What I am thankful for.

So I waited a day or so to do this post because I was tired and I wanted to have time to sit and write what I wanted.

I am thankful for tests and trials in life. I can honestly say that since Valentines Day this year we entered into the toughest trial we have endured in our life. Loss of job, death, moving, sick kids, financial woe's (that is expected with no jobs) and on and on. Out of this came the opportunity to move back to Utah closer to both of our families. Now I realize that they have been praying for our return since se moved, BUT we were happy where we were at. So now we moved home, with no jobs and very little money. After some time looking for jobs Scott started school and I started working full time. Now things are going well.

I am very thankful for my children. They have an understanding of what we are going through financially and because of this knowledge they have been very, very nice to each other and very rarely ask for items. We no longer eat out, and they have only recieved a few items when they go to the dollar store, which they are satisfied with. We were going over Christmas lists and Colton said "mom, I don't want anything for Christmas, please take the money you would spend on my presents and pay some bills" I am not even kidding. This my 2nd son because he is very preceptive about things and it bothers him that we don't seem to have as much money as before and it also bothers him that we are "renting" again, he wants to be somewhere that we won't have to move again.

I am Thankful for my husband. Through all this stuff we've been through he still loves me. He works so hard for us. Even though he is not doing full time 9-5 he is extremely busy between keeping up on kid stuff, studying to stay at the top of his class and helping grandpa. He has been soooo understanding with my new job and very supportive. I love him a lot. There aren't words to express my thankfulness for him.

Because this is getting long, I am now going to group the last group to how much I love our extended family. This group includes my Mom and Reese, Scott's parents, Larry and Kathy, and of course Grandma and Grandpa Elder. Without the support of them we would not be doing as well are we are. They have helped us in more ways than I can count. Especially Kathy and Larry and Mom and Reese who help us a lot with running the kids around after school.

So that is my short list. I am thankful for all that we have now and for all that we are going through. It will end and we are stronger for it.

If you read this entire thing, well I am surprised, but Thank You for being in my life and my friend.

On To Christmas

So now that Thanksgiving is over, in my mind it is officially Christmas.

Thanksgiving was very nice, adn now I am lounging on my couch watching Hancock and eating pie.

I started cooking on Wednesday night with Pies and salads. I made 2 pumpkin, Lemon Meringue, Apple and Pecan. All handmade!!!! Not to brag, but I was sooo excited they turned out. It appeard the lemon was the best, there was none left. I tried a new pumpkin recipe this year and I think i like it best. It used sweetened condensed milk instead of evaporated and I think it is tons better.

Then Thanksgiving morning came and i was cooking by 7 AM making the homemade rolls and side dishes like stuffing 2 ways, a traditional one with pine nuts and turkey drippings, and then a "kid friendly" version which is basically dried bread, onions and celery and a few cans of creamed corn (as the moisture) the kids loved it.

We had Prime Rib and regular turkey and smoked turkey for the meats, followed by a lot of side dishes. I even forgot my all time favorite of sweet & sour cabbage. Oh well.

It was so nice of everyone to come. DeLoy and Jenn, Cody & Dallas, Great Grandma and Great Grandpa, Jordan and Jenn and their kids. After eating we cleared off, kind of, and then sat around holding puppies and visiting It was very nice and we had an enjoyable time. The kids played games and basketball.

Of course we had leftovers and can't wait to make "leftover casserole" tomorrow. and No I am not going shopping. I have pretty much everything I need, so we are enjoying famiily time tomorrow.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!

My Birthday.

So I realize you all have birthdays but I LOVE MY BIRTHDAY!!!! I can't say it enough. Ever since I was a little girl, my favorite holiday is my birthday. I has always been a big deal in my family. I start "reminding" my husband in October. He never misses it because I don't give him a chance to, but I am sure that he wouldn't forget it even if I didn't say anything to him.

So I got my gift from Grandma Elder, so let's face it, we all know what grandma and grandpa Elder send us, so I got my gift with strict instructions that went like this "grandpa said I should buy you something instead of giving you the money because he thinks you'll spend it on bills. This money is not to be spent on bills but for something for you" Of course like an obedient grandchild I took my gift and what did I do with it.......? Okay, okay I admit that I paid a bill with it. I had to admit to my grandmother that I lied and I paid Mason's babysitter instead. She said she understood and she would not tell my grandpa and just tell him I had a good time with it.

So yes, I lied, I feel bad, but I admitted it. To be honest I really wanted to buy myself a pair of shoes with it, but I just could not do it. So I had honorable intentions that got vetoe'd by my practical side.

Tomorrow though I am going with Scott to Salt Lake City for a day out together. We are eatting lunch at either Tacano's or Rodizio grill and then watching Twilight and then we are stopping at the Toys R Us sale to grab a few last Christmas presents for the kids.

Have a nice weekend.

Men vs Women.........The Laundry Olympics

So it has been a long weekend and I am glad it is over. Scott has not been feeling the best and I have noticed it since Friday, but he swore over and over there was nothing wrong with him, I was being over-sensitive. Well today at about 5:00 he said "I think I need to go to the insta-care clinic" I was shocked because he said there was nothing wrong. Well luckily it wasn't to busy and we got in and out quickly to find out he had a bladder infection that spread to his kidneys. MEN......they wait so long feeling bad until it is excruciating and then somthing inside his head says "I think something is wrong" Duh.....what clued you into that, the buring sensation when you urinate?????? So anyway now he had a reason for being so mean the last few days and I was right, I repeat myself, I WAS RIGHT. I was not over-sensitive, you were miserable and rude. Okay that is off my chest and Yes, Scott does know I am ranting on my blog. One of the reasons he went to the doctor was because we have fought so bad the last 3 days and that is not normal for us at all, especialy fighting over the stupid small things.

now that brings us to today. Scott decided he couldn't go to church because he felt so "crappy" but he still did not tell me what was bothering him, just abdominal pain and the worst headache he ever had. So I took the kids to church, the we had dinner, and then we went to my mothers house to see the puppies and how they have grown. Wow they are big and cute!! While we are there Scott says maybe I need to go to the Insta-Care Clinic. So my mom says to leave the kids with her and run down there. After the obligatory test they determine he has a bladder infection that has spread to his kidneys. They need to start anti-biotics right now and need to do both pills and a shot. Well Scott has a big issue with needles so no shots, no matter what. Well the doctor just said we will try the pills and hopefully that will work, they also gave him Lortab for the pain in his abdomen and his headaches that are being caused by the infection, which is also in his tooth. So he comes home and takes his first Lortab and lo and behold he starts to feel better. So much better in fact he decided that we need to put away the clean laundry and sort the dirty laundry. So the entire family went down to help. Now comes the question how do you sort laundry?

Here are my piles:

Whites
Jeans
Colors
Towels
Blankets

That is all my piles. We don't always have all those piles, but those are my basics.

Scott starts to sort laundry and right off we run into a problem. He starts making the following piles:

Pants - Denim
Pants - Non-denim
Light colors
Dark colors
Whites
Towels
Blankets

I think that is way to many piles. So we had a friendly family discussion about sorting laundry. We never had this discussion before because Scott worked and I always did teh laundry. Now that he is home he took it on himself.

I asked him to blog about this, but he said I am more elloquent and would explain it better.

So seriously, we want to know the laundry sorting of others.

Baptism date, for real this time.

So because Scott's school is be unpredictable we decided to just have Colton's baptism in December because he has all his Saturday's open in December. So our official date is December 13th. The baptism will be at Grandma and Grandpa's Elders old church on Center Street at 10:00 AM.

I swear we will not change the date again, this is set in stone. We will have a brief lunch afterwards (because we have tickets to the Voice Male concert at 1:30) but we are excited anyway. I hope to see you all there.

Thanksgiving

Ok, so it is Thanksgiving again and I am officially announcing that I am cooking dinner for everyone of the Elder Family who would like to attend. Right now it is my family, my mother, Rese and her kids, grandma and grandpa, DeLoy, Jenn, Kody and Dallas, Jer and Kristi(maybe) we still have room for more and everyone is invited. we are eating at 1:00. The only thing I ask is you let me know if you are coming so I can make sure there is enough food.

Hope to see you there.

This To Shall Pass

I am refering to the next 4 years (maybe more) under Democratic Lead in the White House. You do have to admit this is why we live in this wonderful country. Yes, Obama as our president may not be favorable in the eyes of some (me included) but as in history past the United States pulled through, and we shall pull through this also.

While you Republicans are sitting at home going through a different array of feelings, anger, sadness, frustration, please remember that we live in a wonderful country and this is the price we pay for democracy, everything can't always be as we want it. I fear for our future with a Democrat president and house, but we will prevail and rise above and in the long run be better and learn from our past mistakes.

Look up and in the eyes of my wonderful grandfather "Keep Smiling"