So THANKFUL

Happy Thanksgiving!!! I won't be anywhere near my computer tomorrow so I thought I'd post this today...

I really love Thanksgiving. It is one of my favorites. I love the simplicityof it. It hasn't been commercialized. There is no fictional character that we count on to deliver anything to help the day be better. It's plain and simple. It's about family and reflecting on how good we really have it. I am Thankful to be spending the day with my family. Thankful for my incredible kids. Thankful to have my mom and dad over. Thankful for the 2 sisters of mine who are also over. I wish I could say I was Thankful to have all of my siblings over but that just doesn't happen anymore. We are too spread out. But, I'm still Thankful for them. And Thankful for the modern technology that makes it easy to stay in touch with them. I'm Thankful for my warm home, clothes to wear, and cars to drive. I'm Thankful for food in my fridge and storage. I am Thankful for my prosperity and for the blessing of being able to share it with people who are less fortunate. I am Thankful for a job and being able to find one so easily in an economy that is struggling. I'm Thankful to live in this place... a country where I can live the way that I choose and in a community that I love. I'm Thankful for Thayne and all that he does for me and our little family. I'm Thankful for my kids and how amazing they are. I'm Thankful that they have gone easy on me and made being a step parent easy and I'm so Thankful that I have had the opportunity to be a part of their lives. I'm Thankful for Kyle and his amazing personality. I'm Thankful for his friendship. I'm Thankful for the man that he is growing into. I'm Thankful for Tristyn and the special relationship that I have with her. I'm Thankful for her positive attitude and the way that she gracefully deals with the obstacles in her life. I'm Thankful for her trust in me and her willingness to share her thoughts and feelings with me. I'm Thankful for Kassidy and her fun personality. I'm Thankful that she loves to be creative with me and is my partner in crime for those things. I'm Thankful for how much she makes me laugh and the fun spirit that she brings into our home. I'm Thankful for Jakson. I'm Thankful for his energy. I'm Thankful for all of the entertainment he always gives us. I'm so Thankful for Max. I'm Thankful that he chose me to be his mom. I'm thankful for all that he teaches me about being a mom and being a good person. I'm Thankful the love that he gives me. I'm Thankful for his adorable little personality. I'm Thankful to be able to watch him grow up and to be a part of that process.

I have a lot to be Thankful for. My life is good and God has blessed me so much. I'm so Thankful for a day to be able to focus completely on all of the many blessings that I have. I'm so Thankful to know God and to know that he knows me and has given me everything that I need and that he always will.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

2 of the busiest weeks of the year

The past last 2 weeks and the first couple days of september are always some of the busiest weeks of the entire year for us. August 20th is my birthday, the 30th is Thayne's birthday, September 1st is our Anniversary and the 2nd is Max's birthday. That's just what we have going on in our immediate family too. I'm not even going to get started on all of the stuff we have with our extended families. It's pure insanity.

I told you about my birthday and the awesome dishwasher Thayne got me. It really has changed my life. I feel like a free woman! I'm not sure how I ever survived doing dishes by hand. It really is about the simple things in life. :) We decided that the dishwasher would be a joint gift for both mine and Thayne's birthday so I was off the hook for having to shop for him (which really is nearly impossible). So, the day before we had all of the kids over, including Maddie, and I made a big lunch of Carne Asada, homemade refried beans, pico de gallo, and guacamole. It was delicious. And with our dishwasher, clean up from this big lunch only took about 45 minutes instead of the 3 hours that it normally would have taken me. Then we went to see Thayne's brother Bin and his family for cake and ice cream. The cake was compliments of our neighbor Diane and Bin's wife Anel provided the ice cream. It was a fun and laid back afternoon and Thayne thoroughly enjoyed his 39th birthday.

On our Anniversary we just went out to dinner because our big plan was to spend a night in Park City on the weekend. Park City was awesome. We ate good food and had a really relaxing night alone. Thank goodness for the friends and family who helped us pull off the overnighter.

For Max's birthday we let him do whatever he wanted all day. He woke up around 11 that night and Thayne thought it would be a good idea to take him to get ice cream. He loved it. Tomorrow we are having a party for him with our families so that he can open presents and eat cake and ice cream. I will post photos next week.

Ward Easter Egg Hunt

A couple Saturdays ago our ward had an Easter Egg hunt. I went with all of the kids except Jakson (He had practice for his dance) and Thayne was working. It was Max's first Easter Egg hunt and it was a lot of fun to watch him. The girls helped Max while Kyle found candy to bring home to Jakson.

At first Max didn't want anything to do with the plastic eggs. I opened one so that he could see that there was candy inside. He took one piece out, closed it and put it in his basket... He proceeded to follow that process with every egg he picked up. It was really funny. By the end of the event his face was covered in candy.

Thanksgiving and Christmas 2009

For Thanksgiving we took the kids to California and stayed with Thayne's mom and step dad, Kim & Craig. They live in Gustine, a small town about 2 hours south of San Francisco. Thanksgiving day was great and laid back. Craig made a delicious turkey. He accidentally added a secret ingredient that Kim & I found out about when we were doing the dishes afterward. There was stuff stuck to the metal drain strainer for the sink. We couldn't figure out what is was until Craig admitted that somehow it had gotten into the turkey and he discovered it AFTER taking the turkey out of the oven and carving it. We got a good laugh out of it and I don't think Craig will ever have a Thanksgiving where he's not reminded of that again. He may have been better off keeping that detail to himself. The day after Thanksgiving we spent in San Francisco. It was awesome and the kids especially loved it. We went on a boat ride out to the Golden Gate Bridge and around Alcatraz. We stood at the very front of the boat and Tristyn especially loved it. She had a permanent smile on her face. The kids were also all amazed at all of the citrus trees. We picked fresh lemons from their back yard and the kids made their own lemonade. It was delicious. We also went to a luau that some of Kim & Craig's friends had. The food and entertainment were awesome. Overall, it was a really laid back weekend and it was great to be able to spend so much time with Kim & Craig.


Christmas was great. On Christmas Eve we had my family over for dinner. It was rather small since the 3 brothers and their families were all missing. But I enjoyed having my 3 sisters, their families and our mom over. The food was delicious. Blythe brought a Ham, Amber made rolls and Roxane made a fruit salad. I was in charge of the rest... I'm most proud of the Artichoke Dip with Pita Chips and Eggnog Cheesecake. The food was delicious and the company was great.
Christmas Day we had Thayne's sister Jamie, her husband, Chris and their 2 girls, Mo & Jo over for lunch. Jamie and the girls had just flown in from spending the week in California with Kim & Craig so we did a low key lunch. The food was good but it was really nice to spend some time with Jamie & Chris. We'd never spent Christmas day with them in the 6 years we've been married. They gave Max a hand me down gift that he LOVES. He's been playing with it non-stop since then. They also gave us a game called Eye to Eye. It's really fun and the kids love it. The older kids showed up that afternoon from moms houses. We had a second Christmas Eve with them and opened presents the next morning. Then we rushed to the Curran Family party (Thayne's mom's side of the fam) and enjoyed lunch with everyone that was there. That is the only time that we see most of them all year long so it's a really good visit. From there we rushed up to Jamie's house to have a birthday party for Mo. It's hard to believe that she 6 already.
We had great holidays and spent a lot of quality time with family. Those are the best kind.

I'm a slacker.

I first set up this blog in June thinking it was a great idea but never really got it off the ground. So, here I go again. The holidays are over (almost) and with the new year I promise to keep up on this blog. My resolution is to update this at least once a week. If I don't, you are welcome to send me hate mail. :)

I am really looking forward to the new year and all that it will bring. It should be really exciting with the kids as they continue to grow and get older. 2010 will bring some big events for all of the kids. Kyle will be leaving for a mission; Tristyn will start her senior year of high school; Kassidy will turn 13, officially becoming a teenager; Jakson will start his last year of elementary school and Max will officially enter the terrible 2's. We really are going to have our work cut out for us with all of the excitement but then again, it's what we live for.

Cinco De Mayo

Since Cinco de Mayo is one of the best holidays ever we decided to have a party with the kids and some of their friends. I made fresh pico de gallo and guacamole, homemade refried beans and a little pig pinata. We went to the park in Grantsville and grilled the Carne Asada and chicken. The food was delicious and everyone had a lot of fun. A couple of the kids friends, Michael and Jake, came with us. We love Cinco de Mayo!