The Year of the Pinata

So every year for Christmas my parents give us money. It is a great gift, but what makes it even better is the way they give it to us. Each year they come up with a creative way to give us the money. One year it was all in one dollar bills stuck together in notepad style and stuffed in a dirty old DI purse. Another year is was sewn into a Build-A-Bear. We got it in a sealed Monopoly game replacing the monopoly money, the list goes on and on. My parents are so fun and every year we are to excited to see what idea they have come up with.

This year my dad brought out a wrapped wooden bat for each couple. We all opened them and wondered what in the world we were supposed to do with them. Then the boys noticed that the bats looked as though my dad had drilled through the wood and corked them. Carter was getting ready to go out in the garage and drill it out to see if the money was in the hollowed out bats, when out came my dad with an armful of pinatas ( he had gone to all the work of drilling a hole in the bat and plugging it just to throw us off!) He handed them to us and we knew right away what to do with them. It was a blast-each of us breaking our own pinata to see what was inside. Carter and Jackson made short work of ours and soon candy was spilling out everywhere. My parents had painstakingly wrapped the bills around Tootsie Rolls, and in Dots boxes! It took us quite a while, but we finally figured it all out. It was so much fun, and so kind of my parents, they always make things so enjoyable and exciting.

What is this for?

Carter and Jackson going for it

Kasey breaking his pinata a non-traditional sort of way





Kevin and Ashley with their loot

The Annual Pie and Pajamas

Our family's favorite holiday tradition is "Pie and PJ's" night. We wait until it is very late and then we put on our new pajamas and head to the Village Inn. We order our favorite slice of pie and a hot chocolate and then we talk, laugh and eat until we are satisfied. It is such a simple tradition, but those are always the best. This year Courtney brought her cut friend Tianna. She is a joy to have around. Sometimes you can catch us doing Pie and PJ's more that once during the holidays. The whole crew in front of the pie case....it is so hard to decide.Courtney and Tianna enjoy a little hot chocolate while waiting for pie.

Jackson enjoying his pie.

Bowen and Coop hamming it up.

Christmas Morning At Our House......

It wouldn't be Christmas morning without the customary ringing of Santa's sleigh bells. That's how my kids know it is legal to come downstairs. And they did...like a stampede. This is the third year in a row we have been home for Christmas and we love it.

This is the first picture of the morning. Look at the excitement and some exhaustion from trying to stay awake all night.


Cooper opening his favorite gift- a remote controlled airplane.

This year all Courtney asked for.....clothes. Remeber those days? Santa threw in a few surprises.


Bowen asked for a Boston Red Sox backpack and books. Here he is with a new football.

Jackson asked for an ipod. Needles to say he knew that would be about it on Christmas morning and he didn't seem to mind.


We got all the kids these scripture hero posters and I was really surprised at how much they loved them. Cooper got Daniel and the Lions Den, Bowen got Ammon , Jackson the Stripling Warriors and Courtney got Mary, Mother of Jesus. They are beautiful.

Every year we invite people form our neighborhood over who don't have family around to go visit on Christmas morning. We do a Christmas brunch. This year we had over 40 people. It is one of my favorite traditions. We had quiche, cinnamon rolls, fresh fruit, muffins, juice and a hot chocolate bar. We love having our home filled with wonderful friends that have become our St George family.

People usually stay for two or three hours and visit. We just love it!


Christmas is my favorite time of year. This year when my kids went back to school I cried most of the day. I love having them home, playing games, watching movies, baking and doing puzzles. We had a simple and relaxed holiday season leaving us lots of time to remember our Saviors birth and the true meaning of the season.

Courtney's Faith

Courtney has always been a good, nice girl. She has always been particularly close to the Spirit and interested in the Gospel. Last night was our wards Young Women in Excellence night. Each girl was asked to pick a value and present a two minute talk on how it has straightened her throughout the year. Courtney picked faith. She kept telling me she needed to write this little talk, but we never sat down to do it. We didn't, but she did. One day she was babysitting for a neighbor into the wee hours of the morning, and so after she put the kids to bed she wrote her talk. I never saw it, but hoped it would be okay. It was. I wanted to write it down here because I thought she did such a wonderful job, and I want it recorded for her to look at when her life gets hard. I know that as Courtney faces challenges in her life, that most certainly will come, she will have a strong foundation to draw upon. I have to admit my heart swelled with gratitude and admiration as I listened to her last night. She is far above me at her age..I can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for our Courtney.

My Faith

Courtney Cluff

In Alma 32:21 it says "Faith is not to have perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not see which are true" Faith is the foundation of my testimony. While working on my faith value my testimony was strengthened. I gained a testimony of my Savior and his love for me. While reading in Helaman I read about the Savior. He is the only sure foundation on which we can rely. He loves us and knows us personally. He cares about us and wants us to be happy. I also gained a greater understanding of theBook of Mormon. In Mosiah 10:4 it tells us that if we ask God witha sincere heart and a contrite spirit he will manifest it unto us by the power of the Holy Ghost. I found this to be true. I read the Book of Mormon and prayed to know if it was true. I felt the Holy Ghost testify that it was true. I am grateful that I was able to complete this value and gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon.

Cooper Turned Five!

Our baby turned five on October 26th. I just cannot believe it. Cooper has been a constant source of joy to our family since the day he was born. His dimples and cute ears add to his character and personality. Don't you think he looks a tiny bit like his dad??

Cooper has become somewhat of a celebrity here in our neighborhood. He is the youngest of all the kids in the neighborhood so he is a favorite. They call him our neighborhood mascot. As soon as the older boys (12-15) get home from school Cooper asks if he can go outside and play. I see him sneaking across the street and knocking on the door asking if the boys can play. He often come back dejected because they have to finish their homework first. But not to much later these big boys come and knock at our door looking for Cooper. They play with him on his scooter, teach him soccer, baseball and football and entertain him for hours.

Everyone loves this little guy. I take him to my Relief Society meetings and visits and he is so quiet and content. The ladies all adore him and fuss over him.

Cooper, we love you and are so glad you came to our family. Life would just not be the same without you here. Happy birthday my little guy.

Fifteen

Fifteen...that's how many years Carter and I have been married today. It has flown by. We have had our up and downs just like everyone else, but I could not have chosen anyone better to share them with.

Carter continues to love me despite my many flaws and shortcomings, which is why it is not hard to love him despite his. I already bragged about him in the post below so I will spare you to many details except to say that he is the love of my life. The prospect of having him by my side into the eternities makes my heart leap.

Thank you Carter for working so hard, loving so deeply and making me feel like the most loved girl around! I love you.

Happy Birthday To My Greatest Catch!

We celebrated Carter's 37th birthday yesterday! Wow we are getting old babe. It was stake conference this weekend so he went to priesthood leadership on Sat afternoon, then we went to the adult session on Saturday evening followed by a delicious Outback dinner. Sunday consisted of stake conference, a yummy dinner, long naps and a delicious pumpkin dessert (Carter likes anything pumpkin). It was not an eventful day, but that is how Carter likes things-low key, just like he is.

I know its overkill, but I have to gush, I just have to. Carter is calm, quiet, funny, and cheerful. I honestly don't know what he is like grumpy--we just don't see it. What a gift. If only I shared it. He works harder than anyone I know at his job and at his church calling. But I think he works the hardest at being a good father and a great husband. He is not perfect, but he is perfect for us. We love you Carter and can't wait to celebrate more birthdays with you.

The "BOO" Crew

Whew! It's finally over. I love Halloween, but good riddance. This year it seemed to drag and drag. We did have a good time though. Here are a few festive things we did this month.

Decorated Bowen's classroom door for red ribbon week

Went to the Staheli Family Farm and Corn Maze with the Morby's aka most darling family in the world.

Watched Cooper perform at his preschool program

Cooper and I went to Bowen's classroom as mad scientists. We helped with the class party.

Watched Bowen walk in his school Halloween parade

Made some doughnuts for the neighborhood trick or treaters.....

Made some more doughnuts......

And some more doughnuts. 400 to be exact(notice the bottle? It's what got me through :))

This is the set up in the garage every year. Most of the neighbors bring over their lawn chars and their Halloween candy and they hang out all night handing out candy and eating doughnuts. It is a blast!

And of course...... Trick or Treated! Bowen as Napolean Dynamite, Jackson as Tiger Woods and Cooper as an old fashioned golfer. Courtney was upstairs watching scarey movies with her girlfriends all night.

And They're Off!

Courtney is brace free! Granted, I am out SEVERAL dollars, but just look below to see the results that made it all worthwhile.

I think may have been wise to keep this cute girl in glasses and braces for much much longer. As I sit here typing she is at the stake dance flashing those pearly whites at awkward teenage boys. Who am I kidding? She couldn't be ugly if she tried.

It's A......

We didn't even dare dream.............

and we are over the moon!!!