Cutest Dolls Ever

This past year I have had the amazing opportunity to get to know a woman by the name of Jenny Bracken. Jenny is a talented doll maker that lives in Southern Utah. I had seen her darling heart dolls on several Friends Facebook pages and fell in love with them. The heart dolls have the little scars along the chest of the dolls and I wanted to have her make one that looked like my nephew Bronson and got in touch with her to make a special doll for him while he was going through all his heart surgeries at Primary Children's.  Jenny has also makes custom dolls that look like their owners for any type of occasion. After she made Bronson's doll, I decided to surprise Karmindy with a ballerina doll for Valentines Day last year. Jenny made Karmindy a beautiful ballerina doll that looks just like her and has her name embroidered on its foot! Karmindy has cherished that doll and sleeps with it every night. 

One day while I was searching on Pinterest, I came across the cutest picture of a cute little handmade doll and tagged Jenny in the picture and messaged her and told her she should make some dolls like the one I had seen in the picture since she is so talented. Jenny responded and said she would love to make a doll like that one day. After I sent it, I didn't think of it again, until I got a message over Facebook from Jenny saying she had made Karmindy a doll. I was flattered. The doll ended up looking like the doll of the picture that I had shared with Jenny months earlier. Jenny mailed Karmindy the doll that she made several days later. We were so excited to receive the doll in the mail. Karmindy was especially excited to have another dolly that looked like her ballerina doll. Karmindy fell in love with her new doll and named her, "Dot." Dot for all the cute red polka dots on her scarf.

I am so grateful for the sweet friendship that Jenny and I have developed over Facebook. I still haven't met Jenny but have felt like I have known her for years. I am so grateful for all the many special and kind people that have come into my life...what a blessing they have been to me and I have appreciated their example of kindness and love.

Best Friends & Sunday Wear.

Before Church this morning, I had to get a picture of Kaleb and Karmindy in their Christmas Sunday Clothes. They looked so cute in their new duds. I truly love how close these two kids are. They truly are best friends. I am so proud of these two little ones and I am so proud to call them mine.

Midway Family Getaway!

For one of our Family Gifts to the kids, we surprised them with a little Stay-cation up in Midway, Utah the day after Christmas. Midway is located up by Park City. 

 We love getting away as a family and some of our most memorable vacations we have taken have been Stay-Cations. A month prior to going to Midway, I had found a great deal on Groupon.com for a Family getaway for four. The deal included a two night stay at the Zermatt Inn in Midway and it included passes to swim in the Homestead Crater (a geothermal spring hidden within a 55 foot tall beehive-shaped limestone rock). 

  The Crater formed when melting snow on the Wasatch Mountains seeped deep within the earth. Two miles below the surface, the earth’s interior heated the water. As it percolated upward, it picked up minerals, which were then deposited on the surface -- eventually forming the volcano-shaped limestone deposit called The Homestead Crater.

 So On Thursday we headed up to Midway for our Getaway. We arrived in Midway around 5, got checked in and then headed to dinner. After dinner we went back to the room to play games and watch movies.

On Friday Morning, we woke up and after a big breakfast in the cafe at the Inn, we took the kids to Solider Hollow to tube down their big snow hills. None of us had ever been to Solider Hollow before,  but I had heard how fun it was from some friends who take their kids every year and wanted to give it a try. 

We had a blast tubing with the kids. Karmindy was too small to ride down the hills by herself so she went down with either Mark and I. I don't think she left her tube the entire time we were there (2 hours). She had either Mark or I pull her around. Silly Girl. Besides sledding down the hills, the kids loved being pulled up the hill by the big tow ropes. It was nice to not have to walk back after sledding down the hills each time.

We had a blast tubing with each other and enjoying each other's company!

After sledding we went back to our room, got dressed in our Swimming Suits and headed to the Homestead Crater, which was located across the street from where we were lodging. The crater was like nothing I had ever seen.When you walk through, you head through a cave like space which opens up into the crater. The crater was very warm and the air inside the crater was very humid. After getting life jackets on, we made our way to the Crater to swim. It was a really neat place to swim. It was tinier than I thought it would be but was fun. It kind of had an eery feeling inside because it was so small and hot. The kids had fun swimming and so did I. Although, it did take Kaleb some time to warm up to being inside such a tiny area. There were quite a few people swimming while we were there and it made the small space even smaller. I don't like small, tight spaces too so I was a little nervous. It was a really neat experience to go inside the crater and swim. There were also divers while we were there that would dive down to the bottom of the crater. It was interesting to hear about the history of the crater. Apparently, Miners back in the 1800's would go and swim in the crater to relax their sore muscles. Also, divers have fond many cool antiques, guns and other interesting artifacts in the bottom of the crater. 

I am so glad we were able to take the kids up to Midway and enjoy some of the amazing scenery and fun activities that Utah has to offer. I love living in such an amazing area/State that has so much fun history to learn about.

We can't wait to go back next year and go tubing as a family and maybe swim again in the Crater.

Christmas Is Here...

 Our Christmas and Christmas Eve were delightful. On Christmas Eve, we spent the day as a family. It was a low key day as I spent the day cooking and getting ready for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Dinner. The kids played outside in the snow and made a darling snowman. They called him Olaf.

 After making their snowman and playing the snow, the kids came in and enjoyed warm cocoa with marshmallows. We spent the majority of the day watching Christmas movies and being together.

We have a tradition on Christmas Eve were the kids get to open up one present from Mark and I. We always get the kids new jammies to wear to bed. The kids looked so festive in their new jammies and they seemed to like them. The kids also get to open up a present from each other. I love this tradition because the kids take great care in shopping for each other. It is so cute to see how thoughtful they are towards one another!

After P.J.'s it was time to read the Christmas Story about Jesus' birth from Luke 2 in the Bible. We also read some other fun Christmas Stories. After stories were read, the kids laid out cookies and milk for Santa and a carrot for Rudolf and off to bed they went.

 In the morning, I was able to capture this photo before the kids woke up. Santa Came!! We were very spoiled! I think his sleigh may have tipped over in our living room!

Christmas Morning we spent unwrapping gifts and trying out the new toys.

The kids got incredibly spoiled from Santa, Grandparents and mom and dad!

. Karmindy asked for a cupcake maker, a Lalaloopsy doll, and some clothes for her stuffed bear. Santa also surprised Karmindy with her very own vanity and some make up! Karmindy has loved her vanity and it is so fun to watch her sit at it and primp and put makeup on!

Kaleb also got spoiled. He had several requests for Christmas. His big request from Santa was an air soft gun. Santa spoiled Kaleb and got him an Air Soft Gun Kit complete with 4 guns, bb's, goggles and posters of zombies to shoot at with 3 friends. Kaleb was so excited! He also got Legos, and several Wii games.

We had a really nice Christmas this year. We love staying home each year and spending time as a family and remembering the true meaning of Christmas-Jesus Christ's Birth!

Merry Christmas!

Getting in the Christmas Spirit...

Christmas time is here and we have already been making the most out of the Christmas Season. Our Elf Jingles showed up again this year. We found him sitting on the kitchen table one morning with Donuts, Rice Krispie Treats and a Holiday Chain he had made for the kids.We were so happy to see that he found his way back to our home! Over the past few days, Jingles has been up to quite a few mischievous antics. Luckily he hasn't been too naughty.

The Christmas Cards are already rolling in and I love seeing how friends families near and far are Growing! It makes me so happy when we get Christmas Cards from old and new friends!

 We have also broken out all the Christmas Movies we can and have been slowly watching them. We introduced the kids to "HOME ALONE" this year and they thoroughly enjoyed it. We have had that movie playing on repeat since we watched it as a family for FHE.

We also enjoyed making some WHOVILLE TREES together!

I have also gotten a good start on making the kids friends gifts- Reindeer Root Beer's. I think they turned out cute!

I have also been up to a little Christmas crafting and made a cute vinyl art frame to help remind us what the true meaning of Christmas is....The birth of our brother and Savior Jesus Christ.

It's shaping up to be a wonderful Christmas Season!!

Christmas Dance Recital

 Karmindy had her first dance recital this week. She looked darling in her costume and she was so excited to perform the two dance numbers that she has been working so hard on with her little dance class. For her tap class they did a dance to: "Santa is coming in a Boogie Woogie Train." For her ballet number, she performed a number to the song, "That's what I want for Christmas!" Karmindy did an excellent job performing and it was so fun to see her progression since starting in September. She has really improved! Karmindy has also been fortunate to have her friend, Madison Jackman in her class this year. They are the cutest little friends!

 Congrats Sissy, we love you and are so proud of your accomplishments in Dance this year!

Thanksgiving 2013

Our Thanksgiving this year was pretty low key. We have been staying home for the past few years and spend time as our own little family. Mark and I made the decision to do this a couple of years ago. It is always nice to go Southern Utah for a visit with our families but it started getting too stressful and our vacation/Thanksgiving was never enjoyable running everywhere trying to please everyone. Since staying home and not feeling like we have to drive to Kingdom come, we have enjoyed our Thanksgiving Holiday so much more. The kids also enjoy it. This year, Mark and I cooked a yummy meal of Turkey Breasts, stuffed mushrooms, jello salads, green beans with onions and bacon, candied yam casserole, rolls and pies. It was nice to take it easy and enjoy each others company. We watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV and then spent the afternoon eating and watching movies and playing games. The kids helped set the table at dinner time and we used our fancy dishes. Kaleb and Karmindy love when we pull out the goblets and our Thanksgiving plates. The day after Thanksgiving, we took the kids to see a movie. I didn't get any pictures all weekend except of Karmindy cooking pudding with me for one of our Banana Cream pies. I am so Thankful for all of my many blessings! Happy Thanksgiving!!

Our Thankful Tree

 A few years ago, after hearing about a friends Thankful Tree Tradition during the month of November, I decided to start the Tradition in our little Family. It was a lot of work up front because I drew my own tree, and leaves and then cut it out and laminated them. However, all the work I put into it in the beginning has really paid off. It has been so fun to be able to pull it out each year and get the kids involved. Kaleb and Karmindy reminded me this year to get our Thankful tree out. I truly enjoy this tradition and it makes me happy that they do too! I am so grateful for my two little munchkins. The bring me so much happiness! I am sure Thankful for them....and of course our Thankful Tree!

Out of the mouth of babes....aka Karmindy

Karmindy keeps our family on our toes. Everyday she keeps our family laughing. We often wonder where she comes up with these things.... There are two incidences that I need to record before I forget them.

1. I don't remember the specifics but Karmindy kept pestering me for something that she wanted and I kept telling her "no!" In one last effort to get what she wanted she replied, " But Mom, I thought we were best friends!"

2. Karmindy has been real pill when it comes to cleaning up her room. This girl can make the biggest messes but when it comes to cleaning them up, you would think she was dying or on her death bed. It's amazing the excuses she makes. To try and combat this little problem, I told her there would be no watching tv anymore in the mornings until her room was cleaned. I promised her that when she cleaned her room, that she would be able to watch cartoons before kindergarten. After breakfast, Karmindy headed to her room, she was in there for an hour! She tend to get distracted when she cleans, because she finds toys she hasn't played with for awhile and takes "breaks" to play. However, Every fifteen minutes or so I would call to her and ask how it was coming. She must have gotten sick of me asking because she came in holding a set of plastic keys and in a very sassy tone, said to me, " when I am done cleaning my room, I will ring these keys, but until my room is clean then I won't ring them!" I told her that was fine and she needed to get back to work. Hee hee. About 15 minutes later I heard her shaking her plastic toy keys, informing me that the task was complete. Heaven help me with this spit fire! On the plus side, her room got cleaned...it only took an hour and a half!

10 years!!

It is hard for me to believe that Mark and I have been married for 10 whole years! Time has really flown by...As they say, "Time flies when you are having fun!" I am truly grateful for my sweet husband and eternal companion. He has brought so much happiness to my life. The past ten years have had their ups and downs but we have stuck it out this far and no matter if we have a disagreement, we are able to work things out and get passed things. Mark and I have been through a lot during the past ten years....we have moved 4 times, had a daughter go through open heart surgery, company downsizing with jobs, and extended family trials. Through it all, we have remained steadfast and have grown closer and more united because of it.

This year for our 10th Mark and I went to the melting pot on the day of our Anniversary and then planned a getaway for Park City a month later. We stayed at the Stein Erikson Lodge (a favorite of ours) and enjoyed their "Taste of Fall Package." We enjoyed laying low, eating good food, watching movies, hot tubing and just being together. I had a really bad sinus/head cold and so I wasn't up for doing much. We always joke that I always get sick when we plan vacations, its pretty true. Maybe I am allergic to traveling! :) 

Happy Anniversary to My Main Squeeze! I love you Mark and thank you for being a wonderful husband to me and father to our two children! I love you!

Mittens and Homework....

I am always amazed at what Karmindy comes up with. I would love to be able to peer into her brain sometime and see what she is thinking and why she comes up with some of the things she does. There is never a dull moment around the Frisbey's when Karmindy is around! After begging nagging one afternoon for Karmindy to get up to the table and get her homework done, she finally obliged. She told me her hands were cold and she would be right back After a few minutes, I went to check up on her and found her up to the table with mittens on doing her homework. This little one cracks me up and always knows how to make me smile. I hope she never loses her creativity and whit.

Hogle Zoo Time!

For Mark's mom's birthday this year, she requested that everyone get together at the Hogle Zoo to celebrate her birthday. It was a lovely fall day and we all got away with wearing light jackets and sweaters. It was so fun to be able to spend time with Mark's brothers and sister and his parents. My kids had a blast going around to the different exhibits and checking out all the animals. Their favorites are the Elephants, Polar Bears, and the Giraffes. Karmindy loves her some "Bagiraffes" as she refers to them. Our kids enjoyed seeing their aunties and uncles and also enjoyed playing with their little cousins.

This is Halloween....

As always Halloween came and went this year and it sure was fun! During the day on Halloween, I went to Karmindy's classroom to host the class Party since I was the room mom. Mark was able to get some time off from work and came with me to help me out. It was fun to have him there with me at the school. Before the class party, the school put on a Costume Parade and all the kids in the school got to walk through and show off their cool costumes. I love the costume parade and it is so fun to see the kids and their friends walk around and show off their costumes.

After school and the class parties, we raced home to get ready for Trick or Treating. I made chili and gave making Homemade Root Beer a try! The kids loved it and the mist that comes from the Dry Ice. We called it "Witches Brew!" Kaleb and Karmindy sure got a kick out of trying something new. We may just make it a annual tradition and make Root Beer every year from now on, since it was such a hit! 

After dinner the kids got all spiffy in their costumes, Mark and I like to dress up too. We decided to go as characters from a reality show called, Duck Dynasty. It was so fun! Even Kozette our puppy was dressed up with her Halloween neckerchief. 

 Mark took the kids trick or treating while I stayed home to greet the Trick or Treaters. I love seeing all the kids costumes. Kaleb and Karmindy made off like bandits with all the candy they got!

Halloween truly is one of my most favorite holidays. I can't wait till next year!

Room Mom Halloween Party

 This year, I volunteered to be Karmindy's Room mom for her kindergarten class. It has been so fun to not only volunteer and help out with centers every other week but it has been very fun to plan her class parties. I have really enjoyed it and Karmindy has enjoyed having me come into her class room to help out. On the day of Karmindy's party I had several fun centers for the kids to rotate around too. The kids played boo bowling where they rolled a Styrofoam pumpkin into paper towels dressed up like ghosts, the kids made spiders out of paper plates, ate donuts and apple juice, read a spooky Halloween Story and colored cute coloring pages. The kids had such a fun time and seemed to enjoy all the centers that I had planned. I love being a room mom and hope to be Kaleb's room mom next year!

Halloween Dance Party

Karmindy has truly enjoyed taking dance this year. She has been going on Tuesday mornings before kindergarten. She does tap for 30 minutes and ballet for 30 minutes. It has been so fun to watch her improve since signing her up for dance in September. For their class on the Tuesday before Halloween, Karmindy's teacher, Mrs. Charlee Mascaro had the girls dress up for dance class. Karmindy was so excited to dress up in her cute little witch costume and show it off to her teacher and classmates.Karmindy has also been so lucky to have her friend Madison Jackman in her ballet class. The two are inseparable.

Boy Scout Choir

For the past year and a half, I have had the opportunity to serve in the Stake Primary Presidency as the Secretary in My Stake. I have truly loved this calling and it has been so enjoyable to be able to visit the Primaries in our Stake and get to know the leaders and the children. I have had a lot of neat experiences with this calling and have enjoyed working with Sister Toni Ipson, Sister Marie McDougal, Danielle Christianson and Steve Thomas(high counselor over us). During one of our meetings, we were notified that the General Primary Presidency had chosen our Stake to participate in the 100th Year Celebration of Scouting in the Church. Since Our Stake had been chosen this meant a few of the Boy Scouts in our Stake could be chosen to participate in the special choir during the 100th Celebration Program. I was excited about this; especially since Kaleb had just turned 8, so he could possibly have the opportunity to participate in this once in a life-time event! There are 8 wards in our Stake and each ward could only choose 4 boys. The 1st Presidency only wanted the "cream of the crop" chosen to participate. Kaleb ended up being one of the lucky ones chosen from our ward. 

Kaleb had 6 practices that he had to attend to be able to sing in the Choir, the night of the program. It was such a neat experience for him. I was able to go and sign the boys in our Stake in when they arrived at the practices so I was able to listen to the Choir leader on several occasions teach the boys about our Country's History. He taught the boys the National Anthem and the stories behind it. The spirit was very strong in the room and I hope Kaleb will never forget this opportunity and experience. Kaleb practiced so hard for his performance at the Conference center.

Kaleb got to participate in the choir with one of his best friends, Anthony Nixon and his Brother Brandon.

On the night of the performance, Mark and I were able to go to the Conference center and watch the special program. It was such a neat experience to be able to see Pres. Monson, Pres. Uchdorf and Pres. Eyring come into the conference center before the program. You could have heard a pin drop, and everyone stood when they walked into the room and were escorted to their seats. They sat 2 sections over from us so I had a direct view of them and it was fun to watch them during the performance.

Kaleb came out and performed with over 100 boys scouts and sang the National Anthem. They were also able to participate in other parts of the program. The program was very spiritual and the spirit was in attendance. There were some great experience shared about the importance of the Boy Scout Program. Pres. Monson was given an award for getting the church involved in the program and his support with encouraging Boy Scouts into the church and the importance of Boy Scouts in boys lives. I didn't realize how much Pres. Monson had done to get the boy scout program started in the church. It was such a special evening.

I hope Kaleb will remember this night for years to come. I also hope he will be able to remember that he got to sing for the President of the Church and also listen to his testimony of Scouting and our Savior Jesus Christ. We are proud of you Kaleb and the special young man that you are becoming!

Feeding the Ducks....

 Karmindy is quite the social butterfly; especially when it comes to hanging out with the boys. I think it comes naturally to her since she has an older brother to play with and emulate. Karmindy has quite a few little "boy friends" in her classes at school, church and in our neighborhood. I am thankful that she can get a long with the boys and be rough and tumble but she also knows when to be girlie. On this particular day, Kaleb was at a Cub Choir Practice for the Century of Honor Scout Program at the Conference Center, we wished that we could've gone and watched him but only a select people were being allowed into the building during the practices. Since Kaleb was gone to his practice, Karmindy was feeling really left out, so we said she could invite a friend to go and do something. She chose her friend Keegan Smith. We picked Keegan up and took Karmindy and him to get some Chick Fil A for lunch and then headed to our favorite Herriman Park. We let Karmindy and Keegan eat, play on the playground and then lastly went over to the pond to feed the ducks some bread. Karmindy and Keegan had a great time together! I am so thankful for my kids friends!

Family Pictures

 I love getting family pictures done each year. Its so fun for me to see how much the kids have changed from year to year..We have been fortunate to have a few friends here in Northern Utah that are great photographers who are trying to break into the business of photography. This year, we had my friend Stephanie Sant take our family pictures. She did a great job and captured some darling pictures of our family. This year we headed to a park in Herriman to have our pictures taken. The park is beautiful and has a cute pond where people can fish and watch the ducks swim on the water. It has become a favorite park for our family to visit.