December Thankful Thoughts

What a great year. We've had so much to be thankful for.

1. On the top of the list is my gratitude for our health and the health of our families this year.
2. Living in Ohio, and really loving our friends here.
3. Visiting family as much as possible. And, having family visit us.
4. The Gospel of Jesus Christ and how grounded it allows me to be.
5. Taylor finishing up his dissertation (and really feeling good about it -- finally)
6. A husband who works hard to provide spiritually and temporally for our family - and is great at it!
7. Vacations with Family (skiing, hiking, and theme parks)
8. Vacations with Friends (camping, skiing, and indoor waterparks)
9. Nights out -- with girlfriends or my Boyfriend (AKA Taylor.)
10. Jacob and Luke: the most rewarding and most exhausting part of my life right now. Ready for one more -- I guess. :)

Meeting up with the Buckeye Gang..

This last year -- 3 of our really good friends we met in Ohio, moved to Utah. It's quite ironic they all moved the same year, taking into account they all 3 had great jobs in Ohio and Chicago. I am so glad we were able to arrange a time to all get together.

Jake's little buddy for his first 4 years of life was Carter Brostrom and he was counting down the days to visit him in Utah. Luke had only been without his buddy Noah Crockett for a few weeks, but was also extrememly excited to see him again.

Our cute hubbies and kids. Thanks to Jessica, we have 2 sweet girls in the mix -- but we are definitely boy heavy around these parts!! I think it's the Ohio water. Keetch's only got their girls once they moved to Chicago! :)

Taylor and I hadn't seen Chad and Jessica for a couple years, and we all had such a great evening together! After Taylor sat around and caught up with the boys, he was convinced we should be moving to Utah for good. Not that we need much persuasion, we love Utah and want to be close to family again so badly!!

The girls -- Ali Crockett, Me, Jessica Keetch, and Nina Brostrom.

Aren't they friends beautiful! I think these ladies are so great inside and out. They have made my experience in Ohio one of a kind. I will always cherish their friendships for years to come.

Christmas Activities 2008

We had a GREAT time in Utah over the holidays. Here are a few pictures to illustrate the fun.

After a rough travel experience (who would have guessed Las Vegas would be getting 6 inches of snow the day we traveled), we made it to St. George and only 3 short days later our bags arrived! Good thing for mom and sister who I borrowed cloths and make up from. Thanks!

I love this picture. It shows the legacy my Mom and Dad have created. 23 grandkids to date and one more SOON to come.


My boys LOVE their cousins and know ALL of them by name (which surprises me, because they only see them about 2 times a year.) I can't wait to be closer to cousins on a permanent basis.


At my mom's house, we have a tradition (like many families) of having a talent show and then acting out the nativity from the scriptures. Jake was excited to play his piano piece for everyone and Luke sang his scripture mastery songs he's learn from seminary. What cute boys I have!
Here is a picture of just my siblings and their spouses. I think I have such a good looking family. I love them all, and love spending time with them. We are lucky to have such great relationships. I think it's pretty rare. Pictured also is my Grandma Hafen who is 96 years old. She is such an amazing lady and I love whenever my kids and I can spend time with her.

After a week in St.George, we headed to Bountiful for a week.. Here is a picture of the long awaited Christmas morning. Taylor made the boys replay the morning just like he always did ... waiting on the stairs till you just can't wait any longer! We were glad Aaron and Alison were able to be there with us Christmas morning too -- it was so fun to watch the kids open presents.

Christmas morning was pretty much by the book. Santa came and ate his yummy cookies and the reindeer ate all the oats we sprinkled on the ground outside. It was completely white outside from the snow and plenty of presents to go around.

Luke and Jake of course loved the nerf fighting set they received (I don't know why we encourage that kind of behavior, we get enough of it without initiating anything!). They also got a digital camera and a leapster to keep them busy during our travels.

They especially loved the shaving kits they recieved -- JUST LIKE DAD! Bathtimes are much more fun these days.

And of course, Christmas morning breakfast started off with an AMAZING display of german pancakes. I think the name my family uses (Hootin Annies) is much better description, because Grammie Nadauld does a lot of hootin' each time they rise up in the oven like that. My kids love her expression so much, that everytime we make them here in Ohio, they want to call and tell Grammie just how great they turned out. No one's expression is quite as good as hers -- just look at the picture. :)

Tayor's family has a lot of the same tradition as mine -- we all sat around and the grandkids acted out the Nativity while Grandpa read from the bible. I just love Luke's get up here -- notice his nerf protective eye wear he got for Christmas. He is one stylin' shephard.

After the nativity, Grammie played a few Christmas hymns and we all sang together. It really brought the spirit into Christmas for me.

Then of course was the talent show: Jake again, playing his piano piece "up on the roof top" and Luke reciting all the scripture mastery songs he knows. 4 so far.

In the Nadauld family, you are pretty motivated to perform a talent, because after you do -- you earn a Christmas present from Grammie and Grampie. SO worth it!

The big kids exchanged presents too. Taylor was really proud of his gift for Lincoln. Full body (footed) pajamas.

Lookin' good Linc! Lookin' good.

Each year, Taylor's grandma holds a fun Christmas party for all his mom's family. It is always a great time to renew acquaintances for the in-laws and for the immediate cousins to remince all the Manti Christmas adventures. We sure Love grandma great, and look forward to her parties each year.



This picture is of Taylor's entire family taken at Grandma Dyreng's party. After our baby is born, and Rebecca's (due 3 weeks later) we will have 40 family members. Wow -- pretty amazing!

Jacob's FIrst Recital

What a proud moment for a parent. Jacob had his first piano recital tonight. He was so nervous. On the way to the recital, he asked what would happen if he started out bad and played the whole song wrong? I told him that probably wouldn't happen, but that he would have the next recital to do better if that did happen.

He did pretty well performing. He got a little nervous and made a couple mistakes. But due to bad weather, we had a small crowd so he was able to play the song again a little later and did much better. The big piano and big room must have been a little too exciting. I'm just impressed he can read piano notes already.

Here is his teacher and one of my good friends, Joy Laurence! She has much more patience than I do -- I can't even keep my temper under control when we are practicing -- how does she teach these little ones on a regular basis!? :) She does a great job and we are so glad we are friends with her and her cute kids.

SO -- keep on practicing Jacob. We loved attending your recital and hope we have many more to look forward to.

School Christmas Programs..

Luke's class was first and boy was he a ham! Everyone was laughing at him and his animated singing and performing. He LOVED it. Everyone commented on how outgoing he is.

Here are his teachers Mrs. Young and Mrs Simmons.

And this is his whole Class

Jake's Class program was the next day, and was about the same program as Luke's. A few songs and finger plays and a couple Christmas stories.

I didn't think Jacob would be the star of the show like Luke, but he really likes to perform. He sang all the words to his songs very loudly. :) afterwards I had several people commenting to me how fun it was to watch him too.

Above, is Jake with his teachers, Mrs. Richardson, and Mrs. Hutchinson.

Below is a picture of his whole class.

We sure love preschool around here!!

Time to Get Ready for Christmas..

Since it's officially snowed around here, we need to get in gear and get our decorations for Christmas up. We don't have many decorations -- but we have a small tree that we like to light up.

Here is a picture of me and the boys stringing our popcorn and cranberry garland. It always turns out so cute, and the boys really did a good job with their needles and thread. They both were able to make their own strands. After the garland is finished, we hang candy canes in all the perfect places to make the tree look especially yummy. :)

Grandma Heaton got Jake and Luke these darling Christmas suits. The boys can't wait for Sundays and ask if they look like a "million bucks" in their new cloths. Of course they do -- sometimes, they even look like a "zillion bucks."

The first Real Snow Fall of the Season

It has flurried a few times in the last month, but today was the first good snow of the season. We actually had snow plows out on the roads.

The boys were very excited to suit up and go play. They started by helping Dad shovel the driveway and then off to the sledding hill.

As you can see the grass through the snow, we only got a few centimeters/inches out of the storm, but it was definitely enough to get the sleds moving!

As Jake says, "it's Christmas time, there is snow out!" We sure are excited for this time of year.

November THankful Thoughts...

As we move into the Christmas Season, I have a LOT to be thankful for. Just a couple I've thought of the last few weeks.

1. Cloths from sister -- I was getting much too big and didn't want to spend ANY more money. Of course my sister has the cutest things and was very generous to send out an entire suitcase full of Maternity cloths for me to borrow. Now if I could just have a girl so I could get all my nieces cloths too!! :)
2. christmas ideas from sisters -- I hate coming up with Christmas friend gifts -- and really ANY gifts. I don't mind spending money (much to Taylor's dismay) but I hate deciding what to give -- thanks to my sister and sister in law for their creativity this year.
3. free country -- Just glad I can worship and vote how I want. I hope I never take for granted what we have here in America. My Taiwanese companions used to say -- it's the only place in the world where if you Work Hard, you can Make something of Yourself. I met many hard workers in Taiwan that just scrapped by. We are living in a land of opportunity (although it's tough to realize that sometimes in the current state of the economy).
4. Little boys and their never ending enthusiasm for life!
5. One more day until I can say -- I'm having this baby next month. :)

The final days of November and FALL

So... Fall was beautiful, but very short lived around here. Thanksgiving weekend weather was super and marked the official ending of Fall for us here in Columbus. We decided to rake our gazillion leaves, before the ground was frozen and the leaves were covered in snow and ice.


The boys had a great time helping dad and diving into the pile. Oh, the little pleasures of being young. It's always fun for me to see them enjoying life. -- Of course I was inside where it was nice and cozy -- but it sure looked like fun out there! :) Thanks to Taylor for getting the job done -- if you've ever seen our back yard tree you know it took some effort to rake them all


Now you see them.... Now you don't!

Thanksgiving Day Events!

We had a great thanksgiving. It was great weather and great friends to share it with.

The morning always starts with The Turkey Trot for me. It's normally a 5 mile run, but this year they had a 2 miler and that was PERFECT for my prego belly. It was definitely a walk/trot run for me. I still won a pumpkin pie which made it all worth it. :) Thanks Amber for going slow with me!! It's much more fun to run with a friend. And I know it was a sacrifice for her to contain her competitiveness in races!

The "BOYS" always start the day with the Turkey Bowl. Taylor looks forward to this activity all year long -- it was great weather and great competition this year. He was well pleased!

Then we got ready and went to a Thanksgiving Feast with our friends the Dehners. Mike's parent live just a few minutes away, and so we got to eat with a big family, in a nice big house, yummy homemade food, and the kids LOVED playing with uncle Chaddy (as they call Mike's brother-in-law). What else do you need on Thanksgiving?.....

Gingerbread houses!

Mike's mom Shawn (pictured above) bought all the kids gingerbread house kits and the kids (and me) REALLY enjoyed decorating them. Luke mostly just enjoyed eating the candies but hey it's thanksgiving and that is definitely what HE is thankful for.

The night was topped off with a fun movie at the theatre to REALLY tire the kids out. If only little Morgan wouldn't have gotten the stomach flu it would have been a success for all families involved that day! (but, luckily NO one else got it). Happy Thanksgiving to you ALL!!

YAY, Grandma Heaton is Here.

We just love when family comes to visit. Especially Grandmas and Grandpa. Taylor interviewed this weekend at BYU and I was dreading staying home a lone again while he was gone. My mom called a few days before Taylor left and said, "I found great tickets and I'm coming out!" It made my day. and my boys starting preparing all the things we were going to do when she got here.


Of course we hit the ground running with all our shopping and projects I had for her to help me with. The time flew by!

The boys enjoyed showing Grandma their school, going to COSI (and seeing the new Sesame Street exhibit), and really loved that Grandma treated us to Chuck E. Cheese - the highlight of course. Jake was pretty set on decorating "Turkey Hand" cookies with grandma -- they actually turned out a lot cuter than they look here.



Here is a picture of my mom helping me make a going away gift for Jake and Ali Crockett. Jake was a great little helper - and enjoyed the cutting and sewing with a front row seat! Thanks mom for making this week (that I was dreading) into something I looked forward to and enjoyed! I loved staying up late chatting about all the things going on in my life and listening to your wise advise. Even though we live far apart -- I kind of like that you have to come and stay 100% with us when you come. They are special visits and we all were sad to see you go!

The going away gift is because we just found out last week that our great friends, the Crocketts, are moving. Jake Crockett was offered a fantastic job in Utah and they are leaving next week to get there and find a place to live before he starts in January.

Even though they are moving to Utah and we will most likely see them more there than if they were staying here long term, it is so hard to say goodbye. Little Lukie won't have his best buddy Noah anymore and Jake just for the life of him can't understand why everyone is moving out and no one is moving in.

I will miss Ali's stable-ness. That doesn't sound like a real compliment, but it is. Taylor really appreciates my friends that are just grounded and rational. He worries I get too uptight about things and likes when I have "no drama" influences around me. Ali is a great cook, entertainer, and homemaker. She is yet another friend whose house is always immaculate (you'd think with all these organized friends, I'd pick up a few habits). I can ask her for anything and she is always willing. Jake Crockett, or Big Jake as our kids refer to him (to eliminate confusion between our Jacob and him), will also be missed. It's not easy to find a couple that both wives and husbands enjoy equally, and this is the Crocketts for us! They will definitely be missed by us and all the people they've touched here in Columbus.