Merry Christmas!

Here is a slide show of how Christmas went for us. We had lots of presents and fun. Thanks everyone for the gifts that they gave us. The presents were all wonderful and greatly appreciated. Thanks again, and everyone have a MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Movies

It has been snowing like crazy here all day. It has fun and exciting. All of this snow makes me just want to stay inside and read a book. Jacklyn keeps saying, "I wanna build a snowman." So we might build one on Christmas Eve. Jayden and I are wimps and don't want to brave the cold. We have had fun over the weekend watching movies and getting ready for Christmas. We watched Hancock on Saturday night. It was ok. I couldn't figure out why no one was really that thrilled about it because the preview looked really good. Then we saw the movie, and Micah and I knew why. It really wasn't as good as I expected it to be. We also saw The Village last weekend. Absolutely loved it. I also fell in love the soundtrack. It is very pretty, Micah and I were talking about it and it is... Micah used the word intense, I prefer dramatic. Very interesting story, I don't want to say too much because if you decide to see it I will ruin the movie. It compares very well with religion, especially Mormonism, but that is not a story for here. Micah took Jayden out tonight to do some man shopping, and Micah got me the soundtrack for Christmas. He is very nice. I hope everyone has all of their Christmas shopping done, and that no one gets stuck in snow. Micah got stuck in the snow going up to his parent's house today for lunch. That crazy hill.

Oh, I forgot to tell you guys about our ward Christmas party we had last week. Our ward had a fundraiser where we donated our time or talents, and then the money raised went to help and orphanage in... somewhere in Israel. I think? Anyways, it was a lot of fun to see a lot of people giving at this time of year. I felt bad because I didn't know very much about it because we went out of town the week before, so I wish I would have know more so I could have donated something. Oh well, I guess we all do service in different ways. So don't forgot that is what Christmas is about.

Snow

I am so excited. It has been snowing like crazy this week. It wasn't snowing this morning, and then right when I went to go pick up Jayden from school it started snowing. We all went down to Wal-Mart afterward, because Jacklyn was dying for some chocolate milk. When we left the store it was snowing like crazy. When we got to our house, the snow had blown everywhere. I asked Jayden on the way home if he wanted to go sledding in the streets tonight or tomorrow. I remember we use to that all the time with Charmaine and her dad, where he would pull us behind his pickup truck in the sled. It was pretty fun. I like going sledding up at Micah's parents because they live up on a big hill. We did that one year with the Micah's brothers. I finally got the courage to go down, it was kind of scary because we went really fast and had to go over that dip in the road, but it was really fun. I wanted to do it again, and then somebody got in an accident, and the plows came. Bummer. Anyways, I need to go because I'm instant messaging Amber, and Micah wants me to get off so we can go and watch Hancock. Plus, I need to call my dad and wish him a happy birthday. Bye.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

Slide Show of Christmas

Since Christmas is just a few weeks away; I thought it was time for a Chrismas slide show. So everyone have a great weekend, hang out with your family, and enjoy the show.

O' Christmas Tree

First of all, I am sorry that I haven't posted anything for a while. I am trying to figure out if my life has become dramatically more boring, or if I have just temporarily lost my creativity to post things on here. Micah told me I could post about the weekend we had in Idaho, but I feel since half of the people on this blog were there it feels pointless. Plus, I'm not in the mood. Then this blog starts feeling like a boring journal, and then I stop posting. I hate writing in journals, no one wants an account of how many times a day I change diapers, trust me.

I was going to do some Christmas shopping today while Jayden and Jacklyn were in school. But when Jacklyn got up this morning, she started barfing, and was still barfing when the bus came, so I decided to keep her home. And there goes Christmas shopping. I feel kind of antsy to get it done really early this year. I'm trying to figure out if it's the economy that's making me uneasy, or the fact that every single time I go to Wal-Mart or ToysRUs, they are completey out of the stuff I want to buy. I was going to get Jacklyn this Ponyville bus that she wanted, but Mich wanted me to wait until he got paid, so I waited. Then I went to Wal-Mart, and they have been sold out every since. I have been having the same problems with Jayden. ToysRUs had legos, buy one, get one half off. I went up there, and all, I'm not kidding, all of the Indiana Jones legos were gone. They said they were getting a shipment in tonight, so come back tomorrow. I did, and the selection hadn't improved much. At least they had the one set I wanted. I started talking to the guy shopping next to me, who was also complaining about the poor selection, and picked over products. At least I'm not the only one.

So I have been thinking about our Christmas tree lately. We put it up over Thanksgiving weekend, and I have been looking at it for the last couple of weeks. It looks somewhat pathetic. In Amber's terms "a Charlie Brown Christmas tree." We use to have these gorgeous beads that strung on it, but Jacklyn took a pair of scissors to the beads last year, so those are gone. Then, we had some pretty red and gold glass ornaments, those have been dropping like flies this year. After cleaning up three broken glass ornaments a day for a week, I finally just tossed the rest. There there's this Christmas ribbon I bought a few years ago; I thought: yea, something the kids can't break. But any ribbon from four feet down looks like it just went through WWII. The top of tree looks nice though. So I decided that since the ornaments are being thinned out by the kids, and I'm getting kind of tired of the look anyways, because I wanted to go more country. I have decided to decorate our tree next year in snowmen. I saw a Christmas tree in the Country Sampler that I really liked that had snowmen and santas on it, and that is what I've decided. You can buy the patterns online, so lately I've been browsing for snowmen ornaments online. They should be really fun to make. I'm excited. I've got, like 325 days or so to do them, so I should have plenty of time, right? They also have these Christmas picture frame ornaments you can buy and stick your family picture in the frame and hang it on the Christmas tree. I asked Micah if he would make some for me. He told me to just buy them, then I showed him the price and how many I wanted, and he changed his mind. I also told Micah I wanted him to make a big snowman, like the one Mom has in her entryway at her house. He said ok. I've decided that I'm in love with snowmen and just have to decorate with them at Christmas time. And with that everyone have a fantastic day.

Thanksgiving and Black Friday

All right, I am falling behind on my blogging. I started this blog yesterday, but then the kids needed me and I never got around to finishing. Thanksgiving was a blast. We had dinner at our house. Micah's mom gave us this tofurky, which is a tofu turkey, so that was our Thanksgiving turkey. Micah pulled it out to make it and didn't realize that you had to add more ingredients to it, so I trucked down to Wal-Mart to get our needed ingredients for our tofurkey roast. We also made those sweet potatoes with the marshmallows and brown sugar. Wow, that was good. We got the receipe online. It was called Mom's Sweet Potatoes, or something like that. Next, we watched some movies and hung out as a family. Then Micah decided to go up to his parents, so we did. We had fun hanging out with his family and watched The Errand of Angels on KBYU. It was ok. I bummed the day after Thanksgiving sale ads and decided I was going to be brave and go down to Wal-Mart at five in the morning the next day, because I had been wanting these princess slippers for Jacklyn and they were 4.00 instead of 8.00. So I told Micah to get me up at 5:00 in the morning, which he did. I finally rolled out of bed at ten after, and got to Wal-Mart at 5:20. When I got down to the Springville Wal-Mart (now I am just going to say this right now, I think I am done with early morning Christmas shopping after this year) there was an ambulance and a cop car at the main entrance. I guess things got pretty crazy there this morning. It took 10 minutes just to find a parking spot because the whole entire lot was completely full. I then go into the store and it was just packed with people everywhere. This store looked like a New York sidewalk at rush hour, that is how bad it was. I could hardly even walk over to the sales. I found Jacklyn's slippers, they only had one pair left, and they just happened to be her size, God loves me. I then went over to the DVD sales because I wanted to get Iron Man for nine dollars. As I was checking out the movies one of the employees there was telling some people what had happened there this morning that had caused the ambulance to come. She said that when the sales started at 5:00, people just started stampeding through the doors, and there was a woman who got knocked down. The manager yelled at the top of her lungs for people to stop because there was someone who had fallen down and was hurt, but no one even cared, they just continued to keep stepping on her. The Wal-Mart employee was saying that it is just sick that people act like that to just save a few dollars. The person she was talking to said that: aren't we all here shopping for Christmas and to celebrate Jesus's birthday, and that is how people act? The employee said that Christmas isn't about Jesus anymore, it's about retail. I agree with them, it is pretty sad how people act at Christmas time for these sales now. So after not finding Iron Man at this point, I gave up, and decided to just go home. I was going to go to ShopKo, but I think I got burned out just from going to Wal-Mart. Then I was instant messaging Matt (or Amber) later on that day and he saying that there was am employee at Wal-Mart in New York that got killed from a shopping stampede, so Jayden and I watched the news of it on MSN. That's pretty crazy that people act like that. I think I might be done with the early morning shopping sales. And that is how our holiday went; we had a lot of fun even though the shopping was crazy.

Today is Jayden's Birthday, so I will tell the details of his birthday and post pictures later. So everyone have a great day and... HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAYDEN!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Jacklyn would like to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! So watch parades, eat food, and have a wonderful day from all of us.

Snapperville

I have finally finished my cross stitch picture this week. It's absolutely gorgeous, you will have to check it out. Micah had a four day weekend, so we have been busy choosing colors, matting, and framing. I saw this pattern on Bent Creek's website a few years ago, and had to stitch it. The way they did this picture is you buy each individual square separately, and then when you have all six squares you can get the border and stitch all of them together to make a town. It has been really fun to do. If you haven't noticed the picture has snaps sewn into every square, and that is how the town got it's name of Snapperville. So, as Amber probably already knows, every time we go up to Idaho I have to stop in Ogden and go to Shepherd's Bush because the cross stitching stuff they have is just gorgeous. So I was up there earlier this year, and they have the Snapperville picture on display along with some of the other pictures from this series, and at the top of the display is this sign that says: "Have you snapped?" I smile every time I read it.

We have a lot of activities going on this week, so I will be sure to keep you all posted. Have a great week, and enjoy your Thanksgiving.

P.S. You don't have to be a registered blogger to vote on the polls. So everyone be sure to vote, vote, vote.

Change of Holiday Plans

Ok, so the holiday plans have changed. I heard it from Amber that Christina postponed her wedding, so Micah and I have decided not to come up to Idaho this weekend. We are defineatly coming up on December 7 for the baby blessing. We will bring up Christmas presents, and play Killer Bunnies all weekend, so it should be a blast. Natalie, be sure to tell Dad. I have tried calling Mom, but she wasn't home last night, so I will try again tonight.

So, another crazy thing that happened in our life is last night we reclaimed our bed and kicked the kids out... or at least that was the hope. Micah bought a new lock for our door because Jacklyn broke our doorknob lock, so any child could just waltz right into our room whenever they felt like it. That was always lovely. So Micah put the new lock on last night, and we kicked Jayden and Jacklyn out. Jacklyn screamed for two hours and kept saying in her squeeky Jack-voice, "Mommy, it's me, open the door." Then Jayden kept saying, "Jacklyn, I can't go to sleep with you screaming like that." Then she finally calmed down, and Micah went to go and check on the kids to make sure nothing crazy had happened because the last time we kicked Jacklyn out of our room she got so mad she opened the fridge and freezer doors and left them open all night. It was not good. Soggy ice cream anyone? When I reminded Micah of that story, he got up and opened the door to check on the house, and that was when Jacklyn saw her chance, and came into our room. She happily snuggled up into our bed and kept giving me loving smooches. Then when Micah came in she batted her little eyes at Micah, so she stayed. At least Jayden wasn't in bed with us. It is way too crowded to have 5 people and a cat in a queen sized bed. Last week, at five o'clock in the morning, Micah and I couldn't stand it any longer and went into Jayden's bunk bed. The two of us had more room in a twin bed than our queen bed. It didn't last long though, I woke up later and Jacklyn had become my pillow, and Addison had taken what room was left, so Micah and I went back to our bed...with the kiddies waking up and trailing behind us. I am very thankful that the lock works on our door again, and that even though we haven't reached our goal yet of no children in our bed, at least we can lay on our backs now at night, and not be interrupted when you know what is going on. Micah is home now, so I am leaving you all and wishing you a great day.

P.S. Be sure to vote on your favorite Thanksgiving food item before leaving.

Movie Rentals

We finally made it to the weekend. Micah and I have been getting into the habit lately of renting movies over the weekend. Whenever we get a movie we have to get one for the kids, so we don't have to push pause every five minutes, because they're fighting, talking, somebody's gotta go pee, "I need a drink," "she's in my way," blah blah blah. So, to cut costs, Micah decided to sign up for Netflix because it is cheaper than spending eight dollars, twice in a weekend, times four weekends in a month. And there's no late fees. We seem to have a problem with that one, especially when we rent a kid's movie, and they just want to watch it all week, and I get too busy and forget, and it gets moved around and mixed in with all of the other kid's movies. Yikes, what a mess. No late fees with Netflix, and you can download some of the movies online and watch them instantly. So last night, Micah downloaded a movie called Chocolat. I was actually very impressed. I would have given it a five star rating. It's a story about a lady and her daughter, who move into a town, but they don't go to church like everyone else in the town does. She opens up a chocolate shop and ends up helping a lot of people in the town. Then there is a group of boaters who come into town, and since they are different, the mayor, who is also in charge of the church, wants everyone to boycott them because they different. Defineately a good movie. It got me to thinking about our church and how they "boycott immorality" because gays are different from us. And everyone in the church does what the leader tells them to do. Very interesting similarities. Anyways, I will leave you with a thought I saw from Steven Weinberg because I feel it ties in very well with this movie: "Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without it, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion."

I've Been Tagged

Alright, Amber has tagged me...again. So here are the rules:

Each person answers questions about their sweethearts. At the end of the post, the person then tags 6 people and posts their names; then goes to their blog and leaves them a comment, letting them know they have been tagged.

So here are the questions:

WHAT IS YOUR HUSBAND'S NAME? Micah McAllister

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN MARRIED TO HIM? It will be 8 years in March.

HOW LONG DID YOU DATE? Six weeks before we got engaged, six and a half months before we got married.

HOW "YOUNG" IS HE? He is 29 years old.

WHO IS TALLER? If I was taller, we would not have gotten married.

WHO CAN SING THE BEST? Him

WHO IS SMARTER? It depends on the subject.

WHO DOES THE LAUNDRY? Micah has only done two loads of laundry since we have gotten married, and I think I'm being generous.

WHO PAYS THE BILLS? He makes the money. I spend the money. Any questions?

WHO SLEEPS ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE BED? I have heard that the man is suppose to sleep closest to the door to protect his women. So, ironically, that is how we sleep; we actually didn't plan it that way now that I am thinking about it. Now to answer the question, I do sleep on the right side.

WHO MOWS THE LAWN? Micah mows the front lawn, and I mow the back lawn, unless I can convince him to let me mow the front too. He's a guy, and has to have the front lawn all professional looking with the stipes like you see on baseball stadium grass. Our neighbor thinks we are really weird because he has never seen a woman mow a lawn. I guess that isn't something that women do in Utah.

WHO COOKS DINNER? We switch off, it depends on what kind of mood I am in. Plus, I hate cooking.

WHO IS THE FIRST TO ADMIT WHEN THEY ARE WRONG? Micah. He is so sensitive.

WHO KISSED WHO FIRST? Micah made the first move. I was just dating guys, and happy with going to college. Micah told me later that he had promised himself that he wasn't going to kiss a girl after he got back from his mission unless he knew he wanted to marry her. I was not aware of this fact until later.

WHO WEARS THE PANTS? Amber, where did you get these questions from? :) I would say Micah right now, but when all our kids get into school I plan on going back to school and getting a job.

Now I have to tag six people? Oh boy, I only know two people on this blog, and one of them tagged me, so I am tagging Natalie...times six. I need to find more friends. Speaking of friends, Micah started facebooking, so we looked up my high school graduation class last night, and Charmaine was on there. Micah added her as a friend, so I will see if I get to talk to her tonight. Bye.

P.S. I just have to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Amber today! Don't have too much fun with that e-card; me and kids just kept watching it over and over. Have a great birthday!

The Holiday Plans

All right, now that Halloween is over, nothing exciting has been happening. There was so much stuff I wanted to post the week of Halloween that I never got to post, like the Trunk-or-Treat ward party, and carving pumpkins, and spider cupcakes, which we never even got to ourselves.

So now that Halloween is over I am thinking about Thanksgiving and Christmas. For Thanksgiving, Micah and I have decided that we are going to stay home, make tasty food, and rent movies, and just hang out as a family all day. We were thinking about going to the dollar theatre that day, so we'll have to see if they are opened. Micah's family is having a huge Thanksgiving dinner at the chuch, but we don't like having the huge crowd. I would rather have a small group for Thanksgiving than a hundred people. Now on to Christmas. Micah and I are probably going to come up to Idaho December 7 for the baby blessing, and give everyone their Christmas presents then. So what I need some hints from Amber and Natalie on what you guys want for Christmas. If you don't say anything, don't be disappointed on Christmas. All right, we need to go up to Micah's parents right now for some birthday parties, so everyone take care, and have a great weekend.

Happy Halloween!

Just had to type a quick blog here for Halloween. We were at 64 degrees today for the end of October; which was a nice treat. I wore a sweater while trick or treating with the kids and wish I hadn't, which for me is rare. Jayden was so excited to go trick or treating. He kept asking me, "Is it time YET?" We met up with some people in our ward and went trick or treating with them. The kids love to go trick or treating with their friends from church. So now we are back, munching on candy. Micah just went down to Hollywood Video to get a movie, and I am typing this real quick before he gets backs.

So everyone have a Happy Halloween!

Halloween Costumes

The long awaited Halloween Costume pictures are here. First is Indiana Jayden, in action, cracking his whip.

This is Jacklyn in her Silvermist costume. She wasn't very excited about Micah putting her in the tree, so she wouldn't smile.

And last, but not least, is Adagator, happily riding his horse. If you clap after he stops bouncing; he will laugh and keep riding forever.

We're coming to Idaho

All right, we have decided when we are going to come up to Idaho. It is going to be November 22, which is the weekend before Thanksgiving. I got an invitation in the mail last week for Christina Helm's wedding, which is that weekend, so I decided that would be the weekend. We could see the family and Christina's wedding in one shot. So everybody mark your calendars. We are going to play Killer Bunnies, eat lots of junk food, stay up late, go to a wedding, and destroy Natalie's room all in one weekend. It will be lots of fun!

P.S. Amber, you got us addicted to that song on your blog, "Where Is The Love" by BlackEyed Peas, and now Micah is also addicted to the song "Family Affair."

Slides of Fall and Halloween

Here is a slide show in celebration of Fall and Halloween. So enjoy!

Technical Difficulties

Well, I made the above slide show on Friday, but Amber didn't tell me that I needed to become a member of the slide show website before I made it, so none of it got saved. That's why those retarded numbers were at the bottom and we couldn't delete them. So I have posted the new one above. Thanks a lot Amber :)

Jacklyn's Pop Bottle Contest

So Jacklyn is in Preschool right now; which she just loves. And one of the things they are supposed to do is decorate a 2 liter pop bottle for Halloween. They will have the pop bottles displayed at the school. Then on their carnival night, which is sometime next week, they will give them away to winners of the "pop" walk. We decorated ours today and we thought it turned out very cute, and had to post a picture of it on here.

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Hope all of you are getting ready for Halloween. Jayden is getting very excited. We have finally got all of his Halloween assessories, and he has been begging me to take pictures of him and post on here. We were going to do it Monday, but it was cloudy and yucky, Tuesday was a windy, blustery day, and Wednesday I was just too lazy. Maybe tomorrow, but defineately by the time the weekend is over. Everybody have a great day.

Proposition 8

So I got onto the website yesterday signingforsomething.com because I wanted to sign the petition that the LDS church should not be telling gays that they can't marry. I feel so frustrated with the Church right now. They teach that everyone has free agency to choose whatever they want in life, yet thet are the first ones to take it away from everyone else. Wasn't that Satan's plan- to force everyone to live righteously?

I know that gays do not choose to be this way because of all the ones I have talked to or heard of saying that if they could change it they would. It is wrong for the Church to discriminate against gays like that. It's funny how history repeats itself. The Church had this same problem 30 years ago when they wouldn't allow Blacks to have the priesthood and discriminated against them and now they are just doing the same thing again.

I think it is interesting that Joseph Smith and his church were persecuted 150 years ago for his marriage beliefs (polygamy) and now today the Church persecutes others for their marriage beliefs (gay marriage). Isn't the Church, in this situation, no better than the mob that persecuted them? I have a hard time believing in a Church that discriminates against Blacks, that discriminates against women, that discriminates against singles, and that discriminates against gays. "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." (John 13:35) Does the Church practice what it preaches?

Jen's Dolls

I have been making these country dolls lately. I got one finished today, and decided to post a picture of her on my blog. I was debating whether to put socks on her or not. She's kind of hard to see on here; she looks a lot prettier in real life. I'm going to make more when I get time. I wanted to make an americana one to put in my bathroom because that is my theme in that room. Anyways, everyone have a great weekend. I can't believe I haven't posted anything all week. The week has gone by fast.

P.S. I just learned if you click on the picture you can get a bigger picture and see her better.

Six weird things about me

Ok, so Amber "tagged" me and now I'm posting six weird things about myself. So, in no particular order they are:

1. I HATE Ranch dressing, and I HATE spaghetti. Yuck!

2. I'm a vegetarian (98% of the time)

3. I want to have an out of body experience, and explore the universe.

4. I believe that 9/11 was an inside government job...don't get me started.

5. I actually LOVE Christmas shopping, and do it months in advance.

6. And late at night, especially on Friday and Saturday night, I like to log onto HotWheels.com and play Spin City Drive-Thru Dilemma with Jayden.

Getting Ready for Halloween

We have been getting very excited about Halloween here at my house. We went to the store last week and let Jacklyn pick out her Halloween costume. She decided she wanted to be Silvermist, who is Tinkerbell's fairy friend. Jacklyn loves buttlerflys and fairies, so she was pretty excited when she got to pick out her own fairy costume. Her costume is blue and violet with sparkles, and it came with some beautiful blue fairy wings. She looks gorgeous in it. Jayden has decided that he wants to be Indiana Jones for Halloween. He absolutely cannot be anything else. So I've been shopping around for deals on this costume, apparantly it's a very popular costume this year, and it's either really expensive or sold out in most stores. I went to Wal-Mart's web site the last week in September to see if they had this costume. They had it, and it was at a great price, and it was sold out. Bummer. They had their costumes posted for a week and it was already sold out. So I'm thinking of just getting it at Partyland. And, of course, Jayden has to have the accessories to go with it, the sachet and the whip, so he has promised to be good at school if I get them. Last, but not least, is Addison. The easiest one to get a costume for. Addison is going to be a crocodile for Halloween. I bought that costume for Jayden when he was Addison's age, and it is just adorable. He will have lots of fun.

I have also promised the kids that I would make special treats for Halloween. Jayden wants me to make a haunted Halloween "gingerbread house" but I told him I would think about it. What we really want to make is the Halloween cupcakes with the spiders and bugs on them. If you want to see what they look like look at the All You magazine cover, that is where we got the idea from. I told the kids I would buy the magazine and them the cupcakes, and they are very excited. We also picked out some interesting Halloween candy for this year. It's these gummy monsters that are also finger puppets. We thought they were really cool. So everyone have fun this Halloween.

The Wild Rooster

So, I have to post this story that happened to us about a month ago. Micah had taken the kids outside to watch them while he watered the lawn. So he's standing there watering one of the trees in the backyard, and he looks over and sees Addison running by ... happily chasing a rooster. Micah had to do a double take to make sure he wasn't seeing things. So for the next week we had this wild rooster living in our backyard. He would cluck around and eat the walnuts and grapes in the backyard. Whenever the kids would go outside he would jump the fence and hang out on top of the barn behind our house. He would crow at the moon at three o'clock in the morning and other random times of the day. He drove our neighbor crazy, but we really enjoyed him. The kids loved to look out of our windows and watch him cluck around. Then he took off and we haven't seen him for a few weeks. I'll see if I can get Micah to post some pictures. See ya.