Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! What a great time to reflect on all of our many blessings! We are so lucky to have such great family and friends. We love you all and appreciate all you do for us. We are grateful for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the knowledge that families can be together forever.

We wish you ALL a wonderful Thanksgiving! Enjoy your Turkey!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!

Yes - today my dad is turning _______ - that magical number.
I had some pictures of remembering the good old days!









Next year will be really magical when he turns 60!!
Sure love you!

How Much Do You Pay?

Let me ask you this question...When was the last time your paid $1.85 for gas?

TODAY?!?!?!?!?

Well, if you didn't then you need to move to Athens! Because I DID!!!!!! That's right - I filled my car today, paying only $1.85/gallon for gas and get this - I filled up for a total of $19.76

We are so blessed! Hopefully it will stay low for a while!

Don't Worry - We are alive

So, I have noticed it has been a while since I have posted. OOPS. I could blame that on my "busy" life or for my sudden lack of enthusiasm to blog. I guess only the future will tell.

We have been extremely busy it seems and I have been spending more time with the girls and less time in the computer room - so that has been great. Here are some pictures to catch up what we have been doing!

Reading Books
Eating Halloween CandyReading More BooksMaking PieEating Pie!! I have never made a pie before and I volunteered to make 3 for an upcoming wedding reception in our ward - therefore I thought it best to practice. It was DELICIOUS!!
Yes, we have been enjoying reading lately. We have also been attending Story Time at the Library - Andie loves it. However, in this picture she is getting mad at 'Sister' because she is touching the book!

Growing Teeth, Crawling, Climbing, Stand up on EVERYTHING!! Really, I blame Ali for this lack of posting! She has acquired 4 teeth in the last 2 weeks (3 on top and another on bottom) and has one more one top ready to come - that would give her 7 all together!

On top of all of that - Shawn has been busy with school and still trying to complete his thesis. It has to be done this week!! HOORAY! Let's hope he makes it. There were a few days last week and the week before where I didn't see him for 48 hours because he would leave before I was up and I would be in bed before he got home! I guess that is why the girls and I have tried to keep busy!

I have been busy with an assignment to serve on the enrichment committee (no, not a calling, just an invitation to do so) received a second calling to serve as a VT supervisor, tried to visit teach the 5 sisters assigned to me(maybe I can change that now!) plus I get to speak in sacrament meeting and teach RS this upcoming Sunday! Don't get me wrong - I am not complaining - Just Busy!

I was able to host a girls night this Friday at my house - which motivated me to clean and dejunk - it was great. I got together with the girls from Shawn's department and we had a great time. Plus a great excuse to not worry about the diet, buy candy that sounded good (and yes - I bought it all) and just enjoy time without kids! Thanks Shawn for watching Andie and Ali.

Chocolate Filled Bars, Swedish fish, PB M&M's, Chocolate Covered Raisins, Dark Chocolate M&M's, Jr. Mints, Hot Tamales, Chocolate Covered Pretzels, Charleston Chews, Chips and Salsa, Chocolate Chips Cookies, Raspberry Sherbet w/ sprite, Brownies and Strawberries - Who could resist such a party?
Molly, Stephanie, Sarah D.
Laura S. & Laura L.
Zandra & Sarah F.

Diana and Joy didn't get their pictures - sorry! I had a blast - thanks everyone who came!

Needless to say with our busy lives, we have had a great time and feel so blessed for all that we have!

Olive Garden

I went to lunch today with my friends LeAnn and Mara to Olive Garden. It was so yummy - not exactly Weight Watcher's friendly, but definitely worth the opportunity to get out of the house with no kids! I tried their new soup - Chicken and Gnocchi and I thought it was great!! Plus, who can resist their bread sticks and salad? It was so yummy. Thanks Shawn for watching the girls and letting me get out of the house for a few hours!

PS - For those of you interested, I found out the nutritional values and one bread stick is 3 pts.; 1 salad portion is 4 pts. I am comparing the soup to another chicken and gnocchi recipe and it worked out to 4 pts. per serving!!

Happy Halloween!

We had our trunk or treat on Wednesday! Andie is a purple witch, if you couldn't figure it out and Ali - well, she is just Ali! We had a great time. Andie didn't care for the games at first, then she realized she would get candy - so she liked them. Then, she didn't want to trunk-or-treat until again, she got candy! We had to open a few to keep her motivated (why get candy and not eat it, right?) Eventually she got to the point of getting to the next car, holding up her bucket, shaking it and saying, "dhank dou" It was fun. We missed Shawn who was at school.

Test Your Luck

I saw this on a friend's blog and thought it was fun. See how well you know me by taking my short 10 question quiz. Leave your percentage in the comments!

Halloween Party

We had a great time at our Halloween Party on Saturday Night. Our friends, Steve and Shiree Bradley hosted a murder mystery with the theme of a circus. She assigned each of us parts and then throughout the night we got different clues to solve the mystery! We had a great time!!
These are our friends Rachel and Jason Whiting (Our dare devil clowns)
Porcaro Family - David, Dawnell, Ethan, and Claire (Clowns & David was the circus accountant and he died)
Our Host - Steven and Shiree (Snake Charmer & Ring Master)
Brian & Rachel Whigham (Cowboy Stunt Riders)
Me (Fortune Teller and I also died that night!)
Shawn (Austrailian Lion Tamer)

My Twin Nephews

Congratulations Tamara and Garry!!

Shawn's sister had her twins on Tuesday October 21, 2008 around 8pm. As you can see they are tiny! I talked to Garry yesterday and he said that Everett was on a CPAP machine on Wednesday but off it on Thursday. Elden, the little one so far has not needed extra help for his breathing. Tamara was not due until Mid-December, but Elden had not gained weight in almost 3 weeks, therefore doctor's thought it best to get them out before more complication.
Elden 1 lb. 15 oz
Everett 3 lb. 10 oz.

Mom and Dad are doing great and the boys are remarkable! We are so glad you are here!

Lucky #4

Ok - I am doing this post for Katie.
Go to your 4th file, 4th picture, post it and explain it. Then tag 4 friends to do the same.
This is a picture of Shawn at my cousin's baseball game up in Meridian Idaho. (Funny, because Katie's picture was also taken at a baseball game!)Then I wanted to post this picture from the same trip. Shawn and I at the Boise Temple. Yes - I used to be smaller, this was taken before kids (well I was 3-4 months pregnant with Andie!) Still, it is nice to know it can be done!.
I tag Jill, Joy, Elise and Liz

Fun at the Park

Today I had to put a band on TV watching and Internet surfing for Andie and I. I have come to the realization that we each spend too much time starring at some sort of screen. Let me tell you, it was difficult, but well worth the "quality" time we spent. We read books together, sang songs and ended our session by going to the park.

I love this park and it is very close to our house!


I need to know how everyone puts their pictures into a matrix/table format. If you know, let me in on the secret!

Six Flags

We had such a great time this weekend. The RS was going to the temple on Saturday, so I said to our friends Mara and Cory, "Let's take the kids and go to Six Flags after!" So, the boys got up at 6am and went to the 8:00 session at the temple. Mara and I came with the kids at 10, we switched and the boys headed off to six flags and we went with the RS to the temple and then met them there.

It was fun and the girls had a great time. Ali was an angel, hanging out in the stroller all day, she slept most of the day. Shawn said Andie didn't start having fun till I got there. She loved the Flying Boats and screamed every time we got off. It was great though, because we could go get on the next ride - there was never a line.

Shawn was able to ride a few big rides and I rode once. I was okay with it though, because we have Season Tickets for next year, so we can go lots. We are actually planning on going Nov. 1st without the kids! I am super excited. I love roller coasters!

Needless to say - we had a great day!