Thanksgiving

Papa Winslow came for Thanksgiving this year. It was nice and relaxing. He brought the turkey and Mike made this Dr. Pepper BBQ marinade for it. I wasn't so sure about how it would taste, but it was SO good. They cooked the turkey in a dutch oven along with the potatoes (regular potatoes, sweet potatoes, and some bacon mashed together- yum). We had some of my rolls, corn, and Marie Calendar made us some pumpkin pie. So nice of her :) Bruce helped us fix our grape vines, Mike worked on the grass outside, ans I cleaned the garage. Later, we went to the park and had Bruce take our pictures for our Christmas card. I didn't have a thing for Bray to wear, so I got out some of Ty's old clothes. I can't believe they fit Bray! Anyway, we had fun at the park. When we got home, Bruce left and we got the Christmas lights up and the inside of the house decorated. It was a very productive day. I am so thankful for a lot of things. My husband who takes care of me, my kids who bring meaning to my life, the jobs that we have, our home that's in a good neighborhood, friends who keep me sane and who understand me, family who loves us, and much, much more. Good times. Here are some of our attempts at family photo's.

I took this just because I thought it was dang cute. Mike and Bruce with the boys on their shoulders.
Us swinging

Attempt at getting a pic of the boys. We got Ty to take his hand off Bray's head for the next few.

Me and my girl on the balance beam.

Are they not the cutest?

Our little family.

He wouldn't turn around, but I thought this was just the perfect pic.

Bread-o-Rama

Ok, let me give you a little background on this. We've always loved being able to help someone during this time of the year. The past two years have been hard for us and we haven't been able tot do that. This year is the same. We feel that we really need to be doing something because our kids are old enough to understand and they need to be serving (and so do we). We decided this year that we would do a family service project to raise some money to help serve others. We decided that we would offer to make bread or rolls for Thanksgiving to those who wanted it. We were going to go to three places to sell it- work, the neighborhood/ward, and family/friends. Well, we put out sign-up sheets at work and people went crazy. We had so many people sign-up that we couldn't possibly do anymore than that. A few of our friends wanted some to, but that was it. We didn't go to neighbors or family because there was no way I could make that much.

Monday night and the majority of yesterday were spent in the kitchen. I went to the church for about 5 hours yesterday so I could use two ovens and then came home and worked for another 5-6 hours. Monday night I spent about 5 hours baking and it hurt so bad standing on my toe that long. It was so swollen and throbbing. I didn't know what to do considering I had so much more work that had to be done the next day. Mike gave me a blessing and said the pain wouldn't be noticeable the next day- and it wasn't. I was so grateful.

I ended up using 40 pounds of flour to make the 40 dozen rolls and 17 loaves of bread. I was covered in flour and so was the kitchen. You can see the picture of the kitchen at the end of the night- it was insane. I just can't believe I got it all done. Mike, Ty, and I delivered all of the baked goods today and people were so generous. We asked for $2 for a doz rolls or a loaf and people gave us extra on top of that.

I'm excited for the last part of this project- the helping part. We're going to pick someone and then have the kids help buy the gifts and deliver them. This is the best part of the season. There are just a lot more opportunities to serve and give and I want our kids to learn that. A friend told me of an idea that she does with her family. They use the idea from the book "Christmas Jars". Everyone in the family has a jar and they save up their change all year. When it's Christmas time, they keep a look out for someone who might be able to use the extra money. When they find someone, they give them the jar full of change. On Christmas Eve, they tell the story of who they found and why they gave them the jar. I thought that was a great idea. Maybe that's something we can do next year. Anyway, what a neat experience. I look forward to the coming experience with my family. Some of the butter topped goodness.
A few of the bags full of rolls.

The messy kitchen right before the last batch was done (you can see it rising on the stove). Even though it looks dirty, I promise it is all sanitary. Between me and Mike, I think every dish was washed 20 times, the counters were scrubbed between each batch, and my hands were so dry from washing them every other second that they hurt. Glad it's over, but I look forward to next year when we can hopefully expand this a little and add some friends to the baking process.

9/11

Mike and I were just beginning to date when 9/11 happened, so Ty didn't exist yet. This year we talked to our kids about what happened and of course it was covered in school too. On his own, Ty took this little sticky note and drew a picture of what he thought it looked like. When I found it I was shocked. I didn't think he cared much or that he even really grasped what had happened, but he did. He understood it so much that it really bothered him. He had to visualize it so he "wrote it down" so to speak. That same day, I found Anna in tears. When I asked her why, she said it was "because all of the people died when the planes crashed". She was sobbing and so upset. I was brought to tears by the sympathy and concern my two small children had for the people who died that day. I had to write this down so that I can remember how touching this moment was for all of us this year.

Anna's B-day Pics

Anna's b-day was so fun. Here are some pics of the day before when we had her party. New bed and bedding.
We put a stuffed animal net in her room. Much needed and she loves it.

The paint was already there, I just rearranged everything on her walls, took all the Disney Princess stuff off (minus the castle), and added the bedding, curtains, and rug. The bed is new too.

This is when she walked in the house. Everyone was hiding. I got the camera and made her think I was just taking a picture. I counted to three and everyone jumped out. Right after this shot she looked so startled and put her head against the wall saying "oh my gosh!". She immediately hugged everyone in the room in her excitement. It was really cute- just what we thought she would do.

My friend, Amy Bowler, let me borrow her cake decor stuff and I went to town on this little Hannah Montana cake. Not the best, but it worked. She tried to blow out her candles, but she kept blowing over the top of them. Beth helped and then I helped. It was funny.
A stuffed dog from Uncle Matt.
Cute toys and a book from Kristi (her babysitter).
Anna and a few of the neighbor girls.

Banana is 5!

My little girl turns 5 tonight at 9:13. We celebrated yesterday with the one thing she wanted more than anything else- a surprise party. It was great. We had planned on her being gone all morning so that we could re-do her bedroom, but we ran into few snags in that plan. We also had a funeral to attend, so things didn't go the way we had envisioned them. BUT, the funny thing is that we still changed her room (including getting rid of her old bed and putting in a new one, hammering pictures to the wall, etc) and she was here the whole time. She didn't notice at all! Funny little girl. Mike's mom came over, we went to the funeral, Beth came and got Anna while we were gone, we came home and set up for the party, and then everyone arrived. When she walked in the door, she showed me the toy Beth had bought for her and I pointed the camera at her to take a picture. I counted to three and then everyone jumped out. She was so shocked. She went around the room hugging everyone-even the neighbor boy that she didn't know. She opened her gifts and then she went up to her room to "open" her room. I had made the door look like a present. She loved all of her gifts. We had cake and the kids all played. It was so cute! She had a Hannah Montana party and I attempted to make her a cake. It was pretty novice, but it worked. Today we didn't do much. We sung a song in church as a family (minus Bray of course- he was outside screaming while one of my visiting teachers watched him). The kids did SO well. The sounded so good and they sang out. We are proud of them. Anna was happy to be recognized as the birthday girl in Primary. Ah, good days. I'll post pictures another time. I'm too lazy right now, that and Mike is actually home so I'm going to go hang out with him for a minute.

To My Grandma

I've picked up some of Anna's toys the other day.  She keeps a bunch of little treasures in a bag and carry's them around.  As I was picking them up, I noticed most of the toys came from a pack of magnet dolls that you gave her last Christmas.  I suddenly found myself thinking about getting your packages in the mail addressed to my little children and your cards.  I thought about the Precious Moments characters you had given me over the years of my own childhood.  I thought about how kind and gentle you are, your voice, and how welcome you always made me feel.  Then I thought that maybe this year we won't get to see your writing on that Christmas card.  I am so glad I brought Anna to visit you so we could spend time with you.  I didn't really want to think it was the last time, but now, I am coming to believe that it was the last time.  It seems that after Grandpa died and after Grandma died you were the link that held part of my childhood together.  You seemed unbreakable.  You were strong and always so vibrant and active.  That part of you has been stolen from you, ripped from you by that horrible tumor.  I hate that tumor.  I wish it was gone, that your suffering was gone, but there's only one way for that to happen now and I am sad.  I just want to let you know that I love you.  Thank you for being my Grandma.  Thank you for fighting as long as you have and as long as you will.  I will miss you when you leave but you will see Grandpa again and I know how much you love him and have missed him.  We miss him too.  I hate this part of life but I know how essential it is in the plan of Heavenly Father.  You lived a wonderful life and you showed the people around you how to be a good person.  We keep praying for you.  I love you Grandma.

Hayley

Some note worthy things....

It's been insane this past week.  There's the toe thing and then Tyson came down with the flu.  I don't think it was in swine form, but who really cares.  The flu is the flu.  He was miserable.  What sucks was the fact that I am kinda limited in walking so taking care of him has been hard.  It's been almost a week and he's coming out of it now.  He stayed home for three days from school and we are planning on sending him back tomorrow. 

Mike has been helping a few bands from others cities and states in the marching band competitions held here in St. George.  A band from Fresno, CA stayed at his school the past few days.  Another band held a party at his school Thursday night and yet another school used his football field for practice.  We've been at the school a bunch this weekend helping and watching rehearsals.  The best part were the two free tickets we got to see the BOA finals.  We went last night and the bands were so great.  I don't care who you are- I think everyone should go to a marching band competition at least once in their life.  They are so entertaining and fun.  The AF band did a tribute to their director that died in a recent bus accident as they were coming home from a trip.  She was thrown from the bus as she was trying to steer the bus after the driver had passed out.  It was such a tragic event and so touching to see what they had done in her memory.  It was a great date for me and Mike.  We rarely get out and this was just a perfect night (Olive Garden was a yummy start to the date).

We are doing a family service project this season.  We are making bread and rolls and selling it to co workers and friends for $2.00.  All of the money we make will go to providing Christmas for a person or family.  It's a lot of work, but Mike and I have decided it is a good way to teach the kids about earning, paying tithing, and then using what's left to serve other people.  I made a goal to do more service this year.  We started out good, but then I didn't keep up with planning.  It's an important thing that Mike and I want our kids to see us doing more of.  Maybe they'll learn something- maybe I will too. 

Um...that's all I can think of for now.  Scroll down because I put two other entries on today.