MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

We have had such a crazy roller coaster year, that we decided we needed a good laugh to end this year and begin the next with a smile.  SO here's you Christmas giggle.  Thanks Frech Family Fotos for the fun family night and the idea!            

Merry Christmas and God Bless Us Everyone!

I am so grateful for this past year.  I have grown more than I ever thought possible and Morgan and I together have become so much stronger.  I am grateful for amazing kids.  Each day they remind me of all my weaknesses, but with their patience and love, I know I can achieve great things and become the " best mom ever"  I'm grateful for the Savior.  I set out this year to build a stronger relationship with him and have daily felt him reaching his hand out in support and love.  I'm grateful for a loving Father in Heaven who doesn't give up on us and continues to love this stubborn slightly prideful daughter of his.  I'm grateful for tithing.  I have a super strong testimony of paying tithing and the blessings and peace that come when we do so.  I'm grateful for the opportunity to share this testimony with Liam this year and for his growing testimony in this area.  I have a testimony that life is good.  That amidst all the chaos and craziness in the world, there are amazing people who inspire me and encourage me.  There are incredible acts of kindness and love happening all around us on a daily basis.  I'm grateful for eyes that see the goodness around me instead of the negative.  I'm grateful to know that my crazy, wonderful family is going to be a part of me for eternity.  That there is nothing in this world that can break that bond.  I'm grateful for temples where the sealing ordinance takes place daily and families are bound eternally.  I'm grateful for the family I come from. The strength in me is passed down from generations of wonderful people.  I'm grateful for the foundational teaching of my parents.  Thank you for giving me the opportunity to build a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ and for teaching me to love others no matter what their background.  I'm grateful for brothers who make me laugh and have forgiven me for being a really bossy big sister!  I'm grateful for the amazing sisters I have.  For a girl who was born and married into a family of all boys, I sure got the luck of the draw in sisters in law.  They are an amazing group of women...  I am also super grateful for my parents in law.  I love them so much.  Not only am I related to wonderful people, but I have the best friends ever!  Each of the many wonderful women in my life inspire me to greater heights.  I love my life and I hope this year we can all focus on the positive!  Merry Christmas! 

It's time for Christmas lights!!!! We put up lights in about 70 degree weather... Yep it's alright to be jealous. The kids had a blast! They loved the time on the roof and the special daddy time... If we don't get Christmas up inside at least we have it outside!!!

Isa B-Dazzle...

Isa's baptism was wonderful! She is beautiful and her dress turned out just fine Phew! We are so blessed to have so many wonderful friends and family members. It was just right. GG gave a fantastic talk on the holy ghost and Pops a wonderful talk on baptism. Liam and Emery participated with talks and I learned to let all the hoopla go and just keep it mellow so I could enjoy the experience. I'm really thankful for Christy taking the time to again share her talents and take pictures for me. So I'll just cut to the chase and share those beautiful photos...

My baby is growing up!

Today was a fun day for us. We did a little service (cleaned the church, helped a sister out the normal saturday affair) But thanks to Liam who is a wonderful brother and babysitter and who I owe some mommy time to, Isa and Emery and I were able to have a girls afternoon out... We started at the Macaroni Grill for lunch...

"Sisters, sisters, there were never such devoted sisters..."

Isa drew me a cute picture. I love that she drew my hair in the side ponytail! Sweet girl!

So excited! Sometimes it just feels good to have some girl time.

Isa brough sunflower so she could hug her if it hurt at all...

This is Emery's begging pouting why can't I get my ears pierced, I don't wanna wait till I'm 8 and I don't care if it's special face. Yep she's persistent, but I'm a mule and no is no. Poor girl it's hard to be the younger sister...hee hee

Isa was a pro! She didn't even blink. I think I was more teary than she was. It's hard to watch your little girl grow up and to me this was something I remember so clearly and I remember feeling so grown up with my pretty earrings. I guess all those emotions channeled toward Isa growing up. I love who she is becoming, but part of me wants her to slow down just a bit...

Yep, They're even!

I love that she sat like this the whole time. Such a lady. She had people stopping and watching her and commenting on how she was sitting so cute. It was funny. There were a few ladies who went out of their way to catch her afterwards and tell her she looked pretty.

Beatiful girl. Oh I LOVE HER EARS!!!!!

So that was our exciting date! I'm blessed to have such great kids. I may not always be the most patient, loving, kind, clean, fun mom, but I sure to love my kids and really I guess that's what counts the most...

coincidence or fate...

We headed to the farmers market this week for a little grocery shopping and ended up at the bicentennial park with my sweet sister-in-law for a little Civil War living history fun! Thank goodness the kids bought treats as we ended hanging out for three hours. It was AWESOME! It goes along with Liam's history lessons this year too... Thank goodness for phones. Mandy had her phone and so we were able to capture the spur of the moment on "film". Look at these cute kids! Couldn't you just kiss em!

Liam took his instruction very seriously. He had a gentleman show his his rifle and teach him a little about military commands. It was awesome. HE LOVED IT!! Totally ate it up!

Isa joined in the fun and both of them stood in line listening to the instructions for a good 15 minutes without once moving... I had to pull them both away to go look at some of the other tents...

We took a little time to dance and enjoy the music. I love the photo of the lady with Emery, she is having so much fun! The sweet lady kept tripping over her dress and was laughing so hard. It makes for a sweet photo though!

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What a great day! The best part was the reminder of how fleeting our time is together and how good it felt to put everything on my to do list off and just spend some time enjoying my kids and letting them enjoy learning. They loved watching the cannons and the soldiers. The learned all about toys from the 1800's. (Liam is becoming the expert with the buzz saw yoyo. He can even do it with his toes.) They went home with their cups full. I am so blessed and so grateful for the opportunity to live here in Nashville. To immerse ourselves in the history of this part of the country. What a fun Saturday!

i'm not sure who said my princess could grow up, but somehow she did. She has truly grown into a princess inside and out. Isa is beautiful to me. I love her ears, her hair, her eyes, those dimples, that sweet smile, her funny hobbit feet. She is so pretty, but inside she is stunning. She is so loving and compassionate. Don't get me wrong, she has mastered the princess pout and can at times be quite the drama queen, but most of the time, she is a love bug! She constantly reminds me with little loving acts of service how much she values me and her siblings. I'm so thankful Heavenly Father placed this perfectly pink princess in our family. I love her!

Check out that dimple! Thanks for all the phone calls. Isa definately felt loved.

Warning: To the boy who is Isa's future husband, you have big shoes to fill. Daddy is the ultimate prince charming and there is not a day goes by that he doesn't remind her that she is beautiful and that he loves her very much.

We went to macaroni grill for isa's birthday dinner. She wanted every one to get dressed up for the occasion. It was so fun. Great idea Is!

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I LOVE this picture of Isa and Liam. It just makes me happy. I see in it a glimpse of them as teenagers out on a group date enjoying each other as friends and siblings.

family photo

Morgan's artwork...

Emery being the joyful funny girl she is. Read the book Olivia and you might as well change the title to Emery... Love this funny girl!

Beautiful Birthday girl

Waiting for the car... What a perfect fun night! Took these photos a few days later at the park They were cute so I'm sharing!

Tis, the season!

It is without a doubt my favorite time of year. We are loving the cooler weather and the fall leaves! School is going well. It's taking a little getting used to and there are definately days that I want to take a day off and just spend the day reading my book outside while the kids kick it up in the leaves. *sigh* I guess there are some down sides to this new program. That's ok we are going to the pumpkin patch on Friday and it will be fabulous! Speaking of fabulous, we went camping two weeks ago. It was wonderful. We really needed the time together as a family. It was just something that needed to be. I'm so grateful for this beautiful world we live it. The weather was just right for camping. Nice and cool but not too cold. We were able to just kick back and enjoy being a family. My phone was out of batteries, so we didn't even have that as a hindrence. It was wonderful!

We decided to pack up last minute and head to Cedars of Lebanon. It's only a half an hour away so it was perfect. The kids helped Morgan gather and chop wood for a fire while I put together tin foil dinners. We neglected to bring enough blankets, so we were a little chilly at night, but we dealt with it! Emery is such a monkey! This pole is probably 7 feet tall and she is the only one to make it to the top!

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There was a little playground close by and the kids loved it! I loved watching them play together. I'm grateful for kids who love each other. No doubt about it we definately have our fair share of squawking, but when they are good and kind and loving, I see what they really are and I LOVE it.

Colin really liked playing horse race! Especially when he was the winner.

We followed up the playground with a short hike...

The natives were restless and a little mad when we had to turn around, but I was unprepared for the tired boy who fell asleep 1/2 way through the hike. Thank goodness, I had Morgan's undershirt to keep him up! Where's my sling when I need it!

All in all it was a great camping trip. I count my blessings for a beautiful world to enjoy and my spectacular family to enjoy it with.