Teenagers!!!

Is it just me, or am I getting OLD? All of a sudden, a bunch of my nieces and nephews are TEENAGERS!!!!! Where the heck did the last, oh, say, 10 years go? It is fun to see them growing up and coming into their own. They each have such different (and hilarious) personalities. I remember so very clearly when I was their age and it seems like "life" just happens so fast from there on out. I was thinking about them this morning and wishing that I could hold them there in their sweet, funny, innocent states...but then I thought about myself at their age and changed my mind. Who wants to be stuck in High School forever? NOT ME! I tucked tail and ran (to the altar, mind you) a month after I graduated! And my life has been much happier ever since! (But if any of you teens are reading this - Don't even THINK about serious dating until AFTER your missions! I mean it! Yes, that means YOU!)

Anyway, I just wanted to dedicate this post to some freakin' awesome teenagers in the fam...(I didn't have a picture of Dusty to add to this post, because I didn't see them on Chistmas Eve when I was wielding my camera! But I do believe that he is freakin' awesome too...and has great taste in literature, by the by. Michelle and Shakierra aren't teens yet (thank heavens!) so they're not pictured either, but are equally wonderful.)

Myles...need I say more? He's posing as a Christmas present :)

Sierra...of the beautiful hair :) Come to think of it, she's posing as a present too!

McKenna...of the tall genes. What would I give to have long legs like her? A lot, I tell ya! A lot!!!

Quote of the Day:
"When buying a used car, punch the buttons on the radio. If all the stations are rock and roll, there's a good chance the transmission is shot." ~Larry Lujack

I loved this quote because I actually blew up the transmission in my first automobile...a '90-ish Ford Ranger. Ahhhh, those were the good 'ol days when my Dad fixed everything for me :) Thanks for pulling me through those years dad! Love you!

Haircut!

Wow, it's been so long since I posted that these pictures are basically ancient now! Gracie got her first "professional" haircut a few weeks before Christmas! Here are some pics of her in her new 'do!

Quote of the Day:

"I'm not offended by all the dumb-blonde jokes because I know that I'm not dumb. I also know I'm not blonde." ~Dolly Parton

Let it snow!

It has been unseasonably dry these last few months and I was beginning to worry that we'd have a brown Christmas instead of a white one. Well, um, it has snowed about six inches in the last few days! Yowza!

So yesterday during Jane's nap, I bundled Gracie up and let her wander around in the yard while I cleaned out my car. (Just a sidenote: I pulled out 6 1/2 PAIR of socks from the backseat/floor of the van yesterday. My kids just automatically pull off socks and shoes once they're buckled into their carseats! It's maddening!) After I was done cleaning out the socks and junk, I was looking around for Gracie but she had dissappeared. I ran into the house to pull on my Ugg boots so I could find the little scallywag (spelling?) and saw her out in the park behind our house chasing Reagan through the freshly fallen snow. It was pretty cute. When I finally got out there to her, I said, "What's your favorite part about the snow?" and she said, "Following Reagan's footprints!!" It was so cute and childishly innocent. She followed Reagan's footprints around the house and out to the park. He was rolling and romping in the snow with her when I found them :)

Thanksgiving Pics

I realized this morning that I never posted any pics from our great Thanksgiving! We had our dinner with the Tanners and the Jolleys. It was relaxed and really enjoyable!

With all the crazy children! :)

Our family.

Myles, the goofiest kid in town! What would we do without him??

April and Brad with Janie. They always feed her the stuff she wants, instead of the stuff I give her, which is great :)

Quote of the Day:

"Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie." ~Jim Davis

My 100th Post!

So we're pretty cheap and this year we decided to try to take our own picture of the girls for Christmas cards. Well, um, most of the pictures we took turned out like this...

Is this considered a "headlock" or a "half nelson" ??

We put Reagan between them so they couldn't reach each other to pinch, poke, punch, pull, strangle, or otherwise maime each other. He just added to the rediculous mix. It was definitely an "experience" that we'll remember for many years to come.

Quote of the Day:

"What is a home without children? Quiet." -Henny Youngman