Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Turkey Day!! I saw this cute idea for Turkey pancakes, so we tried them this morning. It was fun to do something a little different for breakfast. Caleb thought it was awesome. I think they turned out pretty darn cute.

Yesterday, Kaylie and Brina made some Oreo Turkeys. I didn't get a great picture of them finished because as I was trying to take pictures, you can see Cade's little hand in the corner of the picture and he fell off the chair and smacked his head. Picture taking was then over as I tried to comfort him. It was so sad. But, the girls had fun making (or rather eating) these little treats. It would have looked better with candy corn as the feathers - but 2 days before Thanksgiving you can no longer find candy corns. Much less anything having to do with Thanksgiving.

This Thanksgiving is a little strange for me. My mom and dad are in Mexico with my 2 of my brothers and so we are just having Yvonne over for dinner. Bill didn't come in town either. So, instead of having 2 dinners like we normally have, we are not going anywhere today. It is an odd feeling. Jared has been THRILLED to be able to make a Thanksgiving dinner. He made homemade cranberry sauce, stuffing, glazed carrots. He would have made much more, except there are just not enough people to eat it. It is fun watching him be excited about making the dinner, and it is great for me because I don't have to make any of it.

I am thankful for many things this year - but most especially my family and friends and my Savior. Thank you to everyone that is a part of my life. You all bring something wonderful to my life and I am blessed to have you in it! I love you all! Happy Thanksgiving!!

New Moon

I love Girl's Night Out! It is so fun. This month we went to the New Moon Movie Premiere. It was so much fun. We headed to Cheesecake Factory first for dinner and dessert. Then over to the theater. It was the night before the movie came out. A friend of ours - Cara - had a friend that rented out a whole theater, then sold the tickets. So, we got to see the movie 3 hours before it actually came out! Our seats weren't the best - 3rd and 4th row, but it was still fun to be there. The movie was much better than Twilight and it was kind of funny to be in a theater with so many women that were clearly obsessed with this movie and its characters. I mean I like it - but some are a little out of control! Which makes it fun for the rest of us. Here is our clan: (from left to right)
Kristen Millecam
Tiffany Watkins
Shari John
Pam Rapier
Danielle Bitton
Jenn Wells
Jenn Quaranta
Me
Shannon Watkins
Kellie Elzinga

Thanks for a great night girls!! Let's do it again soon!!

Happy Brithday to my BFF

Okay, so this picture is over a year old, but it was the only one I could find. How is that possible - that I don't have a recent picture of my best friend? Anyway, I will make sure I get several the next time I see her!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALISHA!!! I just wanted to wish you a very special day. I am sad we cannot celebrate with you - but, just know that you are in my thoughts and I am sending wishes all day long. You have been a truly wonderful friend and kindred spirit. Never forget that I am always here for you - no matter what. We had some great times together - late night ice cream runs, occasional mid-day movies and Paradise Bakery, Women's Conference, Time Out for Women, chatting on the phone, swapping kids, and so much more. Sorry that the only picture I could find was of you pregnant. But, as always - you look so cute.
Love you!!!

New Girly Room

So, I decided that I needed to paint Sabrina's room. I have had this cute bedding for nearly a year and have never made her room look cute to match. So, I finally decided to paint and fix it up and it turned out SO CUTE if I do say so myself. I don't really even like pink, but I love this room. It is just so cute and girly and fits Brina to a tea. This first picture is just after I finished painting. We also finally got Sabrina a real bed. She has been sleeping on a mattress on the floor for about 9 months.

Here is the back wall. My favorite part is the rick rack in the center. I think I am going to do it all the way around the room - even if it will cover up my PERFECT line between pink and brown. It just adds so much to the room. I found these wall decorations at Hobby Lobby and they matched all the colors in her bedding perfectly.

The cutrains matched perfectly also.

This is over her dresser. I just have to print out some pictures to put in the frame and get some more rick rack. Such a fun project - I can't wait to start on my living room.

New addition....Will he last?

These are funny pictures of our new addition - Obi, but that is because he was sleeping when I was trying to take pictures of him. So, almost 3 weeks ago, my mom and I decided to adopt cats. She had been talking about getting one for a while and the kids have wanted a pet for a long time. They really want a dog, but I just don't think I can handle that. So, I saw this cute kitty and he seemed fun and energetic and like he would like to play with the kids. So, I adopted him, bought a bunch of supplies and brought him home. The first week and a half were rough on me and Gavin. We are both allergic to him and it was touch and go about whether we should keep Obi. But, it seems to have gotten better in that way and so I thought we will be able to keep him. Caleb is in charge of the kitty litter (I will not touch it), and everything seems okay. Unless....

you consider that the cat won't really come out of his hiding places unless the kids are not home or are in bed. He DOES NOT like the kids. He runs away from everyone evern if you are just walking by him and have no intention of picking him up much less touching him. Needless to say, the kitty is not much fun. The whole purpose of getting a cat was for the kids to have fun with him - and if he doesn't ever come out, it is kind of pointless. So, it looks like we are giving the kitty back this week. It will not be fun for the kids, but....

Amazing Race - Season 2

We had such a fun night!! It was so much fun to plan season 2 of the Amazing Race. The sad thing about it was that we could not invite everyone we wanted to. We had a super fun group and it turned out to be a great night. Hopefully, there will be a season 3 and more new people can be invited. There were a few glitzes throughout the night (like getting yelled at by mall security for running) and trying to do some things in the dark, but I think all in all everyone had fun. Here is a list of those that participated:

Tiff and Ty Watkins (planners)
Nate and Kristen Millecam (planners)
Quinn and Kellie Elzinga (planners)

Holly and Ryan Gibb (Winners)
Jason and Selia Bingham (2nd place)
Ryan and Erin Ferguson (3rd place)
Jim and Chrissy Hamberlin
Brian and Brittanie Hancock
Rob and Melanie Nelson
Lindsay and Owen McRae
Jason and Susan Green
Jake and Tiffany Walker
Tyler and Mary Davis
Shari John and Cori
Ashley and Jay Olson
Pam and Andy Rapier
Jenn and Jason Wells

Thanks everyone for such a fun night!!

Vegas Baby!!

So, 2 Sundays ago I woke up and decided to take the kids and drive to Vegas to visit their cousins and good friends the Brandons.It was a great trip, but a little too short. But, better than nothing. While we were there, we celebrated McKenna's birthday with some pink cupcakes! They were yummy. Happy Birthday Kenna!!

As always, my kids don't think they need to sleep at night so this is what Sabrina looked like on day 2 of our trip. We had been running for 2 days straight. The first night we got there, she didn't go to sleep until midnight and was up at 6:30. We ran around all that day and she didn't get in bed again until about 10pm and was up by 7:30. So, after visiting the Brandons, she was dead to the world on the drive back to my sisters house.

Just a dang cute picture of Caleb sitting in a grass bush!

It was so fun to see our friends the Brandons. We miss them so much. I got to see their new house and hang out and chat with Alisha. Then we went to the park next to her kids school and let the kids run around and play for an hour or so. It was great to watch them be together and having fun. Cole was everywhere of course! He is getting so big.

So, I had the not so brilliant idea to go to the strip on Monday. I realized last time we were there, my kids have never been there and we thought it would be fun to take them to see the "Dancing Waterfall". Well, this day turned into a comedy of errors. Luckily I had just learned at TOFW that "if you can laugh with it, you can live with it." It is a joke to try to get anywhere on the strip with 2 strollers. We got to the Bellagio around noon. We went to the gardens there and that was very cool. There are a few pictures down further. After the gardens, we went out to see the dancing waterfall and discovered that it doesn't start until 3pm. Well, we did not have plans to stay that long. But, we decided to walk down a couple of hotels to the Forum shops to the FAO Swartz toy store. We thought there was a deli on the 3rd floor of the store. After many problems just getting to the shops (carrying strollers up stairs and whatnot), there is no deli in the store. We were all starving and the kids were slowly melting down. They do however have candy bins, so we bought everyone some candy and went in search of something to eat. We FINALLY (an hour later) found a Mexican food place. Sat down and paid WAY TOO much for lunch. Then we headed back to the Bellagio to go home. Only to discover that it was now 3:00 and the waterfalls were just starting. We remembered that we had to go across the bridge and so took an elevator up to the bridge, only we landed on the wrong level, dragged the strollers down a couple flights of stairs and then down a ramp only to end up back on the ground level about 20 feet from the elevator we just took upstairs. Sheri and I just looked at each other and laughed. It was too crazy. Above, it a picture of the girls watching the waterfall from the walkway. They LOVED IT and I am so glad they got to see it. So, after the show we started walking back to the car to leave and of course had to stop at the potty. Finally, after walking to the other side of the hotel to get to our car, my sister looks down and realizes that she has no purse! Crap!!! I pulled out my camera and looked at the above picture and noticed it was on her shoulder while we were watching the waterfall. So, she ran back to the other side of the hotel to the bathroom we stopped at - but it wasn't there. As she was walking back, there was a lot and found/information center and she stopped and someone had just turned it in. YEA!! I definitely think that is luck in Vegas that someone would turn it in and not take it. So, FINALLY we were on our way home! It was definitely a day to remember and we learned that "If you can laugh at it, you can live with it!" That little saying helped us have fun and not get quite so frustrated.

I just loved this picture of Sabrina holding Weston and Caleb's hand. They walked around like that quite a bit. Sabrina loves her Clark cousins!!

Caleb took this picture and I think it is beautiful!! This was in the gardens at the Bellagio.

Here is the talking tree. Sabrina was fascinated by it.

Gavin, Caleb, Weston and Sabrina. McKenna didn't want to get in the picture. Such a fun trip. Thanks Sheri for letting us invade your home and for hanging out with us! We had such a fun time and are so glad we came. Thanks Alisha for hanging out with us and it was SO GREAT to see you and the kids!! We miss you.

Time Out for Women

Last weekend I had the chance to attend Time Out for Women. It is Friday night and all day Saturday. There are speakers, and musicians and it is a wonderful time to renew your spirit and faith. I love TOFW. I didn't get to go last year and after having gone again this year, I realized how much I missed it last year. I normally go with my wonderful friend Alisha, but she decided to move just before the event and leave me all alone. Luckily, I got to spend time with my other wonderful friend Sarah. I miss hanging out with Sarah since she moved to Coolidge. So, we had a great time together catching up and just enjoying each others company. Thanks for inviting me to go with you and your family. It was so much fun and a great break to renew my spirit.

Here is Sarah with Leanne and Carrie.

I also got to see Michelle. It was so fun to see her and chat with her and catch up since she moved out of our ward. Doesn't she look great?!?

We got to hear from:

Brad and Debi Wilcox about "If you can laugh at it, you can live with it."

John Bythway - Stop competing and comparing yourself to others.

Emily Watts - Appearances

Emily Freeman - Abundance

Wendy Ulrich - The difference between Sin and Weakness

Kris Belcher - "Let not your heart be troubled"

Jenny Oaks Baker - violinist

Kenneth Cope - singer

They were all so great, so funny and had wonderful messages. If you have never been, it is a wonderful couple of days and will bless your life!!

Pack Meeting

A few weeks ago, we had Pack Meeting for Scouts and Caleb was advancing up to Bear. He worked hard to finish all the requirements for Wolf. They do a great ceremony and it was a fun night. Here Caleb is with his friend Ridge.

Here he is with the Indian Chief that does the presentation of the awards.

Here are all the boys with their parents waiting to get their award.

Preschool revisited

So, here it is 2 months into the school year and I realized that I never posted Gavin's first day at school. Gavin is going to Miss Christi's preschool again this year. He missed the kindergarten cut off by 26 days. So, as much as I wanted him to be in Kindergarten and gone all day, he is loving Miss Christi's. He has many friends from church that are in the same class this year. So, that is super fun. He loves Miss Christi and says that he is going to marry her at Disneyland and then they will live in Hawaii. He is so cute. Can't wait for next year to go to the big school with Caleb!