For goodness Thanks!!!!

Well I have been busy and tired so I'm a little behind. Okay a lot behind. My little ones have kept me quite busy. Addy is getting molars in and wakes up in the night now. She never does but has been the last 2 weeks screaming. Liam was doing awesome except he too would wake up crying and scratching his legs together because he has eczema I think. The hardest part is that if Liam wakes up crying then within minutes Addy wakes up crying and vice versa so that has been a pain especially on the days Daniel has his 24 hour shift because I'm usually nursing when Addy wakes up. But enough with the negative (well mostly) So here in Hurricane we have been having a busy time. We had Taylor's ( Roma Ann's son) wife here she came on the 18th and is leaving tomorrow. Taylor is a marine in Afghanistan and I am so thankful to him and his willingness to serve also grateful to all my relatives in the service past and present especially since I missed veterans day so shout out to them particularly my Dad, Vaughn, Cousin Joe and Drew and friend Tim. Anyways Taylor is married to a beautiful girl from Georgia (actually she's originally from Mexico) anyways they haven't even been married a year yet so it has been hard on her for him to be gone. Yuli is her name and I did a photo shoot for her to send some pics back to Taylor while she was here.

she is gorgeous and so incredibly sweet, I've really enjoyed getting to know her. She also bought this cute outfit for Liam and an adorable skirt for Addy.

Well we also had Jordan and Miranda's wedding (the couple I matched up) everyone came so we had a lot of family here I think we squeezed about 90 people in the sealing room. It was a funny story because we were waiting in the temple and there was 2 parties of people for 2 different sealings there. We were in the chapel and it was completely full, anyways they came in asking for the "christensen party" and only 9 people stood up. The temple worker then said oh, are you all here for the hastings wedding? We all said yes. He chuckled and said well the sealing room seats 45 comfortably and has been known to squeeze 100 standing. Anyways it was crowded but I don't think there was a dry eye in the room it was a beautiful ceremony I just wish Daniel could have been with me but he was working. These next two pictures

are of Addy and little Andrew (who is my cousin-in-law Gena's sister's(Tami) toddler who is Miranda's nephew.) Anybody followed that confusing intro? Anyways Miranda and Jordan told me that this is who Addy should marry when she's older. He is pretty adorable. Miranda looked amazing!! Jordan wasn't half bad :)

Well going home was quite the experience. The trip home was pretty much horrible I vowed several times "never again!" We left at 12 noon and we were miserable because the kids weren't sleeping and Liam needed fed several times over that period of time. I think I had 2 breakdowns during the trip because of screaming kids and a huge headache. When we got there we had a great time. We stayed at Ruthie's and had great visits with her and I loved being with her. Lillie and I even played Clue with her and all three of us were crying we were laughing so hard definitely something I will remember for the rest of my life. I love my Ruthie and it was so hard to see her that way but yet I needed it and always miss her when I go. We had a good Thanksgiving and it was nice that Ruth could come to the school for it. The boys lifted her into the car and then out again. When we drove home we drove through the night and it was so much better because the kids slept the whole way and I didn't have to nurse. Poor Daniel drove through the night but felt great until the last half hour but since we didn't wan the kids to wake up yet I just talked him through it, definitely much better. We had a great visit with friends which I'll post later but when we got home we still had some of Daniel's cousins visiting. Two of them have kids within a month of Liam so it was fun. Great vacation so glad I got to visit with both families this holiday season. I love my family and am truly grateful for them and for everything they do!! Hope your Thanksgiving was great!

last time with Uncle George (unless we can swing it in Feb)
(Liam and Ryann (Will and Leslee's girl) they are 3 days apart.

Wyatt is 3 weeks younger than Liam he is Daniel's cousin (Sierra and Bryn's ) little boy.
The three kido's Olivia is on the end she is Joy and Eric's little sweetie and a month older than Liam
Liam and Olivia the little baldies
My beautiful boy getting so big!!

A time

I am loving this week's weather. Mid to high 7o's, I actually feel like it is fall with the beautiful tree's. We've also had an awesome crop of pomegranates that Addy is in love with and whenever she is outside I find her breaking one open and stuffing herself. Our small chicken family is about to get bigger due to Uncle John's generosity we should be getting around 10 more hens wandering around I'm sure the rooster will be thrilled :) My kids ( I still think it's funny to use that plural form) are getting so big. Whenever I think that this is getting easier something comes up... like Addy's molars. More often than not this grumpy girl wakes up crying from naps and saying "owie" but she still perks up after awhile and makes life fun. Her nursery leaders said " wow she has quite a personality!" I asked if that meant she was naughty and they said "no, she's just so smart and does what we ask" we'll see how that goes this week because she learned the word no two days ago and hardly says anything but it.

Liam is becoming such a good boy and is sleeping from 7:30- 5:30 every night in his own room. Just wish he'd sleep by himself during the day because he seems to think I need to hold him while he naps... silly boy. I love this onesie it says "nuts about mommy" I'm sure nuts about this big cheeked boy!

Since the weather was so nice I wanted to put brother in his outfit from my good friend Melissa and Addy wanted to show off her favorite hat so I took some pictures of my sweeties.

picking pomegranates

daniel's favorite... loves the look on Addy's face
Ummmm can you say cheeks... cutie!
my handsome boy.
love these two.
Oh yeah I canned this salsa all by myself, thanks to the nice neighbors who gave me a bunch of peppers and tomatoes. It was my first canning project.

Halloween was okay. Daniel had to work a 24 hour shift and my cousin Steph had to work too. So Caleb came over with the kids and we took them to a few houses. Addy's costume was a hit and got tons of comments. They weren't going to dress up Gage but I found some costume paint and took a note from Thriller and made him a Zombie.
Heidi made Josh a deer.. she also made Addy's costume for Josh when he was little. She does and awesome job.
Zombie Gage and cute witch Tippy
Brother bear
my little stinker!

Dancing Zombies

Well had a blast going to Tuacahn's halloween show Thriller. I love Tuacahn and it is definitely worth looking into if you're ever down this way. It is very high quality and is reviewed as "Broadway outdoors". Anyways I took Addy when she was a few months old to the play Les Miserables and so this year when my friends Ace and Comet wanted to go I jumped at the chance. It was too long to go without Liam and it wasn't much fun the first 20 minutes because he was fussy and I had to go to the top to walk with him, anyways finally got him to sleep right before the intermission and then the rest was great. There was no singing just dancing and some of the numbers were so funny, some scary. The zombies wandering the crowd were creepy but nice enough to take pics with my sleeping babe. Loved the 3 Jason's and the Frankenstein number and of course the "Thriller dance". Great quality dancing and a fun way for adults to celebrate Halloween. Great night. Unlike tonight which is Daniel's 24 hour shift day so don't get to see him until tomorrow at 7:00 am.
creepy Zombie girl

Jason was really nice he had a Jason teddy bear.
Great Dancers loved the bride of Frankenstein's monster
Comet and Liam and the undead
Ace holding Liam during the show
CREEPY!
Great extension for the undead
She was really scary
I love these two!!! Great friends
BOOOO!
Hope Liam appreciates these later, though it will probably make him not trust his mommy. Who lets the monsters near their little sleeping angel?

Happenings

Well we've hit some big markers for our two kids. Liam turned 3 months and I can't believe how the time has flown. Also I have made it through 2 full Sundays at church actually going to my classes! Addy turns 18 months in a week and has been going to nursery, she is doing awesome and I'm so happy to be able to actually go to class.

Here is Liam in an outfit he wore on Sunday... love his matching shoes.
Addy getting ready for church by jumping on mom and dad's bed. Look close another big marker a teensy tiny pigtail.

We've been busy with these two, but it's been easier and more fun than I thought it would be. Though it does have its moments... mostly Addy learning how to open new things and getting what her dad calls her "Addytude" let's just say she knows the word no, no. Liam has been doing great and actually does better than Addy did at falling asleep in his cradle on his own... it's the staying asleep part we're working on. He does pretty awesome most nights but his naps during the day aren't that great. Probably the hardest thing about having the two is getting them to sleep on the same schedule, but they are so sweet I just love having these two.
Liam has big eyes and long curly lashes.
Daniel's cousin Netta gave me a ton of clothes from her one and only boy and this is a cute shirt perfect for the season.
We found this shirt on clearance at Target and Daniel had to have it. He is trying to make it her favorite by getting really excited when he puts it on her. knew my dad would appreciate it.
yes his cheeks are just pinchable!
love his smile, and these red thermals
Auntie Comet coming for a visit. Ace, Comet and I are going to Tuacahn's Thriller show tomorrow. So excited for a girls night with these two.
Just wanted to show Addy's crazy hair and skinned nose ( her hair is just wild after naps and she falls down so much she's always got some sort of owie)

To finish I did want to tell a quick faith building story. Daniel's work has been non-existent lately and he's just been doing odd jobs between classes. I was feeling pretty low one night and we were talking about what to do. I was thinking that we weren't hearing from anyone because we weren't getting on top of our tithing. We would just keep forgetting and then go to get the money for it and we would have a bill that came out or something that left us with nothing. We knew tithing needed to come first but we just could never seem to remember it. I knew this was why we weren't getting a job. After scriptures and family prayer I was having my own personal prayer and the prompt kept coming that I knew Daniel had a tithing slip by our scriptures and that we had a small amount of cash (actually our only money at the time) in his wallet and I should fill the slip out. It was almost midnight and I thought I'll do it tomorrow. I couldn't go to sleep so I flipped a light on and got the money and filled the slip out sealed it and stuck it with our church manual. Said a quick prayer saying I am definitely exercising faith because we didn't have any more money and no prospects. The next day I had Daniel apply for a few more jobs and had him e-mail one job we were hoping to get but hadn't heard from. The day went on and about midday Daniel came in from helping an uncle set a toilet and he was smiling. He got called back and got the job we had wanted! It isn't as much money as we wanted but it will go up and the best part is the experience that he will get. (his first real job that isn't in construction) it is at a troubled youth facility. It also leaves time to do some work for Adam so we will be fine. I knew this was a direct answer to my prayers and a show to me that if I put tithing first great things will happen. What a testimony builder.

my sister....my friend

Guess who's turning 24! My little sister Clara Jane. I love this girl and I am so happy that I got her as a sister. We haven't always got along beautifully I mean we are about 17 months apart so there are bound to be differences. We did share a room most our life and I am ashamed to say I abused Clara's good natured, people pleasing attitude. Making her turn off the light every night, get me drinks, clean the room, sneak out the window to go unlock the door when LaRae would lock us in and then deny it was my idea when LaRae caught her. I made her walk 10 feet behind me when we walked to school, I also remember a slapping fight that was quite ugly. However we survived, we grew and I grew to realize the gem of a girl my sister is. Here are just a few things I love about my Clara Jane.

* she is adventurous and always up for something fun!

* she is very giving * she can make anyone laugh * she is fiercely loyal to friends and family * she doesn't gossip about people and tries to find the best in everyone

* she is amazing with kids and everyone's favorite auntie

* she wants to learn so many things and tries to do her best at everything.

* she is very forgiving.


I love my sister and I am so grateful for her friendship, she is truly one of my best friends. I am also so glad she found Grant and her happy ending...or I guess her beginning.

Love you beautiful girl! Happy Birthday!