On Saturday we were scheduled to clean the church building and our car was in the shop because everyone needs a car in the shop during the Christmas season since there is so much extra money floating around 🤐 So we all crammed in Benjamin's car and took the 8 minute drive to the church. It was kinda nice being so close. On the drive there I sat in the back and I even like it then too. Everyone is growing so fast!

The Little Nate with his cousins at Grandma and Grandpa's house. So stinking cute.

Christmas miracle!!!!

I had a Christmas miracle. I'm not putting this miracle in the life and death kind of miracle. Or a miracle that changes the course of your life for good. I've had those miracles and still cry when I think of them. This kind of miracle are the miracles that let you know God is your Father and that he knows your needs And your wants.

I was shopping at Costco and saw the brilliant 12 foot Christmas tree and I wanted it. But being a frugal gal there was no way I would buy a 12 foot tree for $699. I jokingly asked the kids would they want Christmas or a 12 ft tree? Only my Christmas baby Olivia wanted to forgo presents for the tree.  On Friday I stopped at the Goodwill to pick up some more winter blankets and there out of  the corner of my eye I saw two barely touched boxes labeled 12ft pre-lit Christmas tree! Are you kidding me?! And drum roll please.... It was $50!! The day before it was $160 and the following day it would have been 50% which means it would have been gone!! My poor family I can't stop talking about howuch I love this tree. I even called Lindsey and got her answering message and so I sang about the tree.

Everyone would ask does the tree have all the parts, do the lights still work, what if it's a lemon? When we opened the box we couldn't find the very top and we were trying to figure how we could make it work, but low and behold Holman found the missing top tucked away in the foliage. The lights even work! All that was missing was a stand. Olivia and I went shopping for one just before 10 Home Depot was xlosed so we tried Walmart and Kohl's no luck.  On a whim I called my parents and they had one that they had ear marked for the thrift store!! Sweetness the stand didn't even cost me. My frugal heart was near bursting!

(We aren't going to talk about the TV armoire I bought that is too small for our TV, every kite needs a string!)

The tree in the day light :)

The tree with ornaments

The tree with just lights.

Obsess much!

Holman turned 12!!

This when I start crying my baby my baby. Seriously where did the time go?!! Holman is such a funny, level headed, smart and handsome boy. Holman turned 12 on Thursday, we had pot stickers and egg rolls for dinner and he wanted drumsticks for dessert. What a guy! On Friday I went to his awards assembly he was honored for being in the 90's club and he was also honored for being in the top 15% and he got an award for a character trait from his teacher. He cleaned house!!  In life sometimes we get straight C's or feel like our character isn't good enough but in reality Holman is more than good enough grades or recognition or not. He is good enough because he his Gods son and I feel blessed to be his parent. Holman received the priesthood today. It was great to have family come and celebrate with us.

Adrianna turns 7!!

Adrianna turned 7 last Sunday!! What a delight she is! We love our little turkey. She is smart, happy, unpredictable and adorable. She got her presents from us on Sunday and had a birthday party on Monday. Our kids got Monday off in addition to the normal Thanksgiving break. Anna had her cousins and a couple friends. We decorated sugar cookies and the kids took their creations home. We played games in the field and ate blueberry muffins (which Anna requested for her "cake" but ended up saying she forgot she didn't like them 😁) Her candle is the number 8 with a minus one written on it, its a weird thing we do in our family. We keep a candle and alter it with the right number :)

Thanksgiving 2016

This year for Thanksgiving we were lucky enough to have 31 people for dinner! It was awesome. We had both sets of parents, Benjamin's brother Scott his wife Suzie and 6 of their children including  his married daughter her husband and their dog. Peter and Danny came. Aaron and his wife Jen and their 3 daughters, plus Jen's father and his wife. We had  Bekah her adorable pooch Jett. Later Benjamin's two other Sisters Amy and Melissa and their families joined us for dessert. We loved it!  Not a single picture was taken, boooo! Imagine a beautiful dinning hall with lights and fall decorations...it was beautiful. We managed not to have a children table either. The previous owners left 6 bar height barista tables. The kids loved sitting high and we managed to have six stools that weren't broken :)  Later we fired up the hot tub and the kids swam in the freezing pool that was at a cool 57 degrees and then they would hop into the 104 hot tub. This hopping and swimming went on for hours, hours. The littles spent the night at our house and the teenage girls plus Anna went to their cousins house to watch the premier of Gilmore Girls at 1 am in the morning, crazy kids. On black Friday we honored our Thanksgiving by being content with all we had and not chasing any deals, I'm just getting old :) The happiest people I know are the ones who are thankful for what they have. Like Corrie Ten Boom says be grateful in all things.

Ribbon Cutting on the New Preschool Room!!

Dreams come true people, dreams can come true! Sometimes when you are going through the trenches you think no way can this get better and no way will it get better anytime soon. I couldn't help but get extremely emotional for my preschool ribbon cutting ceremony. Encouraged by my mom to explain the conception of this preschool to my awesome preschool parents, I couldn't hold back the tears. Those who know us, know this story all to well :) I opened a preschool 7 years ago to help us get out of debt. Nearly 200 students later this idea born out of necessity quickly became a passion and an utter joy to me and a financial help to my family. Who knew that our dream house was in Tucson and it would contain a one room school house?! The Lord knew. We started construction the month we moved in, paying as we went. If being a software developer doesn't work out for Benjamin, home building will! He put in so MANY hours to make this happen, I have loved learning form him and I have learned many new skills. I will gladly work on his crew if the need arises:)  My Dads construction expertise was utilized to the max, when he would drive up to assist we would say here comes the cavalry. Benjamin managed to finish a week earlier than planned, what can I say he is an over achiever.

This is the "Tack Room" as it was listed when we bought the place. The first task was removing all the junk that got left behind from the previous owners.

Inside the tack room.

This shows you how bad the roof was. That was the first thing to go. Benjamin, Dad and I re-roofed that in June. Working on the surface of the sun was no easy task! 

Next thing the walls had to go! It was nice, the preschool kids had a open pavilion to play under.

Then we framed the windows. "We" means Dad and Benjamin.

Then we wrapped this futuristic wrap around the place to help with insulation which keeps the temperature even. The kids were so good with not messing with this! 

Then we put up furring strips to provide a beeze air flow between the walls.

This is a picture of  Dad helping to install hardy board.

Then we installed itchy insulation, working with fiber glass is fun... Benjamin managed to do all the electrical with out getting too severally shocked. Thank goodness for Utube and a laptop. We also dug a trench for the water, digging is serious work. 

When the drywall went up we could taste the finish line!  The true tricky part is the taping and texturing trying to get a smooth finish is really hard, really.

All white from the "mud"

Ceiling fans go up.

We painted a light blue and installed vinyl floors. That took forever. By forever I mean another date night in the school house. 

 The next day Saturday November 12th I was just going to move in some of the tables to see how it all would fit, but I couldn't stop! So we moved the preschool out of our living room. We will get to the base boards "later" realistically over Christmas break if I can convince Benjamin to go back into the school house.

We had our ribbon cutting ceremony of Tuesday November 15th, Preschool kiddos their parents and many honored visitors came (Grandma and Grandpa and Nate and the boys). We had a week without a toilet at school and my mom and I would walk the kiddos to the main house to go, that got old real fast. So we special ordered this toilet that Benjamin is posing on. 

Now I can kick back and enjoy another day at the office!

God is good. Never in a million years did I think we would climb out of debt as fast as we did and that I would find a job that I enjoy so much. The lesson for me is sometimes the best thing to do is get moving and the Lord will magnify your undeserving efforts.