Breakfast with Santa

Okay so these pictures are pretty horrible but I had to put them up. Addie was in HEAVEN when we saw Santa after breakfast. Why I only took a few pics I am not sure but hey better some than none, right? She was so excited to sit on his lap and tell him what she wanted for Christmas. He was probably by far the greatest Santa I have ever seen! After she talked to Santa she got her arm painter by Cowboy JJ the elf...and let me tell you his stash was AMAZING!! That takes some serious time and commitment. We will for sure make this a tradition for our family!

Halloween 2010

I know I am so behind in blogging but I am trying to catch up. This year we spent Halloween with the Gould family in Tucson. We enjoyed going to their wards Trunk or Treat. We all had a great time!

Addie (Cupcake Princess), Alyssa (Belle), and Zhara (Kitty Cat)
This is the girls scary faces



They had some fun kids crafts, Addie had a great time!


Walking back to the cars with April after hitting the jack pot


Addie and her sweet stash of candy


Great memories were made with some amazing friends!

A new pet

Addie has been bugging/ begging us to get her a guinea pig for what seems like forever. We finally broke down last night after seeing and holding him. He is sweet and cuddly. We decided to name him Rhino. He is an early birthday present. Addie is in heaven!!!


This is his favorite way to be held.

1 year later

A few days ago marked 1 year since my brother Matt died in Iraq. It is still crazy to me that my life kept going, even if at times I didn't want it to. I have to say now that it's been a year I know that all the firsts are over. The first Thanksgiving, Christmas, his birthday, Tanya and his wedding anniversary, all with out him here. I know that our family now has our own personal angel watching over us. Our lives and our hearts will never be same. I came across a few of my favorite pictures of him. I thought I would share.

Carving pumpkins

We had a lot of fun carving our pumpkins this afternoon. I think they turned out super cute!

Time Out For Women

I had the wonderful chance to spend the last 2 days at Time Out For Women. What an amazing event. I told my sweet friend April as we were leaving that I feel my cup is full in so many ways. My heart is full with gratitude for so many things, all my many blessings, the gospel , the love that I feel from so many people, the fact that myself and my family are healthy, and so many other things. The theme this year was Infinite Hope. We had the wonderful opportunity to hear from incredible women and a few great men. I want to share something that each person said that stuck out to me..

If we want to be successful stop comparing ourselves to others, comparison is the fast track to misery.

Always celebrate your own growth, not just the growth of others.

-Virgina Hinckley Pearce

Have the desire to be holy. Ask yourself everyday what would a holy woman do?

How would we live if we wanted "Holiness to the Lord" written on our lives?

-Wendy Nelson

Who is influencing us? What kind of an influence am I?

We are running the last leg of the race, we need to be fixed on the finish line and not be distracted.

-Sheri Dew

Where there is Christ- There is hope.

In life shortcuts don't payoff, avoid them like the plague.

-DeAnne Flynn

Just as we love Him, He loves us.

How do you ever get up the mountain if you don't make it half way?

God is more interested in the climber than he is how far up the mountain you are.

Nothing doesn't mean worthless, it means powerless with out God.

Jesus doesn't make up the difference, He makes all the difference.

-Brad Wilcox

Get your hopes up! What if you end up loving the worst that could happen?

Change- We fear it because we don't do it.

-Amanda Dickson

Will we be strong or weak? The choice is up to us.

Choose to be faithful no matter what. Choose to be cheerful.

Everything He does is motivated out of love for me.

Suffering can be a great gift.

-Merrilee Boyack

On Friday night a man by the name of Dallyn Bayles sang a few times though out the evening. Something about this man and his voice touched my heart more then I can explain. He sang this song that I needed to hear terribly. I think so many times in my life with different challenges I feel lost, confused, and so alone. I am grateful that I know one man, my Savior knows every feeling, pain, sorrow, and heartache that I have and am going through...There has been so many times in my life that I know He has carried me, there has only been one set of footprints. I am learning that nothing happens in my time because..He knows better than I.

Life is a Mixture

Life is a mixture of sunshine and rain,
Laughter and pleasure, teardrops and rain.

All days can't be bright but it's certainly true,
There was never a cloud the sun didn't shine through.

And you'll find when you smile your day will be brighter
And all your burdens will seem so much lighter.

For each time you smile you will find it's true
Somebody, somewhere, will smile back at you.

And nothing on earth can make life more worthwhile
Than the sunshine and warmth of a beautiful smile!

5 years

I cannot believe it has been 5 years since we said " I do"! We have had our fair share of trials but I feel they only make us stronger. We are so blessed to have a wonderful support system around us to help us along when the road gets bumpy. I feel we have both grown so much in the last 5 years. To celebrate our anniversary Gloria sent us ocean kayaking...We went on a super cool tour of some caves. We had a blast and would LOVE to do it again!

Looking at this pic you would think we flipped...I am proud to say we did not flip...not once!

That night we were spoiled and Glor sent us out to dinner. It was wonderful to have a day to just be us...not Mom and Dad, just Brian and Carrie.

I am excited to see where the next 5 years take us!

Wordless Wednesday..

Wordless Wednesday..

Our life has been NUTS

The last month or so has been busy to say the least. We were lucky enough to have these beautiful girls come and spend 3 weeks with us. We had a wonderful time and now have priceless memories of our time together. I am blessed to have such a wonderful sister-in-law, who just so happens to be one of the strongest, independent, beautiful women I know.


This last weekend we went to the river and had so much fun. Addie in more then happy playing in the water and making any and everything she wants out of sand. She has a bunch of her favorite people around her to play with. There is something about sitting on the boat, watching the sun go down, with wonderful people around you. It just reminds me of how it's the little things in life that being us joy. We have so much to be grateful for.

Nie..

I have followed this wonderful woman's blog for years now. She is inspiring, and one of the most beautiful women inside and out.

Watch a video about Stephanie Nielson HERE

I am so very behind..

I have been a horrible blogger lately. It seems I take way too many pictures, and can't find the time to sit down and go through all of them. For now this will have to do. We FINALLY are a 2 car family again. It's been four long years with just one car. We have been looking into the Scion Xb for a long time now. The thing that sold us on it was the fact that we could have the driver seat as far back as it could go and Brian could still sit the in back seat and his knees didn't touch the driver seat. That doesn't happen for him very often. It looks small but it is VERY spacious. it gets the gas milage of a car but has the room of a SUV. We are over the moon excited about your new addition. I think we will call her Sally!

Wordless Wednesday..

What we've been up to..

This weekend was a little crazy busy but fun! Bruce and Kevin were here from Thursday till Sunday. The Gloria aka Mimi was here for Sunday night. Here is a few pics from our weekend. Friday Bruce, Kevin, Addie, and myself went to the Phoenix Children's Museum. This is one of Addie's favorite places to go. She LOVES the shopping area, that is where we spent most of our time. Kevin and Bruce played along with her, and she had a blast!








Sunday we went to Jump and Shout to get Addie out of the house and it was raining so we headed out.


Mimi came and surprised Addie at Jump and Shout, Addie was over the moon excited to see her Mimi!
On Monday we all went and saw Dr. Snow, the greatest dentist ever! Addie and I got our cleaning done by Lisa. She was wonderful! Addie loved her!

Dr. Snow came in and said her teeth look great. :)

Addie was so excited that she got a cool prize out of the prize drawer. She chose a little cell phone thing that had little lip gloss stuff in it.
Yay for all of us being happy and healthy!