Our Christmas look....

I will do my "what we did for Thanksgiving" post probably tomorrow, but I don't have time right now, so I am just introducing our new "December" look. I am really looking forward to the "January" look, but here it is for this month. I gotta get to ward choir! Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving weekend, and are recovered from all the good eating!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I know it is a few days early, but these next couple days are going to be CRAZY busy, so I thought I would do this post now. The kitchen is getting around to looking more like a kitchen, and we unfortunatly did not make out goal of having it finished by Thanksgiving. Oh well, at least my oven is plugged in and we ate an actual meal tonight. I swear, if I NEVER eat at McDonalds or Taco Bell again, I won't be sad one bit! Fast food loses its "treat" aspect when it is pretty much all you eat for a month. Yuck! Yeah, PB n' Js and double cheeseburgers get old super fast.

We are going to Mesa this year for a Barton Thanksgiving, and staying here for a Peterson Christmas. We are leaving Wednesday afternoon, and coming back probably Friday afternoon. I may be able to talk David into staying longer.... I don't know though. So with that, I hope everyone is thankful for their blessings, and has an enjoyable, relaxing, happy Thanksgiving! Good eating!

Our Sunday

It turned out to be a pretty fun Sunday. I have been looking forward to this particular Sunday for a few weeks now. It was the Primary Program. The kids did great! And a bonus for mom and dad..... Nathan, Aubrey, and Emily where carted up to the stage for over half the meeting, so we only had two kids to wrestle with- instead of five!!! It was a nice break for mommy, that's for sure. There seemed to be a lot of people at church today, probably to see the kids in the program. All my kids knew their parts forward and backward, and Nathan did great, yet both the girls sat and waited for help through their part. I was disappointed that they didn't just say it, because they knew it! Oh well, maybe next year. And by the way, by the time next year comes, all we will have is Jay to wrestle during the program. That will be an even nicer treat!

After church a great family in our ward, the Sipes (hi Russel Sipes-the drywall guy), invited us over for a REAL meal of food. What a yummy meal (best that I have had in over a month), and a great time for everyone! The kids had fun trashing their house while playing with their kids; and David and I had a good time getting to know them better, chatting, laughing a lot, and playing a game that we didn't end up finishing. We will have to do it again soon. We promised that we would host it as soon as our kitchen gets finished.... May not be as soon as I wish. =)

The reason we had to leave the game unfinished is because I had a phone call this morning from our executive secretary saying that the bishop wanted to meet with me this evening. And we all know what that means........ A new calling. So I just barely got back from my meeting with the bishop (which actually was a meeting with his two counselors), and my new calling is..........(drum roll, please) Primary Pianist. I expected it, knew it was coming and was already prepared to say yes. I feel a little nervous about it. As much as I love to play the piano, I know that I am not very good, or at least not as good as the current pianist. I really am happy to be back in primary. I love the kids in our ward, and the Primary Presidency are very nice, great women. Last time I had this calling I was pregnant with Emily (so about 4 years ago.) Wish me luck!

The kitchen, and a mysterious burn

We painted the red accent color, and hung all my upper cabinets! It is really starting to look like a kitchen........ well, sort of! Here are some pictures of our progress these last few days.Here is David putting on our first coat of the wine red color. It took two coats.

Here is the small wall, painted in the red color. My favorite color is red, if you couldn't tell! =)

Here is the first cabinet going up! It's the one above the fridge. It is harder then it looks, just ask my back today (and the ironic thing about it, is that David did all the really heavy lifting).

And here is the final product. Yes I need to do some touch up paint on all the cabinets, and completely paint a couple of them. David will be building me a custom spice rack that pulls out. He is an amazingly talented guy when it comes to woodwork.


And in some completly unrelated news. Here is a strange and somewhat mysterious burn that showed up on Aubreys arm yesterday. You ask her what happened and how she got hurt, and she has NO idea. It is a pretty bad burn, and she isn't bothered by it at all. I knew that she was super strong and tough, but this is crazy! I am still treating it with burn cream, and keeping it clean, but how can she NOT feel that, ouch. It hurts me just to look at it. Strange.

Kitchen stuff and chubby cheeks

Tuesday, bright and early, our drywall guy showed up and put the texture on the walls. I was so busy watching them (David helped), I didn't get any pictures. The drywall guy just happens to also be in our ward, and the Elders Quorum president. Being that David is the secretary, you can see that we had connections, and he came and put that texture on for free, out of the goodness of his heart. Can't beat that!

My parents showed up at about 11 am, and we filled some time while we waited for the walls to dry. A couple hours later my mom and dad put the sealer on the walls. Next came the paint! It was a busy day, and things moved along pretty quickly and smoothly. Here is a pic of the paint going on...... (most of the walls will be white, flat finish; the soffit and one small wall will be a wine red accent color, flat finish).

During the day, while the walls dried, my dad took it upon himself to fix my washer. FINALLY!! I have gotten really good at going to the laundromat, and have it down to a science now. I am used to it so much that I have forgotten what it is like to have a working laundry room. So my dad drove around a bit and found a place that carried the part that we need, ordered it, and it should be here next week. Guess what that means?!?!?!? I will finally have a washer again, and I won't have a laundry pile the size of the Rocky Mountains anymore!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can you tell I am excited about that?? Thank you thank you dad, for just ordering the dang part. I am happy as a clam. Also during the day, I got a cute picture of my dad holding Jay. Jay is named after my dad, you know...... isn't it cute?

And before I completely forget, I need to write down the funniest thing that Nathan said on Tuesday. I think you'll get a kick out of it! We sure did! So Nathan had been outside, playing with his friends, when he came inside and said, "Mommy, do you know what chubby means?" I answered him, "Yes, I kind of do. What do you think it means?" (Now at this point, I was silently preparing a speech in my head about how we don't call people chubby or fat, how we don't need to say mean things to each other, etc.) And this is actually how he answered...... "It means, when you run your cheeks flop". And he contently turned around and went back outside to play with his friends. My mom and I started cracking up! How do you keep a straight face with an answer like that???? Your cheeks flop???!!!??? What a hoot our Nathan is.

Here is why we got NOTHING done last night in the kitchen. David and I went to help with the light cleaning at the temple where David ran the vacuum all over the temple, and by the time we got home, he must have been pooped! He fell fast asleep, all within 20 minutes of walking through the door. Nathan got up to use the bathroom soon after we got home, and went and laid next to David on the couch, and fell back asleep. It was a pretty sweet to see two of my guys sleeping soundly on the couch. Yea, but David might just kill me for posting this one! He doesn't even know I took it. We will see how long it lasts!

On my mind....

I originally thought I would blog about all the big progress of the kitchen today, but my mind has been running on overdrive since my parents left again. Yes, my mom and dad came up to Snowflake again today to help get some major steps in the kitchen remodel done. They worked hard, all while I stood and watched the kids.

So, what is on my mind, you say?

1. This last week I got some saddening news about my Uncle Jon, but we call him "Uncler". He has been diagnosed with brain cancer. My thoughts have been with him, my dear Aunt Linda, and their family right now, when emotions and feelings are running on high. I hope the best for him, and pray for the Lord's comfort and direction in their time of need.
2. My dad took me aside tonight, just to tell me how much he loved me. It was a nice moment between us, hug and all. And as they drove away, back to Mesa tonight, the only thing I could find myself thinking was, "I already knew that". My dad isn't the mushy type, so moments like that just don't happen, yet I ALWAYS have known that my dad loves me. And daddy, I love you too.
3. I am so grateful lately for the blessing it is to live in this great nation. I feel a wind of change coming soon that will forever change the USA as we know it. And yet, I still feel blessed and love this US of A. What a great thing to live here now, in this time, in this place.
4. I feel very happy to have parents that want to help us out. I am grateful for them always, but I have been particularly aware this week of their great big hearts. My mom is always so helpful with things that just need done, like my laundry, bathrooms, holding a child, reading a story, etc. My dad is willing and ready at the drop of a hat to fix things, like my washer, my heart, electrical stuff, remodel a bathroom, etc. He is so handy with tools, and I feel like we are often on the receiving end of his skills, with his tool bag, AKA..."magic bag of tricks", that he totes along with him every time they visit.

So, that is what is on my mind tonight. I will post some progress on the kitchen later, but for now, there are my thoughts, as jumbled as they are.

THIS is the way to end a day

After a quick game of "Old Uncle Tom", we got pjs on, told a bible story about Moses parting the Red Sea (or Red River, according to Nathan =) ), we said family prayers and the kids got a random treat. David will sometimes give them "rides" to bed.... here are two of the cuter shots that I got.

After everyone was tucked in, and I was looking through the pictures I had taken, I showed David the one with all the kids on his back. All he had to say was "That looks heavy!". Hahahaha! It won't be much longer until he won't be able to 'horsey-ride' them all together to bed. First, they are just getting too big now, and second, his back isn't long enough anymore. Betsy was having a hard time just staying on! Jay was being super cute tonight. He just kept laughing his head off! He loves posing for the camera, now that he has figured out what that black thing that flashes at him is! What a wonderful baby he is. He makes my day, everyday! This was a great way to end the day. I love it when bedtime goes so fun and smoothly. I have great kids, and I love them all!