Thanksgiving is a time for Thankfulness!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!
Today I wanted to say a few of the things I am thankful for(in no order of course):

1. My husband Jess. I love you!
2. Mitch. I love that he likes to make me laugh, and play games.
   
3. Lindsey. I love that she has a cute sense of humor. She gets jokes all the time.
4. Alyssa. I love that she wants to be big. She told me she wants to learn to babysit so she can go babysit her friends :)
5. My parents. They are really supportive of me.
6. My sisters(this includes my sisters-in-law). They are my best friends.
7. My brothers. They are good big brothers, and funny.
8. Jess's dad and Cindy. They are great people, and very kind.
9. Jess's mom. I love her a lot and miss her often.
10. My nieces, and nephews. They are all very adorable.
11. My brothers-in-law. They are all very cool.
12. My home. I am thankful I can fix it up too!
13. My friends. I can always count on them.
14. My clothing. I am thankful to be going down in sizes too!
15. My calling. I LOVE Young Women's and I have the best calling(secretary)! I will be sad when we are done.
16. The gospel. I am thankful that I know that families are forever, and that Jesus died for me!
17. Tithing. It has blessed us a ton this year!
18. The Prophet. How cool is it that we have a living prophet!
19. Laughter.
20. Good music.
21. Good food.
22. Modern conveniences. I have a washing machine, dryer, and dishwasher! How easy do we have it?!
23. Beautiful things.
24. A nice bed.
25. Cute shoes.
26. Heat.
27. My phone. I love to keep in touch with the sisters, my parents and friends!
28. That my kids can help me clean.
29. Date night. I Love going out with Jess. He is the funniest, kindest, guy. My best friend, and we always have fun!
30. My health. Thank heavens my back is doing better, and I am feeling so much better!
31. That I have EVERYTHING I need. I don't get everything I want but I have so much!
32. I get to go somewhere warm this Thanksgiving!

I hope you all have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!

*32 things for my 32 years on earth :)

Love Your Body 5K with the sisters!

Katie, me, Suzanne, and Darci

Yesterday, Suzanne, Darci, Katie and I did a 5K at Sugarhouse Park. I have wanted to do 5K's and 10K's, half, and maybe even someday a whole marathon for a long time, but...never have. Well, obviously I am not in the best shape of my life, or even close to it, so it was the Perfect time right?! Well...I walked it, but I did it. It is a little jump start to some of the things I want to do in my life, and we had a great time! Suzanne, and Darci(my two younger sisters) ran and did a great job. Katie(my SIL who is a sister to me) was kind enough to walk with me. She kept me marching up those killer hills and helped me reach both of the goals I set for myself. I am so glad that Sue invited me to do this 5K with her, and I am glad that I got to do it with some of my sisters! This is just the beginning for me!

I'm in mourning.... Her Hair is Gone

ALYSSA'S HAIR is GONE!!

I came home from Girl's Camp, and when Alyssa came home from Grandma and Grandpa's house, I found out she had given herself a little haircut. I gave her a big hug and then it felt like slow motion sinking in, that she no longer had her Beautiful, long naturally curly hair. After I cried a little, I had Jess call the cute girl that cuts her hair to see if we could get her in. No luck... it was July 3rd! She was going to on the 4th, but she ended up having stuff she had to do. So....I trimmed it up. Basically, it looks the same as when Alyssa did it. I just trimmed it up.

Oh well! She is still dang cute, and now her Sassy Hair matches her Sassy Personality!

It is way easy to do, but I miss that hair!

I'm thankful for my Mom today...

She has done so many things for me; especially in the last few years. She has taken care of me and my family numerous times as I have been recovering from back issues. She is a great example of charity. I hope I can return the favor and serve her and others. She is an awesome grandma. My kids love having her around and all of the fun that comes with her. She taught me about being a Mother and I am so grateful that I get to be a stay-at-home home. I know it is a huge blessing, and one that she didn't always get to have, but she made the best of it. She has shown me, that life is not always perfect, but we make the best of it. It is imperative to keep going forward and progressing. That is happiness. She is such a great Mother and I love her so much and I hope she knows how important she is to me. She is beautiful on the inside and out.
Happy Mother's Day Mom!

Help me find some balance :)

I need some balance in my life. I really do. There are SO Many things, worthwhile things even, that I need to be doing, but I can't find the time to do them. I get stuck in a rut, and it is Hard for me to climb on out. So for awhile, I can be really good at making great dinners, and then that kind of slacks a little, and then reading scriptures and prayers, and then its spending time with my kids, or getting to the temple and dates with Jess, then, I can blog really well for a few weeks ;), and then I put that on the back burner and I am good at cleaning and then spending time doing something else for awhile. WHY?! I don't know, but I know that I want/need more balance in my life. I have big changes going on right now, and I have a lot to be thankful for. I want to be able to do some of the things I think are important all in the same day ;) So....how do YOU have balance?

I have more on this subject, but I want to hear your thoughts first. ALL of you! Even if you have never commented before! Loves ;)

Not--so--Sunny California

We are here in beautiful Southern California and the weather is not quite cooperating! Oh don't get me wrong, we are still having a Great little vacation, but it has been chilly this week here in Cali. We went to the beach in Malibu on Tuesday, and after a few hours, the clouds rolled in and we rolled out, and we haven't been able to get back to the beach since! We are so thankful to get to spend a little quality family time together, as we don't get to see much of Jess since he is in school. We are having a GREAT time and hoping that Vegas proves to be a little warmer when we are there over Easter weekend! We will post pics of our trip when we get home!

Update!

Okay...So it has been awhile. I don't know what happened. I just needed a little blogging break. I know, I should have told you before I left. I am here now! It seems like a lot of people have needed a break. So anywaysies...what have we been up to....
Jess-still working and going to school. He is super busy!
Me-boring you with this uninteresting post.
M-into basketball right now. Tonight at practice, he was totally showing off. He was so cute and so proud. He told me he is the best on his team! He has a good self-esteem!
L-into dance and being a major help to me. She does whatever I ask her to, and she even offered to scrub the kitchen floor for me! She knows how much I love a scrubbed floor!
A-dancing too, and keeping busy trying to be big. She asks me random things like " Why did Heavenly Father give us a tongue?" and today she asked me what fine means. Like "I am fine."

We are getting excited to have spring come. We went to Bear Lake a couple of weekends ago, just to get away. It was so fun. We stayed at some condo's and took our friends with us. That made us more antsy for nicer weather.

My mom came and stayed with us for a few days last week. It was fun to have her, and she helped me get some things organized. I don't think organizing ever ends. One day, that weekness of mine will become a strength. I Hope!

I promise I will be back soon with some more interesting posts, I think I am ready to blog again, and lets be honest, facebook has lost some of its "new and exciting" so now I will have more time!

Jess and Mitch just got their hair cut(It looks really good), anywaysies, Jess came home with some "product". On Sunday, as I was getting ready for church, I said, " Jess! now I can use some of your pomade!" (I am all out and I needed some). He turned to me and insistently said "What! I didn't get No pomade. I would NEVER get pomade. That is for girl's and I would never use it."Hmmm....okay. Well.....I like to be right, so I promptly got the pomade and showed him right on the tub where it said pomade. He rolled his eyes. I asked him if he didn't realize he was getting pomade, what did he think he was getting. He thought he was getting gel, because that is what the "smart" girl cutting his hair said. I asked him how much it was and he said it was like $15. OK. Seriously. He spent $15 on what he thought was gel! Boys I tell you.... And the funny thing is, I have been trying to get him to use pomade for years!

It's about time!

See how excited she is!

She is a big girl!

because....

She Potty-trained herself!!!

Ok...let me just admit it. 3 kids, and I have NO idea how to potty train. Why you might ask? Well, it
could be that I just have no patience, or it could be that I have naughty kids, but alas, I think it is that I just don't get it! I just am not good at potty training! Mitch and Lindsey were both over 3 when they finally made the switch. Let me just tell you. One day in the fall when they were 3, my neighbor Amy said to Lins "Lindsey, aren't you embarrassed that your Mom still has to change your diapers?" Lindsey kind of smiled and ran inside and wanted her big-girl unders on. NEVER had 1 accident...to this day! Well, Mitch took a few more months, but he Never had an accident either! They were totally ready and did it on their own. So...Now Lyss is Finally Potty-trained! Yay! She has been lf potty trained since about November. She decided that I didn't need to change her stinky diapers anymore and I never have. Then last week, we got home from Costco and her pants got wet from her pull-up, so she decided to start wearing her big-girl unders! She only had 2 accidents and one was at 5 in the morning. It has been about 10 days...so we made it! Yay for my big girl!

Our Holidays in Review

Mitch had fun with all his games.

All of us loved having Jess around.

We tried and failed to keep the mess contained.

Mitch loved his new "basketball warm-ups"!

Lindsey loved all the Barbie fun!

Grandma painted Alyssa's nails on Christmas.

We had a great Christmas and New Year as a family. For Christmas, we stayed here and did some of our own family traditions, and just had fun. The kids thought this was the best Christmas yet, and we thought so too! It gets funner and funner the older they are. Their favorite gifts this year: Mitch-video games; Lindsey-barbies...lots of barbies and a barbie townhouse; Alyssa-either her princess scooter or the Mr. potato head from Grandpa. She loves that potato head! All in all it was a great day. We went to Lehi to hang out with my family at Suzanne and Sterlings and have Christmas dinner. It was fun until the drive home on the ICY roads and blowing snow. Not so fun. The rest of the time, we have had kind of a staycation doing fun things with the kids. We went to Madagascar 2 with my brother Adam and his family on saturday the 27th. Great movie. We also took the the kids to see Bedtime Stories a couple of days ago. It was really cute. Alyssa didn't love it so much. It is more for older kids. Mitch especially liked it. Our nights(and I mean all night) were spent a few times playing cards and games with some of our good friends and our days were spent trying to recover from our nights:) and doing things together! We had a great New Year's with friends again doing the aforementioned up all night games. Thanks heavens for good friends and family. We are excited for the New Year and the possibilities that 2009 will bring!

Out with the old...

...the very nasty old. And in with the new!

What a great way to start out the new year!

We are good, We know it!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

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?!