Here comes SANTA CLAUS...

I am Thankful for...

I am blessed in more ways than I can count. I love my little family. Sam is an amazing husband and the best Daddy a girl could ask for.
I am blessed to have been chosen to be the Mother of the most awesome daughter.
I have been blessed with wonderful parents by birth and by marriage.
I love my sister and niece's and nephew. I am blessed to be close to them.
I am blessed with a home.
I am blessed to have a job I love, and the opportunity to go back to school.
I am blessed with great friends both near and far.
I am blessed to have a Heavenly Father who loves me no matter what.
I am blessed I have a Forgiving Heavenly Brother.
I am truly blessed...

And the verdict is...

L~O~V~E~D IT!!!

Twilight brought out my inner teenager(scary, I know). I questioned if I should even comment about my feelings, seeing as how skeptical I was about going. I truly went with very low expectations. I did not allow myself to watch any trailers & tried not to get too caught up in the HYPE. I am glad I went, and overall enjoyed most of the full 2 hours. There were a few "cheesy" moments that seriously made my skin crawl(sparkly skin scene). For a 37 million dollar film I couldn't expect a "Harry Potter" production. I didn't, and it wasn't up to "Harry" standards. I do hope the box office numbers will push the budget it deserves for New Moon. I am not ashamed to say I like the "teen flick". I hope to see it many more times. I give it two thumbs up!

Here are a few of my thoughts regarding the casting.

Did not like the "Edward" choice at first... Then he won me over, and over, and over...

EDWARD (Robert Pattinson):

Full Name: Edward Anthony Masen Cullen

Status: Vampire

Date of Birth: June 20, 1901

Date of Transformation: 1918

Special Abilities: Mind reading, Super-speed, Extraordinary strength

"What if I'm not a superhero? What if I'm the bad guy?"

Exactly how I imagined "Bella"

BELLA (Kristen Stewart):

Full Name: Isabella Marie Swan

Status: Human

Date of Birth: September 13, 1987

Special Abilities: Accident prone, Attracts bad luck, Immune to mind reading

"About three things I was absolutely positive. First, Edward was a vampire. Second, there was part of him... that thirsted for my blood. And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him."

"Jacob" Darling. Great choice. I cannot wait to see more of him the the next film.

JACOB (Taylor Lautner):

Full Name: Jacob Black

Status: Human Quileute

Date of Birth: 1990

Special Abilities: Fixing cars

"So do you think we're a bunch of superstitious natives or what?"

Emmett, Rosalie, Alice and Jasper

"Alice" was PERFECT!

ALICE (Ashley Greene):

Full Name: Mary Alice Brandon Cullen

Status: Vampire

Date of Birth: Around 1901

Date of Transformation: 1920s

Special Abilities: Can see the future

"Some things are more certain than others..."

"Jasper" creaped me out. He was "icky" to quote Jessica.

JASPER (Jackson Rathbone):

Full Name: Jasper Whitlock Hale

Status: Vampire

Date of Birth: 1843

Date of Transformation: 1863

Special Abilities: Able to feel and to manipulate the emotions of those around him.

"I can feel what you're feeling now -- and you are worth it."

"Rosalie" So Mean, I do not like her at all. Great casting though.

ROSALIE (Nikki Reed):

Full Name: Rosalie Lillian Hale

Status: Vampire

Date of Birth: 1915

Date of Transformation: 1933

Special Abilities: Beauty

"What is she to me? Except a menace -- a danger you've chosen to inflict on all of us."

"Emmett" Loved him. Could not have picked a better actor.

EMMETT (Kellan Lutz):

Full Name: Emmett McCarty Cullen

Status: Vampire

Date of Birth: 1915

Date of Transformation: 1935

Special Abilities: Strength

"He's no match for us, Edward. He won't be able to touch her."

"Carlisle" good, once you got past the horrible makeup job in the first scene. Who doesn't love the character?

CARLISLE (Peter Facinelli):

Full Name: Dr. Carlisle Cullen

Status: Vampire

Date of Birth: 1640s

Date of Transformation: After 1663

Special Abilities: Compassion and the ability to resist the thirst for human blood

"Please don't take offense, but we'd appreciate it if you'd refrain from hunting in this immediate area. We have to stay inconspicuous, you understand."

"Esme" Loved her. Thanks Nat for reminding me how I know her.(Grey's)

ESME (Elizabeth Reaser):

Full Name: Esme Anne Platt Evenson Cullen

Status: Vampire

Date of Birth: 1895

Date of Transformation: 1921

Special Abilities: Loves passionately

"You're what he wants. It will all work out, somehow."

WHAT CAN I SAY??????? Oh! My! "I'm ready"

~Thanks to Yahoo for the great Twilight facts and photos.

Hurry up Friday!!!

I did not think I would rush out and see TWILIGHT. The thought of standing in lines and fighting for a decent seat made me cringe. I loved the book so much. I am anxious about the movie being too cheesy. And not to mention, I imagined Edward WAY better looking!!!
Today, I actually bought tickets. Girls day out with Heather and Natalie. I am excited and a little anxious. We were able to reserve our seats, that will take away a bit of my nervousness. We will be there at 10am on Friday. There are still tickets available if any of you are interested.

I love FALL!!!

This is Halloween!!!

Whole wheat/ banana pancakes, shaped like pumpkins started off our day.Then to school for a parade and party!Visiting the Grandparents.

Dinner: homemade chili in pumpkin bread bowls. Finally, trick or treating with Dad and Dobie!

Talent...

My husband is so talented. I also love that I get out of carving "MY" pumpkin every year, because he does such a great job. I do clean out the pumpkins though, which to some is worse than carving. I imagine I am performing surgery, cleaning out all the icky stuff. Yes, I am a nurse I do know all the proper terms...

These are Sam's creations this year.This is Ashlyn's creation this year.

2007

2006

20052004

This is the year it all began.

Sam has a great time making these. He just whips these out like it is no big deal. WOW!

Happy Birthday Katie BUG!

My friend Lisa has waited her entire life for this beautiful girl. Today she is ONE!!!!

Happy Birthday, Heather!!!

Heather is a great friend & she seriously knows how to shop! Thanks for letting me "hang" with you on your birthday. I hope you had a GREAT day!

You HAVE to see 3...

I loved, loved, loved this movie. I know that sounds cheesy. I really LOVED it! Everyone, yes, even the dad's need to go. Ashlyn has now announced she wants a PINK sports car for her sixteenth Birthday. Fabulous!

Inspiration...

Here is a wonderfully written piece about Stephanie Nielson, her fight, and her amazing sisters. Sam and I went to high school with Stephanie's older siblings. We are sincere when we say they truly are a great family.
Please continue to pray for them.
I am so blessed to have my family.
I urge all of you to love this deep.
http//www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2008/10/26/20081026sisters1026a1.html
The song on my playlist is Mindy Gledhill. She is a friend of Stephanie. Mindy performed Saturday night at a fundraiser for the Nielson's in AZ. People all over are helping any way they can. This restores my faith in man kind in this scary world.

Pumpkinland...

We were up early, then off to Magelby's for breakfast(with the entire BYU's women's soccer team.) We made it to Pumpkinland by 9AM!!! It was a great family day. What a beautiful fall we have been blessed with.

Utah's day at Gardner village...

Wow!

We decided(after the scarecrow festival was too crowded) to head to Gardner village for a day of girl fun!

The place was so busy. I was amazed at the number of people.

I thought Utah went to Disney for UEA.

Maybe this was Utah's staycation.

After all, it was ours.

This was the highlight of Ashlyn's day. Finding a water snake in the pond...ewww!

She wasn't posing, I swear. What a natural;)

I can ride my bike with no training wheels...

About a month ago, Ashlyn was "sick and tired" of waiting for Sam to take her training wheels off her "baby" bike. She proceeded to use the weight of the bike to BEND the wheels outward, so they no longer touched the ground. Very smart, this girl. For those of you who are saying, "how old is she?" She is 7 and 1/2. (yes that half counts, unless you are my age) I know that is way too old to begin the two wheeler adventures. We, OK I, have been a nervous wreck about it. We live on a hill. I have had nightmares about bikes, and being unable to stop. This all stems back to my childhood, getting my bell bottom pants caught in the chain. For some reason, I was unable to stop and I ran into our garage. This was very traumatic for me. I have let my daughter suffer because of it. The deal was that we were only going to practice at the park....the nice flat, grassy park. Ash had a different idea while I was at work. She bent those darn "baby training wheels," and took off all on her own. Down our hill she flew. Two wheels, she was able to stop herself, and loved every minute of it. I promptly got the most excited phone call at work. "Mom, I bent my training wheels, and now I can do it myself!" She exclaimed. "Do what yourself?" I asked. " Ride my bike, silly".... I believe I then ranted with her father about how dangerous this is, and why weren't you out there????.... Poor Sam got an earful.

This is were a new adventure begins...

I try to get over my own fears and let my daughter live.

Proud girl, with her new big bike, helmet and riding gloves.

Note her cool gloves like Dad's. I wish I would have had Sam take pics of the bent up "baby wheels" on her too small princess bike.

Oh well.