Thanksgiving-- last one w/out our Missionary!

Our tradition is to get a Honey baked Ham, but-- Val wanted to get one from the store this year and bake it & himself. So, here he is & it actually was pretty yummy. I love the fact that my husband likes to cook & my daughter is going to be a better mother in the kitchen than I was/am.
Our little Julia Child's (Kenzie) wanted to make something of her own to take to Nana & Tata's for dinner-- so she found this recipe online for creamed spinach- it was the Ruth's Chris recipe. She made it with some help from Dad & it was awesome!!!

Give Blood!!!

She is "pretending" to be asleep. :)

It has been over a month since Kenz & I gave blood at our stake blood drive. It was her first time & she did awesome..... until about 5 min after she stood up. We had to go find a room in the church so she could go lay down & find a trash can... but, she is a trooper-- how many kids her age-- donate blood. Hooray--- to you Kenzie!!!! It is so important, if you can, to try and donate blood. You never know when you or a family member might need a transfusion-- so, think about it.

Senior Picture Time? REALLY????

I wish I had her natural beauty--





A little SHOUT OUT to my friend Heather from UP A NOTCH photography.... she is AMAZING!!!!

Sugar Plums starts tomorrow!!!

OK I went & set up today--- there is some WAY cute stuff at this boutique!

Friday is a holiday-- I am working from 9 to 1 p.m. so come see me!!!!

Happy Birthday Val Jr.!!!!! #42

Look how cute this wrapping paper is-- Val loves Star Wars-- so we wrapped his present in little boy Star Wars paper this year.

this time of year is so INSANE-- first my birthday, then our anniversary, then Val's birthday--

then Carinna's birthday, then Christmas. Plus-- add in Boutique time.

So, I don't want it to go un-noticed that I do totally ADORE my sweet husband-- i LOVE his smile, i LOVE the way he comes over to my side of the bed and gives me a kiss before he goes out for a run or leaves for the gym...i LOVE that he lines his golf clubs up so neatly in the formal living room (it's empty we have no furniture & it's Boutique time- so it is actually full of product) so he can put & swing & "pretend" he is playing golf when he isn't golfing. it is so cute!!! i LOVE his strong arms around me when he knows I NEED a hug... i LOVE how much he love's our Nixon boy. i LOVE how he honor's his priesthood. i LOVE how he looks at his daughters with compassion. i LOVE how he takes care of me when i don't feel good. i LOVE how i feel when i am with him. i LOVE how he looks at ME!!! i LOVE how he LOVES me!!!
I'm not sure if you can see the gift or not but we got Val a Ninja this year for his Birthday--- he has been wanting this blender & it is supposed to be the baddest blender around-- anyway-- the crazy thing is we got him the wrong one--- SHOOT!!!!

Girls day for LeAnn

My very creative friend Sarahanne put this way cute basket together for LeAnn as a great way for us to remind her how much we love her & during the holidays when she might be missing her sister who passed away recently to cancer- she can take out this basket, put that holiday display out & then when that holiday is over, the basket goes away & then within a few days we have a girls day or night out and spend some time with her just the 6 of us.

So Ana calls LeAnn up to set up this luncheon so we can give her this basket and explain what we want to do & the crazy thing is guess who ends up making lunch for us?? Yep LeAnn-- she is so crazy. I can't even take it.
I was trying to be creative like Kenz with the photo's.
Stacey & Ana

Look how pretty our table for our lunch was..
yum yum yum--- yogurt, granola, rasberries & chocolate chips--
A little "inside" joke about gettin our "drink" on with some yummy beverage that Lee made us.

This day was so fun. We must have laughed at some crazy conversations-- we talked about some crazy things & even cried a little. But that's totally o.k. I am just so thankful for friends!!

How about them Cowboys?

So Val took some customers to Philadelphia last week for the Dallas Cowboy-- Philadelphia Eagle Football game & he arranged to do a tour of the city one day. They toured the famous Eastern State Penitentiary among some other things. Here are the pictures from his tour. I wanted to post them on the blog, I think they are so cool.

Al Capone's cell- he didn't get any special treatment did he???

The famous steps from the movie "Rocky".

The Liberty Bell
Val had a mental block on what building or what statue this was.
He took this photo because he knows how much I love brick buildings & architecture in general.

I love this building too.
Here is the view from their seats. They were in the end zone like 12 rows up. Val was pretty bummed, he was looking forward to this game all year long & the Cowboys only scored one touchdown & he wasn't even there to see it, they had already left-- the score was like 34 to 7 or something crazy like that. The eagles just killed the cowboys.

I told Val- maybe next time he can take me instead of a bunch of guys. :)