A Great Evening

We had the best time tonight! We went to dinner with our oldest and dearest friends - Troy and Teresa Beebe. You would think that we lived in different states because we don't see them nearly as often as we should! We only live a few cities away and this was the first time we'd gotten together in YEARS!

I will NEVER forget the day I met Teresa. Troy and Dave had started working at the Utah County Sheriff's Department around the same time in 1994. They became fast friends and we got together with them one weekend. We lived in Heber at the time, in the basement apartment of Dave's parents house (we lived there 2 years while Dave went to college, the Police Academy, and worked.)

This particular weekend was so fun. We me at our house, went to eat dinner at a diner in town and then the girls (Me, Teresa, Maddie, and their daughter Haylee - who is a year older than Maddie) went back to the house to play while Dave and Troy went up to the gun range above our house - to do some practice shooting for a qualification they were having at work the coming week.

After about an hour, I received a phone call from Troy and he told me they were at the Emergency Room in the Heber Hospital. Dave had a shooting accident! I later found out when I got to the hospital that Dave and shot his left eye out and they rushed him down to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center for surgery to remove his eye and build an implant.

This was a scary time in our lives but we will always have such a special bond with Troy and Teresa. Not only because we are such kindred spirits, but because they helped us through a difficult time and Troy literally saved Dave's life!

Anyway - now that I'm crying (it doesn't take much these days) I just want to tell Teresa (who reads this blog faithfully but refuses to leave a comment!!) that we are so thankful to you guys. We MUST get together more often.

I wanted to take a picture tonight at dinner but was talking so much in catching up - I forgot. It was great to see their cute son (who is 11) and Haylee who is now almost 17! Time sure flies. The picture below is one I found of Maddie and Haylee on one of our camping trips when we lived in Heber. This was about 2 months after Dave's accident.







After dinner, Dave and I went to see the movie "Valkyrie" and we loved it!

"Crazy"

Cutest thing EVER! This is Emmie and Logan practicing their Karaoke skills - singing "Crazy"

Christmas Day Highlights

Santa came to the Knowles house and everyone seemed to have a Merry Christmas! Emmie asked for her first "American Girl" doll (since Talbie has boxed all hers up and won't let anyone play with them!). Emmie got "Kit" with her canning and laundry stuff.

Maddie found a corner to open her presents and her stocking stuff.

Talbie got a new DS (and Wicked tickets of course :)

Here they are!!

Bronson was not happy about the clothes he opened!

Emmie and a "Build A Bear"

Bronson's favorite present of the entire day were 2 giant bags of "Corn Pops" - just for him! He ate one half of a bag that morning :( Yuck!

Maddie's favorite gift were her new roller skates.

After we opened presents, played, napped, and got ready - we went to Dave's Sister - Lynn's house. We had so much fun with everyone. We opened more presents!

Look at these awesome fleece blanket's Aunt Marianne made. I need to get this pattern! Talbie got a ladybug, Bronson got a Panda (Kung Fu Panda) and Emmie got Nemo.

Emmie hugging Grandma Knowles

Emmie and Ben

Abi and Maddie taking a nap after a long - but fun day!

Christmas Eve

The tradition in our family is to celebrate Christmas Eve with my family at my parent's house. This is something we look forward to all year but it was different this year because my parents were in Texas! Brittany and I still went over with our families and ate, opened presents from my mom and dad, and had a great time together.

You will notice from these pictures that my mom had a GINORMAS Santa Claus collection and it has taken over her entire basement. Its up year round so there's no need to decorate the basement :)

My kids in their Christmas PJ's. They had matching bottoms and different tops. Maddie had a funny top to wear but she was "too cool" for it!

Dave - getting mad because the food's not ready! Just kidding - Dave's never been mad in his life :)

All the kids with their jammies!

Opening presents

Opening more presents

Best Present

Dave and I got this DVD for Christmas and it's my favorite present! If you get the chance to watch or BUY this movie, I highly recommend you do so. It's a depiction of President Hinckley's life as a boy, missionary, and later in his life. This movie is so well done and instead of it being an ordinary documentary, they have acted out important events of his life. The actors in this movie - especially the young boys (who are all brothers in real life) are perfect! I just wanted to squeeze them and take them home with me!

The very best parts are when you see President Hinckley as a young boy and how he was so much like every young boy today. It gives a mother hope :)

Anyway - watch it!

The Surprise...

Most of you guessed it! The surprise that I was so excited about was tickets to "WICKED!" I wanted to get tickets so badly for Talbie because she has been obsessed with this musical for a couple of years. She has my old playbills, watches a horribly recorded version of it that Brittany got a few years go, and listens to the CD daily! She even wants to name her kids "Kristen" and "Edina" (The original actors to play "Glenda" and "Elphaba")

I knew it was coming to Salt Lake and have been waiting for months for tickets to go on sale. A couple of days before they went on sale, it was being advertised like crazy and I was starting to panic that we wouldn't be able to get her tickets!

Well, the day they went on sale, Dave and I both tried and tried but it sold out in a matter of hours. I was sick! So, I decided to do what any kid would do...I called my dad!

He knows a ticket broker and he called him. He got me 2 tickets on the upper level - FRONT ROW! He had to pay a "pretty penny" for them (and I'm going to help pay - for some :) Now I'm just as excited as Talbie because I get to see it again with such great seats!!

Thanks dad! More Christmas pictures to come later. My parents are spending Christmas in Texas with my brother's family so I wanted them to see the reaction. Here it is...

Merry Christmas

Remembering Him

"When we have the spirit of Christmas, we remember Him whose birth we commemorate at this season of the year. We contemplate that first Christmas day, foretold by the prophets of old. You, with me, recall the words from Isaiah: “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel”meaning “God with us.”

On the American continent, the prophets said: “The time cometh, and is not far distant, that with power, the Lord Omnipotent … shall dwell in a tabernacle of clay. … He shall suffer temptations, and pain. … And he shall be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”

Then came that night of nights when the shepherds were abiding in the fields and the angel of the Lord appeared to them, announcing the birth of the Savior. Later, Wise Men journeyed from the East to Jerusalem, “Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. …

“When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.

“And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.”

Times change; years speed by; but Christmas continues sacred. In this marvelous dispensation of the fullness of times, our opportunities to give of ourselves are indeed limitless, but they are also perishable. There are hearts to gladden. There are kind words to say. There are gifts to be given. There are deeds to be done. There are souls to be saved."

President Thomas S. Monson - December 2008 Ensign

A Tale of a Santa Claus~

As you know, Dave got a Santa suit for his Halloween costume this year. It's a great suit - with a pathetic beard. The main purpose of getting the costume was to use it to go surprise Dallin at Christmas time. Last night was the night so, after duct taping the beard to his face, we headed over to Brittany's house.

Dallin was so surprised and excited to have Santa come to his house. Brock and Logan were good sports, even though they knew it was Dave!

Dallin gave Santa one last hug before he left...

And as Santa was leaving he said, "Merry Christmas, Ho, Ho, HHHHHOOOOO" and fell down the steps out the front door!

Then he hobbled away as we all tried not to pee our pants with laughter!! Thanks Santa for making it fun for all of us :)

A Return to Virtue

I had read about this on the Church's website and a friend of mine reminded me of it on her blog (thanks Julie!).

The General Young Women's Presidency has said, "The attribute and value of Virtue has been added to the Young Women theme. Virtue is a pattern of thought and behavior based on high moral standards. It encompasses chastity and moral purity."

In the coming months, they will have the new theme out and the new Value - Virtue in the Personal Progress books. The color for virtue will be gold!

What a fantastic idea this is and so appropriate!

And...I wonder if this means that Maddie - who has been told since she was 12 that she won't be getting her driver's license until her Personal Progress is complete (and her 16th birthday is in 29 days!) - if she will need to complete everything for this value too! Who's going to break the news to her??? Actually, she reads this blog and will find out soon enough!

You can read all about it at this link...http://www.lds.org/pa/display/0,17802,8449,00.html

We Got Them! (UPDATED)

**Those of you who have commented, but haven't been published - are RIGHT!**

Oh! It's so exciting and she will be even more excited! WE GOT THEM!!

I can't really say anymore than that - it's a Christmas surprise and most of my family reads this blog.

If you think you know what I'm talking about, leave a comment. If your comment doesn't get published - YOU'RE RIGHT!!

ODC Christmas Concert

Orem High's Dance Company had their Christmas Concert last week and we had a great time! Well - Emmie and I did. Brittany and my parents are great because they always want to come with me to see Maddie dance. Emmie loves it too. Bronson lucked out because Talbie was babysitting for our neighbors so he got to go over and hang out with her for a couple of hours and wasn't tortured with another recital!

A funny thing happened when we were in Las Vegas over Thanksgiving. As we were pulling up to our hotel, I said to Dave, "Let's just use the Valet." Bronson burst into to tears and said, "NO! I don't want to go to the ballet!" Poor kid!

Emmie and I waiting for the show to start - with my parents

Maddie after the show. She needed "feet pajamas" for one of the dances. By the time we went to Target to get some, they were out of adult sizes. Luckily she's little because we had to get a size 10 in childrens. I don't think they'll fit after they're washed!

It Finally Happened...

We've been waiting almost 7 years for Emmie to not be afraid of Santa and to sit on his lap! This is the first picture we have in 16 years that someone isn't crying, sitting on mine or Dave's lap, or Emmie sitting on Maddie or the rocking horse near by! So exciting for a mother.

How long do you think I'll be able to get the kids to do the picture with Santa? Maddie will be 16 next month but I think she has a few more years in her :)

This was today...


This was 7 years ago!

PS - Emmie didn't do this willingly - I had to bribe her with a "prize". But, she did realize that it wasn't as scary as she thought!

Merry Christmas to Me!

Look what Dave gave me for Christmas :)

There are some perks to having your husband's job be at a car dealership!

Actually - it was also a deal we just couldn't pass up. If you're in the market to buy a car, now is the time to do it. We were able to get this brand new Dodge Durango and turn in our Honda Odyssey and pay that lease off 8 months early! Our payments will stay close to the same and instead of having a lease, we will own this car. Another perk to buying right now is they offer tires FOR LIFE! There is nothing I hate more than spending money on tires!

Breathe Right

Since the day Emmie was born, she has had major sinus/breathing problems. This stems from her IGA Deficiency and there's not a whole lot that helps her and she gets on antibiotics when she's really bad. We keep the humidifier in her room and I discovered that "Breathe Right" strips help her a lot and keep her sinuses open at night so she can breathe better.

Well - good news! They came out with "Breathe Right" for KIDS! I know this isn't big news to most of you but it has changed our lives! Shes uses one every night! She was a little goofy tonight when I was trying to take her picture - what a cornball!

Girl's Night Christmas Party

We had so much fun last night at our "Girl's Night Christmas Party!" We have been getting together every month for years. I love this group of girls - they are some of my best friends! We missed you Shea but congratulations on having baby Livvy. Can't wait to see her!

Michelle B hosted the most beautiful evening at her parents house (Brittany's in-laws). Thanks for all your hard work Michelle!

Shasha, Jenn, Michelle A, Kristi, Brittany, Sommer, Michelle B, Me, Audrey
This picture turned out amazing well - considering we had to use the timer on my camera and I had just figured out how to use it!

Brittany making her delicious punch (and hiding her cute pregnant belly behind the punch bowl!)

Sommer and her amazing hot chocolate bar
(How's your car, Sommer :)

All the delicious spoons and toppings

Scenes of the beautiful house

We had a fun White Elephant gift exchange and then a regular gift exchange.

SO MUCH FUN!

It's Sad When...

You were young and thought you were so cool. That you were so in style and that everything you wore was top of the line! That's how I USED to feel before I got teenage daughters who thought they needed to have certain jeans and certain clothes. That's when I (the "USED TO BE" cool and stylish one) had to start buying my clothes at Target and Walmart! I can't afford for us all to be in style!

I have saved a few things from my "glory days" of the late 80's and early 90's. One of my "pride and joys" is a Christmas sweater that I paid a small fortune for - (* the real story is that my friend, Jill and I went shopping together for our Christmas presents to give each other. We both found what we liked and bought it!)


**Dave and I when we were first married - 1991**

I have saved the sweater and now Maddie wears it whenever she goes to an "Ugly Sweater Dance".

HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?


**Katie, Danielle, Maddie**