December Happenings

I love having my phone with me every where because I take pictures every where. That gorgeous full moon over the snow capped mountains just had to be captured. In early December, the weather cooled down and snow covered the mountains.

In the fourth grade, they put together a whole report on a Utah county and then parents come in and walk around while the kids give you a tour of the county by using their poster. Shelby had Emery county and we both learned a lot about that little piece of Utah.

When we were down in Vegas, my mom gave my a Mickey Mouse waffle maker. She has had one for years and years and years and I've always wanted one. This new one is not the same as my mom's but it's a pretty fun replacement that we have loved using.

I found this super easy peanut butter cookie recipe on Pinterest and Soren helped me make the first batch. It was so nice spending some one on one time with my baby before he's no longer the baby.

The last week of school before Winter Break was so full. We were very busy, mostly with school choir concerts. All of the kids sangs songs with their classes during the school day and then one of the nights Stryder and Shelby performed. Shelby was even part of a dance number and then sang in the choir.

Stryder was one of the only boys in the choir. Luckily, that never seemed to bother him and he even got to play the ukulele for one of the songs. I'm so proud of my boys because after the concert they were both two of the first to start helping with clean up. Now school has been out for over a week and the laziness has been much needed.

Another Trip to Vegas, Thanksgiving, and an Anniversary

The weekend before Thanksgiving, we made a trip down to Vegas. It was so nice to see and spend time with my family again. 
We met this pretty girl for the first time. She was so tiny and has the smallest little features. I told her she needed to put on some more weight or Samuel was going to be bigger than her when he was born ;).

My mom and sisters spoiled me and threw me a teal and orange Finding Nemo baby shower. It was so great to visit and see so many of my Henderson friends. I miss those ladies!

And we did a lot of hanging out with this sweet face and other cousins. We had a really great time together but it was really hard for me to say goodbye knowing it would be a longer time before we saw them again and miss being together for the Holidays.

Thanksgiving this year was held here in Eagle Mountain. We had 33 for dinner but it went surprisingly very smooth. The food was good, the company was great and it was an all around good day. I made the kids take a picture that morning with Sam to express exactly what we were most grateful for. It has been a really long road getting him here and life has been extremely hard lately. Ben was laid off from Gerber due to lack of work for the winter back in October. We are currently on unemployment and barely scraping by but we still have so so much to be thankful for. Some days it's are to find the gratitude but on others if washes over me again and again.We still struggle with knowing exactly why the Lord encouraged us North but we keep on counting our blessings and pray things will work out.

That Saturday after Thanksgiving, Ben's mom put in a special request. She realized that for the first time in who knows how long, every single member of her family was going to be in the same place and she wanted a picture. This picture has 2 parents, 8 siblings, 8 spouses (or soon to be), and 27 grand kids for a total of 45 people and will be outdated in less than 6 weeks. But at least for that moment in time, she captured all of us together and that is quite an accomplishment.

And then to wrap up a great weekend, Ben and I went out on a much needed date for our 12th Anniversary. It's kind of hard to believe that we've been married for 12 years when it seems like he has been a part of my life forever. I love that man so much and even though times are rough right now, I know we will make it through because we have each other.