Christmas Tree....

So, we finally got our tree up. Or should I say "I" finally got our tree up! Denver called and decided to meet us at Nibley Golf Course to pick out our tree on Tuesday night. For those that dont know or may care, the trees sold at Nibley Golf Course are THE BEST trees ever. We have never been diappointed and they are so affordable compared to other tree lots. Anyway, we all met over there and picked out the tree which ended up being the very first one we saw. Then Denver went back to work and I drove it home, heaved it off the top of the van, and drug it inside the house. I was covered in sap from the ordeal but managed to get it in, center and secure it into the tree stand and decorate it. But dont take it negatively because I enjoyed every minute of it....even when I discovered that 6 out of 9 of my christmas light strands were not working. So I found a good sale at Shopko and bought more lights but now I cant keep them on. The fuses keep blowing on the third strand of lights. I cant figure it out....I already bypassed the second strand because it is having issues with the plug in so now the third strand is blowing out which in turn blows out the rest of the lights since they are connected. Anyway, Im rambling but very frustrated. The boys helped me hang the bulbs and even Addison had her little bitty hands in it. I found a pile of about 4 ornaments that didnt have hooks stuffed in to the tree in the same spot. This was her contribution...I would have left them there but the OCD in me couldnt stand an ornament out of place. Sad, I know but Ive learned to accept that part of me....now if only everyone else would HA HA. I also put lights outside on our trees and around each of our windows. Ian was a bit dissapointed that we didnt have more decorations...he would be happier if our home resembled the Griswalds! Its really the first time weve had a house that we could decorate outside so we will just have to build our supply each year. I took a picture of the kids in front of the tree...Im still trying to get a decent Christmas card pic out of them.....as you can see, no such luck
So, it FINALLY snowed in Salt Lake Wed night. Dont misinterpret that as me being excited about it. Although it was beautiful as I was hanging decorations on my tree and listening to Christmas music....very Courier and Ives....the next morning reminded me of how much more I enjoy warmer weather. The ice on my van was so thick that the kids were late to school due to the scraping I had do. Mind you I couldnt find our ice scraper so this was being accomplished with a Subway discount Card from Denvers wallet which subsequently broke in half during the scraping....UGH! Not to mention I have ZERO in the way of winter clothing. No boots, no gloves, no coat, no hat.....just me in a sweatshirt and tennis shoes scraping ice off my car at 7:30 in the morning. No thanks. Im already pining for Summer.

Happy Holidays

Alison Krause lyrics......

I added this song to my music playlist and here are the lyrics. Even though it really isnt a Christmas song, it was just too beautiful not to add it. I LOVE it...

Baby Mine by Alison Krause

Baby mine, don't you cry.
Baby mine, dry your eyes.
Rest your head close to my heart,
never to part,
baby of mine.

Little one when you play,
don't you mind what they say.
Let those eyes sparkle and shine,
never a tear,
baby of mine.

If they knew sweet little you
they'd end up loving you two.
All of those people who scold you
what they'd give just for the right to hold you.

From your head down to your toes,
you're not much, goodness knows.
But you're so precious to me,
sweet as can be,
baby of mine.

If they knew sweet little you,
they'd end up loving you too.
All those same people who scold you,
what they'd give just for the right to hold you.

From your head down to your toes
you're not much, goodness knows.
But you're so precious to me,
sweet as can be,
baby of mine.
Baby of mine

Thanksgiving and an Anniversary.....

This will be a long entry because Im combining 2 events. First, Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful day. My parents flew in from Las Vegas and we all met at Nate and Alisa's house for really yummy food....of course! I love Thanksgiving. Nathan asked me to bless the food which was a disaster. I have a thing about praying in front of people. I would rather give a 20 minute talk than say a prayer....I know, Im strange but it's true. Im such a boob....I cant say anything without crying anymore but I was overcome with happiness being with my family and our new little nephew/grandson/son, and just being so grateful. It was just too much....so hopefully everyone understood that and felt that the food was properly blessed in spite of my weakness. I have so much to be Thankful for. Ive been relatively healthy my whole life. I have a really great family both immediate and extended (yes, that includes you all in Kentucky!) a few really great friends and of course I have 3 perfect children with whom make my life complete. Although I have had my struggles and still continue to have them in some areas of my life, they are nothing in comparison to what I have and who I am. So, for that I will continue to thank my Father in Heaven who continues to bless me in spite of my weaknesses and shortcomings.

Now, I had some great pictures of our Thanksgiving Day celebration but unfortunately my dad accidentally erased them off of my camera....and since it was a day later, I couldnt really recreate the pictures so, that is why there are no pictures to post for Turkey Day. Sorry Jeff and Nicola, I lost some great pics of you guys......:( The pictures I have posted with this entry can be clicked on to view them in larger format. I just did them small so the entry wouldnt be so big.....

Saturday night was my maternal Grandparents' 70th wedding anniversary. 70 years together....can you imagine that? They are so cute and I really love that I live so close to them. I dont see them nearly enough but am grateful that they are just around the corner. We had a little celebration at the church where friends and family stopped in for cake and a visit. It was really nice. I saw some of my own cousins that I havent seen in 20 years! Sadly they have never lived that far away but we just didnt manage to keep in touch. I was very excited to see them all again. We promised to keep in touch but you know how life goes. I probably wont see them again for a few years.....or as long as my grandfather is alive anyway. Im sure the next time we see each again will be for grandpas funeral. He is very old and weak... although still has his mind with him most of the time which is an accomplisment for 93 years old! Anyway, I took lots of pictures for this event and didnt let my dad handle my camera again....just to be safe (wink wink) A really cool thing was my aunt Jill made us all copies of some journal entries of my great great great great grandma/grandpa Lloyd. I have always known that I had pioneers in my family but have never known any of the stories. This woman, Susannah Stone Lloyd not only came across the plains but was with the ill fated Willie Handcart company. It was really cool to finally have a story for one of these great people who sacrificed so much for what she believed in....so cool.

Well, it is Sunday and I am getting ready to go to work tonight. Im dreading the next few weeks as it is total mayhem at the post office and I will be working 12 hours days more than likely. Luckily it is just for 3 weeks though. We got most of our Christmas decor up minus the tree. I think we will have to do that next weekend. So, that is it for our week. I hope everyone who reads this enjoyed their Thanksgiving holiday and I want you all to know how grateful I am to have you in my life however you may fit into it.

Warm Wishes
Vanessa

Christmas is coming....

So, I thought tonight would be a good night to get the kids' picture for christmas cards taken (by me of course)....nothing formal. Addie got new jammies today that she looks so freakin cute in and the boys got new haircuts so it should be perfect right? Well, here is the slide show to prove that kiddie photographers should get paid what they do for their pictures. Im not sure what I'll do ... maybe I will just put a goofy one in there since thats all I seem to be getting. Oh well, you gotta love kids.

An update.....

Well, no new pictures really but I will just give a quick update. Sunday was our ward Primary program at church. Each child was asked to come up with a few sentences about certain subjects. Of course I helped them a little with theirs but the best part was that Evan completely memorized his and my sweet, shy little man got up there in front of everyone and said every word all by himself. I was so proud. He says he wasnt nervous one bit...wink wink. So cute. Of course Ian being the seasoned speaker that he is...ha ha...did great too. The teachers, as well meaning as they are actually hinder some of the kids from doing it themselves. As a panic measure they keep a copy of the whole program on the podium in case a child needs help or wants to read their part. During practice Ian kept reading his part even though he knew it by heart. So, just before the actual program, I told Ian not to look at the paper and to look out at the audience and find Daddy and Addison and tell them his little speech. Well, he got up there and pushed the paper aside first (to show everyone that he didnt need it) then looked straight out at everyone and spoke like a grown man. I had people ask me afterward if I thought he might run for President some day.....too cute.

So, today, it was mommy's turn. A few days ago I had to run some pictures of me and Denver down to Ian's school because he had forgotten them. They were our Air Force portraits. The school was doing a little Veterans Day program and asked the students to bring in pictures of family Vet's. Anyway, I had to bring them to his Principal who then proceeded to beg me to speak at the assembly. She ony had 2 other speakers and needed help and so reluctantly I agreed. It is strange because although technically I AM a Veteran, I feel like I dont deserve the title since I only served 6 years. I look at men and women who give 20 or 30 years of their life to this country and serve in wars and I think that is who that title belongs to. I understand that everyone who serves plays their part no matter how big or small but it still feels weird. Anyway, I represented the women today. They had a young guy from the Army who had just joined a year ago. Then they had me and then an older gentleman who was a retired Air Force Colonel. 29 years as a fighter pilot! He was so cool. The kids loved it. So, I spoke about my job as a Linguist and I got the kids to interact with me by asking them questions as I spoke and I was doing pretty good until I got to the patriotism part....of course I cried (because Im such a boob) but I dont care because I am VERY proud to be an American. That is something that being in the military really brought out of me. I didnt realize I had that in me and I really want to pass that on to my kids. Afterward, I asked Ian how he thought I did and he said "great mom! Except when you cried...I said 'oh no, dont cry' but then I cried too...." It was a great experience and Im glad I agreed to do it.

While I was speaking at Ian's school poor Evan had a partial root canal. I had to give him this kiddie cocktail of demerol, xanax, and phenegran an hour before to knock him out. Literally 5 minutes after I gave it to him he started getting groggy. Denver had to carry him into the office....poor baby. Now he has a silver cap on his tooth and he thinks it is pretty cool. He thinks it will get him more money when the tooth fairy takes it! He took 2 naps later in the day too....it really threw him for a loop. Im glad it is over with.

So thats about it really. Its been a nice week and we are gearing up for Turkey Day. I have so much to be thankful for in my life and Im really going to try focusing on that every day this month.....

Love vs Anger

I was looking at the MySpace page of a girl that I worked with at ACS and she was blogging about her struggle between her anger and disgust for people versus her abounding love for other people. She struggles to comes to terms with the anger part and someone commented to her blog with this really cool story. I wanted to remember it and so I am blogging it here.....

"There was boy and his grandfather and the Grandfather was telling the boy a story about 2 wolves. One was angry and mean and the other was compassionate and full of love. The wolves were constantly battling one another. The boy asked the Grandfather which wolf would eventually win and the Grandfather responded "the one that I feed"."

Very cool.

Gouls and Goblins and Pumpkin Fairys...

Well, Halloween is over. I must say I really enjoyed it this year. Usually Im a bit of a grump with Halloween but we all had a blast this year and I might even attempt a "real" costume for myself next year...watch out mom! Anyway, I have to say that Addison made it even better. She was soooooooo funny! Thanks to her Grandpa Ries, she LOVES M&M's which has turned into a love of candy period. After the 2nd house last night, she figured out that people were giving her free candy and that was all she needed to get into the Halloween spirit. I put her down on the ground and she ran after the boys squealing and holding her hand behind her for me to grab. Apparently I wasnt moving fast enough for her. As soon as we got to the door she would literally push her brothers out of her way to get in front of them when the door was opened. She reached into the bowls and pulled out ONE piece of candy and plopped it into her pumpkin bag and then waved goodbye to the people at the door. I was laughing so hard. Ive seen anything so cute in my life! Needless to say, she LOVES Halloween. Here are some pictures of the little munchkins...although these were taken before we left and she wasnt quite in the Halloween spirit yet!