The Arizonan Omers

We Are Now a Van Fam

2012-02-06T16:37:00.002-07:00

When our trusty old Scout (our Saturn Vue) started giving us double the worry and trouble back in November, we decided we would start looking for our next vehicle now instead of later. With child #3 soon to arrive, we had been planning on it anyway. So after much searching and prayer we finally found our next family member...yet to be named. She was born (to our Fam) on January 5th and we LOVE her!

She's a 2004 Toyota Sienna and we were blessed to find her in mint condition and with only 45k miles! Wahoo! We are so grateful and truly feel like the Lord knows our every need, and is willing to help us if we go to Him and ask.

Utah Time with the Omers

2011-07-30T17:57:00.002-07:00

The kids had a blast playing in the water while all the adults visited and played in Mom & Dad Omer's beautiful backyard. (Abby, Bria, Haven, Isaac & Joey)

One night we did a slide show all together. Always good laughs!

And of course the cousins had so much fun in G&G Omer's basement! (Emmalyn, Joey & Abby)

Sa' More Reunion Workins

2011-07-25T20:13:00.025-07:00

Amidst all the work we took a few pics of the Larsen clan... I think these are great pics of us!

Man, we're hot!

Omer & Alverson cousins!

Working on the cabinets. Aunt Julie & Uncle Craig did SOOO much of the work. They are my heroes!

Lookin go--oood!

Popsicle break! Britta looks a little bit wicked. LoL

Aunt Julie & Chris bought some fun water toys for the kids to enjoy. So nice of them! (Do you see the floating ball?)

They were seriously all giggles for hours!

Aunt Chris will soon have her first grand baby! She is going to be such a wonderful grandma!

Dave and Greg did the flooring. It looked awesome! (Joey helped give commands).

Abby & Jenny made a starburst bracelet. Abs was in heaven!

Grams Kitchen: the Before & Beginnings

2011-07-23T18:08:00.000-07:00

For our Sorensen/Wright family reunion this year, we all met in SLC, UT and remodeled my Grandma Sorensen's kitchen! It was quite the event! In fact it was wonderful! So much work organizing and planning went in by my Mom and her 2 sisters out in Colorado. None of this would've happened without them!

Here are the BEFORE pictures of the kitchen and some beginning work that had to be done before anything new went in:

The BEFORE Metal cabinets, yellow single sink, ancient counter top...

Ba-bye sink!

Sam even got to come up for a few days! Yay!

Here is my sweet Grandma Sorensen. I love her so much! I lived with her the summer of 1998 between school years at Snow College. What a fun summer!

We had to scrape up all the old linoleum off the floors. (YUG!) It was no picnic, but everyone could help on this part, so that made it more fun!

Heather was a champ worker! She sanded the patched ceiling where they had torn down a wall earlier that year. I love my sisters!

Here's the new wall! We tried to figure out a way to keep it a large open space w/ no wall...but with the small size of the room, we had to have a wall to put appliances against. It was amazing to watch my aunts & uncles put it up. They were amazing!

Joey took one mini nap on the grass. Wish he'd taken more! :)

Hehehe!

My adorable niece, Britta, and my awesome Uncle Kent. Many of these pictures of the remodeling were taken by him. All the really good ones! :)

Final Good Byes to Philmont

2011-07-08T17:15:00.014-07:00

Our home for a week. The tents were awesome! Thick and quality tents. I think they're a little close together , and it got quite hot during the day, but otherwise they were great!

Yes, it was always a mess! :) Without a single table or drawer...everything just went on the floor.

Our family flag. :)

Our closest friends from the trip. These guys are in the stake just east of us in Tucson. It was fun to have some people there from our same city. People were there from all over the country.

One of the views.

Line em up.

Joey "helping".

Abby "helping".

This kid climbed anywhere he could!

Thankfully our spot of tents had some decent shade trees! Loved it!

All cleaned up and ready to head out. This is what they looked like when we first got there.

And this is how we felt when it was time to leave. ;D

Final Group Skits

2011-07-07T22:00:00.000-07:00

Our camera was on a funny setting and we didn't know. Oops! But isn't Abby cute holding the flag?!

Our little Joey could not stay away from the mic. He's his Daddy's son! :)

The Primary General Presidency gave all the women hair turban towels as a souvenir. We all wore them for the women's skit at the end. It was super fun!

There's Dave for his skit/song.

This was one of the main stage like areas we went to for EVERYONE casual type get togethers. Isn't it beautiful?

Pony Connection

2011-07-07T20:00:00.004-07:00

The Pony LOVED Joey...

...and Joey LOVED the pony!

Match made in heaven!

These kids would have "pony" on their Christmas list if they could only write!

This is how we found him on the last day of his little nursery class. He hadn't napped the entire week we'd been there (it about killed me!) and he finally just konked! Yep, right in the middle of the play area, kids playing all around him. All the workers thought it was adorable and took pictures! lol

All tuckered out.

Philmont Fun

2011-07-07T12:30:00.000-07:00

Jamin' time!

While we were waiting for Dave to finish one of his meetings, the kids and I hung out in a grassy field.

We found some colorful game markers, and the kids made up all sorts of games and songs to play with them! :)

Abby's *look*.

Joey and his tent.

The Philmont Craft Lodge

2011-07-07T09:36:00.001-07:00

The Craft Lodge was a hit! Abby picked a bird house to build and paint. Joey helped too!

These kids were good with a hammer.

Check out my little artist!

Joey brought his snake to paint!

Dave made his own Philmont belt! It was awesome!!

Play Time

2011-07-06T21:21:00.001-07:00

In each tent city they have a little play ground area for the kids. Thank goodness! It was the most child coveted place there!

The kids LOVED to climb!

They were pretty good too!

I have 2 small monkeys, and one big one! ;)

Primary 4th of July Parade

2011-07-06T21:05:00.000-07:00

For part of the 4th of July celebration at Philmont they had a primary costume parade. The kids loved it...the parents...well they enjoyed it too. But we had to make costumes during the 45 minutes of free time we had in the first 3 days we were there...and using only paper! :) I must admit it was a bit challenging. But in the end, it was cute.

Joey was "Tire-d". Oh was he tired that day. I think on day 4 or 5 he finally fell asleep in the middle of the playroom floor in the nursery like place he went each day. That was the ONLY nap the kid took the entire time. It about killed me. :)

Abby was adorable! Obviously we see now we should've decorated the inside of her wings too. :)

Waiting.

Walking!! Yay! That is Sister Wixom, the General Primary President of the church, and her husband leading the way! She was so inspiring and wonderful!

Yay! It's Abby!

The Phillips Museum

2011-07-06T14:56:00.000-07:00

The Phillips are who owned the land the Philmont Scout Ranch is on and donated to the Boy Scouts of America. This is their old home. It's now a museum, and it's amazing!

The long hallways with the beautiful rugs...so old fashioned and neat!

Here Mr. & Mrs. Phillips are! :)

Beautiful bed spreads!

He was quite the hunter. His trophy room was full!

This rug scared Joey. :)

Their old piano was super cool! They keep it tuned and let people try it out even!

Flag Ceremony & Friends

2011-07-05T14:49:00.000-07:00

Every morning at Philmont there was a flag ceremony.

We made some good friends and even got to have a game night once! Fun!!

Kit Carson & Tomahawk Throwin'

2011-07-05T13:38:00.017-07:00

Here is the king! :) During one of our free family times at Philmont, we took the kids down to Kit Carson Museum. We didn't think the kids would survive a tour, so we just looked around on our own and then went and found the tomahawk range! We had heard about it and couldn't wait to try it! It made me think of Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman! LOL

Dave rocked at this! He could nail it almost every time!

He made it look so simple too!

I think I had a successful hit ONCE! LOL

My heart was definitely beating hard as Dave helped the kids throw the kid Tomahawks. I prayed and tried to keep my eyes open for all of it! :0)

But they LOVED it! ( noone got hurt) Can you see it flyin in the air?

Here's Joey's big moment! :)

We all got to try until we had success! It was the highlight of the afternoon!

Hike to the Reservoir

2011-07-04T14:37:00.011-07:00

At Philmont they had activities the wives could sign up for. I signed up to do this hike to the reservoir...

...it was GORGEOUS!

The final part of the trail came out of the trees on the left of the picture.

There was a good crowd of women that hiked together. I didn't know a soul. I made an acquaintance or 2 though, which was nice.

It was good exercise and so refreshing to spend some quality time in the outdoors! I loved it!

Holding Snakes

2011-07-04T13:21:00.003-07:00

There is a craft building up at Philmont and the kids both chose wooden snakes to paint! Doesn't Joey look SO happy?

Talbot Tossen' the Time Away

2011-07-03T21:19:00.001-07:00

One of the first things we did once we were settled into our tents at Philmont was to bust out some Talbot Toss!

Abby is improving her game quite a bit! We had a new friend come play this game with us, but I didn't get his picture. He was a nice kid and his mom was so nice to me. Talked to me like I wasn't 20 years younger than her and what not. I really needed that at the time.

Joey...1 in 3 go anywhere near the bars....the other 2...watch out!

Cool shot of the tents in the background too.

Mid air! Nice shot!

Happy Father's Day Daddio

2011-06-26T16:55:00.000-07:00

I feel like my kids have one of the greatest dads in the whole world! He is amazing with them! They adore him! I hope you had a wonderful Father's Day this year sweetheart. We love you!

Birthday Dinner

2011-06-16T14:14:00.001-07:00

For my bday, Dave and Abby made delicious home made pizza! They must love me!

Joey needed to have a picture taken of him. He's such a cutie!

Treasures in the Mail

2011-06-11T13:22:00.014-07:00

Aunt Jen and Uncle Dawson sent a box of presents for the kids! Talk about excitement in the house!! Here are their personal thank you's!

Abby and her Squirmels!

Joey and his snake that grows and grows!

Spoiled!

Thanks so much Jen & Daws! You made their week!

Backyard Fun

2011-06-10T21:58:00.001-07:00

My mom got the kids a fun kicking croquet game. The kids have had a ball with it!

It can even be used as a bowling game! :)

Thanks Mom for such a fun present!

Joey was trying so hard to imitate Abby. Trying....

Trying....

Ta-da! Finally got the pose down.

Gorgeous artichoke flower!

Everything has doubled size since this picture...but we've got a fun pumpkin and watermelon, rosemary, tons of parseley, some cilantro and lots of delicious tomatoes. In fact, I don't know how to contain our tomatoe plants... they get SO huge they start tipping over. I think I might need to build my own frames next time. Well, try to anyway! :)

Abbies FHE Illustrated

2011-06-05T20:06:00.001-07:00

Abby asks us our FHE assignments quite regularly. She delights in having an assignment and gets excited to see what we will do for our assignment! This Sunday as we were prepping for our Family Home Evening assignments the next night, we asked Abby if she would draw pictures of our assignments. She went to town! Can you tell who had which assignments?

My name got blotted out a little at the top...

but if you can't guess....

Mom- Treat (brownies to be specific-- see my pan of brownies?)

Abby- Song (She is playing the piano if you can't tell)

Daddy-Scripture (see his very LARGE scriptures there?)

Joey- Activity (I can't remember what he's "doing"- i'll have to ask again)

But isn't that awesome!? We got a great kick out of it and found it a treasure! We need to do it more often!

Our First Real Memorial Day

2011-05-30T17:48:00.025-07:00

For the last 3 or 4 years for Memorial Day Weekend we have been camping with my family. Wow, I feel so ashamed to say that. It really has just been a day off work. Well, this year was different.

Camping didn't quite come together in time. So we decided to go to this special service put on at one of the larger cemetarys in town. They had a band that played their music live (under the green tent covers).

With how much our kids love horses, we found the perfect seat! By the cavalry representatives! Way cool!

They had a couple speakers, and then they allowed all the organizations participating to come and place their memorial on the statue/memorial.

Here are the boyscouts that came to represent BSA. Awesome!

They all lined up along this sidewalk and presented their flowers and stated which organization they were from.

They had several lines of gun men as well. It was very neat to bring the kids to this and talk to them about their relatives that served in different wars. I teared up several times. Seeing all those flags and having people stand up to salute and pay tribute to all the men and women who fought and those who died serving our country was really powerful!

The kids got to hear horns and bagpipes. It was a very nice program.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later that night we had some friends over to play games and I made Black Forest Cake! I must say it was divine! My presentation has some work, but oh did it get devoured!! I want to go make one right now!

Big Boy Time

2011-05-20T16:59:00.000-07:00

As soon as we got back from vacation we transitioned Joey into his big boy bed. It was the perfect time...he'd been out of the norm for 11 days, and he'd been climbing out of his crib regularly. He did much better at the transition as Abby did. It may have helped that he got to be Daddy's helper converting his crib to a bed! I love watching the kids "work" with their dad. Such important moments for both of them! Now...what to do with a "big boy"???!?!

Buckner Fun

2011-05-20T15:08:00.002-07:00

The Buckners are such wonderful friends to us! They let us come out to Ohio and stay with them in their lovely home with their beautiful family. We had so much fun! I so wish we lived closer. I won't give up hope...maybe someday! Thanks again Nate & Kellie! You guys are the best!

This was the end of our vacation. It was an AWESOME one! I LOVE going and seeing new places and having adventures all over the place! And it was a huge treat to get to spend time with family and wonderful friends!

Lake Erie

2011-05-19T23:21:00.015-07:00

Ever since I watched 'Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?' every week as a kid, I have always wanted to go and see one of the Great Lakes. I can now cross that off the list! And the lighthouses were a bonus!

It was a nice day and good little outing to go check it out. Nate (our good friend that let us stay at his house w/his awesome family) and Dave walking down the beach.

They had a great little play area for the kids.

The Abinator!

Skippin rocks.

Weeeeee!

It was a pretty view! So glad we could go see the not so eeerie Lake Erie.

Kirtland, Ohio

2011-05-18T21:57:00.033-07:00

Ok, so this post covers 3 different stops in Kirtland....but that's ok. This was at the John Johnson Farm. It ended up being quite the painful stop for us. Joey was asleep and we had to wake him up to take him in. He would not stop crying and screaming. Dave ended up taking him outside and missing the entire tour. This is the first room of the tour...at least he got to see the kitchen. :) Thankfully all stops weren't that bad. Cool loom huh?

The Kirtland Temple was an interesting visit since it is not owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Beautiful building and interesting facts about it. However, definitely missing A LOT without the spirit there.

Their visitor center had some fun dress up clothes Abby and I tried out. :)

Then we were off to the NK Whitney store and the Mill. It rained a little and boy did those kids LOVE getting to hold umbrellas. It was almost dangerous how much they loved holding umbrellas! lol

It was simply gorgeous there. SO very green! Interesting thing I learned...I asked the older missionary man that serves in the visitor center there why such a beautiful place like Kirtland seemed so under populated? He leaned forward and said...well, this place was cursed by the Lord. They persecuted the saints and there was much wickedness there. Interesting eh?

The mill was so cool!

This wide open field was like free rein for the kids. They couldn't help but run and frolic in the wide open field. They started getting pretty far out there, and I couldn't see if there were ditches or streams or cliffs...so I freaked out and had to chase them down. But no one got hurt.

Just a gorgeously green place!

Chocolate World or Bust

2011-05-16T17:56:00.000-07:00

We had to stop...we just had to! :) This is in Hershey Pennsylvania. Did you know they have a roller coaster park?? It looked fun too! Next time! lol

They had a little "jurassic park" style ride where they tell you all about how they make their chocolate.

It was cute and silly and informational.

The best part was they gave you chocolate when you got off. (they also dumped you in the biggest Hershey chocolate store you've ever seen...but that wasn't a surprise. :)

Washington DC Temple

2011-05-16T16:03:00.003-07:00

On our roady between DC and Ohio we stopped at the DC Temple. Such gorgeous grounds. And temple is just huge and majestic!

Abby & Joey...such posers! :) They had a wonderful visitors center there... a replica of inside a home that was really cool!

Isn't it glorious? I am so grateful for these amazing edifices where we can be sealed to our families for all eternity. Just being near the temple we could feel a wonderful peace. I am grateful they are all over the country (and world) for us to find solace and guidance.

The End of One Loooooong Day

2011-05-15T21:29:00.011-07:00

Tidal Basin...we walked around this basin to see the FDR Memorial and then as you'll see further down, the Jefferson Memorial. It was gorgeous to see the final moments of day light reflected in the basin!

There's Jefferson Mon....we walked clear over to it. I think this one was prettier on the outside than inside.

I love the reflections in the water.

The Jefferson Monument. We were too tired to stick around and read and learn much. But it was neat to see.

After our last monument it was really pretty late at night. We had not had dinner yet and we were exhausted and famished! Nothing was open that late. Nothing. We asked around...and everyone said unless we drove out of town, we were out of luck. We were desparate and unsure what to do. We were pretty far from a metro station, and really far from our hotel...and on foot...WITH 2 sleeping kids. It was dark but we just followed our map and headed toward the closest metro station. I'll tell you what...I had not prayed so hard in a long long time! We weren't in the safest part of town, and an unfamiliar town at that. I was so grateful to have my big buff Dave with me. :)

Then, we magically came upon the following site...

It looked like a huge Fish Black Market! But it was the only place awake in all down town DC! :) We walked along hoping and praying for a stand with COOKED fish or food of any sort! Finally, the very last window we saw...

this!! It was literally a window that started at shin height. But they were selling cooked food out of that window. I could have shouted for joy! We stood there a little nervous for a while, looking at their menus. Then a bunch of people came over and started ordering food one of which was a police man or 2 with some friends of theirs. When he highly recommended it and ordered himself, we felt like we were safe to do the same. We got our food just in time...we were their last order. They were trying to close! It was seriously a miracle we found them! So on we went walking. I would've had us stop to eat, but I was nervous we wouldn't be able to make the last metro and have to walk miles in the dark to get home.

We did make it home, but it was NOT easy. We hit dead ends and got a little lost. Then had to jay walk big scary streets and have a group of cops (off duty) help us get the kids across. It was crazy. But we did get home and ate and dropped dead. What an amazing and wonderful and fun day! Let's just say, we slept hard that night!

Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial

2011-05-15T19:35:00.000-07:00

We had no idea...but this Memorial was our favorite! It was awesome!

There were 4 or 5 "rooms" that were symbolic to FDR's years of service. I love when water and earth and things are used symbolically. I think there was so much beauty in it.

We actually caught the ranger's tour right as it was beginning...it was awesome to learn about each of the statues and what they represented. (Both kids were asleep by then, so we could actually listen! Dave was a champion to carry sleeping Abby on his back for hours!!) And even though I know it was only the good stuff they presented and talked about in the tour...it really sparked my interest and desire to learn more about him and his wife.

Eleanor sounds like an amazing woman with many attributes to emulate as well! (and there was our ranger/tour guide)

Lincoln

2011-05-15T18:19:00.021-07:00

We finally made it up to the famous Lincoln Memorial.

Awesome!

I loved the ceiling and pillars. They were gorgeous!

Huge quotes and speeches etched into the stone walls.

It was super crowded and a hundred steep, sharp steps just behind us...so I ended up taking the kids down some steps and distracting them.

We sat and sang songs while Dave had a chance to walk around and take some good pictures. I think in this picture we are doing a "moo-moo here and a moo-moo there" :).

Here's the view from the top of the Lincoln Monument. Unfortunately the pond was empty and being worked on. Usually you can see the Washington monument with the Capitol bldg behind it. It was still a neat site.

National World War II Memorial

2011-05-15T17:34:00.017-07:00

This memorial was beautiful!

It's amazing that he didn't fall in. I'm serious.

It rained just a bit while we were at this monument, but it was lovely.

This monument was quite humbling. So many people died for the freedom of others.

A flower had fallen off this flower wreath. Abby was there fixing it before we could snap our fingers. It was a very special sight. :)

These reliefs depicting the story of the war lined the wall going down to the fountain. They were amazingly done!

Washington Monument

2011-05-15T17:19:00.000-07:00

After church and a little nap, we went out on a nice long walk to see as many monuments as we could handle. We started by heading to the Washington Monument.

The National Mall on a Sunday afternoon...it was full of families...I loved it!

Gorgeous!

Such a unique monument. The tours were long sold out for it, but it was presented so nice and patriotic...and so fun to finally meet up close.

Oh ya???

On the way to Church

2011-05-15T14:57:00.010-07:00

I couldn't help but take pictures of all the fun homes and plant life in the area.

For the life of me, I can't remember the name of this little suburb of DC. We jumped on a quick little metro jaunt and walked up this street to the church the Sunday we were there. Such fun colors! Such a lovely place!

The Joe-ster of course made every thing he found into a sword. :)

I just fell in love with all the greenery! Gorgeous!

This little library reminded me of the clock tower on Back to the Future. :)

The White House

2011-05-14T19:08:00.000-07:00

A blurry picture is actually really representative of our minutes in front of the white house.

It had been a long long day!

Yes, there was a shooter on the roof.

Such a beautiful building. And interesting all the people in front...rioters, islamic man chanting and singing, some man camped out front..something to do with the troops I think.

It had been a long day for Abby too. LOL

This was on our walk back to our hotel room. The city streets were fun to walk down and so pretty in their own way.

Air and Space Museum

2011-05-14T18:12:00.013-07:00

Dave was a little boy in a candy store at this museum!

He will have to get on here to describe things for ya'll.

This place was HUGE and was SOO packed. Oh man, so many people. And they were closing early because the college graduation was renting out part of the museum that night. That was kind of a bummer.

But we got to see almost everything at least briefly.

Joey actually slept through a good chunk of this museum. (Thank heavens!)

He absolutely couldn't sit still after he woke up! He screamed like I was cutting off his hand when we finally had to leave this little video game style display.

It was in this museum where we really lost Joey once. He just ran so fast, and with a bazillion people in the crowds...he just disappeared. It was really scary. He was just wondering around when Dave finally found him. Can we say panic. That is the worst feeling ever!

More National Mall in Washington D.C.

2011-05-14T17:06:00.006-07:00

Out on the National Mall lawn...you can see the carousel (which is later in the post as well) there on the left and the Smithsonian Castle straight ahead. Really cool looking, I think. It was a misty and overcast day, but better than 110 degree weather by far! :)

This is all we saw of the Capitol this time around. We didn't dare take the time to try the tour with both kids. So next time for sure!

Washington Monument there in the foggy distance. I loved this grassy area for the kids to just run around on in between museums. I was surprised it wasn't better taken care of being D.C. and all...but the kids didn't care.

Joey was asleep, so we let Abby go on the carousel just once. I love watching her on it...as she throws her head back like she's this dramatic princess horse rider. :)

Off to the Museums!

2011-05-14T10:22:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Natural History Museum! This was the first place we went. What a place! So awesome! It is enormous! I think we only covered maybe 1/5 of the place. But what we saw was absolutely fantastic! (I think the kids are acting like birds...like the ones in the tree they were standing by.)

The dinosaur section was, of course, a hit with the kids.

There were actual bees in there making honey!

This thing was full of huge ants! Dave said there was one crawling on the outside of it too, which made you feel like they were crawling all over you! Eww!

This bug section was awesome! We kept trying to move on after we'd been in this one section for over 20...30 minutes. And Joey would run off in the crowd. And yep, we found him back in the bug section every time. (Yes, it was more than once. :) )

We stayed there until Joey was having a meltdown that would not let up. It was hard for him to not get to just run and go where ever HE wanted to go. There was just too many people there. He got lost so quickly. Anyway, us constantly holding him back made him not so happy. So we figured it was time to get some lunch and move on. I would love to go back again though.

George Washington Marriott at the Metro

2011-05-13T21:40:00.000-07:00

So, we Pricelined our hotel in DC and ended up getting a room right downtown at the George Washington Marriott at the Metro!! It was TWO blocks from the White House! It totally surprised us! For the cheap price we put in, we thought there was no way we'd end up down town. It was SUPER nice! We never would have chosen this place on our own!

They delivered a fruit bowl, pretzels and gourmet Norweigen water bottles to our room right after we arrived. Yay, for free breakfast!

They upgraded us to a larger room that had a couch bed for the kids for free. (yay!)

It's pretty clear this was considered a museum...part of our vacation...the hotel that is. I mean, it's getting it's own blog post! Hehe! Not a norm for us, although I could get used to it. I must admit it was nice to NOT have walls as thin as paper and a bathroom that is falling apart. However, we did have to pay for parking, internet and breakfast. Oh well, it saved us on other costs as well and forced us to really vacation!

This is how a man sleeps when he's got him some pillow! :) I thought it was cute!

Day 1...hitting the streets.

This is just outside our hotel...off to the museums! Yay!

It was quite rainy on our trip, but not really wet. Does that make sense? We pulled out our umbrella maybe once. And the News channels said it was 88% humidity. But I don't remember it being horribly humid or sticky....I thought it was petty nice. Definitely nice compared to Tucson dry heat!

Joey saw these long sidewalks as an open field to run his heart out! I only had heart failure a few times with the busy street right there. And yes, many of the streets had these flower boxes...and this is what Abby did at almost all of them... stop, smell the flowers, touch the flowers, talk about the flowers. .... :) That's my girl!

Alexandria

2011-05-13T15:10:00.001-07:00

Alexandria was beautiful! The streets and shops were so cute! And being by the water front was awesome! The kids loved watching the boats. We just walked down the main street down to the water front and then we went back up to have some dinner at a fun restaurant.

This was in the Torpedo Factory Art Center. It is a huge mall like place full of artists studios of all varieties of art. Their studios are open for you to watch them work. It's pretty cool, especially if you're into art! This little area was the only real child friendly spot. But they loved getting to draw on the walls.

It was our anniversary the day we were there, so while I was out looking at pottery studios, Dave drew this heart for me. :) Sweet!

Abby drew a cat!

Out on the dock, the kids loved watching the huge tourist paddle boats load up.

Dave ran up to move our car so we didn't get a ticket. While the kids and I waited, this awesome man was on the street corner playing music. Listen to it...it's incredible!

Our awesome friend Amanda recomended Cosi's to us, and we LOVED their food. It was so good we went there a couple more times even in D.C.!

They had smores you could make at your table! It was so fun! The kids loved it (and so did we)!

Note to Self: when we go back in the future, go to their visitors/tourist office about 1/2 down to the water on that main street (I think it's called King St) first. They had a print out of "This week in Historic Alexandria" and fliers for everything you could do and see in Alexandria. A couple things we would've liked to do was, they do Ghost and Graveyard Tours where you follow a costumed guide holding a lantern through parts of the old Alexandria and they tell you ghost stories and folk lore. It sounded really fun! And also there was the Freedom House Museum, the Masonic temple (closes really early) and other little museums we would have liked to visit. So...go there next time!

Virginia Living Museum

2011-05-12T14:31:00.012-07:00

On our 4th day we decided to take the kids to the Living Museum. They LOVED it!

My little cuddely bats! :)

They had the coolest aquarium wall with huge fish and sharks! My kids could've stayed there for hours!

Silly Abby!

A pretty cool croc.

Hands on learning spots! Awesome stuff!

Roz, Adam, Abby, Dave & Joey by the Earth!

Their outside trails were super cool!

These guys had been injurred or something, so they were kept here to be protected. Very gorgeous birds!

Giddyup!

Climb!

It was the most adorable thing to watch these 2 use the little telescopes...Joey would look in, and thought that was cool. But then of course wanted to listen too! : )

Thanks Roz for showing us this place. Fun times!

Williamsburg

2011-05-11T15:45:00.002-07:00

This was in the armory. Pretty cool!

Unfortunately this place wasn't the most entertaining for the little ones. It's a good thing he looks so cute when he's mad! :)

Characters dressed up all over the place. (I like the pic of Adam in the bottom corner!)

Slow down boy!

They had a marching band that was pretty good. They marched all the way down the street. Here's a little sample:

I believe this was the George Washington character approaching on the horse in this reinactment.

They did shoot off guns and cannons which was pretty loud. I was surprised the kids didn't mind. But Adam did start crying pretty hard. Poor little guy.

The kids made friends with the squirrels!

The pretending squirrels!

*** Notes to Self: Just to help us for future visits. Colonial Willliamsburg was great, but SUPER busy! It was a Wed and we still missed a great deal of tours and shops because we were out of time and there were more lines than we had planned on. The parks is only open from 9-5, and many things close at 3:30, 4 or 4:30. So, get there right when it opens and have lots of sun block and fun things planned for the kids. There are reenactments, and shop keepers that talk to you, but the kids don't last long. We didn't get to tour the governor's palace. So if we go again, go there first! The shuttled worked great, but if you're looking for parking down where you can just walk right onto the main street, you are looking for paid parking off Rancis Street and North Henry Street. The free shuttle goes on that street too.

Welcome to Virginia

2011-05-10T23:04:00.003-07:00

Dan, Dave's brother, and his wife Roz were so kind to allow us come stay with them in VA. Thank you so much Dan, Roz and Adam!! We had a simply fabulous time!

Dan picked us up from the airport and gave us a great little tour as we drove back to their place. We had so many fun adventures with these guys, I can't wait to tell you about them all.

First things first, Cousins are together at last! Abby & Joey adored being able to play with Adam for the days we were there!

This video is adorable, especially if you listen to what they are saying!

This gorgeous little pond and green area is just behind Dan & Roz's apartment. It was perfect weather and so green everywhere! It was charming! I must say, this day 1 was strongly making me want to move to VA!

If you can't tell, they are sword fighting with sticks they found. Boys will be boys! ...no one lost an eye, don't worry!

Check out this antler of a stick. This made me think of the movie, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas"!

Here's our little flower picker!

Virginia Beach Baby!

2011-05-10T20:24:00.000-07:00

Cheers!

Dave and Abby spent hours out in the waves.

Playing in the sand.

It was some good sand!!

The wave blockade!

Roz, Dave and Dan! Good times in the VA sand!

Here it comes!!

The water was pretty cold so no one really swam, but it was nice to feel chilly for a change.

Ta-Da!

We were blessed to have Dave sit by some people from the Virginia Beach area on the airplane who gave us the heads up for this specific part of the beach. What great advice! It had a playground area for the kids, gorgeous and perfect sand and waves. It was lovely!

This big ole Posiden statue was our landmark. Isn't it awesome!?

Joey was a little confused. :)

Gotta just touch it, ya know.

Dave had the kids on his shoulders so much during this trip. He's amazing!

Close up...this is how Joey wears the sand!

What a fabulous day at the beach! We loved it! And afterwards we had a nice dinner all together at some restaurant We were wiped out and happy! : )

On our Way

2011-05-09T11:54:00.002-07:00

So...it's time to post our Eastern USA trip pictures...Ready or Not! :)

Headed out! Bright and early (thank you Heather) we went to catch our flight! A & J loved seeing the planes!

Oh what an adventure being on a plane or MANY hours! :) Dave's new laptop was a life savor! Yay for movies! lol Joey refused to wear headphones, so he mostly just watched w/no sound. Amazing that it still kept his attention! Thank heavens it did is more like it!

Our layover ended up being a LAYOVER! Yep our flight was 3 hours delayed or so in...Baltimore I want to say. I can't remember. We let the kids run around a lot and finally we found a nice little corner we could make camp in and put on a movie. Didn't work quite as well with all the people walking around and huge glass windows with planes moving around and so much SPACE! But we made it through it all with most of our sanity! :)

Easter Sunday

2011-04-24T01:12:00.000-07:00

We had a lovely Easter Sunday with Mom and Dad Omer! Dad brought his trumpet, and the men blessed us with some beautiful music!

Joey played his recorder,

and Abby played our harmonica,

and Dad...his clarinet. Beautiful music was enjoyed!

I love it when the kids get to see and hear their Grandpa and Father play musical instruments together. Abby already talks about what instruments she will play someday. Yay!

Easter Saturday

2011-04-23T23:23:00.028-07:00

Easter for us has been split into a 2 day holiday. I was raised this way and absolutely agreed with it 100%. So, we today, do the same thing. We have Easter Saturday with the eggs...baskets..candy... Then we do Easter Sunday with the real purpose of the day. We worship our Savior and remember the resurrection.

Happy Easter!!

I thought both of these were so cute! It's a bummer I had the camera on the wrong setting.

Grandma and Grandpa Omer came from Utah and spent Easter weekend with us! We had such a great time hanging out! Joey is enjoying the mallow treat they brought for him!

I really don't put much candy in their baskets...but what they get...they devour! :)

Easter chalk time!

I believe Abby and Grandma were taking turn dancing...I think it was Grandma's turn! :)

The kids both got fun bubble blowers for Easter.

County Fair Adventure

2011-04-16T22:13:00.001-07:00

Our friends do a little girls singing and dancing class, and their girls were performing at the county fair. They asked us to watch their own kids and meet them at the fair. So they hooked us up with some free tickets! It was a lot of fun. And their group did a great job!

We got to see a fun bird show! My kids LOVED it of course. They are huge bird watchers. And these birds were beautiful!

The petting zoo was a hit of course!

Abby got to choose one animal to ride...she chose a pony ride!

Our one ride! :) We had a good little visit at the fair!

Surprise Date

2011-04-15T21:55:00.000-07:00

Dave surprised me with a fun sunset horse ride date! It was awesome! He scored big points!

Sorry, I didn't like any of the pictures of me...so you get them all of Dave! :) He looks great on a horse I think.

It was a gorgeous sunset!

My 1st Piano Recital

2011-04-09T17:31:00.002-07:00

I so rarely post pics of myself, it's your lucky day! :) I've been taking piano lessons since January 2010...that's already a year and a half! I took about 6 months or so of lessons from a friend during my college days (thank you Jenny!). So I pretty much consider myself to be starting piano at age 30. I think it's never too late...but I'm just so happy to be playing finally! I've always wanted to take lessons. The time is right for me and I have been loving it!

This night I played from Clementi's Opus 36... Sonatina 5. I was so very nervous, but it was a duet with Dave so it wasn't as bad. I messed up a couple times, but really did pretty good for my first performance.

This is my teacher, Janie Grunwald. She is awesome! And isn't her piano gorgeous! Someday....

Here are the other kiddos that played that night at the recital.

One of the mother's made these cute cupcakes!

Music Month for Preschool

2011-04-07T16:06:00.002-07:00

For music month we made all sorts of instruments! This is just one of them...our guitars! (Can you tell what kind of cereal we eat at our house? Well, that Dave eats? lol)

I think this was the most fun instrument. They were a little more fragile then I hoped (the handles anyway) but they could still be played with just the body. I hope the kids enjoyed this topic. I sure did! We as mom's/teachers got to choose our own topics that we were interested in. So one mom did athletics/exercise, another did science (w/experiments), another did nutrition/food, and I chose music. It was a perfect mix and super fun! Looking forward to next semester!

2011-04-03T15:55:00.000-07:00

A great capture eh?

I love this picture!

General Conference at Dad's house while he was in the hospital. What a weird time to think back on.

We Be Pirates

2011-03-31T19:29:00.001-07:00

For our preschool week of the letter "X" we had a pirate theme! We did "X marks the spot" and pretended all day to be pirates! The kids were absolutely adorable!

Kinsay, Noah, Abby & Andy

For our math part they all had to hunt around and find hidden treasure boxes. Then they had to count the treasure in their boxes.

I also sent them on a treasure hunt with notes to find an actual X that marked a spot. They ended up in the garden and got to dig dig dig!

See the X? :)

They finally found it...the Treasure was edible! They were very happy! Teaching preschool has been super fun for me and the kids!

Finished Jewelry Box

2011-03-16T17:46:00.000-07:00

Abby LOVED painting her jewelry box she got from Grandma & Grandpa Omer and Aunt Katie! Here is her final product. Doesn't it look great?! I have a little artist on my hands! This girl can color better than me almost!!

Reading in the Mornings

2011-03-13T16:54:00.000-07:00

Almost every morning our kids sit and read books. If Abby wakes up before us, she knows to grab some books and sit on the rocking chair and read. She will do this and other quiet activities almost every morning until her stomach says, "I must have food!" Then she'll come wake me up. I really like this habit. Joey usually will follow her lead.

I feel blessed to have this morning activity in our home.

Sam's big 2-0 Bday

2011-03-06T16:10:00.000-07:00

We played some ball....

most of us could catch. :)

We watched some movies and hung out.

Sam opened he presents!

And we ate delicious Dad made cake!

And we celebrated!! It's hard to believe Sam is already 20 years old!

Fire Pit out Back

2011-03-04T15:54:00.001-07:00

I feel like I've already posted about these pictures. Oh well. We finally got our fire pit for out back a while back! I love it! Isn't it pretty? It makes for a great fire! we decided to make a dinner out of it before it started getting too hot to use it. So we did! We roasted hot dogs and if I had not have forgotten to buy mallos, we would've made smores too. :( Next time!

Favorite PJs

2011-03-03T23:48:00.000-07:00

Their Aunt Pheobe made these kiddos some adorable pajamas...check them out!!

Thanks so much Phoeb! Abby keeps asking me when I'm going to make her some pjs now! lol I told her hopefully before she moves out of the house! hehe!

Thanks for making these for them Pheob! You ROCK!!!

Snow Day

2011-02-27T18:00:00.002-07:00

8:28 a.m. Once upon a time, it actually snowed in Tucson, AZ. The children were VERY happy!

Mom went and dug out the buried "Winter" box from the garage and they dressed up warmly to hit the slopes! (In this little clip, watch how this young boy imitates his elder sister almost to the T!)

8:37 a.m. The young girl began to roll and roll the body of the man of snow they would create.

The new 4 year old looked adorable as she made a large ball of snow.

The young boy was not quite as helpful. He could not resist sitting on every ball of snow that was created for the man of snow.

But I must admit, he did look rather cute sitting on his thrown of snow.

Once there was a snowman...

Snowman

Snowman.

Once there was a snowman

Tall, tall,

The sprinklers made him FALL :(

(try again....) Tall! :)

8:58 a.m The 2 children were very happy with their man of snow!

Behind the scenes...you've gotta watch the whole thing! So cute!

10:12 a.m. Daddy came home from his early morning meeting and we introduced him to Chuck. Poor chuck was already on his way to the land of H2O. The sprinklers coming on in the making didn't help.

In the sun he melted!

Then we go to church for ~4 hours (20 minutes driving each direction)

4:48 pm This is all that remains! Melted, melted, melted...

Small, small, small!! The kids couldn't believe he was gone. Sure was fun while it lasted though!

Don't worry kids....he'll be back again someday!

Putting the Apricot to Work

2011-02-24T15:11:00.002-07:00

Abby adores being able to help in the kitchen! And she insists on using her new 'apricot' every time! [See the post titled "The Spoiled Bday Girl" for more info on the "apricot" story.]

Doesn't it just look fabulous on her? It fits her perfectly Pheob! Thank you for taking the time to make it for her!

Painting Pro

2011-02-23T14:54:00.000-07:00

One of the gifts Abby got for her bday was a Paint your own Jewelry Box! She LOVED IT!

This girl could paint for hours! She asked me one or two questions in the beginning and then, she was just at it! Making her own creation 100%. I love watching her be creative. She has such a bright little mind!

I'll post the final product when I find the picture I took of it!

The Spoiled Bday Girl

2011-02-21T00:40:00.001-07:00

Her Aunt pheobe sent a fun package! Even the wrapping was adorable!

It was her very own APRON! Her and I now have matching aprons! It is super fun and so cute to cook together! It was cute, Abby kept calling it her "apricot"! LOL- she could not remember the word apron! Thank you so much Pheob! We love it!

...back to Jen's house for the party...

Time to rip open the loot!!

I made Abby a framed holder for all her bows and clips...which I also made most of for her bday.

Yay for princess barbies!

One of the surprise presents Dave got was tickets to take an exploring scuba diving class! He was very surprised and excited!

Aunt Jenny gave some silly and super fun punching bag toys!

It was a great day! And now I have 2 more of my sweethearts 1 year older and wiser too! :D

Our February Birthdayers

2011-02-20T23:48:00.005-07:00

Our Birthday Girl! This was on Abbies 4th birthday! She was SO very proud to be turning 4. If you click on the picture above or below, you can see the AWESOME banner Jen & Abby made of all the birthday events for the day! It was a super fun banner!

Abby chose homemade pizza for her birthday dinner. So that's what we did! It was delicious!

The Cake!

Gotta lick those candles off asap! :) That's a birthday necessity!

This is who Abby calls "my Jenny"! Jen & Dawson took care of Abby and Joey for a few days before Abby's birthday so I could kidnap Dave for his birthday! We so appreciated that..and we know the kids LOVED getting to spend time with their Aunt Jen!

His smiles were SO animated for a while!

Ok, time for the traditional birthday game of the Clothes Pin drop game...

Let's see if I can get the video of Joey playing...he had some interesting techniques! :)

Everyone has a blast playing this game. Abby & Joey especially this year. It was hilarious just watching them.

My Flowers

2011-02-16T23:15:00.000-07:00

Dave surprised me with these gorgeous flowers for Valentines Day this year! That feeling when you open the door and beautiful flowers are smiling at you...it's the best! Thank you sweetie! I can't imagine life without you!

First Hair Cuts

2011-02-15T01:02:00.001-07:00

Yes...February 15, 2011...both Abby and Joey received their first haircuts ever! It was quite the event! I tried to catch some before and after shots...they're not the best, but you can look back and see how long Joey's hair was getting. It was in his eyes and hung over his ears. I was nervous to cut it because even though it was long, he didn't have much of it! lol Plus it is so straight, I knew you were going to be able to see every little snip I made. Pressure! :0) Anyway...I only made one bad snip and people didn't notice until I would point it out... So not bad for my first time cutting my kids hair eh?

Joey's BEFORE....

Yes, watching Toy Story was the only way this haircut was possible! LOL He was GLUED!

Ta-Da! Joey AFTER!!

I think he looks so handsome!

And as I layered his hair in the back a bit it seemed so much more thick than before. It was gorgeous!

Now for The Abigator....

Abby BEFORE...

Her hair took 4 years to get this length! I was sad to cut it, but did it in hopes to help it grow better. I didn't cut much.

but I did cut some

Ta-da! Abby's AFTER pics. Isn't she beautiful!?

Over all the cuts went well and I felt confident about cutting my kids hair for the next 12-16 yrs of their lives. LOL I don't know if that confidence will stick around...or if they will LET me cut their hair forever...but i'm enjoying it while I have CONTROL!! :)

Banana Kids

2011-02-14T00:24:00.005-07:00

Banana-Canana!

Ba-ha!

These guys are my little sunshines! I love them so much!

Baking Babes

2011-01-30T18:26:00.002-07:00

Abby & I both LOVE to bake! And these Lemon Sugar Crusted Blueberry Muffins are one or our family favorites!

Abby is getting really good in the kitchen too! Not too long before she is cooking dinner for us every night! HA HA!

Family Party for Joey

2011-01-28T15:22:00.005-07:00

Joey is my sweet little guy. He is happy and full of energy...*always*! He has hit the "my" phase...so beware not to take anything from him! LOL Joey is a lot of fun and very smart. He doesn't talk too much, but he will soon! I love you Joseph David!

He was concentrating so hard!

My cute little 2 year old!

Such fun presents from his Aunts and Grandpa! Thanks everyone!

More Birthday Fun

2011-01-26T17:47:00.001-07:00

So we got Joey this little push car/bike back on Black Friday last year...I was going to give it to him for Christmas but we decided to make it a bday present. He loved it right off! So did Abby!

We spread Joey's bday presents out a bit...so here they are devouring Grandma Kathy's gift! :)

Yay!! Such a fun gift idea! Thanks Mom!

It's almost as if they are sitting in the room with him! :)

Mr Joe enters the World of 2

2011-01-24T15:41:00.002-07:00

His first set of wheels!

His 2nd set of wheels!

Our kids giggle like crazy when Daddy does puppets for them! Thanks to Gram & Gramp O for Mr. Turtle!

He even got a present from Aunt Pheobe & fam! It was a super cute bugs in a jar toy! Thanks guys!

Joey loves ANY kind of sweet! He is my sugar junkie! :) So caramel brownies were perfect! The trick candle scared him as you can see in this little video. (Sorry it wouldn't focus well in the very end of it.)

Bringing on the New Year...Princess Style

2011-01-01T16:45:00.002-07:00

Boo! My dad brought the kids their Christmas presents when he came down for New Years Partay-en! The kids LOVED their new castle! Thanks Daddio!

Can you see her?

This is my Dad. It was so fun to have you down this year! Good times and great laughs! Happy New Year to all!

Christmas Day

2010-12-25T22:58:00.003-07:00

The big footed Joe-ster!

Abby & My sister Sadie

So much pie to eat!! Num-num-num!

C-H-E-E-S-E

All smiles on Christmas Day!

We got to chat with my sister Pheobe & her family in Texas over the webcam on Christmas! It was super fun! Technology is awesome!

Daddio, Joey & Grandma Sorensen. We had a lovely time spending Christmas Day with my Mom, Sister and Grandma up in Utah!

Christmas Morn at the Core Omers

2010-12-25T19:48:00.000-07:00

Good morning sunshine!

The Tree all dressed up!

They were super cute with their stockings. Joey was ready to eat anything edible, wrapper and all!

DORA. No not Dora....DORA!!!

Surprise...not. Dave's pretty much only Christmas present this year was his first lap top. It's a super waited for and totally radical one too! Merry Christmas my love!

We made Dad a frame of all the Omer kids and their families to hang in his bishops office. I think it turned out great!

If you can't tell, Mom was super surprised with her new vacuum! I love these kind of reactions!

Dave surprised me as well...a karaoke machine! I've wanted one of these for years, but we've always made other method suffice. I love it and need to find more chances to use it! So much fun! Thank you sweetie!

The kids tore it up!

This was his super happy squinty smile! lol

Christmas Eve

2010-12-24T08:14:00.002-07:00

I thought that little stroll up the stairs with herself was pretty cute!

Christmas Eve PJs!

We had a really nice spiritual part of the night where we lit candles. It was wonderful to be with family!

Sledding!!

2010-12-23T22:14:00.001-07:00

While we were up in Logan staying with Dave's sister, Melanie, we went and sledded down Old Main hill! Not much snow left for us (it's a popular sledding location...being in town and on campus), but we had a ball!

The cousins and Dave made a little snowman!

Hanging out at the top-o-the-hill. Abby looks SO happy in this picture. She loved it!

PUSH Abby! :)

Our poor little Joey. He had one fun run, and then he simply started crying and would not stop. It was aweful! We tried warming him up in the car...we tried it all. He was cold and mad and let the world know! Everyone else had a great time though! I hope Abby will remember sledding with her cousins.

Talbot Christmas Partyen'

2010-12-22T09:10:00.001-07:00

Jr High Girlfriends

2010-12-21T13:49:00.000-07:00

Once every 2 or 3 years I get to see my friends that I have had since elementary school and Jr. High. I LOVE THEM! They are SO much fun! We have all gone random directions in life which just makes it a blast to get together and catch up. We all have different trials in life, but together we can get together and focus on the positive for just a few hours. Thank you Andrea, Angela, Julie, Emily, Rachael and Amber for being such wonderful friends and examples to me! You are the best!

I couldn't decide which color format I liked best, so here's all 3. Thank you, Andrea (I think) for taking and sending such a fun picture out to us!

Omer Wedding Bells Rang

2010-12-18T22:44:00.003-07:00

Dave's Sister Jenny got married!! Woohoo! They were married in the Bountiful Temple up in Utah. It was the weekend before Christmas and boy was it freezing! But doesn't she just look gorgeous?

If you are family looking at this, I hope you are ok that we're posting pictures of you. Really this blog is just a glorified, digital version of our family scrapbook, so we like to have you all in it as often as possible of course. However, if you don't want your pics on here, just let me know! :)

Dave, Amber, Dan, Matt, Heather, Roz, Mike, Mel, Katie & Tom. (Amy is missing as well as the bride and groom).

The whole Omer crew! What a wonderful day this was!

These siblings are hilarious together!

11 Grandkids and counting! So fun to get them all together. Abby talks about it for months!!

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree...

2010-11-29T10:03:00.005-07:00

We decorated our tree early this year because we were going up to Utah the week before Christmas and staying up there through the holiday. The kids had a ball!

Who knows where I got these glasses, but they make 3 day "Happy Holiday" words pop out of the lit up bulbs when you look at them! It's rad!

Even DOUBLE the coolness if you cross your eyes while you look! lol

So, this is 1/2 of the bulbs we own. All is one little nook! Gotta love the kids' decorating techniques!

The Tree

2010-11-27T11:08:00.001-07:00

Dave's had to get used to the importance of the tree pickin tradition as a whole family. I think he likes it now? :) I love it! It brings back so many memories of my childhood to go out in the cold weather and tree after tree...search for the right one. Never fails. We always find it....hopefully before someone is crying. Isn't she a beauty? I can remember the wonderful smell that filled the house right now!

Black Friday....Rocked!

2010-11-26T10:50:00.000-07:00

This was seriously the most successful Black Friday shopping I have ever participated in. Reason #1 it rocked...we didn't leave until ab 6:30am. Yep, not deathly early...no midnight craziness. For that reason the crowds had died down quite a bit. All the people that hate you and anyone else with a credit card...the people that are willing to run you over and elbow you in the gutt, are long gone. (I didn't say the lines had gone down though.) But that's to be expected.

With 3 separate households in 1 vehicle....we FILLED that thing to the brim. It was AWESOME!

(btw- that's my sister Heather next to me, and my sister Jenny & her hubby Dawson in the back)

Hahahahaha! I seriously got 3/4 of my Christmas & bday shopping done in 1 morning. Gotta love it!

Afterward, we cuddled in for a nice competitive game of Dr. Mario. Jenny always throttles us.

Ahhh, what a successful day!

New Tradition

2010-11-26T00:38:00.030-07:00

This year I wanted to start a new Thanksgiving tradition. Something that focused a little more on family and gratitude and less about food...that part comes naturally. :) Well, I ran across the idea of a "Book of Thanks" on some awesome craft blog, but the book they used and the only decent looking, even somewhat like I had imagined it, book I could find in stores or online was $50-60.

So, I decided to make one!

Each thanksgiving for the rest of our lives (?) we will bring our Book of Thanks out and everyone that we are sharing that day with will sign it and write something they are thankful for from that year. I think it will be a lot of fun to be able to look back and read the things written in it, see who we had Thanksgiving with each year and see the handwriting and content of our children's writings change from year to year.

I decorated the inner pages a little.

And attempted to add some embellishments...i'm a wanna be crafter, not a real one yet.

Ta-Da! There she is. Thanks to all who helped in the making. Here's to many wonderful Thanksgivings full of gratitude! I am so very blessed.

Abby had a blast painting the white pumpkins we picked out this year. I think she did a fine job! Makes me think of Return to Oz ...weird weird movie.

Here's what that brown ball of string turned out to be Heather. Thanks for helping us roll it on Thanksgiving day!