So sweet.....

My boys are so sweet. Ryan came home from school the day of my birthday and handed me his surprise. A cherry pie. He had spent his own money on it for a birthday present.
On the morning of my birthday when the kids and Sam woke me up (in true devine tradition) each of them gave me a gift and hugs and kisses. Then Jacob said that he had a presentation for me. He pulled out all these things that I recognized from his bedroom. He arranged them on top of a tin box, in a specific way. It took a minute. He held up his Tae Kwon Do Medal and he said...."this represents all the things you helped me LEARN and EARN"

The items on the tin box are all Book of Mormon characters and a CTR (choose the right) guy. It was such a special gift from him. Jacob is so caring and kind. I appreciated that he put such thought into his gift and it meant a lot to me. It brought me to tears.....

Jacobs Birthday

Jacob requested Buffalo Wild Wings for his birthday dinner and the next day had his birthday party at the Halloween Carnival at the YMCA with a BUNCH of his friends. I can't believe Jacob is 9 years old now!

Ryans Birthday

Oh my goodness.....in all my backblogging, I forgot my boys birthdays....eeek!
Here's some pictures from their special day this year. We always love the "just woken up" picture......especially with these rad glasses. For his 7th birthday Ryan had a party at our home with his friends.

He's comin to town!

Look what we've been up to....

Swimming at hotel in Utah - Eli's Baptism
Making our 1st Gingerbread House

One Year Older & wishing she was 12

Baili cannot wait to be twelve so she can come into young womens at church and be part of the fun things that the youth get to do. But this year she would have to be happy turning 11...which she was!
I can't believe my first baby is getting so old and grown up. Baili has always been a beautiful, intelligent and fun girl but she is also becoming a very cute, sweet and helpful young lady.
This year Baili wanted to have a lot of her girlfriends come over for a party, so......we had lots of girl power at our house December 3rd. Baili had planned the whole party, from food to games. She got so many fun gifts and gift cards. She is still shopping with her Birthday money....haha!

Zumba Certified

I finally certified to teach Zumba in September of this year. I've taken classes for over three years and LOVE it. Zumba is what introduced me to Latin dance and where I found my love and passion for Salsa music and dancing. Lyla has been telling me to certify for years and so I finally broke down and bit the bullet - I'm so00000 glad I did.

The full day training was amazing and so worth the money that I paid. Jani Roberts - who is a master trainer and had taught a master class I attended last year - was our instructor. She is amazing and so full of energy and personality. We danced most of the day and I was pretty tired by the end of it but ready to conquer the world of fitness and TEACH!!!!

I was hired at the YMCA and teach a basic Zumba class once a week. I also got hired at my gym *Las Vegas Athletic Club* and amazingly got my own class very quickly. I love my Thursday class at W. Sahara.

I'm teaching at some of the local High Schools. I love working with the teenagers and taught the cheerleaders at Shadow Ridge last week which was SUPER fun because they followed so easily. I have appointments to teach the High School dance team in the new year.

Thanksgiving 2010

We had a small, quiet and uneventful Thanksgiving this year. Joe, Amy & Lucy as well as Kati B and her roommate Liz came for dinner. After a turkey induced nap and some more sugar we had a Rock Band session for a couple of hours. It was really fun and I got the best laughs watching Joey rock out. The kids loved rotating between drums, guitar and of course the mic.

I'm so thankful for everything we have, this great country we live in and the freedoms we enjoy. I'm grateful for a home, food, shelter and the luxuries of life. I'm reminded at this time of year especially, how fortunate I am, compared to some, to have these basic necessities of life.

I'm truly thankful for my family, immediate and extended, and the love we all share......for friends that bless my life and help me along. Gratitude for the gospel cant be expressed in words! No day can be a bad day when we reflect on how much we actually have in our lives.....it dispels any thoughts of "I wish I had......"

Not Sure??

Its been so long since I've blogged and I'm so far behind I'm not sure where to begin? It's only a week away from Christmas. I guess I'll just go back and post some pictures of some of the stuff we've been doing since November. Life continues on and Ive pretty much accepted that I have a crazy busy life and I just do the most of what I can in any given day and the leftovers get pushed to the next day. The children are growing so fast I wonder if I'm missing out on something, I know someday I will look around and they'll all be out driving and working and dating......and hopefully studying! We definitely have our day to day challenges but I do enjoy being able to visit and talk to the kids like "little adults" now that I am officially out of the baby/toddler/preschooler stage. Some days, however, I do wish they couldn't answer me back when I ask them to do something they don't want to do.
Well I'm gonna get some pictures posted.......I'll start with some pictures from just before Thanksgiving. The kids dressed up as something related to the holiday....Baili was a Native American (well one with a little umph), Jacob was a pilgrim (with a strange looking hat...lol) Ryan was also a pilgrim (my best effort at a vest with five minutes notice before school) and of course Kami....she was a turkey and the attached video is seriously hilarious! Baili spiked Kami's hair to represent turkey feathers....um huh.....and her "gobble" was my best attempt at a turkeys hanging chin.....oh the joy!