Thanksgiving is for the Birds ~

This year was the year we spent Thanksgiving with the Bird side of the family. And this year also happened to be they year the Bird Family was planning a BIG Extreme Home Makeover for Grandma and Grandpa Bird. We heard about this, and we were excited that we would be able to see other extended family for the Thanksgiving Break.

Almost EVERYONE was in attendance at one point during the Makeover. The Schedule went a little like this:

~Get up, get breakfast wherever you were staying, and head over to G&G Birds house for an early devotional to start off the day.

~WORK WORK WORK until you could not do anything else, then head to the Local Church house for a wonderful Lunch. Provided by Aunt Nadine! (she rocks, all the food was GREAT) And not only did she provide the food, she also decorated the tables for each gathering!

~After lunch head back to the house to WORK WORK WORK, and then back to church for dinner, then back to WORK, then home when you could do no more work that day.

Here is Hailey enjoying her Thanksgiving Dinner. She liked the Olives the best!!

And this is her shortly after the Dinner. She had spent the whole day playing with cousins and cousins in law. Matt's cousin Lucy and her husband Rob have children the same age and gender as our kids. Hailey got to play with Isabelle their daughter, and they TIRED each other out!!

This is Landon after Dinner. He was napping in Grandpa Bird's arms most of the Dinner, and so that is why he was SO awake and excited in this picture. I was not able to help much at the makeover house because I was watching the kids. I have to admit it was a lonely Thanksgiving, but I know in the spirit of THANKS-GIVING I was where I needed to be, doing what I needed to be doing. It was great to see everyone and enjoy the little time we got to share with each other.

Aunt Jeanine Parker brought toys to the church for the kids to play with. It was nice for Landon to see what BOY TOYS actually look like! One of his favorite toys in the group was this Superman/Batman Cape. Jeanine put this on him, and he LOVED it! He strutted all over the place, and was just TOO much fun to watch!

He is SUCH a silly kid. He is just a Happy-Go-Lucky baby, and brings SO much joy and fun into our lives! Here he is HAMMING it up!!
Aunt Jeanine decided that he needed to have the cape, and we were SOOO excited that she gave it to us. Hailey LOVES to wear the cape too! GOOD TIMES! ~

We left the Extreme Home Makeover area, and headed to Sacramento to see my family Friday evening. My little sister Nicole and her husband Brian came to visit from Caldwell, Idaho. So it really was a Thanksgiving Treat to see LOTS of family we don't usually get to see.

We had not been to visit family since before my Birthday, so we arranged to have my Birthday Dinner at the China Buffet. This is the same place we went for Matt's Birthday in June. It was SOOOO good! I am upset because I never even thought about pulling out the camera for pictures at the Andersen's. I guess we just got to having so much fun it totally slipped my mind. (I am sure Aunt Sharon got some pictures... I might have to see if she can send some my way.) Hailey got to play with her cousin Katelyn, and enjoyed that alot! Katelyn is almost a year younger than Hailey, but they were about the same size. They played together as well as little toddlers CAN play together.

ALSO I got to see that new movie NEW MOON on Saturday! Jacob is SO hot right now! I went with my mom and my sisters. The only sister missing was Tiffany. It was a good movie! SOOO Much better than Twilight! It was also funny, that made it REALLY enjoyable! After the movie we decided Sharon and I needed to make shirts that said " Bella is Dumb... I would have picked Jabob!" To my Twilight Friends who have seen the movie, I have a good story for you... You know the part where Bella falls off the bike, and Jacob runs to her rescue and has to pull off his shirt to clean up her blood... Well my little sister Sharon yells "YEAHHHHH!" once he takes his shirt off to which I respond "NOW CUT YOUR HAIR!" Good Times People... GOOD TIMES!
We also got to head to Orangeville to visit with my cousins and Uncle and Aunt that live there. Uncle Brad invited us to watch the BYU football game. He has four kids, two of which I have not see for over two years due to them serving missions. It was nice to see them. We got Costco Hot dogs for the game, and I have to say I really love Costco Dogs! They just seam to hit the spot if you know what I mean!

We went to church with them, and had a great dinner after. We made Turkey Pot Pie from Thanksgiving Leftover Turkey! YUMMMOOOO!! THANKS to everyone for the FUN FILLED HOLIDAY SEASON! I hope Thanksgiving was full of Thanks and Giving for everyone!!

We put in an Offer ~

So, we have been house hunting as you all know, and we put an Offer in on a house today! ~ WOW I know right?! Yeah, we are a little worried, but I am a FIRM believer in "Whatever happens is meant to be!"

There were a few houses that I LOVED, but they got offers quick, so I let them go. Matt and I do not look at a house if it is in "Escrow" or in the "Accepting Backup Offers" stages. We just hope other people think the same thing when they are house hunting like us.

This house is a little bit harder to get an offer in on. You have to be pre-qualified with Bank Of America. And BofA is TERRIBLE with getting back to people in a timely manner. So if you do not have an Pre-Approval from them already... GOOD LUCK getting one! Our Mortgage Rep. works will all kinds of banks, so he is able to get us an approval through them.

This house is ON Fowler... to all my Fresno peeps it is on Fowler and Sierra close by Mickey Cox Elementary School. And when I say ON FOWLER, I mean it is ON a semi- major street. This concerns me a little, but the house is back enough off the street, and hubby PROMISES to make me a "horseshoe driveway" so I am no longer AS stressed!! It is a one story, 4 bedroom with a Bonus Room (that will be my CRAFT room) The Kitchen is HUGE, and the Laundry Room is like a mini bedroom! It has 2.5 bathrooms, and they will be needing the MOST love . . . It has a drive through garage, meaning we can drive the boat to the backyard through the garage (a plus for the hubby for sure) with a nice area of grass and a nice patio area as well. It is all ready for my Garden too! :)

I LIKE the house, Matt LOVES the house... I just see all the things that I would like done... carpet, bathrooms, kitchen remodel ... maybe one day I can say I LOVE the house too! :) It might be a while before we hear anything . . . Bank Of America will for sure take their LOVELY time! ~

SHE POOPED and HE IS WALKING!!

WHAT you say?? Oh yeah, Hailey went PEE and POO on her toilet! I was changing her diaper and talking about going potty after her nap. (I do this almost every diaper change with her in hopes that she will want to use the potty) So this time she started saying to me "POTTY MOMMY POTTY"...

So I let her get up...

She ran bear bum with just her little T-shirt on into the bathroom...
(baby butt is SO adorable)

She sat on her Potty Chair. We sang a song, talked about going potty, then she peed.

I said YEAH! GOOD GIRL! And was about to start my dance when I heard something else happening... YEP SHE POOPED!!

And I was SOOOO proud I took a picture of it! (I won't post that on here, just CALM down people)

But I did show Matt and he thought I was nuts for it! HELLO... THIS IS MAJOR STUFF HERE! My little Princess "laid" her first turd in the potty Daddy... Act a LITTLE happy! ~
This is Hailey pointing at her Poop, and SO excited with her SUCKER she got for being a BIG GIRL! ~

ALSO, our little STUD Landon has been walking between Matt and I for over a week now. Matt is very happy about this because he thinks it is GREAT that his Little Boy is getting more mobile. I am just wondering if I really want TWO kids walking right now...

Anyways... Yesterday I caught him take 3 steps in the Kitchen, and today he walked about 5 from the couch to a toy. He just hit TEN months, and I just want him to stay my little baby boy... gotta LOVE kids growing up huh??This is him playing outside with the leaves in the backyard. Check out that tongue action! OH, how I love him! ~

Mortgage Lenders ~

We went to see our Mortgage Lender last night. We have been house hunting, and one of the pieces to the puzzle to buy a house is getting the Lending right?? So we started the search of houses, we should start the search for the perfect loan now!! :)

We were reffered to this guy by our Relator, and we really like him!! His name is Brain, and we look forward to signing all the papers soon!! Brian was VERY suprised that we had such good credit scores. He was also astonished that owe on anything but our condo. He asked us why we were not in debt, and Matt responded that our Church Leaders have counseled us to not get into debt, and only buy things we could afford. He was also impressed that I walked into his office with my Black Tote that has EVERYTHING in it. It's my Little Black Box as I like to call it, and it has PINK file folders with all our important documents. It is MY LIFE I guess in a way. . .

We were worried that the Condo was going to hurt our future purchase because it is REALLY hard to get a loan these days, but it looks like we are IN THE RUNNING to getting our Dream Home! ~ He called me today with the GREEN light!! YEAH! What is left NOW?? Just keep looking I guess!! ~

Fresno State with my Sisters ~

This Halloween my sisters Crystal and Sharon came to visit us. Fresno State was having a Day Game on Halloween, so we thought it would be fun to go! Neither of my sisters had attended a College Football Game before, so they were in for a BIG treat! This is just our Happy Little Family. Matt holding Landon and Me holding Hailey. I love how happy the kids are! :)

And this is Sharon holding Landon and Crystal next to her. These are my baby sisters, and I love them!! Luckily I was able to share my shirts with them so we ALL had Fresno State Pride!

And we HAD to wear the Bulldog Tattoo's on our faces!!

Hailey LOVES the games, she does pretty well for staying around our seat area for a whole Football Game! This is her giggling! LOVE IT!

And this is her playing on the steps. She would walk up and down about 5 steps away from our seats! She enjoyed wearing her Cheerleader outfit too!!
Fresno State Pulled out another win for the season! It was a nail-bitter but THEY WON!!

GO BULLDOGS !!!

I found Nemo ~

My friend Amber Cluff took this picture of Landon at the Trick-Or-Treat... I just LOVE it! I have realized that my kids pose better for pictures when other people take them... Amber you better keep that camera Handy!! ~

HAPPY 30th ANNIVERSARY~~

My Parents have been Married 30 Years today!! They are SUCH WONDERFUL Examples to me and my siblings I wanted to give them a tribute!! The 30 things we love most about them ...

30. They are KIND to everyone they meet.

29. They were married in the Logan Temple, and showed us that it was important to get Sealed to your future spouse for Time and Eternity.

28. They had 5 girls and 1 boy! (I always tease they could have stoped at me because they had pro-created perfection when I was born, but I am thankful for my BIG family)

27. They serve in their Church callings willingly, and do a GREAT job at whatever they are asked to do!!

26. They taught me how to really LOVE my children.

25. My Mom made sure our hair was done before we left the house, and when she was gone; our Dad would TRY to help with our hair...

24. They held Family Home Evening almost EVERY week growing up . . .

23. Whenever there is a Birthday in the Family (children, grandchildren, son-in-laws) they take us out to celebrate that person's special day.

22. They NEVER expected or expect us now to be Perfect... only to TRY our best.

21. They forgive us for the STUPID things we did, and LOVE us for who we are today!

20. They BOTH worked hard to support the family financially.

19. They taught us the importance of Saving Money for a rainy day.

18. My dad being the GREAT Accountant he is, taught us how to Budget our Money as well. I have shared his Budget Sheet with friends and they appreciate it too!

17. My mom being the GREAT cook she is, made sure before I left the house to marry that I knew how to cook!! She made all her kids " Recipe Books" one year for Christmas with all her recipes she made for us throughout the years! I use this thing at least 4 times a week! Best Present EVER! ~

16. They took us on Fun Family Vacations. Usually to Utah or Idaho... good times.

15. They respected our wishes, and never forced us to do anything we did not want to do.

14. They changed LOTS of Dirty Diapers in all those years... and they STARTED changing with CLOTH diapers... (this one sticks out the most for me because that is the part of "LIFE" I am currently enjoying :)

13. They drove us the places we needed to be... SIX kids... Mutual, Sports, Work, School, Seminary, Girls Camp, Boy Scouts... and they are STILL driving kids around. . .

12. They Understand that we are going to have problems in our Relationships, and they do not try to get into our business. Instead, they taught us to work on our problems, and love and support us as parents should.

11. They encourage us to Spread our Wings and try new things.

10. They taught us the importance of "Chores" when we were young, and I know that has molded me to teach my kids as well!

9. They attended the Temple Regularly, and showed us that was important to do as well.

8. They Support our every decision. They do not always agree with choices we make, but when we make them, they support us as much as they can.

7. They Kiss each other whenever one spouse comes home from an outing. I remember that my mom would always kiss my dad as soon as he came home from work. (I try to do the same with Matt, it is not as easy as one would think)

6. They make plans to visit their grandchildren, and be there for special occasions.

5. They are the BEST example I have when it comes to parenting. I find myself saying the things my mother used to say to me, and I do not mind it. I actually think it is great that I am turning out like my mom! :)

4. They are always willing to babysit for us to get a break. In fact they are going to watch my two CRAZY kids in January when we go on a cruise!!

3. They always respect each other. This does not mean that they agree on everything, but they really do try to see and understand the other persons point of view.

2. They SHOW each other that they love each other often. (My dad has made my mom a "mixed tape" recently, it was a CD of love songs new and old)

1. They have showed us through example what TRUE LOVE really is.

We are SOOO excited they got to share 30 years together,

and we look forward to the next 30 years to come!

LOVE YOU MOM AND DAD!!!