Christmas means to me...

Christmas means so many things. Of course I am grateful for the birth of our Lord and Savior - Jesus Christ. I am grateful for this time of year to reflect upon all of the blessings that I have been given. Christmas is a feeling, deep in your soul that cannot be bought with money or wrapped in fancy paper. I can't explain the warmth and happiness it brings when I reflect upon the wonderful plan given to us and the Gospel of Jesus Christ which provides us direction and meaning in our lives. It gives me the strength to press forward on days when I'd rather give up. I am so grateful for my family and my friends and my health and my job and my house and my comforts and well.. you get the idea! This is a time to reflect upon our blessings. I am making a committment to myself to simplify my life in 2011 so that I can see through all of the worldy clutter more easily the wonderful blessings I so often overlook. Right now I am sharing DOTS with a 4 year old darling granddaughter I call a blessing and we're making a video all about her to send to her Great-Grandparents on a mission in Boston. What more of a blessing does one need? Even if she did steal my favorite RED one!

Celebrating 29 Years!

Anyone and everyone who arrives at 29 and beyond in marriage knows you don't get here without a lot of work. I'd be lying if I said otherwise. Yet, this past 29 have flown by like no other. I have learned so much about myself and my husband and my children and others in my life over these years. Together Wayne and I have grown up together and now we are reaping the benefits of "sticking it out" when times got tough, of seeing things through, of enjoying a best friend and a big shoulder. I can't think of anywhere or under any condition I'd rather be right now than right here where enjoying my most wonderful life with my most wonderful husband and best friend and travel companion. For the first time in our married life, we decided to actually travel on our anniversary. December is pretty special to me and I am very selfish about being gone or missing even one day let alone an entire week but this year we did it. We went to Cabo for some sun and relaxation. It was wonderful yet as you can see from the picture - it hardly feels like Christmas in Mexico. We loved it and we will definitely go again, I just don't think I'll ever travel in December. The month went by so quickly anyway and being away for a week only exaggerated the whiz by! But oh, the sun and relaxation was so divine!

Making Brownies

It was Savannah's turn for a sleep over at Grandma's house by herself. Syd was gone with Naomi and this gave us a perfect excuse for some personal one on one time. After a great night in the "big bed" without having to share it with her sister, we started our Saturday with breakfast and a few chores like making our beds and straightening up. Then we made brownies, personal pan size! We used my grandma Larsen's old individual pie pans for the brownie pans. Savannah did all of the work herself. She even poured all of the decorations on herself. She was so thoughtful to include making one for her sister because she wasn't there with us. After brownies we wrote Thanksgiving cards to her Great Grandparents serving a mission in Boston. She put extra thought and care into these cards. After the cards was a browsing through the most recent "Toys R Us" catalog. Savannah very carefully circled the items she thought she might like for Christmas, but before long just about everything in the catalog had a circle around it for someone. If not for herself it was for her sister or her brother or for someone else. We had an awesome day and I'm so glad Savannah was able to spend some time here with me. At the conclusion of the day Wayne and I took Tyler and family to SLC to Simply Sushi for Tyler's birthday. It as a great day all the way around.

On The Road Again!

Wayne and I have had a great week traveling with our kids Zach and Hayan. We've seen DC and New York City but we ended our trip here in Boston with Wayne's parents. They are here serving on a mission but they were given the day off to travel with us around the city and show us around. We've really enjoyed our time with them but now our travel and fun are coming to an end and it's time to head home. Life is good, we've seen lots of new places, we've had lots of memorable experiences that we will treasure a lifetime. We are grateful for them all!


We went to Dinner at a place called Mikes. Mom and Dad wanted to make sure Wayne enjoyed his visit so it started off with a great Lobster dinner!
You might have thought he couldn't do 2 whole lobsters but anyone who knows Wayne knows it was going to be NO PROBLEM! Loved it to the very last bite!

Family Pumpkin Carving - Caramel Apple making night

It is out of my nature to allow 8 pumpkins on my dining room table to be opened and carved - all inside, yuck and everything! So when we did exactly that tonight with Zach, Hayan, Tyler, Karie and the kids I was pretty proud of myself. I didn't have a melt down. I didn't even have to run for cover. I sat at the table with everyone as we all opened and scraped out our pumkins. We had a huge pile of seeds and goo in the middle of the plastic lined table. Then the real fun began! Check out all the budding artists! Who would have knew? Hayan said this was her first time to carve a pumpkin. I guess the people of South Korea haven't discovered this lovely messy delight. I don't remember carving many pumpkins as a kid and I sure don't remember having done them inside. I'm pretty sure they would have been done outside. We've had these cool patterns for the pumpkins since the kids were young. We've used them numerous times and each year they try a new pattern or different idea all together. I thought they all turned out really cool this year. In the row of pumpkins, it is Sydnee's on the far left, then Wayne's skeleton, Zach and Hayan's face and then Savannah and Tyler's smily pumpkin. You can't see Karie's very well. Her's is polka dots cut out of the pumpkin but there needed to be just a little more room around them if you wanted to light a candle in it. Karie painted the dots and it looked really cute. I was a little slow running around getting things for everyone so mine was incomplete. I will have to post a picture of mine later when I have it finished. In addition to pumpkin carving we started the night at Maddox to celebrate Tyler's birthday. Crazy, how quickly time flys. Afterwards, we all came here for pumpkins and we made the yummy caramel apples dipped in white chocolate and sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. So yummy. We missed Jocelyn and Brandon and Emma, they are in California with Brandon's brother and sister-in-law and family but we know we have to share. We will have to do the apple part of this evening agan. To make the evening even better, Little miss Savannnah and Syd wanted to spend the night with me and have a sleep over. It all went well until Syd had the start of an asthma episode so I had to take her home. Savannah wanted to stay and she is asleep as I write in her little pop up tent on the bedroom floor. I think I shall call it a night as well.

Sunday's are a Blessing!

Today we were able to spend the day with grandkids and family minus a few. We always miss those who aren't able to be with us but you are in our thoughts. Grandma and Grandpa Sexton are in Boston serving an LDS mission so this blog is a way for them to see pictures and feel like they were a part of things. Nash wore his Daddy's blessing outfit. He looked adorable. Little Emma is anxiously awaiting the day when Nash can get down on the floor with her and play.
We couldn't have ask for a more beautiful autumn day to spend outside. It was a great day. I'm so happy that my parents were able to make it. Mom was discharged from Alpine rehab today just in time to come and celebrate with us. I'm so glad that she has recovered well from her surgery and she continues to make progress every day.

Out of the Groove

It's been a long time since I've had some craft time or time where I didn't feel guilty for doing something I wanted to do. Oh sure, I've painted the bathroom recently, fell off the ladder and had to have Wayne help me finish my project ;-( Somehow that just wasn't what I was thinking of. I used to love to get out my paints and paint, or scrapbook or just create something for my house. Lately it feels like we are pulled a million directions once we get home from work and we just don't have the "spare" time we used to have. I know that's crazy since our kids are all out on their own now - I totally agree. In fact I probably feel worse about the whole thing simply because of that fact. Anyhow, I've had this frame sitting around waiting for me to finish filling it with pins and other things from our travels. I finally did it. I have pins from our world travels as well as money from all over. There are some Russian Rubels, Danish Krons, Euros, Pesos, Polynesian money, Cayman Island $ and Tahitti $. I thought it made for a cute display in this shaddow box. And better yet it gave me a place to put this little collection, and I felt like I was creating - simple but creating all the same. It actually felt good.

School clothes shopping with Grandma

Every year about this time I take Sydnee shopping for school clothes. It's typically been a one day activity either in Ogden or Logan, sometimes both. Lunch at the Olive Garden and always ends with a fashion show. This is the first year that I've taken both Sydnee and Savannah and the first year we've gone away for a couple of days. Jocelyn and Emma joined us as well so we truly had a girls day out. We stayed in Midway at the Worldmark resort. We had a great time. We had dinner at pizza hut and took the girls swimming at the pool afterwards. Joce and Emma just watched and it didn't take Emma's ears to cry "uncle" from all of the noise and so Joce took her back to the room. Sydnee is turning into quite the fish and she's loving swimming. She and Savannah are both in swim lessons and it shows they are both little water dogs! Savannah wanted to jump off the side of the pool for an hour straight. We shook things up by teaching her to dive. She did it perfectly without a single belly flop! Too bad Savannah swims like a rock! Oh well at least she has no fear. The skill will come as she continues to love the water. Tyler taught kids lessons at the pool so he's an excellent dad coach after lessons. We shopped all day on Wednesday. We hit every store at the outlet mall that had kids clothes. Savannah scored 3 new pairs of shoes, Sydnee got one pair but they are a nice supportive pair of new balance tennis shoes. We didn't find any casual shoes with any kind of arch support but I told her we'd keep looking so the shopping spree isn't quite over. I bought the girls each several new outfits and jeans etc to start school with. I bought little Emma a halloween costume. Not going to give that one away just yet but suffice it to say it's adorable!

Slow down, you move too fast! You've got to make the morning last!....

Nash was in no hurry to get here however with a lot of coaching and sweet talking and a little bit of pitocin he finally arrived safe and sound. Wayne was gone fishing with Bryant but as sooon as he got home and showered and changed we ran down to Karie and Tyler's so Wayne could meet his new grandson. He's such a cutie.

Baby! Oh Baby!

The latest edition to our family comes today (finally) 12 days past his due date and weighing in at 8# 5oz and 21" long is our sweet little Nash Tyler Sexton. He and mom are resting and doing fine. Savannah is very excited to be a big sister and has been preparing for her new role for the past 9 months. She is going to do an excellent job as she was mentored by her big sister Sydnee. Life is good we are happy that all is well!

Stop and Enjoy What You Have!

Normally I have a tendency to look at things with the eye of need or wish, "I wish I had" or "we really need" but today as I look outside I look with an eye of appreciation. I had an interesting visit with a good friend yesterday that has caused me to reflect once again on how quickly time passes and on what really matters. She and I work together so we spend many hours comparing our to-do lists prior to our weekend departures. Then on Monday we all compare how much we either did or didn't accomplish, most of which consists of the didn't although our list of did's would put many to shame. Most of us can accomplish an amazing amount in just two short days. Anyhow back to appreciation and my visit with my friend Mary and her husband Don. I watched as she came up the driveway (because my dog was going nuts at the approaching visitors). Mary stopped to admire my hanging flower baskets and flowers in the beds near the porch. Once inside the house the compliments of what a clean house or "how do you get so much done" comments started. I had to laugh as I knew inside that if she bumped into anything the dust balls would start to fly and heaven forbid she touch the furniture. She could write her name on most of the pieces in the dust. Today was my day to work on de-cluttering the upstairs and I had not "cleaned" anything today. I had to tell her and we just laughed. Funny what we notice in our own home that we must over look in others. Certainly she had to be able to see the stack of unread mail on the end of my kitchen bar and the numerous other pieces out of place!
Mary is my inspiration for making the best of every day. She is a cancer survivor going on 5 years. She knows the value of life and feels that she has been given a gift! It's because of Mary that I have this picture and many other pictures I've taken lately. I've learned a new appreciation for many of the simple things that I have taken for granted. I wanted to capture the view from my front window today. As I sat down this morning to feel the cool Mantua breeze coming through the window, I could hear the wind chimes, a favorite of mine and I could see the American flag in my yard that the Boy Scouts had placed this morning. It just reminded me once again to appreciate what I have and to put away my thoughts of how I might make it better because it's pretty darn good. I just need to be reminded now and again to stop and enjoy what I have.

Savannah turns 4

Today is Savannah's birthday and the family celebrated with her at her house with cake and ice cream. Savannah was adorable in her birthday dress and her hair done up so cute. Karie always has the girls looking so cute. Savannah wanted a pink bike for her birthday. She said her trike was just too slow for her even though it was dang cute. Well her parents surprised her with a pink bike and grandma Kathy supplied the pink helmet and knee pads and Savannah provided the entertainment! She's a natural on her new pink bike. She was a gracious birthday girl and gave everyone a hug when thanking them for their gift. Looks like her cousin Carter even got a hug! Happy Birthday little Savannah!

Litte Valley Days 2010

It's here again, our annual tradition here in our small town of Mantua called "Little Valley Days". Our little town may not be big and that's ok with me, in fact it's more that ok, it's why I drive 25 miles one way to work while Wayne drives 65 miles one way in the opposite direction just to live here. Sure we could move to Salt Lake to be closer to our jobs and even our families but we love it here and unless something happens that prevents us from working outside of Mantua and keeping our home here we will continue to sing our theme song as we head to work each morning: "On the road again! Just can't wait to get on the road again!"

Grandma's little helper

Savannah loves to help me with my Saturday chores. She actually enjoys cleaning the house with me. She's getting old enough now that she wants chores that she can do herself not so much things she can help with. Since I hurt my back, vacuuming the stairs is really a problem, but not for Savannah. She wanted to do it all herself.
She's doing a great job. She's very careful to pay close attention to each stair.
It's a long flight of stairs but Savannah doesn't seem to mind. She just wants to be left alone with her vacuum and the job at hand. Savannah you're a doll and I just love having you come over to my house for sleep overs and some one on one time with Grandma!

The Hands of Time

This was taken at my little grand-daughter, Emma's baby blessing yesterday. You can see little Emma's hand holding on to her momma. Emma has a ring on that was passed down from my mother to me. Next to her is her mom Jocelyn. Next to Jocelyn is her mom (me) and next to me is my mom Nora and next to my mom is Wayne's mom Margaret. Four generations.

Our hands in a circle, life symbols…… both perfect and
profound. The women of our family, young and old in love are bound. We are born
into our circle…..sweet, delicate dimpled hands. Loved and held by the
generations, the miracle of life we understand. As we move throughout our lives,
our hands speak our heart. Touching, loving, comforting……….They are God’s work
of art. Our hands entwine for games & prayers. They clap with joy and pride.
They tremble with anger and sorrow, soothe broken hearts and babies cries. Our
hands shape, guide and teach, nourish, support and share. At times swift, deft,
and purposeful…….. at times imperfect and impaired. We are called home from our
circle, a life story engraved on our hands. Loved and held by the generations,
the beauty of life we understand. Together we share our journeys, the
generations both now and then. The women of our family are a circle of love that
never ends. Teri Harrison

Girls Day Out

I work with some of the most incredible women and I am so blessed to call them friends. Today we took some "girl time" and we went and had pedicures. It was a first for Mary and me. (Pedicure virgins!) It was kind of stressful for me in the beginning but with the support and laughter of this crazy group, I soon got beyond my anxiety and I loved the pedicure! Thanks Jessica - you did a great job. And thank you Ashley for helping put this all together for us.

Gena, myself, Susan, and Mary. I had to capture my first pedicure experience. Just incase I died from the anxiety.

Oh my goodness someone else is touching my feet!

Cute little flipflops provided after our pedicure. Do you just love my bright orange polish because I do. Mary and Susan both went safe with neutral colors and Gena choose bright purple with glitter and well, this is my bright orange!