Goodbye Alvin, We'll miss you!

Today we looked in the fish bowl and discovered Alvin laying lifeless on the bottom. Tonight we had a fish funeral. Daddy held the bowl with Alvin still inside and said some very nice words. Then daddy poured Alvin in the toilet and Ashton did the honors of flushing. Then the children were crying and crying.
mom: "I'm so sorry why are you so sad?"
A: "I miss Alvin!"
S: " I don't think I was a very good owner."
A: "me either."
mom: You both were great owners, it's not your fault Alvin died, fish just don't live very long but he lived with us for almost 2 years, that's a long time. He probably got to cold in his water since it is so cold in our house now at night.
MORE CRYING and LOTS OF TEARS
mom: what did Alvin do for you?
A: he was a good fish!
s: yeah!
Mom: you liked to watch him swim around?
A: yeah!
S: I remember when I named him Alvin.
MORE tears!
I then brought up a funny Phineas and Ferb episode where Buford is crying hysterically because he lost his fish. The kids started remembering and telling me what happened next and the crying slowed to a halt and then we were able to go brush teeth and get to bed.
Alvin you were a good fish!

Black Friday

Did not wake up early for all the chaos...instead we went about 2 pm and was in the midst of pm chaos. Was not too thrilled until we hit Target and then I went crazy, not with sales though, it seems everytime I do Black Friday shopping most things I want are not on sale but because I was there I got alot of my shopping done. YAY! Heather K. was the one who said "can we just run into Target really quick?" YES! Thanks Heather! I LOVE Target!
We decked the halls yesterday too! Jake did the dreaded lights on the house. YAY for daddy!
Had dinner at my mom's house with everybody and the missionaries. We got to have another Turkey dinner! :) Yes it was still delish!
Today had mount-o-eggs for breakfast at dad's followed by Thanksgiving dinner tonight! Delish once again!
I am grateful to have so much family that wants to feed us! :)
Right now Jake is watching recorded USC, Ashton playing with dinosaurs, Sierra reading a Christmas book to her AG dolls. I love the sounds of my children playing. I love the sounds of their sweet voices in our home, I am thankful!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I did my part...

We had such a beautiful day! The weather was so beautiful, we welcome the chill in the air and the skies were blue and the sun was shining. I woke up early to make rolls for a friends family and for my own family. Ashton and I went on a little bike ride. Then we went up to mom's to enjoy yummy food with our family. Briana has been here since Tuesday with her kids and we have enjoyed them immensely. Aunt Ruthie came with her family and we always love to see them. I love Thanksgiving because it is a great time to sit and enjoy visiting with family while eating really yummy food and homemade PIE, I LOVE pie!!!






So much to be thankful for...family, my good husband, my beautiful children, food to eat, clothes to wear, cozy beds to sleep in and warm heaters, the scriptures, our prophet, my savior Jesus Christ, good health, good books, love and goodness! :)

Tagged!

I used to babysit for a great family and this great mom, Cathy G. tagged me. I loved reading her answers, you get to know so much about a person, hopefully my answers are as interesting. :) This is the first time I've been tagged.
4 Shows I watch:
Survivor
Amazing Race
The Office
Fringe

4 Things I am passionate about:
My family
My Testimony
Exercise
Sleep :)

4 Phrases I say a lot:
"I love you!"
"Put this away!"
"Did you brush your teeth?"
"How was your day?"

4 Things I have learned from my past:
Love your spouse with your whole heart!
Don't worry over things you can't control.
Don't judge, you don't know what they might be going through.
Enjoy every single moment with your babies and squeeze them lots and lots, they grow so quick.

4 places I would like to go:
New York
Italy
Tahiti
Church sites

4 Things I did yesterday:
Slept late :) I LOVE WEEKENDS!
Made waffles
birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese
Ate at PC's (Tai food)with Dad, Tori, Sophi and family

4 Things I'm looking forward to:
Thanksgiving to be with family and eat homemade pie! I LOVE PIE!
This next week with no school and no obligations!
more rain and cold weather
Christmas morning

4 Things I like about Winter:
Christmas
yearly trip to Mammoth
being cozy in sweats and big blankets
the fireplace and candles

4 Things on my Wish List
no more debt, not even a house payment :) That would be WONDERFUL!
have more babies
go somewhere beautiful and romantic with hubby
get my hair done very very soon

4 People I Tag: Sorry if you've been tagged before!
Briana
Sophia
Brenna
Miriam

fries

Today I took Ashton to El Pollo Loco after school. I got him a small fry. When we got home he pulled out a super long french fry and said "WHOA! This is not a small fry this is a large fry. I thought we ordered a small fry." :)

San Francisco

Wow, it's been a while since I've blogged. Life gets crazy! Our house is somewhat put back together now I just have to break out the paint.
Last week was our Young Women in Excellence night and it turned out beautifully! Kerrie is such a great YW's President and has such great vision and inspiration. I am privileged to work with her. So,
Monday consisted of last minute errands to be ready for Tuesday.
Tuesday consisted of setting up and making trifles. Sierra went on a field trip with her class to the San Fernando Mission. She had Karlie over to work on last minute prep for their mission project on Wed. We got an email from Sierra's Super Dolphin Swim Coach, Coach Amanda, congratulating her because she was advanced to the next level, Bronze group. We babysat Melanie so Miriam could get some prep done for their big move on Saturday.
Wednesday was babysitting and went to Sierra's class to watch the girls presentation along with other's from her class. We babysat Melanie.
Thursday we got up early and headed north to Livermore to visit Jake's sister, Jenn and her family. She takes such good care of us. She tours us around and feeds us. Thanks Jenn!
We went to the Oakland zoo on Friday and then we went over to Concord to visit Jake's brother Hunter and his family. We had such a nice visit. They fed us Papa Murphy's pizza and cookies! Thanks guys!!!
Saturday we went into the city. San Francisco is so neat. I love seeing all the bridges and water and buildings.
We drove on the famous curly road...

We drove the crazy streets and saw the cable cars...

We saw the Golden Gate Bridge...

This was the last time Jake and I saw the Golden Gate Bridge...October 1999, we were newlyweds and blissfully in love.:)

Jenn and Kate

We loved the day, Jenn said it perfectly "San Francisco has a charm to it!"
We went back to Livermore and saw Megamind and then ate yummy authentic mexican food.
We got up early on Sunday and hurried home because our kids had their primary program. Sierra had a cough all weekend and I don't think she felt completely herself during the program, she was very emotional and she didn't want to give her talk that she wrote herself (that is not like her!). She said her part perfectly though, "Jesus taught love and faith through his many miracles" and Ashton said his part perfectly too, "if Jesus stood beside me everyday I would read my scriptures before playing with my legos, help my family, be kind to others and help others." :) They sang all the songs too!!! It was such a beautiful program, very well put together. Thanks Primary leaders for all you do!!!

We are tore up!

We have a repipe going on at our house, yep that is our fridge in the middle of the kitchen. He showed me one of the pipes he cut out and I was looking at the sky through a pin hole, that is how clogged our pipes were with rust. Here's to fantastic water pressure and here's to hoping it really is done tomorrow!!!

A cute post-halloween face!

the kids picked out a few of their favorites and the rest of the candy went to the Halloween Goblin (AKA donated to school to go to kids in another country). We gave him candy and he gave Ashton a dragon toy and Sierra $5. Not bad!

FHE

It was Ashton's turn to teach the lesson and he made an activity for us to do together...

that is a picture of Jesus in the middle and on each of the squares to the left is a good thing and we needed to put our orange square, that had Jesus' face drawn on it, on top of our favorite thing. For example; the temple, paying tithing, CTR, being reverent, helping others, etc. and at the end of the activity I asked him if he wanted to say anything and he said "I know my Savior lives!"