THANKSGIVING

(The only Thanksgiving Picture. Sad.)

 

We celebrated Thanksgiving at my parents home.

Nate joined us in Utah.

The food was amazing. Grandma and Grandpa Hair and Aunt Ruth and Aunt Colleen joined us.

(Bummed there are no pictures.)

We had turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, sweet potatoes, salad, Jell-O, rolls, and every pie imaginable.

My mother is an amazing cook. I could eat her stuffing all day long.

 

Best parts of the week.

 

1. Having Thanksgiving with my family. Mom and Dad, Benji and Karalee, Kimberly and Tamara, and Nate and my kids.

 

2. Going to Mom and Dad McKnight's for pie. Watching Sierra and Adalie play together.

 

3. Getting to know Benji. I had reservation about him being my brother-in-law. I don't think that is a secret to anyone. I haven't really spent time with him. I am grateful that he and my sister moved into my parents basement, so I could pull down a few walls I have thrown up over the years. Watching him with James was particularly precious. He loves his uncle Benji. I must say out loud Benji is one of the most forgiving persons I have ever known.

 

4. Hunting for a car with my Dad and not buying a car from Jaheed even though he promised to make it amazing.

 

5. Learning a bit about genealogy with my Grandma Hair.

 

6. Hanging out in Aunt Ruth's bedroom with James. He wanted to touch everything in that room.

 

7. Converting my father over to fish tacos, yummy! We will make some more at Christmas time dad. Your welcome.

 

8. Spending an evening with Nate at the temple, with ice cream after. I think it was the best date we have had all year. Nate kept trying to convince me to spend more time with him, but I said we had to get back to the kids. When I got back they were all asleep. Karalee and Benji took fabulous care of them.

 

9. Praying to find a good car and finding one minutes before we were suppose to leave town. Nate and I both felt good about the decision.

 

10. Watch my mother and her grandson. She really loves him and they are so sweet together.

 

I could go on and on. It was a fabulous trip.

CHARLOTTE and JAMES

There names even go together.

They love each other.

I think they will always be friends.

They both endured our crazy trip to Disneyland with patients.

They were fabulous and the easiest part of the trip.

DISNEYLAND

 I can't even begin to say how excited we were entering that park the first day.

Jennifer and I hadn't been since we were possibly these girls age.

My girls have never even been on a ride, ever.

They haven't even been to a Fair.

(Sierra did ride a ride once, at the Orem Summer Fest, but she was three.)

It was there first time experiencing a theme park of any kind.

 

Sierra exclaimed, "This is the happiest place on earth!"

 

Madison was brave and went on every ride she could including Space Mountain.

It terrified her though.

She went on Splash Mountain twice.

 

We all loved It's a Small World including the babies.

Sierra loved it so much she bought the book and CD as her only souvenir,

so she would never forget it.

(She has played that CD several times since we came home and says it makes her want to cry because she wants to go back to Disneyland so badly.) 

 

Sierra loved Space Mountain, the Autopia, and It's a Small World best.

Madison loved the carrousel best.

 

Jennifer and Derrick were amazing. They helped make everything perfect.

We couldn't have picked two better days to go.

We hardly had to wait in a line.

Everything was organized and fun.

We wouldn't have gone without them.

My children have talked of nothing since.

They had so much fun.

They are so blessed to have such a special Aunt and Uncle in their lives.

Angels.

VEGAS

Our first stop was Vegas.

Our hotel room was beautiful and comfortable.

The hotel also had a large aquarium.

The girls could have spent hours looking  at it. 

 

The girls were so excited the hotel had a pool.

We went swimming for a little bit.

It was cold.

The girls spent most of their time in the hot tub.

 

Then we went to Café Rio for dinner.

Yummy.

 

We walked the strip and ate gelato.

It was a relaxing beautiful night.

 



BABIES

 Our biggest fear about taking a trip to Disneyland was these two.

They were great the whole time.

They loved, It's a Small World and the carousel and Dumbo ride.

I was amazed at how baby friendly the whole park was.

BLIZZARD and BENJI and KARALEE

 I raced home from the photo shoot and through the kids clothes in bags and cleaned the house as quickly as possible.

I was trying to get on the road a decent hour, but because we live in someone's basement I didn't want to leave anything undone.  

Nate finally said, "Lisa, leave now."

There was a blizzard that was suppose to hit the mountains and he didn't want me driving in it.

I drove to Price without a hitch.

When I looked to the mountains at the west as I left Price, I knew I was in trouble.

 

We drove through a blizzard all the way to Utah Valley.

I don't like driving through Spanish Fork canyon anytime, but not at night and not in snow.

You could only see a little ways in front of you.

The lines of the road were covered in snow. 

 

Sierra started make believing.

She said, "I bet the snow witch did this."

We just finished reading The Lion Witch and The Wardrobe together.

She said, "The witch has probably sent her wolves to stop us from going to Disneyland."

I said to appease them we should make an offering.

She said, "Of what?"

I said, "Hmmmm. Maybe baby James."

She said, "No, he is helpless. He couldn't defend himself."

I said, "Then you."

She said, "Why me, why not Madison?

Madison piped up, "Because I am precious."

I had to giggle.

 

Sierra could feel my anxiety.

She started singing the song she sang on Veterans day.

She sang the words over and over again.

(Click here to hear the beautiful words.)

Her words didn't just calm me, they brought a beautiful spirit into that vehicle traveling down those icy roads.

I thought of how blessed I am to have her.

How very blessed I am to have each of my children and their sweet tender spirits.

How they strength me and calm me.

I love her dearly.

 

She was my little angel that day.

Sunday the girls discovered Aunt Karalee's collection of Polly Pockets and her dog Marley.

I couldn't get them to leave her apartment.

PHOTOSHOOT

(One of Nate's Assistants)
Nate asked me to do a photo shoot for him.

He was offering free photos at the mall at Christmas time.

The photos were free, the clincher was they had to pick the photos up at Yes! Dental.

He felt if he could get them to drive to his office and meet him and his staff, then they would be more likely to use him as a dentist.

 

We did this for Halloween.

Bonnie, Nate's sister photographed the Halloween event.

She did a good job.

Nate wanted me to do the Christmas event.

I don't have a camera or equipment to pull off something like this.

I had to rent it.

 

It came the day before the event.

I stayed up all night trying to figure out how to use the equipment.

No sleep.

I took a bath half way through the night just to calm my frantic mind.

Then I went back to reading manuals and watching YouTube videos.

Dawn broke and I was still no closer to figuring it out.

 

I called a bunch of people at 6:00am, sorry if you were one of them.

My friend Darcy suggested I call her dad. Awkward.

I just thought I will bounce my flash off a reflector.

It may look bad but I don't have a choice at this point.

Darcy's dad called me. He asked me question after question... have you tried this? Have you tried this? He was making me more anxious. I finally said, "I have tried everything. I am sorry, but unless you were here to show me I don't think you can help me." He said, "Where are you?" I said, "I will be at the Mall in five minutes." My shoot was starting in one hour. He said, "I can come down there. I will be there in five minutes." He showed up and set up my lights and camera. Then all I really had to do was snap the pictures and pray my batteries didn't die.

 

He was an angel. I was praying all night. My Father-in-Heaven sent me an angel. I couldn't thank him enough. He rescued me. Virtually a complete stranger, took time out of his day at 6:00 in the morning to rescue me. I can't begin to say how much it meant to me.

 

I am sure you are wondering how the shoot went.
I did have interference from the Mall lights. All my pictures had a pink cast on them.
I took the picture in JPEG. It wasn't easily fixed.
I turned them black and white and gave them a copy of the pink picture and the black and white one.
I am a bit embarrassed about my work but it was free and under the circumstances... I can't be that hard on myself.

Once I was done with the photo shoot I had to rent a car and head to Utah.
Yes, right after.
I was meeting my sister and her husband in Utah and we were headed to Disneyland with my girls.
Nate refused to ever go, crowd phobias, so after four years of begging I decided to go without him.

 

BETTER?

My sister said my last backdrop sucked.

Not really....

She said it needed help.

I called my friend Natalie and she spent all morning helping me.

Thank goodness!

Right?

 



BACKDROP for a PHOTOSHOOT



WAITING for SISSY!

 We wait at Lily's house for Sierra.

She walks there from school.

It is just across the street but she loves to walk.

It makes her feel a little independent.

The kids love playing Lily's yard while we wait.

On occasion Lily will be home and we will get to chat a bit. She is a great big sister to me.

I think I will miss her Daniel when he leaves on his mission too.

He is headed to some remote islands off Australia.