My Animoto Video

Just a little video I made of the pictures from our photo shoot a while back.





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old dresser, new dresser

I have completed my first furnature project. I have about 5 more I want to do but one at a time. :)     I took the ugliest dresser in the world, that we got on KSL for 10 bucks- and turned it into this for about $30.
This is the before picture... ugly right. whoever had it before me had tried to paint it on top of the lacquered fnish which obviously didnt work.

So I sanded it down- I did the top all the way down to the wood and the rest, I just did is slightly to get the finish off. Then sanded the drawers and the mirror.

I used a primer first because the dresser was pretty dark- I did two coats but I probably only needed one.

Then painted it- It only took one coat

I got the super cute knobs at Hobby Lobby- 50% off! The bottom 4 drawers actually had twon holes for pulls but I wanted knobs- so I filled the holes with caulk and drilled another one so they could match.

I learned a lot- good thing Brett made me do this one first before doing my gorgeous game hutch, cupboard thing in my dining room. :) I did this project completely on my own except brett put the hinges back on .

My car is so dusty, Brett has been parked on the street for a week and he may be for a while because I am starting on the next one as soon as we haul this one back upstairs to Anavy's room.

Christmas was amazing this year.. thanks to 3 beautiful little girls! It was very different having kids but it was so fun watching them experience things they never had before. 

Here are some Christmas pictures of the girls in their christmas dresses. 

My new niece- Hannah was blessed the weekend before Christmas. She is very cute and the girls like spending time with cousins.

 Christmas Eve at Papa's house. By far my favorite christmas tradition. We get together and go caroling to a few families around town. I LOVE my family so much and cant even imagine the day that we wont do this anymore. Hopefully it will never come.  After Caroling we come back to Papa's house, eat, visit, and open our present from Papa.

 Christmas Eve at my mom's house. They got new pajamas, we waited for Santa to come and then hid in the dining room- (Anavy was looking under the door to get a look) Then they opened all of their gifts and went to bed.

Christmas Day at Smith's house. 

New years Eve, we went to the Jewkes family Christmas party. It was fun to see everyone. On New Years Day, we went to the Smith annual soup night and then on our way back from Orem, We stopped to see the lights at Temple Square. It was pretty cold so we didn't stay long but the girls were excited to see the temple  and the lights.

I had off and on feeling of guilt this christmas season. I have always known that there are people who literally have nothing and Christmas is nothing but an ordinary day. I have really been made aware of this more since being in the Young Women program at church. Our townhouse complex is about 7 years old but other than that, nothing has been built on our ward boundries for 50+ years. Our ward boundaries runs in a 10 block strip and the end of it is really rough neighborhoods.  Some of my YW have very very little. Some come from rough homes and unloving families. It really makes me sad. My 3 girls were spoiled rotten this Christmas by so many people. It made me feel a bit guilty that we are so fortunate and blessed because people a couple of streets over are struggling to have Christmas Dinner. It is important to remember this at Christmas time and do what we can to help out :) I tried my best to do that. 

I hope all of you had a great Christmas Holiday. 

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Teachers & Bus Drivers :)

I was up super late last night because I am a procrastinator and I waited till the last second to make gifts for Anavy & Khloe's teachers and bus drivers. Brett thinks I always go way overboard with these things but they turned out super cute. For the teachers I made cookies in a jar.

You put all these ingredients in a Mason jar: 
1 1/3 cup all purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup -leveled
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup cooking oats
3/4 cup m&ms
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 – 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Then all the teachers have to do is add:
1 slightly beaten egg
1/2 cup butter (melted slightly in the microwave)
1 teaspoon vanilla

And you end up with yummy oatmeal cookies.

For the bus drivers I put hot chocolate mix, chocolate chips and marshmellos in a smaller jar.

I really am so so so grateful to all of their teachers for all they do. My girls are doing so well and a lot of it is thanks to them. And of course the bus drivers get them to school safely.


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update with pictures!

Savannah has decided that her bed is not for sleeping- it is for just laying there jabbering, crying, pounding on it, jumping on it.... pretty much anything but sleeping. It is an out of the blue habit she has formed and it is exhausting.  The last 4 nights it has taken her an average of 2 1/2 hours to fall asleep.  At night she cries mostly and at nap time, she talks. The frustrating part of it all is that she is so exhausted. I would just take away her daytime naps but she is so tired and sometimes even asks to go 'night night'. But once she gets there, she wont sleep. I am not sure what to do. Any suggestions??


Anyway- Here is my life lately via Instagram (a picture app on my iphone)

  Anavy is doing amazing in school and we are so so proud of her. This is her progress i writing her name.

 Their new favorite thing to do is Skype. They talk to their Nana a few times a week and sometimes with Macy.

 I am working on learning to french braid... I'm getting better.

We turned Savanna's crib into a big girl bed because she was waking us up at night to go to the bathroom. By  the way she hasn't had a accident day or night for 3 weeks. 

We bought new stockings to hang above our fireplace- we have never had a fireplace before. 

All 3 girls had surgery to put tubes in their ears. They had ear drums full of nasty fluid that made it so they couldnt hear very well. Now that they are all cleared out Anavy and Khloe pronunciate words a lot better and are improving faster.  

 We bought a new Christmas Tree and put it up together.

 Signing Time is their favorite time of day. They soak it in so fast and are always signing around the house.

 Thanksgiving holiday was fun- Black Friday was crazy but playing volleyball with the whole family is one of my favorite things to do.

 And then there are the pictures that need no explaination... My girls are happy, funny, loving and messy. Period.

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