The Proud Owners Of...

Yep you guessed it, we finally pulled the plug and decided the Accord was just not big enough for our family. After much arguing, Ryan finally gave up the fight and let me get my minivan. We got a Honda Odyssey and I love it! Now what do I say to all of you who are laughing right now, don't knock it until you try it. Ryan drove it home from Utah today and actually enjoyed it! We push a button on the keys and the doors open for us, we have an optional 8th seat and plenty of cargo for our huge double stroller. I could not be happier! I love my minivan. To be honest, I think my friend Amber and I signed a disclaimer back in junior high that we would never drive a minivan and here I am, proud as can be to have one! I guess things change huh?!? Today as we were driving home Ryan asked me what my car's name was?!? I said, "MY CAR huh?" Well he still calls the white corolla he has to drive "MY CAR" so I guess now I have 2 cars and he has none. We named it "LC" (for those of you who watch The Hills) but for Loser Cruiser. I am fine with being a loser, I am practical and happy with our new purchase :) We really are excited about it and seeing as Ryan and I have been married for 3 years and have gone through 3 cars in that time we are hoping that this one will last a while! Hopefully we don't have triplets next or we might have to upgrade to a 13 passenger van--then we would really get made fun of!

Fun in Utah (with a little drama)!

We have had a fun week in Utah! It has been very eventful...never a dull moment at the Hill home.

We hung out, went shopping, ate Brick Oven (my favorite), celebrated birthday's etc. On Wed. night we were all hanging out when Aria (Geoff and Aleena's little girl) fell off the couch and ended up in the ER. They did an x-ray and couldn't find a break but they still thought there was one. She has been walking around with a splint and a sling since. It is pretty cute! She is actually using it today more and we are thinking maybe it is not broken so that is the good news!
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with my family! We were surrounded by lots of people that we love and were able to have a great dinner. My kids loved the yams and the green bean casserole, they ate it up! My grandma has been a little under the weather so it was fun to take a picture with all her great grandkids that were here! The kids danced to High School Musical, we played games (I won both) and ate and ate and ate.
My sisters, my mom and I decided to join all those crazy people out there and hit up the sales. We went to Mervyn's at 4:00 then on to Shopko at 5:00. We ended up at Toys R Us where we just looked at all the stuff people were buying because their lines were unbelievably long. Was it worth it? Probably not. Was it fun? Yes. Would I do it again? I don't know, I am pretty dang tired right now!

I got home and went back to sleep for 1 hour before Ryan woke me up so he could go play basketball. I was looking forward to a relaxing day hanging out with the family. The boys were playing and having fun! My parents have this stupid brick fireplace at their house which has always scared me because I have always feared someone falling on it. Today that fear came true...Easton fell into it and sliced his head open. He was a tough kid and only cried for a minute but then just went right back to playing. Of course I had an emotional breakdown at the thought of my child have a scarred face for life. Luckily, with the help of my wonderful dad, I was able to get a plastic surgeon to do the stitches for us so hopefully it won't be too bad. Easton did not like having the shot and had to be held down, it was so sad. Then we had to hold him down again with this stupid thing over his face while the doctor stitched it up. I was trying so hard not to cry. Poor kid! He was fine the minute they were done and it has not bothered him all day. He is such a good kid.

The best part about all of this is that Geoff's family and my family are having family pictures tomorrow. They will have Aria in a cast and we will have Easton with stitches in his head. Seriously, what good timing!

We also had an exciting evening but I will write about it tomorrow...I promise. It is very exciting though so I would definitely recommend checking back soon! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and were able to avoid the ER...our family has been twice!

We Thank Thee Oh God For A Prophet...and more!

I am so grateful for a living prophet on this earth today who guides and directs us. I love President Hinckley! I think he is a wonderful man with a great sense of humor who has done so much good for our church.

When I think of President Hinckley I also think of Temples. I am also grateful for the Temple! I am so lucky to be sealed to my wonderful husband and children for eternity! The Temple is the most wonderful place on this earth and I love going there!

On a completely different note...today was a good day! We got to watch Aria which is always fun! She was so sad to see her daddy leave but luckily this time it is only for 2 days! This is a funny story about her. She found something she could not have and wanted it. I told her no and she went and layed on the ground and started pouting. I was cooking dinner so I just let her lay there and told her to come get me when she was done pouting. A few minutes went by and it was silent so I finally came in the family room to check on her and I found her passed out on my floor. It was so funny. She layed down to pout and ended up falling asleep. I had Ryan carry her up to bed and she slept until Aleena got home. She is so fun!
We also put up our Christmas tree today (since I am leaving tomorrow and will not be back until Sunday) We were so worried about Brady and Easton and were trying to figure out some way to elevate it or block it off. We decided to just see what they did. To our surprise, they were not interested in the tree at all. They hardly even looked at it. Finally tonight right before we put them to bed they decided they just wanted to look at it. This is not the best picture of the tree, but I thought it was so cute that they just sat in front of it and stared at it...they never touched it! So the car is packed and ready to go so I am headed to bed. We will be on the road bright and early in the morning. We are excited to come to Utah and spend Thanksgiving with the people we love! Hopefully the kids will be good in the car, cross your fingers!

God Bless America

I am so thankful to live in this wonderful country and to have the freedoms we enjoy! I am grateful for the men and women who risk their lives every day to fight for our freedoms and to keep us safe!

Happy Birthday Aleena!

Happy Birthday! Thank you for being a wonderful sister'n'law, friend and aunt to my kids. We love you so much and are so lucky to have you and your family close by. We hope you have a wonderful day and are excited we get to spend it with you!

Thank You Baby Einstein, cookies and errands!

WARNING:
1. Long post but probably good for a laugh, if you're not me.
2. For those of you who do not believe in letting your children watch TV before the age of two, please navigate away from this page.

Today was what I would consider a BAD DAY for us. It started earlier than normal because Easton woke up abnormally early which put us off to a bad start. I quickly learned Ryan would not be home until late which is never a good thing for me. Then my kids were just GRUMPY. I don't know what was wrong with them but they were so sad and nothing I could do was making it better. It was one of those days, which are few and far between, that I dislike having twins because they both wanted to be held and have my undivided attention which is impossible to do and they get frustrated. Finally after trying everything I could think of, I turned on Baby Einstein and they were smiling and so happy...until it was over. They started to cry again. I needed a break so I tried to put them down for a morning nap to see what would happen. They layed there for a while talking and whining a little bit and then they fell asleep. I was so happy! Don't worry though, about 20 minutes later they were up crying again. Seriously?!? I went and got them and we got dressed and headed to play group. This was a good part of the day, they were actually happy! That is until I walked in the door from there and the crying started all over again. I fed them lunch as fast as I could and headed out again.

I went to Target and decided to stick them in the cart instead of getting out my huge stroller. I turned around for 1 second and they had stood up and were holding on to the car. Then their pants are all too big so they stepped on them and pretty soon I was walking around Target with 2 pantless children which they then proceeded to start throwing them out of the cart. I hurried out of there and went to meet my friend Rachel at the mall.

I got Easton out of the car and into the stroller and went to get Brady. When I turned back around with Brady in tote there was a lady chasing my stroller which was rolling down the parking lot. She had to have thought I was crazy. I finally got inside and figured out that I was shaking due to the fact that in all the craziness of my day I had not eaten one thing. I ran up to the eatery to get some food and went on my merry way. Pretty soon this guy was running after me yelling, "ma'am, ma'am." I turned around and he was holding my wallet. The good news is my kids were really good at the mall. Rachel bought them a cookie (which they made a mess with, sorry mall janitors) but it did the trick and they were very happy the whole time I was there. (thanks Rach)

When we got home they were exhausted so they FINALLY took a nap. Easton only lasted about 30 minutes before he woke up crying and he would not stop. Again I tried everything I could think of to calm him down and nothing was working. So, I whipped out Baby Santa's Music Box and cuddled up on the chair and rocked him. He sat there through the whole thing totally content. I got Brady up and fed them dinner and they started to whine again. Now it is 6:30 and Ryan is still not home. I am going crazy so what do I do, LEAVE the house. I have been looking for a baby gift so we headed out to continue the search. Ryan finally met us and took the kids home and put them to bed while I finished running my errands. Now I am supposed to work 4 hours a day and today I worked 1 which makes for a long weekend and a grumpier me. Oh goodie!

It was a long day and I am so glad it is over. I am hoping that tomorrow will be a better day! We rarely have days like these so I am grateful that they are few and far between. At least I always have Baby Einstein, cookies and errands ...at least for now :) Today I am grateful for bad days every once in a while to help me realize how good I USUALLY have it!

New Experiences

When Ryan and I were dating we always talked about how we wanted an experience outside of Utah, away from home. When Ryan first got accepted to the school I was so excited that we were going to have that. As it came closer to the time we were moving, I was second guessing that want. I was terrified to leave my bubble and my friends but especially my family. No offense but can I just tell you that I never pictured myself in Las Vegas?!? But, what do you do when you have a feeling something is right for your family? You go with it no matter how scary it is.

Honestly we have loved it here! We have truly been blessed with the best ward and the best friends. We also have family close by, who we adore, and it is still close enough to home. Ryan has done well in school and has made some great friends. We kind of came here on a whim, didn't see our home before we moved in and new nearly nothing about Henderson when we came. Heavenly Father definitely had a hand in us coming here and we could not be happier!

Today we are grateful for new experiences and are grateful we are enjoying them together and growing stronger as a family! Coming from one who does not like change much, this is a big step for me. We are excited to see what new experiences life holds in store for us and hope they will all be as great as this one.