the one about Thanksgiving

We had a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving! It was nothing like our usual Thanksgivings, but maybe that is what made it so nice. We have been able to spend Thanksgiving with both of our families almost every year since we have been married. My family usually eats around noon and the Lane family eats in the evening. This year, Grandma Lane changed her dinner to the night before. (It was GREAT, by the way! Hopefully a new tradition.) My family all had different plans this year and we ended up not having a dinner together. Excuse me while I sound very ungrateful for a minute... My family is small. 10 people when we are all together. We all live right here together and see each other nearly everyday. We get together for every Birthday, so really, it wasn't that big of a deal that we didn't eat together for one year. I actually saw every member of my family today and visited with all of them, except Brayden. And he is my buddy. Whats up with that??? Anyway, I realize how fortunate I am to have my family so close and I couldn't love them anymore, but it was kind of a refreshing change to do something different today. Since those two dinners were changed/cancelled, we had no plans for today. I was chatting with my good friend Lindsay the other day and they were going to be alone too, so we decided to have our Thanksgiving dinner together. It was so great! She cooked the turkey, gravy and stuffing. I did the mashed potatoes, pies and rolls. We met at their house at 2:00 and our meal was DEEEE-LISH! Lindsay's turkey was absolutely perfect and her stuffing was TO DIE FOR! I have to brag for a second and say that my rolls were perfect!! My pies turned out great too. And in my mind, no Thanksgiving is complete without my famous orange rolls! It was so much fun to make dinner for our families and we did a pretty dang good job if I do say so myself. It was so nice to visit with Brian, Lindsay and their beautiful kids today. I am so grateful for wonderful friends who wanted to join forces with us this year.

My roll dough turned out PERFECT today! It raised beautifully and it was so nice and fluffy. I made crescent rolls but forgot to take pix of them. Sad, because they were pretty. However, I did get some pictures of the orange rolls. The best part of Thanksgiving is, of course, LEFTOVERS! Lindsay was a sweetheart to share her beautiful turkey with us.

For the last couple of weeks, I have been writing things that I am thankful for on my FaceBook status. I tried to do it every day, but realistically...well... it just didn't happen. I did pretty good though. Of course I am thankful for millions of other things too, but here are just a few that I covered on FaceBook. I thought it was a perfect thing to add to my Thanksgiving blog post.

Monday, November 9
Today (and everyday) I am thankful for my beautiful little family. My amazing husband and my precious son make my life worth living! I love living with 2 "men" that love me, appreciate me, protect me, and respect me.

Tuesday, November 10
Today I am thankful for my big brother. I know, I know, CORNY! We have gotten so close over the last year and I am just so glad that we have a good relationship. Our families get together every weekend for games, our boys are best buddies and even our spouses are friends. I LOVE the relationship we have created. I love and adore my brother! He is such a good example to me!!!

Wednesday, November 11
Today, I am thankful for all of the brave men and women who have served or who are currently serving our country. I am also grateful for their families who live without them so I can be free. What a HUGE sacrifice! My Grandfather is a Korean war Veteran and I am so proud of him! Thank you soldiers, veterans, their families and even to our Government who all sacrifice and work so hard for our freedom. Happy Veterans Day!

Thursday, November 12
Today I am thankful for my 3 Sisters-in-law! Danette; SIL 17 years. We are SO close. She is strong, smart, determined and a good example to me. Talia; 11 years and she is the funniest, coolest sweetest girl on earth. She is very wise for her age and I admire her!!! Brynn; SIL for 9 years. We were meant to be sisters! We are GREAT FRIENDS and we are so much alike. She is always there when I need her and she is the BEST!

Friday, November 13
Today, I am grateful for my creativity. Is that weird? I hate to sound boastful or anything, but I love that I can think of something I want to make, visualize it, think about it for a few minutes and then create it. It comes very naturally to me. Everyone has their own special gifts and talents and I am so grateful I have found mine and I am able to use it every day.

Saturday, November 14
I am having a blast in Wendover with my hubby! Today, I am thankful for him and all the fun times we have together! He is the best guy EVER!

Sunday, November 15
I am glad to be home from our mini-vaca to Wendover. That brings me to today’s thankful post. I am so thankful for my home. It is not perfect, by any means, but it is nice, clean, warm and there is so much love here, it literally overflows!

Wednesday, November 18
Today, I gotta say, I am thankful for my FRIENDS! I know some of the most AMAZNG WOMEN in the whole world and I am so glad to be able to call them my friends. I don't want to mention names, because I will forget someone, I am certain. So please, if you are my friend.... I'm talking about you!!!!!

Thursday, November 19
I rid of that horrid 24 hour flu thing. Ewwwww. That brings me to my thankful post of the day.... SOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSO thankful for healthy, solid, regular bowel movements.

Friday, November 20, 2009
Today, I am so thankful for my amazing job!!! It is so much fun! I love helping people, I love making cute things, putting together displays, coming up with ads..... I just love EVERYTHING about it. Its the best job EVER!

Sunday, November 22
Today I am SO thankful for my amazing friend Lindsay!!

Monday, November 23
Today I am TOTALLY thankful for Christmas music. I LOVE IT!!! I have not started playing it yet, however, I am working on my Christmas playlist for my iPod.

Tuesday, November 24
Today I am so thankful to be an Aunt to the best boys on the planet! Besides being a mom, it is the GREATEST job a woman can have!!!! Of course, it helps that I have the most awesome, smart, adorable and amazing nephews EVER!!!! 

Of course, I am so thankful for my family, my home, my friends, my pets, Brett's job, and many other things. This was such a great holiday and it couldn't have been more perfect. It was very laid back and casual, which is just what we like! I love Thanksgiving! I love the harvest, the comfort foods, the smells and most importanatly, the kick off to my FAVE time of year.... CHRISTMAS!!!! Yes, I already have my Christmas decor up! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!

Here is a little teaser for something you will be seeing on my blog in the next couple of days.

the one about our new family pictures

I am so excited! My super great photographer friend Lindsay did it again and took some awesome family pictures of us! I am so pleased with the way they turned out. I am such a freak and I like to have everything perfect.... right down to socks and earrings. I worried and worried about every little detail and I am pretty sure I was about to drive Lindsay NUTS by the time we were done, but I am so happy with the end result. All of my stress and worry paid off! I will only share a few of my very favorite pix so my post isn't super long and over loaded with pictures. If you are interested though, here is a link so you can see them all. click here

the tag about random pictures

Oh, Lindsay! I want to play!!!

Here are the rules:
1.) Go to your Pictures folder on your computer
2.) Go to your 4th folder- My 4th folder happened to be titled "baby Stuff"
3.) Get your 4th picture- Oh cool! I look like hell, but this is when I was still in the ICU in SLC after having Quayd. I had just been taken off the ventilator. Quayd was probably about a week old and Brett snuck him in too see me. The picture was titled "bmqhospbed"
4.) Tag four people... I tag: Janice, Chauntue', Cara and Tara.

the one about the Christensen's

We were pleasantly surprised last Saturday morning when Brian and Lindsay called to invite us to come play with them on their new sand rail. K, I had no idea what it was, but I was game! It is a type of ATV/Dune Buggy thing that can cruise on the sand, rocks or whatever. I am still not totally sure how it all works, but I do know that it was a ton of fun! We couldn't stay long, but it sure was fun while it lasted!

It started off with Brian taking Quayd for a ride. Then he took Brett. (I was terrible with my camera, by the way. I kept forgetting to take pictures!) The rest of the kids got to go for a spin, then he offered to take me. I said I wanted to go with Lindsay, and boy oh boy, did we have a ride or what!?!?! He He He. She drove for awhile, and did AWESOME, but I couldn't wait for a turn. Well, I was not so awesome. I got us stuck several times, drove us into a tree, which resulted in a scratch on the brand new toy, I bottomed out on some rocks and scared poor Lindsay to death. Not because of my driving, but because I was swearing like a sailor! I was actually pretty careful while driving her because she is pregnant and I just wanted to be extra safe.
Anyway, it was a total blast. Thanks Brian and Lindsay for the invite! We love these guys. They are so much fun and we are glad that they pretend to be our friends!!! ;)

the one about hanging out with friends

Tonight was our ward's Fathers and Sons camp out. Brett and Quayd are gone, and I wanted to do something fun! Lindsay C. called me and invited me to hang out. We had a great time, ate some dinner and watched a movie at her house. Thanks Lindsay!

After I got home, I got on the computer to blog (your welcome, readers!) Kandice was online and we started chatting. Well, here is our conversation..... (ignore the typos, we can't type as fast as we want to talk!)

Mandy: oh my gosh!!! i am leavingyou a comment on your blog RIGHT now!!!
Kandice: you were. my goodness. i am so flattered
Mandy: that is wierd, huh
Kandice: cnat wait to read it
Kandice: what you been doin
Mandy: well, i went and hung with lindsay for a little bit
Mandy: now i am home.... all alone
Mandy: and likeing it. not loving, LIKING
Mandy: man,,, what i wouldnt give for some nacho's tonight
Kandice: is your sore bum better
Mandy: much
Mandy: i have been back to my old regular self
Mandy: OH MY HECK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mandy: i have the biggest beastliest zit on my back and i need some assistance
Kandice: oh really.
Kandice: that sounds very intriguing
Mandy: i know! i cant reach it
Kandice: well, if you need me to assist you
Mandy: i do i do! i asked lindsay if she was into that stuff, but she said EWWWWW gross
Kandice: seriously, what kind of weirdo woudl not pop a zit ;)
Mandy: but i wll have to play tomorrow, cuz i have no car. Brett took mine
Mandy: there are like 2 heads on it i think
Kandice: welli am in in my nighty, but i could still come over
Mandy: gas prices are SO high!
Kandice: hehe
Kandice: i know
Mandy: but i would buy you some nachos for it
Kandice: hmm, and some peanut butter mms
Mandy: ABSOLUTELY!
Kandice: k, deal. be there in a jiffy
Mandy: and we can come back here to eat them
Kandice: k, and then pop your zit
Mandy: do i have to wear a bra?
Kandice: do i?
Mandy: heck no!
Kandice: hehe. i will put on something more ummm nicer though
Mandy: i will put on a hoodie
Kandice: and i will put on some pants
Kandice: and a shirt
Kandice: k. bee there in a sec.
Mandy: and i will put on underwear
Mandy: jk
Kandice: hehe...ok
Mandy: cant wait
Kandice: k, bye bye

Isn't that funny! We do that quite often. Just the other night, in fact, with Jamie! But she wasn't online tonight and it was too late to call. Anyway, we went to 7-11, got our treats, came back to my house and listened to 80's music. Kandice has quite the 80's collection!

It was so fun!! Conan O'Brien was on, so we muted him and read the closed captions and laughed and laughed. Then it was zit time! She picked on my back, then I picked on hers. YUMMY! We have so much fun and we are so much a like sometimes, it is scary. Thanks Kandice, for being so weird and impulsive, like me!! You are the best! And thinks especially for taking care of this awful thing. Or things! Nice one(s), huh!

the one about losing my wedding ring at our photo shoot

I have so many things to blog about , but the one thing really pressing on my mind is this. I lost my wedding ring. I can't believe it. I really lost it. It's gone.

Here is the story.... For our yearly Christmas cards, we like to add a snap shot of either Quayd, or all of us together. We decided to go to this cute little park area in town and snap some shots in the new fallen snow. I thought it would look great in the dark. (Actually I knew it would look great because me and my girlfriends took some practice shots there on girls night out on Friday. You will see in the next day or two when I post those pictures.) We have a GREAT friend, Lindsay, who does our pictures for us. She lives close by, so we called to see if we could steal her for a second to take some pics. She was so kind to come and do it for us. She is a great sport. Anyway, she snapped away as we posed and played together in the snow. She had just told us we had 4 pictures left, so we got this idea to do snow angels in the snow. We all laid down and took our positions. Snap, snap, two great shots. I stood up and was shivering so badly, and I quickly rubbed my hand together to warm them and I felt it slip. Yep. Right then and there, my ring was gone. I said, "Stop right there!! I lost my ring!!!" So I even know exactly when and where it happened. Lindsay offered to stay and help, but we hated to bug her and keep her from her family any longer. I took her home and got our snow shovel, flashlights, warm water, a candle lighter thing, gloves, a dust pan, and everything else I could quickly think of to grab. Well we searched for 2 1/2 hours and finally the fog was setting in so thick we could see anymore. Besides, we were freezing!!!! I had taken Quayd over to my brother's so he didn't have to endure the pain. I also remembered that Brandon had a metal detector. We tried that for awhile, but no luck. I am sure you are thinking, "Are you sure you had it on?" YES! I am sure. I even have the photos to prove it.

Can you see it there? On my left hand? Well it was right after this picture that I stood up and felt it slip away. It shouldn't be THAT hard to find, right? NOT!!!

I will try again when it is warmer, brighter, and meltier. Dang it.

Well here are a few more pics of the night. It was fun.



And the winner is..... this is the one you will see on our Christmas Cards.....


Wish us luck on our search. I have realized over the last 24 hours that I LOVE my ring. I always thought it was great and pretty and all, but I truly love it. I miss it. Another ring wouldn't replace it. Brett picked that ring out for me and I have had it for almost 10 years! It's not the biggest ring in the world, but to me, it is the prettiest. I hope we find it. To be continued.........