Santa rules!

Ok, so the older my kids get- the cuter they are! Tonight as we were doing our Christmas Eve stuff, Abby & Brenna were SO excited about tomorrow being Christmas and they're in their beds (early I might add)- almost afraid to move or breathe because they want Santa to come so bad! They even got an email from the modern old man and this is what it said:

I'm just getting ready to head to Utah and just wanted to check in with you the make sure that Abby and Brenna are still on my good list. I've been listening today and I've been hearing some whining and some fighting...is this true??? I've got my bag loaded with some fun toys that I know they will love... so let me know if they need to go to someone elses house. It would make me really sad if I wasn't able to deliver to my favorite little girls in Springville. Remember to leave me some cookies and a little milk... also Rudolph loves those little carrots... Hope to see you sleeping in your beds tonight dreaming of christmas
Love,Santa Claus
Remeber the reason for the season
J = Jesus
O = Others
Y = You

Their eyes were SO big as I read it to them... seriously, it was so cute! We then checked the official Santa tracking website and when I told the girls he was heading north- they both freaked out and ran downstairs to bed! Then Abby asked if she could say prayer and I just have to say how cute it is when your kids pray that Santa can make it to Springville safely!
I LOVE IT!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I had the best intentions of sending our Christmas card to everyone of you, but time got away from me and I now have extra's of these... which means I forgot about some of you. SORRY!
We want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and hope that you are enjoying this time of year as much as we are!
LOVE YOU ALL!



P.S. We hope it snows the 6-10 inches it's supposed to tonight so we can have a white christmas and go sledding!!!!

Elk- the dead kind.

I've kind of held off posting about this, but the more I think about it- the more I realize the need to document it. Most of you know me well enough to know that I'm kind of a girly girl, but not really. I don't mind getting dirty and working hard, but there are certain things I won't do. One of them being or having anything to do with dead animals. It's just not my thing and I don't like it. So, hunting is an issue... not with those that choose to do it because people can do whatever they want to do- just don't make me be a part of it. My uncle and cousins hunt and I think it's great- but the whole carcass of this dead thing really grosses me out.

Okay, so with that being said- this past Sunday afternoon my friend Emily and I were doing our visiting teaching and as I was driving her home, we noticed a neighbor of ours outside and we thought he was putting up Christmas decorations of some sort. But as we got closer- we both gasped and realized he had an ELK hanging in the tree and he was skinning it! (All I could see was red so I thought Christmas, okay?!) I think we both screamed like little girls because it was not something either one of us expected and it was also kinda gross. So, I went home and then shortly thereafter had to go to church for an appointment and at this point I tried to find some humor in it and thought I whould tell my bishop about it and I am now convinced that he thinks I'm crazy. He asked if I took a picture and I told him that if I had any way of holding a camera steady without vomiting- I would have been all over it, but that wasn't about to happen. He laughed and although I'm sure he was laughing at me, it still made me feel good.

So then (it gets better!)- the house where this took place is another good friend of mine and she watches my girls a couple days a week for me after school (she's awesome!). So, I think it was Tuesday of this week when my girls came home to tell me that their friends dad cut up an Elk in their backyard and I pretended to think it was cool. I asked them if they saw it and they both said no and all they saw was the legs (I'm thinking it was covered up and the legs were the only part they could see), but Brenna then tells me that their dogs love the legs. (At this point I'm still for some reason thinking the legs are attached to the rest of the body) but NO- the dogs were carrying the legs around the back yard!!!!!! Is that normal?!?!

Oh my- as I write this I really sound so prissy and I really don't consider myself to be that way, but this is just so not normal in my world. I guess maybe I need to expand my horizons. But then again, maybe I'm okay with my world.

Maybe I need a pet. Nevermind.

Oh wait- here's another good Elk story. Why not put it all out there in one post right? Okay, so last year the guys at my work were talking about the "hunt" and I asked my boss if he hunts and he said he goes on the cow hunt every year and I seriously got all excited! I told him I'd totally go on that hunt because I would love me some good cuts of beef. Just then- EVERYONE in the room burst out into laughter and proceeded to inform me that a "cow" is a female Elk. Like I was really supposed to know that... I'm a stupid fake blonde Californian!

It's okay- I'm not too proud to tell that story. I have my moments and I also haven't spent much time at all studying the animals that roam the mountain sides of this country. Sorry!

Sees Candy- the breakfast of champions!

I started off my day running errands and the major stop was the mall... University Mall to be exact. Please don't question as to why I was there just over a week before Christmas because I don't have the answer, I just had things to buy and that's what I was doing. Anyway, one stop I made was to the Sees Candy store- the line wasn't too long and I was trilled about that. So I'm waiting in line to select my chocolates and of course the nice old lady working asks if anyone wants a sample. Seriously, dumb question- so she passed out treats to everyone in line. It was some sort of a mint truffle, yum. So then it's my turn and I start making my selections and when I mentioned that I needed the Schotchmallow in dark chocolate, the guy asked how many and I told him just a few and he quickly said "what, did you say half the box?" I gave him a good courtesy chuckle and said maybe 4 or 5 will do and he said "oh, these are my favorite by far" to which I told him I'd never tried it before, so he handed me one- SCORE ME! So, I continue choosing what to get and at the same time, another cute old Sees lady asked if those of us in line had received our sample and this time it was my most favorite of all- the Milk Patties, so yeah- I got one of those too. The cute prego lady behind me was so stoked. It was cute! So, I pay for my purchase and decide that since it's maybe 10:20 in the a.m. and I might not want to eat chocolate this early. So, I put them in the little bag and tuck them in my purse. It didn't take long before I was picking at them and enjoying every freakin' minute of it! Sees is only a part of my life at Christmas time it seems, so why not eat it for breakfast, right? Thanks for agreeing with me.

Gingerbread house= fun/mess/fun!

The girls have been begging to make a gingerbread house so I bought one of those kits where it comes with everything. We decided that this afternoon would be the perfect time to do it and the girls were at my side waiting to stick their candy on so anxiously! So, we began by sticking the sides of the house together, then the roof, chimney, etc. I then start lathering on the nasty tasting icing (word to the wise: DON'T lick your fingers when using one of these nasty Wal*Mart special kits- I think I might die b/c is was so grotty!) All was well and the girls were sticking candy on all over the place and we were so proud of it... until the entire roof slid off- both sides and Abby was devastated!

It was drama, but then we laughed (it took Abby a little longer to find the humor in it) and then we had fun again! They both started taking the candy off one by one and then Brenna started smearing her hands in it thinking it was the coolest thing ever!

Abby's wise comment to her mother was "See- I told you we should have waited for Grandma... she knows how to make candy houses the right way."

I think I'm glad we did it because now I know we pretty much won't ever do it again!

She knows better... or so I thought... AAHHH!

STORY TIME!

Remember Brenna??? She’s cute, she’s 4, she’s strong willed, adorable, funny, sassy and sweet as can be, and she has struck again! We’ve had this joke or little thing we’ve been saying lately about a certain section of Brenna’s hair… it’s a piece on top of her head- almost dead center and right where her bangs end that has a problem staying where I want it to. She won’t keep clips in her hair to keep it back, and she won’t keep her hair behind her ears because she doesn’t “like my ears sticking out like a boy” and we’ve joked about needing to cut it off because it’s always in her face. JOKE I say- it’s all been a joke because I couldn’t do the bang thing from the crown of her head forward (that is way too 80’s) and I figured we’d just deal with it. Again… it’s been a JOKE. So, I’m upstairs today starting dinner and Brenna came upstairs to ask me a question. No biggie until I turned around to answer her and I noticed yet another CHUNK of hair off the front left side of her hair… and then (it gets better) I noticed a rooster like chunk of hair sticking up right where this “problem piece” WAS at. It’s gone… she did the typical kid thing of “oh, I don’t want bangs anymore so I’ll just CUT them off” (sound familiar Janna?) and then they look like a nincompoop for months and months while it grows out. Okay- so I looked at the damage and thought about how I could blend it in, but I started having a panic attack because the only thing I pictured was Brenna with a mullet and that is pretty much against my religion. She’s too cute and I wouldn’t ever allow it! Not EVER! I have nightmares about them (mullets that is) and the only good thing is that they are usually followed by a fabulous dream of me sneaking into the Mullet’s residence and lopping it off in the middle of the night… Anyway, I had no option other than to cut it all off because the mere thought of a mini-mullet was making me sick.


So, we cut away and she cried the whole time! Here’s some funny things I heard from her through the whole ordeal:

“But mom- I don’t want my hair to be as short as Grandmas!”

“What? I can’t have a pony tail anymore???”

“Mommy- you cutted lots of pieces of hair and now I’m not cute anymore!”

Brenna: Why do I have to wear this thing? (referring to the cape)

Mom: Because it makes it so the hair won't stick to your clothes
Brenna: Oh, like when I cutted my hair on the couch downstairs and I couldn't brush it off?
Mom: Um yeah, I guess so. (next step was to go clean up the hair stuck to the couch!)

“I am totally not going to school tomorrow- everyone will laugh at me!”

“My hair isn’t going to grow back until after Christmas time”, and then I told her it would probably take a lot more time than that and she responded with “Oh, this is great”!

I keep telling myself that I need to laugh because the whole scenario really is funny, but WHY does she think she can do this... again?!
I didn't attend two semesters of night classes at Citrus Cosmetology for nothing.

She's lucky she's cute! Kidding, she's just teaching me patience... right?

LOVE YOU NENNA!

Fun in the Snow

My girls woke up earlier today than they do during the week- which I really don't fathom... I usually have to drag them out of bed to get ready for school M-F, but they don't quite get the sleep in on weekends thing yet. I'll be working on that one, for my own sanity I've decided. Anyway... Abby came running into my room at 6:45 telling me she has a surprise to show me, so I got up thinking she had made me a delicious breakfast or something to announce that I've once again won the mother of the year award. Um, that didn't happen but she was way excited that it had snowed and it was still coming down too! I love how excited my girls get over white, cold, fluffy stuff... it's fun to watch! So, after some morning chores were done, they got to get all decked out and go play while Aunt Sandie and a nice neighbor boy shoveled the driveway... the girls had a ball!


Can I just say that no one has had their hair done yet today, and I love the fact that their hats hide the bed-head! Usually I'm a little freakish if my kids aren't "fixed" when they walk out the door, but again... yeah for hats today!

Great-Grandma Moore called this morning and told the girls to make a snowball for her and take a picture, so this is for you Grandma!
We love you!

Abby is the snow angel queen... she's wearing jeans by the way, so she's sitting by the fireplace as we speak before her limbs fall off. She didn't care though- it was a really good snow angel!

And to finish it all off... they're in the kitchen drinking hot chocolate to help defrost!