Black Friday & Temple Square

Our whole weekend was filled with our friends Lynette, Joey and Madds and we LOVED it.

On Friday, Lynette made me get my butt out of bed at 2:45am to get an "early" start on the Black Friday shopping. We got to Walmart at 3:15am and the parking lot was already full. The Centerville Walmart is opened 24 hours so we headed in and there were already a lot of people hovering over their selection. You see, even though it's a 24 hour store, they still have all of the sale items wrapped in plastic in the main isles until 5am.

As Lynette was staking her claim on the item she wanted (there were only 6), I went off and planned out my 5am route to get toys for Lynette, Ducka and myself!

Just as the clock struck 5, the sound of plastic ripping and people screaming rang in the air. My heart was pounding with excitement (hey, you had to be there) so I knew it was time to shop!

I reached in for the first toy and what do you know, it was suddenly ripped from my hands. So I tried again, and BAM, taken from me again. Third try, stolen once more. Fourth try...are you kidding me? Where's the ghetto Erin that I used to know? And finally, my fifth attempt was a success.

As I turned to continue on my route, I couldn't move (yes, there were that many people) so I ditched my cart and shoved my way through the crowds. Minutes later, my vision was finally blinded by the toys that were piling up in my arms. I found a friend and threw the toys in her cart. I couldn't believe the madness. It's amazing how greedy us Americans can be just to save a few measly bucks. But I have to tell you, it was exciting. I'll never forget it :) Thanks Lynette for opening my eyes to this CRAZY tradition!

On Saturday, we went with the Watts' to yummy Litza's Pizza for dinner then headed off to see the lights at Temple Square. Love that place and the bonus was that it actually wasn't that cold.
We finally got all of our Christmas decorations up this weekend. I can't believe it's already that time of year again. My favorite is our village. This isn't all of it (I couldn't fit it all in one pic), but here's part of our Main Street. I just love miniature things...the little houses, little people, little trees. So cute. I LOVE this time of year and I'm so happy that the wonderful holidays are here!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

We've had a fun Thanksgiving week so far. On Wednesday Lynette invited Lyd's and I to go to the zoo with our other friend Kristen for the day. The last Wed of Nov, Dec and Jan are free so why not, right? The weather was great and it wasn't even very crowded. Here's Lyd's and Madelyn with the gorilla!

Quick story:

Last Friday Lydia got a cold. Pretty normal right? So five days later she broke out in a rash all over her legs. I called my bro-in-law doctor who said that rashes are normal following viruses. Ok, great. I gave her some benedryl to help with the itching and the rash was gone by morning. The next night, almost 24 hours later, the rash came back with a vengeance and consumed her whole upper body...huge red rash all over her face, neck, stomach, arms and back. Here's what was all over her... I call the bro-in-law doc again and he thinks it's an allergic reaction. I rack my brain and can't think of any changes she's had with food or anything. I give her benedryl and the rash goes away 30 minutes later. Ok, fine! And what do you know, exactly 24 hours later, the rash comes back all over her back for the 3rd straight day. It's Thanksgiving and I don't want to go to instacare so I call the dr's office and they contact the doctor on call. I spoke with the doctor and she says almost immediately, "She has hives." Oh thank goodness. If you know me, I always think the worst. I'm thinking she has some weird disease and it turns out she's going to be fine. The doctor said some virus end with a rash and go away after a day or two and some kids get hives that attack every day for a week or two.
Well this ordeal made Lydia very tired, so while we were eating dinner last night I gave her a bite then she laid her head down and instantly fell asleep! Precious! Her hives itched worse with clothes on, that's why she's naked! I saw on another friend's blog (thanks Veronica) that she had a Thankful Tree and I thought that was a brilliant idea for this week. So we had an FHE night and started our tree. Every day you add a leaf and on that leaf you write one thing that you are thankful for. I think this will become our yearly tradition.
One week later, here's our beautiful tree. And Jake reminded me that we could have a hundred trees with a thousand leaves and still have more to be grateful for. I take for granted all the little things but I realized how truely blessed I really am. I have an amazing husband, a perfect little angel of a daughter, wonderful friends and an eternal family. That's all you really need in this life right? On Thanksgiving morn, I decided to run one last 5K, The Thanksgiving run in Kaysville. I know I said I was done for the year, but I needed motivation to run this week (you know, to burn those extra calories for Turkey day) and my only motivation is a race. And I'm proud to say that I ran my best race EVER!
Race:5K (3.1 miles)
Time: 25 min 32 seconds
Pace: 8 min 16 sec miles
I was only 1 1/2 minutes behind the 3rd place girl. One of these days I'll win a medal.
After the first few seconds of running only two people passed me for the remaining 2.5 miles. I was shocked that as I was running, no one was passing me. I had to look behind me to make sure I wasn't in last. Turns out I finished at the front of the pack! Yeah for me! There is hope for improvements to happen. I pushed myself SOOO hard that after I crossed the finish line, I thought I was going to throw up then pass out. It was awesome, the best feeling. Ok, now I'm done with races until next year, I promise...maybe!
Our Thanksgiving was fun. We went to Jake's parents and pigged out....great food!
Here are some of the grandkids with their Grandpa Johnsen! HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!

Now I must go to bed because Lynette is dragging me out of bed at 3am for the Black Friday shopping experience!!!! I'm scared!

Lydia's First Haircut!

Today we went to Cookie Cutters and Lydia got her very first haircut. And to no surprise, she was the perfect angel. She (and when I say she, I mean I) picked out a movie (Madagascar) and then she picked out the airplane to sit in (once again, I mean I when I say she...she was being shy). Then she sat there like a good little girl and got her baby hair trimmed.

Here is her cute little after picture.
I just LOVE her curly hair. The stylist added a couple layers to help with her curl.

She got her balloon and sucker and didn't want to leave. She wanted to stay and play on the slide.

Look at my happy baby girl. Love her! Good job Lyd's, on your very first haircut :)

FHE!!!

I am so excited for Lydia to open her Christmas present this year. I said in an earlier post that she loves driving, and I was looking for the classic red/yellow riding car but couldn't find it under $60. Well, thanks to my wonderful sister-in-law Ducka, I got one at K-mart for $35 on sale.

Lynette invited us to Discovery Center last week and what did Lyd's do practically the whole time we were there? She drove around in this car...

She's going to love it...I can't wait to see her face Christmas morning!

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Over the past 7 days, Jake and I have done Family Home Evening 3 times. Who says you can only to do it on Mondays? Anyway, our first one, we went with our friends' to the Joseph Smith movie at the JSMB and can I just say that every time I see it, I cry more each time. A very young, unlearned and simple farm boy with such faith and trust in the Lord. Throughout his whole adult life he was persecuted but his faith never wavered. As a mob broke into his home in the middle of the night, speaking profanities while dragging him from his bed to be tarred and feathered, still, his faith did not waver. On June 27th, 1844, Joseph Smith became a martyr for the great cause of restoring the gospel in its fullness to the earth again.

John Taylor, who was wounded at Carthage and later became prophet, said this of him:

“Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it. In the short space of twenty years, he has brought forth the Book of Mormon, which he translated by the gift and power of God, and has been the means of publishing it on two continents; has sent the fullness of the everlasting gospel, which it contained, to the four quarters of the earth; has brought forth the revelations and commandments which compose this book of Doctrine and Covenants, and many other wise documents and instructions for the benefit of the children of men; gathered many thousands of the Latter-day Saints, founded a great city, and left a fame and name that cannot be slain. He lived great, and he died great in the eyes of God and his people; and like most of the Lord’s anointed in ancient times, has sealed his mission and his works with his own blood”

What an amazing man.

I am truely humbled by his life and only hope to be a tiny fraction of the kind of person that he was.

Friends and Final 5K!

We had lots of fun last week...

First, an update on Lydia's big girl bed.

It's been a week now that we've been trying to get her to nap and sleep in her new bed and she just wasn't having it...at all! If Jake put her down, she was, for the most part ok. If I put her down, it was the end of the world. She screamed, she threw things, she hit things...it was terrible. But over the past week, she has slowly gotten over that (thank goodness)! Now when I put her down, she whines for about 2-3 minutes then she's ok, although she still falls asleep on the floor. In the picture below, she fell asleep on the floor after playing for 30 minutes. Notice the hold she has on her balloon, and even when Jake moved her to the bed she still wouldn't let it go. I thought it was the cutest thing!

On Monday, the Meyerson's invited us over for dinner/game night. It's been a while since we had a little cul de sac party. It was a lot of fun!

On Wednesday, 7 of the 8 women in my cul de sac went out for a girls' night out. We went to dinner at the Olive Garden, with NO kids! It was so much fun just sitting down to dinner and talking with my neighbor's. We had a great time and decided we should do it more often!

Lydia finally got to try out her new snow suit and boots. Although there wasn't much snow left, Lydia still loved running around chasing Larry and Tank! On Saturday, Melynda and I ran another 5K. It was at Wheeler Farm and animals were the cause, so you know I had to be a part of that, right? Besides the horrible smell of poop (there were about 200 hundred dogs that ran/walked the race as well), it was a nice run.

My time: 27 minutes 41 seconds

Pace: 9 min 24 sec miles

Place: 116th out of 350 people

I finished 10th in my age group, which isn't bad. I just wish I could've done better! Melynda was one person away from getting a medal for 3rd in her age group!

I was lots of fun and I can't wait to start racing again next year. I ran 4 races this year and plan to do at least 6 next year. I LOVE it...I just hope my right knee makes it :) Thanks Melynda for inviting me!

After the race we walked around for a bit and looked at the ducks. Wheeler Farm is such a cute place! Later that night I celebrated my weeks of running and training for the race with a big, fat cheeseburger and fries from "5 Guys" with my little family and our friends' the Watts! Love you guys.

Today was our stake conference and we were lucky enough to have Elder David A. Bednar speak to us. What an amazing speaker he is...I felt the spirit so strongly. Before we left for conference, I asked Lydia if she wanted to have her picture taken in her pretty dress, and to my surprise, she said yes. She couldn't stop laughing and I LOVED it. This little girl cracks me up. I can't imagine how it'll be when she can actully speak well. I'm definately looking forward to it. Love you Lyd's!

Our Family Pictures!!!

It's been a year since our family pictures have been taken, so I thought it was about time we did it again. And it's nice because we got some individuals of Lydia for turning two. My amazingly talented friend Lynette took us to Memory Grove in Salt Lake a couple weeks ago and she got some beautiful pictures, but I expected nothing less. Lynette always takes the best photos :) Thanks Lynette, you're the absolute BEST!!!

Last year, Lydia smiled at everything. This year, not so much. But I don't blame her; it was so cold that evening. So it's hard to choose my favorites..do I pick the one's that Lydia looks good in or do I pick the one's that Jake and I look good in and Lydia looks ticked off in ? Tough choice.

Here are a few of my favorites...

Which are your favorites? Three of these are going to be 11x14 pics, so I need perfection :)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

We had a great Halloween this year. Lydia was a butterfly and Larry was a lobster. Here are some pics that my friend Lynette took of Lydia at Gardner Village.

Larry looks thrilled doesn't he?

Ashlee, here is my village you wanted to see. Sorry you can't see much of it. We'll have you over for dinner next year so you can get a better look :)

On Halloween morn, we went to my old job to visit my friends. Here's Lydia with my good friend Michelle!

That night, the Watts' had us over for dinner in celebration of Halloween and Lynette's sweet mother's B-day! Thanks for dinner and dessert, it was delicious.

Here are the kids getting ready to trick or treat: Lyd's, Madds and Linc.

Larry and his buddy Toby dressed up in the same costume. How cute!

Jake, Joey and Adam all dressed up in their semi-costumes...

On Saturday morning, we had some friends over for a delicious Halloween breakfast...Homemade Pumpkin Pancakes with homemade syrup. Whenever I make food for guests that we have over, I'm always very hard on myself and make excuses for why it doesn't taste that good. But this breakfast was actually very good, if I do say so myself. I LOVED the syrup and the pancakes were great. So this might just be a tradition that just started...

We had a fun Halloween and can't wait for our sugar high next year!

Happy Halloween everyone!

Big Girl Bed and More Halloween Fun!!!

Before I begin my post, take a moment and take the awesome quiz that I've created. There are a couple trick questions, so think carefully :) Jake doesn't think anyone will get 100%, but that's only because he got 90% and he's ticked about it! And taking the test twice doesn't count, Jacob!

Ok, as you know, Lydia turned two last week and I wondered when I would make the transfer from crib to big girl bed. My doctor urged me to do it asap due to children getting broken arms from trying to climb out. Lydia has attempted this, so I knew it was time.

I got this adorable comforter at Target and the twin bed at Ikea. Lydia is so proud of her bed and LOVES it, especially the "jumping on it" part...until I tried to put her down for the first time in it.

I attempted to put her down for her first nap yesterday and she wanted no part of it. She climbed right out of bed and ran to the gate screaming (I thought we'd ease into shutting the door and just use the gate for now...baby steps). Anyway, she didn't want the bed, so she climbed out and was so tired from the screaming that she fell asleep on the floor. Needless to say, she didn't take a nap.

That night, it was time for bed and once again, she screamed bloody murder and ran to the gate. But after 20 minutes of crying, she slowly walked over to her bed, climbed in and fell right asleep and slept straight through the night. So I think it's going ok and I know it will only get better!

Well, it's Halloween season and we LOVE carving pumpkins so Lynette had the idea to get some friends together and carve our pumpkins together. So the Davies, Watts and Jones families gathered at our house and away we went on the carving.
Here are the finished products! Pretty good lookin' pumpkins if I do say so myself! I bet you can guess which one Jake's is :)

And tonight, Rod and Sue volunteered to take Lydia to Duck and Bird's Ward Halloween party (sure we'll crash it...who cares if we're not in your ward:) Here's Lyd's and her cousin the Incredible Hulk...

I LOVE Halloween and I'm so glad it's here. My family always has a fun costume party with a yummy dinner, games and contests...so I think I'll have to continue that tradition here in Utah next year :)