon so my cute sister-in-law gave my hair some TLC. Once I was done I jetted back to the house to pick up Jared and head to the BYU game. We had a great time at the game and were happy to leave with another win however we were on the run again. We were in the car again and on our way to Salt Lake. We arrived just in enough time to change and head off to my cute cousin Seth's baptism.

The baptism was wonderful and we were all so proud of him and his decision. He is such a tender soul that just makes you happy to be around. He is going to be an amazing missionary though out his entire life.

Cade was being a goof ball at the baptism and was cheesing for the camera. He has recently discovered little cars and at the moment prefers Lightening Mcqueen from cars. He takes it every where and loves to make all the car noises that all boys can make for some reason.

My newest addition are bangs. It has been years and years since I have had bangs but I was in desperate need of a change and my only options were cut it all off or cut some bangs. I opted for the smaller commitment. I have enjoyed something different but am still trying to figure out how to do them. I feel a little disabled when I am doing my hair now.

However the most exciting addition of the weekend was baby Sawyer. My sister-in-law, Jessica, went into labor or had her water break on Saturday morning at 7 a.m. and our little Sawyer was here by 2:02pm. We are so excited that we got to see him before we had to head back to Las Vegas.

Cade was so excited to see baby "Sawer," as he would say. He loved to hold him, look at him, and talk to him but he did NOT like it when I held him. He did everything that he could to get my attention on him and off of Sawyer. It was too funny and a little endearing but something we are going to have to work on.

The whole time he held the baby he would smile and smile and say, "look mom, a baby!"

Jared fell in love with his little nephew. He was so excited to snuggle a little one again and had to keep smelling the "new baby smell." It was so much fun to watch both of my boys with a little baby around.

After a short visit and welcoming at the hospital we got back in the car and got back to Las Vegas at about Midnight on Sunday. It was a great weekend, we had a wonderful time and wish that we could have spent more time with our family and the newest addition. Congrats Jessie, Craig, and Molly and welcome to our family Baby Sawyer... We love you!

Halloween...take 1, 2, 3, and 4!

TAKE 1-- Halloween Party
Halloween seemed to be a week long celebration in our home. It all started off with a fun little Halloween party with Cade and all his little friends. Lots of costumes, lots of snacks, lots of games. We had a good time. Cade was supposed to be a lifeguard, however he put a stop to that one. For some silly reason he refused to wear his costume so I had to rummage through his closet an hour before the party and luckily found some basketball warm-ups so he became a "baketball player" as he would say.

Cades friends Avery and Evan

Some of the kids all dressed up at the party

Giving Evan big hugs.

TAKE 2-- Trunk or Treat

Our ward had a trunk-or-treat on Monday. Cade had a good time but he was more excited about his halloween bucket at first. Once he realized that he got candy when he held it out and said the right words he was stoked! Our candy, all 65 candy bars and 25 play doughs were gone within 10 minutes, crazy!

TAKE 3-- TRUNK OR TREAT...AGAIN

As if we didnt already have enough candy, we went to the trunk-or-treat at Jason and Melissa's ward, Jareds brother and sister-in-law, on Tuesday. We had a great time and since Cade had finally caught onto the idea of Halloween he had a blast running from car to car. We also got to gather treats with the cutest knights and BYU cheerleader you have EVER seen!

TAKE 3-- HALLOWEEN

I decided that I was so sick of his dumb basketball player costume. It was boring and predictable, so I opted for a different costume for halloween night, a missionary. I wasnt sure if he would go for it but once he saw that he got to wear his church shoes and daddy's badge he was all in. I also wasn't sure if people that were not members of the church would know what he was but everyone loved his costume so much that he got extra candy. The response was, "oh a Mormon missionary, how cute!" followed by a handful of candy. To which he responded, "gank you!" (thank you) It was a hit!

His bucket was over flowing after about 45 minutes of trick-0r-treating. He had a great time and was really sad this morning when I told him that we were not going out again. As for me, I had a great time but am ready to move onto the next holiday!