Eating our way out of house and home.

Over Thanksgiving break, Ryan and I went on a hot date and left the girls in Grandma Sherri's creative hands.

HGTV had a special on the decorating the White House for the holidays. We only caught a few minutes of it, but managed to see the segment about the White House gingerbread homes. I was truly fascinated!

Other very impressive houses....

Its like a Full House Gingerbread neighborhood!

(you know the Uncle Joey and Uncle Jesse kinda of Full House)

Classy

Our computer's screen saver shows all of our photos in random order. I was folding laundry today and just glancing over at our computer. I saw pictures of Hattie's birth, pictures of Neeley and Westy on Easter morning, a lovely picture of Ryan's family from years ago

and then this...

and this...

and this.

Ryan obviously found the picture function on our new computer. Nice.

12 k's of Christmas

I have no idea how on earth I got roped into this one, but I'm sure glad I did! A group of friends trained for a 12 K (7.5) mile run and might I say, we really rocked it! I think what was so fun was having a great running partner, fun friends to join us, and getting high 5'd from Uncle John and kiddos along the route.

Before the race, we all were super pumped, face paints still in tact, and we were rearin' to go!

After the race we were happy to be standing, face paints everywhere, super hot and stinky, and glad to have it behind us.

Ryan and kids, Worthen kids, and Ito kids ran the 1.2 k race and from what I hear, Neeley is going to be our track star. Way to go kids! Way to go Ryan!

A fun afternoon

I just pulled a few pictures off of my camera and it was so fun to go through and remember what a fun afternoon this was. I was in charge of a relief society event and had to drive to Mesa to pick up some delicious cookies. We stopped at the Mesa LDS temple and let the kids eat a cookie and walk around the temple grounds.

The crew at the temple were still putting up temple lights and guess what the kids immediately gravitated to. It was a beautiful day with beautiful reflection pools but guess what everyone immediately found.

I can't stop laughing at this picture. It is like Corban and Avery have never had cookies before. I feel like Avery looks when I eat cookies too.

That moment lasted about a minute, but Corban is really showing that cookie who's boss.

Silly Bands

When I was a kid, it was cabbage patch dolls and slap bracelets. When I was in high school, I remember people standing in line for hours waiting for beanie babies. (seriously??) Now, the latest and greatest collection, according to my girls, are silly bands.

My girls have been collecting these things like mad. I've even had teachers send class e-mails home telling parents not to let kids bring silly bands to school because they are such a distraction.

My kids have found another use for silly bands. The other day I walked into their room and found them on the floor using their silly bands to make a story. SO creative! I was so proud of my creative girls! Clever stories too...

Recommendation

I love stories about people who overcome great obstacles in their life. (who doesn't?) This is one of those stories. RENT it! I am not sure why it isn't more known. We loved this movie. What was amazing to me was how far our society has come in recognizing, diagnosing, and coping with autism. In the 50's when Temple Grandin was diagnosed, the doctor told her mother that somehow, a necessary bonding never occurred. In essence, it was the mother who failed in some way to bond with her child. I cannot believe this was a logical and common belief. Makes me wonder how far off we are in some of our beliefs today about certain issues.

Rent this movie. You won't regret it. Claire Danes was amazing.

Why I do what I do...

Ryan and West last year riding bikes. I can't get enough of that helmet.

Westy is a Ryan's son. No doubt about it. I'm not sure a son could idolize a dad more. If Ryan's around, I'm chopped liver. Really. Anytime anyone goes in or out of the house from the garage, Westy will yell across the house "daddy!?!" Certainly his father's son.

He has a little stomach bug and all with it, all the nasty side effects. In the middle of the night, he was really not doing well. I bathed him, put him in clean jammies and tucked him in bed with me. He was sleeping on my chest and I was rubbing his back and his head. Mind you, I'm exhausted, started two loads of nasty laundry, been puked on all night and just waiting for it to start back up again when he pokes his little head up and whispers "tank you mom."

Oh, be still my heart.