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Mitch: My all-time Favorite basketball player

Isn't he adorable?!!

Mitch is COMPLETELY addicted or committed to basketball. You can find him outside 6-7 days a week practicing and playing with whoever will play with him or by himself. He comes home from school and doesn't even come in until he gets at least 20 minutes in. Then he will play very often 2 hours or until it gets dark. It doesn't matter if t is 30 degrees or 100 degrees, he is outside.

Mitch loves to watch basketball on TV and rarely misses the Jazz or BYU games. Sometimes he is even lucky enough to go with his dad to Jazz games. He also went to the Matt Harpring basketball camp this summer. That he didn't love so much. Matt ran a great camp, and didn't let the kids mess around. That was good because Mitch learned a lot!



He practices with the 12 year olds in our ward sometimes, and can hold his own! The coach is excited to have him in 3 years! The funny thing is this is all new in the last couple of years. He now loves basketball, football, and rugby. A couple of years ago (ok when he was 1-5) he was all into vacuums. I wasn't sure what to do with him. We have gone through 6 vacuums in his short life. We are now on #7. We went with a dyson for the warranty, although I think he has outgrown the desire to play with vacuums! I think sports are easier to deal with. the vacuum addiction was very cute though!

He has a drawer full of collared golf shirts and jeans,but will he wear them? NO!!! He wears too big T-shirts with the Jazz on them and washes them frequently so he can wear them or some other athletic shirts EVERY day. I barely got him to stop wearing shorts to school last week!

He wants to play college basketball at BYU when he grows up. He knows he has to have good grades to get in, so a few weeks ago at SEP conference, he had a B on his report card and he wanted to make sure that the B wouldn't mess up his chances of getting into school. I assured him that he was ok. I thought that was very cute! He is such a good boy and a joy to have around. I am so glad that he has found something that he likes and that he sets goals for himself. I am a proud mother!

Go Mitch!!!

You feel bad....

You know that I love teeth. I try to take care of mine and so far so good. Until now.......

I made it 31 years with no cavities until yesterday when I had a little cavity filled. I know you feel bad for me. I Know it!

Nativity: The First Tradition

When Jess was growing up, his family had a tradition of putting out the Nativity at the very first of the holiday season, before anything else. I love this tradition, and Jess and I have wholeheartedly incorporated this wonderful little idea. Tonight, while Jess read the story of Christ's birth in Luke, the kids took turns setting up pieces of the Nativity. They had a great time, and I love that putting up the Nativity before the tree and the lights puts the most important reason of Christmas--The birth of out Savior Jesus Christ--in the forefront of our minds. After Jess read the story, we sang a few Christmas songs and got really excited for Christmas! The Christmas songs about Christ always bring a wonderful spirit. I am so glad we get to carry on family traditions and incorporate things from both sides of the family. Don't worry...Christmas Eve will find the kids acting out the Nativity, another wonderful tradition from my side, that I know many people do! Enjoy the pictures!Alyssa was sooo careful with baby Jesus. Lindsey is little Mother---I love her!Mitch and Lins are good friends:) They are getting it just right.Alyssa was sad that daddy wouldnt let her touch the nativity and play with it after--now she has her own in her room.The After picture. It is even ok that Alyssa put the donkey in the rafters! The kids had fun! Happy Holidays!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Happy Thanksgiving one and all! We have so many things to be thankful for at this time of the year as all of you do too! I would love to tell you what we are all thankful for today.

Alyssa is thankful for: her daddy and mommy, preschool!, nursery, the temple

Lindsey is thankful for: her clothes, food, family and her friends

Mitch is thankful for: basketball, his sisters, friends and BYU

Shanna is thankful for: her family, blessings that come from trials, friends, The Gospel and the knowledge that comes from it, that we can continually try and be better, healthy kids, a great husband, my home, all my extended family(including Jess's great family) I have alot to be thankful for!

Jess is thankful for: his family, me, that Mitch goes with him to BYU games, that his girl's go on dates with him, The Gospel, that he has the opportunity to get his MBA(even though it is really hard) and of course BYU football!

We hope that this day finds you happy and able to reflect on all of the blessings that you have. It makes life so much easier to deal with when we have an "Attitude of Gratitude" and look for all of the positive things in life! Happy Thanksgiving!!!

New Kids On The Block!!!

I went...I seriously went! And I am not going to lie, it was AWESOME! I thought my love for NKOTB was in the far recesses of my mind; Now It's Not. They were amazing 18 years ago when I saw them in Seattle...I was 13 and full of hopes and dreams.....Anywaysies, and they still are! On saturday, I was remebering they had their concert that night. I kind of wanted to go. Jess, being the jem that he is told me to look and see if they still had tickets. One of my best friends, Irene, had great seats on the 14th row. I was going to try and get seats close to her. I found some on ebay for a fraction of the cost and Jess bought me a couple of tickets with the stipulation that he would not be caught dead anywhere near the concert. Thankfully Chyrelle, another friend, went with me and we had soooo much fun! We met up with Irene and some other gals and had a crimpping party ( see the side pony with crimps). Now that I think about it, I think ThAt was even out of style when I went the first time! Oh well. We had fun--Notice Chyrelle's big jean jacket, and bow in her hair. We had row 24 seats on the floor. Halfway through the show, The New Kids did a couple of sons n the middle of the e center on a small rotating stage. We turned around, and they were only 9 rows away! I could have thrown something at them they were sooooo close! They sang a few new songs and then mostly san old ones. It seriously felt like I was at the same concert as the 1990 one. They were so fun to listen to. Jordan s still, you know ummm cool and his falsetto voice is wow! Joey was really cool too. Ok they all were. Some hihlights were definitely Jordan singing "I'll be loving you forever; the small rotating stae where they were so close; all of their other old songs, and being with good friends. Everyone there was around my ae and previous fans. It was knd of sweet that people love them so much. They have helped create memories for many girls/now women. I guess that once a fan, always a fan! Thanks for all of the fun girls!!!

A special shout out to another of my closest frends Amber who has been a fan with me from the beginning. She was going to fly in from Boise but had a new baby! Next time.

A very belated Happy Birthday!

Really, it's too late, but...HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESS!!! I need to take any opportunity I get to say how wonderful he is, even if his birthday was last month. :) Jess is an extremely hard worker who has never complained about working and going to school full time (both times) and is happy to do it, knowing he is helping his family. He loves to play with his kids and has never complained about watching them for me. He loves to take them anywhere he is--running errands or going to do fun outtings. He is truely an amazing person. He is very genuine, and will do anything for anyone! He also likes to take me on really fun dates! I could go on and on, but I won't...at least today! He is Awesome and I love him!

The Good Ole' U.S. of A!

Enough about music (thanks for your opinions). We have more pressing issues.

Use your right as a Citizen of the

United States of America

GO VOTE!

Don't wait...Go now, and tell me how it goes!

Music, or no Music...THAT is the question!

I just can't decide....Do I pu t music on my blog, or not. (I have jucier posts coming soon, including Jess's birthday, and a give-away celebrating 6 months in bloggy land, so stay tuned!) The thing is that I think I get a better glimpse into people's personalities by the music they listen to. I love to (as my friends call it) Shannalize. There is not a dang thing wrong with that! It is fascinating to me to see what music people like. Sometimes it is very predictable, but sometimes...not so much. I want people to hear what I like, and I Like to hear what other people like. I am sure I am pretty predictable. Also, sometimes it is annoying to go on someone's blog to have music blasting at you. It is sometimes hard to concentrate. Maybe it is just me...and of course that is None of you. And that is easily remedied. I can turn it off if I want, which is Not all of the time. So what to do, what to do. Why do you, or do you not have music, and what do you think?!

Cute Handbag's! Enter to Win

There is a company launching a new website in a few days and before they do, they are giving away 24 bags in 24 hrs. You Choose Which Handbag You Want! No Credit card required, and no shipping! Oh...and they are

Way Cute!

You have to go to their website and enter. It will take you 30 seconds or less. Click on this link. http://www.handbagplanet.com/ Good Luck! This green one is the one I want...I love it!

I Love General Conference

I am excited for General Conference for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints this weekend. I love the talks and the spirit that is in our home. I not only love Conference, but I really love getting together with family and having traditions. We have a tradition of making chicken salad croissants and peanut butter rice crispies a.k.a. scotcharoos and getting together with family.

What are your traditions for Conference Weekend?

Happy 3rd Birthday Alyssa!

Happy Birthday Alyssa!
We Love You So Much!
Today Alyssa turned 3. It is hard to believe! It has one by so fast, and we have loved every minute with this sassy little girl. She had a princess party today, and she was dressed as Cinderella. I will post some pictures soon. But today, I will tell you my 5 favorite things about Miss Allysa.

1. She comes and tells me secrets like "I love you mommy". I love it.
2. She loves to snuggle and have me read her stories.
3. She gives funny looks, disgusted looks, and dirty looks. It is hilarious. I wonder who she gets that from?! hmm...
4. She is very grateful. She tells me thank you for EveRyThinG!
5. She is so cute! She is just fun to dress up. People stop us all the time to say how beautiful she is. She always says thank you. How cute is she?! I know people stop you too about your kids. I still love it!

I love my little girl, and I could go on and on, but she is so sweet and I hope she knows how much I love her!

10 Years of Wedded Bliss

Today is our 10 year anniversary! Happy Anniversary Jess! 10 Years ago today, we got married in the Idaho Falls Temple. It has been the best thing I ever did. Jess has been a great husband and dad to our kids and I will go ahead and say that I have been an awesome wife as well! (I'm kidding...I am sure he would say that though.) Today I am going to give you 10 tidbits for 10 years.

1. Our Kids. They have been a huge blessing in our lives. They came to us very fast in our marriage, but I know that was meant to be and I wouldn't change it. I love Mitch, Lindsey and Alyssa and I am glad to have Jess to help me raise these sweet kids.

2. Our First House. We moved about every 2 years for the first 6 years and gathered many friends and memories along the way. Now we are in our first house We have been here for 4 years and will be here probably 4 more (at least). I love having it be mine. I am glad we got to move around little before settling down, because I LOVE meeting new people.

3. Our First Minivan. We finally broke down and got one last year. It has been nice. I think SUV's might be nice too!

4. Golf. We love golf. I got Jess into it shortly after we got married and he would like everyone to know, that he finally beat me on his birthday last year. Oh...and he beat me at mini-golf on my 28th birthday when I was 9 months pregnant with Alyssa. I still tell him that was rude.

5. Vacations. We haven't traveled much. I hope we will more. Some fun places we have gone include: McCall, ID.-We have stayed there a couple times in a condo with our kids. We Love, Love, Love it there, We have also taken our kids to Bear Lake and Wolf Creek. I guess we need to get out more! We are taking them to Disneyland in the spring. Jess and I have gone to Missouri and Nauvoo. We have also gone to California. Time to Travel!

6. School. I graduated with my associates a few days before M and L were born. I started back to get my bachelor's, and found out I was preggo with A. That's on hold for now. We got Jess through school, getting his bachelors degree in Business Finance. Now we are into school again! Jess getting his MBA. I guess some things never change.

7. Cars. When we got married, I had a little red chevy cavalier and Jess had a gold ford taurus. Then he got a blue oldsmobile. Then we sold both and got a maroon dodge stratus....then a white jeep grand cherokee, navy dodge stratus and now a silver dodge grand caravan. Do we like dodge? Apparently. But now I want a wine colored Honda Pilot...Maybe someday!

8. Church. We love church. We both have our dream callings right now. Jess is the Scoutmaster and he is very good at it. He is also the 2nd counselor in YM. I am the secretary in YW. I LOVE Young Women's. I hope to be there for a long time. We have also been primary teachers, the ward librarians and various other things separately in these 10 years.

9. Work. Our jobs over the last 10 years. Shanna--Artco customer service for 7 months after we were married and then SAHM for 9 years. Love it. I did sell Cookie Lee Jewelry for awhile and loved that. Jess--worked at Showcase Interiors for 7 months after we were married and then at Fidelity Investments since. He worked there while going to school full time and he has even had a few second jobs to make ends meet including: a paper route(there is a funny story about that), Albertson's Deli, Delta Center and Fed-Ex. He is definitely a hard worker.

10. Family. We both come from great families. We have been able to go to every one of our siblings wedding(except Gina and John who got married before us in Logan, UT),and they have all been in the temple. Adam and Krystal in Mesa, AZ. Darci and Dale in Idaho Falls, ID. Ryan and Becca in Idaho Falls, Id. Brandon and Shari in Salt Lake City, UT. Andy and Katie in Bountiful, UT. and Suzanne and Sterling in Idaho Falls, ID. I love all of my in-laws and think of my SIL's as my sisters. All of them. That has been a blessing! note: when CJ is married, we will be there too.

All in all, we have had a good and adventurous 10 years.

We have had good times and rough times but thankfully, it has been together!

I LOVE YOU JESS!!!

the above picture is horrible i know. I took a picture of a picture.

My Quirkiest Quirks

I have been tagged by Chrissy and Jaclyn about my quirks, so I better get busy on this post. They are basically the same tag so here goes....

The Rules:

a) Link Person who tagged you. b) List rules c) List 6 quirks d) Tag 6 people

Bonus quirk:

7. I, like Jaclyn, love love love to pop zits. So gross, but so fun.

NOW:

6. I LOVE Lipgloss. I mean I really love lipgloss. I can leave the house with no make-up, but I HaVe to have liploss on. One of my friends gave me a make-up bag FULL of lipgloss for my birthday last year and it was Awesome(thanks Rachel)! Jess buys me lipgloss at Costco. That, my friends is how much I love it!

5. I am revealing something really gross about me... I have 2-3 little hairs that grow out of my chin. 8( It grosses me out so much, that I am constantly feeling my chin to make sure they are not growing. If they are, I hurry and get them with tweezer. I LOVE getting them with a tweezer. One time last fall, I was driving back from CA. with Darci(sis) and she was barely preggo and very upset and annoyed about me feeling my chin all of the way home. No tweezer + annoying hair = I felt my chin the whole way home. Now that I think about it, that would be annoying. sorry.

4. I get my words mixed up all of the time. I mean to say one thing and say another. Jess tells me that it is one of the things he loves about me. phew.

3. I love Clorox. I love how it smells after I clean with it. I use it more than should, and I have ruined linoleum from not using it right, but I love it. Along those same lines, I have to scrub my tile kitchen floor. I can mop other floors, but my kitchen floor has to be down on my hands and knees scrubbed. My sisters think I am weird.

2. I drool. It is a serious problem. It s family related, because, although I will not name names, there are others with the same problem. In high school, I would be concentrating so hard in class, that all of the sudden, there would be drool on the desk and I would get so embarressed and hurry and wipe it up. Luckily, no one ever noticed.

AND.......

1.Well, THIS is another family trait:

Ok, the pictures at the top should be here. Pretend they are for effect.

A few of us, including my dad , do this pose when we are relaxing. So weird, but SO relaxing. Try it...........................................................................................................................................................................

What did YOU think?! When I am talking on the phone or watching a movie, you will often find me in one of these two ways.

So now you know a little about my oddities, but I am sure that you still find me facinating. Just to be fair, next we I will brag about my most awesome qualities! j/k

Now I tag: Cortnie, Katie, Dee, Rachel, Irene, and Bonnie

Good Luck and Have Fun!

NKOTB ANYONE?!

I LOVED them back in the 80's/90's. Picture me running down the streets of Seattle chasing a limo holding Jordan (he was MUCH cuter then). What an awesome concert. My first when I was in 8th grade. And yes tears were in my eyes...











OK I was crying, because that's what NEW KIDS

fans do. So look out Nov. 15th, here I come.

WHO'S WITH ME?! COME ON YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO!!

Hallelujah!!!

We can have dual loyalty right? This is a hard concept for Jess, so its about time for some HUMBLING right?!

HE IS GOING TO GO TO THE U!!!

Jess got accepted into their professional MBA program this fall!

I am so proud of him. I keep threatening to buy him a Ute hat, and anything else Utah. He rolls his eyes...None the less, Way to go honey! I am so excited for him. He will do great!

I Won!!---I hope :)

I won a $20 Gift Card from the hilarious website http://www.seriouslysoblessed.blogspot.com/ to Beauty from the Earth, but now they are telling me they gave the code for the prize to a different Shanna! What the heck. They are practically perfect! I hope it is a mistake:(

UPDATE: The mistake was fixed...all is well! I guess they are still practically perfect:)

Memories!!!

The Directions: 1)As a comment on my blog, leave a memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or alot...anything you remember. 2)Next, repost these instructons on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It is pretty cool(and funny), to see the things people remember. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing, and I will leave a memory about you on your blog :) If you don't want to play on your blog or you don't have a blog, I'll leave a memory of you of you in my comments...

HAPPY THINKING!!!

What a Mess!!!

I am sure everyone heard about the storms that happened out here in my neck-of-the-woods yesterday. It was bad. I heard all of the nasty hale pounding on my house for a good 10-15 minutes hard! My kids went out to play for a minute in the HUGE puddle( aka pond) at the end of our circle for a few minutes and then came running in to tell me that one of our neighbors had water in their basement almost up to the ceiling! It was true! I went down and a house about 4 houses down (with a road in between was completely flooded. When I looked in the window, it was a leafy, watery mess. You can see the picture of the water being pumped out of their basement. After about 2 hours, there was still at least 3 feet of water left. I don't know how much longer it took. The house to the east got about a foot of water. We spent a couple of hours getting the stinky silty mess off of the lawn while the water was being pumped out. We were on channel 4 and fox 13. I left after that to take care of the kiddies, but I know many of my neighbors were helping get furniture and things out of the 2 houses until 9 or 10 last night. What a mess!



***a big shout out to dee bulkley and melanie for their accurate and amazing photgraphy used for this blog. It also made it on channel 4. They are accepting awards and requests for their autograph(especially dee).

Mamma Mia!

My girlfriends and I went and saw it last night. It was hilarious! It was funny seeing such a cheesy movie. The actors/actresses really played up their parts and did a good job. Now remember, it is PG-13 so I wouldn't recommend taking the kids or anything, but we loved it. I am sure that movie is a little more entertaining if you know the ABBA songs, as most of us did, but those who didn't still found the movie very good. I have to admit that we were tempted to get up and dance at the end---Don't worry, we didn't. I am willing to go again, just be prepared for an after-movie-dance-party. Momma Mia anyone?!

There is Nothing Better.....

Than a Girl's Camp Testimony Meeting. Do you all remember those? You are out in the beautiful World that God created for us. You are dirty and tired and have about had it. That is the perfect setting for being humble enough for the spirit to completely overwhelm you and everyone around you. I have to say that I love Girl's Camp and I feel totally blessed to be able to go. Although it is really hard to leave my kids, deal with girl's and their issues, and get soooo dirty and gross, I have to say that Testimony Meeting on Thursday Nights ALWAYS make it worth it. Girl's that haven't been to church in a year get up and say they know God loves them, or that they know that church is where they need to be. Shy girls get the courage to bear their testimonies in front of the little safe haven they feel. Girls express their love for each other and the examples they are to one another. They even let their leaders know that they don't always think we are insane. They love us too! I have absolutely no doubt that Heavenly Father had a HUGE reason for implementing Girl's Camp and Testimony Meeting. Many testimonies are strengthened, and Girl's---even the ones that sometimes feel unloved or not part of the group---are able to bond with each other and know, that people love them, Especially Heavenly Father.....

4th of July and Wray Reunion

We went up to Idaho this past weekend for the 4th, and for my dad's family reunion. On friday the 4th, we went to my cousin Stephanie's wedding at the Shelton Reception Center in Idaho Falls. They had a nice outdoor ceremony, but I am not sure why they chose the 4th to get married on! After that, we just went to Rexburg and watched the fireworks and did a few of our own with my mom and dad, and Sue and Sterling and fam. Pretty low-key. On Saturday, we had the Wray Reunion. It was fun to see cousins that I don't see often, but none of my close cousins came this year:( My kids had a great time with all of their cousins though. It was held at my Grandma and Grandpa Wray's house (even though they are not living) I guess it is now my uncles house. It is the house that my grandma's dad built. It is really old, but my grandparents took great care of it. They had a beautiful lawn and it was always so fun to play there. The swingset has been there for at least 50 years! I think it is so important to build strong family ties, and we had fun on saturday. The kids had fun swinging on the swings, jumping on the tramp, playing in the orchard, and eating cotton candy. And there was even more fun! Mitch had fun getting dunked in the dunk tank(which I missed) full of...canal water! He was freaked out after he swallowed a bunch. Hey we used to swim in ditches and things all of the time. It's Idaho! And I love it!

Splash Park and Carousel

After the reunion, we went back to Rexburg, and went to the new splash park. We went with Brandon, Shari and kids. My kids and Ryan all had so much fun. They were all freezing cold, and were chattering away, but were not about ready to leave. We also rode the carousel there at the park. My kids love to ride it when we go to Rexburg. All in all, we had a great weekend in Idaho and are planning to go back in a few weeks for a little longer. Right now I need to go to sleep as I am off in the morning for Girls Camp! I am excited. Wish me luck!