Easter 2014

We have had a very busy few weeks and still have a lot of busyness ahead of us, but I have to take some time and catch up with all that has been going on, or I will forget details.

I will start with Easter weekend.

We have a tradition with Mark's family of going bowling on Easter Saturday.  We had a much smaller group than usual and I forgot my camera, but we still had fun and I took some pics with my phone.

Grandpa actually bowled with us this year.  I don't think that has ever happened before.  It was fun to watch and it really made me mad that I forgot my camera.  Everyone did well, except for me.  I think I was the loser of the day.  I barely made it over 60.  Not my best bowling day.

After bowling, we headed back to Grandma and Grandpa's house for a late lunch and some egg hunting fun.  Mark cooked some pulled pork in our Big Green Egg and it was delicious.  Lots of laughter, lots of candy, lots of fun.

 I love Easter morning and I love going to church on Sunday to celebrate the resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

I am nothing without Him.

He makes it possible for me to make up for my mistakes and short-comings.

He has also made it possible for me to live with these guys forever and ever.

Tuesday Traditions 17

I am thinking that I probably already wrote about this tradition last year, but that's ok.  It's been a whole year.  :)

Last weekend was one of my favorite weekends of the year.

Time Out For Women

Every year, I get to spend some time with some of the favorite women in my life and we go to this conference to be inspired and uplifted.  There may or may not be a lot of laughing and silliness involved as well.  Although we weren't too crazy this year.  Maybe that's because there was no hotel room involved.

This year, we went to the event in St. George, Utah.

Our whole group of ladies

As always, it was a fabulous weekend.
 I love spending time with my mom and sisters.  We were missing Sharise and Danette for sure.  Hopefully one of these years we will all be able to coordinate schedules and have the $$ to all meet in one place and enjoy TOFW together.

My cute (pregnant, if you can believe it because she is tiny) sis-in-law, Chantelle...my mommy...my sis, Brittany, and me

This year was extra awesome as well because my best friend from high school was able to come with us as well.  I love spending time with Melissa.  We aren't able to get together as often as we would like, but we take every chance that we can get.

We've come a long way, baby.
Hey Melissa...remember this?

This picture is so completely awesome on so many levels.  Nothing says best friends like getting your picture taken together in matching outfits.
  I love this lady so much.  She has stuck with me through thick and thin.  One of my favorite moments with her that I will remember forever is seeing her at my end-of-chemo party.  We don't live close to each other any more, but she drove 4 hours just to attend my party and then turned around and drove 4 hours home.  I had no idea she was coming to that.  Seeing her as I walked in my kitchen was one of the best surprises of my life.

I always come away from TOFW with a renewed spirit and conviction to be a little better than I was before.  A better person, wife, mommy, friend...you name it.

Here are some of the things that stuck out to me....

Virginia H. Pearce
*We can choose to show up for the Savior.  Come prepared to learn and love.

John Bytheway
*Suffering in this life is mandatory.  That's how we learn and grow.  The misery that comes along with it is optional.

Chris Williams
*As we let our problems go and yoke ourselves to the Savior, He takes us with Him to serve and lift others.

Emily Watts
*"Fair" is not the same as perfectly equal.  If everything was perfectly balanced, you wouldn't be progressing or moving forward.
*Remember that your children have spirits, and our spirit can speak to their spirits.

John Hilton III
*Tap into the vision of what God already has in store for you.
*The mundane can be miraculous.

Merrilee Boyack
*We are all "Warrior Women" fighting for God's army.
*I will defend the family and protect children.

Emily Freeman
*The Lord can work miracles in the moments we are required to stretch.

(You can click on each person's name to learn more about them.)

Another TOFW down...hopefully many more to go.  I have been able to "fill my cup" for another year.
TOFW is close to my heart for so many reasons, but I will always feel so blessed to have been featured on their blog.  Remember this?
Enjoy your Tuesday! :)

Tuesday Traditions 16

This might be kind of a stretch for a tradition, but I wanted to talk a little bit about the role that music plays in our lives.  I would consider music a tradition for our family because it really is a part of our daily routines.

There have been so many songs throughout my life that have touched me or strengthened me or given me hope.  That has been especially true during my fight with cancer.  I don't think it is a coincidence that this Martina McBride song came out the very day I was diagnosed.

That song gave me hope and comfort in those first days of the nightmare.  When I was so consumed with fear and anxiety, I could turn on that song and knew that no matter what happened, I was going to have so many people "loving me through it" that I could conquer any obstacle.
There were two other songs that helped me during those nightmarish days.

Be Still My Soul performed by Eclipse
(I could not find their version on YouTube...but here is a version by David Archuleta.  I chose David just for you Lyndsey. ;)


and
Just Let Me Cry by Hilary Weeks
I even sent an email to Hilary because the lyrics of this song described how I was feeling perfectly.


Music has always had a way to soothe my soul.  When I am stressed or frustrated, I like to sit down at the piano and just play and/or sing.  I always feel better when I am done and it brings such a great spirit into our home.

Now fast forward two years later to today.  The past few weeks have been a different kind of nightmare.  One, I am afraid, that I will have to endure time and time again every time something seems a little off.  I know that someday I will get to a point where I don't think that every little thing means that the cancer has come back.  But after what shall now be known as the "Scare of 2013", I know that as much as I say I have put it behind me and moved on, there will always be a part of me that is terrified it will come back.

I found myself returning to these songs and many others that brought peace to my soul, but I also found myself inspired by a couple of other songs.  These songs were perfect for the fighting mood I was in.  I have to admit, I am a little angry that cancer has already taken 2 years of my life (which really feels more like 10 considering how much my body has aged), and now I was faced with the possibility of it robbing me of even more years.  Thankfully that was not in the cards for me right now, but I still listen to these songs on a daily basis because they just put me in a good mood and make me feel like I can conquer anything.

Roar by Katy Perry
My girls and I are big Katy Perry fans.  We love her spunk, her kindness, and the way she encourages people to be their own person and be proud of who they are.
(This probably isn't necessary, but I feel like I have to apologize beforehand if anyone is offended by Katy's outfit in this video.  I hope that as you are watching it, you don't get stuck on the amount of clothes she may or may not be wearing, but on the message of the song.  :)

The lyrics of this song really struck a chord with me.  It is exactly how I feel about cancer.
"You held me down, but I got up.
Already brushing off the dust.
You hear my voice, you hear that sound.
Like thunder gonna shake the ground.
You held me down, but I got up.
Get ready 'cause I've had enough.
I see it all, I see it now.
I got the eye of the tiger, a fighter, dancing through the fire.
'Cause I am a champion and you're gonna hear me roar.
Louder, louder than a lion.
'Cause I am a champion and you're gonna hear me roar."

Brave by Sara Barielles

The song talks about speaking out and being brave to stand up for things.  I love to talk to my kids about that message.  I love the fact that on this blog in particular, I have the freedom to "say what I wanna say".  I think the song also applies not only to saying what we want to say, but also being brave in general.  If there is one thing that I want my kids to take away from the experience that our family had with cancer, it's that their mom was brave, even when things were tough.  Their mom was not going to just lie down and let the cancer take over.  She fought it tooth and nail so that she could stay here and be their mother- her most important job.

I feel such gratitude to have been blessed with so much good music in my life.  I am thankful to have the abilities to express my thoughts, feelings, and testimony through music.  I hope that I will continue to have opportunities to do this.  I also hope that you can find the music in your life that uplifts and strengthens you.

Tuesday Traditions 15/Labor Day

I was looking back at my posts and realized that I have not done a Tuesday Traditions post since April.  

I think it's high time we had another one, don't you?

I also noticed that this is post #450.  Sweet.  I feel like we should have confetti or balloons or something.

How about some pictures of our fun Labor Day weekend instead?

I am calling this a "tradition" even though we have not done it for a few years.  But traditionally we always do something with Mark's family on Labor Day weekend, so whatever...it works. :)

We spent Labor Day up at our beautiful Stake Property.  I think I have explained this before, but I will do it again just in case there are any new readers out there.  In the LDS church, we have different geographical boundaries for our congregations.  One of those groups is called a "Stake".  It is built up of 7-10 wards which are smaller congregations.  I hope that makes sense.  Anyway, our Stake has stewardship over some property in our beautiful Utah mountains.  It is a holy place for sure.  Every time I go there, I feel the love of my Father in Heaven so strongly.  Definitely one of my favorite places on this earth.

And now...back to the Labor Day Fun!

 There is a sand volleyball court there and the little kiddos had fun building sand castles before the big volleyball match.  We Ogdens are pretty serious when it comes to volleyball.  

We also took advantage of this luxurious downtime to do some hiking on the trails there at the property.  We decided to bring our cute Bailey girl with us.  She had so much fun.  It was her first time in the mountains (with us anyway.  Not sure what she did with her previous owners).  She loved the hike and was completely tuckered out.

 There is also a mighty fun zipline at the property.  Many thanks to Ben and Marie for manning the zipline so my munchkins could go a hundred times!

One more thing I noticed at the Stake Property that day.

A change is coming....and I am pretty excited about that.

Fall is in the air baby.  I am so happy that we were able to enjoy one of my favorite things...leaves changing colors.  There is definitely something magical about fall leaves.  

It was a really fun and relaxing day.  I had just returned from my awesome FD Kayaking trip the day before so I was still basking in the glow of that amazing experience.  I think it made this moment that much sweeter.  Definitely some S.M.I.L.E.S. happening here.

Tuesday Traditions 14

We are starting a new tradition called

"Countdown to Summer"

It seems like the last few years we have caught the summer bug during spring break and it's really hard to focus on the rest of the school year.

When Josh and Emma were the only ones in school, I used to get a little grumpy with the thought of everyone being home all day during the summer.  I liked having a small break from them and they liked having a break from me.  But then I was having a conversation with a friend one day, and she made a very good point that I have taken to heart.

She said that she realized that we only have 18 summers with these kiddos.  18 summers!  That is not very many when you think about it.  Especially when I think that I now only really have 4 more summers with Josh if he chooses to go on a mission right after he graduates from high school.

This changed my whole attitude and thought process about summer.  It has now become a very short 3 months in which I try to cram as much fun into it as I can.  The last few summers have been truly fun and amazing, even with a little dumb thing called cancer butting its way in.

Back to the tradition portion of this post...:)

Last night, the girls and I made a Countdown to Summer chain.  It was a Pinterest idea so I have to give credit where credit is due.

But I do like how our turned out much better than the one I saw on Pinterest.

Now all we have to do is get through the next month, watching our chain grow smaller and smaller until finally, the first day of summer will arrive!

Tuesday Traditions 13

Today's tradition is a relatively new one in our home.  It has only been going on for a few weeks, but I really hope it sticks.

Josh has been playing the cello for a little over 2 years now.  He started in 6th grade and immediately fell in love with it.

Here he is in his very first concert. :)

Oh my goodness!  He has changed so much in two years!

After playing for a whole school year, we decided to find him a private teacher so he could keep progressing. He started lessons with a sweet older gentlemen in the neighborhood and loved it.  He was doing really well and progressing faster than any student that his teacher had ever taught.  He progressed so quickly, in fact, that a few months ago his teacher suggested that we might want to look for another teacher because he could not keep up with Josh anymore.  :)

It is here that I will tell you about another S.M.I.L.E.S. (Sweet Moments in Life that Empower the Soul) for our family.

I discovered that the process of finding a new cello teacher for someone who is serious about studying the cello, is not an easy task.  A lot of people I contacted would not take a transfer student and many of them had a hard time believing that he was playing out of the Suzuki Book 8 when he had only been playing for 2 years.  I was getting frustrated.  I just wanted to find someone who would give him 2 minutes and really listen to him play.  Someone who could see his potential and give him a chance even though he is classified as a "late bloomer".  (Which is a whole different discussion that I might have to blog about one day)

Well, through a series of small miracles, we found our teacher.  Nicole Pinnell Jackson, and she is absolutely amazing.  After hearing Josh play, these were her words...

"Josh, even if you don't decide to be one of my students, I have to tell you...anyone who hears you play and does not immediately want to take you on as a student is crazy."

Cue waterworks from the mother.

There is more to the story and I will blog about it another day.  This post is already longer than I planned on.

Long story short...we love Nicole and Josh is in heaven.

Now back to the tradition part of this post.

Our new tradition is a nightly concert in our home.  Or as often as we can.  It has been so fun to play with Josh.  I have to say, our home has been a much calmer place at night since we have invited this beautiful music in on a regular basis.  

Here is the song that we just played at his recital a week or so ago.

(Sorry about the end of the video...the Ipad started slipping on the stool.)

I am seriously in love with this new tradition of ours.

Tuesday Traditions 12 (Abbie's Birthday)

Well, I was hoping to have something really fantastic and exciting to share with you today, but it looks like we will have to wait just a bit longer for it.  Now you are really intrigued.  ;)

I do have other exciting stuff to share.

How about some birthday celebration pictures?

I am calling this a Tuesday Traditions post so I can talk more about some of our birthday traditions.

I usually have a few balloons waiting at the birthday person's spot at the table, along with their presents.  But since Abbie's birthday was on a Monday, I was not able to go to the store the night before to get balloons.  So we started a new tradition.

Behold the birthday balloon curtain!

Since this is something new this year, Abbie was definitely not expecting anything like this when she opened her door.  I was in the family room and I heard her door open.  I grabbed my camera as I heard Abbie exclaim, "What the heck?"

Another birthday tradition we have is the birthday lunch.  I will check the birthday child out of school and we have a little lunch date together.  I forgot to take a picture of course, but we went to Kneaders and it was yummy.

Abbie chose some of her favorites for dinner.

Mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, green beans, and orange juice.

Notice Ellie's face in this picture...this was clearly NOT her favorite meal. 

I had a rare moment of cake success this year, but it was a really simple cake so I had the odds in my favor.

We did find the perfect balloon for Abbie's chair when we were out to lunch.

"Another year of fabulous" and it's totally true.

And another great birthday come and gone. 

Well, I hope that my other news will happen this week...I won't give you any clues, but I will say that we are anxiously awaiting something pretty cool.

(I am probably building it up way too much, but oh well.)

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Tuesday Traditions 11

I promised a Valentine's Day Traditions post and here it is. 

(I know you have all been anxiously awaiting. ;)

I am a holiday junkie.  It's true.

I love every single holiday there is and I can always find a color to dye my pancakes that matches...always. 

Mark likes to tease me about my obsession with food dye, but really, he is just so darn excited to get pancakes in the morning he doesn't care what color they are.

Valentine's Day just has a knack for bringing out the loveliness in our house.

Lovely decorations

Lovely kiddos

Lovely hairdos

Lovely hubby

We have our typical "pink" breakfast and then make sure that everyone's hair is looking purdy before they walk out the door.

(Just a side note, I did take a closeup picture of Ellie and Emma's hair too, but my camera is dying a slow death and likes to just randomly delete pictures.  It's NOT a lovely thing.)

Of course we have to make boxes to take to school for all of the Valentine's Day festivities.  These girlies did a really great job this year.  They came up with their own box ideas and went right to work.

(See what I mean about my camera dying?  These pictures look terrible!)

Anyway, another tradition we have for the Day O' Love is that I give my handsome young man a treat and Mark gives his little princesses a treat as well.  We have been doing this since their very first Valentine's Day.  They look forward to it every year.

And of course we have to have some sort of special dinner as well.  Usually I make something heart shaped  and/or pink.  This year I did both since last year's Valentine's Day was kind of low key.

Pink pasta and heart-shaped strawberry pastries.

Pasta= good.  Pastries= need some work.

But we had a good time anyway. 

 It was fun to just hang out with all of my sweethearts under one roof.

I hope your Day O' Love was lovely as well.

Now, on to St. Patrick's Day!

I wonder what I can dye green this year?

Tuesday Traditions 10

For this tradition, I need to back up about 16 or 17 years.

When Mark was 19, he left for 2 years to serve a mission for our church.

He went to the Taiwan Taichung Mission and learned to speak Mandarin.

He has many fond memories of his mission- he often calls it "the best 6 years of his life."  ;)

(One of the cutest missionaries I have ever seen.  :)

While he was on his mission, he had the opportunity to see some Chinese New Year celebrations.  A couple of years ago, we decided that we would like to have a Chinese New Year celebration as a family.  We didn't have it last year because I had just finished chemo and was not feeling up for the celebration.

So we were excited to bring it back this year.

The kids love to help cook, especially Josh.  He helped us make pot stickers and fried rice.  We also made one of my favorite Chinese treats, "Open Mouth Laughs".  I could not tell you how to say it in Chinese.  They are basically sesame seed covered donut holes.  Super yummy.

After a great dinner, we read a story about Chinese New Year and had a surprise invite to watch some fireworks in our circle with our neighbors.  It was the perfect way to end our New Year celebrations.  Thank you Allen family!

Tuesday Traditions 9

I was going to start this post by saying,

"One of my favorite traditions...", but I think that pretty much all of our traditions are my favorite so I can't really begin that way.

This tradition is one that has been going on since Josh was little.

Every night (well almost), we have story time.

I am sure a lot of you have this same tradition.  It is a great one to have.

Reading is so important for these little munchkins.  Their brains need it and it's also a nice way to be able to wind down at the end of a busy day.

A lot of the time we will just read a few picture books.

Here are some of our absolute favorites.  You should check them out.  You won't be disappointed.

 This was Josh's FAVORITE when he was little.  We had to read it every night.  We read it so much that at 3 years old, he was "reading" it with me because he had it memorized.

 The girls love this one.  There are a few other books as well like Purplicious, Silverlicious, and Goldilicious, but Pinkalicious is still my favorite.

 Anything written by Audrey Wood and illustrated by Don Wood is amazing.  Another one to check out by them is King Bidgood's in the Bathtub.

 Of course we have Fancy Nancy.  I can truly say that I love all the Fancy Nancy books.

Now that the kids are a little older, our story time has changed a bit.  Josh usually does not join us unless we are reading something that interests him (which rarely happens considering his taste in books is VERY different than the 3 girls).   He has his own reading time in his room.  I like to read books other than picture books as well and we are in the middle of a really great series right now.

These books are written by E.D. Baker.  The first one is the Frog Princess.  Super easy reads and such a great story line.  The girls are in love with them.  We are on No Place for Magic right now.

I love it when we have story time.  I wish I could say that it happens every single night, but let's face it-  Life happens and sometimes story time has to be cut.  I don't like those nights.  I love snuggling on the bed with my 3 girls surrounding me and just taking those moments to be with them.  I love hearing them giggle at the funny parts and groaning when we reach the end of a chapter and have to close the book for the night.

It's a tradition that brings sweet moments into my life and I am so glad we have it.

Tuesday Traditions 8

Happy 2013 everybody!

I love this time of year.  It is always exciting to start a new year and reflect on the last one.

2012 was filled with a lot of good and a lot of bad.  I don't wish that anything was different though...okay, maybe I wish that I had longer hair.  Been having a few "angry at cancer" days for taking away my long locks.  I do like my short hair for the most part, but it's just different and sometimes I wish that I could pull it up in a pony tail or do something fun with it.  But it will keep growing and I will hopefully keep getting a little bit stronger every day and I will be able to start counting the years of being cancer free.

Anyway, on to my Tuesday Traditions post for today!

We have a wonderful New Year's tradition with Mark's side of the family.  

We have a big family dinner and then a night filled with laughter, chatting, and games.  But after we ring in the new year at midnight, the real fun begins.  All of the parents leave and the grandkids have a big sleepover at grandma and grandpa's house.  I am amazed that they continue to have this tradition.  The kids love it so much and look forward to it all year.  I always feel a little bad leaving that mass chaos with my sweet in-laws, but they love it and so I won't complain.  ;)  The kids sack out wherever they can find a spot and the party continues long into the night.

Here are a few pictures.  That cute boy holding Ellie is our nephew, Ben.  Guess what ladies...he's single. ;)

(Sorry Ben, had to do it.  You're a good catch.)

We all go back in the morning for breakfast, snacking, games, laughing, more snacking and fun.

It is the perfect end to one of the best weeks ever.  The week between Christmas and New Year's is always one of the best weeks of my year, no matter where we spend it.  It's always spent with family that I love and I always come away with so many Sweet Moments and memories.

I want to close this post with a video about the Savior.

I feel that it is a good one to watch as we start anew and make commitments to be better people, to love more and serve more; to follow the path our Savior has shown us.  He loves us and wants us to do and be the best that we can be.  He knows that we are going to make mistakes, but He loves us anyway.  May the sweet spirit of Christ be with you as you start this new year.

Tuesday Traditions 7

I am excited to write about today's tradition because I love this time of year so much.

I want to write about the tradition of listening to Christmas music.

Now I know there is a lot of debate about when it's "ok" to listen to Christmas music.  I think my mom starts right after Halloween.  Mark won't let me turn it on until after Thanksgiving (but I usually sneak a few songs in there somewhere right before Thanksgiving.)

This year I have found a new favorite Christmas album that I wanted to share with you.

The group is Casting Crowns and the album is "Peace On Earth"

Here is a YouTube video with the song that drew me to the album in the first place,

 "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day"

As I listened to this song for the 2,546th time this morning, the words really struck a chord with my heart.
They are beautiful and so poignant for this day in which we live.
I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

I thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bowed my head:
"There is no peace on earth," I said,
"For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men."

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth he sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men."

Till, ringing singing, on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime,
Of peace on earth, good will to men!

God is not dead, nor doth he sleep.

I know that with all my heart and soul.

May we all keep the beautiful Spirit of Christ in our hearts as this Christmas holiday draws near.

Let's spread "sweet moments" of peace, joy and love, put differences aside and remember the 

Reason for the Season.

Tuesday Traditions 6

For this post, I wanted to talk about something that, unfortunately, has become somewhat of a "tradition" in our lives over the past 16 months and that is, mommy having surgery.

Tomorrow I go in for what will (hopefully) be my last major surgery for a while.  This will mark the end of my journey in a way, although there will be checkups, medication, and minor surgeries for years to come.  Whew...we're almost there!

This surgery will be my hysterectomy.  Which I am looking forward to in many ways.  But the most important reason is that I won't have that constant thought in the back of my mind, "What if the cancer has come back there?"  Just to refresh memories, my cancer is estrogen postive.  That means that my cancer needs estrogen to grow.  So as long as I have estrogen in my body, my risk of getting cancer again is increased.  So, we are saying Ba-bye to estrogen.  No ovaries, no hormone replacement therapy, nothing.  I am not looking forward to yet another surgery, another bout with anesthesia, another 6 weeks of taking it easy.  I am, however, looking forward to no more periods.  :)

It's kind of hard for me to say that this will be the end of this journey.  It has been such a major focus of our lives for the past year and a half.  Plus, as I mentioned before, there will still be little things in the months and years to come to take care of and remind me that I am a cancer survivor.  So instead of closing the book, so to speak, I am just going to start a new chapter.  That last chapter was l-o-n-g and a bugger to get through, but we managed.  I learned so many things in that chapter that I hope I never forget as I forge ahead into the next chapter of my life.

I am hoping that tomorrow's date will bring me good luck. (12-12-12)

It will be a day to remember for sure.

Tuesday Traditions 5

Tomorrow is a big day around our house.

Birthdays always are.

We have a few traditions that we do when someone is celebrating a birthday, but I thought I would share just one with you today.

Every year, on the birthday (or as close to it as I can remember), the birthday guy/gal has to be measured on our family growth chart.

I keep it down in my preschool room so I can measure the preschool kiddos every once in a while- they love that.

But I have had this chart for a lot of years.

It starts with each of the kids' height at birth and goes every year since then.

Ok, so there are a couple of years here and there that I missed, but for the most part we have the kids height at every year of their lives so far.

I love this chart because I can have pictures in it as well and it's fun to see those cute baby faces every day while I am teaching preschool.

It is fun to compare each year and see who was as tall as someone else at certain ages.  I took this picture before I marked Ellie's 6 year mark today, but we discovered that she is the same height that Emma was when she was 6 and Josh was when he was 4.  :)

My plans are to someday turn it into something permanent.

Preferably something adorable out of wood, paint and vinyl, but I want to wait until they are all grown.   Who knows, maybe wood and vinyl will be long gone by then, but that's the plan for now.

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Tuesday Traditions 4

Now that we have some snow, I have to say it is beginning to feel a lot like....Thanksgiving!

I know the stores jump straight from Halloween to Christmas, but not me.  Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays.  I love to be with the family and I especially love eating all of the delicious food!  A holiday where we just stuff ourselves continually all day long?!?  Come on!  It doesn't get much better than that! :)

Anyway, since we will be out of town next Tuesday, I thought I would share some of our Thanksgiving traditions today.

When I was little, I remember being really excited to travel up to the big city to be with our grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.  I would always try to fall asleep in the car during the drive because that would mean that we would get there faster.  Thanksgiving day brought lots of food, family and fun.  

Some foods that always say Thanksgiving to me?

*Celery sticks with Cheez Whiz for appetizers

*Pink fruit salad (one bowl with walnuts, one without...I will take the one without, thank you.)

*Turkey and mashed potatoes of course

*Sweet potatoes with a delicate marshmallow crust

*Grandma Hansen's rolls...haven't had those rolls for over 15 years now, although Grandma Holt does a pretty amazing job of duplicating them.

*Banana cream pie with graham cracker crust

Yum.  My mouth is watering just thinking about all of the deliciousness.

My mom has a lot of my older pictures still, but I dug out a couple from Thanksgivings gone by.

I think my mom made the quilted outfit on the left.  :)

Thanksgivings now are a lot the same as they were then.  Still lots of yummy food and family.

One other tradition that we have with my side of the family is to go to a movie the day after Thanksgiving.  We are not Black Friday shoppers.  I have done that 2 times in my life and that is 2 times too many.  I don't know if I would even do it if it meant that I got all of my Christmas presents for free.  Too many people.

Going to a movie that day is great.  Not too crowded and we usually try to see something Christmas-y to kick off the Christmas season.

Since I don't have any current Thanksgiving photos yet, I thought I would share a few from Thanksgiving 2008.

(Sorry Emma, had to post the pic of you in tears because I just love it so much!)

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

*As always, I would love to hear about your own family traditions.  Feel free to leave a comment about some of the things you do for Thanksgiving. :)  Thanks!

Tuesday Traditions 3

I know that Halloween has come and gone, and I wish I would have posted this the day BEFORE Halloween, but I didn't so here it goes...

Our Halloween Traditions

First we have the "usually every other year because mom hates it" pumpkin carving night.

These kiddos are really lucky because they did it two years in a row!  That is unheard of!  I am not sure why I detest pumpkin carving so much.  I am not afraid of getting my hands messy or making a mess...I just don't love carving pumpkins.  Maybe it's the smell....

This year's pumpkin carving session was a success.  We had 2 beautiful two-sided Jack-O-Lanterns.  Look at these faces!  How can I deny them this pleasure?  They just might be wearing me down.

Next on our list of Halloween fun is Trick-Or-Treating!

We always stop by the grandparents first and then we head to the Trunk-Or-Treat in the church parking lot.

Don't you love my grandpa's costume?  He was going as Grandma.  :)  Hilarious...

 

 And here are the kiddos with Grandma H.  Did not get a picture when we stopped by the Ogden's though.  

I was too tired by that point to think about it I guess. 

After all of our Trick-or-Treating fun, we come back home and everyone dumps their candy out to see what treasures they have.  While we are sugaring up and relaxing (can you sugar up and relax at the same time?  Not sure.), we turn on this show...

Any guesses by looking at the picture?  It is our favorite Halloween show...Arsenic and Old Lace.

Classic.  If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it.  Love me some Cary Grant.

 And that concludes our Halloween night.  

Another fun, family night.  We are already planning costumes for next year. :/
Here are some links to Halloween fun in the past...
2011
2010
2009

What's the best way to end a Halloween night?

When the trick or treat bucket has just enough candy left in it for me. :)

What are some of your Halloween traditions?