Gingerbread house and other ramblings

This last week was crazy! The week didn't start off very well, but Rex and I were able to go to my company party in West Yellowstone for the weekend. It was so nice to get away and relax. My sister-in-law Kari kept our girls for us for the weekend. THANKS! We owe you! The girls had a great time playing with their cousins and Rex and I were able to get some much need relaxation after our not so great of a week! After we got home, on Sunday afternoon, we went to my Mom's house to make a gingerbread house and a gingerbread tree.

The girls had so much fun! My Mom helped the girls make theirs look just like the one on the box (thats what they wanted theirs to look like).

They were so excited to show everyone their finished product. I think it looks great!

I love those gingerbread kits! They come with everything you need to make the cute little gingerbread house.

We put up our tree the day after Thanksgiving but I wasn't able to get any pictures because my camera batteries died. :( The girls had so much fun decorating their tree. (We do two trees, one for the kids to decorate, and one for mom to decorate). They were so excited to put all of the Christmas decorations up. I love to watch them as we are putting stuff out. It is so cute how much they love decorating for the holidays. We are working on our plans for neighbor gifts now. Does anyone have a really fun and easy idea? I have a couple of ideas but I am not in love with any of them. If anyone has any great ideas I would love to hear them. I hope that you all are having a wonderful holiday season! Merry Christmas!!

Thanksgiving!!

I just love Thanksgiving so much!! I love going to my parents or grandparents house and spending the day with my family. I am so blessed and I have so much to be thankful for. I have two beautiful daughters and I have a wonderful husband loves me and my kids more than anything. I have a beautiful home and I always have food to eat. I am so blessed to have the Gospel in my life and to have the blessing of an eternal family. I received this poem and it got me thinking that I need to work more on be grateful for what I have, rather than complaining about what I don't.

I am thankful....
For the taxes that I pay, because it means that I am employed.

For the mess to clean after a party, because it means
that I have been surrounded by friends.

For the clothes that fit a little too snug, because it
means I have enough to eat.

For my shadow that watches me work, because
it means I am out in the sunshine.

For a lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning,
and gutters that need fixing, because it means I have a home.

For all the complaining I hear about the government,
because it means that we have freedom of speech.

For the parking spot I find at the far end of the parking lot,
because it means I am capable of walking and that I have
been blessed with transportation.

I hope that you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

Halloween 2008

I know that I am a little behind. I just don't ever remember to get the camera out of the car before Rex heads to work, and then by the time he gets home I am trying to make dinner and get other things done. So here is our Halloween. {Better late than never, Right?}
We had such a great Halloween this year. I loved that it fell on a Friday and we didn't have to rush around so we could get the kids home and in bed early for school the next day. It was also super nice this year because the kids were out of school so when we carved our pumpkins the night before we didn't have to rush to get them done because they had to be in bed for school the next morning. We had a great time carving our pumpkins. The weather was so nice that we were able to set up some tables in our garage and carve them out there. I love not having to clean up the huge mess in the house! We waited until the night before Halloween to carve our pumpkins because Rex had been out of town until then. We all love carving pumpkins and try to do super neat ones.


This year Tabrie did a witch, Briley a pumpkin with BOO, Rex the flaming skull, and I did Frankenstein. It was so fun to watch the girls try and do everything by themselves. They both did a pretty good job of cleaning out their pumpkins, but they both needed help cutting out their design.
I worked on mine while Rex helped the girls with theirs. We have a tradition of lighting them the night we carve them. The girls were so excited about how theirs turned out.
On Halloween Rex was able to go with the girls to school and watch their Halloween parade. They were so excited to have their Dad at school with them. I wasn't able to go because I had to work. The girls both said they had lots of fun at their class Halloween parties, I had volunteered to go help but I never got called to come so I had to miss out. After school was out we went home and relaxed for awhile and then we got the girls all dressed up and took them over to my Granny's house. Then we went to my Mom's house. We took the girls up my Mom's street. The weather was so warm we didn't have to wear coats it was so nice! After treat-or-treating in my Mom's neighborhood we headed home. I stayed home with Briley {her legs were so tired of walking} and handed out candy. It was so fun to see all of the little kids from the neighborhood all dressed up. It was a great Halloween, I am already planning what they should be next year. Oh! I wanted to thank my Mom for making the girls their princess costumes, she has made them costumes for the past couple of years and they love them. THANKS, again Mom!

A Very Long 10 Days

Rex has been in Mexico since Sunday October 19th. I have been playing single mother ever since and as many of you know I am TERRIFIED to sleep home alone when he is gone!! I know, I know, I am 27 years old I shouldn't be scared but I am. The first 5 nights Rex was gone, Tyson (Janeal's husband) was out of town too. I packed up the girls and myself and spent the nights with Janeal. We had a lot of fun, we rented chick flicks about every night and stayed up and watched them after we got the kids in bed. It was so nice to be able to spend the time with her before she moved away. :( The next five nights I had just planned to go to my Mom's house and spend the time there but she wouldn't let Fred come to her house and stay over, so I decided to try staying at home alone. I had so many nice friends call and offer to sleep with their phones so I could call them anytime. Thanks, so much to all of you who helped me conquer my fear. I DID IT!! I slept home alone for 5 nights and I made it without freaking myself out too badly!! I know it doesn't seem like a big accomplishment to most, but it was a huge accomplishment for me!! Thanks to everyone who gave me the moral support I needed. Rex will be home tonight and I am SOOOOOOO excited to see him. We have never been apart this long since we have been married and I miss him so much!

Pumpkin Patch

We have a yearly fall tradition of going to the pumpkin patch. The girls absolutely love going. They ask every year about this time if and when we are going to go.

This year was no different, they started asking as soon as they saw pumpkins in the store. The pumpkin patch really isn't a cheap place to get pumpkins but, we like to go and find the biggest ones that we can. Rex and the kids love carving pumpkins and Rex really gets into it every year. The girls jumped out of the car as soon as we got there and started looking for the biggest pumpkin they could find.
It didn't take them long to find theirs and then they were off to play on the straw bales.

When we went to pay for the pumpkins the girl told us that if we wanted to we could go over to the potato field and pick up the potatoes that the combine didn't get, Tabrie and Briley really wanted to so we went over and we picked some potatoes. Pretty sad that we live in Idaho and this it the first time that I have ever picked a potato right out of the field. We had such a good time at the pumpkin patch, I am already looking forward to next year!

Bad Luck!

Yesterday while I was at work I had some really bad luck. I was sitting up in my office when a guy that I work with paged up to me. He said "Nichelle come down stairs." I said "ok I be down in a minute." He said "You may want to come now." So then I knew that there was something wrong. I hurried downstairs to find out that a rock from someones car or truck had flown into my back window and it was shattered. I am lucky because I had my back window tinted so all of the glass was held in by the tint. I was able to still drive my car. I can't believe my luck, this is the 3rd time that this has happened to me since I have been driving. I don't know anyone else that has had this happen to them, me I have had it 3 time. Wow!! I am getting it replaced today, but it stinks because I have to pay my glass deductible.

{I don't know if you can tell anything from this picture}

Rex has been on his big week long hunting trip and I hadn't heard from him until last night. I was so excited to talk to him, then he broke the news to me that he was going to be staying an extra day because they hadn't seen many animals and they wanted to go out one more night. I was so bummed! I hate hunting and I don't even eat the meat so I don't care if he gets anything. I just wanted him to come home. I know that it is good for him to go and have some male bonding time with his Dad and brothers but I don't like it when he is gone!

Introducing "Mr. Fred"

We have a new pet at our house. His name is Fred {he came with the name, I don't love it but, he knows it well and so we decided not to change it} and he is a 3 year old, 2 1/2 pound Yorkie. He is so darn cute. My kids have been wanting a dog forever and I only wanted to get a Yorkie, because they don't shed and they are good with kids.

I had been looking in the newspaper and Thrifty Nickel for one but they are really expensive dogs and I couldn't find one for under $800.00. I didn't want one that badly and Rex didn't want me to get one at all for that price. I was looking through the Thrifty Nickel last Thursday and I found an for ad MALE AKC Yorkie, 3 years old, proven stud, 2 1/2 pounds, $400. I thought that it was worth a call. When I called the number I got the voice mail of one of Rex's friends wife. I was super excited because she had told me once about her little Yorkies. She had told that they were such good dogs, but they were gone too much and she felt badly because the dogs were kenneled all day long. I called Rex right away and told him to call his friend and tell him that we wanted the male dog they had in the Thrifty Nickel. Rex called me back and said that they were going out of town for the weekend so I had to wait clear until Sunday night to get him. It was a long weekend because I was excited about getting him and so were the girls.

He has been such a good dog so far. We haven't had any accidents in the house and he is so good with the kids. My girls LOVE him they never leave him alone, he probably wishes that they would sometimes. I am happy that we found him, it has been so nice to not have to potty train a puppy {The real reason I decided that I had to have him is because he was already potty trained} and to be able to trust him not to get rough with the kids. We are happy to have him around!