Pinewood Derby

This is Camren with his last Pinewood Derby car. He and Chad had a good time working on it together. It didn't go very fast, but it looked really cool! He did a really good job on it. He had a lot of positive comments on it. He will be out of Cub Scouts in December and we won't have to do this again for three years! Yeah!

Brahnson and Sydnee

I have to say, at times, Brahnson can be very hard. I truly believe that Sydnee was sent to us to soften him. It doesn't matter how bad of a mood he is in, if Sydnee is around he is instantly happier. Sydnee is the same way. Brahnson can always make her day brighter. She prefers him over her mom sometimes. The first thing that he asks when he gets home from anywhere is "Is Sydnee awake?" If she is, he goes and finds her and if she isn't, he wakes her up and plays with her. She is always happy to see him. She stops whatever she is doing, stands by his feet, puts her arms up towards him, and says "Up!". He picks her up and she gives him big hugs that she rarely gives anyone else. They have a very sweet relationship. We love them both dearly!

Tino

This is our dog Tino. We have had him for a little over a year now. He is a pretty good dog, if you have to have a dog. He comes when he is told and does tricks. He is really good with Sydnee. She will pull on his ears and and grab at his skin and hair and he will just sit there. He hardly ever barks. He hates the cold though! We will take him out right now and he does his business in a matter of seconds and comes right back in. It is in the thirties now for the highs!

Nobody wants to really take him out and take care of him except for Camren. So, we told Camren that Tino is his dog and he is responsible for him. He has done a pretty good job in taking care of him. I think Tino understands that he is Camren's because he never leves Camren's side when Camren is home. I tolerate him when Camren is gone. If we have to have a dog I can't complain about this one.

Christmas Decorating Early

Chad wants to take away my "traditional" Thanksgiving. He wants to go to a restaurant for Thanksgiving. He even got the kids on his side too. So, I couldn't wait to get on to the next holiday and start putting up Christmas decorations. Tori and I wen to a super Saturday for Relief Society and made these Christmas ball ornaments to put on our tree. It was way fun to spend time with her that way! Jorden just wanted his picture taken.

We can't really put nails into our fireplace mantel, so I found these cute things at Menards!(that's like a Home Depot) I was so excited that I had to put them up! Don't they just make you feel happy? I love them. And yes, you can count eight stockings up, even though we only have seven people in our family. We thought we should buy an extra just in case we add another person to our family in the future. There are no announcements that are being made by that statement. (:

Sydnee loves to see all the decorations. I'm only doing a little at a time. I also got my chocolate and that made me a little excited for Christmas too. Chad found a food distributor that is only an hour away. Instead of getting my usual 10lbs. He got me 50lbs. I will be dipping a lot of chocolate this year and the next!

Purple Velvet Girls

Tori is turning into such a beautiful girl. She is just as beautiful inside as she on the outside. Her teacher tells me that she is nice to everyone and makes sure that everyone is being included in whatever game she is playing.

Sydnee keeps us on our toes. She did her first trial run of nursery today. I had to stay with her, but she did great! She will be 18 months next week. I am so excited to be able to go to both Sunday school and Relief Society by myself and not be distracted or be the distraction when I have Sydnee in their with me.

I found Sydnee's purple velvet dress at Saver's and knew that Tori had a purple velvet dress as well and had to get it. People at church said she looked like a little "snow princess". This is them together in their purple velvet! It was very fun to dress them similar for church.

Our Handsome Boys

These are our handsome boys after a very much needed haircut. I was too embarrassed to take before pictures. I can't believe how much older they look when they get a clean cut haircut. Brahnson is almost as tall as I am. Camren and Tori are pretty much about the same height now. Jorden loves getting his picture taken!

Our Backyard

This is what we see when we look out our back yard. In the distance, you can see a pole sticking out. That is a tornado siren. Every Wednesday around noon it goes off as a test. I have never heard one before I moved here. We see a lot of birds here. We get a lot of them in our backyard. I have seen a few wild turkeys, but not in our backyard yet.

This is the pond that we have in our backyard. My neighbor's daughter said that it froze completely solid last winter and she liked to ice skate on it. The other picture has all the ducks and Canada geese we get on the pond. They are pretty wild. I gave my kids some bread to go feed the ducks and they swam away from them and hid in the bushes. The ducks that I grew up with always would come near you when you had bread.

I'm glad we have some small sledding hills in the back. Jorden is just waiting for it to snow so he can go sledding. We have had snow, but nothing that has stuck around. My friend told me that last year it really started snowing around the first part of December and didn't stop until mid April! They had over 100 inches of snow. The farmer's almanac, that is pretty accurate, is predicting even more snow this winter!

This is Tori going to her second official Activity days! They did a way cute thing that I thought was great. They went to Old Navy and had a modesty fashion show. They brought out an immodest outfit and talked about why it was immodest. The girls were then able to choose a modest outfit and model it for their "fashion show". This is Tori's outfit. The other picture is all of the girls that went! They are a great bunch of girls!

The Best French Toast

I really like cooking. When I come across a really good and easy recipe, I like to share it. So here is a recipe that you can have for breakfast or dinner.
The Best French Toast
6 eggs
1 1/2c. milk
1/4c. sugar
3T Prepared Orange Juice
1 t. vanilla
1/2 t. salt
2-3 dashes of cinnamon
sliced bread
Beat all ingredients together except for the bread. Dip bread on both sides and place on greased skillet. Cook on both sides.
I like to put strawberries, sweetened whipped cream (the real stuff not cool whip) , butter syrup, and a sprinkle of powdered sugar on top. I also serve it with sausage or bacon.
Butter Syrup
1 stick of butter (no substitutes!)
3/4c. sugar
1/2 c. buttermilk or sour milk
1 t. vanilla
1 t. baking soda
Melt butter and sugar together. Add buttermilk or sour milk. Cook until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and add vanilla and baking soda. Stir until foamy. Serve immediately. YUMMY!!!!
I hope you enjoy this. It is a quick, easy, and yummy dinner or breakfast. Look for other recipes on future blogs.

This is in response to my sister Stephanie's TAG!
She tagged everyone that read her blog and now that you are reading my blog, you are tagged also! TAG!!! YOU ARE IT!! (for those who don't know about tags if you are reading this you HAVE to do this same tag on your blog.)
Five favorite family memories.
Here are five of my many favorite memories.
1.Thanksgiving and Christmas at Aunt Margaret's house with her yummy punch and raspberry candies
2. Grandpa always giving a kiss on each cheek anytime I saw him. The kisses were always wet!
3. Going to Richfield and the Ideal Dairy's punch bags! I think they still have them!
4. Clothes shopping with mom. She always made it very fun and always took me out to lunch! If you went shopping with dad, he would get you the same thing just in different colors. Then, you would have to clean out his shoe closet.
5. Going to Cedar City with my mom and sisters. I always had to visit the Indian store to buy bottles of painted sand and polished rocks. Looking back, it was a waste of money. At the time, I thought I had the best treasures! It will be even more fun this next year when Tori goes with me!