Our Merry Christmas

We have had a fun, long weekend. It began Friday. Danny finished his las final by noon and then we were off to have some fun. (3 semesters down, 1 to go!) We went to the Church History museum to see an exhibit just for kids called "I am a Child of God." They had a lot of fun hands-on activities for the kids and they enjoyed them.We then had some dinner and then a quick stroll through temple square to see the Christmas lights. I say quick because it was 20 degrees out and we were freezing. It was a fun time nonetheless. I am always amazed at the amount of work that goes into the light displays. They were beautiful.Saturday was spent relaxing and then Sunday was quiet as well. We spent most of Christmas eve day getting together the last preparations for Christmas and then we had a really nice evening. We made our own little pizzas for dinner (Jesse didn't like his-big surprise!) , the kids got their first presents, new jammies, we read the Christmas story and then watched Santa Clause 3 while having root beer floats. Next we read "Twas the night before Christmas" and then rushed the kids off to bed so that Santa could come.
Christmas day was fun. We opened presents, had a surprise visit from Umpy, had our neighbors over for brunch and then finished the night off with dinner with Danny's brother and family. It was a very pleasant day. I would have like to relax more, but we had fun and I think the kids had a great Christmas...and that's what it's all about! Now I can use my massage gift certificate and get real relaxed. That will have to wait until after our trip to California. We leave tomorrow. Now after putting this stuff all down in writing, I am tired! It's a good tired, though!We hope that you had a wonderful day, too.

Quick update

Danny had a second phone interview with Amazon yesterday and they promptly responded and invited him for a flyback and another round of interviews. If that goes well, the next step would be a job offer...keep your fingers crossed!

How much...?

My blog is worth $6,774.48.
How much is your blog worth?

My friend's was worth over $16,000, I think I got jipped! I'd take the $6000, though just in case you were wondering!

Slow week (well sort of!)

OK, so it's been a slow news week, but I wanted to post something anyway to keep myself in the habit (Sorry, no pictures of interest!)
Job front update: We have still not heard anything from Honeywell. The last we heard "they are working on something!" Meanwhile everyone else that flew back for interviews with them has received offers, yet they repeatedly told Danny that he was the most qualified of all the applicants that they interviewed that day...go figure. I'm starting to believe that words aren't worth a whole lot. We are still waiting to hear from Walmart and Ford. We haven't gotten the "although you have an impressive resume..." letter yet, so we figure we are still in the running. However, with the holidays upon us, I am sure that we won't hear anything until after the 1st of the year. One bright spot in the job hunt is that Danny got a call from Amazon.com this week and had a phone interview that went really well, he was even asked for a second phone interview, so maybe something will come of that. We shall see...is it too much to ask where I will be living in 4 short months?!?!? I'd like to start making some plans. Patience is a virtue, I hear...so I will wait, what else can I do.
We are nearly prepared for Christmas, I have a few homemade gifts that I am working on. Other than that, we are just waiting for Danny to be done with finals so we can go play. He has his last one on Thursday (yeah! and then 1 more semester and we are done with school!!)
In other news...I've been having dizzy spells for the past 4 days and so decided that maybe I should see the doctor. I went this afternoon and after taking my blood, it was determined that I am anemic, have low blood volume and my body is trying to compensate by making too many red blood cells and there is only so much oxygen to go around. Sounds complicated, eh? Not really, I just need to take a multi-vitamin daily and drink more water and I should be right as rain! or I could have a virus affecting my inner ear. Medicine is not an exact science. I always seem to get these strange, non-life threatening symptoms that there is usually no answer for. I am glad to know about the anemia, maybe I won't be so tired all the time once I get it fixed...or maybe not. Now if we could only find a cure for my itchy ears...I won't hold my breath!
Sorry...that was a lot for a slow news week. Sorry for rambling and thanks for sticking with me.

A BIG Thanks!

I just wanted to publicly say thank you to my good friend, Shayla, for the awesome new background. I love it! You're the best!

Through the years!

I know I am full of blogs today...well, it's a snow day, so I needed something to pass the time. I recently met up with an old friend of mine that I have not seen in years. We've known each other since we were 4 years old (that's 30 years-yikes! can I be that old?) Well, she sent me some pictures from over the years and I thought I'd post a few.My, have we grown...and I think we just get better with age

A little Elfin Magic!

Check this out for a little fun!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1240806503

Silly Dyl!

Look at this goofy grin. Dyl's started to know when to smile for a picture and he sure knows how to ham it up!I just can't get enough! He's also started to cling to blankies and stuffed animals. It is so cute when he grabs a blanket or stuffed animal and snuggles up to me. These are the moments that make it all worth it!
Along with the cute habits, he is developing some not-so-cute ones as well. He is becoming quite the hitter/scratcher/pincher/grabber of his brother and sister. It is daily now that they come crying to me that Dylan has abused them in some way. He has also learned "uh-uh" while shaking his head. He says it to any question that you ask. I think it's cute, but I'm sure it will get old.
Gotta love 'em for better or worse!

Look what I did!

OK...I know that we are not supposed to boast and I am really trying not to, but I am just pretty pleased with myself on this one! I participated in a thing called Pink Christmas. A lady that a friend of mine knows started it last year where you sign up to send a gift to a "girlfriend" that you do not know from anywhere across the United States. (You can read more about it at www.pinkchristmas.blogspot.com) The rule is that it has to be home made. They posted pictures of the gifts from last year and they were really good, so I began to get a little intimidated (most of you know how crafty/artsy I am...Not!) Anyway...I envisioned what I wanted to do, designed it in my head and then faced the challenge of actually having to create it in reality. Here is the result:I made one for myself that I am going to use as a necklace holder. This one is going to a lady named Cristin in Mississippi. I got it in the mail today (phew!)
I am so excited about this. I had so much fun doing this. I designed it, cut the wood myself (on a scroll saw...that was awesome and now I want one!) and even bought a Dremel to do the edging and such. I always dreamed of doing wood work stuff and now that I have had a taste of it, I am hooked! As soon as I have a house, I want to start collecting the tools.
Anyway...Just wanted to share in the excitement that I have had the past couple of weeks. I hope I didn't come off as bragging or being prideful, I just wanted to toot my own horn for a minute...and it's my blog, so I guess I can!

More pics

Go to the following link for some pics from Nov and today.
http://picasaweb.google.com/PoppyThatcher/RandomPictures1107?authkey=PIfSizuAiAg

Ready for Christmas and The First Snow Day

It's amazing how the world can change overnight. We had our first official snow day today and Jesse commented that it had snowed
because it was now December. Good observation!







Dyl's first real snow day! He loved playing outside with the kids and Daddy. I was surprised that he didn't pull off his hat or gloves.








The Widdisons built this snowman with the kids. It turned out so cute. They had so much fun. They are definitely the funner parents!




Last Sunday we decorated the tree. We just have a little tree because we have a little house. It is a very festive tree, however and it was so quick to set up and decorate. The best part is that the lights are already on it. That is definitely the way to go!






We even got to see Santa. Jesse and Grace knew that he was the REAL Santa because he had a real beard...Jesse touched it!







They also got to ride on the little train.







Our fun, creative neighbor, Emily, painted a snowman on her window in preparation for the holidays, so Jesse and Grace decided that we needed a penguin on ours. And here you have it. You may know that I am not an artist in the least, but my kids are my biggest fans, they make me stretch and do things that I would never attempt before. And to tell you the truth...I think that it turned out pretty cute. One more blessing of having children, they keep us reaching and being able to accomplish things never before thought possible. I know that this is a silly example, but they keep me on my toes in many ways that end up making me a better person (at least I hope!)
I hope you all are having fun preparing for the holiday season. I think this is the most fun that I have had in a long time! It's great to have kids old enough to get you in the Spirit!