Gingerbread house

Guess which snow man is mine?

Last week the girls and I attempted a gingerbread house while baby Ray was sleeping. We got a kit from Costco which actually I think I would do it that way again. I iced the roof and the snowmen, but the girls decorated and iced the rest of it. It was actually more fun for me to watch them be creative than to do it myself. They had a blast and baby Ray has enjoyed sneeking the candies off the house :)

dresses from China

Raym brought back lots of fun gifts for the kids and I from China. I forgot that Hello Kitty is so big over there. It is definitely big in our house as well. He brought these dresses back for the girls. We had them wear them to church last Sunday. baby Ray's lovely outfit is from Kuwait. I am sure it has a name but I don't recall what it is. Alora especially loved wearing the dress. She wanted me to fix her hair "Chinese". Which reminds me of a funny story about Aspen. Last spring I had the kids enrolled in swim lessons at the YMCA. I had left Aspen in the parents waiting area with baby Ray while I went to get Alora. While I was gone a woman was speaking to her daughter. Aspen asked what language she was speaking and the woman replied that it was Chinese. Aspen then proceeded to proclaim "Oh I used to be Chinese." If you know her well you know that probably at one point in her life she really did think she was Chinese. She used to tell people we lived on a farm with goats, and chickens and horses. One time she told someone she was a ninja. Last week when someone from our churched stopped by she answered the door and told them they might not want to come in because she was a hungry wolf. I love this about her. Her imagination is alive in her.

Little Chefs

My kids have been heavily influenced by the oh-so-cute Disney movie Ratatouille (I spelled it right on the first try by myself! but I did check to make sure). They are determined that they can cook. If you have seen the movie you know that anyone can cook. I found these aprons on sale and just had to get them. Having them help gets a little tricky but they love it and I actually don't have to beg them to eat or to finish the dinner. They always name the meals too. (I wish right now I could remember some of the names.) Happy Cooking!

Santa saves the day

Last Saturday Santa visited us via a fire truck. He was driven through all the neighborhoods tossing candy. It was really cute to see how many kids and adults :) came out to greet him.

Snow day

So it snowed...I think actually it has snowed several times. It is interesting to me that the snow storms here seem different. I can't really put my finger on it, I just know they are different. One of my favorite things about snow and kids is that you spend half an hour looking for the gear and then getting it on them only for them to spend less than five minutes actually playing. Aspen is old enough now that she stays out much longer.

Alexa

So Alexa fell asleep on my bed, and I took the covers off to pick her up and she stayed in this position, and continued to stay long enough for me to take a couple of pictures :)

A wreath making party

Out in Boston in my old ward there is this really cool tradition that is referred to as the Wreath Making Party. The are so many wonderful words one could use to describe it. I missed it of course this year b/c I am 2400 miles away. But I read about it on some of my friends blogs. You can too if you check Ellen's site or the Menzie site in my favorite site thing on the side. I am so sad I missed it. I have been wondering if there was a way to start something like that out this way. We have enough people from the ward living out here now. Who knows maybe next year :)

China

My husband has been in China for the past seven days. I am used to him traveling. He has been for these past three years. But this time has been different b/c I only got to talk to him for a few minutes each day. The longest time I talked to him was 10 min and about 16 seconds, and the total time for that day was about 15 minutes. I didn't realize until this week just how much I relied on him emotionally. He is my everything. When I talk to him I feel rejuvenated and reenergized. I have missed him so much. Thanks to my mom and my sister for helping out this past week. And hooray he comes home tonight!!

Happy Birthday to me!!!

I get the lovely opportunity of having a birthday so very close to Thanksgiving. My birthday was the Monday following turkey day, but Saturday morning my mom and I went and ate at Cracker Barrel. We had a good ol' southern style breakfast with grits and all. That Saturday I started coming down with something. Sunday morning I was the worst, including finding out the hard way that living in the desert isn't so great with asthma. Monday the big day, well I spent most the day on the couch :) My RS president came and took my three older ones for most the day. That night Ray and I had some Cafe Rio and watched old episodes of the Office. And then I went to around 9pm. I felt very much loved and thought of though b/c I had friends email me from all over the place. If felt good to be remembered, especially when I was feeling so awful. So are you wondering what wonderful gift I bought myself??????

I have been wanting a Dyson vacuum forever. I have had the same vacuum the whole time we have been married. It really wasn't that great, ok it was awful, but I made it work. But let me just tell you...I LOVE THIS THING!!! A friend of mine bought a Dyson many moons ago, I remember using it and loving it and I have been hooked since. Now I have my own and yeah I just love it!

Thanksgiving

This year was the first time in about 11 years that I have spent Thanksgiving and my birthday with my mom. I made my first turkey and it turned out great. I didn't take any pictures b/c I was just enjoying everything so much...I did manage the above pic of baby Ray and Alexa...My mom and I cooked. My brother and his wife and their little one Ty stopped by for a bit. My sister and Ray's sister had dinner with us. Friday Ray's other sister and her fam and his brother Jake and his little family all came and had another Thanksgiving with us. That Friday morning I embarked on my first ever Black Friday shopping extravaganza. It was interesting. I did get a steal of deal on my birthday present :) I don't usually buy my own gifts but I knew I would be getting it and it was way marked down. So I decided really the only reason to go out on that crazy morning is if you have something that you are getting or need and it is worth the money you would save to stand in a line for hour or more.