I am Grateful for....

Pay it Forward
What are you Grateful For?
This idea came from my friend Jamie, and I am paying it forward, too. This is what to do--each day of this month make a list of things you are thankful for that start with each letter of the alphabet. It's a great dinnertime activity with your kiddos. So these are mine so far:

A: Ashlyn and Autumntime
B: Beds to sleep in when I am tired
C: Candy (Hey it was just Halloween. It's on my mind.)

Here's the Pay It Forward Idea:I will send a handmade gift to the first three (3) people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. You may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog. (so, you must have a blog to participate.) I can't wait to see who I will be giving to. To join, just cut and paste this on your blog and comment away. So get posting.

Couldn't resist

I couldn't resist posting this family photo because it isn't very often that we have one. Especially when we are dressed nicely for church. But thanks to Paul's mom visiting, we were able to have one taken. And what's even better is that Ashlyn is actually looking at the camera AND smiling.

Grammy's been in town

Paul's mom came for a visit, from Iowa, this past week. And despite a nasty cold and lots of traffic, we had a great time. Here are some pictures of what we did while Grammy was here. (Thanks for coming Grammy. We hope you had a fun time. We sure did!!!)

Here's the girls snuggling with Grammy.


We went to Noah's Ark at the Skirball. Ashlyn's FAVORITE place ever.


We went trick or treating and got LOTS of candy (from only a handful of homes. It pays to go to the rich homes.)


We built a tent. Well, Grammy did and Leah played in it.


We went to the zoo. It was a beautiful day there and the animals were quite active.



We went to Chuckie Cheese. Ashlyn's first time there. She loved it of course.


And last, but not least, we went to meet Daddy for lunch at his work.


We also ate out a ton and just plain ate a ton. Why does that always happen when people come to visit?

Oh....sorry...one more thing. I had another doctors appt. Everything is going well with the baby. I got to have another ultrasound, so that was fun. My wonderful doctor tried her hardest to be able to tell what it was, but the baby was in a bad position and it's legs were crossed. First she thought it was a girl, then she thought it was maybe a boy. So it still remains a mystery. Hopefully I'll have better news at my next appt. Here's a picture of the baby at 13 weeks and 4 days.

You know you're grouchy if....

1. You make your family change all their Christmas plans to accomodate you.
2. Your friend calls you after church to make sure she didn't offend you, since you snapped at her for no particular reason. Sad thing is, you didn't even realize you did it.
3. The counselor in Primary comes up to you all serious like and asks you if, "you're okay?"
4. If you yell at the lady in Walmart for not having enough check stands open.
5. Or if your brutally honest little 4 year old tells you so.

I think I'm going to rename myself Oscar and hide in a garbage can for the next six months, or how ever long it takes to have this baby. Whichever comes first.

As a side note, Ashlyn has named the baby for us. It's a great unisex name at least. Well, I don't even think it's a name, but oh well. She's named it Jella.

More Randomness

These are my candied almonds that I am SO SO SO SO proud of. Mostly because it took 6 tries of making them before they turned out candied and not crystalized. There is a difference. Thank you to my wonderful friend Jackie (who never reads my blog so she won't know I'm giving her a shout out) who taught me how to make them the right way.


This is our Family night pumpkin craft we made this past Monday. Looks cute huh??? Well, you wouldn't know all the fighting that went into making it. Leah wanted the glue. Ashlyn wanted the glue. Leah wanted to put the stickers on. Ashlyn wanted to put the stickers on. It was quite....fun??? Is that the right word. No...it was not what I imagined, but we made it and here it is. Tada!!!


This is my adorable 4 year old who I love love love. And this is her FIRST....yes FIRST bowl of cereal she has EVER eaten with milk in it. I know...I know. Hard to believe, but true. Despite the look on her face, she did like it. I did not force her to eat it. Gotta love her.


So, let's see how many of you actually take the time to read my blog and how many just look at the pictures. I'd like to announce my 3rd (and most likely, final) pregnancy. Yes, you read that right. I'm pregnant. Just about 12 weeks. I'm due May 5th. We're super super excited. Yay for us!!!

It's been a while

Paul occupied the computer all of last week rendering some stuff for his helicopter project, so all I could do was check my email basically. He's done now (I think), so I'm taking advantage of my time to get some pictures from last week up on my blog.


On Tuesday, I went with my ward (well okay, so only two other friends (Joelle and Sherry) from my ward ended up coming, but still) to Underwood Family Farm. It was lots of fun. The girls climbed the haybail, looked at animals, rode on the train, walked through the corn maze (unsuccessfully I might add. we had to come out the way we went in), and played in the sandbox. It was a beautiful day. We plan on going again this Saturday with Paul and hopefully get a pumpkin this time.






On Wednesday my friend Beth, and her little boy, came up to visit and we went to Lombardi Ranch. I guess it was the week for Fall Farms and Ranches. This Ranch had a scarecrow alley where schools and scout troops created and decorated different scenes from movies and tv.
We also went on a train ride and walked around and looked at the pumpkins and animals.
Ashlyn was a preschool if you are wondering why she isn't in any of the pictures.







On Saturday we went up to Bakersfield to watch my cousin, Chelsea, play volleyball. She plays for UVSC and was playing against Cal State Univ Bakersfield. It was a really fun game to watch, and I'm happy to say that they won. Afterwards, we went to Chipotle and ate some yummy food and visited with her. (She's the one in the back of the first picture and the one hitting the ball in the second picture. GO CHELS!!!!)

My Little Ashlyn

This is my little Ashlyn, who never, never, never sleeps during the day. Doesn't matter where we go, what we do, or how much I run her around....she just doesn't take naps anymore. Except, of course, during Conference. Maybe it was the soothing monotone voices of all the wonderful General Authorities (he he). Maybe it was the fact that Leah woke her up early that morning with her loud crying. Or MAYBE it was the fact that her Daddy was all warm and snuggly. She climbed right up and within minutes she was asleep. She slept there for a good hour. Got all wedged into the side of the couch and everything. Cute little thing.