Saturdays Market

Today the girls and I hitched a ride to the Saturdays Market in down town Portland with Grandma and Grandpa Milne. Actually I invited myself when I heard they were going because I knew that was the only way we could go. (Todd is not a big fan of me taking the girls into Portland-and pretty much refuses to do so. He knows way too much about what really goes on there and sometimes runs into people he has arrested before. This way he didn't have to go, and there was still a guy with us so he felt ok about us going.) So anyways after promissing Todd I wouldn't use my visa(cash only), or lose any of the girls, and stay as far away from potsmokers or bongs as we could, we were off. The girls were in awe of all the sights and sounds around. When I asked them tonight what they liked best here were there responses:
Kaylee-I liked the elephant ears with apple butter on them.
Jennifer-I liked the wooden flute whistles. (She really wanted one but didn't have enough money to get one this time.)
Samantha-I liked the colorful bowls(She meant glass blown vases-what good taste she has!)
and the reindeer whistle I bought.
Megan -It was a hard decision but she also picked the elephant ears.
Kaylee also added that "It was really cool and it smelled so good."
We had a great time roaming around and only purchased a few small things before having our elephant ears and leaving. We managed to follow all of Todds requests except we did see a few glass blown bongs that the girls had no idea what they were. I enjoyed spending the day with family and especially loved seeing all the items made of wood. It reminded me of when I was little and my parents would take me there. I would look at the wood clocks, and smooth wood bowls forever. It is fun to appreciate others art and talents in that setting because it is all so different.

Oh Christmas Tree!

Thoughts on our Christmas Tree

Today while the girls were at school Todd and I pulled out the Christmas decorations and put up the Christmas tree. Then we carefully sorted the ornaments into piles for each of the girls, put our own ornaments and breakables up high on the tree, and then sat down and enjoyed some Christmas music. When the girls got home we watched as they lit up with joy upon seeing the house, and each one put up their pile of ornaments. After the peace and quite of today (and no broken ornaments) I have vowed that this will become a new tradition-and maybe I will not dread the beginning of December so much! I also had time to reflect on the tree and ornaments as I carefully pulled each one out of the box. I was filled with a sense of love as I realized that most of these ornaments were from friends and family, and each one has a special story. Some were from Todd and mine own childhoods and have rich stories that we share with our children. There are football and barbie ornaments given to us by Grandma Milne when our tree was very bare, and we couldn't afford many of our own. Precious hand made ones from Grandma Jeanne, The Starlings, and the girls themselves. A great many new ornaments for each of the girls as I pass down a tradition of giving them an ornament every year. (This year they were Webkinz ones.) A rock ornament made by my grandpa strawn, and a white house ornament given to us by Todds Grandma Navine. One of the most memorable ones was given to us by Kevin and Rebecca on our first Christmas in Provo. They had made a Christmas tree out of a bottle of Sparkling cider and this was the ornament they placed on it. That was our only tree and ornament that year. I could go on and on , but I just wanted to share of few of the thoughts about our tree and the ornaments placed upon it. Christmas really is about love, the love of our savior that we try and emulate. We are truly lucky to be surrounded with so many good examples of that love.

Our Thanksgiving-By Jen

our familyies thanksgiving was crazy .We first went to my Dads moms house we had dinner and dessert their.We also went to my other grandmas house we also ate dessert their. At the second grandmas house their were LOTS of desserts .When we got home we all had a stomachache .I couldn't go to bed that night because I had a stomachache .Oh did I mention my favorite food ?Id have to say it was the trifle that my grandma made ,and that was how our Thanksgiving went .

Kaylee's Sad

Hi !Kaylee typing .I am sad because one of my best friends is moving all the way to UTAH!!! Im sad but im also happy for her because shes moving closer to her family .She's taking it really well.If I was moving to Utah I would be crying for a long time because I would have to move to a all new school and make all new friends.I feel really bad for her because her hamster died on thank's giving morning.

Awards Ceremony

Today at the girls school Jennifer received an award for citizenship and Kaylee for great leadership. Megan, Samantha, and Kaylee also got an award for perfect attendance and no tardies this semester. Way to go girls!!! I really have to give most of the credit for the no tardies to Megan who is a great alarm clock for us all. We would never wake up if it wasn't for her.