Catch up Post & Temple Pictures

The LDS Temple with a clear sky and bright moon!

Ok so I'm a slacker but I've been super busy. This working more than 40 hours a week is for the birds, but if I don't work then 900 people mostly teachers don't get paid so you see the obvious choice I have to make. ha ha Unfortunately talking to my kiddos & Will, eating, sleeping, grocery shopping, laundry, paying bills and trying to clean up the house take priority over blogging. Tonight I had a hair appointment after work and am so thankful, it's been like 6 months! I love Marley at Guy & Gal Salon here in town she is awesome!

Last Thursday night there was another green female praying mantis on our window by the front door so guess who has a new pet? Yep Calvin...he named her Lucky because he is so lucky we found her. By the way that was his second choice he was going to name her Manti like the first one but we suggested he choose a different name. :o)

Also, we measured McKenna and she is 5 feet tall now!! She made the honor roll and so we went to her awards ceremony. Calvin has all M's for mastery with the exception of 2 O's which are outstanding but they don't do honor roll for 1st graders. Calvin is growing his hair out again we tried this about a year ago but couldn't stand the shaggy look after awhile and made him cut it. We'll see how long this lasts. :o)

We went to the Mesa LDS Temple before Christmas with several friends from our ward and had a great time and then went and ate some awesome Chinese food. I have about 70 pictures from the night but they didn't turn out as well as I had hoped for some reason but there were thousands and thousands of lights. It was so pretty! They used all LED lights this year and so they are brighter. Here are a couple pics from that night.

Yes we have coats on 47 degrees is cold to us desert dwellers. :o)

So sad...poor Manti

So sad today our Praying Mantis "Manti" died. I even caught a cricket for her last night...so she wouldn't starve (YUCK) and she must have eaten it then took a rest but never woke up. We thought she was sleeping and so we moved the jar she didn't turn her head to look at us like usually, so we sprinkled a few drops of water through the lid. Then McKenna used a straw and touched her and she still didn't move. I text Will and he broke the news to Calvin. She actually exceeded her life expectancy by 2-3 months! We are awaiting Calvin's return home from hunting so he can give her a proper burial upon his requests. She was actually quite fascinating to watch we will strangely miss her.

I love shopping at Kirklands....

So today since Will & Calvin are out of town hunting, McKenna and I decided to go and see what great after Christmas sales we could find. I'm so thrilled that on our way to Target which has 75% off all Christmas stuff that we went into Kirklands because they were having their twice a year huge sale.

I got some awesome stuff and spent very very little! I don't know where I will put it in our house yet but I'm sure by tomorrow I'll have it figured out! I got a huge pretty mirror originally $79.99 for $14.98, a huge picture originally $119.99 for $37.98, some topiaries for $6 they were originally $29.99, some metal pieces that are like 18 x 40 for $7 that were originally $29.99 etc! Can you believe those prices? I couldn't WOW!! These aren't the pictures of all of the exact items that I got but you get the idea of what they have there. :o)



http://www.kirklands.com/ they have stores in Orem, UT & 2 in Mesa 1 in Gilbert & 1 in Chandler. Sale started Jan. 1 - ?? doesn't say.



It's a great sale if you have time to hit it tomorrow!

Goodbye 2008 & Bring On 2009....

Wow I can't believe that tonight we will be bringing in the 2009 year already! 2008 has been great for our family but has flown by quickly. Like everyone else so many things happened in 2008 and I will briefly try to summarize it....

1. I began blogging this time last year and have loved it ever since!


2. We moved again but just about 1.5 miles so we were able to stay in the same ward which we love and we absolutely love our new beautiful home.
3. Both Calvin and McKenna are learning to play the piano and all of us benefit from that.
4. We had some great times with our ALL of family members and loved the 3-4 visits from Grammy & Aunt Brandy here in Arizona this year. We enjoyed a family reunion also.
5. I went back to work first at a Charter School but that only lasted one month and then I quit and a very short time later I got hired on at the school district here in town as a Payroll specialist and am still there. Although it can be very stressful I'm very thankful to have a job and enjoy most everyone I work with. I served in the Relief Society Presidency as the Secretary for about 10 months and am now in the Nursery truly love both callings.

6. Will is still doing real estate luckily he has been blessed with business and health as his diabetes is still under control and we so appreciate the insulin my Mom sends him! Will is a wonderful Dad and Husband always thinking of us and how to better our lives. We appreciate & love him so! Will is in the Young Men's Presidency at church and loves it. I think he has been in the YM's program for the past 10 or so years no matter what ward we are in that seems to be his calling. Will still loves to hunt and fish, he prefers using a bow n arrow as you can see below.
7. McKenna is in 5th grade and doing well...still shy but coming out of her shell more and more. She is growing so fast and is such a pretty girl. She has gotten very involved in 4H and loves sewing and cooking. McKenna donated two 13 inch braids when she cut her hair to Wigs for Kids in July. She has been so responsible the past 6 months that we can now trust Calvin in her care for a few hours here and there. She is 5 feet talland weights 94 lbs very tall for a 10 yr old. She loves hanging out with her best friend Sierra and listening to radio Disney and has a crush this year on Conner Scoresby and he has one on her luckily they are both super shy and won't even look at one another. She's constantly roller blading around the house and outside, loves to sing and really likes basketball & hopes to play softball this year. She is looking forward to middle school next year also.

8. Calvin graduated kindergarten this year and moved on to 1st grade. He loves school and zips through his homework quickly as he excels in every subject. He has a great sense of humor and keeps us laughing on a daily basis. He is a very talented little boy and we love to hear him sing and watch his shake it up when he is getting his groove on dancing...the boy has rhythm! Calvin loves playing with his good friends William & Thomas Barker along with Matthew Lines from our ward. He absolutely loves electronics and really wanted to get a Nintendo DS for Christmas this year. (Santa at our ward party pinky swore that he would get one but the real Santa had already got his gifts and a DS wasn't one of them so he is just going to keep asking Santa until he gets one and wasn't disappointed luckily) He too loves listening to radio Disney and his mp3 player. He has a crush already on a little girl in his class named Maritzza and talks about her almost daily...scary! He is about 3ft 9 inches I think and weights 44 lbs so he is a bit skinny. Everyone he meets he talks to and isn't shy very outgoing fun kiddo. Oh yeah he still has his pet Praying Mantis she is alive and well. 9. We've had some very sad times this year also first our friend and Will's broker, Kent Adams was hit and killed by a drunk while riding his bike training for a marathon on the Indian reservation in late September. My Grandpa Charlie Devine passed away at Good Sam's Hospital here in Phoenix in October. I didn't want to post any pictures of funeral services or pictures that reminded us of the sadness, so I hope it doesn't seem mean to not post a picture of my Grandpa or of Kent.


10. My Mom scared us with a major surgery on her neck in late September but luckily everything worked out well. We went to Utah and surprised her for her birthday which was just a couple of days after her surgery so we were there for both. Brandy my sister had set up an early surprise birthday party and hired Elvis to sing to her and everything it was awesome!
11. We were so proud of my sister Brandy for being an anchor on TV and being able to see her pretty face on the tube Mon - Fridays this year!

12. We got a new Prophet Thomas S. Monson in 2008.


13. We voted for a new President of the United States in 2008 and although the candidate that we voted for didn't win we are grateful for the freedoms we have to go and vote.

14. Marriage between one man and one woman was upheld thanks to all of the great Americans that voted. This is a Divine and sacred union established by God the Eternal Father and his son Jesus Christ.

15. Both Calvin & McKenna continue to be healthy and over all very happy. We are so blessed that their blood sugar levels have remained in the normal range this entire year and know that Heavenly Father has blessed us so very much! I'd have to write for days to list all of the many wonderful blessings He has given us this year...we are truly truly blessed. I'm so thankful for the gospel and for Jesus Christ our Saviour and Redeemer. We have great families and friends too so thank you all for blessing our lives in 2008!

We look forward to a fantastic 2009! We are going to go party it up at our friends who are also in our ward tonight...playing rock band and games until the stroke of midnight when Will lays a big-ol-kiss on my lips and we get served a yummy breakfast! Have a fun, safe, happy New Year's Eve! We wish you the very best in 2009...much love, joy, happiness, health and financial bliss! Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!

Merry Christmas...fa la la la

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Are you Kidding ME???

There are 2233 sq ft homes in Maricopa selling for $75,000 are you kidding me??? This is a 4 bedroom 3 bath home listed at $75k.

That is $33.59 a sq ft...granite alone costs more than that and you get a house! It's not gutted either! I was on Will's website tonight looking at houses for fun, I know I'm weird but holy cow these houses are cheap!!! The monthly payment is less than MOST car payments!!!

Now seriously is the time to invest some money in these houses if anyone has any these days. :o) I certainly wish we could buy a few of these puppies right now! You could rent it out for $600 a month which is a steal and still make money!!! No wonder my real estate hubby never wants to talk shop with me...it makes me sick because the original prices were about 3 times more when everyone bought...but I guess it also makes me glad in a way because I know Will is going to continue to have a future in real estate selling homes. :o)

We're NOT perfect...

And no one except for ourselves expects us to be. Why are we women so hard on ourselves? It's crazy because for some reason we seem to be our own worst critics in every single aspect of our lives. It's sometimes so hard to see the good that we do because we focus so much on the things that we either didn't get done, wanted to do or meant to do or plain did wrong.

Unfortunately it's not just me that feels this way from time to time....it is every single woman I talk to. We need to all just stop listening to that negative nagging voice inside our heads telling us we're not good enough and realize that we are truly daughters of God and he loves us and doesn't expect us to be perfect. Instead of focusing on the things we didn't finish today or don't think we are doing well or don't like about ourselves; even if it is Mothering we need to acknowledge the things we are doing well as well the things we are TRYING to do well. Look for the good in ourselves every single day and every single time we look into the mirror don't look for a new wrinkle, notice your pretty smile or eyes.

You are beautiful! You are a wonderful aspiring chef! You are super talented! You are so sweet and compassionate! You are an excellent house keeper and decorator! You are so patient and quick to help! You are such a great wife! You are a Superior Mother who loves her children and is doing the absolute best you possibly can! Please don't beat yourself up, give yourself some credit for doing all that you do and most importantly remember that Heavenly Father loves YOU! So do I...have a great day and this truly is my Christmas Wish and prayer for every woman I know.