"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he shall be a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." (2 Cor. 5:17)

As I reflect on the year 2009, I realize how many things really happened this year that have changed my life!!!! I love the scripture I used in the above title. I got it of a dear friend's face book page, and thought it was just perfect for all of us starting off a brand new year! To me it helps me to know that there are things I need to change to become who God really wants me to be! I'm grateful for the atonement so I can work towards being just that person!!!!

Here are some highlights of the 2009....I"m sure there are more, but these are the things that come to mind!

1) Tyler coming home from a 2 year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day saints

2) Valerie turning sweet 16

3) Michael and Bunny found out they were expecting their first baby and our first grand baby!

4) Our family vacation to one of the most beautiful places in Utah (Bryce Canyon)

5) Thad and I going to a Rascal Flatt's concert........Don't have a pic of that one....dang!!

6)Tyler getting engaged to Jennifer Parisot

7)taking a week long lactation consultant class (you don't want to see pics of that:)!

8) Catherine moving in with us in August

9) Our little ones celebrating their 2nd and 5th birthday...one at wheeler farm and the other one with princess Belle (I love putting on birthday parties!!!!)

10) taking our family through the Oquirh mountain temple open house

11) fun summer family camping trip to Lava Hot springs

12)Wainwright Christmas Party at the beautiful Eden cabin

13) celebrating my 40th birthday !!!!! (no-one took pics of that one either.....guess mom is usually the one behind the camera!!!

14) Tyler got a job at SelectHealth!

15) Thad leased a shop to run his and Michael's business in.....yeah! no more junk in the back yard!!!

16)Halloween

17)Our annual Enchilada Christmas Eve candlelight dinner with EVERYONE there!!!!

18)annual St. George trip

19) Valerie's first homecoming dance

20)taking the girls to the Nutcracker

21) Holland being a camel in her first debut in the Church Nativity......it reminded me of Valerie being the only "girl" wise man I've ever seen in the Christmas play!


22) Holland's preschool play


22) having a wonderful healthy family that God has given us! This has kept me going through the hard times this year. I'm so grateful for my family!

I chose not to put the trials I endured through this year because I want to focus on what DID go right. We have had a great 2009, and are looking forward to a wonderful 2010! I hope you all enjoyed 2009 as much as we did!!

Happy New Years eve!!!!

Christmas Day 2009-Traditions

So all the presents have been opened, the big Christmas breakfast devoured, the kids happily playing with their new toys, still in our pj's, Catherine off to the airport to see her mom......what a wonderful, beautiful day. I can't help but think that this is truly one of the best days of the year. I know most people make goals at the first of the year, but for our family it is different. WE started this tradition a couple of years ago....we have a white stocking hanging on the tree that has our gifts we are going to give to Christ this year.....I love this on Christmas eve as we read what we wanted to give for this past year and as we write what we will give this year. It can be anything from writing down a goal to improve some aspect of your life whether it be an improved relationship with a family member, or a renewed spiritual growth and relationship to God....anything that you can do to give our Savior a gift. IT really does supersede anything that is wrapped under the tree for me (although I LOVE everything everyone got me!)

I LOVE traditions! We had our candlelight enchilada dinner last night....I know it sounds weird to have enchiladas for a Christmas dinner, but it is our tradition and the kids love it. Then we all open some new Pjs and get them on to go load in the car to look at the wonderful Christmas lights! This year was no different....except for the the fact that Mrs. Claus....that would me muah!!!(me) bought all the girls Jr sizes....it was hilarious as we all walked out with belly shirts and high waters and half sleeved pjs...(see pics) But oh, what a fun memory this will be!!!! We saw the lights, came home and read the scriptural account of the first Christmas....then the Night before Christmas story..which Santa (thad) put some fun personal twists to it! Then kiddies off to bed while Santa and mrs. claus wrap presents until 1:30 a.m........I insist every year I won't do that, but we always end up doing it anyway!!!!

I'm grateful I had all of my fam here...it is so fun to see our family grow and grow and grow!!!! We are bursting out of the seams of our house!!!!! But we love it!!!

I hope everyone had a very Merry CHRISTmas and will keep that spirit of Christmas in our hearts for the entire year and not just December!

I love you all!!!!

I'm back in computer land!!!!

so our computer crashed...yes that is right crashed....he asked if I wanted the good news or bad first...I chose the bad news...the mother board was gone...so what is the good news I asked....your info is fine....so I got the hard drive in a case...plugged it in my new computer...and guess what...only one file that I have tried to open worked!!!! I can't find any of my pics or itunes....It is a sad day for me...I hope that Im just computer illiterate and somebody will magically fix it for me, but until then...I'll just start from scratch!!!! You dont realize how much you used computers until they are gone!!!!!

WElcome back to our blog...maybe I can remember how to change the background so it is not halloween anymore! :)

Haloween 2009!

Watch out Valerie.....Cat the kitty
is gonna bite you!!!

Jackson is so into George the monkey

this is the perfect costume for him!!!

I love this costume!!!!

Don't they make the cutest monkey

and giraffe????

k....I looked like a total goof, but Thad made

a sexy han solo!!!!

So I'm so behind at blogging! Life has just been soooooo crazy this past week, but didn't want to miss posting pics of my cute kids and then of course Thad and I. We went to a party at some friends house on Halloween eve. Can I just say it was a blast!!!! We teamed up with 3 other couples and went on a scavenger hunt with a list of crazy things....Some of the highlights were Thad proposing to me in Wingers (we were princess leah and han solo), thad and the other guys asking to try on some women's clothing at walmart, Christmas caroling at a stranger's house, getting 2 complete strangers to sing ymca with us in blockbuster....just to name a few! WE have awesome friends!! Then Halloween was fun as usual...we carved the pumpkins...took the kids and val and cat trick or treating at the down town trick or treat, then Thad and Cat took the little ones around the neighborhood when it got dark. We had a ton of cute trick or treaters!!! But I have to say...sorry if I'm bias....mine were the cutest!!! :) Holland was a giraffe, Jackson was george the monkey, and Cat was a tiger. Valerie didn't really dress up but had the spirit with the halloween bow and orange. Then I took the girls and Justus and his bro to Michael Jackson's "This is It". I don't think the teenagers liked it, but I LOVED it! I really don't agree with his personal decisions, but he was an awesome pop star!!!! It brought me back to my good ole days of the 1980's!!!!

Valerie's first Homecoming dance!!!

ok, so I'm a week late on this....we had too many things that happened last weekend to post them all, so I'm finally getting around to posting a very important day in Valerie's life.....her first homecoming dance!!! It started 2 weeks before when us girls (bunny, cat, val and I) went to shop for that "perfect" dress. I took some time off during the day from work....what a blast! We went to 3 different places and ended up buy the dress she found at the first place "Modest by Design"....and can I just say to all you girls and moms out there.....there are choices for beautiful MODEST dresses!! I loved this place's slogan...."clothes your father would approve of".....she looked like an absolute princess in this dress as you can see in the pics!

So back to the dance day, (Oct 17,2009). She and Justus went on a day date with her bro michael and his wife bunny...they went to the Gateway Mall and saw the movie Stepfather. They had a great time there...Then it was time to get ready for the big dance.....Let's just say we came home with a day of shopping with the little ones and Cat, and there was Justus's family sitting outside in front of the house....I guess they had been wait for an hour to take pics.....(hey, it takes time to get ready for a dance right???? lol) So I went in and Bunny was still doing her hair. When she walked out, I got tears in my eyes.... Icouldn't believe that was my daugher......wasn't she like 2 yesterday??? Now she was about ready to go to a dance!!! I can still remember my first dance like it was yesterday!!! So as you can see we took tons of pics, and sent them on thier way....it was an awesome night...dinner at stanza's a nice restaurant in tooele, then to the dance.....It was fun to hear the stories when they got home....then the next day they went to church in their attire....they make such a cute couple!!! I love these days with my kids!!! Enjoy every minute of every stage (yes even the terrible 2's)....they don't listen to you and grow up right under your feet!!! Love you Valerie!!!

Tyler and Jenn are engaged!!!!!!!

Sunday October 18, 2009



Our oldest son Tyler proposed to the love of his life tonight! He went shopping earlier this week for that perfect ring and found it. He brought it up to my work, and we were all amazed! He had done this all on his own! IT is beautiful! (see pic) So, anyway, he kicked us out of the house after church, so we all went to my sister's house. (well thad and I went on a date....I know....not a good Sunday activity, but we had a good time...minus the incredibly dumb movie we watched....don't go see Zombieland...sorry honey...I hated that movie!!) ok...sorry back to the important stuff...Tyler made a spaghetti dinner for Jenn. They then went to temple square. It has been one of their fav places to go....they were able to view the movie that the sister missionaries were showing...together forever. (perfect for the occasion!) They also went and viewed the beautiful Christus.....then for the important stuff......They went and sat in front of the fountain......Jenn said Tyler started talking really weird....like the tone of his voice....so she knew what was going on....she buried her head in his shoulder.....He asked her if she knew how much he loved her....then he slipped down on his knee and grabbed the ring out of his pocket and asked her to marry him!!!! .....and the answer was ......drum roll please.....the answer was........you guessed it .....YES!!!!!!



They came home and we all congratulated them and hugged them....what a fun time for us! the girls were screaming...I tried to get some good pics but they didn't cooperate!!! Tyler and Jenn did though......aren't they the cutest couple???? WE are so excited to have her in our fam....she is amazing!!! They are thinking about a March wedding in the Salt Lake Temple! We love you Tyler and Jenn!!!!

Jackson's 2nd Birthday!!!!

So yesterday, October 3, 2009, our youngest Jackson turned 2 years old!!!! It seems like yesterday he was just born!!! We had so much fun yesterday. We went to Wheeler Farm ,thus the farm theme! We have never been there. It was so much fun for both the little ones and the older ones...well most of them....My nieces Becca and Carissa really wanted to be somewhere else, but they were such good sports staying and helping us celebrate the big day! We got to go on a wagon ride, milk the cows, feed the ducks see cute animals, go through a hay maze and pick out pumpkins! Holland LOVED milking the cows! She kept standing back in line to get another turn! Jackson loved it too..everytime he saw an animal, he would say "moo or quack" or whatever the animal said. After the farm festivites grandma went and got us chicken and salad to eat yummy!!! We had puppets that my good friend Kristy let us borrow, and we sang Old McDonald. We play duck duck goose, and the funniest part of that is seeing Michael our 6'8" son "slide" into his spot before the "goose" touched him....it was a crack up!!! Jackson had fun with balloons and bubbles and just running free! WE then sang happy birthday to him and he made a wish and blew out his 2 candles (with a little help from all of us!) I was pretty proud of the cake I made...for all of you creative cake makers, this is not something too great to look at, but for me it was a huge accomplishment!!! :) It was a barn and sheep, pigs, and chicks...I got the idea off the internet! By the time we were done, it was dark, so we loaded in to go back to the house to open presents....he got so many cute things including tool set, books, bath crayons, a letter magnet to put on the fridge, a farm set, farm animals, a big chunky puzzle, a lace up animal set.....lots of fun things for such a cute little boy!!! I wanted to list some things I love about Jackson!

1. his kisses and hugs

2. his cute smile!

3. his blue eyes (reminds me of my daddy's)

4. the way he talks out of the side of his mouth

5. his boundless energy (unless it is 2:00 a.m. and I'm trying to get sleep!!)

6. the way he runs to me and says mommy when I come home from work!

7. how he hugs and kisses holland

8. how he says all our names

9. how he says his abc's

10. when he cuddles up to me at night

11. the way he folds his arms and says prayers

12. the way he brushes his teeth...so cute

13. when he gets me books in bed to read to him before we go to sleep.

14. he is such a great gift God has given me....one of His precious elect children....I'm honored to be his mom!!!!

Thanks Jackson for coming to our family! We love you!!