Day of Thanks

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day. Cory got home from work at 8:00 in the morning, and was able to get some sleep before we headed off to Auntie Heather and Uncle Lyle's house. They made a beautiful dinner, and knew just how to get the kids to eat dinner. Candy bribes always work with my kids. Cory was able to have dinner with us then off to work he went. I was okay with it knowing that he was going to be getting 2 days vacation for work a holiday. I would have to say the best part of the day came after the meal and all the sugar my kids had eating, and it was was when the girls feel asleep in the car on the way home. OH HAPPY DAY. I say this because my girls can get pretty hipper when they are loaded with sugar. Most of you know that. But over all it was a wonderful day. e have so many things to be thankful for and it was nice to be able to share that with family. Now it is time to put the tree up and get ready for a new holiday.

Happy 12th Anniversary

Cory and I have been married for 12 years now. The time has gone by so fast. As we were talking and thinking back to our wedding day, we both had to laugh as we remembered coming back to our apartment to find the landlord and the plumber in the kitchen. As we walked in they both looked at us and asked us how the wedding was and then went back under the sink to fix the leak. Needless to say I was mad, so Cory and I went and got some dinner. Well 12 years later we have 3 kids 5 and under, and hardly ever get a chance to go out. Cory decided that this year he was taking me away for the weekend. I loved it because he let me pick almost everything that we did. We went to Gardner's Village to see the Elves, we went to the Rook in Salt Lake for dinner, (I recommend to ever one that if you want to go to a very nice dinner but you will pay for it go to the Roof). We had tickets to a concert but we were to tired to go, how sad is that. We also went and saw Twilight which I liked,and I cant wait for the next one. We drove around Salt Lake and looked at all the old buildings, some or them are very beautiful. We stayed at the Anniversary Inn at were able to stay in the "Room with a View" room. It was very nice we had a great view of the city. The sad part of this hole weekend is that we spent half of it sleeping. I forgot how nice it is to get up when I want to, not when my kids want me to. I should tell you though that I think our kids had just as much fun as we did. The kids got to stay with cousins in Layton for the weekend, and partied the hole time.

OH HAPPY DAY

Today I can say is one the best in my life. For those who don't know this summer Haley was diagnosed with Alopecia Areata Universalise, this means that she has lost all of her body hair, and it wont grow back. It took a couple of months for us to get use to this and for her to get use to knowing that she was never going to have hair. Right about the time that we all felt like we were back to the norm, she started to get some splotches down her spin and around the trunk of her body. We took her to the Pediatrician who didn't know what it was and recommended that we take her back to her Dermatologist, which we were happy to do. I have to say I love Dr. Bezzant. I have never had a Doctor be so blunt or I guess you could say honest. Being nerves about what we might hear I asked my mom to go with us, Haley also wanted Nana to go. I am glad she went. We were told that it was either Eczema or a form of Cancer. I looked at him with bugged eyes, and asked him if he just said Cancer. He looked at me straight faced and said yes I did. As I was trying not to cry and looking at my mom for help, she stepped in and started to ask questions. All I could think about was what else could my little girl have to go through. By the time I could hear what was being said, he was telling my mom that it was a Cancer that has no cure, but one that no one had every died from. I don't know that, that made it any better, but I guess it helped a little. I finally got that we were talking about a form of skin cancer that has to do with your white blood cells. I am still kind of in a fog about it all. After nights of not sleeping, and finally realizing that what ever happened, she was our little surprise baby, and I was going to enjoy every day that we had with her. So today we went back for her check up and found that the medication that Dr. Bezzant had given us had help clear up her skin and the it was NOT CANCER!!!!!!!!!!!! She will spend the rest of her live having to use a wonderful cream to help with her very strange form of eczema. I know get to enjoy everyday of our lives together, and will be reminded everyday what a special child we were blessed to have. Haley has truly turned out to be an angle child for us. I don't know yet how or why she was chosen to come to us, but she did 4 weeks early. This little girl that started life out at 3.5 lbs. is now my little miracle child. I may not show her every day how much she means to me, but I know in my heart.

A very happy day

Today was one of those days that I love. I don't know how many of you get to have a girls only day, I don't get them very often, but today I had the best one. My sweet husband came home this morning after working a 12 hour night shift, and took over the kids so that I could go out with me sister-in-law Beverly. I don't think that in the 11 years Bev and I have know each other, that we have ever gone out with out at least one child. Today we were kid free and fancy free. We were able to go look at Holiday stuff, get some things that were needed, and just walk around Gardner's Village with out have to tell kids to stay close and keep your hands off. The fact that is was also nice and warm outside also help our moods. Thank you to my sweet husband for a wonderful day.

A favorite Recipe

I thought I would share with you one of our family favorites, also a good dish when feeding a group of people.

Sweet and Sour Meatballs with Rice in your Crock-Pot


Ingredients:
1 pound ground chuck or round
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons fine plain breadcrumbs or corn flake crumbs
2 teaspoons soy sauce, low sodium
2 tablespoons grated or finely minced onion
1 tablespoon cooking oil
Sauce
3 tablespoons vinegar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon soy sauce, low sodium
1 large sweet bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
hot cooked rice
1 can pineapple, chunks (15 ounces)
Preparation:In a large bowl, combine ground beef, egg, 1 tablespoon cornstarch, salt, pepper, 1 teaspoon soy sauce, bread crumbs, and onion. Shape into 1 1/2 in balls. In a large skillet, lightly brown meatballs in the vegetable oil. Drain well. Transfer meatballs to slow cooker.
In a small bowl, combine vinegar, sugar, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, cornstarch and bell pepper; stir to blend. Pour over meatballs. Cover and cook on LOW for 5 to 7 hours. In the last 30 minutes of cooking, stir in pineapple with juice. If thicker juices are desired, combine more cornstarch with a little cold water and add, stirring, until thickened. Serve with hot cooked rice.Serves 4.eet and sour meatballs with rice for your crock pot.

Coco Baby

For those of you that don't know the coco story, when Cory was a little kid, he was trying to make something that he need coco for, so he was trying to get out of the cupboard, when it feel out and landed on him covering him in coco. He wouldn't let his mom get a picture, so the first thing I had to do with Brin was get a picture. She decided that she wanted to help me with the brownies and dumped the coco all down the front of her self. Gotta love kids.

Homecoming

Today the girls and I got a chance to go to the airport and welcome home a friend from Iraq. Hes has been there for 6 months and has about 4 or 5 left. The girls were so excited about him returning when he did because it is Veterans week at school. I have also over the past year been able to learn so much more about the war and what the men and women are doing and going through to help perfect us as a nation. I am finding that our blessing are hitting home to me a little more this year especially right now at this time of the year. I hope you all were able to enjoy your Veterans' Day.

Family

Family, what is it about family that can make you love so much but also make you want to pull your hair out. I know that each of us comes with baggage when we get married. We each come with family things that we don't like and wish our spouse would never have to see or be a part of. But of course none of that ever happens, because we love our spouse and want them to be there to help us through everything we have to deal with in life. I just wish that sometimes people could realize that they are not the only people in the world and that everyone has feelings. I think that we forget that. The thing I wish we wouldn't forget is that little ones don't always get it. They don't always understand why they are getting there feelings hurt by someone that they feel should love them. I guess I just think that as adults we should think about that more often.

Trunk or Treat

Jill and I took the kids Trunk or Treating last night. I think Seith and Brinley had more fun eating the candy and passing it out then they did going and getting candy. After we were finished at the church the kids went and did some door to door, and again Seith and Brinley handed out candy to the kids. I would have to say that the kids that got candy for Seith and Brin were lucky little kids. I think they would each put in like 10 pieces of candy in each bag. The fun part for me was watching the kids as they would go and get candy, running and laughing. It brought back so many memories of when LeAnn and I would go Trick or Treating as kids. How I miss those days of being little and Innocent. All though I would not want to go back and live them again. It is just nice to remember.