Christmas Tree

Thanksgiving was wonderful, we have so much to be thankful for as a family. I have been blessed with the most amazing family, Gerald has a good job (and in this economy thats a huge thing to be thankful for), we have a beautiful home and the gospel. I really couldn't ask for anything more! We were so blessed to be invited to a friends house for Thanksgiving dinner and the food was amazing! It was also nice to be able to spend the day with the missionaries as well, they bring a peaceful spirit with them that is so refreshing to be around.

So now it's time to start thinking about Christmas.....yikes, this time of year comes so fast.
Mya and Keegan are sooooooo excited.

We pulled out the decorations because today was going to be one of the few days left where everyone is going to be home to help. We have a famous WHITE christmas tree and this year when I pulled it out of the box this is what I found......

I don't know what happend. We have had this tree for three years and I have never had this problem. I believe the tree soaked up the brown from the box that it was being stored in. It looked horrible! Because I am a cheap skate, I wanted to salvage it.

I braved black friday at noon when all the crazies were in bed sleeping and went over to Walmart to get five cans of spray paint.

And then the kids helped to put all the balls on it. Look at all the joy and excitement in his smile!

It took me about 2 hours to put tape on the lights so that they wouldn't be spray painted, and then it took me about another 2 hours to take all the tape off. It would have been really easy to go and buy another Christmas tree, but I think that it turned out great. Don't get me wrong, I definately don't want to do this project again next year, I am going to be investing in a GREEN christmas tree when they are all on sale AFTER Christmas :) But this year, we will still be enjoying our non-traditional one, thanks to a couple cans of paint!

A Family Theme

I have been trying to tackle this project for some time now.....I have a big blank wall that has been staring at me since we moved into the house three and a half years ago. I have always known that I wanted to fill it will the theme...so to speak...of our family. I just couldn't ever find the perfect thought/idea that fits our family. Then it came to me..... (and this theme is not just because of my husband's calling as bishop!)

AS FOR ME AND MY HOUSE, WE WILL SERVE THE LORD

Now, I'm sure some of you are saying.....that's really simple....and so easy to do. But the more that I thought about it the more it seemed like such a good theme for our family.

Be patient with me as I try and explain..... I was never scared of storms until I came down here and experienced just how strong a wind storm could be. Powerful Hurricains can take down large trees and destroy homes. Water is not stopped by front door and can easily take individuals off gaurd. When those powerful storms or rain start to come I cannot calm down until every individual of our family is home from school or work....it's hard to describe the feelings I experience as our family is gathered home, and the storm continues to rage outside....and I love it! Everyone is safe; we are all together. Sometimes it seems like that is how it should be all the time, my family together and gathered around me, protected, and shut off from the storm that is outside.

Now, I'm sure your thinking where is she going with this? Bear with me....I'm about to make my point......

Perhaps you (like me) have thought how it would be so much easier to withdraw and isolate ourselves from the "storms" of life that we experience all the time. There are many tactics that Satan uses to destroy our homes and families. If Satan can weaken our relationships as family members, he can cause more misery and unhappiness then he could in any other way. This is where I found the "theme" of our family to be "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." My faith and testimony has been strengthened when I go out of my way to share the gospel with a neighbor that doesn't know anything about what we believe. Or when I have my children make a sacrafice to attend family home evening instead of girl scouts, or when Gerald and I take the time to schedule a trip to the temple. I have felt really strongly lately that making those little sacrafices and choices strengthens our family and home. I hope my children will be able to see the importance of serving the Lord like I have!

So now the project.....

Pull out a frame and a can of paint so that it goes with the rest of the decor in the house.

An obstical....pulling the picture out of the frame resulted in a tear in one of my favorite pictures from our wedding day....Thank heavens it was one of my favorites and we had a couple copies of it!

The final product!

Our Little Cheerleader and Dancer

It's Friday Night....and in Texas....That means FOOTBALL!

And for this Friday....Mya was the cheerleader and performer.

For a fundraiser the high school cheerleaders have a mini camp for a week for the rest of the school aged girls in Crosby and then they get to cheer at the football game on Friday. Mya was so excited and kept asking me when cheerleading camp was because she had done it last year. I kept looking for a paper to be sent home from school but we never got one. I asked my friend if she knew what was going on. She called her "resources" and found out that they had forgotten the new school that Mya was at. There was no way that Mya was going to let me out of this one. My solution was to carpool her from school over to another school every day for practice. Then I found a better solution and made sure that Mya's best friend got involved so that her mom could car pool them everyday. Both of the girls had a blast!!!!

Here are the BEST FRIENDS....Anoi and Mya getting ready to go out on the field.

And for this lucky girl...she was also able to participate in the Crosby Star dance fundraiser also!

But that smile makes it all worthwhile....she was one happy girl!

So....I'm sure your all wondering if we won or not?????

Of course we won!

Sample's Of The Night!

CHEERLEADING...

DANCING.......

TALENT SHOW!!!!

Before the festivities the baking had to be done....my favorite is peanut butter cookies. It was fun trying to bake cookies while 4 children under the age of 3 were in my care. At one point Xandria put her had in the five gallon bucket of suger and Colton yelled, "Megan, she's eating it!"

Now to the talent show....Mya was sooooooooo excited about the talent show. When she learned about it three weeks ago she knew exactly what she wanted to do. SING!!! So she pulled out the kareoke machine every day after school to "practice."

Before the show began she found out that she would be the second act, and she turned to me stating that she was scared, but that she was going to be brave. She was thrilled when the audience joined in by waving their hands during her performance.

Dad and the boys watching the acts....jake looks thrilled :)



The final performance....the chinese dragon!

In between acts they had minute to win it performances. They had to watch their blue print and see if they could do it in less then a minute. This was the performance of current bishop vs previous bishop.....go babe go!

It was so much fun to be able to see everyone's talents...our ward has so many! The final movie is of a father and his two sons in a band. It took them about an hour to set up and an hour to take it all down, but it was fun to see what they like to do in their spare time!

Vacation

So, I know that its been almost a month since we took our trip to Idaho. Im slow!

First off....epic fail! My mom allowed me to have a big bbq in the backyard and invite whoever I wanted. We mowed the lawn, set up the volleyball net, gazebo, and bbq pit and made several yummy salads and watched as John Monson and dad grilled hot dogs and hamburgers on two seperate bbq's. Friends and family came and it was sooooo much fun to see everyone and all their mini's (kids). But here is the failure...I didn't document it with a camera!


You can't visit east idaho without stopping here...Eating Rupes Ice Cream!!!!! The rootbeer swirl cones of course!

One of the worst parts about living so far away is not being able to see the grandparents (or from my kids perspective...great grandparents)

Grandma Chandler


Grandma and Grandpa Womack
I have a special relationship with my grandma and miss her sooooo much!


When we were talking about going to Idaho, the only thing that mya and keegan wanted to do was go fishing! We headed up to brush creek and dropped down into paradise where both my and keegan caught 20 fish in 2 days. Between Kyle, Chad, Mya and Keegan we had over 100 fish in 2 days....talk about paradise!

When I was growing up dad would bail the hay and we didn't have a fancy tracter to haul it so we would come home from school and get basic low boy trailer on the back of a pick up truck and stack them by hand (each bail weighing 40-60 lbs each) and then we had to drive them over and stack them for the winter. It's not that big of a field until you get out there hauling hay.

This visit, there was a neighbor with a tractor and Mya and Keegan found it fascinating!

Watching the pivot move is a lot like watching paint dry. It's so slow!

Grandma with Charlie (my brother Chad's little boy) and Jacob

We went to Micheals and found some crafts one day. This is mom and Mya stringing together necklaces.

And cute Jacob sitting on the front porch

It was great to be able to go home.

Its a Boa Constrictor

It was snake day at the library!

At the begining of the presentation he started out with tiny snakes....one that was a month old and they just kept getting bigger and bigger. Keegan was interested until about half way through and then he stopped touching them and didn't want the presentor to come close. Mya and Keelee were brave!

....and that boa constrictor was REALLY HEAVY!

Mya's is Seven!

For her birthday this year Mya wanted a real party. She wanted a sleepover with friends, cupcakes, and ice cream. I am sooooo thankful that she is easy to please! On Saturday before her birthday she went to chuck-e-cheeses. This is turining into a love birthday tradition! We saved the sleepover for the tuesday after her birthday because Monday was the fourth and everyone had family plans. She invited three friends over and we played musical chairs, spin the bottle, and had a scavenger hunt. The girls were able to decorate cupcakes and eat them and then we watched Tangled. The girls stayed up until 11 and were up at 6:45 the next morning so I felt like I had a birthday hangover afterwords. Mya declared that it was the best birthday ever! We are sooooo greatful to have Mya in our lives. Happy Birthday!!!!!

Jake's First Haircut!!!

It was time to say goodbye to the curls....... I hope they grow back, because he looks so much older without them.

Dad tried handed him the clippers as an attempt to make him comfortable. He loved it!

Now he is ready for a bath!

Playing at the Spray Park

Graduation from Daisy Scout to Brownie

Mya graduated from being a Daisy Scout to a Brownie this last week. This is her second year participating in Girl Scouts and she absolutly loves it!!!!! She has learned about different cultures, about the world around her, and how to treat others. She has the best leaders this year. Here are some pictures and a couple of video's from the ceremony.