Emma's school party.

K, this was funny. Emma had been so excited for her Christmas party at school (and yes they still called it a "Christmas" party... thank you very much!!!). The morning of the big day she was bouncing around the house, she bounced into the car, she bounces all the way into the class where the bouncing continued when she saw all her friends. So cute. Anyway, all the bouncing came to an end when the "special visitor" came through the door. REALLY?! The two other times she had seen Santa this year she couldn't get to him fast enough (the line always takes too long, doesn't it)!!

Well, you can tell how thrilled she is to see him today: (That's her friend Shelby loving her Santa time... Emma's the one sitting on the ground trying desperately to  not even be seen!) Silly girl!

Well, Miss Karen, Emma's teacher, came to the rescue! As long as she was there Emma could talk to him!

"Do you want to touch me?" says Santa. And on the hand was as far as she got!!

"I'm 4," she says. Short and to the point today I guess! (and yes, that's me in the background after my work-out. Thanks Heather for squeezing me into the shot, I really appreciate it)!

Thanks Miss Karen.

Even after she touched him and told him she was 4, she still wasn't quite sure after Miss Karen left:

(she's peeking around her arm warmers making sure she's far enough away, so he can't get her)!

Oh well!!! Merry Christmas kids!!

Ward Christmas Party

What a great ward Christmas party we had. Don't you just love to see the kids in the nativity?! It's wonderful to see the true meaning of Christmas in the eyes of our children.

Emma made a lovely little angel!!

Here's my kids. Cute, huh!! What great singers I have in primary!!

Hi Emm's!

Yep, Santa came too!

Update... that's all it is

Without giving to much info (cause it'll make me cry) our computer crashed. The hard drive went ka-put which means we've lost all of our pictures, documents... everything.

So for now... we had a great Christmas spent with friends and family, and the New Year looks bright (except with no computer). More to come... And just a word of caution: ALWAYS BACK-UP EVERYTHING!! This is not fun.

Tis the Season...

For:

Stockings

The Tree

("It's not going in our yard, Russ, it's going in our living room!") The perfect statement! We love our BIG tree!

and the Big Guy!

My Five:

1. Medicine! All four of us are sick. AAAGGGHHH!

2. The dishwasher

3. On-line shopping

4. Hair straighteners

5. Christmas stories

Taking a moment!

I can't help taking a picture of Emma when we straighten her hair. Plus, she had on her favorite overalls (she would wear them every single day if I'd let her...) and her fun leg/arm warmers. These are such a good idea, especially since the girl still loves wearing her short sleeve shirts and skirts! She did not get that from me, that's for sure. Wrap in up in a sweater any day!!
I kept wondering why she wasn't giving me a big cheesy smile, and it was because she had a mouth full of gummies. I should have known!

And of course my little buba's!

I know that I may have a slightly biased opinion, but I feel so blessed to have the sweetest, best kids. Tal is so innocent and full of life, so excited to learn and do. He makes my entire insides shine when he smiles at me. Emma is kindness and love down to her core. To watch her interact with her friends at school, makes my heart swell with joy. She lives to please her daddy, and listen to  her primary songs as loud as she can on her CD player.

I could have never imagined the kind of love I could have for another person, until I met Matt. And adding Emma and Tal has given me a glimpse of what our Father in Heaven's love for us really is. I love being a mother. It is the hardest thing I've ever done, and would never trade it. I'm so thankful for this life!  

Let's Eat!!

We had our first snow already this last weekend. Emma was beside herself excited! The first thing she asked was if she could go out and eat it. I caught her outside on the deck eating the snow in her church dress on Sunday, and on Monday she got herself into her snowsuit and had a healthy breakfast of snow!! And throughout the day I kept feeling drafts of very cold air due to the open door out to the deck... I wonder why!

What a stinker!

Tal prefers something warm and indoors!!! He gets so excited for every bite!!

My Five:

1. Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin. He gave us many wonderful and insightful glimpses of his eternal testimony of the gospel.

2. Black Friday... you know you love it to!!

3. A loving, hard working husband! He does do much for us.

4. My mom and sister. I just love them!

5. Warm sweaters... it's been really cold here. Brrrr!

Give Thanks!

Don't you love this time of year! It's wonderful to take the time to celebrate the things we've been so blessed to receive. I find myself at times taking for granted the little things, and I'm reminded of the scripture story of the 10 lepers: "Were there not 10 cleansed, but where are the 9?" Let's not fall into such forgetfulness as the 9, and thank our Father in Heaven for all He so freely and willing provides.

Emma's little class had a Thanksgiving feast. Such cute little pilgrims and indians they were!

Emma, Elsie, and Shelby (of course the cupcakes and the chocolate covered pretzels were eaten before the cute little turkey sandwiches I brought! Can't say I blame them!)

And we had a very 'full' Thanksgiving Day spending it with Matt's parents and his Aunt Dita who so bravely invited us to use her home. These are the cute table decorations Emma and Grandma made for everyone!

Ginger Bread House

This is such a special tradition. When Matt and his brother were growing up, their mom would make them each a ginger bread house to decorate (Matt always gave his to his teacher at school. Ah, what a sweet boy!). And now she's carrying it on with Emma. We feel very lucky! They are such beautiful houses (and they smell so yummy!). It's quite a time consuming project, but, oh, so worth it. 

Matt's mom invited Emma and a couple of her friends to join in the festivities and sugar rush. The kids loved it, more for the candy at times, but each house couldn't have been cuter! Such a fun day.

Before

"One for the house... one for me..."

After

Arwin, Alaura, Emma and Cooper

The windows are crushed-up, melted Jolly Ranchers. There is also a light on the inside, so when you plug it in it lights up the windows. I know, I know... too cute, right!

Beauty Shop and Gator!

Emma loves to play with Tal, and not surprisingly, Tal loves Emma!!! So she always begs me to let her watch him. So I gave in and let Tal play with Emma in her room while I did the dishes. I kept hearing Emma's cute little giggle and Tal's squeals of delight, so I assumed all was well. When I finished I went in to join in the fun. But as I walked in I realized I was going to make an appointment, because I had walked into "Emma's Beauty Salon!"

She was having such a great time. Tal was soaked, but still thinking whatever Emma was doing was pretty funny!

The finished product! What do you think? She's got talent, huh. What an imagination this little girl has! I love it! Hey, Slick!

Gator

Tal is such a funny guy. He LOVES his big sis, and he also LOVES his gator.  If Emma's not around, Gator can always put a smile on his face. Such a silly boy!

Love this kid!!
My Five:

1. Thanksgiving Dinner... tis the season!!

2. De-Junking... I really do have a love for it. Makes me wonder why I wait so long in between sessions :)....!

3. My car. What would I do... seriously?!

4. Shopping alone. I forget how much you can get done in just 2 hours. It's really kind of amazing. 

5. An afternoon with Grandma and Grandpa Coleman... which provided me with my very productive 2 hours. Thanks!

Picture Tag!

K- I'm it! Here's how it goes: Picture Tag- find the 4th picture in your 4th folder, then tag 4 people.

So this was a great trip... not the greatest picture of the trip (our flight left REALLY early in the morning...), but nonetheless. When Matt and I were at Snow College, I worked for Pres. Benson and somehow got put in charge of organizing a slightly large project. The football team had qualified for a bowl game in Georgia, so my boss, Marci, and I had to make it happen. We chartered a plane for about 140 people (players, coaches, cheerleaders, and others)-you can see the planes wing in the pic-, reserved hotel rooms, planned dinners, bought tickets, kept Cheerleaders out of trouble (really!??!), provided transportation, and worried for 3 months hoping we didn't miss anything.... ppphhhheeeeww! It was a project, but oh so fabulous. We had a really fun time, and the football team won, so we didn't go through all of that work for nothing!

I tag: Kim B, Mikelle S, Lacey I, and Lacie K!

My Five:

1. Winter hats

2. The clearance rack at Target!!

3. Early Christmas shopping

4. Mineral Powder Foundation. I kid you not, this is the BEST stuff ever invented. I use the Mary Kay brand. LOVE it!

5. Pasta!!!

Halloween 2008!

We had a really fun Halloween filled a pirate, a ballerina ghost, and candy, candy and more candy!

Tal made the GREATEST pirate! Along with his parrot he was ready to set sail and find people to walk the plank! AARRRRRGGG!

I bet you've never seen a ballerina ghost, have you!?! Well if you've ever wondered what one looks like here she is:

Gone are the days of me deciding what she'll be. And when she told me that she wanted to be a ballerina ghost my first thought was "OH, I'm pretty sure I can't buy one of those in the store!!" Well, after much thought this is what we came up with, and I think it worked!!

Trunk-or-Treat

It's been a tradition in our ward at church that we have a trunk-or-treat the weekend before Halloween! I love seeing little kids in their costumes! I think it's so fun! After some yummy chilli, games, and a parade of all the little "spooks" it was out to the cars to pass out the much anticipated candy! This is always a hit and the kids love to see their friends all dressed up!

Emma leading all her spooky friends in the parade for the parents!

Emma and Abree the witch!!

Hey there, matie!

Pumpkin Painting

To get our own door step ready for the big night, Emma was excited to paint her pumpkins instead of watching me carve them!! Plus, it was such a gorgeous day here (75 degrees with a little breeze.... yuuuummmy!!!) it was a fun thing to do so we could enjoy it and be outside!!

LOVELY!! Emma worked so hard that she "needed" a popsicle! The great thing was is that it was warm enough to give her one!!

Halloween night was just perfect at 73 degrees! I don't ever remember a time when my brothers, and sister and I didn't have a coat over our costumes so you couldn't even tell what we were!! But we still had the trick-or-treating experience, right!!! 

The weather here has be fabulous!!! I really love the fall. Everything about it is great... except that it brings us closer to the cold and snow and the "staying inside all day!"

My Five

1. Political Phone calls!!! NOT

2. Merb's Bionic Apple! This is by far the most delicious caramel apple I've ever had.

3. Halloween decorations

4. Good friends. I feel very blessed to have such thoughtful people that I can call friends!

5. Body by Janie! A few of you will know what I'm talking about. Ouch!!! But thanks!