I know I put lots of quote on here but I love to be inspired and a good quote now and again does that to me! so here is one that I like!

"When we remember that each of us is literally a spirit son or daughter of God, we will not find it difficult to approach our Heavenly
Father in prayer. He appreciates the value of this raw material which we call life. 'Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God' (D&C 18:10). His pronouncement inspires purpose in our
lives."

Oh I need to write about how it is going with writing down the blessings I am getting daily! Well I have never felt so blessed! On the way to Preston our radio, CD player didn't work, we had to unplug the battery. So at a gas station a big truck pulled up next to us and we needed some pliers so after this lady was cooing through the window at Sadie, Erik decided to ask them if they have pliers that we could use? so the lady said yeah let me go ask my husband, well she came back with some new pliers and said, "Merry Christmas" and walked away, so we fixed our Radio and left her a pass along card with our appreciation on the back! Then in Preston we stoped at my brothers house  and Ethan sees this train that he just loves,well they told us that we could use the train and give it to Ethan for Christmas! That was such a blessing because we dont have money. Then I saw my friend Tracie and she gave me some boots, and a ton of clothes which just felt soooo good because we really didnt have much of a Christmas. We got money from a lot of family that we didn't expect! Then on the way home I stopped at my other friends Mandi's house in Boise and she gave me a huge sack of toys for Sadie, which was so great because our poor dead dog chewed them all up, so I had no baby toys!! 

I know that I am forgetting many things, but those were the few that stood out! I am so thankful for my Family and Friends I know that they have to be inspired, they really help us out a lot. I am thankful to know that the Lord looks after us and blesses us daily!

When we were in Idaho we picked up some books on CD for our 12 hour drive and we got 4 books from C.S. Lewis this one Screwtape letters, The Problem of Pain, Mere Christianity, and The Great Divorce, they are deep but really good! We started Mere Christianity then went to Screwtape letters, I really like that one it makes you think about how you acted and how much of that is the devil! Here is a great quote from C.S. Lewis “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”

I totally recommend these books to anyone!

Fun Christmas times at home

Christmas at home was so great, we has so much fun! We sang songs, grandma read us some stories, went sledding played games and watched some good movies! It was so fun, my sister and her family was there so it was fun for Ethan to have Tucker there to play with. It was fun to be Santa this year, Ethan asked Santa for a train so when he woke up Santa had it hiding behind the couch so after he saw the other things I asked him what he asked Santa for, when he said train I took him back there and he was sooo excited.

We went to the Rexburg Open house it was amazing, so pretty! I saw a picture that I want in my house some day, it was of Mary at the tomb with Christ. very pretty! This Temple is neat because it is smaller and they are having it be that you take your names in to do the work so it gets people to do there genealogy. It was a neat thing, Erik and I just have a love for Rexburg because that is were we went to school so we truly enjoyed the opportunity.

We were playing Pit, we love playing games, we were have so much fun! So this is my family, Erik, Grammy, Teresa, Steph holding Sadie, Dad, Eth, Mom, and Abbi my niece! Oh Steph is prego.. I should have been one of the first to know that because I hooked her up with my brother, but no I find out from my Dad after the Christmas party :( yeah Steph I am still mad about it ha!

It was so nice seeing my brothers and there families, we stayed one night at my brother Brandons house and had so much fun, We went with them to the temple and then stayed at there house, that next day we had a party out there with turkey and some goodies, had a ping-pong tournament , it was fun! They game me these movies and books that my nieces used in preschool we watched one today and Ethan loved it, it was about the abc's he loves singing that song.. it goes something like this, "klmnolmno wkyxz no my abcs sing again with me," Ethan is very smart he astounds me every day! he knows his colors how much he ways oh and that he is 2 old!! He sure is getting big!

Merry Christmas

Count your many Blessings!

Erik and I are doing this thing each week where we pick a topic to study, this week I picked blessings. I have had so many blessings this month that I had to pick this topic. If any of you remember the talk given at conference by President Henry B. Eyring when he said this after he was prompted to write things down,"I wrote down a few lines every day for years. I never missed a day no matter how tired I was or how early I would have to start the next day. Before I would write, I would ponder this question: “Have I seen the hand of God reaching out to touch us or our children or our family today?” As I kept at it, something began to happen. As I would cast my mind over the day, I would see evidence of what God had done for one of us that I had not recognized in the busy moments of the day. As that happened, and it happened often, I realized that trying to remember had allowed God to show me what He had done." So my new goal is to do this, and I have so much to be thankful for. We have been given so much, we have new couches that I am baby-sitting for, and a friend gave us a way nice camera that we were so in need of. So it is nice to feel like we got a christmas! And we are blessed with great grandparents and parents that are helping us pay for the way home so that I can be home for christmas! Woowhooee

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my sweet son

Tonight was a great night, for family home evening we when to this place that had all these lights and these trains, it was so fun, Ethan loved the trains, We came home and watched a Nativity movie that I hadn't seen before it was really a great movie of it. But the best part of the night is when Ethan put his arm around me and said "Best in the world, mommy" and gave me a kiss! My son really knows how to win my heart! I dont know where he learned to say that but it was what I needed to hear. So I told ethan to smile and I snapped this picture, It truly was so sweet!

Poor Sad Ella, our dog

So we found out what happened to our sweet Ella, she got hit by a car and her boyfriend Jack (he was a Jack Russell that came over all the time, so we named him jack) he wouldn't leave her side, So Jacks owners found them and took Ella to the vet because he was suffering really bad from a broken pelves, the vet said they could fix him for 5,000 dollars but his bowls would never work properly. So they put him to sleep, it has been sad because Jack comes over looking for Ella. It was nice to find out what happened, I am glad I wasn't the one that found her I would have freaked out.

More Girlfriend Party!!!

These were the invitations we received sent out.

The appetizers were creamy Mushroom Phyllo Triangles, Veggie Pizza, Shrimp Dip and Frothy Pink Grapefruit Strawberry Drink. Sooo good.

Then it was onto dinner. Alisha made the lime tower centerpiece and had extra berries left over that I used along with some ribbon and a tag to tie the napkins with. We served Christmas Salad, Barbequed London Broil, Vermont Cheddar Mashed Yukon Gold Potatoes, Crunchy Green Beans, Orange Rolls, and the most delicious and beautiful Island Fruit Cups you have ever seen (Alisha has an amazing gift for food presentation).




After dinner we did our dessert exchange. Everyone brought a fun holiday dessert on a new serving tray to give away! Here is a picture of them, I took individuals but most of them were blurry. Alisha made the Black Forest Cake, I made the tall cupcakes, Tanya made the Chocolate Raspberry Mousse Torte, Tina made the cutest snowman cupcakes, Kelly made her famous Peppermint Fudge Truffle Cake on a pedestal that I REALLY wanted, Lori made her own recipe of Ooey Gooey bars in this super cute candy cane tray, Heidi brought her favorite wassail recipe in this cute teapot, and Celeste made her famous cathedral cookies. Everyone was so excited to take their treats home to their families.




For the dessert that we actually got to eat Alisha made Double Chocolate Souffles with Warm Fudge Sauce. And OH. MY. GOODNESS. Heaven in a bowl. Seriously a must try!


The last part of our evening was our little craft. We made these cute ornaments inspired by Becky Higgins. Each ornament has four pics of each child on it to remember this year by. Each person made them so differently and they all turned out so cute.

I had a great time and am so thankful for such good friends to share fun times with. I can't wait for next year!

Music's got to go!

I don't know if others of you that have music on your blog, and get as bugged as I do when my music comes on every time I open it. I like the music but I think I rather have it on only when I want it. I talk to my sister and mom on skype and I am always having to turn it down or off, so I think it has become more of a hassle then a nice melody in the background. So farewell music!