Christmas Fondue

Tonight we had our Christmas tradition fondue/game night. OK so it's the first year we have actually done this. I got the fondue pots last year for Christmas and this was the first time I used them. We had so much fun that we decided to make it a yearly tradition. I forgot to get my camera out until we were almost done, BUT at least I did remember to take pictures.

Christmas Lights

Ben did such a great job this year on our Christmas lights.  I love the holiday season, I love Christmas music, I love shopping and buying gifts for those I love, I love that people are kinder at this time of year, I love spending time with my family, I love snow, I love helping those less fortunate, I love all of it!   I wish it could be Christmas all year long!!!

Gratitude

Before this weekend escapes, I need to write down the things I am grateful for!  

1.  I am so thankful to live in a free country where I can worship as I please. 

2.  I am thankful that Ben has a good job and we are out of debt. And for the hard worker he is.

3. I am thankful for the ugly kitchen floor that I have because I am still out of debt. 

4. I am thankful for my children that still make me smile everyday!

5. I am thankful that I still have my parents and the time I am able to spend with them.

6. I'm thankful for chocolate and diet coke!

7. I'm thankful for the warm home that I am able to decorate for the holidays. 

8. I am so thankful for the Gospel and for my calling in the Young Women. 

9. I am thankful for my health and the health of my family. 

10. I am thankful for my testimony. 

Just 10 simple things there is much more I could write but these are the things that come to mind as I sit here thinking of how blessed I really am.   Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  

Sweet Liberty Seniors

Lauren, Kelsie, Laura

Kelsie is so lucky to have 2 of her best friends as team mates.  They are the only seniors on the team this year and are all doing solos.  They performed last week at the girls basketball game and they all did a great job!  Next is their first competition in Utah, and boy those Utah girls can dance!  Good Luck Girlies!

Wisdom Teeth

Kilee with her swollen cheeks!

Kilee got her wisdom teeth out last week.  Since we had a 4 day weekend we decided to get them out since they were bugging her.  A lot of people have commented on how old she is (14) but I guess when I think about Kilee and teeth she has always been ahead.  She got her teeth early, lost them early, got her 12 year old molars at 10 and braces soon after.  So when the dentist told me they were ready to come out before her 17 year old sisters I wasn't that surprised.  Kelsie's are ready to come out too, it's just getting her to stop everything and be down for a few days.  I guess when they are bugging her they will come out!  Luckily her face is almost back to normal after many ice packs, lots of pain pills, antibiotics and JELLO!  Two down one to go!  One funny story....the first night I slept on the couch while she slept in the recliner.  At 1 a.m. she woke me us shouting.."MOM! Harry Potter is in here with 100 other people."  First being screamed at while in a deep sleep is jolting but then trying to understand that she really thought that Harry Potter was standing in front of her was so confusing!  Needless to say the pain pills didn't last long after hallucinating and then throwing up we decided that ibuprofen would have to do.  

Catching up

So this somehow got deleted so now the pictures are in the next post!

Wow, I can't believe how time flies!  I'm not really sure if I've been having fun but I know it is flying by!  A lot has happened since Kayla left in August!  I have pictures for some events and no pictures for some.  First to catch up then pictures to come...
September the girls went back to school, Kayla a Junior at BYU-I studying Health Education with a minor in Biology (not sure if she is really my daughter...I hated science, she loves it.) Kelsie is a Senior :( her last year of high school drama!  Her last year of dance, last year of paying for dance! :) Not that college will be any cheaper!  Kilee is in her first year of high school as a Freshman and the drama is just beginning.  I can't believe they will all be gone in less than 4 years.  
Kelsie went to Homecoming with a friend, Kevin.  They had a lot of fun.  She was also in the running for Homecoming Queen but the drama girl won again.  Guess she had more friends?Even though she didn't win it was fun for her to walk out on the football field in her formal with her dad.  She also played powder puff football where the Seniors beat the Juniors.  Some of those girls play dirtier that the boys!  
Kilee played Co-ed soccer with me as the assistant coach.  It was a fun season, it was fun watching her go up against boys and taking them out.  Yes she got called for a couple of fouls taking boys out...I mean actually pushing them to the ground.  One of my favorites was when she kicked the ball so hard, hit the boy in the stomach it knocked him to the ground and the ball went out of bounds, and Kilee being the competitor she is didn't ask if the boy was alright, she grabbed the ball and threw it in while he was still laying on the ground.  Jeff the coach who was next to the boy said "you just got taken out by a little girl!"  The boy got up immediately and started playing.  She had many shots on goal but they just never seemed to go in UNTIL...the last game she finally scored! YEAH!
October was beautiful, the best fall I can remember in a long time.  The trees were beautiful, the weather was more than beautiful, (except for my birthday weekend when it snowed!) the grass stayed green and it was actually warm playing soccer!  I spent my birthday weekend with Kayla in Rexburg for mothers weekend.  (No pictures, by the time I figured out we hadn't taken any Kayla was getting ready for church with wet hair and wouldn't let me take one.) It was such a fun weekend.  We went shopping, of course for groceries, went to a scary dance off, went to dinner and a movie and just talked and spent time together.  I am so proud of her and the goals she has set and the things that she is achieving in her life.  She is still waiting for her missionary.  He has been out 81/2 months.  
Ben took me shopping for my birthday, I got 2 pairs of jeans and 2 sweatshirts.  He also game me a gift certificate to the movies.  He also took me out to dinner before I left to go to Rexburg at Red Robin.  Love the chicken teriyaki sandwich...and those fries...it was my birthday!
My mom and dad asked me to take some pictures of them for their Christmas card so we went to Kathryn Albertson Park and did a little photo shoot.  No I'm not a professional but I think they turned out pretty good.  I took some pictures of Kelsie and Kilee together and had mom take some of the three of us.  
My oldest brother that lives in Texas was in a horrible motorcycle accident and was badly broken up.  He broke his shoulder, arm above the elbow, shattered his wrist, broke his hip and has a compound fracture in his leg.  BUT... he is alive and for that we are thankful.  
To end the month, Kilee and I carved pumpkins together.  The only patterns left at the store were kid ones so it didn't take us to long.  We cleaned the seeds and toasted them, they were so yummy!  
Now on to NOVEMBER!  

Finally Catching Up

So here are the pictures that go with my last post.  Am I caught up?  No but much further than I was two days ago.  So hopefully I will be a better poster and a little more prompt.  

Elder Heap with Courtney the girl he baptized.  And some other cute missionaries. Elder Heap is the 2nd one in on the left side. And below the girl that is still waiting!

Kayla and 2 of her roommates dressed as gangsters for Halloween.  

Me and Kilee carving pumpkins for Halloween

This is my oldest brother being put in an ambulance and his bike that smashed into a car that failed to yeild!

Cutie girls!

 Sisters!

My cute little mom and dad!

Kilee elbowing a much larger boy!  Good thing the ref was behind her!

Kilee getting fouled while breaking to the goal.  No it didn't get called but then again she did her fair share of fouling with out getting called!

Kilee playing against much bigger players...look who has the ball!

Kels on the sidelines letting me take her cute picture.

That's Kelsie the closest to the bottom on the left.  She played defense and was so happy when they won!

Laura Monroe, Lauren Matthews, and Kelsie getting ready to dance in the homecoming assembly.  They are the only 3 seniors on Sweet Liberty this year. 

Kelsie and her dad on the football field.  Pretty in Pink!  It was raining and quit for a few minutes while they were on the field, then started raining again right after. 

Kelsie and Kevin her date.

Kayla's Back to College

So I've known that this day would come for the last 8 months, but how did it come so fast? As I hugged her today in the parking lot and watched her drive away the strings on my heart were being tugged on! It has been so nice to have Kayla home for just over 8 months. She has been a great daughter, helper, driver, sister, and a wonderful friend and will be missed by all of us. Kayla has a talent of making me laugh, I don't know why but she can make me laugh more and harder than anyone else. I think her leaving this time is almost harder than the first, she has grown and matured and is such a great friend. When no one else wanted to go grocery shopping she would go. I spent more money with her but it was always fun! I am so grateful for cell phones and that she is willing to call often, if only for a few min. To my sweet daughter...You will be greatly missed! Have fun, enjoy the journey, dance like no one is watching, be yourself, follow your dreams! This isn't good-bye only see ya soon!

BSU Football....Finally

So the first BSU Football game of the Season was last Saturday.  We played ISU, won 49-7 and the season is underway.  Ben has been counting down the days for about, oh, since the Hawaii Bowl last year.  We love going to the games and cheering for BSU!  Kayla and Krystin were able to go down on the sidelines with Damon and that is always a highlight for her.  Hopefully we will have a winning season with a very young team.  Some people think it's a little weird, me, being a huge football fan.  BUT...I did grow up with 5 brothers 4 of them which played football, watched football, ate football, slept football...so me being the little sister went to soooo many football games from little league to high school.  I also remember watching many football games over Thanksgiving always picking the team I wanted to win by the color that I liked best. Made sense to me, not so much my brothers but I had to find some joy in watching so much football.  I guess all those games just wore off on me.  

Me and Kayla waiting to get into the stadium.

Kayla's photos from the field.  She thought she should get a picture of Kellen Moore, the freshman quarterback, and the new press/sky boxes.  

GO BRONCOS!!

My Sweet Dad and Subway

Yesterday I had to take my dad to pick up his car from the mechanics. If any of you know my dad he is a man of few words. In October he will turn 74 and is showning signs of aging. One of my dad's favorite things is to go to Subway for lunch. He doesn't eat much, 1/3 of a footlong. He isn't picky about the kind of sandwich we order, but he does like his jalapeno chips and diet coke. So as I was dropping him off yesterday, he paused before getting out of the car, looked at me and said that he had something he had been meaning to tell me. He said, "It isn't Subway that I look forward to, I like and look forward to the time we spend together. I just wanted you to know that." WOW, hold the tears back....what a tender mercy! I'm not sure how long my dad will be around but until then it's Subway for lunch!

Soccer....AGAIN?

I'm not exactly sure what has happened to me. I'm not sure what I was thinking when I said "YES". I am pretty sure I was tricked into this whole thing! What you ask? I am back to coaching soccer after having 2 years off! I think that my mind had forgotten all the time and effort it took! I am the assistant coach of Kilee's co-ed team, which consists of 8 girls and 3 boys. The other teams have mostly boys with a few girls. This could get very interesting! I am so glad that Kilee is back to soccer if only for the fact that she is getting great exercise! Now for the next 2 months I will commit to having fun, even though the coach wants to win, I will commit to giving my all as much as they want anyway, and I will commit to being there and trying to make a difference in these kids lives while hopefully we have fun and want to continue to play! Wish me luck!

THE BIG 20!!

Kayla is officially 20 years old as of yesterday.  She had such a great birthday week with one of her best friends Darcy.  She came from Portand to spend 4 days with her.  They swam, went to lunch, the drive-in, golfing, shooting and just relaxed and had so much fun together.  Kilee made her birthday cake, it was wonderful!  It is interesting what she wanted for her birthday this year...instead of electronics she choose dishes and sheets.  She also got beautiful flowers from her sweet missionary!  That made her happiest of all!

Kayla 5 years old

Krystin Bateman, Kayla, Darcy Pedersen

"The Flowers"

Twin Falls Temple

Yesterday I took my parents and the girls to the open house of the Twin Falls Temple.  Wow, what a beautiful temple.  I loved how they used the Idaho State Flower (the Syringa) throughout the temple.  In the beautiful windows, the carpets and especially the beautiful chandeliers!  We loved the mural painted by Leon Parson of Shoshone Falls, what a talented artist!  We loved the feeling we felt there and also the testimony of our wonderful guide, Brother Passey from Bear Lake area.  We tried to take some pictures afterwards, we got a few good ones but the wind was blowing so hard it was hard to keep our hair out of the way.  

What a wonderful day!  

Kelsie's Senior Pic's

Melissa Nui took Kelsie's senior pictures last week.  I was so pleased with the results.  Melissa did a fabulous job as always!  These are just 4 out of my 100 or so favorites!  When I think about her leaving next year it makes me sad but I am so excited for her to dance her last year, for her to experience life after high school and to just watch her become a beautiful woman. 

This is my very favorite dance picture since she is almost laughing and dance makes her happy!

Melissa, thanks for making her feel like a model!  You amaze me. 

OUCH!!

Ben and I were in an accident Monday night.  We were on Fairview stopped when a Dodge Truck rear ended us and pushed us into the car in front of us. We were luckily not in the Mustang so Ben wasn't crying but we both got whiplash pretty bad.  I was amazed at how damaged the truck was  (we should have taken a pic of that!)  Our little Saturn held up pretty good going against a truck 3 times it's size!  We are just feeling blessed that we weren't hurt worse! Kelsie on the other hand is going to be missing her car for a while! 

Fun Family Reunion!

We just got back from a fun family reunion in Border, Wyoming.  You ask where is Border, Wyoming?  Well it's just where it says...on the border of Idaho and Wyoming.  My Aunt and Uncle have a ranch just about a mile from the Idaho border.  We had such a great time renewing our relationships with aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers and sisters.  Here are some of the fun things we did.

                                                   Volley ball was a so fun!

Drank Diet Coke

(I actually was sneaking it from steve)

                                                         Archery was a BIG hit!



                                       My cousin David was so amazing with

                                       the little kids.  He was so patient and kind  

                                       he taught all the kids how to shoot the bow 

                                       and arrows.  Thanks for the fun David!

                                                 Picking up all the arrows
                                       Hiking up the mountain...it was so hot!
                                                        Sisters!  

                                             My mom and her sister

                                                  Me and my sister

Kayla wanted this picture to send to her missionary who lives not far from here.  We actually went to visit his mother and brother in Afton and had dinner with them.  It was so nice for Kayla to reunite with Jordon's family.  Still waiting after 6 months! :)