A Tribute to Autumn

Autumn has her birthday on the 5th so I decided to post a few of my favorite pictures of her that describe her so well. She is a wonderful blessing in our lives and brings us much laughs and humor as well as heartburn :) She is soooooo mischievous and makes you laugh when you want to scream. She has brought us so much joy that I don't know how we lived without her in our family. We love you Autumn and wish you the happiest of birthdays.

Wonderful Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas. It is so much fun watching our kids and there bright enthusiastic faces. Makenna new she was getting Make-up from Santa. Of course she did and it got everywhere Christmas morning, but it was adorable. We also had a wonderful time enjoying the snow. The girls are having a lot more fun with it now that they have warm clothes to wear. It has been a wonderful year and we have been very blessed. We are grateful to remember our Lord and Saviors birth. Merry Christmas to All!

If all of the Snowflakes were candy bars and Milkshakes Ohh what a world this would be.

Christmas Party, and party, and party and party

I love the Holidays and all that comes with it. We have already gone to a few Christmas Parties which were so fun. I love seeing people I haven't seen in a while and catching up. At the Egelund Christmas party Jon and I did the White Elephant Right Left game. Well, mostly Jon organized because at that moment Autumn was having a melt down, but it turned out really well. I also had the opportunity of going to a Party with Friends here in Morgan. I hadn't seen some of them in Years, since H.S. WOW!!! It was cool. Lot's of fun. I haven't taken many pictures. Sorry so it is just a long post about Christmas. I have made chocolates with my mom already which is a season tradition; and then to top it all off I got to go with Whit to get her bridals taken and then we watched "Momma Mia" the sing a long version at Kaysville Theater. It was quite awesome. I have enjoyed spending time with her so much. I am so excited about the snow. I want to bundle up and go play in it. We wish you all a wonderful Dec. and hopefully I'll get a few fun pictures on here soon.

I am Thankful for Many Things, but this year having my family all together was my favorite

This past week has been crazy yet wonderful. Jon's sister Amber came and stayed with us for a week. It was really nice to have a full house for the Holiday and for the cousins to get to know each other better. We took them up to the Deep Crick property and went 4-wheeling, had lunch, and roasted marshmallows. It was really fun, then on Thanksgiving day we all went to my Mom's house and ate a wonderful dinner. My family is full of amazing cooks and all the food was homemade and fabulous. Then we had a "Dan in Real Life" experience with a talent show. We had a lot of fun doing, "Toodie Taddie, Toodie Taddie, Toodie tah tah", reciting jokes, listening to Billy play the guitar, and singing along. Ryan played and sang a song he composed Then my Aunt Leanne came up with a great idea for us to reenact our cheerleader days, so we did a great Thanksgiving day cheer with her, my sister, a family friend, and I. "Go, Fight, Win, Thankgiving". After all this excitement, Thanksgiving couldn't be complete without the 4-wheelers, horse rides and of course the Texas vs. Texas A&M football game; and just when I thought the evening was over Whitney and Ryan got us tickets to go see "Twilight" at 9:00pm. It was my second time seeing it. Ok, so I am a trekkie for Twilight, I love it. The best is hearing all the girls in the theater giggle and squeal. So after that long day Jon decided to wake up on black Friday at 4:30 and go Door busting. Nope, I didn't go with him, he got some cool stuff though and was back in time for us all to wake up :) Then I took off with my Mom, Wendy, and Leanne to go to Gardner Village for some shopping and playing. It was very enjoyable. So after giving you the log of the day I'd like to post a few things I am thankful for:
MY SAVIOR-Husband-Kids-Extended Family-Smiles-laughter-Joy-Peace-and Kindness.
I read a wonderful quote today that was simple, yet powerful to me. It said
"Kindness Matters" In a world where everything from our looks to our inner desires are being picked apart, it is good to remember how a kind word or work can lift and lighten the load. I am incredibly thankful for the kind people in my life either close or just passing by; and I pray that I can be a kinder person in the future. We love you all. Have a wonderful Holiday Season with much thought of the Savior and what he brought to this world. A Whole Lot of Kindness :)

I just might be crazy!!! (RED)

Ok, so the post title has nothing to do with the BYU rivalry going on this Saturday. If anything it is a tribute to the "Twilight" movie coming out on Friday. I died my hair red??? I've been wanting to try it for a really long time; I finally did and now I am trying to decide if I like it. So here is a picture.

I do have to write about a cool experience which testified that things don't happen by coincidence and that the Lord really does have a hand in our lives. First of all we took the 3 little rascal girls back up to there mom and dad in Montana. We absolutely loved having them and the drive went considerably well. It just took 12 hours with all the stops. We helped Wendy settle in a little bit and enjoyed spending time with brand new Austin and seeing them. Then Jon was absolutely ecstatic when Bret offered the big screen t.v. to him. So he had to find a way to get it in the Durango. With a little disassemble they finally got the hatch to close. YEAH!!! Thanks Wendy and Bret and also thank you for the great example you are to us.

On Sunday we ended up driving home through WY instead of ID so that Jon could visit his home town of CODY. We drove past his old house and the mail box still has there name on it; I heard a ton of stories about road rashes, fishing, camping, hiking, friends, and the George Dairy Farm. Then we went to the church and although it was already over when I walked in to go to the out-house ;) A nice young man asked if I was looking for something. So when I walked out I told Jon that someone he might know was in there. We all went back in to find Adam George. His best friend from the Dairy Farm was the nice young man. Jon and Him caught up and then they invited us over for dinner. It was a wonderful Sunday meal and so kind for them to invite us in on such short notice. Thank you Heavenly Father for letting them stay after church for no reason at all so we could meet up with them.

Hope you all have a great week. Rah-Rah rah,rah,rah GO C OOOOOOUUUUUUUUU GARS!!!!!!

A fun Week!!!

This past week Jon and I got to go on our first date in three months! It was so nice. My mom and dad took all five girls for the afternoon and I got to plan the date so guess what we did? Of course we went to I Fly in Ogden and went indoor skydiving. It was really awesome. I went skydiving back in high school which was absolutely awesome and memorable, but I would have to say this was pretty close to the experience other than the jumping out of the plane part :)

Then the next night my mom and I took Makenna and Faith to Disney on Ice. It was a well needed trip for Makenna and I. With 5 girls in the house she has been feeling a little neglected and so we got to bond and she was all smile's. She even got to shake Mickey's hand at the end because we sat front and center. Talk about Spoiled :)

Tomorrow we leave for Montana to return the girls to there rightful owners :( We are excited to have them closer though. We should be hanging out a lot more often. Wish us luck on the drive that we won't get stuck in another snow storm.

Having Fun With The Cousins and Late Halloween

So I know I am a little late on the Halloween post, but I had to give Jon his glory post!!! We had a decent Halloween. The girls were reluctant to go trick r treating this year; Makenna's shoe didn't fit right and Autumn kept getting mad at me because she wanted to eat the candy right after the person gave it to her instead of heading to the next door. I think next year it is definitely daddy duty!! After wearing there costumes for so many parties they were kind of sick of them for Halloween, "Go Figure?" But we set up a cool display out front with the candy and visited with my Awesome neighbor Charese since my entire family was gone. Thanks for inviting us over :)

So; this past weekend we have been watching my nieces. There moving from Louisiana to Montana so they are with us while my sister and her husband unpack. We are having a blast and it is great for the girls to get to know there cousins better. So far everything has really been great other than the amount of dishes that accumulate. They wake up put dress up clothes on first thing, play, and play, and play randomly eat then I put all 5 of them in the bath tub, I don't know if any of them really get clean, but they are happy. After such a long day of play that can't help but conk out in slumber all in the same room!!! It is so nice that they love each other.

We also had a fun BYU party on Sat. with my cousins Troy and wife Emily and Tyler and Beccah along with Whitney and Ryan and Billy and girlfriend and his friends. It amounted to a big win and the girls loved all the attention.

So here are a few fun photos. Love to hear from you!!!! Marie

Jon's Post "Hunting"

My first Pheasant hunting trip. I was able to go with all the Wall Brothers to South Dakota and go Pheasant hunting. We stayed on a farm in the middle of vast fields. The Pheasant population was booming this year. We were able to limit out every day (six birds a day). I also had some fun picking off prairie dogs. I got a little scope bite when the gun kicked back and I had my eye too close to the scope. It is going to leave a little mark. The second morning of the hunt we were pushing through a small gully. My father-in-law and I had both shot birds. I was closer to my dad's bird so I went to go retrieve it. It had rolled off the bank into a stream. I grabbed onto some willow branches and reached down the bank to see if I could reach the rooster. I was reaching feathers when the branches broke and I fell into the creek head-first. The creek was about three and a half feet deep and had a little-bit of ice on the top from the light freeze the night before. It sure woke me up. It was a great trip and too much fun. The best part is we are giving all the 160 birds we shot to a homeless shelter. I can't wait till next year.

Really Great Fall Day

We went to Gardner Village last Tuesday as a family and had a lot of fun. The girls got to ride Ponies and visit the petting zoo. When we got home Jon made us tinfoil dinners and we went up to the Deep Creek property and had dinner. I love being in the mountains with my family. I couldn't have asked for a better day!

Happy Birthday To ME!!!!

First I'd like to start with a funny story; Last week I went and took the barn door off of my Dad's old shed to make a headboard for Autumn's bed. So This week it started to smell in her room and I kept blaming it on the old Barn Door. I opened her window, sprayed it with Lysol, and other smelly fragrances but the stench wouldn't go away. Finally I walked in and Makenna said, "Mom what is THAT!!!" I looked down and to my utter disgust it was a dried pooh log. Autumn had taken her diaper off and done her business leaving the stench for us to discover. So now that the culprit is discarded from her room it smells just fine. Apologies to the barn door.

So this week I have been completely spoiled. Jon really went on a spending splurge. He traded in my minivan and purchased another Durango for me. I love it :) Then, on Friday he decided to go buy me another present, an office desk for our front room. WOW!!!! Then on Sat. we took our new SUV out to snowbasin and went hiking. I actually loved that part the most. The kids were really pretty good for the hike. They both wanted to ride in the backpack, so Jon ended up caring them both.

Birthday's can be pretty fun, but I have found I enjoy my kids birthday's more than my own. Maybe it is because I am slowly creeping up on 30 and not that it is a bad age, I just enjoy my age now and can't imagine how 30 could be any better. (I still have 4 years to go!) I wish you all a happy Halloween, and good luck at the polls.

HALLOWEEN PARTY

This past Friday we had a really fun time at our now annual Halloween Party!!! We invited some of our friends over and played: "Box Hockey" (a game Jon made), Bobbed for apples, and did donuts on a string. The kids all dressed up and we had the blow up toy in our basement for them to jump on. It turned out really well, Makenna and Autumn loved having all the friends over. They even had there first sleep-over with Claire, Tyler and Taryn. We are so excited for Halloween it is one of our favorite holidays, no correlation to candy; right!!! HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Stranded In Montana

This past weekend was extremely eventful so I am going to start from the beginning. I had planned to go to Montana on Thursday morning until Sunday to help Wendy find a house. So when Thursday morning arrived I was enjoying my morning slumber when my mom whom just happens to have a key to my house comes running into Jon and I's bedroom while it is still dark outside exclaiming, "Whitney is getting married!!!" I was extremely shocked for those of you who don't know that she is the youngest in our family and has two brothers preceding her whom are not yet married. So on the drive up we began planning her wedding calling her for the small details like colors :) When we arrived in Billings it was gorgeous with all the autumn colors. However, as soon as Wendy's plane arrived it began snowing and didn't stop the entire time we were there. We stayed at Ruth's house (Wendy's Realtor who is a member) and had a blast with her. She loved having girls in the house because she only had two sons. Searching for homes proved to be a fabulous time as we giggled and laughed as sisters do. Wendy kept saying she didn't want to commit because then my mom and I would get excited about a home, but we just started getting excited about them all after that. Then came the purchasing which Wendy did without Bret!! Three cheers for her. She even had an agreement that she would have $10,000 to spend on furnishings. It was definitely a women's buy! So we had 5 hours to find her all the things she wanted. Wendy kept saying she felt like she had won the lottery and we were spending it. So, after all that fun the time came to leave yet the snow had amounted to a few feet. The roads home were closed and we were stuck. So Wendy flew out and my mom and I had to wait until Monday. No worries we got home just fine and even got to stop in and talk to Whitney and go wedding dress shopping!!! It was a really fun girls weekend.

House Projects

So I finally am posting pictures of the before and after effects of our whirl wind of house projects. I just have to say that I cannot believe I built a deck!!!! I did neglect Autumn for a matter of a few minutes while we were screwing in the boards and she managed to color her entire body with markers. And the shelves in the Laundry room I brought back from NY. I love them because the closet shelf has a pull down laundry board. Maybe I will Iron my clothes now??? Hope you Enjoy!!!