Thankful Thanksgiving!

My thankful list:

* Damon. I'm thankful that after 12 years of marriage we still love each other and want to spend eternity together. He makes me laugh every day and never takes anything too seriously. Don't think I could spend my life with someone who was super serious.
* Bailee. My princess. I'm so thankful for her. Heavenly Father knew I couldn't survive this life without having a daughter. I love how she's so much fun, such a hard worker, and so concerned about those around her. My sweetie.
* Trey. My buddy. He is my little shadow...always wanting to be next to me and complimenting me every second. I love how he is 100% boy and attracts friends like flies. He is so easy to get along with, and other than his wanting to wrestle everyone in sight, never causes a problem.
* Nash. My sweet baby. I am so completely and totally smitten by my little baby boy. I love how he is so content. Just chill. I love how big his mouth gets when he's happy. Can't imagine our life without him.
* Damon's job. So many people don't have jobs and I'm so grateful for Damon's. Not only is it a job, but it's a job that he loves. He's with good people all day and is appreciated for all his hard work. When it comes to his job, Damon gives 110%. I love that about him. It has taken 4 employees to take over his job at Ogio!
* Being a stay at home mom. I consider this one of the greatest blessings in my life. I'm also grateful I worked for a while when Bailee was younger so I can appreciate being home even more. I can't imagine not being there for Bailee when she struggles with her homework. Not being there for Trey when the crowd of friends form at the door wanting to play. Missing his sweet compliments throughout the day. I can't imagine missing one second of Nash. I hate how fast time is flying, but I love each of the baby phases and am so excited to see every one of them. I have no judgements whatsoever to mothers who work. I'm just grateful .
*The gospel. I would have nothing without this greatest blessing. Even when I question things, I still know I can't doubt it's truth. There are many situations in my life where my testimony has been strengthened. I'm grateful for the atonement, the power of prayer, the prophet, the scriptures, etc, etc, etc...and all that is part of the gospel.
* Mari. I'm grateful for and love all my siblings. Laura, Autumn, Mari, and John...Damon's siblings too. But Mari and I have a unique relationship. The girl has seriously done so much for me. Listened to my chit-chatting every day on the phone, done many sewing projects for my family and friends, done many photography projects for me, babysat for me, etc, etc. There is no one that knows me more than Damon, but there is no one that understands me better than her. I've tried to do some projects on my own, but seriously, it always sucks in comparison.
*Friends. I've been blessed with some amazing friends in my life. Each one entering my life at the perfect time. Some I've kept in touch with and some not. But here are the relationships that really stand out in my mind as ones handed to me by Christ himself EXACTLY when I needed them. Seriously. Katie Hyde, Todd Piquet, Heidi Smith, Annie Draper, Amanda Riggs, Jalaire Terry, and Cari Greer.
* Our country. Sometimes I wonder what on earth makes me deserve to be here, in a free country, in the gospel, with the family I've been given...when others don't have any of those things. Without our country I may not have our home, our freedom, our education, modern medicine, the amazing men and women who serve our country, etc. This may come as quite a shock to some of you, but had I not gotten married, I think I may have joined the army. (I've told Damon that but he doesn't believe me.) Yes, I know that I love being super girly, clean, indoors away from the cold, I have anxiety, and hate anything violent...but. But I also love feeling like a have a purpose, I love being physically challenged, I love knowing I can make a difference, etc. When John joined the guard I was so proud and slightly jealous. That's not the role for me in my life, but I am really grateful to those who serve our country.
*Health. All 5 of us are healthy. For how long this will last, I don't know. I see so many people with serious health issues and it's heartbreaking. Life is so fragile and I'm thankful we're all here. Health and happiness. That's all you can really ever ask for, right?
*Trials. Not that I like them, but I am thankful for them. Without them my thankful list wouldn't mean nearly as much to me.

I am grateful for many many more things but those are the ones I wanted to mention. I am so blessed!

This year for Thanksgiving we spent the day at Damon's parents house. Stuffing our faces, playing games, and (ahhhhh) being lazy. Good day.

Nash getting just a tad bit of attention.

And then Nash getting just a tad bit overwhelmed.

Turkey coma.

And last but not least. Thanks to the Ipad, we survived Black Friday.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Vacation at Park City

We decided to take a little vacation to Park City for a few days with our friends, the Greer's. A little hectic, a little crazy, a lot of kids, and a whole lot of fun! Mari and her kids also joined us for a day. We got a hotel suite and crammed us all in there. In total...5 adults and 10 kids. Damon and I slept in the living room so the kids could have the master bedroom. Seriously, it was the best idea of the trip. With that many kids we needed some separation for the sake of our sanity.

First thing the kids did when getting to their room? Why, Spongebob of course! What else? Chillin' on the bed in front of the TV.

We woke up bright and early the next morning to catch the bobsled race. The weather was beautiful! The storms were supposed to come the next couple days and did they ever! We did all our outside activities on the warm day then stayed indoors the next day while watching the snow pile up through the windows.
It's incredible how fast these bobsleds go. Just taking a picture was a challenge. The kids loved it...as did the adults. Here's a couple pics that actually worked.

Bailee and Kyle.

Trey man.

After the bobsled race we spent some time at Olympic Park, then at the outlets where we met up with Mari and her kids.

Driving out of Olympic Park we saw the German bobsled team. I had Damon pull over so I could hop out and take their picture. There were a couple other ladies doing the same thing and the team wanted us to climb in the sled for the pics. Pretty cool.

Later that day we took the bus to main street to do some window shopping and to go out to eat. The kids loved the bus! Here they are yelling for the bus to come. Love how excited the kids are!

We took the trolley on main street. Another very exciting thing for the kids.

Dinner was a zoo! There were no other kids around and then we walk in the restaurant with 10! The waiter was not that pleased. We ordered 6 pizzas! It ended up feeding us the rest of the trip though.
Cari taking desperate measures to keep the kids out of the road.

The rest of the evening we hung out, played games, ate treats, and laughed hysterically!

Damon sneaking a pic of Bill on the treadmill the next morning.

Thank goodness for lazy days, am I right? Definitely an important part of any vacation.

The kids anxiously waiting to go swimming.

Grizzly and baldy.

We ended the trip with more games, more goodies, and watching the BYU football game. Thanks for sharing an awesome weekend with us, Greer's and Farr's!

Halloween!!!

What a fun Halloween! Bailee was Draculaura, a Monster High Doll, and Trey and Nash were Ninjas.

Here's some pics I snapped while the kids were watching Sponge bob and anxiously waiting for trick-or-treating to start.

Our Halloween festivities began with a party at Damon's work. I forgot to put my camera battery in so no pics. Big bummer since I decorated Damon's office to be a giant spider web. Even with a giant noisy spider that dropped down as you walked in, a huge egg sack with baby spiders crawling out, and a bug game to feed the giant spider. So sad that I don't have pics. After the work party we rushed to our annual Halloween friend party. Our last minute costumes were Barbie and Ken. As usual, the party was a blast! Everyone goes all out with the costumes, food, and games. We always go home practically sick with laughing so hard all night.

On Halloween morning just before heading out for school.

Catching a quick glimpse of Bailee during the costume parade at school.

Trey found some buddies in the hallway.

Nash patiently waiting to see his sis.

We began the trick-or-treating at Doug Smith. There was a much longer line this year than last. Thank goodness for the firetruck to keep Trey busy.

Already exhausted.

After the dealership we trick-or-treated down main street then headed to the church parking lot for trunk-or-treating.

After trunk-or-treating we met up with some friends and headed for the streets. To get more candy that is.
Just...can't...contain...the...excitement.

We stopped by Damon's parents house to show off the kids, eat some sloppy joes, and step in from the cold for a minute.
Trey showing off his swords.

Next (yes, there's more) we met up with some friends for donuts and apple cider. Such a fun, exhausting, beautiful day. And to end it all...we have enough candy to put in the deep freeze to last us the whole year.

Needless to say, the kids slept in the next day and were very late for school. I thought we all needed it!