Thanksgiving Day

We had a wonderful day with all of Jeff's family here at our house. Thanks for all the much needed help preparing the turkey (I must admit I have never made a turkey and therefore watched my sister n law show me how- so now I can do it :) if only I had it in me to touch the turkey... yes I never even touched the turkey, oh wait yes I did, hehe after it was cooked LOL) The food was very delicious and the company was fantastic! Every time we get together we especially feel the void of Turk being gone, but have lots of sweet memories to dwell on. We enjoyed a few games together filled with lots of laughter and fun. The kids were PERFECT and made for an even more blissful day, they sure enjoyed playing and just being together as cousins. I only took one picture- ughh so here it is of Jeff and Rog peeling the potatoes!

Oh to be running again!!!

This is really great news that I can run again, just ask my husband LOL. I love how I feel when I run and how it lifts my spirits, helps me eat better, and how happy I am. I injured my foot a few weeks ago, yes pretty silly considering all I could do at 2 1/2 weeks post partum is walk... but somehow I managed to strain my ligament in my foot (the peroneus longus and brevis in case you were wondering haha) I could barely walk for a few weeks and by the end of the day it hurt so bad. I went to Dr. Sam and he did his pressure point magic and ta duh after two treatments I was able to run!!! I love it! Hopefully running will help me loose this baby weight! Anyone wanna go for a run with me?

Fun 24 hours

So I picked Seth up from a friends house and we headed down to mesa. Seth didn't know where we were headed on this special mommy date, or did he know that I had his suitcase packed in the back. We had traveled almost an hour all the while him patiently guessing where we were going. We had some neat talks and some special bonding time (thanks Kaymie for staying asleep). We stopped at my Aunt Carol's for a visit so she could see Kaymie- thanks Carol for a vun visit, I sure enjoyed our visiting. Seth enjoyed playing with the dog in the backyard- playing catch and telling him to sit and roll over. Then we headed to Stacie's where Seth was so excited to play with the cousins. They had a blast playing basketball, Wii, and walkie talkies, and whatever else they did downstairs. Kam came over and her and Stacie kissed Kaymie to pieces. Kaymie had a great night going about 7 hours before I woke her to eat and then another 4. We enjoyed our quiet time while everyone went to church. It was a short visit but we loved it nonetheless. Sorry no pictures! And thanks to my DH for watching the other two boys!

I've been tagged

It's the 4th picture from the 4th file kind of tag. So here it goes!

This is a picture of Porter at our family reunion this past Auguest. That had face painting and he chose to be a pirate of course. We sure had a great time that week!

I tag my best friends my 3 sisters! Yes that's you Heidi, Stacie, and Kamala

3 weeks old

Kaymie's photo shoot

3 weeks old!

My job

The other day while clipping coupons, Jeff came into the office and said, wow hun this is like your job- its just as important to save money as it is to earn it!
I figured that since Oct 25th (when I started calculating) I have... drum roll please
spent a total of $290.30 on groceries
saved a total of $964.04
which is an average savings of 77%! I love my job!
Some of the things I have gotten for free lately
treetop 100% juice boxes, kotex pads and pantiliners, wheat thins, ritz crackers, kelloggs cereal, breyers icecream, evaporated milk, quaker oats, zest soap, oatmeal to go bars, thai noodles, tylenol, and tylenol PM, colgate and crest toothpaste, tic tacs, lifesavers, sausage, ziploc storage bags, dial handsoap, johnsons buddies bar soap, bic silky smooth razors, poptarts, betty crocker potatoes, betty crocker frosting, pasta, frozen vegtables, dove & hershey's big chocolate bars, toliet paper, paper towels, lawry's brown gravy mix, land o lakes butter
some things I've gotten for really cheap like under 50 cent
smart balance butter, betty crocker muffin box, betty crocker warm delights, kleenex, pilsbury brownines, lindt chocolate bars, soft frozen pretzels, lots of diff cereal, orville redenbaucher popcorn, swiss miss hot cocco, nestle chocolate chips, brown and powdered sugar
other things for under a dollar
crisco veg oil, peanut butter, wacky mac pasta, bread, eggs, progresso broth in a box (79cents), flour, granola bars, eagle brand, c&H sugar, palmoliove dish soap

I will just say...

I will just say how blessed I feel lately!
In the midst of the way things are lately I am just so grateful for all the blessings we have! Health being a big one (it seems like every other day, someone new has cancer or a horrible health problem). I am so thankful for a sweet husband who is always helping me whether its cleaning the house, or taking Kaymie so I can go to bed, he has been such a help to me, even though he works long hours and studies for longer hours, how I am lucky to get him by my side for eternity. I am so lucky to have such incredible kids, oh how I love each one of them and the strengths they bring to our family. I am grateful for such a wonderful family and all the help I got after Kaymie was born. I love my daily talks to one of my sisters or my mom. I am grateful that Jeff was able to get a second job (even though unemployment is at a high) and will be even more grateful when he is done studying and passes the test. I am grateful that we have the gospel and have the knowledge of eternal happiness. I am grateful that we have guided prophets to comfort us and lead us in these last days. I am so thankful for a loving Savior who knows me and loves me and made it possible for us to be together eternally. I am thankful for angels- on both sides of the veil, and the tender mercies I have been blessed with thanks to angels.
The other day Jarom came in and asked me where his ball was- he then proceeded to kneel and say in his cute high pitch tone (that he does when he prays) help me to find my ball, Jesus Christ, Amen I then got up and helped him find it, oh how it tugged and my heart. He is always one to remind us to pray ALWAYS.
It is so cute at night when we tuck him in- he wants to sleep with his Grandpa Turk blanket (a quilt made out of grandpa's shirts) and one of the quilt squares has Grandpa's picture on it. Well he has to have grandpa right up snuggling him to his chest. Jarom was born 5 weeks after Turk passed away and I know that they had some special time together before Jarom came to earth. He loves his grandpa!
What are you grateful for?

Invisible Mother

My step mom sent this to me and I loved it so I thought I'd share!
I can't believe my Kaymie is 1 MONTH old today, wow how time flies! I sure love having a baby girl in the house and she brings such a sweet spirit.

THE INVISIBLE MOTHER

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of
response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room
while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store.
Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?' Obviously
not; no one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the
floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one
can see me at all.

I'm invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of
hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open
this? Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human
being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer,
'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm car to order, 'Right around
5:30, please.'

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and
the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum
laude - but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never
to be seen again. She's going, she's going, she's gone!

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the
return of a friend from England ... Janice had just gotten back from a
fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed
in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together
so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was
feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully
wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.' It was a book on the
great cathedrals of Europe .

I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her
inscription: 'To Charlotte , with admiration for the greatness of what
you are building when no one sees.'

In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I
would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths,
after which I could pattern my work:
No one can say who built the great cathedrals we have no record
of their names.
These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would
never see finished. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.
The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the
eyes of God saw everything.

A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to
visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw
a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was
puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving
that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will
ever see it.' And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'


I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It
was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you,
Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you
does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake
you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are
building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will
become.'

At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction But it is not
a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease
of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn
pride. I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As
one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see
finished, to work on something that their name will never be on.

The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals
could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people
willing to sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don't want my child to tell the
friend he's bringing home from college for
Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes
homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and
presses all the linens for the table.'



That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I
just want him to want to come home. And then, if
there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, 'You're
gonna love it there.'

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen
if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the
world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that
has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.

Halloween Fun

The boys had a blast trunk or treating- Kaymie stayed asleep in the car and I passed out candy.