Becky invited us to spend Thanksgiving with her family. They celebrated it at our church because their family is so big. Becky is so blessed to be living by her parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. While we were getting everything ready Becky's cousin came from California and Surprised everyone. They were all very surprised and happy to see her there. I was wishing that I could go and surprise my family, and spend Thanksgiving with them. They had everything decorated so nice, it felt like I was in someones home. My kids had a great time playing with their friends and watching a movie that they had set up in the relief society room. I didn't even see most of my kids while we were there because they were having too much fun with their friends. The dinner was so good and we had so much to eat. After dinner we played Pit and spoons. Becky won most of the games we played and I was one of the three left on Spoons before we decided to quit and have desert. We had such a great time and everyone made us feel so welcome. We would like to thank Becky and her family for sharing their Thanksgiving with us.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I have so much to be thankful for, and since it is Thanksgiving I'm going to name just a few things I thankful for. I will start off with my family. I'm so thankful for my little family and love I have for each one of my kids. They are all so special in their own unique way and I'm so thankful and blessed to be their Mother. I'm thankful for Medford, it is such a pretty place to live and the friends we have here are like family to us. I'm thankful for the Gospel and how much happiness it brings to my life. I'm thankful for my parents and family in other states, even though they live so far away we are still very close. Most of all, I'm thankful for Travis and the love he has for me and our family. He is my best friend and I don't know what I would do without him by my side. I could go on forever with all that I'm thankful for but instead I will just wish all of you a very happy Thanksgiving!!

Happy Birthday Michele!

Michele I just wanted to wish you a very happy birthday! I wish so bad that I could be there to celebrate with you. I just want you to know how much I love you! You are always in my thoughts and prayes. I wish that I didn't live so far away from you! Maybe someday we will live close to eachother. Give your kids a hug for me! Love you!!

My Favorite Mug!

It's raining here this morning and when the weather gets cold I love to have hot chocolate to warm me up. When I was eighteen I went to live with my Aunt Nena in South Dakota. I didn't really know her that well at the time and was a little nervous to go live with her so far away from everything and everyone. I was in South Dakota for six months and I loved it there. I was a little home sick at times but my Aunt Nena was so much fun to be with! We use to always go bargain shopping together. There is this one time I will always remember, after shopping we went to get in her luxury van and the alarm went off. Nena didn't know how to stop it , she stared the van and the alarm was still going loud and strong. She ended up leaving the parking lot with the alarm still going off. I was slumped down in my seat because I was too embarrassed to be seen by other drivers. I remember Nena telling me "Sit up Kathlene! If I have to go through this so do you." We ended up laughing the whole way home. We use to go visit my uncle Dewight (my uncle Dewight is a perfectionist) at is office and I would mess with the stuff on his desk when he wasn't looking just to see if he would notice and he always did. I remember Aunt Nena's yummy poppy seed chicken, homemade Tapioca pudding, and the warm bread she would always make in the bread machine. My cousins and I would always fight over the heel because it was the best part. I made my first scarecrow (Stanley) while I was there. I remember helping Aunt Nena decorate and spray paint Christmas bulbs and pine cones for their Christmas tree. I could go on and on about all the fun I had in South Dakota. I can't believe that it was over thirteen years ago, it still feels like yesterday. Anyway, the point of the whole story is that whenever it is cold outside I get out my favorite Winnie The Pooh mug I got from my Aunt Nena (I'm surprised that I still have it after thirteen years), and fill it with yummy hot chocolate and mini marshmallows and think about all the good times we had together. I love you Aunt Nena and miss you very much!!

Anyone want a girls night out??

I just want to apologize to my friends for how boring I have been lately. I haven't been myself at all, I think I have just been having a hard time with Carrie being gone and maybe a little stressed out about things. I have kinda become a hermit, I just want you all to know that I'm sorry. I will try harder to be more positive and outgoing! I'm trying to get some girls to come join me and Lissa Friday night. We are going out for dinner at 5:30 (we aren't sure where yet) and then we are going to see the 8:10 showing of Twilight. Please Let me know if you can make it. It will be lots of fun!!

Settlers

Last night we invited our friends over to play Settlers. This was Becky and Phil's first time playing. Settlers is a favorite game at our house we play it all the time. I love it because its fun to get together with family and friends and just relax and have a little fun. I almost won last night and then Becky surprised us all and won. I can't believe that! I play it all the time and I hardly ever win. I get very close to winning every time but someone always beats me to it. I 'm glad it was Becky and not one of the guys. We had lots of fun with Becky and Phil and hope they will come play again soon!

Picture Tag

I decided to do the picture tag because it sounded kinda fun and this is what I found. Last April while we were in Kauai with the Kings, Aaron and my Dad got this picture of Travis (sitting on a lava rock on Secret Beach) off my Blog and blew it up really big. They spent lots of time turning it into a cardboard cutout. When we came back home and went to check on our spa store, we were surprised to see a cutout of Travis sitting in one of the hot tubs. Now that I think of it I don't know where it is. I will have to go find it and bring it home.

Cinnamon Rolls

I was craving some Cinnamon rolls today so I made Carrie's yummy recipe. I'm not one who likes to spend lots of time in the Kitchen making breads but, Carrie's recipe was very easy and they turned out great! I wish I had some more people here to share them with so I don't get tempted to eat them all.

I Did It!

I worked hard from 10:00-3:00 getting my tree up and decorated. A couple days ago, I decided I was going to put the tree up. Last year we bought a tree with the lights already on it. (Don't buy a pre-lit tree) I put it together and plugged it in and nothing. I was not happy! I tried for what seemed like forever to get them to work and I got nothing but one little strand of lights. I was so mad! I took the tree, forcefully stuffed it in the box, and threw it in the garage. My kids kept talking about how they wanted the Christmas tree up so this morning I spent a couple of painful hours taking the lights off my pre-lit Christmas tree. Then I went to Walmart, picked up some lights, ran home and got the tree lit and ready for the kids to decorate when they got home from school. It's nothing fancy but it's up and the kids are happy.

Missing Carrie

I'm missing my best friend Carrie so much right now! It is so hard to celebrate holidays without her here. We always had our Christmas tree up right after Halloween and all our decorations out. We would have found some fun Christmas project to do. If she were here we would be painting, listening to Bing Crosby, and drinking Egg Nog. I have been having such a hard time getting in the Christmas mood. My Christmas tree isn't even up yet! How sad is that? Carrie, I just want you to know that we all miss you very very much and we think about you all the time. I'll have a blue Christmas without you. I'll be so blue thinking about you!! I love you and wish you were here!

Super Saturday

My Ward and Anja's were doing Super Saturday on the same day so I only had time to go to mine. I woke up that morning and went to my church at 9:00 and then rushed around trying to get my projects done before 10:00. I didn't have enough time to get what I wanted done so I collected it all and cruised home just in time for Travis to go to work. I was finally able to get all my projects done today.

Student Of The Month

Ethan was student of the month at his school last month. He is a good student who listens to his teacher and is friends with everyone. We are so proud of you Ethan. Keep up the good work!

Bryson's Birthday Dinner

Bryson got his first package in the mail from Grandma and Grandpa Skabelund and he had a fun time opening it. Grandma and Grandpa Skabelund always give the kids a gold dollar for each year in age. And the kids love how Grandma always write a poem to Roses are Red. Bryson got a toy car, pj's, and church clothes in his package from Grandma and Grandpa Skabelund and he looked so cute on his birthday wearing his new clothes from his Grandparents.

We had some people over after church for a little birthday dinner party. It was fun to visit with friends and watch Bryson play with Chase. I was surprised after we all sang happy birthday to Bryson, he blew out all his candles in the first blow. (I love Chase's face in this picture)

I want to thank the King's for the gift they got for Bryson. He loves his little race cars! Bryson played with them all night long and is playing with them right now.

We got Bryson some clothes and a big boy potty for his birthday. I hope to get him potty trained very soon! Cross your fingers for me. Bryson loves dancing to the music his potty makes. Notice he is still holding on to his new toy cars given to him by the King's. I want to thank all those who came and made Bryson's birthday a happy one.

Happy Birthday Bryson!

My baby is turning 2 today and I'm a little sad. He is my last baby and he's growing too fast! I wish I could just keep him small forever. Bryson is my little cuddle bug, I finally got a Mommas Boy. He loves being near me and he's always making me laugh with the cute little things he says. The other day he came up to me with a toy sword in his hand and said "Mom, I pirate Arrr!" Here are two things I really love about Bryson; 1. Bryson is such a cuddly little guy! He is always giving everyone hugs and kisses. 2. Byson has a lot of rhythm, he loves to dance and he is very good at it. We love you Bryson and we hope you have a very happy birthday!

Here We Go Again!

I have been tagged by Christine so here are 7 random facts about myself

1. I once camped out over night outside of Walmart in Logan Utah with my brother Aaron and Travis to get the new Nintendo 64. We couldn't leave the line or we would get yelled at if we tried to get back in. Our good friends Jeff and Holly were nice enough that night to bring us some hot chocolate and food to eat.

2. I love to pull out teeth. Whenever my kids have a loose tooth, I'm the one to pull it out. I have friends who bring their children over when their teeth need to be pulled. Most people get grossed out by loose teeth, but I will follow the child around and beg them to let me pull the lose tooth out.

3. Egg Nog is my favorite Holiday drink. I don't know why they only sell it during the holidays but I find myself craving it all the time and then when it is finally in the stores I stock up on it.

4. I love change! I'm always changing my hair color, style, moving furniture around, and painting my walls. I think it is fun to look different or change things around to add more excitement to life.

5. I love to laugh loud and long and clear. I love to laugh it's getting worse every year!

6. I am living my dream. Since I could remember I wanted to be a Mother. I'm so very blessed to have five wonderful children and be able to stay home with them and watch them grow.

7.I guess you could say I'm an optimist. I see the cup half full. I feel that if you have a positive attitude towards life things will work in your favor and you will be a happier person.

I tag Savannah, Jennifer, Juli, yonf, Holly, Lisa, and Elizabeth

Cotton Candy

Years ago Travis randomly bought a cotton candy machine. It has been fun to use at parties and just bring out whenever we are in the mood for something sweet. We finally got a bubble for the cotton candy machine last month. Now when we use it all the cotton candy stays in the bubble and doesn't go flying all over. We use to let people borrow it for ward parties and other little things, but we had problems with getting it back in good condition. It was an expensive machine and we love using it so we just don't lend it out anymore. Last night we took it out and made some yummy cotton candy. Bryson thought it was pretty neat but when he went to eat it, he got a funny look on his face and said "ooow" I don't think he liked it. After making cotton candy Travis brought out his guitars and played us some songs. It has been a long time since Travis has played the guitar and I wish he would play it more often because we all enjoy listening to him play. Travis also has been blessed with a very good singing voice. I can't sing and it's one of my favorite things to do. I sing all the time! Travis has a nice singing voice and he doesn't like to sing. What is the deal with that? He needs to develop his talents and share them with others.

Thanks For The Help

I want to thank all of you for your help. I went into Great Clips yesterday and I wanted to cry after walking in. It was so hard going in there and not seeing Carrie's happy face. I had decided that I was going to continue to grow my hair out and that I needed to cut off all my dead ends so my hair will be healthy and curl better. The lady cut 4 1/2 inches off my hair and it feels pretty short. Travis says that he can't tell that it even got cut but I guess some men don't really notice stuff like that. For those who told me to cut my hair I'm sorry I just couldn't do it. I didn't want to have that cookie cutter hair Bob or A line everyone else has. I have been trying to grow my hair out for a while now. Lissa reminded me about my goal to have Victoria's Secret hair and it would be sad to just chop it off after all that work. I still have a while to go until I reach my goal but I'm going to get there someday.

Our Casino Night Picture

Fun With Puppets

Robby had a great time last night entertaining himself with the kids puppets. He did a little puppet show about his day at work. It was pretty funny to watch Robby play with the the puppets and do different voices for each one. I think I know what to get him for Christmas this year.

I Need Your Help!

I have been growing my hair out for a long time now and I don't know if I should keep it long or if I should cut it. I'm one of those people who like change and I want a different look. What do you think I should do?

Casino Night

This is was our fourth and maybe our last Casino Night Party with the Eisenbrandts. We have gone every year with them and every time we have so much fun together. This year it was a little too crowded and all there was to drink was alcohol. When we asked for water we got dirty looks and were told that they were all out of water. The food was very good and the desert was endless. Casino Night is a fundraiser for The Children's Miracle Network. It's $75 a person to get in and when you check in, you are given $200 in fake money to gamble with. The money you win is used to enter silent auctions. The items in the auctions are what other businesses have donated (Travis donated a Foosball table). Anja and I had fun playing roulette. We didn't really win lots of money like the years before but we still had a good time. After the party Anja and I had our own little photo shoot. We were goofing off with the camera while they guys were talking about their next game night. The camera loves Anja! Every picture I took of her turned out great. I'm not very photogenic, all my pictures didn't look good at all! That is why I like to stay behind the camera. It was a much needed five hours of fun. Thanks Robby for watching my kids while we were gone. Your a great friend!