Ski Bunnies!

ONE of the perks of my job is getting to use the companies free ski passes. Since Chris is out of town I took my friend Lisa with me. Boy was it a PERFECT day for skiing! Just look at the pics, the ski was completely clear and blue. It was around 50 degrees and was so warm we had to take our jackets off. Lisa had never been to Sundance before and I think she loved it. It was a great day with even better company.
At the top of the mountain is a fun cafe type restaurant that we had lunch at. Along the front of the cafe they had lounge chairs facing the edge of the mountain that people were actually laying out. It was awesome!
Lisa aka movie star!

On the first run down Lisa took a awesome spill. It was HILARIOUS! She couldn't get up... I just about peed my pants from laughing so hard. It was a great day!

A farewell to a long time friend

Dear Roberts,

We have had a long, loving relationship over the years. You were there for all my scrapbooking and crafting needs. Always there to greet me with a smile and a 40% off coupon. Oh how we had some fun times!
However, over the past year or so you have not been able to provide for my needs. More often than not I could never find what I needed. Your shelves were often empty, forcing me to walk away empty handed. I've felt so alone and confused....why have you become so unreliable? I've given you many, many chances. I'm tired of wasting my time and gas money on you. So I've found someone else.

Sincerly,

Me

Dear Hobby Lobby,

Hello friend! Welcome to the neighborhood. I can tell already that this is going to be a wonderful and oh so dangerous relationship. Your isles and isles of wonderful items makes my heart skip a beat, and oh the sales! Sale signs around every corner.....I can hardly stand it!!!

Thank you for filling the void that Roberts has left.

Love,

Your faithful crafter!

My latest attempt at craftiness

Last night I was able to go with my mom to a scrapbook class. At the class we made these STINKIN CUTE banners! They are double sided and on one side it says SPRING and the other it says SUMMER. I LOVE the paper that we used, it is from Close To My Heart and is DARLING.

A close up of the spring side

A close up of the summer side

Family Gathering

On March 5 we gathered the family for a get together. A few weeks ago we received some scary news regarding my grandpa. We thought for a bit there that he didn't have long left on this earth. The day that I got that news was a pretty dark day for me. I am very close to my grandpa and am just not ready for him to not be here. Luckily other tests were done and things seem to be getting better. I don't think that he is out of the woods yet, but at least we have some more time. After all this happened my dad organized this family party. He rented out a room at the Lehi Legacy Center and arranged for a 'balloon artist' to come and make balloon figures for the kids. Everyone helped contribute to the meal and brought games and swimming suits to go swimming at the pool. Those that didn't want to swim could play basketball or just visit with family. At the end of the evening my grandpa bore his testimony and we watched a family slide show that Chris had put together. It was a great evening. Just about everyone in this picture was able to be there.

When the balloon artist got there he brought in a HUGE golfing grandpa that he made and gave to my grandpa. My grandpa LOVES to golf. It was pretty amazing!
Seriously so cute! I wish that I had taken pictures of the other things he made for the kids, he was amazing.

Here is the slideshow that Chris made....pretty dang cute.

Grandpa Slideshow from Christopher Meek on Vimeo.

And this one is the video footage that Chris took of the evening, that he put to music.

The Gathering from Christopher Meek on Vimeo.

So happy with my knowledge that 'Families are Forever'!

Christmas in March??? Yep.

Since I have been a slacker at blogging I did not get anything posted for Christmas this year. Rather than go back and try to remember all the happenings from the month of December I will share one video. This is a video that Chris made of when we went up to temple square to see the lights with my parents. It is a fun tradition of ours to ride Trax up to Salt Lake, go see the lights and then walk down the street to Crown Burger. My kids really look forward to doing this with their grandparents each year. This really is a sweet video. Great job babe.

Christmas Lights in Salt Lake City from Christopher Meek on Vimeo.

Tubing at Soldier Hollow

Last week we took advantage of some 'deal-a-day' coupons and took the family tubing up at Soldier Hollow. We had SUCH a great time! If you have never done it before then I highly recommend it! What a blast! All the kids just loved it.... Chris took some video of our day and made a little montage of it. Take a look...

Afternoon at Soldier Hollow from Christopher Meek on Vimeo.

Faisal's first talk!

Today Faze gave his first talk in Primary! He was so brave and did such a great job. I was worried because when we practiced his talk this week he would almost whisper his talk and when I told him to speak up he would get so mad at me. But he spoke loud and clearly today! His talk was on "Heavenly Father speaks to us through the prophet". He was so excited to be able to talk in the microphone. LOL

My baby is getting so big!

Sorry about the fuzzy pictures...he was REALLY unhappy about posing for these pictures so he wouldn't hold still.

Some of my favorites

Since my last post was kind of a downer I decided to do a post on some of my favorite things. I dunno why....it just sounded fun. :-)

I love Sushi! Especially the Vegas roll...yum

I love fruity, chewy candies. I pick these over Chocolate, which just baffles my friend Amy
I LOVE to shop! Love it. Especially for clothes.

White roses are my favorite flower. Especially from my man.

The perfect food in my mind is POPCORN from the theater with three layers of butter. Oh how I love it!
Pebble ice. I actually call it 'Golden Ice'. This is THE BEST ice to eat. I actually crave it when I'm pregnant. It is just fabulous!

Game nights! I love playing games, especially with my family. We can get pretty competitive and I love it! FEED THE BEAR!

Yah baby. This was the first time I had ever gotten up on water ski's and I was so excited! I love to snow ski also....again not something that I am terrific at, but I just love it, especially with my hubby and our good friends the Jones'.

The happiest place on earth! I love Disneyland... it is just magical!

Date night with my sweetheart! Chris and I make it a point to go on a date night once a week. I love being able to spend one on one time with my favorite person.

Ballroom dancing. I love everything about this sport. I love watching it and I LOVE dancing it. One of my favorite times ever was when I was on the Ballroom tour team at UVU. I love being dressed in amazing dresses and dancing on stage.... such an amazing feeling!

Another favorite dish is Chicken Tikka Masala. DIVINE!

Any kind of girl scout cookie is wonderful, but a SAMOA?! Wowzers, they are good!

Last but certainly not least, FAMILY....I've got the best! Sure do love them.

Integrity

I know.... almost two months since my last blog post. What can I say, I'm a busy mother.

This week has been.... well, trying at best.

As a teenager in Young Women's my favorite value was always Integrity. I love people that have integrity. I am not perfect, nor do I profess to be, but I always try to live my life with integrity.

Don't you hate it when you find out people are not who they say they are? I have been treated pretty poorly this week by two individuals from my old neighborhood. The crazy thing is that BOTH of these 'friends' have treated me poorly in the past, really poorly. But I tried to do the right thing and forgave them, only to have them do it again.

The saying really is true "A leopard doesn't change his spots".

Both of these individuals have been publicly attacking my character and integrity, two things that I hold very dear. They are on a witch hunt and for whatever reason have chosen me to be the one that they are attacking. I've done absolutely NOTHING wrong to these women or anyone for that matter. But here I sit, a victim of online bullying... It's crazy to me to think that I am treated worse by ADULT women then I ever was as a teen-ager.

They have never spoken to me about the allegation that they accuse me of, they appointed themselves as the judge and jury over the situation and then took drastic measures to make sure that they cut and hurt me as deeply as they could. Again I ask, What have I done to deserve this treatment? Nothing.

Today at church I got the spiritual upliftment that my soul so badly needed. I was reminded that there is someone who knows exactly how I am feeling.... my Savior Jesus Christ. He has known the pain and betrayal that I am feeling and yet somehow was able to forgive his accusers.

Will I ever be able to do this? Right now the answer is ABSOLUTELY NOT!

The anger I have inside me is boiling over. I want to scream at them and publicly accuse them of things they are not guilty of. I want to call them cowardly and tell them that they are of low character-just like they did to me. But then I stoop to their level, so instead of writing them an anger filled email/phone call/text, I take the high road. Again. (sometimes I HATE the high road)

But instead I blog. I blog about my feelings because for some reason it is very therapeutic. I have once again deleted my Face Book account due to all of this and instead will turn to my blog to voice my feelings.

My dad gave me some good advice the other day when I called him to vent my frustrations, he told me a quote that I just loved. "People with integrity expect to be believed....but when they're not, let time prove them right"

*I am grateful for family that is there for you, no matter what!

*I am grateful for a dear husband that helps me feel loved and supported.

*I am grateful for friends, real friends that love you and your imperfections through thick and thin. Friends that know what is in my heart and that my intentions are pure.

*I am grateful for a ward family that today gave me just what I needed, love, lot's and lot's of love.

*I am grateful for courage, courage to have integrity.

*I am grateful to not live in that neighborhood anymore.

*I am grateful for the power of forgiveness and I pray that with time I will be able to forgive those that have hurt me, for I know that I would want the same from those that I have hurt.

*I am grateful for my Savior and his example.

*I am grateful for the atonement.

So I have two choices. One, to wallow in self pity and think "why are they being so mean to me?" (said in that whiney little kid voice)

or two, I can pick myself up, brush myself off and be happy that these two are no longer in my life.

I pick option 2.

My life is full of good, wonderful family and friends who know that I am a good person. A person with integrity AND courage.

At LAST!

Yesterday started out not so great. Something happened that just set the tone for me to be grumpy and irritable and full of anger towards another person. But then I talked to my mom and she talked me down from the crazy ledge. Aren't mom's great at talking sense into you?! My mom is the pro! So I tried to just go about my day and not think about things. Well.....then my day changed. Chris called me (he has been in France all week for a job interview), we had been waiting to hear from him to give us a status update on how the job interview was going. We REALLY wanted this job to work out.... we NEEDED this job to work out.

Last night Chris gave us the news that a job offer had been extended! I don't have many more details than that, but Chris flies home today so I'm sure that by the end of the day I will know all the info. For now I am just content that he has a job!

It really is true that when a door closes the Lord opens a window. I feel so blessed that my Heavenly Father has answered our prayers and is mindful of my little family. I'm also thankful for all the prayers and love and support that has been shown to us, especially during the Christmas season. We had two Secret Santa moments happen to us which deeply touched us and was so appreciated.

I'm just so happy. Isn't it funny how your day can start out so negative and end so wonderful?!

Ward Christmas party...aka... Who- ba-lation

Chris and I were asked to be on the activities committee for our Christmas party. This was an AMAZING event! I know that I have said it before, but I'm saying it again.... I LOVE OUR WARD!

It was fun to get to know the members of the committee...they are so dang talented. They made and created every bit of decoration! Wow... just look at the pictures!

We did a Whoville Whobalation and completely transformed our gym into whoville. This was a family event so we went to great lengths to plan things that every age would enjoy. We tried to base it off of things from the Grinch movie.

We had sack races, who tattoos (face painting), cupcake walk, mt. crumpit fish pond, family pictures, and even a whoville post office where you could write letters to the missionaries in the ward.
They asked me to make a big cake that could be used as the centerpiece for the sweets table....this is what I came up with.
This was the tallest cake I have made. It was fun and turned out pretty cute.
I was in charge of the dessert table....take a look at the spread! YUMMMMM
The 'whoville children's choir' performed, they sang Welcome Christmas (the popular whoville song from the movie). Notice their hair, we had a hair contest. There were some great entries.
In the middle of the 'town square' we had our giant tree.
This was the entrance to the cupcake walk.
Our Mt. Crumpit fish pond!
Fish pond in action. Check out the street sign and poles....they were homemade and separated all of the different activity centers.
The mayor of Whoville.... Augustus Maywho
Someone even invited the Grinch!
On the stage we had a photo spot set up, Chris took all the family portraits
The street sign for the photos "Who's Who in Whoville"
Who Tattoo's... the face painting booth
Ana's face paint
The town post office. There was a slot for each missionary, below their slot was a picture of the missionary so that the kids would know who they were writing too. Notice the bottom right, even the Grinch had a slot, it had cobwebs!
Once the letters were written they took a picture of the person that wrote it and printed it on the back of their letter so the missionaries would know who it was that was writing to them. So clever!
A close up of their slots

It was such a great evening. Thanks to everyone who helped make this amazing!

2010 Year in review

It is that time of year again to write up our yearly family newsletter. The year 2010 has been full of many ups and equally as many downs. For starters we moved! We feel so blessed to live in the neighborhood and ward that we live in. We are surrounded by the most amazing people that I just adore! Don't get me wrong.... I made amazing friendships in our old neighborhood, but it is just a different feel here.

Faisal turned four this year. He started a new pre-school this fall and is enjoying that. He has made lots of little buddies in our neighborhood that he LOVES to play with. He loves to play computer games and is quite good at them. He is the BEST hugger and loves to give his mommia loves. He is such a little spunky kid. He is always making us laugh and is such a joy to have around.

AnaLeigha turned 7 this year. She is such a good helper and has really started to take off with reading.... she loves to read chapter books. She is very fashion savvy and very conscious of what she wears. Some of her favorite pastimes are to send time in our 'dance studio' that the girls have created in our basement. She loves to choreograph dances and play with her friends. She is really loving school this year and is doing so much better this year. All the kids started a new charter school that is only a couple of blocks from our new home, which means they can walk to school! Hooray for not having to carpool!

Taelynn turned 10 this year. Tae is such a tenderhearted sweetheart. She is a super helper to her mom and she just LOVES to babysit her little cousins. She has a special knack with babies, they just love her and she loves them. We can't wait until she is old enough to babysit. Taelynn is an extraordinary artist, she has such an eye for drawing and she loves to design clothing. When she grows up she wants to be a fashion designer. Last winter she learned how to ski and she did an amazing job!

Sienna became a teenager this year! Am I really old enough to have a 13-year-old?! She started 7th grade and unfortunately is not very excited about school. This summer she attended Young Women's girls camp and had a BLAST! She has made so many amazing friends in our new ward, which just makes us so happy. She loves to sing and is in the choir at school, she is even brave enough to tryout for solo's! At her school last year they did "Mountainville Idol" contest and she won! She and I once again participated in the Nutcracker and we both just loved our experience with that. Her new school offers ballroom as an elective and she has spent the past few months taking it. She is really good at and is really loving it. We are currently looking for a partner for her to compete with. She was recently made the secretary of the Beehive class and is enjoying that new calling. This past winter she started skiing and I am blown away with how great she is at it...NO FEAR! We are excited to try it again this year.

I turned 25 for the 10th time this year! I am still working part time at the Pediatric office, which on most days I still really enjoy. I also have really grown my cake making capabilities and have started a cake decorating business. I'm excited about this new venture! I was called as a Wolf Den leader and am really trying to find my niche in the world of scouting...right now it is still a love/hate relationship. At the beginning of the year I had an ectopic pregnancy which really did me in for the first few months of the year. I am amazed at how that experience drained me physically, spiritually and emotionally. I pray that I will never have to go through that experience again. It was just devastating.

Chris participated in his first ultra marathon which was 50 miles in 12 hours. He did amazing and had a great experience. He then did a marathon swim at Deer Creek which was a 10 mile swim that took him about 6 hours to complete! Can you even imagine swimming for that long? I think he is nuts, but he loves pushing himself. He also did several triathlons this summer which of course he placed in the top three in.

Last winter we got each other ski passes for christmas and he tried his hand at snowboarding, he did a great job! Chris had an amazing first half of the year with his job, he was building the company at an amazing rate and seeing a lot of success. In October he was let go.....a long story that I don't want to get into. So now he is currently looking for other job opportunities, at the time of this writing we are hopeful that we will here back from a job potential that would be a fantastic opportunity for him and will allow us to remain where we currently live.

We feel like the Lord is watching over our family and has blessed us in so many ways this past year. We are grateful for all the love that we feel from each of our family and friends.