Black Friday..SHoPPinG...our first time together!

Walmart at 5 am...CRAZY!
Next Stop...Kohl's

the lines were soooo long we had some time to kill

Jelly Donut for extra energy!

Next Stop Freddy's ...that is Kylee's friends mom in the background.

After 5 hours of shopping finding this display was fabulous!

ThAnKsGiViNg!

Kylee's first Key Lime Pie!
Kylee's first Pumpkin Pie!
That's a smilie face in the middle.

Jensen making his first batch of sugar cookies!
Thanksgiving morning, orange sweet rolls...YuM!
Table set for the feast!

Ready to eat!

After dinner we head to the movies!

Bond...James Bond!

Bond...James Bond!

Christmas Light Helpers!

With Spencer gone, the boys have stepped up to help Jeff with the job!

Dallin's friend helped too!

Do you think...

Spencer is having fun on his mission?

Spencer is the far one on the left, I can tell by the shoes!

Spencer is on the right, and it looks like he is winning!

So his last letter said that there was so much ash in the air, his lungs were burning while going door to door. He is still positive and enjoying the experience. He got to see President Monson rededicate the Mexico City Temple and the prophet had a Spanish translator, because it was all in Spanish. Spencer understood it all. What a blessing to be learning another language.

Happy Birthday Carl!

So here is a little shout out to my big brother Carl! Who knew I would start crying when I thought about what to write? Carl was there for me as a child. I don't even know who I would have been without the comfort and security of knowing he was there. Without my dad around, Carl naturally filled in that spot for us at home. He is 5 years older than me and 7 more than my sister. With my mom working all the time, he was the babysitter, disciplinary figure, father figure, friend and brother. What a responsibility at the early age of 8! Thank you! I know our mom depended on him greatly and he had to grow up quickly. He has a big heart and is very selfless. I remember Carl playing the guitar all the time. At Christmas he would bring it to our grandma's house and we would sing with our cousins. He always encouraged me! Carl would also drive us everywhere, he must have been busier than most teenage boys with having to bus around two little sisters! I remember as I grew older and able to date, he would set me up with his friends and we would double date...this was great for me! I felt secure and we always had a good time. Carl introduced me to Spencer's Dad, my ex husband. And what would my life be without that and Spencer...not complete. Carl taught me to love music, and I followed in his footsteps by joining the high school choir. I also developed my love for the gospel through his example, he served a mission and I was so proud to have a brother on a mission! I wanted to do that to! I hope you have a great day!
Love U!


Carl is easy going and has the best laugh!

Just chill'in at my mom's house!

Our kids decorated a pancake to look like Carl...

I think he liked it!

Carl and his good friend from high school, who also happens to be Spencer's dad. Without Carl I would not have meet Jeff or had Spencer, what a gift!

Carl made the trip to Washington to be with us to celebrate Spencer's graduation! He is a great support and we are thankful for his unconditional love!

Twilight...at Midnight!

Jeff's AVATAR!

On the X-Box 360 you can create a digital likeness of yourself. There was an update this morning after Jeff had left for work, and Jensen created his dad. FYI...he IS bald under that hat, Jensen is home this morning because of parent teacher conferences. Too Funny!

Kylee's Young Women in Excellence

Last night Kylee was asked to speak at church to the young women about her personal progress, and earning her medallion. She did a wonderful job and we are so proud of her accomplishments. Here is a picture of her display table.

Some of the skills she has learned are represented, cooking, cleaning, scrapbooking, sewing, and knowledge of the scriptures.

Bad Words

Does any one have any words that are off limits in their homes, besides the standard swear words? Ours is the word "SO." A simple word really, not so significant unless it used in our house. This is our kids token word when we are having a teaching moment. Us saying, "You should not do this or that because of this reason."...
kids reply" SO."
Or, "you might hurt someones feelings if you act a certain way"...
"SO."
This sends me into a list of consequences the kids will be in if I ever hear that word again, and they say...
"SO"
Then they begin to laugh at me because I have outlawed the word "SO" and we are right back where we started...and I have taught them nothing other than the fact I am crazy for not liking the word "SO".

Jensen's first Basketball Tournament with Warriors!

Jensen is number 7
He loves a good game of "DeFeNsE!"

Here he is ready to make a play!

With sports we have come to expect...well nothing. We had high expectations with Spencer going through the program, unfortunately sports programs in general have politics. We don't play the political games, I don't volunteer for the PTA because of politics, I lay low in almost every aspect of groups, for some reason the mind games that go along with groups of people just rub me and Jeff wrong, so we stay out of it. Our passive stance can be summarized by the game definition below:

King of the Hill (game)
From Wikipedia
King of the Hill , is a game, the object of which is to stay on top of a large hill or pile as the "King of the Hill". Other players attempt to knock the current King off of the pile and take their place, thus becoming the new King of the Hill.
The way the "king" can be removed from the hill depends largely on the rules determined by the players before the game starts. Ordinarily pushing is the most common way of removing the king from the hill, but there are significantly rougher variations where punching or kicking is allowed.
Use as a metaphor
The name of the game has become a common metaphor for any sort of competitive zero-sum game or social activity in which a single winner is chosen from among multiple competitors, and a hierarchy is devised by the heights the competitors achieve on the hill, and where

winning can only be achieved at the cost of displacing the previous winner.

I think we have instilled our distaste for politics in our children, we are all equal with different gifts and talents that compliment each other. There is no need for a "star player" because without the rest of the surrounding people there would be no game.

This is Jensen's third basketball team, as a newcomer to a team, you are at the "bottom of the Hill", he has to prove his talents every time he begins a new team, and we are so proud of his determination and attitude. He was able to start his second game yesterday and made

12 points!

As rewarding as it is to see your children succeed...the unfortunate part is that the kids that have been on the team much longer had to take a bench seat for Jensen to play. You could see the disapointment on their faces. We have seen this look from our children at different times, and it's so sad that to succeed someone else has to fail.

Don't know where that all came from, I didn't sleep well last night?