Happy Thanksgiving!! "Both abundance and lack of abundance exist simultaneiously in our lives, as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend. . . when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that's present- love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature, and personal pursuits that bring us happiness- the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience heaven on earth" This was a quote shared by President Monson in General Conference last month. For me it brings into focus what I should be doing that is being thankful for what I do have and not dwelling on what I don't. So here is my expression of gratitude for the many blessings I DO have- a hardworking husband, two wonderful children who have taught me more about life than I could have imagined, a home that we can afford to live in, family that is always there for us, the best sisters in the world that are always a phone call away and have always been good examples to me, and great friends that we would not have met if we had not moved away from our family. Happy Thanksgiving!

Pine Valley

Last weekend we went with some friends to their cabin in Pine Valley, near St. George. I have to say that is the latest I have stayed up playing games in a long time. It was alot of fun. On Saturday we went to Snow Canyon and did a little exploring. It reminded me alot of Valley of the Fire. We did get a family picture, amazing. As you can tell I was alittle cold. We had to head home early on Saturday so I could teach my primary class on Sunday, and to catch up on some sleep. Thanks to Amy & Chris for inviting us!!!

So a couple of week ago I went to a grocery smarts class that was suppose to teach me how to use coupons effectively. Well the main point of it was to buy multiples of the weekend paper to get the coupons out of it. Since there are 4 people in my family I should have 4 papers to get all the coupons. This would have cost me over $100 dollars for 6 months and I hate the paper so I wasn't sold on the idea. However, I have been using the grocerysmarts.com website and have found some pretty good results. Today, I went to Albertsons (which is not where I usually shop because I think they are more expensive)and here's what I bought.



The original cost for all the items was $89.02 (See I think thats a bit high)
I paid $41.14 and I received $15.00 good on my next shopping trip at Albertsons

Not bad. Although I have to say I usually don't buy gogurt and trix yogurt but it worked out this time because I have snacks at Kierstyn's preschool next week.

My new smile!!

Hooray!!! I finally got my braces off. I'm so excited to finally be done with them. Now however, I'm getting use to a new retainer which you can't see but is annoying. Yesterday, when Blake came home I didn't have it in and he asked why. I said I couldn't yell at the kids with it in and he LAUGHED. He thought that was just the funniest thing. But its true, its harder to talk with it in and you trip over some of your words. Being frustrated with my kids only made it worse so I had to take it out for a while. At least I have that option now.

Halloween Party

Ben participates in a preschool co-op we call joy school. We host about every 3 weeks or so and he loves it. There are 2 different joy schools in the ward and today we combined for a little Halloween party. So this is the group. They mostly just wanted the prizes instead of playing the games but it was fun.

Trunk or Treating

Here was our trunk or treating party at the church last Friday. I lucked out this year with costumes. Kierstyn wanted to be a ballerina which is pretty easily since she already has a dance leotard. Bentley on the other hand wanted to be a bear, which stressed me out at first because I'd rather make the costume than go buy one. But we found one he could wear (Thanks Ann your a life saver!). They were pretty funny and had a good time, not to mention they now have alot of candy. Happy Halloween!

Our Disneyland Vacation