SURPRISE!!!

On Friday I had a surprise party for Natalie. It was really hard to keep it a secret, especially on her real birthday when I had not planned too much to celebrate. In the future I will always do surprise parties before the real birthday. Her girl friends came over first and surprised her and we had dinner and games. Later a bunch of her guy friends showed up. I think at one point we had at least 50 kids here. Everyone seemed to have a fun time. Joseph said the next day, "Our house was a rock-in everywhere."

Happy SWEET sixteen Natalie!!!

Natalie has been counting down the days till she turned 16--the time she could both drive and date. She got her drivers license yesterday and her friends surprised her by decorating her room. As you see in the picture they put a life size "Jacob" from the Twilight movie in there too. Late last night when checking on something in her room, I about had a heart attack when I turned the lights on and there was this "man" standing there. I told her when she is not home he has to go in the closet.(--a little creepy) We love Natalie's zest for life and her passion for things she is involved in and her ideas. Most importantly we appreciate that she is kind and sensitive to those around her. WE LOVE YOU NAT!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

14 DAYS TILL JOHNNY COMES HOME!!!!

I can't believe it has been two years since Johnny left for his mission. Time has flown, except for the last few months as I anticipate all my children in my home again. We are all so excited and can't wait to see, hug, talk to, hang out with, play with, and be with him. I feel like I did when I was nesting for a new baby. I have been deep cleaning the house, making up menu plans and cooking. I guess thats what moms do when they are excited. I know he will be surprised to see how some of the kids have grown, especially Natalie, Jake and Caroline. Jake's goal was to be taller than Johnny when he came home. :) I will post a before picture and after picture once he is here. This is a little excerpt from his letter today. I guess he is starting to think of coming home too.

"This week while in church i realized that I don' t really know what I have been used to do in this country, but God knows. Only He knows how many people I have been used to influence. I hope that this last few weeks I can influence as many people as I can. I am grateful for the experiences that I have had here and for the people that I have got to know here. It has been an amazing two years, that won't compare with any to come, but hopefully not the best (in other words I hope it only gets better:) full of happy and difficult times. I love this country and the language, and the poeple who live here. I will miss them.

But I love you and I can't believe that I will see you soon. I am very very excited."

Dating, Dances, and DRAMA!

Natalie turns 16 next week. There is a Christmas Dance 2 days after her birthday and she has been really hoping to get asked to it. Well, tonight at 7:00 pm just as I was leaving for Jake's concert the doorbell rang and there was a Christmas tree sitting there. I hurried and put it in Natalie's room. Later, when Natalie came home there was wrapping paper all rolled up and a candy cane with Natalie name on it sitting at the front steps. Two boys asked her within 1 hour of each other!!!!! Then the drama began..... Natalie was so excited to be asked but very traumatized at the same time to turn one of the boys down. They are both nice boys and she is friends with both. She could not focus or function for about 2 hours because she was so indecisive as what to do. She finally decided the best thing to do was accept the invitation of the first. She still really wants to go out with the other boy too and she hopes he will ask her out again. John and I told her if she doesn't date at all it would solve everything. She didn't like that answer. Above are pictures of how she was asked and how she responded.

Cranberry Salsa

I made this for an appetizer for Thanksgiving. It is very easy to make and unique. Everyone loved it and wanted me to blog it.

2-3 cups dried cranberries (I got craisens from Costco) chopped

1 bunch of cilantro (chopped)

1-2 jalapenos (seeded and chopped)--I used one

1 purple onion (chopped)--if large just use half

Cover with the following mixture:

1/4 C honey (mixes best if warm)

1/4 C orange juice

juice from 2 limes

The recipe will easily cover 2-3 8 oz. cream cheese. Serve with club crackers or tortilla chips. Tastes best if made the night before so that flavors can blend.

Thanksgiving

I made another video clip of the pictures we took over this Thanksgiving break to send to Johnny. It was a fun filled weekend full of complicated plans, events and traveling back and forth to cousin's houses.

Grandma also took all the girls to the nutcracker to watch 3 cousins preform. We feel so blessed and are truly grateful for our faith, health, food, friends and family. When looking at the "black" Friday deals in the newspaper, we quickly realized we didn't really need anything, that we already have everything we could want. :)

Modest is Hottest

• Natalie thought up the post title. Hmmmm :)
• Caroline and Natalie are modeling the dresses I bought for 7 dollars on clearance at American Eagle. The only problem was that they were too short. Here is how I refashioned them. On Caroline's dress, I let out the hem and added some eyelet. For Natalie's, I added a 2 1/2 inch trim to the bottom. They both were happy with the results.
• Funny story about Natalie's dress. Natalie wore this to school the other day. While practicing in social dance she notice her partner had a funny look on his face. She followed where his eyes were staring and realized her dress had slipped down past her chest!! (good thing she had a shade t-shirt on). For the test, he told her he would hold it up. hahahaha---I guess I need add some ribbon or straps.

Made with Love--gift exchange

We used to take all the children to the dollar store in December and let them pick out a gifts for each other. They loved it, but I hated the 36 items of junk that came into the house each year. These things always ended up in the garbage within a week.

3 years ago we started a new tradition and the kids picked names for a their gift exchange. The only catch was it had to be made by the giver. This takes a lot more thought and effort. In the above picture, Joseph had been working for 2 hours on Johnny's present, when I said to him,"why don't you to take a break?" He replied, "Mom, a boy does not give up on his brother!" Haha He has been really excited as he works on his gift. Caroline has a great idea for Josh and I wish she picked me. Here are some of the past gifts.

• Johnny---Natalie---made her a special music mix cds
• Natalie---Caroline----typed her up a cookbook of favorite family recipes
• Jake------Joseph------decoupaged a wooden treasure chest with super hero stickers
• Joseph---Josh------painted wood letters of Josh's name for his room
• Josh-----Joseph-----took photos of Joseph's favorite toys, books, and him playing and combined with some random pictures of him and made a little video of him with the background music "you've got a friend in me"--so cute one of my favorites!!!
• Caroline-----Jake----freezer stencil Chinese characters saying "big brother" on a T-shirt
• Caroline----Johnny---took all his comics strips he had collected for 5 years and compiled them into a scrapbook and sheet protectors
• Josh------Jake----homemade bookmark and a book of his own that he knew Jake would love.

I love this new system, because the children actually feel the joy and excitement that accompanies giving instead of receiving.

Christmas Binder

This year I am following the advice/idea of my friend, Chris and created a Christmas Binder. I don't know why I have not done or thought of this earlier. It has taken a lot of the stress out of the Holiday planning and preparing. In my binder I have included gift lists, things to buy, Christmas card lists and addresses, menu plans and recipes for the holidays, traditions, activities to do as a family, and a master to do list. Having it all in one place and written down makes it seem manageable. This is the first year I am done shopping before Thanksgiving. Yeah!!! I also have a zipper pouch where I have put all the gift receipts. I still have plenty to do, but it doesn't seem as overwhelming. Now I just need to find a good place to hide it from my children's curious eyes. :)

Josh joins the FFA

Josh joined the FFA(future farmers of America) at his school. It is a great program. He has had a fun time being involved in this school club. He helped judge cows with his group and he is going to a leadership conference in December. Josh and 6 other students are raising a pig that they will sell in the spring. They are each in charge of one day. He has learn new skills and made some new friends. I am always proud of my kids when they try new things. Good job Josh!!!