A cool way to get great pictures for your Christmas Cards

My Brother, Joel and Sister-in-law, Brittany are adopting another baby and are offering this great deal to help raise money. I can't wait for her to take ours. I haven't looked good in a picture since 1997.

The best things in life...

are FREE

I got inspired to write this after I read my friend Mandi's blog. She posted about taking a walk with her kid and laying on the ground to watch the leaves fall from the trees. It was beautifully simple and contrasted sharply with the trip I took to Toys-R-Us last Saturday. The store was jammed with Christmas shoppers, with carts piled high with toys, and kids making their Christmas list. The whole experience was crazy and surreal. If you have so much stuff that you don't know what you want and have to walk up and down the rows of a toy store to get ideas for more stuff that you might want...How did a beautiful tradition evolve into this? I can imagine the pure joy of waking up on Christmas morning and getting the one thing that you wanted with all your might, the doll that you wanted so bad you dreamed of it at night, the train, the book, the ONE thing that you really really wanted. And probably the one new "frivolous"thing you got all year.

So to clear my head from the trauma of early Christmas shoppers, I am focusing on the beautifully simple and simply beautiful FREE things in life.

1. Cuddling up with a good book from the library.

2. Taking a walk

3. Having a clean house (not much in life is more satisfying)

4. Watching the sunrise

5. Playing Board games (that you already have)

6. Lounging in bed on a Sunday morning

7. Watching birds eat from the bird feeder

Happiness..is more like a decision than a condition. It is a decision anyone can make, anywhere at any time. For it is not the enjoyableness of objects or activities or opportunities that make us happy or unhappy; rather our happiness, rooted in our relationships, make objects and activities enjoyable. Things, events and opportunities have no value in and of themselves; they get their value from the significant part they play in our key relationships with others-

Bonds That Make Us Free pg 54

Fall Fun!

The cutest witch on the block...

Sing it with me: Secret Agent Man.

Aaron would not wear his fuzzy green costume so we had to improvise. He loves sports so much that a little baseball player seemed perfect.

This is Kayla's pumpkin. What happened to my cute-little-princess pumpkin carving girl?

Jason's pumpkin is the one giving Kayla's pumpkin the weird look. Amazing how art imitates life.

Park City: Fall Break 2009

We spent a day in Park City with some of our friends over the short fall break. One of the favorite things we did was tour the Olympic Museum at the Olympic sports park. It was amazing to watch the skiers practice going down the jumps and landing in the swimming pool, plus it is free. If Jason skied....

Ski monster at the Alpine Slide

Our stay was way to short- next time we will have to stay the whole weekend!

Our day at the Circus

Last month we got to go to the Circus with Grandma Joyce. It was a spectacular show. Not creepy like I remember it being when I was a kid (and the clowns stayed down on the floor and didn't get in our faces, which I hate. ) We had so much fun. The kids had never seen anything like it before and they were spell bound the whole time. The cotton candy was $10.00 a bag- can you believe it?

These guys are CRAZY- but fun to watch!

A date with a real Doll

Pure Gold

Think of the purest, most all-consuming love you can imagine. Now multiply that love by an infinite amount—that is the measure of God’s love for you.

God does not look on the outward appearance.

I believe that He doesn’t care one bit if we live in a castle or a cottage,

if we are handsome or homely,

if we are famous or forgotten.

Though we are incomplete, God loves us completely.

Though we are imperfect, He loves us perfectly.

Though we may feel lost and without compass, God’s love encompasses us completely.
He loves us because He is filled with an infinite measure of holy, pure, and indescribable love.

We are important to God not because of our résumé but because we are His children. He loves every one of us, even those who are flawed, rejected, awkward, sorrowful, or broken. God’s love is so great that He loves even the proud, the selfish, the arrogant, and the wicked.

What this means is that, regardless of our current state, there is hope for us. No matter our distress, no matter our sorrow, no matter our mistakes, our infinitely compassionate Heavenly Father desires that we draw near to Him so that He can draw near to us

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf