Today

Today I am grateful that I took a phone call as I was leaving my house this morning. There was a fatal accident this morning on the road I typically take to my parents' house. Do you ever wonder what things are coincidences and what things happen for a reason? Anyway, I couldn't help but think that it could have been me. If I had left a few minutes earlier, I could have sonehow been involed. I am so glad I stopped to talk to a friend.

Welcome January

Hellow All. Yes, I am officially the worst blogger on the planet. Let me explain. First of all, as many of you know, I spend several hours a day working at home on a computer. Let's just say, more computer time is not a break for me. Second, I switched e-mails and could not remember the password for my account. There it is; I'm out of excuses. I've decided to try to post each day some sort of positive thought or recognition of a blessing in my life. Hopefully this will help me out of my mid-life crisis/January funk. Does anyone else hate the aftermath of Christmas? Anyway, I'm looking forward to expressing my gratitude each day for the blessings I have. I wish you all a Happy New Year.

Disney Deals

We are thinking of taking the kiddos to Disneyland in March. Anyone know of any deals? It is $150 a pop for a 3 day park hopper. OUCH! I have heard of credit unions in the past who have offered discount tickets but I don't have any info. I hope you are all blowing at least a portion of your tax refund too just to make me feel better :)

Merry Christmas!

Here is our last minute Christmas card. Hopefully you will be receiving one in the mail :). Let's just say Josh has excited eyes in every one. He can't decide if he's more excited for Christmas or his birthday (Dec. 27th). We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Sam (10), Josh (7), Hannah (5)

Benjamin (2)

A new room just in time for Christmas

Here are the pictures I promised. This is the entry way.

Here is a close up of the pillows and couch.

Here is the the room from the entry. It turned out so great. Thank you Caitlin!

The pictures on Caitlin's blog are far superior. Check out her link, and yes, my kids did those self-portraits. It was very scary to let them have artistic license.

Things to Love

So I finally broke down and hired a decorator. Luckily, Caitlin is a friend of a friend. Anyway, she has been helping us with our front room. I totally love her! The best thing about Caitlin is that she has great taste and likes to save money. Many of our new pieces are second-hand. Check out her blog at http://www.ccinteriors.blogspot.com/

Our first decorator was our talented friend from St. George, Kristi. She decorated a room she had never seen and we have loved it. Thank you for the ottomans and pillows that are still in use! I will put up a link to Kristi's blog soon. I have to double check it.

Also, if you need an inspiring story in your life, check out my cousin's blog. She is one of the most amazing people I know. She is fighting a rare form of cancer right now with courage and grace. She is truly amazing. Check out her blog at http://www.jasandamrhodesfamily.blogspot.com
We would appreciate any prayers and good wishes in her behalf. Also, if you have any secret or crazy cures for cancer, please share.

Road Trip

So we decided that we needed a UEA get away! Needless to say, road trips with four young children are challenging, but this one made the books. We left Thursday at noon and drove to Jackson Hole, Teton Village actually. It was freezing cold, but we were happy to be there. The next day we went into Yellowstone. We anticipated a 45 min drive to Old Faithful, but thanks to road construction, we were in the car three hours each way. Who can honestly except a toddler to stay in a car seat for that long? We did have a great time seeing Old Faithful and the hot pots, but it was way too much car time for me and the kids. Once we got back to the hotel, Josh threw up and three of the six of us were sick with colds and coughs. Saturday we ventured into Jackson and then decided the kids had had enough of that, so we came home. On the way home we had two barfers and a 16 oz bottle of diet coke explode all over the car. Jordan says we aren't taking a trip for five years!