Congratulations John and Courtney!

I don't think Courtney quite knew what she was getting into marrying a 'Gordon', but we are glad she did.

The Party.

The birthday girl.




The ribs.



The potatoes.

The fabulous salad (insert picture)



The dessert (homemade ice cream cake).



The cousins.

The adults (minus David and Jared) who created all this.

The aftermath.

Oh, how we love this girl! She is so much fun! Her laugh is contagious. She is so very entertaining. We could watch her all day long. Her dark, brown eyes are beautiful. Under her arm is the best place to bite. She loves to be outside. She is unpredictable. She loves her family. She loves to play and read books. I am amazed at how well she plays independantly. We are so grateful to have her as our very own.
Happy Birthday, Ashlyn!

Let the festivities begin!

READY,

STRETCH,

GO!!!

It's a "wear-whatever-you-want" night while the mood is set with fun carols we can dance to. Our humble Christmas tree is decorated and set in to place. We have begun a few traditions this year that will keep us in the right Christmas spirit (reading verses about Christ's birth each night from various books in the Bible) and are counting down with our advent calendar - the one thing the kids won't let us forget each night. (Ashlyn wants her "ta-kit").

The weather is cooperating this year and really making it feel a lot like Christmas (at least in Florida!).

Thanksgiving (and Pre-) Celebrations

Our Indian Kylie (she was supposed to be "Blue Sky", but decided she just wanted to be "Kylie").

T-ball, anyone?


Football?


Batter up! She was awesome!

With great-grandma

The masses. Defend your plate and space!


The "after party"

Thanksgiving 1/2 Marathon

Coming in at 1:37:55 (7:29 pace)

Breathe, Water, Recover. Repeat.

The very enthusiastic and

very sleepy waiting crowd.

Shortcuts=Longcuts

Yesterday I was in a hurry to make dinner, so I decided to boil the egg in the microwave instead of over the stove thinking it would save some time. Now, I know that you can't boil an egg in the microwave without it exploding, but I was in a hurry and that thought did not even cross my mind. Needless to say, it exploded and I had a huge mess to clean up. So much for the shortcut. I spent the majority of the remainder of the evening cleaning the mess. Said Kylie, "Why do you keep messing up? You must not be too good at this". Thanks, Kylie.

But, you know, this happens often in my life. I try to take too many shortcuts - not reading enough in my scriptures thinking that the 1 verse I read will suffice, reading just one book to my children so I can do 'other' things, counting the hello kiss to David as time spent together, the list could go on. Always in the end, they become longcuts to get it done correctly. And I always say to myself just what Kylie said to me.

It may not change overnight, but I am now trying to do it right the first time without having to clean up any messes in the end.