You have to love the Ward Christmas Party!

We are trying to be sociable and get to know our new neighbors. Luckily, we moved into a great Ward and everyone is really friendly.

I am bound and determined to keep up on my blog, so come back and visit more often!! We are having so much fun in our new house and getting ready for Christmas. With almost all of our Christmas shopping done already, all we have to focus on is spending time with family and having fun with the little ones.

First Christmas Magic!

We got our Christmas things out this weekend and started decorating. Little Millie is so enamored with my little Christmas Village. She loves to watch the little People dance around in the "Palace Ballroom". It's the exact magic I hoped the kids would feel when I bought the houses years ago... too precious.

We are so grateful and excited to be in our new house for the holidays. We have been blessed so much since we came together. I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings. For the first time in a long time I can say that and mean it. Life is Grand!

By the way, I have the BEST Husband ever! He climbed, cut, spliced, and straightened our lights. They looked better than the neighbors and they had to pay for theirs. I am a lucky woman to have him!

Millie kept us company while we decorated outside.

There are so many things to be grateful for! Most of all I'm grateful for my Children, my sweet Husband, my Family, and the opportunity we have to always "start over". We had a great feast at Mom and Bob's with lots of family at little ones. It was a great day!

The other kids were gone with the "ex's". We miss them so much when we have to share them, but they have too many people who love them.

Mandy earned herself the name "Martha" this Thanksgiving with her awesome turkey rolls.

Cutie Maggie and David. It's just not fair to be so cute and pregnant.

FALL FUN!!

Ok, Ok, I know it's late. My motto these days is "better late than never". We had a blast though!

Trinity was such a gorgeous little witch, Bridger was a super spy, Emma was Cinderella (at her Momma Ronnie's) and Millie spent her first Halloween as a purple witch.Thanks, once again to Mandy and her block party, we had a fun Halloween party to go to!

We Bought Our House!!

We just closed on our house today! Wa-Hoo!! We are so excited to have this new start and to finally have enough room for our growing family. We will be living in Sunrise Meadows. We have been saying for two years that we wanted to live in that neighborhood. I guess it just goes to show, you better be careful what you put into the universe!!

We will miss Mom and Bob though. They are the best and we have had a lot of fun. It couldn't get much better for living with your Parents!!

Here's some pictures of what we've been up to...

The Kids' School Carnival

Painting Grandpa's "Barn"

Lake Powell with Dave's Work -- They Rock!!

On the hike from He_ _!!

The "Crack"

There's a good reason...

There's a good reason I haven't updated all summer! We have been so busy and having too much fun! Also, we sold our little house in Saratoga Springs and have been living with my Mom and Bob for about two weeks now. We were lucky to sell our house in this market and are taking our time house-hunting and saving up some money. They are the best for letting us move into the basement.

Take a look at our summer adventures!

Ward Ball!!

Dave's 28th Birthday... Look at all those kids!

Princess Emma

Camping with the Claytons

Lehi Roundup Rodeo

Kids and Cousins at Lehi Parade

Stadium of Fire and Miley Cyrus!

Millie's first food

Our last Sunday Breakfast before the move

So many people have asked me how to tell if they should be concerned about a mole. Here is a copy of the information I got from my Doctor. Also, check out the American Academy of Dermatology website at http://www.aad.org/ . It has a lot of great information on what to look for and ways to do self-examinations for melanoma. Just double click on the picture below and you can read it better and really see the pictures. Have fun!!

What a week it's been! I am so grateful for everything in my life and for my life itself. It's a shame it took something so extreme to give me a wake-up call and remind me to appreciate all the wonderful gifts I have been given. I have come to the realization that all the little things don't matter and the never-ending search for perfection only lies within. If I sparkle on the inside, it doesn't matter what is going on on the outside.




We have all heard how important it is to wear sunscreen and eat well and take care of our bodies. I know I didn't listen and it was more important to look good than to really do what was best for my body. I never in a million days would have thought I would get diagnosed with skin cancer, of all things. That just happens to someone else. I think we all think the same thing. I hope that you can read about my experience and maybe think twice before going out in the sun unprotected. It is a scary realization that getting your skin and tissue and fat cut out piece
by piece is a possibility and it really can happen.



I am so thankful that I was given this opportunity for growth and a profound experience. I am so blessed that it hadn't spread any further and I didn't literally have to learn this lesson the hard way. Having scars and healing from this surgery is simple compared to what I may have had to go through.

I hope all of you, my loved ones, will think a little more, try a little harder, so you don't have to question your mortality. Maybe take a minute right now and think about your life and all the things you are grateful for, without having to. Act as if this was your wake-up call too and keep yourself protected.


Thank you all for all your prayers and for being in my world. I am truly so blessed!!

WE ARE BLESSED!
As some of you may have read on Mandy's Blog, I was diagnosed with skin cancer. Crazy huh? In a matter of four days, I found out I had Melanoma Skin Cancer, had two more moles scooped out of my body, had radioactive dye shot into my leg, had skin, fat, and tissue scooped out of my leg, had a lympnode removed from my groin, received a 13 in scar and a 31/2 in scar, and 24 staples. I was scared out of my mind and relieved out of my mind when I was told the cancer hadn't spread, and went through almost every human emotion possible. I am left today so grateful for all of my blessings, for an amazing Husband and awesome kids, and the opportunity to learn from this experience. I haven't quite figured out what all of it was for. I am still absorbing the whole whirlwind! I am a firm believer in "all things happen for a reason" so I am waiting to figure out what that "reason" is. Thank you for all your prayers and thoughts. I know I felt them and things have worked out so well because of them. When I figure out what this experience means to me, I will share it with you. Maybe that was the point...

Miss Us??

Hey all! We have been so busy the last month that I haven't updated for a while. Things have been going well. I have been trying to get into a groove after Millie's arrival and having four kids now. Also, waiting for my hormones to settle down has been interesting, to say the least. My sweet husband is so patient! I am relieved to say we are finally into the swing of things.

Here's what we've been up to all month:

Little Millie was blessed by her Daddy on May 4th at our ward in Lehi. He gave her such a perfect blessing to get her started off in life. All our family and loved ones showed up for her special day. We had lots of fun eating afterwards and visiting. We are such proud parents!

Bridger lost another tooth and is now missing both front teeth (and then some!). It's finally his turn to be toothless! He is growing too fast!

I have to say I am the luckiest Wife and Mom on the planet! I was spoiled rotton on Mother's Day with breakfast (nice and early as you can see), lots of homemade cards, rollerblades, and a manicure and pedicure. Not to mention all the wonderful hugs and kisses and the feeling of being a "Queen-for-a-day"! My Dave is too good to me!

Ta-da!! Little Miss Emma had her very first gymnastics meet! It was seriously too cute. All the little three and four year olds came marching in like elephants from "Jungle Book" and took turns showing us their moves on the balance beam, bars, and jump board. Emma was awesome! We are so proud of her!

Trinity is my biggest helper! She is having her first turn at feeding Millie. I honestly don't know what I would do without her. She is feeling good and we are keeping on top of her labs, meds, and doctor visits. So far, so good. As we say around here, "no news is good news". We are hoping to get her off her prednisone soon and pumping her full of water to keep her creatnin levels down. Things are looking stable though, so that's good!