Dinner with the 5 brothers!

All of Ken's brothers are in town! We had a "Christmas" dinner at our house on Saturday. It was a lot of fun to be together and wonderful to have Grandpa and Grandma there as well!

Ken's brother, Paul, has a special touch with our girls! They just love him. Here are a few pictures of them watching Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer! :)

Snow Days & New Haircut!

Here's a picture of what the weather is like here! Wow, the snow has finally arrived. Also, Maya & I got our haircut. We took about 3-4 inches off of hers and now it is in a cute bob! Here's a picture of it.Also, for those of you who don't know, Aliyah is walking all over the place! She's even helping mom out with some house cleaning! smile!

Trip to Texas

We got back on Wednesday from a WONDERFUL trip to Texas!!! We had so much fun. We spent the first few days in Austin. We had Thanksgiving with my mom, two brothers, sister and their families. Then, on Sunday, we left for Dallas and spent a few days there with my sister, Amanda, and best friend, Cassie. Here's a picture of me & my brother John! He is the worldest greatest brother and friend!
Here's a picture of my mom with all of her grandkids!!! Amanda is holding Aliyah, Grandma is holding Edith and Maya is standing between Justin & Ashley. We had a few basketball games with Justin and Ashley....wow they are good!!!

My sister Amanda, with her husband Jeff and their daughter Edith. Justin & Amanda at Thanksgiving dinner!
During our trip in Dallas, we stopped by some old friends of mine! While I was at Howard College (my first year of college in Big Spring, TX), this family pretty much adopted me!!! They fed me ALL the time and let me wash my clothes at their home. They were my family away from family and it was SO wonderful to see them. The are the Shuttlesworth family...Blake, Pam and Tara (their daughter Krystal had to get back to school....but I will see her next time!) Thanks again Pam for the wonderful dinner....thank you! thank you! We had such a wonderful time at your home!Happy Birthday to you!!!! Aliyah turned a year old while we were in Texas! We celebrated her birthday at my best friend's house! Thanks Cassie for the princess party! And, I don't know what happened, but we didn't get one picture of us together!!!! I'm so sad. I didn't even get one of you looking at the camera....ahhh!
Here are our princesses! Maya, Ava & Sophia!!!! Aren't they precious! We love our girls!

Happy Halloween

Okay, okay, so I was reprimanded by my best friend for not posting new pictures!!! :) Well, here they are...two from the pumpkin patch a few weeks ago and two from Halloween! It was a fun night! Maya really got into it this year and wanted to go again today!

Family Pictures

Well, we did it! We finally got some updated family pictures! (Thanks to my sister-in-law Meghan). So, if you want, put your vote in for your favorite because Christmas cards are around the corner!!! Ahhhh!!! smile!

Farm Country

One of our favorite things to do is go to the petting zoo! Maya wanted to try on some hats today! She's my little cowgirl!

She is saying, the pig says "oink, oink, oink". Oh yea, and she told me that she wanted me to be a pig for Halloween!! :) We'll see about that one!

Ken used to line up his cars in a straight line as a little boy! Maya likes doing that with the animals. (By the way Aliyah came with us too of course! But, she slept almost the entire time!)

Visit From Grandma Mink

My mom came in town this past week and it was the biggest blessing since I couldn't even pick up my girls (because of my back injury!) Maya and Grandma had a lot of fun reading books and doing their hair! By the way, look closely and you can see that Maya is pretty excited for Halloween...she is going to be a lady bug!



We also went to the Dinosaur Musuem at Thanksgiving Point! The girls loved it and I think Grandma did too!

My niece, Laura Durrant, goes into the MTC (Missionary Training Center) on Wednesday!!! (She is serving a mission for our Church) Congratulations Laura on your mission call to the best state in the Country....Texas, of course! How do you like that cake I made for her? Only Texas has a cake pan in the shape of its State!

Back Injury...ahhhh!

Well, last week I went to pick Aliyah up and my back spasmed and my hips locked. I couldn't even stand up! Tuesday morning I woke up to get a drink and on the way back to the bed, I passed out and was throwing up all morning! (Still not sure how that's related to my back! smile). Anyway, I went to a Sports Therapist on Tuesday of last week and have been to physical therapy four times now. Needless to say I am feeling much better!!! However, they told me that I could lift anything over 5 pounds for a week!!! Hmmm, did they not know I have two little girls?! It was crazy, but my mom planned a trip out months ago to visit us last week......perfect timing! I am so blessed.

Trip to Mackay

I got some sad news on Friday. My Uncle Wes passed away. He was my dad's older brother. I was really close to him and I will miss him. He was a wonderful man, he was 89 years old and died in his sleep. We decided to go and visit his wife in Mackay, Idaho. Here is a picture with me and my Aunt Connie.

My Uncle Wes was a Colonel in the United States Airforce and served in WWII, the Korean and Vietnam War. He was a Patriot and proud of his country.
This is his dog "pete." Maya loved him.
He had a flag waving in front of his home. He had such a love for his country.
This is the town of Mackay.

My dad and my Uncle Wes lived in this home for a short time.

This is an old LDS (Mormon) Church. My Uncle Wes wasn't mormon, but he said he used to go to the youth dances to meet the town's young ladies! :) (Yes, these are my dance moves! smile)

Can you believe this?! In a town of 400, there is a golf course!!!!
This is the ranger station where my Grandfather worked when my dad was a little boy. There is so much history in this tiny town and we had a wonderful time. I will miss him, but he lived a wonderful and full life.

I PASSED THE BAR!!!!

Yeah! I should put a picture of me jumping for joy! :) It is such a relief to have passed. I will be sworn in on October 30th in Salt Lake. I can't wait and I'm soooo excited the 'bar exam' chapter of my life is closed!

My new header

Isn't it cute? No, I didn't make it, all I can take credit for is the quote. My sister-in-law Meghan designed it and put the pictures in! I love it! Thanks Meghan, it is beautiful!

Midway, Utah

On Saturday we took a trip to Midway, Utah. It's a small town in the mountains between Provo and Park City. Ken's cousin has a home there and we were able to watch the BYU football game and hang out. They have five children and Maya was able to play with her "cousins." It was a fun day. We got there early and took some pictures. It is such a beautiful place. Aliyah likes to play with my shoes (& tries to put them in her mouth) so Maya is helping out by taking them away.
I was able to get a few pictures of Aliyah. The flowers there were beautiful.Of course, most of the time she was crawling towards me!!

Aliyah loves to listen to dad!