Black Friday..........anyone???

Well, we sure took a shot at it! We woke up very early this morning (earlier than seminary students, we'll just say that) to head to Virginia Beach for some shopping. Due to the early wake up time, I did not grab the camera to come along. We mostly were interested in the DVD deals they had going on.
Walmart was our first stop. It was a ZOO (only about 100x worse)! I am SO glad they price matched the ads. It helped us skip a store in our line-up. The hard part was finding all the DVD's.
Next stop, Target. They weren't open yet, so we waited around for about 10-15 minutes, then followed the HUGE line inside. We picked up more DVD's and a few luxuries.
Then, off to Bed Bath and Beyond! I had a coupon for $10 off $30 or more. We got a much needed kitchen accessory and used the coupon. I got it for $20!! Yipee!
Off to what wasn't planned as our last stop, but was.... Haynes. After the demise of our mattress set when we moved to our current home (LONG story) Jeremiah and I haven't been sleeping as comfortably in our bed. So, we took the plunge and bought a new set today (the first set we've purchased - we were blessed to get a bed and mattress set handed down from family when we were married). We even got to take it home with us today too! Already we have taken the opportunity to have a short nap on it, and it is WONDERFUL! I dare say it will be a very good choice.
As a side note, the girls came along with us this morning and were SUPERB!!! I couldn't have asked for more well-behaved children!
I seem to get so excited about Black Friday that it has rubbed off on Jeremiah a bit too. We have big plans for next years' big shopping day. WATCH OUT EARLY RISERS!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Good morning! This morning is such a special one, and we are very blessed too. Jeremiah had duty YESTERDAY and not TODAY! That is something to definitely be thankful for this morning. I want to take a few minutes to make a short list of the many things I am thankful for. After all, I don't have all day to write this, and you don't have all day to read it!! =0) Here goes it:

- My husband, who also happens to serve our country and protect our freedoms
- My beautiful daughters, and that they are healthy and smart
- My home and my vehicle, without those my basic necessities wouldn't be met.
- My family (extended) for their love and support for me growing up and now
- This country, to have these freedoms and to have such opportunity! What a blessing
- My health.
- My friends, I don't usually get to spend Thanksgiving with them, but they (you all) are thought of often as I go throughout my holidays
- The gospel, without it, we would still be in the dark ages
- The atonement, our way back to our Heavenly Loved ones
- The prophet, to constantly remind us where we need to strengthen our forces
- Books, I love to read whenever I get the chance
- Food, to keep my body going (although I think I eat a little more than necessary)

There are many more things that I am thankful for this Thanksgiving, (i.e scriptures) don't forget to give your thanks. I'm not sure if I'll find any candy corn, but a good friend of mine told me of a tradition she does in her home. Each plate has 3 candy corn on it before the start of the Thanksgiving feast. Each person takes a turn around the table and says one thing (so it circles the table 3 times) they are thankful for. After each thing said, a piece of candy corn is eaten. Once they are done, they say prayer and eat their feast. I think it's perfect to get everyone in the mindset of being thankful. Enjoy your loved ones and this VERY important day!!

Our first "Snow".....

FLURRY! We had our first snow flurry today and I am so excited! I hope that we enjoy a White Christmas (along with a lot of our Mountain Standard Time friends and family). I know that is the big one on my list for Santa this year!!

It's not too late....

Hello all! I wanted to remind those of you wonderful ladies out there about the Book Club at Belinda's house Friday night. I have gotten into my Sheri Dew book this week and am LOVING it! (Not hard to do with her books, I know) I wanted to encourage you all to get that Sheri Dew book off your shelf or borrow a friends so that you can be there Friday night to talk about them! I'm excited to hear the input and spend the evening with you ladies. I hope to see you!!

Winning the Lottery

If only we could win the ACTUAL lottery! Unfortunately, we don't play. Oh - but if we did.... we have BIG plans! I'm writing about a different kind of lottery tonight though (..or this morning?? Whichever you want to call it I guess). My dear sweet husband was supposed to come home yesterday from an underway. So, as always, we get geared up to receive him home with pretty much everything that is important being cleaned. (Hey, I have two children) Dinner time was fast approaching and I hadn't heard anything from my other half. I finally got an email stating that they wouldn't be home due to weather conditions. They were hoping the weather would cooperate for the following morning (Saturday morning) so that the crew could be with their families this weekend. WHAT!!??? Saturday afternoon approaches, I check my mail AGAIN - to find out that they should be home soon. He finally comes home to us at 3:30 this afternoon. YAY! We have him for a SHORT time until he has to leave us again. Once he gets back from this one - he will be home until the New Year! HOORAY!! So, we won the lottery. I am SO glad that Heavenly Father allowed the weather to cooperate and bring my husband home. (THANK YOU!!!)

When....

My girls do things like this, I LOVE being a mom. When they are scratching and kicking each other - that is a different story. We were having a movie night together when they both wanted to cuddle with Mom. Then, they started hugging on each other and being so sweet, I just had to take a pic! I obviously need a bit more practice so that my pictures don't turn out so fuzzy. BUT...What mom wouldn't love to see their little ones doing a little bit of this?

NO Firetruck!!!

Playgroup this morning was held at the Firestation closest to the church (at least as far as I am aware of). We went there last year and I wasn't able to get pictures of the girls. It was great for the girls to go today. Julia was so excited to do anything that was offered to her, while Melanie hid in a corner (almost literally) afraid of the Fire equipment and the big shiny red truck. She kept telling me "NO Firetruck!!" However, she went in the truck once, and climbed on the front. Here are the best pictures I got of the activity today. For those of you who missed it, we missed you too!

Firetruck #14

Mel and her hat

Two gorgeous girls in our group

Julia with her hat AND sticker!

All of the children in our group this morning (minus an active boy and a few younger children).

Happy Veterans Day!

Happy Veteran's Day! I know that not all veterans are as old as this fellow I have pictured here. My husband is a veteran for crying out loud! Anyway... I wanted to wish you all a wonderful Veteran's Day and to especially give a little "shout out" to all those military service members too! Thank you for keeping our country safe and defending our freedoms!

CUTEST NIECE EVER!!!

Ok, so I've got to say that I have the cutest niece EVER! Just look at her pics! Her mamma is my little sister Jamie. I know quite a few of you have heard of her, but never seen her. She's in a few of these pics and she's 3 months pregnant too! Oh yeah, did I mention she is like the best mom ever!?


YAY! I'm ONE!

Lovin' that cake!

Look at that finger!!

Favorite pic of Cambri so far!
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Yes, it's corn
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Again, it's corn - pretty cool huh? There's my beautiful Sister - Jamie!

Look at my beautiful little sister! And my niece of course too!

Fall Festival @ the Library!

The library near our house had a fall festival Saturday. We decided we would go check it out. There was cotton candy, popcorn, drink boxes, bookmark making, face painting (which was really arm painting), a few games, music and more! So, of course we had a blast! If you want to know about anything going on in the community, let me know. I will fill you in on anything I find out that could be fun. The only bummer of the day was that it was raining. However, it was the perfect raining day activity!! Here are a few pictures.

ELECTION DAY!!!

This is my friendly reminder to VOTE!!! Make sure you get out there in those lines and vote! Voting gives you the right to complain later, so do it! Plus, it could make a difference! There's a nice little side note to voting today as well, there are a bunch of places giving out free things if you wear your "I VOTED" sticker around town with you. A few I can remember off the top of my head were: Krispy Kreme, Sonic, and some Chick-fil-A's.

Under 2 bucks

Found this great price on Military Highway near Target. Although, it has been widely adopted since I took it! I'm VERY excited!

Trunk or Treat??

WE had the opportunity to go to the ward Trunk or Treat night at the church on Halloween. The girls enjoyed getting candy (and are enjoying the eating part when mom lets them!). I dressed them up as pigs this year. Due to poor planning, I resorted to this getup about 2 hours before. I think they looked cute!

Pumpkin Time!!

My sister-in-law gets excited about certain things. Pumpkin carving with her son, Wyatt, is one of them. Mainly because it is the first time he has done one. So, that is what Sunday afternoon found our family doing. I am drying the seeds out to roast/toast for a snack this next Sunday. It should be fun! Plus, Jeremiah will be able to enjoy the Pumpkin seeds too.

Julia and Pumpkin

Wyatt helping with the seeds

Melanie

Julia drawing designs on her Pumpkin top

The Finished product! Left to Right, Melanie's by Nana, Wyatt's by Aunt Catherine, and Julia's by Me




Needless to say, the adults did most of the carving. Minus Wyatt, he loved sticking his hand in the pumpkin and taking the seeds out.

Super Saturday

We had the GREAT blessing of having our Super Saturday today! It was quite an end of the week for us. We were up at the church helping to set things up last night. After set up was complete, the girls and I stayed to participate in book club. Kathy had some VERY yummy Thai recipes ready for us to snack on. Then, we finally got home (at 10pm) to get some last minute things together for this morning. Finally, we hit the sack. (Melanie and I) Julia was my dead log sleeper upon getting home. Sleeping in was something that came naturally after a late evening the day before, but we couldn't linger in those covers for long. Cleaning and preparing was pushed back half a day, but I am getting some time to do it now. I will probably pull an all-nighter tonight to get things in order for Sunday and so that I can FINALLY relax for this week! Yay! I know you all are just waiting to see what we had available, so here they are:


#1 Cards - Some free, some for $1


#2 Bead Snowflake Ornament, Free

#3 9 B's - $10

#4 Hot Chocolate Mix - Free

#5 Garland - Free

#6 Glass Ornament - $1

#7 Joshua 24:15 - $12

#8 Families are Forever Frame - $3

#9 Ho Ho Ho Blocks - $3

# 10 Joy Letters - $10

As a side "class" our very own talented Jenna demonstrated how to make her Grandmother's famous Orange Rolls! I will make them, take pictures and share with you all when I get the chance! Warning: They are yummy yummy, and you WILL be taking the recipe once I post it!

Daddy's Girl

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My Dad with Julia


This man means the world to me. Before I tell you all how great he is and what an impact he had in my life, I want to apologize. I am sorry that you all didn't have my dad, you missed out on a pretty great dad! Having said that, I know most girls have a special place in their heart for their father. So, you would probably feel just as badly for me not having your father. I get it, but I really feel that I got the best dad ever. Let me tell you a bit about him.

First off, he was an awesome missionary to the great state of Oregon (and surrounding areas) in '79. After my parents were married and I came along, my dad decided to go out for Cosmo. I know, way too cool! Sadly for me, I was deathly afraid of him in his get up and have the pictures to prove it. On a good note, it happened to be the year that they won all that college stuff. He got to "see the world". Oh, but before I say he "saw the world" he really did "see the world" as an Air Force ("brat" - nickname for military children) dependent. He lived in Germany for a while and then saw some of the United States. Needless to say, change was the norm in his family growing up.

In my opinion, my Dad got to do tons of really cool, useful jobs. The thing that I loved most about his jobs was that he was always able to be there for me and my sisters growing up. If we had something going on (track meet, field hockey, softball, soccer, chorus concert, band, etc.) he was there. I could maybe count the number of times he was unable to be there on ONE hand. His priority has always been his children and helping others. Mostly his children though. The other really amazing thing about my father, he never YELLED at us. He had his "serious" voice, and boy those swats hurt at times, but he NEVER yelled.

Reading Scriptures as a family was a treat (when I wasn't playing the teenager card) because he always made the story fun. He loves the scriptures, and I love him for that. I fear that I am not doing him justice in the slightest with my "speech". He helped us with anything that he could, was there to support us, always encouraged us and praised our strengths, gave us sound advice, and provided for our needs. Sure he had those "embarrassing" qualities. Such as yelling LOVE YOU after us when he dropped us off at HIGH SCHOOL for all other kids to hear, playing his records and singing at the top of his lungs (he does sing well though), and wearing those Give Blood or Apherisis hats he got from donating.

Small children in our home ward know another interesting thing about my dad, he has 2false teeth. He had a motorcycle accident when he was a teenager and completely shattered two of his teeth. He likes to surprise the children in the ward by popping them out of his mouth and turning them around during church. (He's the Bishop now too!) He has always been very good with children and youth. It seems that once he was old enough to get out of the youth program himself, he was called back into it. He has always served in YM as long as I can remember until his current calling. His dream calling is to be a Primary teacher. He would be such an amazing one.

Daddy - I love you. Thank you for teaching me kindness among another million things. Every time I think about you I know the love that Christ must have for our Heavenly Father. You are such a shining example of a true disciple of Christ. I am VERY blessed to have been your daughter. The principles you have taught me have always governed my life. Thank you for supporting me and sending me those letters on fast food liners while I was away at school. I couldn't have gotten through it without you. I have kept every single letter you have ever written to me.

Just Plain Excited!

I just had to blog and share my excitement with someone other than myself!! There are a few reasons why I am super excited right now. First one is....

Granted... I took this a few days ago and gas is now $2.75 in my neck of Norfolk!! I just want to cry about the savings our little family is getting from that $0.60+ drop! Yes, you can all think I am the worst frugal person in the world.

The next one is two things actually, but I am trying to keep one a secret from Jeremiah. Let's just say I am excited about some of the sales at BJ's right now.
Here's one of them:

I've been wanting to get this puppy for a few years now. I love these shows. I think it really helps get the spirit of giving started. Since I am lucky enough to have my birthday in the same month as Christmas, I get to sometimes purchase "Christmas-y" items. I just had to get it when I saw it was on sale.

Another bit of excitement: CATO!!! I know some of you have been shopping there or are at least trying to get there to see what they have. I just love the place!! It's not like finding pants on sale at JC Penney for 80% off or anything, but it definitely beats paying lots of dinero for something that will eventually get stained, trampled on, thrown across a room, and most likely spit upon. Not to mention all the dirty hands that cry "clothing, please!! Johnny just pushed me down, I just have to rub my muddy fingers on your new"er" shirt!! It'll make me feel a lot better, promise!" So, I perused a bit today and got a few things. I definitely suggest that anyone who has not taken a look should definitely make the time.

Last item on my list, I'M ALMOST FINISHED WITH BRISINGR!! Yay! I am reading the dragon series books and have been trying to fight for some time to finish it so I can get to the book club book! T -6 days, I know! So, here's to the last leg of the journey!!

A little busy...

Tuesday found us running from place to place. Here is where we went: to a brunch in honor of one of my friend's birthday, drop my girls off at Tara's so I could go to my lovely annual pap smear(ughhh!)- plus, they even took blood from me this time to rule out something that could have been going on with me, then to visiting teaching, then finally home for a few hours!! While we were relaxing, Julia started getting warm and fussing (TOTALLY needed a nap HOURS before!!). So, the last trip of the day was supposed to be the recipe exchange and unfortunately, I was only able to drop off my Halloween "creation". I missed out!! I'm so bummed! I look forward to the pictures of the goodies that were there and hope to get those recipes! Needless to say, today we are taking it easy. I moved my furniture around in my living room/dining room today. I welcome change (in the form of rearranging furniture). We'll see what Jeremiah thinks!

Julia's 2nd Birthday!!!

Julia loves Elmo, so we planned an Elmo birthday for her. Since the girls are still pretty young, we just get together with family for birthdays. We celebrated Julia's birthday yesterday with cake and ice cream (and presents of course!). Today is her actual birthday. It's hard to believe that 2 years ago today I was in the delivery room at this time with just about an hour before I got to meet her! (she was born at 12:44 PM) HAPPY BIRTHDAY JULIA!!!
Here are a few pictures:


Julia's Birthday!!

Julia at 1 year

2nd Birthday! She has grown up so fast!!






The cake that took forever to decorate!! (Ok, not forever, but it sure seemed like a long time!!)