Gingerbread- Graham Cracker House

We finally made our houses. We have been wanting to do them for a very long time and finally were able to on Saturday. I won the family graham cracker house contest, thank you very much. Jared constructed the bases of the homes while we all added our own designs after that. We had a lot of fun. In one of the pics you can see Jared "blow-drying" the houses. The frosting was too thin and not drying fast enough so this helped out a ton. Hayden ate way more candy than was used on the houses, all of them combined. I don't know if you can tell, but when we took pictures of the finished product I told everyone to get in front of the house they made, in one picture Hayden is in front of his, then ever so sneakily, he switched his with Jared's.
We put them up on our Entertainment center and Hayden climbed up there the other day and got one down and ate a bunch of it, "...ain't no mountain high enough..." for that kid! We had fun though.

Gingerbread- Graham Cracker House

We finally made our houses. We have been wanting to do them for a very long time and finally were able to on Saturday. I won the family graham cracker house contest, thank you very much. Jared constructed the bases of the homes while we all added our own designs after that. We had a lot of fun. Hayden ate way more candy than was used on the houses, all of them combined. We put them up on our Entertainment center and Hayden climbed up there the other day and got one down and ate a bunch of it, "...ain't no mountain high enough..." for that kid!

Our Gift

Hayden climbed under our tree tonight proclaiming "look I am a Christmas present." I told him to freeze and snatched a picture. Jared and I were cracking up. We love putting our Dish on the Holiday station, Hayden usually takes care of turning off all the house lights and requests a flashlight and we listen to music, with the tree lights on while the boys play. I just love it. I will be so sad when the season is over. I can usually count on Hayden to turn on the Christmas lights first thing when he comes downstairs in the morning and they usually don't go off until we go to bed at night. We drove around tonight looking at lights around town. I love Christmas. As I am looking at the above picture, I am noticing how sad the tree is looking. Carson likes to pull of the lights and even chew on them, yeah, we have to keep a close eye on him when he is downstairs around the tree. He has gotten better than when we first put it up, but looks like I need to do some fixing.

Check out my Slide Show!

Christmas Time

I love this time of year. I read something the other day about a man who in his old age can't remember what he did yesterday (hmmm that sounds familiar to me) but he can tell you what he has done and where he has been every Christmas of his life. I feel the same way. Whenever I think of Christmas I smell hot cidar and cinnamon, I see lights on beautiful evergreens. I see my family and feel happy and content. I feel the excitement of a little child as I think of Christmas morning and the traditions I want to start in my own family.
I hope that I can always remember the true meaning of this time of year, amidst all the hustle and bustle and take more time out to think of our Savior whose birth and life we celebrate. I hope that in an attempt to simplify, we will remember the Christ child, and I especially hope we can teach our two boys the importance of serving over receiving as I know the Savior would want us to do.
One of my favorite things about Christmas is the time set aside, a whole month to think about Christ. The mangers, the giving, the Christmas music that is everywhere, I LOVE the music. As we continue to progress in the season, may we all take time to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas. Merry Christmas to all of you!!!

Keys to a Successful Marriage

I came across these suggestions on a site while editing and I just had to add it to my blog. I thought it was really touching. The address I got the info from is, http://gardenofpraise.com/keys.htm

FOUNDATIONS OF A SUCCESSFUL MARRIAGE

The following article is from a couple, the result of an accumulation of 78 years of marital experiences, both were widows when they married each other.

1) BE COMMITTED to each other and to making the marriage work. A generation or two ago, marriages were stable and divorce was not as widespread as it is today. We believe this was due to the commitment of people entering into the marriage relationship. Divorce should not be an option. There are situations, of course, where there is abuse and infidelity which cannot, and should not be tolerated. Not in every case, but in most cases, if discernment is used in Key 2, this type of abuse will not be found.
2) CHOOSE THE RIGHT MATE Young people get caught up in the romance and the physical attraction, and they don't consider whether the object of their attraction will help or hinder them in their spiritual development.Of course, the foundation for choice should have been laid years before. Just because a person falls in "love", doesn't necessarily mean that person you "love" would make a good spouse. Hormones need to be governed by reason. God made us creatures of choice. In fact, our lives are a product of the choices we make.
3) REMAIN SEXUALLY PURE UNTIL MARRIAGE Your marriage will have a greater chance of successif you do. Young people today who are taking a stand against pre-marital sex are to be applauded.
4) ACCEPT GOD'S PLAN FOR THE FAMILY Let Christ be the head of the family, and let the husband be the spiritual leader in the family. A loving husband will not be overbearing.
5) DON'T WITHHOLD LOVE AND AFFECTION or use it as a weapon to get your own way. God has given specific instructions about the physical relationship between husband and wife.
6) LISTEN TO ONE ANOTHER Keep the lines of communication open. Few things can be more detrimental to a marriage than the refusal of one of the partners to discuss problems. Work it out together if you can, but don't hesitate to get outside help in the form of Christian counseling if it is required.
7) DON'T NEGLECT YOUR SPOUSE while you are raising your children. Long after the children have left home, you will need each other. A loving relationship must be built while the children are growing up.
8) Money can cause problems so COME TO AN AGREEMENT ABOUT THE HANDLING OF FINANCES. Sometimes this is a joint effort, but sometimes one partner is better equipped to handle the family finances. The other partner needs to defer to the one with this gift.
9) TAKE CARE OF YOUR HEALTH so that you can enjoy your relationship with one another for many years.
10) GIVE EACH OTHER ROOM FOR INDIVIDUAL GROWTH and for personal likes and dislikes. One may be a sports fan, the other may not. Not all things have to be shared.
11) BE WILLING TO SAY, "I'M SORRY" when you are wrong. Truly mean it, and try to make improvements.
12) BE WILLING TO FORGIVE when you have been wronged by your spouse.
13) Make every effort to ARRANGE FOR THE WIFE AND MOTHER TO BE IN THE HOME during the years when the children are growing up. A working mother with young children is actually holding down two full time jobs. She has little time nor energy left for her husband at the end of the day.
14) As parents SUPPORT EACH OTHER IN THE DISCIPLINING OF THE CHILDREN. Failure to do so will cause the marriage and the children to suffer.
15) Hold your spouse in high esteem. MAKE POSITIVE REMARKS ABOUT YOUR MATE TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY.