Happy Thanksgiving

Our nephews, Jaeger and Jace....can you believe that they are the same age?

This is our nephew, Jayton. Everyone thinks that he looks just like Brad when he was a baby, is he not the cutest little guy??

Bristyn and Liz....Bristyn needed her tummy rubbed after eating her meal, and her Auntie Liz rubbed it for her!!!!

Mike and our niece, Jamie....Jamie loves to come over to our house because she knows that she will be able to play whatever games she wants with Uncle Mike.

Brad trying to take a nap after he had 2 meals....trust me, the cousins were not letting him sleep.

Mike and Brenton carving the turkey.

This is what I am thankful for....my Mike and the wonderful children that he blessed me with....we missed you Britnee and Grammy!!!!!

From my blog inspiration.....

I found a website called Wonderful Graffitti and I loved all of the sayings that they had....one of them was "Save room for dessert"....I thought that would be so cute to have in my kitchen over my sink. I called a friend, Sherae Christensen, and asked her if she could make it for me, I love how it turned out and everyone loves it. The best part about it, was her price!!!! She even came over and put it on my wall for me, thank you so much Sherae, you are awesome!!!!

New treasure

My sister, Liz, has had this beautiful mirror that she bought months ago sitting on the floor in the corner of her bedroom. Every time that I see it, I ask her why she hasn't hung it up, she really doesn't give me an answer, so the other day when I was at her house I stole it from her. I think that it looks wonderful on this little wall in the living room. I guess that I should pay her for it???!!!! Thank you Liz....

INSPIRED

I have found a blog that I am totally addicted to, seriously, I look at this blog daily for inspiration, I am just in awe of the talents that this woman has. I don't find her blog depressing, I find it totally inspiring, I love it!!!!! My sister tells me that I do a nice job with my house, but I wish that I had the talents of this lady. So, to make me feel better, I took some pictures of my house, and I keep thinking to myself, my house isn't that bad, as a matter of fact, it is quite cozy. I do love my things and the way things are coming together. My Mike has done alot of things to improve this house and I am proud of what he has done. I decided it is the people that I have surrounding me in my house that make it a home. Not the material things, but my family. AND I LOVE THEM....

Bristyns room

Someone reminded me that I never posted pictures of Bristyns bedroom, so here they are....I probably never posted them because her room is usually pretty messy. So, I decided to make her bed and clean up the floor down here to take some pictures. I love her bedding that she picked out, and the color she painted the walls. It is a very cheerful room, just like her.

Brad is home!!!!

This past Thursday, Brad was released from boot camp and he came home!!!! We are so excited to have him back with us, he has really grown up. He has really bulked up in his chest area, it is like he is a man, sort of.....He seems so happy and we are happy for him. He is trying to find a job now and he plans to go to college in January. He would also like to continue running, which is something that we would really like to see also. We love you so much Brad.

Planes, trains and Grandpa

For as long as I can remember, my dad has always loved airplanes and trains. This love for trains and airplanes as been passed down to our Brenton. Grandpa has taken him out to see airplane shows a couple of times this past summer and Brenton gets very excited to go. This past weekend, Brenton went to a train store with Grandpa down in Denver and he loved it. He even brought his own camera to take pictures of all of the trains. He loves spending time with Grandpa and learning about planes and trains.

Happy Halloween

Mike and our friend, Marcus, at the ward Halloween party....seriously, they looked great!!!!

Mike dressed up as his favorite movie character, Joe Dirt....I think that he looks awesome, but then again, he always does. I love him in a mullet!!!!!

Bristyn, her friend Kyra and Brenton...just posing for the camera.

You guessed it....this is Bristyns pumpkin, being held together with duct tape.

This is our Halloween family tradition....every Halloween, we get KFC. It is the only night of the year that I buy it. The kids love it, but I think that they are kind of spendy, and I really don't like KFC.

In front of our front door, I am sure that it will look better this evening when everything is lit up.

Tagged by Brannigan

Brannigan tagged me to post the 4th picture of my 4th folder on my blog....Bristyn is ALWAYS taking goofy pictures and I swear, all of my folders are pictures of her. I really do not even know who is in the picture with her, and I am embarrassed that there is a can of Root Beer on her bathroom counter. I should be happy that we can't see her toilet and bathtub, because they look like science projects!!!!

Britnee and Chris

Britnee and Chris have been dating for about two years.

I am so glad i was able to meet him before we moved to colorado.

He is the sweetest guy and so happy Britnee found such a great

guy. Britnee is almost done with school, we are so proud of her

but miss her very much.

Because I had a bad day......

We (okay, Mike)..have been working really hard on trying to fix up this condo. We have replaced almost all of the light fixtures, but we never got around to replacing the ones in the kitchen. I had the WORSE day at work on Friday and Mike felt so bad for me, that we went out and bought the light fixtures for the kitchen, I love how they look. This place really is coming together. He is really the best husband for fixing and getting things done. We even went out to Walrus Ice Cream for a treat, you know I am having a bad day when that happens.....

My new comfy, leather chair

For a while now, I have been wanting a big, leather, comfy chair for me to curl up and read my books and gossip magazines on. My neighbors, who I call my sister friends (Liz and Melanie), have these type of chairs that they call the "bachelorette chairs". I love them!!!! When I finally saw this chair at the furniture store, I HAD to get it. It fits perfect in my little corner in front of the fireplace. Oh, and notice, there aren't any chords and cables hanging all over the place in front of the fireplace. That was a huge project that Mike and our friend, Curtis, took on, I love how it looks now. This condo is getting cozier and cozier!!!

Bristyn and soccer

I have one word to describe Bristyns soccer season this year, PAINFUL.....Bristyn is an awesome soccer player, and it has been a very trying season for her. The team just doesn't play and mesh well together. I feel so bad for her because she is so competitive with this sport and they have lost every game. I have a hard time watching her games because I totally feel her pain. After the game yesterday, she just broke down, and it broke my heart. Here in Colorado, girls soccer for the high school is in the spring, we really hope that she makes the team. Soccer is her passion and we just want her to continue playing and loving the sport.

Missing Britnee

My daughter, Britnee, who is at Eastern Washington University, just called to inform me that all of my blogs are about the other kids, and not her, so I thought that I would write a little hello to her. We miss you lots Britnee, and wish that you were here with us. We are proud of your accomplishments and how well you are doing at school. We love you.......LOTS

Another race, another win....

Sadly, this is Brads last race in cross country. He kicked butt!!! He won the race, okay, he killed in this race, don't want to sound like I am bragging, but, what can I say??? He was so happy with what he accomplished this season, and so are we. This race was in Denver at Bible Park. He only has 3 more weeks, and then he gets to come home. Way to go Brad, we are very proud of you!!!!

Mommy and Me Date

Yesterday, Brenton did not have school and I did not need to work, so I asked Brenton if he wanted to have a date day, just he and I. He loved that idea. I told him that we needed to get him a pair of church shoes (since he has been complaining for 3 months that his church shoes don't fit...I sure miss my friend, Jodee, at these times for her hand-me-downs from her son, Brody!!!) and that we would go out for lunch. I asked him what he wanted to do, and he said that he really wanted to go to the candy store, so that is what we did. I love being one on one with the kids, and I know that they love it. He wanted to eat at the mall, so he had pizza and I had a greek salad. Mike introduced me to these salads and they are wonderful. In the afternoon, we picked up Mike and headed down to Denver for Brads cross country meet. We had a great time together. Just me and my Brenton.....

Our Miss America

Yesterday, we had to drive back down to the Denver area again for Bristyns cross country meet. It was at the Adams County fairgrounds, and it was freezing!!!!! We are very impressed with her running abilities, she definately does NOT get it from me...wonder where she gets it from??? She came in 23rd overall, with about 200 runners. She loves running now, we don't even have to tell her to do her runs on the weekends, she just does them. Of course, her real passion is soccer and as usual, I forgot to bring the camera to her game today. I will remember next week!!! I am just in awe of anyone who can actually run a race, for me, it is a high to watch my kids, I truly do admire them and I am proud to be their mom.

Brad and winning!!!!

Brad had his cross country meet this past Thursday down in Brighton, Colorado. He did an awesome job!!! Brad is only able to run on the JV team, since he has his GED, he cannot run varsity. He rocked!!!! His time even beat the varsity time. His team won the regional championship and his coach was voted coach of the year. We are so proud of Brad, he has really grown up lately and it shows!!!! He only has a month left at Ridgeview and we can't wait to have him back home.

My quirkinesses

My friend, Stacey, tagged me to write about 6 quirks that I have....it took me a while to think about them, I know that I am quirky, but it is hard to come up with 6, but here is my list....

#1 When I was pregnant with my first daughter, 22 years ago, one day I was totally starving, so I took out not one can of Chef-Boy-Ardee Raviolis, but two cans to eat. I didn't even heat them up, I opened the cans and woofed them down. To this day, I can't look, smell or eat Raviolis, it grosses me out. I won't even buy them for my own kids.

#2 Everyone who knows me, I think knows this about me....I will only eat toast and a cup of chocolate milk (with Nestle Quik, NOT Hersheys syrup) for breakfast. I don't like the smell of food in the morning, and toast fills me up until lunch time. I will only drink chocolate milk at breakfast, I can't drink milk any other time during the day.

#3 This kind of goes with #2...I NEVER drink the last inch of anything in my cup. It drives my husband batty!!!! For some reason, it just reminds me of backwash. Oh, and I do not like to share my drinks with ANYBODY, not even my kids.

#4 This one is kind of embarrassing....but, whenever I step into my house, the first thing that I do is undo my pants button. I feel like I have to suck my tummy in all day long, so as soon as I get home, it is time to breath!!! As a matter of fact, when my friends come over, I usually do not button them up...they are used to it!!!

#5 I hate slurpers and people who make noise when they eat. Drives me crazy. My family would make noises and show their food while eating just to tick me off. I am always on my kids to eat with their mouths closed so I don't have to hear them chewing. Do I sound like a mean mom?

#6 I will not use public toilets, and I have never used a port-a -potty. I will hold myself until I am about to burst. I have used toilets while camping, but I will stand over them. Oh, and when I travel, I get totally sick because I can't go "real" potty in stange places.

Bristyn and Brenton

I think that Bristyn and Brenton would do anything to embarrass us wherever we go, but, we gotta love them for their spunkiness!!!!