We Thank Thee, Oh God, for a Prophet

It is bitter sweet to hear of the passing of the prophet for the LDS church, President Gordon B. Hinckley. He was such an amazing man and touched countless lives through his love and service. He will be dearly missed, but what a sweet reunion for him to be with his beloved wife. I am so thankful for my testimony of the gospel and the knowledge I have of the plan of salvation. What peace it brings, especially when a loved one is lost, to know that life goes on and we can be together again. I will miss his contagious smile and his love for life.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

On Sunday we went to bed with a few small patches of snow on our lawn that hadn't melted yet. By Monday afternoon we had over 16 inches of snow! I went out and shoveled in the morning for over an hour and a half when there was 12 inches on the ground and still snowing and then had to go back again in the afternoon and do it all over again with 6 more inches covering all my hard work. By the time I was done shoveling the first time my hair had actually frozen! I tried to take a picture of it, but it didn't come out. It was a lot of work, but now it is so much fun! The kids have loved playing in it! Yesterday we went sledding in the front yard of my cousin's house on the mound of snow that the snow plow piled up in front of her house~ which is at the end of a cul-de-sac. It was a blast!

The Honeymoon's Over

Just a few hours ago I was posting about my new beautiful table and not wanting the kids the touch it. Well, as we were finishing up dinner, Tanner threw up all over it! It's official~ it's a table for kids no matter how pretty and nice it is. Such is life.....

It's Dinner Time

We are starting out the new year with a new dining table! Our previous table sat 4 and since we are a family of 5 the math wasn't adding up. We were planning on getting a new table later in the year, but thanks to the impulse buying power of CostCo, we got it last week. And I LOVE IT! I love it so much that I am having a hard time letting my kids actually sit at the table! They already eat breakfast and lunch at the counter usually, but dinner has become more stressful for me since I don't want them to drop or spill ANYTHING on the table. With 3 kids I am sure it won't take me long to get over that! Good thing it is dark and already distressed!

Holiday Update

We have had so much fun the past couple of weeks celebrating the holiday's and my brother's wedding. I have way too many pictures, way too many stories and it is taking me way too long to figure out how to post it. So, here is a quick recap....



What would winter be without sledding? We have a great sledding hill right by our house. Maybe next year Jackson will join in the fun.....


Tanner is in a neighborhood joy school/ preschool. They acted out the Nativity story for their families and sang some Christmas songs. Tanner was Joseph.

Someone gave our family a gingerbread house kit. Korby, Shayden and Tanner spent about 3 hours putting it together and had so much fun doing it!

They were so excited with the final outcome!

The best part of all~ they took it to one of our neighbor's who doesn't have any family to celebrate Christmas with. The kids were reluctant at first, but were so happy to do it (after I assured them that they would get to eat the extra candy that wasn't used!)

The kids at a party with Great Grandpa Southwick!

Presents! Presents! And more Presents!

Shayden was very helpful passing out presents. She always seemed to find all of her prsents first!

A super hero cape for "Terrific Tanner!"

What little boy doesn't love to play ball? Jackson couldn't hold enough of them!


One of our many favorite things about living in Utah? Temple Square! It is so beautiful at Christmas~ lights everywhere!

One of our not so favorite things about living in Utah (at least one of mine)? The cold!

My brother John got married just a couple of days after Christmas! It was crazy and busy but so much fun!

Tanner was very excited about having his own tie for the wedding. He kept telling me~ "Mom, now I look like a man."

As we were waiting outside, Shayden got very excited to realize that she could touch the temple! The beautiful and simple joys of children!

I am tired, my house is a disaster, I have had a cold for almost a month straight, I can't remember the last time I did laundry, I have piles of Christmas presents everywhere, I don't have any food in my fridge. But I consider myself so incredibly blessed! We had such a fun, safe, happy and amazing month! We are so blessed to live so close to so much of our family! I always love this beautiful time of year when amid all the craziness I am able to reflect of the life of the Savior and all the blessings in my life! We love you all and hope that this new year brings you joy and happiness!

Christmas Card Photo Shoot

Ok, I will try to get this whole blog thing going. And this is what sparked it~ trying to take my kids picture for our Christmas card. We could only send out 1 picture, but there were quite a few that were pretty funny, so I thought this would be a good way to share them with everyone.

So, it will take me a while to figure out the logistics of this~ for example it took me at least 5 minutes to figure out how to even open up the page to start a new post! And I am still not quite sure if I can remember how I got here!

Keep checking back~ I am sure I will have a lot of fun pictures to post for the holidays!

The Highlight of my trip to DC

Instead of spending every minute going to different museums and monuments I have been living up my relaxing and wonderful vacation with Lisa by spending the day at the fabric store and making my own tote bag (the first of many to come)! She is also introducing me to all the wonders and magic of blogging! Since I am still a beginner at this I will try to add some pictures and call it good for now.