Joyeux Noel

Wishing you a fantastic 2013. This is my family holiday card. Card designed by me, photos by 

Melissa Mae Photography. Thank you, thank you!!

Holiday Baking

look carefully, cause you will never see this again. Kennedee and I made 20 star cookies in descending size to make this cookie christmas tree......phew! It took a lot of time and patience (mostly because Tay is not a good helper). But the finished product was fun.

Gingerbread houses, that's more up my ally. Especially when the house part is pre-made and already put together. "Ready-to-decorate".

Gratitude List

In no order at all, I have soooo much to be grateful for. I feel compelled to right them out.

1. I am grateful for amazing clients. They work so hard and bring me so much joy, especially as they see the difference our trainings make in their lives. I have a 74 year old woman who can do 15 full range pushups on her toes and a woman who can balance herself on two stability balls. A woman who just got off Blood Pressure meds and has inspired her husband to begin a workout program, and the list goes on.

2. I am grateful for my other job, Group Exercise Instructor.  I would never push myself the way I do or workout as frequent if I didn't "have to show up". I've NEVR felt stronger, both in my muscles and my cardiovascular system. I have sooo much energy, because of the awesome programs I get to teach.

3. I am grateful for my new calling of Stake Relief Society Secretary. My desire to learn has increased so much. I feel like I can't get enough knowledge and I want to read so many books and words of the current prophets and leaders.

4. I am extremely grateful for HEALTH. So many families are going through heartbreaking situations as their family members suffer. We haven't had a sick visit in years.

5. I am thankful for all mu family: individual family, the family I came from, the family I married into, and my extended family. So many amazing people who love and support me.

6. Grateful for a husband with good work ethic and who is also a wonderful daddy to my kids.

7. Grateful for my macbook pro, best investment of the year. Last year's best investment was my GVP straight iron.

8. Grateful to live in a safe city. Grateful to live in a wonderful country.

9. Grateful for Fresh & Easy Market.  Lots of coupons to save big on groceries and awesome meal planning to save me tons of time on cooking.

10. Grateful for ice cream, it's a household favorite

11. And I also love my vegetables. My parents are amazed. I didn't eat a single vegetable until I hit 18, and now I can't get enough of them, yum, yum, yum.

12. Grateful to not have any addictions.

13. Grateful for MINT lifesavers, long story, but they literally save my life every night. I wouldn't get any sleep without them, which leads to #14

14. I love sleep. I love that I can fall asleep easily!!!

15. Grateful for good friends.

16. Grateful for good books. I don't read much, about a chapter a day is all, but reading sure gives me a brighter perspective on life. I've got it pretty good compared to the heart wrenching stories I have read.

17. And while I am onto media, glad to have a few good TV shows that give me a good laugh. Laughter is always good medicine.

18. So happy to finally have all four of us in a 16x20 frame on my wall. (we only had 3 of us for way too long). I smile every time I see my family, I love photographs of them.

19. Grateful Buddy (elf on the shelf) has come to visit for the season. He works his magic very nicely.

20. Grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ.

ok, I'm starting to get tired, so maybe I will add to the list tomorrow.

ashley

Kennedee....................and my latest read

Got the school photos back.   I can't stand the blue background, same thing as when I was in Kindergarten. I guess it will remain a classic look. I'd rather photograph my kids outdoors in natural light. Hey, it turned out pretty cute though.

Thanksgiving according to Kennedee and recorded by her Kindergarten teacher:

"For Thanksgiving we're having turkey! We get it at the store-I don't know which one. It costs $50 and is weighs 6 pounds. We cook it in the oven at 5 hot for 1 hour. We eat steak to go with it. Rice too! For dessert we'll have cake and ice cream. We like chocolate! My favorite part of the turkey is the bottom of the turkey, 'cuz I know it's good. I'm thankful for hot dogs and yogurt!"





Latest read:

Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman

After some of the heavier topics I have been reading, it was nice to read something a little lighter.  Most books start slow, setting the premise. Then they build, get exciting into the climax and then have a happily ever after.  This book was different. The story got going right from the beginning with a mix of tears and laughter and continued through out the book. There really wasn't a big climax. But the story of Cecilia Honeycutt is charming, as she slowly learns to overcome her past and meets new friends along the way.  Good read.

"Momma's a DIRTY GIRL"

Literally a DIRTY GIRL.

My friend Dawn's husband found out about this event and told her she should recruit some girls and make a team.  Well we signed up for it one day before the event. And Dawn, Lisa, and Megan quickly went out and bought material to make us team shirts,etc.  Some of the registration cost go towards the National Breast Cancer Association, so most team names referenced "the girls".  Hence the "Udders"

THE BEFORE:  nice and clean

THE STARTING LINE:  getting our party on

THE OBSTACLES:  there were twelve obstacles including

water pit

blow-up climb-and-slide

hay bale climb

army crawl under net

under-and-over the ropes

wall climb

rope hill climb

tunnel crawl

net climb

muddy bubble hill

the running in between obstacles (Michelle and ME)

Megan, Lisa, and Dawn

and lots and lots of mud EVERYWHERE during the course.

THE AFTER:  the finish line

this is right before we fell backwards and back into the mud pit

DIRTY DIRTY

The best part was having our cheer squad. All of our husbands and kids came to cheer us on. The kids had a blast seeing there moms get all muddy.  Tay kept saying, "Momma's DIR---TEE". 

Hoping to recruit some more fine ladies for next year....................................

TRICK-OR-TREAT !!

Once again I left it to Grandma to capture all the pics of the night. (I'm so terrible at never taking my camera anywhere). Thanks Grammy. 

I figured that in having girls, every Halloween would be a big princess-fest.  I love that Kennedee wants to get in with the spookier side of Halloween. Last year she asked to be a witch and this year she wanted to be a vampire (with blood and everything).

We are lucky to have had a special witch visit us this Haloween. Witch Gramma Grant (Ryan's Grandma).

And Tay was Minnie Mouse by default because that was Kennedee's hand-me-down at that age.  But she loved it.  Trick-or-treating has worked out great in the last 2 years, because she stays right in her stroller the WHOLE time.

TRICK- OR- TREAT!!!!!

the happenings...pickle, trip to Vegas, surf

Here is what has been going on lately.

We got to go to a surf event in LA and meet lots of pro surfers. We already met Kelly Slater in Hawaii, but Kennedee thought it was pretty cool to get his autograph.

 And when she met Sunny Garcia, he just picked her right up. I am so glad that Kennedee isn't as shy as she used to be. She has really come out of her shell in the last 6 months. She was especially timid around men, but she wasn't scared at all when Sunny picked her up.

Kennedee also started soccer with Simi Youth. I like it, but wonder if AYSO would have been a better choice.  I think it will be more fun for her next year when she is on an all-girls team. She'll have more ball-time.  GO sliver ninjas!!!

We took a short trip to Henderson, NV to visit my sister. My mother came down for the weekend as well. She has been taking care of her mother-in-law over the last 6 months. Gramma Willy is almost 90.  My mother is soooo patient with her and I am so impressed with how she cares for Gramma.  Although we joked around the whole time, how we each had a toddler to attend to. "Did you change your toddler's diaper yet, mom?"  "Let's go get your toddler a stroller (wheel chair)".

Here we are at the aquarium.

And later that day we went to the Spring's Preserve for a 3 hour Halloween Event. It was done so well. They got to trick-or-treat, do halloween crafts, a haunted house, and lots of games.

 Here Katie is with all "5" kids.

 Oh, and they even had a petting zoo with LOTS of animals.

We made halloween cookies........................

 and celebrated Braden's 6th Birthday.

 He wanted a frankenstein.......and look how amazing my sister is. Even 5 months pregnant she can do it all.

We finished out trip by going to St. George to watch Grandpa Johnsen in the Annual Huntsman Games. He plays pickle ball.  This particular court has his name engraved right into the court sideline.

 GO GRANDPA!!!!!!!!!!!

 He has won so many medals (gold, silver, bronze) that he has over 50. And this year he turns 56, I think he will have 56 medals by the end of the year.

Ryan and I started playing pickle ball about 3 months ago. Simi has brand new courts at Lemon Park and we have tried to play once a week. It is such a fun, addictive game. We usually play with Ron and Cathy (my in-laws). Ron who plays a lot of tennis really enjoys it and has even got some of his tennis buddies to come play.  Ryan likes it so much that he has played pickle ball rather than surfing and for Christmas he is asking for a new pickle -ball paddle.      

Book Review

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency is a series of novels by Scottish author Alexander McCall Smith. The agency is located in Gaborone, capital of Botswana. Its founder is a Motswana woman, Mma Precious Ramotswe, who features as the stories' protagonist and main detective. I just finished reading the first book in the series. It is as much about the adventures and foibles of different characters as it is about solving mysteries. Each book in the series follows on from the previous book. And I just found out it that HBO has made it into a movie and assisted with the BBC in a TV series.  I think I would enjoy watching these, but not sure if I want to commit to reading more in the series.  I enjoyed the book, especially since I have been reading a lot of HEAVY material lately. It was nice to have a fun read.

No sweat, No tears

It's that time again.......where FB is loaded with pictures galore of all the kids returning "Back-to-School".  I decided to blog Kennedee's first day of Kindergarten and forward via email to all of you.

She has been going to the YMCA preschool 3 days a week through out the summer, so lucky for us, we are already on a schedule. However we had to move it up by 30 minutes. I don't know if that bothers mom more or Kennedee more. I LOVE sleeping in until 7:30+++.

We did Kindergarten Orientation yesterday. We picked out her clothes, made lunch, prepared snack (because they ask you to bring a labeled snack, too).  She seemed excited this morning. We made it a family affair and we all took her to see her off.

I put her in a lottery to go to one of our city's FUNDAMENTAL school. I chose Vista because it is slightly closer and ranked #1 in our county.  I was surprised when she got in. It was a hard choice to decide if she should go to Vista or our close local elementary. Vista will have a dress code (no shorts is one of them among others) and lots of homework. But I think Kennedee will do well there. But because it is a far drive, Ryan had to agree to take her each morning since it is only 1 exit away from his work. Then mommy will pick up.

The kids are not allowed to bring backpacks, but only tote bags. So she painted this tote bag earlier in the summer.
We were assigned to Mrs. Portesi's class.  Kennedee was really excited to meet her. She had ZERO hesitation and walked right up................

   ....................gave her a big hug and headed right into the classroom without even looking back at us.

I picked her up at 1pm and we got this shot out in front of the school. Yay for Kindergarten!!!!!!