2 posts in one day

Yes, I know I already posted for today, but this is too funny!!

Hayleigh came home from church today and told me about her new classroom. She said she thinks it was used for time-out but she wasn't sure. The sign on the door said "Violent Boys and Girls". I said "what???". She repeated "Violent Boys and Girls". Then I remembered how old she is now and that her new class at church is "Valiant".

Also - last night on the way home, we stopped at a Taco Bell (I know - health food!) and got some stuff in the drive through. The meals the boys ordered had really big drinks with them. When I handed Dallin his cup he said, "Are you planning to stop alot? I don't do well with drinking and driving." The Taco Bell people got a laugh out of that.

Whew!

Well, it's official! Fall soccer season is over! Ethan, Dallin and I arrived home from the Disney soccer tournament at 4 AM this morning. Dallin's team had a great result - 2-1 loss, 4-0 win and 3-0 win. The team they lost to had 3 wins, so they went to the semi-final this morning. Dallin had 2 fantastic goals in the 4-0 win and the 3-0 win was against the Alabama state champions!

Ethan, Dallin and I went to Pirate's Cove mini golfing. We had such a fun time! The weather was so much better than it is here!

So, now that there's no practices (I shouldn't really say that though - I bet one of the coaches will say "let's practice this week"), it's time to get ready for Christmas. I'm mailing some things to Brandee - this is the first time that she won't be here for Christmas, but she and Scott will be having their own first Christmas together. Guess what they'll be doing on Christmas Day???? Picking Tyler up at the Salt Lake Airport!!! Both Tyler and Brandee are excited!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm sitting here at the hotel in Orlando, FL with Ethan and Dallin and eating McDonald's. It's actually okay though - we had a big Thanksgiving dinner last night and ate WAY too much! Tyler was very thankful for having dinner last night - no matter how we arrange prayer days - youngest to oldest or oldest to youngest - Tyler always gets Thursdays. He has said Thanksgiving prayer for the past several years. It seemed strange not having Brandee at the table for dinner - but she and Scott had their own Thanksgiving today (I haven't heard anything, so I'm guessing that things were good!). This will be the 'last' Thanksgiving dinner that we'll have all of the boys home for several years - Kyle will hopefully leave on his mission next year, and then Keenan the next and Tyler the year after that.

I wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving!

It's a day late....

But, the kids are back in school today and I have a quiet minute to post this. I couldn't let the 'forgotten' holiday of Veteran's Day go by without recognizing the selfless acts of our veterans. I am so proud to be an American! I am so grateful that my ancestors decided to 'make a go of it' in America. My grandparents on one side came from Holland and my great grandparents on the other side had the courage to leave a very bad situation. Even though I am a fairly new American compared to some - I count being American as one of my greatest blessings!

I just wanted to post this about veterans:

It is the VETERAN, not the preacher,
who has given us freedom of religion.

It is the VETERAN, not the courts
who has given us the right to keep and bear arms

It is the VETERAN, not the reporter,
who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the VETERAN, not the poet,
who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the VETERAN, not the campus organizer,
who has given us freedom to assemble.

It is the VETERAN, not the lawyer,
who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the VETERAN, not the politician,
Who has given us the right to vote.

It is the VETERAN, who salutes the Flag,
and serves under the flag.

It is the VETERAN,not the protester,
who has the right to burn the flag.

Photos

It's been so long since I posted any photos!

Kirsten was a very cute witch for Halloween



Every year I have a Halloween dinner - we're not too big on Trick-or-Treating, so I try to do something special since I love Halloween (even if Tim doesn't!)



I've been working on Christmas cards already. I've made some from kits, but this one I did myself:



Not much is going on right now - just the same old soccer/band/school/seminary routine. We're almost done with the fall season of soccer. The older boys will have a couple of practices to get ready for the CASL tournament and then they'll be done til January. Ethan's team doesn't have any more games and Dallin's team is still practicing for the Disney tournament over Thanksgiving. Thank goodness he practices the same the nights as the older boys!
Tim, Kirsten and I did some Christmas shopping today - which was really hard for me to do since it was 80 degrees out! It just doesn't feel Christmasy to me. Kirsten is such a good shopper! She loves to find things that we 'need'. We made the mistake of going down a toy aisle and she said "I want this and this and this and this" - and then she gave up naming each individual thing and said "I want it all".

In the Past

Well, it's in the past. My county voted for McCain.
I voted. I did my duty and exercised my right. 2 years from now, I'll get to do it again and swing it back the right way.
For those of you who didn't catch McCain's speech acknowledging his defeat last
night, let me just say - WOW! I am so proud of my candidate!

In a way, I'm anxious to see what this "change" is supposed to be since it hasn't been defined yet. Maybe I can even become "middle class" - wouldn't it be nice to make $250,000 a year??
Thomas Jefferson said "A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take away everything you have." Let's just hope that is not in the redistribution plans!


No more political stuff for awhile.

On to Thanksgiving and Christmas.....