Merry Christmas 2009

The kids in their Christmas Eve PJ's. Jordyn was delighted!

Teni left a treat for Santa and food outside for his reindeers

Christmas morning!

Our family always has so much fun in Las Vegas and this Christmas was no different. Even our family elf Cody couldn't stay away from the party. He followed us all the way from Spanish Fork. The kids were so surprised and excited to see him. After spending just a couple of days with us, Cody had to return back to the North Pole on Christmas eve night. He must of reported nothing but good news to Santa because come Christmas morning our tree was surrounded by gifts.


I love the "magic" that Santa brings to Christmas but I especially love the "meaning" that our Savior Jesus Christ brings to Christmas. Last year we started a new tradition to help teach our kids the true meaning of Christmas. The kids recieve only 3 gifts from Santa because, when baby Jesus was born he only recieved 3 gifts. Teni has memorized the story of the birth of Christ and knows all three gifts that were given to baby Jesus by the three wise men. The number 3 has helped us in more ways than one. It hugely simplified my christmas list, which has made this Christmas less stressful than other years past. It also has made my kids think really hard of what they TRULY want from Santa rather than brainstorming everything they've seen on tv and in books,magazines, and at friends homes. Not a single child was disappointed and not one strand of hair on my head turned gray. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Our new visitor...

Can you spot our new visitor?

That's right...It's our very own elf "Cody." He is here to visit during the month of December and every night after the kids go to sleep, he goes back home to the North Pole and reports all the good or bad activity to Santa that took place that day. Sadly, Cody will leave us and return back to the North Pole on Christmas eve.

It's amazing how well behaved my kids have been while Cody has been around. Every morning they rush out of their bedroom to find Cody sitting in a different spot from the day before. Every so often I catch Teni and Alyia telling Cody to relay a message they have for Santa. These are just some of the funny things they say to Cody:

Teni-"Please tell Santa that I love him....(pause) and Jesus too."

Alyia- Pointing and screaming at the poor helpless elf Alyia says, "I NOT on the naughty list!" Teni begs to differ of course.

Teni-"Im sorry Cody." Teni is crying now. "I didn't mean to touch you. I wont do it again! Please don't leave!"....sniff sniff. Teni knows that he is not to touch Cody or he will leave back to the North Pole and may not return. When Troy heard Teni's plea to Cody it broke his heart. He almost started crying too...too funny. It's a good thing Cody is a forgiving elf and came back to our home. Teni has definitely learned his lesson!

Alyia-Again pointing her finger at Cody, "Good list,OKAY!"

Thanks Tom! We love Cody!

Can't help but make a snowman with all this snow

The kids were so excited with their snowman. It's too bad that our snowman was knocked over that same night.

Teni loved being buried under snow

LET IT SNOW

We woke up to about a foot of snow tuesday morning. The kids were in heaven. They played outside for hours while Troy was shoveling our driveway and pushing cars stuck in the snow. I was inside of course, drinking hot cocoa and enjoying my view of all the fun from my kitchen window. There's nothing better than sipping hot cocoa on a cold snowy day.

The kids snow angels

Jordyn was so upset! She threw a fit because she was too young to play outside.

Thanksgiving In Page

Our family spent Thanksgiving in Page, AZ this year. We all had such a great time. The weather was perfect and the food was even better! Don't know how you can beat perfection but Chris and Paul did. They never disappoint!

Our kids couldn't get enough of their cousins. They're all so close in age that playing together gets easier and easier for them. Teni even learned how to "hoopa loop" as he would call it, from his cousins Abbey,Paige,and Austin.

Jordyn didn't feel too well one night and was throwing up quite a bit but by morning she was back to normal.

On our very last night in Page all the girls stayed up pretty darn late and worked on the cutest project. We etched a design that Monica had created with Kaye's vinyl stickers, onto a trifle bowl. It turned out awesome. I was thinking about giving it to my mom for Christmas, seeing how she loves to make trifle but it turned out so cute that I think it may just stay at my house permanently.

Our "thankful tree" turned out GREAT! Some of the things my family is grateful for are:

-FAMILY

-THE GOSPEL

-GOOD FOOD

-GOOD DREAMS

-JOSEPH SMITH

-GRANDPARENTS

and

-WORK

New Moon Madness

What a fun Girls Night Out! It was the night of the premiere for NEW MOON and I got together with some of the funnest girls to celebrate the occasion right. We started our LONG night early! We had dinner at Iggies around 6:30 and stuffed ourselves so much that it was hard for us to get up from the table.




It was 8:00 when we finished dinner and so we decided to walk over to the movie theaters to wait in line with the rest of the "crazies." We were only 4 hrs early..ha! but we were equipped with warm blankets,hot cocoa,winter coats,yummy snacks and best of all, good company! Our entourage was 12 ladies deep and boy did we have a good ol' time! I even had some friends travel up from St.George to celebrate with me.

My cousin Candice and I decided to take a picture of us in the theater room showing how elated we were to see New Moon. Everyone else was doing it and we just couldn't help ourselves. This pictures reminds me of our college years. We would take a million face shots and only like one!

The movie was great and it was 3:30 am by the time I got home. I was exhausted to say the least. It was good to get together with my girls and do something absolutely NUTS, like sitting out in the cold for 4 hours just so we could watch teenage boys and girls transform into werewolves and vampires (sounds silly I know) but I can't wait for the next time.

The Kids Getting Their Grove On!

My kids love to dance especially Teni. I recorded his very cool moves. He's incorporated ninja kicks and punches in his dancing and it's pretty funny! ENJOY

All Hallows Eve 09'

Teni diggin in!
Alyia was excited at first until she realized how messy it got and then she didn't want anything to do with it.
Wolverine
Our lil' stinker
Jordyn the elephant

Jordyn Finally Walks!!!

Finally Jordyn decided walking isn't so bad. It's taken her long enough, 14 months to be exact. For about a month she would slowly take a few steps and then fall to her knees and quickly crawl. She has realized that her view on her feet is much better than her view on all fours.

What we've been up to!

Starting our review from our most recent event:

We had a fun party at Tom and Hayley's house filled with yummy chili, cornbread, and most importantly SPUDNUT DONUTS! We came dressed in our halloween costumes to celebrate this event in style but unfortunately I forgot my camera..arrrgh!Most importantly we had a blast!

Tenny had his homecoming game this past weekend. My family came up from Las Vegas to support him. We enjoyed watching him kick butt!



Troy recently had training in Las Vegas and so I decided to take a little road trip with the kids to visit my family there. I left a couple days early before Troy flew in for his training. I had the best of both worlds, my parents were able to spend time with their grandkids and I got to enjoy great Vegas shows, shopping, spending time with my friends, and one-on-one time with Troy (something we hardly have the chance to do).
We took the kids to a fun pumpkin patch equipped with bouncy houses, farm animals, and swings. The kids were in heaven!

Going Up!

and coming down!

Alyia and Teni with their cousin Zion

Teni and Alyia enjoying the swing machine

Update!

Here is an update of our family!

Macy's grocery store had their annual case lot sale and for the first time this year I bought some food for canning. I met up with my friend Paige and we headed to her parents home and canned rice,sugar, and flour. I had so much fun doing it and I learned alot about food storage. We have decided to make it a tradition and get together twice a year around general conference for canning.

We've been able to attend my little brother's football games at Snow College. We will try to make it to all his home games and cheer him on. He is doing awesome on the team.

There is not a day that goes by without the kids asking, "can I wear my tie-dye shirt?"






Jordyn is growing up so fast! She has learned to crawl up and down our stairs. She is also starting to stand up and takes a couple of steps. She loves to eat, especially off of my plate and she likes shaking her booty anytime she hears music, sometimes she even sings along. Sadly she has been sick with a cold and cough for the past week but is getting better.


While watching General Conference Jordyn had an emotional breakdown and did not stop crying until Troy picked her up and cuddled with her on our couch.

she loves her daddy!

She eventually fell asleep. Troy has always been able to put our kids to sleep just by simply holding them but I never had that magic touch.

PLEASE PRAY FOR SAMOA

My brother Francis posted his thoughts on facebook about this tragedy and it brought me to tears when I read it...this is what he wrote: "I'm a SAMOAN who just had his heart broken. Not from love cause she has my back for life but everything that is me, the person I am, watched people that look like me, talk like me suffer and can't do anything about it." I feel the same as he does. Although, I have not been back to Samoa since I was born, there is still a deep rooted connection that I have with Samoa. I've lived in the US my whole life but my parents never let us kids forget where we came from and promised to always take us back. I grew up hearing stories of Samoa, eating samoan food, singing samoan songs, and living the samoan culture. I may have been hundreds of miles away from Samoa but my heart was always so close.

Samoan men at work! Their strength to get through this tragedy is inspiring.

Yesterday morning an 8.0 magnitude earthquake hit Samoa and some surrounding islands. Shortly after the devastating earthquake a tsunami than pounded into Samoa. Three large waves hit the the small island, one reporteldy being 20 feet tall. Villages have been completely demolished and flattened. Graves have been uprooted and many people and children are still missing. Please pray for Samoa.

I have been in tears all day just praying for the people in Samoa. I was born in Apia, Samoa just one of the many cities that have been damaged by the earthquake and tsunami, so for me this literally hits home. We have so many family and friends, some of whom attended my wedding that live in America and Western Samoa. All of my dads siblings live in Samoa with their families. My dad spoke to his brother late last night and he said they are okay, thank goodness! My parents found out their good friend of so many years was reporteldy swept away by one of the three waves that hit, this is just one of the many sad news they have recieved. I have counsins that we have not been able to get a hold of. My older brother Tony and his wife Tara has their son Ephraim there visiting family. He experienced the earthquake first hand and is doing okay considering the situation. He was fortunate enough to be on higher ground and so the tsunami did not affect where he is staying. Ephraim is now helping in any way that he can and Im sure he is so overwhelmed by the heart ache that surrounds him. He is such an amazing and brave kid. A good family friend Tuai, is in Samoa and has posted hundreds of photos taken from her camera on facebook revealing this horrible tragedy(the two pics above are from her camera). She has unfortunately found out she lost 3 of her nieces and nephews. I have donated clothes and shoes to our local DI to help with relief efforts in Samoa. I called the LDS humanitarian center in Salt Lake City and asked about donations going to Samoa and was told loads of clothes,shoes,food,etc...are packaged and ready to be sent out ASAP. We can always count on the LDS church to be one of the first to step up and help in natural disasters, anywhere and anytime. I am so grateful to be a part of this church and its efforts to help those in desperate need! Im also grateful for todays technology, we have been able to keep in contact with alot of our family thanks to the internet. Our hearts and prayers go out to the people of Samoa.