BRACES ARE OFF!

After a little more than 2 1/2 years of braces, Faith is finally experience slimy teeth again. She looks absolutely beautiful and I am so excited that we decided to wait it out a couple extra months. She was so excited to smile braces free! Good job Faith for wearing your rubber bands and everything. You are a beautiful young woman and Dad and I love you!

Documenting the retainer process.

KATE'S BAPTISM PICTURES

Kate had an amazing session with Analia for her baptism pictures! Be were blessed with a pretty warm day in January and got back SO many great shots from her session! It's so hard to pick our favorites, so I thought that we would just share a couple! (haha!)

NEW YEAR'S DAY GOOD LUCK SOUP

I really love traditions. So, when I was in Kansas last yes January, I couldn't help but fall in love with this New Year's Day Good Luck Soup. It's kind of like a chicken bean soup and it quite delicious. If you eat this on New Year's Day, you should have good luck all year round! (It is good enough to eat every month if you ask me!)

The recipe comes from Sally Rhodes. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

3 cans black beans

3 cans kidney beans (dark)

3 cans great northern white beans

2 cans pinto beans (not smashed)

3 chicken breasts chopped into cubes

2 cans green chile peppers 

Add about a tablespoon of chicken broth

1-2 cans of stewed tomatoes

 DIRECTIONS

1 Cook chicken and chop into cubes. 

2 Drain the cans a little bit before you dump them in.

3 Simmer for about 30-45 minutes.

4 Serve over sour cream or greek yogurt if desired. Top with shredded cheese.

FACEBOOK FUNNIES AND QUOTES 2014

One of my favorite annual posts is the summary of our year through the funny quotes during the year and the quotes that touched my heart throughout the year. I hope that you have a couple of laughs and that you too are touched by amazing words. Thank you for touching our lives! Enjoy!

Facebook Funnies:

January

January 5th - Asked Faith if she was excited to go back to school tomorrow. Her response? "Why would I be excited? It's like Azkaban."

February

February 7th - We just got done playing Apples to Apples as a family. Dad decided to pull down Kate's shorts and Dawson starts screaming, "You've just killed my eyes! I saw her nuts!"

February 7th - Another funny tonight from Dawson. "Mom, is it true that in the olden days that if a boy and a girl got married that the girl would take on the boy's family name?"

February 11th - This morning Faith and I were having a conversation that maybe we should eat a little something before we work out. She said, "I can't do that because Kate has ears like a ninja and Dawson IS a ninja!"

February 23rd - Kate today in church, (now 7), says, "Is Brother Porter the Bishop?" I laughed and said, "No. He's a counselor honey." Kate replies, "Is that like a butler or something?"

March 

March 9th - So today we caught Dawson sitting on the top of Brandon's truck signaling 'I've got my eye on you' to another truck that drive by our house. I looked over just in time to witness this and to see the passenger signal in the same way to Dawson 'I've got my eye on you!'

And in case you found that funny, keep reading. At Grandma Kathy's house, he says, he thought of something great to do and when another car drove by, he thought, 'this is the time to show that I'm very special!' Then he broke out doing the sprinkler dance.

March 29th - Dawson today, "I wouldn't be a pescetarian full time but I would do it part time."

April

April 5th - Looking through old pictures of Faith today. One in particular is special! Faith says, "I was under amnesia!" The correct term would be anesthesia!

May 

May 17th - Dawson (10 years) asked me this afternoon if I was having a baby. When I said no and asked why he asked, he said, "You've sure been craving chocolate enough!" Not to mention the extra fluff... So, I think I have motivation to start working out and hitting the gym again.

June

June 4th - Dawson today, "If I came home and if the walls were smothered in cake, I would not be surprised one bit!" Funny boy - maybe having cake is in order!

June 29th - After talking about some fun things that Dawson said when he was in preschool, he said, "When I look back on those times, I think I was a brat!" I love this boy of mine!!!

July 

July 1st - Kate today in the van humming Let It Go. "Mom, I'm humming Let It Go in Spanish!!!"

July 17th - So I go into our bedroom and hear something under it. Look to see what it is an Dawson is watching mine craft videos on the laptop. I ask him what he is doing and he says "This is my man hole". Couldn't stop smiling.

September 

September 4th - During the prayer tonight, Dawson said, "Please bless Zoey and Brandon that they will be comforted in their jobs." So hard not to laugh when your kids don't say mom and dad.

September 11th - My sweet Dawson today was telling me about kids that were not behaving in class today. In his own words after he told me that they were moved from their desks right then and there, he said, "It was the taste of sweet justice. I knew justice was going to get them. And yes! Justice did. Taste justice suckers!"

September 14th - Faith and her orthodontist were having a conversation about her turning 14. He said, "Wow Faith! You're old!" She says, "Thank you! That's what every women likes to hear!" He says, "I mean mature." She says, "I don't feel like I will ever be more mature than I am right now!" As if she is already grown up and knows everything. Ahh, the life of a teenager!

September 23rd - Dawson was talking to his piano teacher and he says, "It just BEJUMBLED MAH MIND!!!"

September 25th - Dawson says to Kate, "Who died and made you Queen of the orange juice?" Funny boy!

October

October 4th - Dawson this morning. "Mom, do you know how I look at conference? It's spiritual Christmas I tell ya!"

October 26th - Dawson this morning. "I have two thoughts for restaurants. The firsts called "Phil's Place" and the other is an Atlantis themed restaurant with an aquarium." Seriously don't know where this kid gets it from!

December

December 27th - As we clean up Christmas, Kate noticed an older stocking. She said, "It's pink and princess. I'm too old for that stuff!"

Quotes:

Surround yourself with the dreamers and the doers, the believers and the thinkers, but most of all, surround yourself with those who see greatness within you, even when you don't see it yourself.

Never stress over what you can't control.

"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think, say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play the one string we have, and that is our attitude... I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes” Charles Swindoll

If you allow people to take more withdrawals then deposits in your life, you will be out of balance and in the negative. Know when to close the account.

As we grow up, we realize that it is less important to have lots of friends and more important to have real ones. - Amanda McRae

When people try and rain on your parade, poke them in the eye with your umbrella.

The "stuff" that's happening in your life: there are lessons to learn and strengths to gain; that's why it's happening. Sue Fitzmaurice, author

"It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves." Sir Edmund Hillary

Happiness is an inside job.

Our days are happier when we give people a bit of our heart rather than a piece of our mind.

Be thankful for the bad things in life. For they opened your eyes to the good things you weren't paying attention to before!

"Lesson one. Sometimes being right doesn't matter." - Girl on a Wire

Why do we close our eye when we pray, cry, kiss, dream? Because the most beautiful things in life are not seen but felt only by heart.

We come to love not by finding a perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly.

Family isn't always blood. It's the people in your life who want you in theirs; the ones who accept you for who you are. The one who would do anything to see you smile & who love you no matter what.

A physician once said, "The best medicine for humans is love." Someone asked, "What if it doesn't work?" He smiled and said, "Increase the dose."

Instead of saying, "Lord I don't know how I am going to do this," say, "Lord, I can't wait to see how you do this."

"Don't go to college just to collect a degree. Search for something you love and pursue it with passion." Dave Ramsey

NEW TO US

What's a fun thing to do the day after Christmas? How about head to CostCo we said. SO, off Brandon and I went to grab just a couple things. No rush though, this was a date! We walk in the main entrance and see Trent and Ann Campbell who are sitting on a sectional couch. Intrigued, we head over and sit on a couple different of options (they need new living room furniture.) After a long debate, they decide on the biggest one (which looks awesome by the way and will hold all of their large family.) The only problem? They need a way to get all 6 GINORMOUS boxes home. And so we help them load it up and unload it once we get back to their house.

And then Trent says, "Hey! Do you want these chairs?" And the wheels in Brandon's head start turning. He says yes and I try to be okay with it. BUT, they are really, really nice chairs and they fit well in our living room. Yes! I needed to document this because Brandon was right!

Love you honey!!! Glad that you were right and that everyone loves the chairs! Muahhhh!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN 2104

Halloween is probably not one of my favorite holidays, but I do love seeing my kids have fun and dressing up.

Chubbuck Elementary does a costume parade and the office dresses up. I have to say that it is quite impressive. What do you think?

Kate and Mrs. Page - AKA cave woman

Kate, Nya, and Emma H.

All in the same class - Elsa, Anna, Elsa

Kate and Emily

Kate and Taylee

I was able to play in Dawson's classroom for the party. We did Halloween Bingo - Thanks Aunt Sondra! I didn't get any pictures because it went so quickly. :(

My trick or treaters

Dawson is a rapper, Faith was a panda (keep reading to see), and Kate is Elsa

The weekend before Halloween, Faith was invited to go to a friend's house and go to a haunted house. She gladly accepted and then came up with this costume... A panda. The day of Halloween, she was really not feeling well, but we dragged her along. Hence, no costume on Halloween, but here she is the weekend before.

After the classroom fun, we had a trunk or treat with the neighborhood, which is always super fun. Then we headed up to see all of the grandmas. 

Grandma Zoey

Kate always needs to do selfies with me, so here is one at Grandma's house

She made cute pumpkins with their treats inside.

After we walked out of Grandma Zoey's house, cute little Elsa tossed her cookies in the driveway. I think she ate too much candy and her little stomach couldn't handle it.

Grandma Kathy 

Grandma Kathy gave each of the kids a word search book and a large candy treat. In the hustle of trying to get everyone home and not knowing if Kate was sick, I failed to get a picture with Grandma Cindy and Grandpa Kelly. Boo!

I just had to share the other kiddos in our family. We are a great bunch!

Robyn's kids in Nampa!

 

Football player, Malificient, Nerd, Hershey's Kiss, M&M

Tracy's Policeman here in town

Justin and Amy's Jonny - Jonny the Gray

I don't know what Sam was, but hopefully I'll see and hear about it soon! Hope your holiday was safe!