Thanksgiving 2008: Yummy, Crazy, and Tons of Fun!

This year Bo and I hosted Thanksgiving. The party started with most people arriving on Wednesday and leaving on Sunday. We played games, cooked, cleaned, baked, watched movies, and of course WE ATE. There were mountains of food. Especially dessert. YUM!!! The food was great! Thanks to everybody who pitched in with everything. I could not have done it without your help.

There were a total of 14 adults: Grandpa Shelton, Grandma Christensen, Mom, Dad, Bryce, Amie, Brooke, Issac, Dustin, Jeanie, Trent, Alisa, Bo, and I. (Barry was out of town meeting the future in laws). And 14 Grandkids: Abbey, Braxton, Landon, Alex, Lizzy, Becca, Abbie, Madelyn, Traegan, Brody, Hailey, Conrad, Jack, and Lucy. That is a mouthful. The oldest is 7 and the youngest 2 months.

The kids had a blast together. In fact, they had so much fun, four of the kids had and "accident" within an hour. There was no time for a potty break. They just played for days. Needless to say, they were a little worn out. But, hopefully they had some fun memories to take home with them.

Giving Thanks

Wow! This year Thanksgiving has been more meaningful than ever. I'm not sure if it is because of the events that have taken place this year, or because I cooked a lot this year and had lots of time to think about what I have been blessed with. Every time I think about the things we are blessed with I just get all emotional and can't believe what we have been given. I thought I should probably take note of this so I can come back and read it when I am feeling sorry for myself :)

First and foremost, I am so thankful to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ and I am deeply grateful for my Savior and all he has done for me. I know he has been with me through the tough times my family and I personally have had this past year. There were days that I wasn't sure I could continue through and He comforted me. I have grown greatly and don't know where I'd be without Him and His Gospel.

Second, the Priesthood. I am so grateful to have this power in our home. It has blessed our lives greatly this year. It has given me peace in my and blessed our children this year.

Of course, I am extremely grateful to have a loving husband and 3 happy, HEALTHY kids. We have so much fun together!! I love spending time as a family and growing closer with them. One of our favorite things to do is just lay in bed and watch Duck tales together. They LOVE Duck tales.

Bo works hard for our family and makes sure we have tons of fun too. Hailey is learning how to be a mom and told me the other day that she can't wait to grow up so she can cook in the kitchen like me. It's so cute the way she loves to take care of Jackson and her baby dolls and just wants to be a mom and do all of the mom stuff.

Conrad is the peacemaker. He walks around the house making sure everybody is happy and will do anything to put a smile on our faces.

Jackson is so sweet. His smile makes my heart melt. I am especially grateful that he is growing well and is happy. He is such a blessing in our home.

I am also grateful for my parents. They shaped me into the person I am today and taught me everything I need in order to succeed in this life and the life to come. They have worked hard for each of us and are willing to do anything for us. I am so grateful for their support and help in our times of need this year. I love you guys!!! Thanks you for all of your love and support. Of course I can't forget my my brothers and sisters too. We have so much fun when we get together and I'm grateful that we all get along.

I am also thankful to my mother and father in law and all the siblings. They were also very helpful to our family this year. They traveled from Boise to help us many times this year. It is fun to have you visit. I love you guys too!!! Thank you for all that you do! I am excited for everybody to come for Christmas!

How can I forget all of my neices and nephews, grandparents, and all of the other extended family members. We are also blessed to have so many great friends who will go out of their way to help us too. Thanks to each of you for blessing our lives. We love you.

I am grateful to be an American, and to all of those who left their families to fight for our freedom.

I am grateful for this little town we live. I love it here. And look forward to many years to come here.

I could keep on rambling, but this post is getting very long and many of you probably quit reading awhile ago.

Anyway....Happy Thanksgiving!

Bo's 27th Birthday!

Sorry there's no pics.

This was a fun weekend! We started celebrating Bo's birthday on Friday. We invited some friends over to the warehouse. There a quite a few toys for adults and kids there. So, the kids played on a little blow up castle, the girls talked, and the guys hit in the batting cage for awhile. Then once us girls left the guys had a Halo night.

Today we got up and I made Bo his favorite breakfast. Crepes stuffed with warm homemade chocolate pudding and bananas. Yummy! We actually all love it. It may not be the healthiest, but mmmm they are good. This evening we had family over and had cake and ice cream. It was nice to hang out with everyone. We love you Honey!!

I've been tagged

5 things I was doing 10 years ago?
1. Waiting to turn 16 so I could date
2. Soon to meet Bo (wow I can't believe it's almost been 10 years since we met!)
3. Just getting my driver's license
4. loving Jr. High and being a Freshman
5. Dreaming about High School and how grown up I'd be when I was finally 16 (Ha! Ha!)

5 things on today's list?

1. Take Hailey to dance
2. Organize the basement (I've been avoiding it for weeks)
3. Play with the kids
4. Clean bathrooms
5. Hang out with Bo

5 snacks I enjoy?

1. ANYTHING with sugar (if anyone knows me they know this)
2. popcorn
3. homemade bread and jam
4. potato chips
5. favorite sugary treat is double chocolate chip cookies

5 places I've lived from birth?

1. Idaho Falls
2. Rexburg (twice)
3. Provo, UT
4. Orem, UT
5. Rigby (I know, I'm quite adventurous:)

5 jobs I've had?

1. Currently a mom (the best and hardest)
2. Hotel Cleaner (the worst)
3. Ice cream shop (most social)
4. Old Navy
5. Medical Assistant for a Dermatologist (this was a great job)

Happy Halloween

This year was such great Halloween! It was so fun to watch the kids experience and understand what was happening around them. They were ecstatic all day and couldn't wait to get going. Finally it was time to go. Grandma Porter was able to go for a little while (she came over from Boise to ref the State Volleyball). It was gorgeous out. 60 degrees out with no wind or rain. Conrad was dressed as a lion, Hailey was a chicken, and Jack was a bear. Jack loved being pushed around in the stroller. Hailey and Conrad ran door to door saying, "I'm not tired yet, let's keep going". Conrad started noticed that everybody giving out candy was saying, "Happy Halloween" and he started saying it to everyone as he walked off. It was so cute! After trick-or-treating, we drove up to I.F. to visit my parents. It was fun to talk and the kids loved showing off their costumes.

Bo and I had so much fun. It was by far the funnest Halloween ever! I think we'll dress up next year too!

We also had a party in the morning. My friend Kendra and I had planned on going over to the office to visit Bo and Kris (her husband and Bo's business partner) and put on a Halloween parade. It didn't quite go as planned, they were not there when we wanted to go so we had to wait to go to the party. Then they were busy putting up drywall for their new theater room at the warehouse. So, we had a quick little parade and a quick party. It was still fun and the kids didn't seem to mind. They had more fun playing on the toy there anyway.

Hailey had two days of Halloween this year. Thursday she had a party for her preschool class and her dance class. She decided to wear her Snow White dress to those parties. Almost every girl at each party was a princess. They all looked so cute. I wish I had taken a picture, because on Halloween Hailey decided she wanted to wear her chicken costume.