A good Daddy!

Yesterday me and my mom went to see Twilight. I had seen it already but I had a another chance to go so I jumped on that and went with my mom. I loved it even more the second time. My mom enjoyed it too. I did realize that if you haven't read the books it may not be so enjoyable.

So as I went to enjoy a a movie with no children, Sean took the kids to see Madagascar 2. They all loved it and even Sean thought it was pretty good. He is such a good dad to suggest taking all of them to a movie while I go spend some time with my mom. I love that man.

After we all got back Sean and I had a quick date and went to Red Robin and had dinner. Then we came home and had FML night. (That is our abbreviation for family movie night!)

Black Friday

Ok, so this picture was a little staged. We knew it was being taken but this is what we do after Thanksgiving is over. We sit down with all the ads and form our plan of attack. This year it was Wal-mart(spent the most money there), then to Target(I was very impressed with how fast the lines moved this year), then down to Toys R Us and finally to Kmart.(saw a awesome fight. No punches but two ladies were going at it and I thought it was going to get ugly. One of the ladies was escorted to her car and that was that. You can only find that at Kmart!)
Mom and Sister wondering why I had my camera with me!

Me, feeling the effects of getting up at 4:00am
(and no one is getting the cricket machine. My sister, was but decided not to at the last minute. I am sure Doug was happy!)

When we arrived back at my parents house I fell out of the car since I had about two inches of seat to ride home in.

Happy Thanksgiving a few days late!

We had a great Thanksgiving this year as always. Sean and I took Cierra and Brooke to the Y and while I exercised, they went swimming. There was hardly anyone there and it was a fun way to start the day. We then came home and got things ready and left for my parents house. This year was a little stressful since the Cowboys were playing the Seahwaks. We love the Cowboys and my mom and dad and sisters family all love the Seahwaks with the exception of my nephew Austin. He came over to our side about 2 years ago and has been a faithful fan ever since.

Luckily it ended well for us and the Cowboys stomped all over the Seahawks!:)


Thanskgiving was great thanks to this awesome mom! The turkey was perfect and all the other fixings............well except one minor thing!

(my mom wore all black because she was the referee during the football game. Luckily she didn't have to throw anyone out. Phew!)

The beautiful turkey!

Oh, I guess this was the minor thing. The yams caught fire right in the middle of the prayer. My mom tried to wait until the prayer was done but she couldn't. She smelled them burning and ran to open the oven. Out burst flames as the yams burnt to a crisp. We got the fire out and amazingly enough the yams were salvaged!

Turns out only the marshmallows were burnt, so we scraped them off and put new ones on and they were good as new.

Here the boys are warming up for the game.

I didn't know Sean could jump that high!

Another Thanksgiving here and gone and I couldn't be more thankful this year for my family. I love each and every one of them and I am so happy to have a wonderful husband who supports me in everything that I do. Also for four beautiful healthy children that bless my life everyday.

I love my parents and my sister and her family and I am so grateful that we can be a close family and get along so well. I love you all!

A proud mom

ok, so I may brag just a little so if you don't want to hear how wonderful my kids are, stop reading now.


So your still here so I guess you want to know why I am feeling pretty good about being a mom to Kaylee, Connor and Cierra.
Today my parents and I went to a school assembly where a few kids from each class were getting an award for Trustworthiness. Not one, not two, but all three of my school age children received this award. It was a suprise to all of them and to see the look on their face was so fun! I love my children and I am so proud of them. They are good friends to others and they care about others feelings. Although they fight as siblings, for the most part they get along and are nice to each other. I couldn't ask for better kids.

My little Indian

Yesterday Brooke had a Thanksgiving feast at preschool. They had Turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, Pumpkin pie and much more. Brooke got to bring milk and she was so excited to go. They made pilgrim and indian costumes also. Brooke has been loving preschool. She goes three days a week for 2 hours and is always excited to go. Mrs. Spencer is a great teacher. She doesn't let the kids get away with anything and Brooke, being the baby isn't quite use to that but it has been great for her. We stole a saying that Mrs. Spencer always uses and we use it for everything. "Make it Happen" works for everything from going to the bathroom by herself to eating her dinner.

Twilight Movie night!

On Friday I went to dinner with my friend Jen, and then we met up with some other friends to see the long awaited Twilight movie. There has been some pretty strong opinions on the movie, both good and bad, and personally I loved it. I thought it was a great movie. Of course there were some cheesy parts but I think that is pretty unavoidable in a vampire movie. I can't wait for the second movie to come out and in the mean time I am going to re-read the first 3 books. I wasn't a fan of the 4th book so I may skip that one but I would see a 4th movie if and when it comes out.

Kaylee has been working hard at learning to play her violin. She is getting very good and today she played with her friend, Alyssa and they sounded very good together. They played jingle bells and Jolly Old St. Nick!

Snowman finally done!:)

Thanks to my great friend, Amy, my snowman is finally finished. He has been sitting on the top of my washer waiting patiently to be finished. Well, if you want to know the truth, it need to be started. I didn't have time to do it when we had our Super Saturday at church at the end of October. My mom wasn't able to go either because she was out of town and Anna started but didn't get to finish. I am so glad to have one more thing off my checklist.(Because anyone that knows me, knows that I have a checklist and I must finish everything on that list!) This weekend I will finish my Christmas cards and wrap some presents. Aren't you getting excited for Christmas?

(Amy was the instructor and was not in the photo. Thanks again Amy!)

To the best Dad in the world!

My dad would do absolutely anything for me. And that is one of the many reasons why I love him. Thanks Dad! Your the best!

Busy Elwell weekend

Brooke leaving for Emma's party!

I think all of our weekends are busy but this one was VERY busy. As the kids get older, it seems like there is just more to do. We started by getting some things done around the house and then Connor had his friend Chase spend the night and Cierra had Meaghan spend the night. So with a house full of 6 kids we made popcorn and watched movies. Sean went out with his friends, Josh and Anders to see the new James Bond movie. I am glad that he gets his male bonding time. He needs it.
Saturday morning started early by me taking Cierra and Meaghan to their soccer game and Sean going to the church to support Josh in his new calling. Sean then came home to take Connor to his 2 soccer games in fife.(He won both and scored two goals-the season is now officially over. Phew!!) After Cierra's soccer game I cam home and Got Brooke ready for Emma's birthday. She was so excited to go and couldn't wait to get there. I then took Cierra and Kaylee to Target where we bought a few things and then took Kaylee over to her primary teachers house for a pizza party. Cierra and I enjoyed a few minutes without any other kids and went to lunch. She had the choice of anywhere to eat and she choose Subway in Walmart. It had to be the one in Walmart, so the one day I have no reason to go to Walmart, Cierra and I went there for lunch. After that we had to go pick up Brooke from her party and then go back and pick up Kaylee from her party. We then went home and got ready to take Cierra to Shaylyn's Birthday party and then drop off the other kiddos with my parents so Sean and I could go with the Ward's to the temple. We had a great time and afterwards we met with other couples for pie. Sunday has been much more relaxing day and that is why I look forward to my Sundays. We go to church and besides a church meeting on occassion we are home to spend time with our family and prepare oursleves for the coming week.

Right before we were going to leave Brooke decided she wanted some Strawberry milk. Oops!!! The kids are the only ones that drink it and I am sure they don't mind that I put most of it back in the container. I had just mopped and my floors were clean-lol

These make me happy!:)

I love the smell of these candles in the wintertime. I recently had a party and got all but one of these for free. I was so excited when they came today. They are Gold Canyon candles and they smell sooooooo good. I would suggest you get some if you haven't already! My favorites are pumpkin pie, Cozy Christmas, Studel and Spice and Warm Welcome!

So Cute:)

This is for my brother-in-law, Doug. See! Sadie does lay on your lap and cuddle.

Meaghan's Birthday

Some people think I have 5 kids and that would be because I always have one extra. That would be Meaghan. I have done childcare for her for 4 years and she really does feel like one of my own. She is with us pretty much everywhere we go and she just fits into our family. She is so easy going and fun to be around.
Cierra and Meaghan are the best of friends and love to play with each other. Today I took Cierra and Brooke to her birthday party were Meaghan celebrated her 7th birthday. They all had a great time and are fast asleep from running around so much.

Hope you had a great birthday Meaghan. You know we love you and think of you as family!:)


Surprising that Brooke got that close. She wasn't too sure of this big mouse!

Two peas in a pod!

Happy 7th Birthday Meaghan!

High School Musical 3

Today I took Kaylee and Cierra to see Highschool musical 3 with Ally, Susan, Katie, Emma and Crystal. They had a good time and thought the movie was great. I personally liked the first two better but it was ok. Kaylee is now asking for HSM3 cd. I am sure santa will bring it. It was nice to get out with the girls. Thanks to my sis who watched Connor and Brooke while we went!:)

They do love each other!

Sometimes Kaylee and Cierra can be the worst of enemies and other times they can be the best of friends. Last night they were the best of friends and played together perfectly without one fight. Connor spent the night at a friends and Brooke went to bed early so the girls did makeovers. I love to see them get along!:)

The best news ever!!!

This Mcdonald family has been waiting four long months and the day finally came today when Mia was able to receive her new heart. We are all so excited. Although they have a long way to go, this is the best news ever. So many people came together to help this family through a very hard time and I am just so excited this day came. I wish them all the best and pray for a fast recovery so they can be home together as a family!
Check their blog for updates: http://www.mcdonaldfam.blogspot.com/

Connor had his last soccer game yesterday. They had an awesome season. They went undefeated all year and it is all because he had an awesome coach. Geoff coahed last year and really taught the boys how to play soccer. They are a great team and played very well together. We had their party at Round Table pizza. They each got a sweatshirt with their name and number on the back. Much better than a trophy that would sit in his windowsill.

Sean and I had dinner at Black Angus last night with my parents and Mindy and Doug. We were celebrating my dads 60th birthday late since he was hunting on his actual birthday.
The waiter was very suprised that my dad was turning 60. He doesn't look his age at all.

After dinner we went back to my sisters where all the kids were waiting so we could open presents and have cake and ice cream. Grandpa got a engraved watch, a engraved knife and and a t-shirt with all the kids pictures on it. (a tradition since Kaylee and Chance were little) He wears them proudly all the time. The kids think it's cool.
My dad opened a card from my mom and Cierra says,"That sucks, you didn't get any money!!" I was cracking up. Usually the cards Grandma gives, has money inside.

Brooke loves her papa!

And so does the rest of the clan!

Everyone being silly! I hope my dad didn't hurt himself. He looks like he's in pain!

My dad means the world to me. I don't know a more caring loving human being.

Thanks to both my mom and dad for a great night. I love you!

And I have to say Thanks to Josh. Ever since he left Friday night, this is where Sean has been.

Does a cat need too sleep 20 hours a day? Because Sadie does and it is starting to worry me. Shouldn't she be doing something a little more productive?

Fun with the Carvers

The Carver's came over for pizza tonight and pumpkin Cheesecake.(Thanks, it was yummy!) The kids played great together, it was very relaxing.

Brooke and I watching daddy tear it up playing Guitar Hero.
Josh showing Sean how it's really done. I think he has had a little more practice.

Jacob and Connor playing gamecube since the dads took over the Wii.

Silly faces:)

Some barbies that were downstairs and didn't get bagged with all of Brooke's other toys in the garage. Poor Girls. They had a limited supply of toys tonight.

Kaylee played playdoh with the younger ones and actually had fun doing it. She made all sorts of things.