My Baby is 4

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Today is Abby's birthday. She is growing into a beautiful little girl. Here are 4 things that sum her up.
1. She is very determined
2. She is independent
3. She is a little bossy
4. She is full of love for her family!

We are so glad that she is part of our family. We love you Abby!

Happy Birthday Honey!

Yesterday was Nathan's birthday. He turned 33 years old and to celebrate, I thought I would share 33 things about him.

1. He is the oldest of 7 children. He has 5 brothers and 1 sister.
2. He has very tickilish feet.
3. Speaking of feet, he likes to curl under his toes when he is sitting.
4. He played tennis in high school and was quite good at it.
5. He was born in Provo, and has lived in Utah, Arizona, and Texas. He never had a strong Texan accent though.
6. He served a 2 year mission in Sydney Australia and would like to return for a visit.
7. He has a treasure map of a time capsule he buried on the beach in Sydney that he would like to go find.
8. He graduated from BYU in Electrical Engineering, but is now a Product Manager.
9. He recently broke his foot while playing soccer and had to wear a "boot".
10. He loves chocolate.
11. He loves his children and takes Thomas and Abby on weekend activities. Thomas loves Best Buy and Mac and Cheese at Chilis.
12. He looks really good in baby blue. It brings out the color in his eyes.
13. He has traveled to China, London, and France. He is traveling to Finland in January. Can we say BURRRRRRRRRR.
14. He likes to read and learn new things when he has time.
15. He is an enterprenur.
16. He has a soft side that I love.
17. He loves his children very much. Emily's smile can make him melt.
18. He built us a deck on our home in Layton. I didn't believe that he could actually do it, but he did and it turned out great. It was 8 feet off the ground!
19. He isn't a fan of crowds.
20. His idea of vacation is the beach just relaxing and taking it easy.
21. He gets bored very easily. He likes to be going like the Energizer bunny.
22. He is straightforward. He doesn't mince words very often. He can be direct which helps when I am trying to figure him out.
23. He loves me. Even when I am a turkey which is often, he still loves me.
24. He takes care of us, even when he has to put his own desires on hold.
25. He got bit by a spider when we lived in Alabama that made him very sick. It happened while he was sleeping. It gives me the creeps just thinking about it.
26. I knew that we had something special the first time I talked with him.
27. He is dependable. He follows through with his commitments.
28. He is forgiving.
29. One of his favorite shows at the moment is Chuck.
30. He has a security clearance from working at Boeing.
31. He does the dishes after dinner without me asking.
32. He does a better job cleaning the house than I do.
and finally...
33. He gets an extra day of celebrating just because his mine.

Happy Birthday sweetie! I hope you know how much I love you.

25 Chistmas Questions

25 Christmas Questions
1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
Wrapping paper.
2. Real tree or artificial?
Both. I have an artificial one now, but I had real ones growing up. I remember the Christmas after my father died and my mom and I went to get a tree in Oregon. We drove 45 minutes and when we arrived it started to rain. We found a tree and went to cut it down with a dull saw. It took forever! Then we had to strap the thing to the top of our mini van. When we were finally done we were dripping wet and we prayed the whole way home that it wouldn’t slide off the roof when my mom turned the wheel. There were a lot of tears and laughter that Christmas.
3. When do you put up the tree?
The day after Thanksgiving.
4. When do you take the tree down?
Usually around January 2nd.
5. Do you like eggnog?
No. I can’t stand it.
6. Favorite gift received as a child?
My Cabbage Patch Kid Preemie. I wanted one so much, but of course they were hard to find. I was shocked to see one under the tree when I was younger. I still have it.
7. Do you have a nativity scene?
Yes. I found one at Costco a few years ago and I bought that one. I have added two more to my decorations. One is a clear set of glass, and the other one is of little children.
8. Hardest person to buy for?
Nathan. He has made it easier because he has a wish list that I can go off of. That helps.
9. Easiest person to buy for?
Emily, just give her some paper and something that makes noise and she’s good.
10. Mail or email Christmas cards?
Mail, however I will post an email letter as well.
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?.
A stuffed horse. It didn’t do anything and I was bored silly. It was at my grandparents 50th wedding anniversary and we had all drawn numbers. I was very upset.
12. Favorite Christmas Movies?
National Lampoons Christmas Vacation.
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
Around December 1st. We started doing our shopping online the last couple of years and it has been wonderful. The only down side is making sure we don’t procrastinate too late so they get here on time.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
I don’t think so.
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
Aunt Lorie’s meat rolls. She uses roast beef and ham and puts cream cheese in them and rolls them up and slices them. They are wonderful!
16. Clear lights or colored on the tree?
Clear. It is the only ones I will use.
17.Favorite Christmas song?
This is a tie. I love Christmas Shoes by Newsong. It makes me cry everytime I hear it. I also love “Mary Did You Know”, but only the version by Kenny Rogers and Naomi Judd.
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?
Stay home. It seems that everytime we travel my kids get sick. Last time we traveled we went to Texas and ended up in the ER on Christmas Eve with Abby and a 103 degree temperature and croup. A time before that we went to Vegas and the police showed up at my mom’s house. Do you see a pattern here?
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?
“ You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen. But do you recall, the most famous reindeer of all? Rudolph”… Abby just finished watching it on DVD so the song is in my head.
20. Angel on the tree top or a star?
Angel
21. Most annoying thing about this time of year?
The commercialism of the season and the craziness and rudeness of some shoppers.
22. Favorite ornament theme or color?
I love homemade ornaments. Our tree has a country feel to it with the homemade ornaments and ribbon on it. I love to make new ornaments every year. I also make our stockings out of felt. Nathan’s is Santa, mine is a snowman, Thomas has a gingerbread man, Abby is an angel and Emily is a ballet dancer.
23. Favorite for Christmas dinner?
Honeybaked Ham. I had one as a gift one year and they are wonderful. Expensive, but wonderful. However, most years it is a ham with all the fixings, but we usually do a big meal on Christmas Eve and have finger foods on Christmas.
24. What do you want for Christmas this year?
I want everyone to be healthy. No sickness this time. In the way of gifts, I would like the David Archuletta CD, a new jacket would be nice and some lounge wear to be comfy in.
25. A favorite Christmas Tradition?
On Christmas Eve we have a nice dinner and then share a Christmas story. Then we pack the kids up in the car in their PJ’s and drive around to look at the lights and help them fall asleep. When we get home, we put them to bed and then we decorate the house. We have strings tied to the stockings that lead all over the room with a present at the end. We also blow up balloons and put them all over the floor. It is a crazy mess, but it is a lot of fun. Nathan’s aunt Lorie does this and we borrowed it from her.

How about you?

Gobble Gobble, Turkey Lurkey!

Since Thanksgiving is on Thursday, I thought it would be fun to share some Turkey Trivia on the famous bird we will be cutting and carving. Too bad only one turkey will be pardoned!

- Turkeys have heart attacks. When the Air Force was conducting test runs and breaking the sound barrier, fields of turkeys would drop dead.
- Turkeys can drown if they look up when it is raining.
- Turkeys’ heads change colors when they become excited.
- Turkey breeding has caused turkey breasts to grow so large that the turkeys fall over.
- Since 1947, the National Turkey Federation has presented a live turkey and two dressed turkeys to the President. The President does not eat the live turkey. He "pardons" it and allows it to live out its days on a historical farm.
- Turkeys will have 3,500 feathers at maturity. (Does someone actually count this?)
- Turkeys have great hearing, but no external ears. They can also see in color, and have excellent visual acuity and a wide field of vision (about 270 degrees), which makes sneaking up on them difficult. However, turkeys have a poor sense of smell (what's cooking?), but an excellent sense of taste.
- A turkey has 157 bones!
- Buterball has a hotline to answer all your turkey questions. For those who may need it, the number is, 1-800-323-4848.
- Sleepy after the big meal? Turkey contains an amino acid called "Tryptophan". Tryptophan sets off a chemical chain reaction that calms you down and makes you sleepy.
- When Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin sat down to enjoy their first meal on the moon, their foil food packets contained roasted turkey and all of the trimmings.

Have a happy Thanksgiving, and too all of you preparing the big meal I hope it goes well. I am making the Thanksgiving dinner this year, and I hope it all turns out well. I am a little nervous about getting everything cooked and staying warm until it is time to serve. That is why I had to have 2 ovens!

Gobble Gobble!

Gratitude ABC's

A: Attitude Adjustments
B: Belly blows
C: Cuddles. Knowing that all is right in the world when you are in the arms of one you love
D: Daughters. Abby and Emily bring me so much joy. I'm blessed to be their mother.
E: Eggs. I am craving them at the moment
F: Family.
G: Green grass. It is nice to see it instead of the snow. I'll enjoy it while I can.
H: Home
I: Innocence of youth
J: Jesus Christ
K: Kelly. That is me. I am grateful for being me. :)
L: Love.
M: Marriage. I am blessed to be married and sharing it with...
N: Nathan. My husband and best friend
O: Opportunities to repent and begin again, and again, and again...
P: Patience. I don't have much of it, but that is why I am thankful for "O"
Q: Quiet time
R: Rest and relaxation. I crave it all the time.
S: Son, Thomas. He is such a wonderful boy, and is growing up too fast.
T: Timing. Things happen for a reason, and it is all in Heavenly Father's hands.
U: United States of America
V: Vacations. I need to take one.
W: Wisdom to accept the things I can not change, even though I keep trying too.
X: Xylaphone. It was one of my children's first toys.
Y: Youthfulness, which I don't seem to have much of lately. I need to exercise...
Z: Zippers, and watching Abby learn how to do it herself.

Happy Halloween

I hope you all had a wonderful Halloween. It was nice to actually have decent weather this year. We went to Nathan's work party and had a good time. His company goes big on Halloween. One section was based on The Wizard of Oz, and another department actually brought in sod and had a football field built complete with a tailgate party.
Thomas went as Anakin Skywalker, Abby was Tinkerbell, and Emily hung out in the pumpkin patch with me at home.

Pumpkin Patch

Last Saturday, we decided to try our luck with the local pumpkin patch. Sadly, there wasn't much worth reporting. The weather here is still in the 70's and Saturday was no exception. We went to Hee Haw farms, and quickly realized that it wasn't worth the money we paid to get in. It was very hot, dry and there were swarms of hornets everywhere. On top of that, they wanted an extra $.25 a pound for a pumpkin.

We packed up the kids and headed to a local farmer here in Orem who sold pumpkins on his front lawn. It wasn't Tate Farms in Alambama, but it will have to do.

Enjoy!