Gotta Hand it to Kohl's

I got Brandon 4 pairs of pants and 8 shirts at Kohl's Department store yesterday for just under $40.00. He's set for the winter now. Yahoo! (And I have to admit I had fun buying boy clothes...even though the selection is WAY smaller than for girls. I never paid attention to that fact before I had a boy.)

A Conversation with Leah

Upon coming out of the "naughty spot" (time out).

M: Leah, why were you in the naughty spot?

L: Um...because I throwed a fit and kicked the washer door thing (dishwasher).

M: Do you think you could listen to me next time and not kick the dishwasher when I ask you not to?

L: Um...no.

M: Why not?

L: Um...cuz I don't want to.

(Well, there you have it! My life with Leah. Good thing she's cute.)

A Fun night at the Finnigan's

We all met about four years ago in the "Encino Ward". There is only one family left in that ward now, so it's on the rare occasion that we all get to be together at the same time again. Tonight was one of those nights. Our families have definitely grown since then too. I can't believe we all fit into one house. Thanks Jackie for hosting. You're awesome.

Love you guys! Thanks for the fun night.

COME ON!!!

93 degrees outside one week before Thanksgiving. How am I suppose to enjoy my Christmas music if it's so stinkin' hot outside? I want some FALL weather.

A Quote from Neil A. Maxwell

(This was in an email sent to Paul. He checked it out and found the actual talk to verify that it was really said by Elder Maxwell. If you live in CA, or have been following what has been going on around here, you will find this to be quite TRUE.)

“Make no mistake about it, brothers and sisters, in the months and years ahead, events are likely to require each member to decide whether or not he will follow the First Presidency. Members will find it more difficult to halt longer between two opinions. President Marion G. Romney said, many years ago, that he had ‘never hesitated to follow the counsel of the Authorities of the Church even though it crossed my social, professional or political life.

‘This is hard doctrine, but it is particularly vital doctrine in a society which is becoming more wicked. In short, brothers and sisters, not being ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ includes not being ashamed of the prophets of Jesus Christ. . . . Your discipleship may see the time when such religious convictions are discounted. . . . This new irreligious imperialism seeks to disallow certain opinions simply because those opinions grow out of religious convictions.

Resistance to abortion will be seen as primitive. Concern over the institution of the family will be viewed as untrendy and unenlightened….Before the ultimate victory of the forces of righteousness, some skirmishes will be lost. Even in these, however, let us leave a record so that the choices are clear, letting others do as they will in the face of prophetic counsel. There will also be times, happily, when a minor defeat seems probable, but others will step forward, having been rallied to rightness by what we do. We will know the joy, on occasion, of having awakened a slumbering majority of the decent people of all races and creeds which was, till then, unconscious of itself. Jesus said that when the fig trees put forth their leaves, ’summer is nigh.’ Thus warned that summer is upon us, let us not then complain of the heat.”

- Elder Neal A. Maxwell
“Meeting the Challenges of Today” (given at Brigham Young University on October 10, 1978)

I'm a big boy now!

Not only can I sit up (ok, I still fall over sometimes), but I cut my first tooth last night. Hooray!

A trip to the Zoo

On Veteran's Day (Tuesday), I decided I'd take the kids and head down to the zoo for the afternoon. Well, it turns out half of LA had the same idea because the place was PACKED!!! That's okay though. We still had fun. I even ran into two friends from "the old ward". The weather was great and the animals were out (for the most part) and moving around. All in all, it was quite a pleasant trip. Much better than the last time I went, which was 2 months before having Brandon (I know....it's been a long time). I swear dealing with three little kids at the zoo is easier than dealing with two and being pregnant. At least I had the energy to chase after them and walk up and down the hills.

This picture was actually from the end of our day at the zoo. Can you believe I asked the guy at the counter to make these "small" for my kids? I know he heard me. He repeated it back to me. And might I add, the chocolate soft serve at the zoo is quite yummy!

I swear he's saying, "Take the dang picture already mom. I'm tired of looking at ya."

Just a couple of fun shots with the animals. I love the giraffes. And the tigers were actually up and walking around today. It was fun to watch them.

Awards Assembly

Ashlyn got her first award in school last week. We are SO proud of her. Only 3 kids in the class were recognized and Ashlyn was one of them. I know I'm bragging, but I'm her mom. I'm allowed to. Truth is, they probably have these types of award assemblies all the time. But we're not going to think about that. ANYWAY!!! Here are some pictures. I tried to upload the little video clip of it, but I can't ever get it to work. Don't know why????

Oh, she got the "Citizenship" Award. So cute!

My New Love

I've never had Pinkberry Frozen Yogurt, but from what I hear, this is even better. I've had it three times in the past two weeks. We have one right by our Super Walmart. So come on up. It will be worth your drive. And the best part is, it's all self serve. So you can pick and customize it yourself. They even have a pomegrante flavor that is super yummy!

Halloween

Halloween night was lots of fun. The girls had a blast going from creepy house to creepy house collecting their goods. And Brandon, of course, was a trooper going along for the ride. Uncle Ty drove three hours (in traffic) to come up for the evening. The girls were so happy to have him there. And Grammy and Pop Pop came along also. Now we have enough candy to last us until NEXT Halloween!