HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

I am not very good about posting for every ones birthday, but I just happened to have a few minutes and wanted to tell you all how fabulous these two October babies are.

First, my friend Anne. I have known her since... well, forever. We have been through a lot together. We used to live right next door to each other and made up a lot fun(ny) games, dances, songs etc... And as you may have guessed as our hormones started to emerge so did our moods and we had our fair share of fights, but I believe those just made us closer. I have probably been on more trips with her and her family than anyone else I know. I am grateful they took great pity on the poor girl and let me tag along, I always had a blast and learned a lot. Because of those trips I actually new of Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and Snoop and learned to understand boys a lot better. She has a lot of brothers. Anne is also one of the strongest people I know and is never afraid to say what she thinks and stand up for what is right. I love this about her. She is one in a million and I am happy to say that we are still friends. Hope you had a great day Annie!
Love ya.

The next lovely lady is my sister-in-law Teddy. I have actually known Teddy for almost as long as I have known Anne. Except that instead of playing with Teddy I used to babysit her. I am sure I even babysat Brock once or twice. Teddy is the sweetest, kindest, most loving people I know. I am also so grateful to know her and be a part of her family. She will be moving to Nebraska with her cute hubby Scott in about 6 months and we are going to really miss them. I love having her as my sister-in-law and actually tired to make her my sister-in-law twice just because I love her so much. Thank goodness it didn't work out or we wouldn't have Scott. She is also so strong like Anne, maybe it is something in there horoscopes. They just both know how to stick to there guns when it comes to doing what is best. Thanks for being a great example Teds. Sure love ya.

Husband tag
1.What is his name? Brock
2.Who eats more? That depends but usually me. He always gets the salad and get the hamburger!
3.Who said I love you first? I think he did.
4.Who's taller? He is by about 3 or 4 inches.
5.Who is smarter? That depends on the conversation at hand. Brock is a great self-learner. I need more of a school atmosphere.
6.Who is more sensitive? ME!
7.Who does the laundry? I do, but Brock will help if I needed and he always does his own if he needs something and I haven't done the wash yet.
8.Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Brock, for now.
9.Who does the bills? ME, me and me.
10.Who cooks more? I usually do, but now that I work nights, Brock takes over and makes dinner for him and the girls.
11.What meals do you cook together? I guess whenever one of us needs help, mostly just on Sunday.
12.Who is more stubborn? That would be me too. However, Brock has his moments if it has anything to do with Cycling or Xango.
13.Who is the first to admit they're wrong? I think we both do this pretty well, our fights don't last very long at all.
14.Who has more sibling? I guess Brock does including step and half brothers and sisters, all together he has 9. I have 4.
15.Who wears the pants in the relationship? I guess I do on most things, but I don't mind letting him take over when he wants.
16.What do you like to do together? Eat Sushi - travel - ski (can't wait-Brock took up tele skiing last year!) go on walks and anything outside.
17.Who eats more sweets? I don't know. Brock loves ice cream and I love chocolate and cookies.
18.Guilty pleasures? Ummmmm..... anything having to do with traveling. Should we feel guilty about that? Probably because we can't really afford it right now.
19.How did you meet? Brock's Grandma set us up, shortly after his mission.
20.Who asked who out first? Brock's Grandma just dialed my number and handed the phone to him, so technically he did.
21.Who kissed who first? I kissed him.
22.Who proposed? Brock, up at Alta early in the morning. It was perfect.
23.His best features? What isn't there to love? I Always tease him about wanting him to have a little belly and be balding, but the truth is I love him just the way he is.
24.What is his greatest quality? His undying optimism. He can see the good in any situation.
25.Tag? Emily, Teddy, Keri, Alta, and all ya'll.

To my children

"When our children were very small, I started to write down a few things about what happened every day. Let me tell you how that got started. I came home late from a Church assignment. It was after dark. My father in law, who lived near us, surprised me as I walked toward the front door. . . . I knew that he had been building a system to pump water from a stream below us up to our property."He smiled, spoke softly, and then rushed past me into the darkness to go on with his work. I took a few steps toward the house, thinking of what he was doing for us, and just as I got to the door, I heard in my mind--not in my own voice--these words: 'I'm not giving you these experiences for yourself. Write them down.'"I went inside. I didn't go to bed. Although I was tired, I took out some paper and began to write. And as I did, I understood the message I had heard in my mind. I was supposed to record for my children to read, someday in the future, how I had seen the hand of God blessing our family. Grandpa didn't have to do what he was doing for us. . . . But he was serving us, his family, in the way covenant disciples of Jesus Christ always do. I knew that was true. And so I wrote it down, so that my children could have the memory someday when they would need it."Henry B. Eyring, "O Remember, Remember," Ensign, Nov. 2007

My dad sent this to me today. What great reminder. Hopefully we can all strive to be a little bit better in this category. I know that I need to improve.

So to my children...
I want you to know how blessed we are to have such great family surrounding us. Aunts who watch you when you are sick and love you almost as much as I do, Grandmas who bring us dinner, clean our house, make Halloween cookies with you, read and play with you and who constantly offer up prayers for you. You are blessed to have Grandpas that give you goodies, hugs, and make you laugh - and whose generosity is more than we could ever repay. You are blessed to have Uncles who tease you to make you stronger and ready for the "real-world", and who would do anything for you. Let's not forget the cousins who will always be your best-friends no matter what. And to all our great friends we are so blessed to have you in our lives - you have all made a significant impact on us and we are better to have known you.
So Savannah and Lucy if you are ever wondering if you are loved or can't seem to think of any blessings just remember that you don't have to go any further than your family and friends. Thanks ya'll.

When it rains...

This is how it panned out. Phone dies - a week and a half later finally get it back with a plethera of messages that I hadn't returned, shortly after the computer went on the fritz, requiring three hours at the apple store and too many phone calls to tech support before I had it up and running. During the computer fiasco it was just starting to get cold enough to turn the furnace on... no such luck. Needless to say my fingers are blue as I type this and for the first time Lucy slept with us last night. After listening to her scream for an hour I finally realized that she might be suffering from hypothermia and a small case of frost bite. Poor little girl.
Todays status... new phone, new computer and working internet, furnace being repaired. I do have to say after all that I do think we could survive without all the "necessities" of life. A simple life isn't so bad, except I am sorry for all of you who called and didn't hear back from me. I will be calling you soon.
I did get to take some fun pictures so here are some of the latest. There is a lot more to taking good pictures than I ever thought. So bare with me and what I feel is a huge learning curve.