Lost Cord

I really am going to update my blog. I have lots of pictures and stories to tell; however, I've lost the cord to download my pictures from my camera. As soon as I find it there will be several posts for you to go through.

Confidence

On Saturday morning Gwen climbed into my bed and asked if she could sing me a song. She then proceeded to sing two songs to me. I informed her that I loved both of the songs she had sung, to which she replied, "Mom, we have so much in common." She then proceeded to tell me all of the things we had in common.

Number four on the list was, "We both love that I'm so cute!"

Several things from clear last year.

So we have two cameras and as I was downloading pictures I realized that I had only been downloading pictures from one camera so now you get to see some of the things we have from last year.

Our kids did the annual Turkey Trot at school a couple of days before Thanksgiving. They all did really well and loved the run. Nate and Bonnie were in the top five for their grades and Jared came in in 2nd place. Gwen ran the whole thing and was very happy to finish.

Gwen at the end of her race.

Jared sprinting to the end.

Bonnie very happy with the outcome of her race.

Nate racing to the finish line.

For Thanksgiving we went up to Utah to be with Ben's family. I love that my kids have such great cousins to play with them. We had such a good time staying at Chuck and Melissa's house and are so grateful for their hospitality.

Anna playing dolls with Gwen.

Jared and Nate playing Wii with Caleb and Walker

Bonnie watching a movie on Stephanie's bed with Aunt Jeanette's Ipod.

Ben playing foosball with Joe.

On the Saturday after Thanksgiving we got to go to dinner with some of the adults and then the wives went on to Temple Square while our husbands went to a Jazz game. It was such a fun trip and we loved seeing everyone.

Dinner out with Sandra, Dad, Marleen, Zack, Shella, Chuck, Melissa, Jeannette, Ben and I.

Me, Jeanette, Marleen, Melissa, and Shella at Temple Square.

The Sport of Princesses

Gwen will let anyone and everyone know that she is a princess, and nothing says princess more than dodge ball.

The Week of Cars

So for the last four years we have had a 2000 Chrysler Grand Voyager, which was given to us from Ben's brother and Sister-in-law after our previous van was stolen. This van has been great with hardly any problems and we have appreciated it so much. We have used it a lot and it had 140,000 miles on it. Unfortunately on Tuesday, it died. It might have survived a little longer if I had not run it into the back of another car, which in turn hit the car in front of it, but we will never know for sure. Thankfully the vehicles were the only things that were seriously injured in the accident and all people involved were fine.



We've had the use of a rental car this week, and I have to say that I think rental companies should only give you rental cars that are in worse condition than what you normally drive. Otherwise, you might get attached to said rental car and not want to go back to normal life.

We were given this 2010 Acadia, complete with all the bells and whistles including seat warmers, a remote opening trunk, and a rear-view camera for when you go in reverse. We have thoroughly enjoyed driving this car.

However knowing that this couldn't last forever we went out yesterday to look for a new vehicle and found this beauty. It is a 2002 Chrysler Town and Country with only 62,000 miles on it. It is the ultimate grandma car complete with a soft dashboard cover. Hopefully it will be as good to us as our last Chrysler minivan and last a little longer.



This week was not all cars thankfully. We were able to pick our first clementines off our tree we planted this spring. We got 6 in all and they were really yummy. I can't wait until it is big enough to grow more than 6 a year.

Also this week my kids, after several weeks of hasseling from mom, decided to all wash their jackets the same day. This caused them to feel the need to borrow my jackets for school. Thank goodness for hand-me-downs, I actually had plenty of jackets in my closet.

Rain, Rain, and More Rain

This last week we got more rain than we got in all of 2009 combined. I loved it!! Although, I have realized I could never live somewhere like Oregon (Ben just told me I shouldn't say things like that because then he'll end up getting a job there). I think I enjoyed the rain so much because we would be getting sun again soon. I went out and took pictures of the flooding that we had.

This is the park just down the street from our house.

This is the same park. I took this picture because I thought it was really funny that they still had the sprinklers coming on even though the park was totally flooded.

This is going into the park right next door to our house. The night before I took this the water was clear to the top of the hill but it had soaked in a little bit before I got this picture.

This last picture is the park/wash behind my work. It had turned into a real river instead of an empty wash. Those are ducks down there swimming around in it.

We have lived in Arizona for 4 1/2 years and I have never seen rain like this, even during monsoon season. I took most of these pictures Friday morning. The park down the street from us was completely empty of flooding by Saturday morning when I drove past. Thus are the joys of the rain in Arizona.

Nate's Birthday, Christmas, and our 12th Anniversary all in one Awesome post

Nate turned 11 this year. I can hardly believe that I have a son that old. For birthdays we let the kids pick their birthday dinner. All year, since a visit at Uncle Dan and Aunt Anne's last Christmas, Nate has been telling us that he wanted prime rib for his birthday dinner and molten chocolate cake for his birthday cake. I had kind of hoped that he would forget about it but to no avail. He stayed firm and reminded me of it several times throughout the year. Therefore, Nate got a very awesome birthday dinner. Next year we have informed him he has to have hot dogs or something very cheap.

For his birthday he got a double-sided light saber and he and Jared have been enjoying battling each other.

This year for Christmas it was just our family. We were able to have my sister Becca and her "friend" Nick over for dinner on Christmas Eve, which we really enjoyed. Sorry for those of you looking for pictures I was a slacker and didn't get any of Becca and Nick so you will have to ask Becca for them. On Christmas Eve we always give the kids new pajamas and slippers and then we read the Christmas story and sing some hymns to go along with it. We love this tradition and loved having Becca and Nick come and share it with us this year.

The kids in their new Christmas pajamas.

Christmas morning waiting to come down stairs.

Ben and I have been married for 12 years today. We've had our ups and downs but I would not trade one second of the last 12 years for anything in the world! On Friday night we went out to dinner and then to see Sherlock Holmes. It was a really fun date and I actually really enjoyed the movie. Thanks for a wonderful 12 years. Happy Anniversary Ben!!

Bonnie took this picture of us before we left on our date. This was out on our front lawn. She did a great job.