Our Christmas Party

Last night my sister in law Brooke and I co-threw the "1st Annual Friends Christmas Party" last night. We have been talking and planning it for a couple of months, and it was so exciting that it finally came. We started off with appetizers and desserts, with hot chocolate, water, punch, and soda. Then after about an hour we played probably one of the best party games EVER! You divide people up in groups of 4- 6 and each team has to try to accomplish the most tasks possible. Some of their tasks included....

Make a human pyramid....

Bring up a department store credit card....

Touch your tongue to your nose.....

Have one guy get on all fours and have another guy get on his back....

Link 2 belts together....

Do a handstand for 5 seconds....

The winning team with their $5 gift cards to Sonic
Some other funny ones that we did was put lipstick on a guy, take a picture of your group and show us the picture, say a phrase in another language, do the splits, break dance, do the worm, show us a contact lens, show us some form of $100 cash, show us some medication, and 2 guys skip around holding hands. It was seriously one of the funniest things I have seen in a long time. I loved that everyone automatically let loose, and didn't care what other people thought of them. We enjoyed the party so much....I think we have already decided we are for sure going to do it next year!

What Does This Mean Exactly?

For the last 3 or 4 months Berkeley has really started to enjoy lining things up. It was pretty funny the first couple of times, but now, she has gotten very creative with it. She has enjoyed lining up kitchen chairs, hand alarms, kitchen utensils, puzzle pieces, toys, and crayons. She was doing it so much I realized I have to take pictures because of the peculiar things she has put together.

Anasazi Dinner

Last night we had the chance for our family to go to the Anasazi Dinner. Anasazi is an organization for troubled teens to go out into the wilderness and go on a trail for 7 weeks with nothing but a sleeping bag, a cup, and some essentials. Every year they have a dinner to acknowledge some of their participants, and to raise money. Each year they also have a celebrity come and perform. In the past they have had Marie Osmond, and Winona Judd, and last night they had Brooke White. It was a really neat experience and we got to hear from very respectable people.

Thankful for Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving this year we were with Todd's family, and by family, I mean his large family of dozens of cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. It was the most beautiful day you could ask for! We ate outside which was actually quite peaceful, and the kids could all run around outside entertaining themselves. The day made me so grateful for my life, and the people that I love and love me back!

Her World of Pretend

I know every kid has some level of imagination, but Berkeley's is through the roof. This girl can entertain herself with a string if she wanted to. (she actual has) As far as her toys go, she can not get enough of dolls and stuffed animals. Just this week she lined them up in the entry face down and put them night night, sat them next to her to watch Cars, brushed their hair and asked them if they were OK, fed them bottles, had them wave at me when I leave, give their mommy's hugs, and danced. She is all girl and loves her girly toys. In these pictures, she was lining them all up so they could watch Dora with her. They are her best friends.

California Burning

This particular fire is about 1/2 mile away from my sisters house!!!!!

It has been so crazy knowing that these fires are within a couple hundred yards from my sisters house. She was ordered to evacuate a couple of days ago, but stayed to make sure there house did not burn down. She said that there have been families in her ward that literally were fighting off the fires on their property for hours. She also said that there are many members in her stake where their neighbors homes were burned, but theirs were spared. Yesterday my sister took her kids to my parents house, which is not in the danger zone, because the smoke has become so bad. My grandma also left her home because the smoke has been so bad. Seeing all of this happen 2 weeks after the controversial election over Prop. 8, I really don't think is a coincidence. The fact that many of the church members homes were spared just shows me that the righteous will be spared. It scares me that all of this chaos is going on where I grew up and that my family is right in the middle of it, having to endure all the persecution and the aftermath of this election, plus these fires. Last week, no on Prop. 8 activists called my dads practice and told him that they were boycotting his practiced because he helped with the yes on Prop. 8 campaign. I really don't think that it will effect his practice, but it is still very unsettling and disheartening knowing that people would stoop to that level and threaten his livelihood. I commend all the church members in California for sacrificing so much of their time and money towards prop 8. I know that if the church was not involved that it would not have passed. I will be praying for my family and all the other families in Southern California right now. It will end soon!

Berkeley and her Letters

Peculiar Play Time

Here is my goofy child. She has recently discovered that she can fit under beds, and she just discovered hiding under her bed. She hid down there until I found her. We were playing a game of hide and seek and she did not make a peep the whole time.

Then there is the extra goofy side of her where she uses her imagination a lot. She loves to play with dolls and figurines, and make them give each other hugs and kisses, and always has to distinguish between daddy, mommy, and the baby. I thought this was a quite interesting place for her baby!

Its 10 pm and Todd is still not home. His day is now officially 13 hours long. I just miss him sometimes!

My Cute Little Ladybug

Halloween was pretty funny this year. I really thought Berkeley would be all about everything, but she was very calm, and almost not excited about the whole thing. She got way more excited about going to the pumpkin patch than actual trick or treating. Our ward had a party right next door at the park, so we spent our whole night over there. Berkeley went around the party stealing hot dogs, suckers, candy, and cupcakes from who knows who! Then she trick-or-treated at the park in a large circle. It was actually quite nice because then we didn't have to walk around the neighborhood. She lasted about an hour and a half at the party, and by 6:30 she was done with the whole Halloween thing. She cracks me up......

This is the "scary man" in front of the house that she alwasy says hi too. It will be a sad day when we put scary man away.