While Sissy's are Away Mom and Hailey Will Play

This morning we were able to enjoy another beautiful blanket of snow. I can say it is beautiful because it is already melting. :) When Hailey saw the snow she asked me if it was Christmas again. She thought it only snowed on Christmas.

Hailey and I enjoyed sledding and making a snowman while Lindsay and Ashley were at school.

My little Buddy!
Our little snowman with grapes for eyes and a carrott for a nose.

Teddy also enjoying the snow. I love the cute little snowflake on his nose.

Across the street from our house is a small hill that we like to sled on. It is hard to make sure that you do not go out in the road. Apparently I did not try hard enough.

As I am writing this Hailey is watching the news and is telling me to hurry because the snow is melting. She wants to play outside again. Off to enjoy it for a couple more minutes.

Sundays

I have no idea what happens to me on Sunday morning but I am absolutely no fun to be around. I think it is that I have to get myself ready plus three girls, set out my husbands clothes, find all of the missing shoes, throw the clothes that are wrinkled into the dryer (NO, I do not iron), make breakfast, finish Primary stuff that I vowed I would finish a week ago, and the list goes on and on and on. Needless to say, it is never a beautiful sight. Mitchell actually tells me that he hates Sunday mornings because I am in such a bad mood.

This morning was no acception. Lindsay was crying for some reason which never happens, Ashley was bugging everyone and Hailey was crying for another reason and I absolutely had it!!! As I listened to my husband singing in the shower it fuled my fire even more until I went into the bathroom and gave him a piece of my mind. When he came out the girls were calm and happy and he said, "what are you talking about, the girls are fine." Love that.

We then happily hopped in the car and went to church with smiles on our faces. Please tell me that this happens to everyone, I doubt it but you could lie to make me feel better. I vow to do better next week.

School Carnival Fun

Our school carnival is so much fun for the girls. They get excited to play fun games, get good prizes, eat yummy food, hang out with friends and just all around fun.

Hailey loves to get her face painted. This year she asked for a purple duck.

She also loved to play the heart game.

Her favorite is the Dino Dig Game. Eggs are hidden in rice and you need to dig them out. Each of the eggs have a number on them and you get to get a prize out of the basket with the same number on it. Last year she was at this game for about an hour she loved it so much.

Ashley hung out with her friend Hannah. They enjoyed the junk food walk where Ashley won some doritos, the wheel of fortune and the pet game. In the pet game you get one key per ticket and you see if your key unlocks the cage. If you win, you get to choose a pet. Ashley won two pets and gave one to her sister, Lindsay, that did not receive one.

Ashley at the fish pond, I wonder what she will get.

Lindsay was able to hang out with her friend Emma. Her favorite game was the Race Car game. She got some really fun prizes playing this game that included candy, a fuzzy pencil and a matching game.

Her favorite part of the night was the basketball game where she played four times against a boy in her class and she won every time.

We had a great night and look forward to the carnival next year.

FHE Lessons For A Year!

My friend sent me an email that made my year! It has a FHE lesson for each week that all is centered on this years Primary Theme "My Eternal Family." I love this for a couple of reasons, they are in a childs format so my youngest will understand, I can use them for sharing times and I will make sure we have FHE because it is already done!!!! YIPPEE, now that is a way to make my life a lot easier.

Here is the link to the site:

http://www.sugardoodle.net/mambo/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3510&Itemid=5

Stephanie Finlayson I don't know you, but you are a genius in my book!!!!!

I'm Hungry

My dear Hailey surprises me every day. She always has something funny to say.

She was sitting on the couch biting her toenails.

GROSS!

I asked her, "Hailey, what are you doing?"

Her reply, "I'm Hungry."

I guess I better make some lunch for the poor girl before she eats her whole foot.

The End to A Wonderful Christmas Season

Our ward Christmas party had to be postponed due to the huge storm that we had so we ended up having it tonight. It was the best Christmas party that I have ever been to and I believe it was because it was all about Christ and not about Santa. It also helps that Santa has come and gone and so the kids are no longer thinking about it.

We had "Christmas in Bethlehem" complete with taxes (paying with canned goods to get in), a census (you had to sign a scroll before entrance), shops (toy store that had dreidels, craft shop with a place to make the Star of David, Gifts of the Magi with real Frankincense and Mhir), bakeries (olives, deviled eggs, cookies, pita bread), money (sachets with "gold coins") and a nativity.

Hailey at the Gold, Frankincense and Mhir table where each family received samples of each.

Lindsay buying her dreidel.

Don't you love our attire?

I absolutely loved the Nativity. It was very well done.

After the performance this little girl ran to look at baby Jesus, I just loved this picture though.

I am so glad that we do not have to end our Christmas Season because the calendar says so. I still get to go to our wards Christmas Enrichment Night that was postponed due to the weather also. I love this time of year!!!!!

After Two Years and Two Delays He is Finally Home!

January 2nd has been a very anticipated day for our family. My brother Adam has been serving a mission for our church for the past two years and he was finally coming home. When he was growing up I was like his second Mom. I had to know where he was at all times because I was scared that he would get lost. He has always held a special place in my heart. We had the opportunity of having him come to live with us before his mission. It was a learning experience, but really fun to get to know him a lot more.

The day finally came. All of my family would be there, but my brother in law Paul who had to work, to Corcoran for the homecoming. We made fun signs and my Mom bought balloons.

He flew from Portugal to Paris then Paris to Boston. Once he got onto his plane in Boston his plane could not land in Salt Lake for about an hour due to bad weather. This caused him to miss his next leg of his flight from Salt Lake to Fresno. Since his flight was the last one of the night he had to spend the night in Salt Lake with his companion. We were very frustrated because the next flight that he could go on would be 24 hours later causing him to get home at 9:30 Saturday night and we had to leave Sunday morning for our long drive home. We realized there was nothing we could do and so we looked forward to seeing him at 9:30 the next night.

On Saturday I checked his flight to make sure it was on time and it was, yet again, delayed this time due to maintenance issues. He was to fly in at midnight. By that time we were to leave Hailey had fallen asleep so I drove to Fresno with Lindsay and Ashley. We were really excited, he was finally coming home!

Waiting at the airport.

Of course he and his companion had to be the last ones to get off the plane. It was so good to see him.

HUGS!

In the airport parking lot. It was late and I was sad that I would not see him again until the morning, but I was so happy that he was safe and home!

On Sunday he was able to bear his testimony and talk a little about his mission. We were able to take some family pictures before everyone had to leave to their homes.

Hailey with her Uncle Adam. He calls him his "Plumpers". She used to pucker up her lips to kiss him when she was younger. I tried to get her to do it again, but she is too old for that now. :)

Our whole family minus Heathers husband Paul.

Mom, Adam and Dad

Later that day he was released as a missionary and was able to visit with some of his friends before leaving the next day to BYU Idaho. It will be so nice to be able to pick up the phone and talk to him whenever I want to.

My Favorite Place in the World

While we were in California we enjoyed a fun trip to Pismo Beach along with my brother Jared and sister Heather and families. We invited my nephew Chris to come along.

We enjoyed lunch at Splash Cafe. I ordered the fish and chips for me and each of the girls and a shrimp basket for my nephew. We loved the food.

Pismo has a pier that you can walk out on. We enjoyed watching the fishermen and the surfers in the water. The waves were huge so it was fun to actually see a surfer catch a wave.

Down on the beach we enjoyed playing in the sand. Hailey enjoyed being buried in it.

Ashley enjoyed playing in the water with her cousins. Every time a wave would come, she would run away from it.

Lindsay had fun playing volleyball with her cousin Chris. They also had a sand ball fight and played in the water.

As I was talking to my Sister in Law, Danielle, we heard a SPLAT and I looked down and had a lovely surprise on my arm. It was actually pretty funny.

I guess I had a souvenir to take home. :)

Mitchell The Builder

My husband has blown me away the past couple of weeks. He flew down early to California so that he could help build his parents a garage at their new home. The garage started out as a simple project and ended up becoming a HUGE undertaking.

When I got there this is what I saw, it was just the beginning. After hiring two other helpers the work progressed drastically every day. It was really fun to leave and return to see the progress.Our girls really enjoyed helping their dad and Grandpa. Lindsay especially had a great time helping out. During the planning process Mitchell realized that it would not be very hard to add a second level to the garage for a small guest room or apartment. Here it shows the top of the first level and the floor of the apartment.


On Monday Mitchell called me while I was at my parents home and asked me if I saw his text message. I told him that my phone was in the car and that I had not. He said that he had been in the emergency room because he was getting a nail out of a board with a crow bar and the crow bar slipped and cut open his lip. He received four stitches then went back to work within an hour. What a trooper! I wish that I was there to be with him but I am not sure how much help that I would have been since I do not do well with needles or blood. I guess it was a good thing. As of today, 7 days later it looks as though his lip has totally healed and may not scar. It is amazing.

This was taken the last day they worked on the garage at about noon. They completed quite a bit after this was taken.

Mitchell hated that he had to leave without it complete, but he will return in about a month to finish it. One of these days I am going to talk him into building us a home! I will start making my floor plans now. :)

A Day At The Fresno Zoo

We had a great time at the Fresno Zoo. It has so many unique animals that are not at our zoo.

My favorite exhibit has to be the flamingos. I love their color!

I think that my girls wanted to bring this kamono dragon home or it was bringing them home.

I can't figure out how to change the layout of this picture. The zoo has a great petting zoo area for the kids.

Hailey and Tavis enjoyed brushing this goat.

Hailey has a little way to go to size up to this gorilla.

But she might be a monkey.

There is also a park area with a big rock wall. Lindsay and Ashley had a blast climbing it with their cousins.

We had a great time.