A day off of school...

I haven't felt like blogging a whole lot lately... I am not sure why. I decided rather than going back and blog about a whole lot of nothing (not a whole lot has been going on). I would start from now.

Last night my Uncle Marv's band played at a place called The Sandlot. It was a grand opening party. We went with Chelby and her girls. It was cute to watch our girls dancing with "The Bee". The highlight of my kids night was to meet "the lady from KUTV 2 news"... Mary Nicols. They watch her in the morning on the news. They thought that was pretty cool. Later in the night Shawn went to his friend Mitch's house for a sleepover and we had Cassie S. over for a sleepover. We had so much fun. We watched "Watcher in the Woods". It was made when we were about 13 years old. I remember that it was scary so I thought that I wouldn't be now... um - I was super freaked out. You will have to see it. SCARY!!!

Today was great. We all slept in. Then we hung out around the house... Steve made crepes for the kids. Then after we took friends home and picked up Shawn the kids and I went to Red Robin for lunch. We ran errands... WalMart, the Bank, my office. Just a low key fun day. My in-laws called and wanted to take us to Chili's so we ate dinner there. We ran into the Sutton's. What a great night. I am ready for bed and it is only 8:15pm, but Steve wants to go to a movie. We might do that. Fun Fun Fun! Well that is all for now. I am going to try to be better at blogging. I am just in a slump lately.

Merry Christmas Outfits!

Where does the time go...

THANK YOU MOM & DAD!
Because I am so behind on posting I am going to skip a whole bunch that has happened. I will post about Christmas soon but I want to post about our amazing trip to Mexico first.
We went to Irapuato, Mexico to visit some small villages that our family has donated money to. We hadn't ever seen the project. What an amazing eye opening experience. WOW! To see how people live and to see that they are happy and content... amazing!

This was EVERYWHERE... Raw meat... Oh my gosh... the smell! I can't even explain what it smelled like... well - I could but I WONT!

We went to this house to visit a friend of our "guide" - Anna's. This picture is her WHOLE house. I was amazed at how clean and "decorated" it was. Even with nothing she made it her own. She had such a terribly sad life. We sat there and "listened" to her story. She of course spoke Spanish and we don't so Anna was translating most of it.

This is the lady that lived in that house. This was her front "door". It was a sheet - THAT IS ALL! She lost her husband 6 years ago to a sickness... it sounded like prostate cancer. His family gave them 10,000 pesos (about $700) for medical. She thought that she didn't have to pay them back but the day he died they told her that she owed them the money back... They said she had to pay them ALL of the money in eight days! She only had 50 pesos to her name. That is about $4. She has had a whole life of sadness just like this. She is not alone. Everyone that we met had stories just like this. What amazing people. They were so happy too. Even with nothing. They don't have toilets, running water, some don't have power to their village. WOW!!!

This is another house in one of the villages. Look how tall Steve is to it. This is their WHOLE house!!!

This is the medical center that Jarred and my Dad built 12 years ago when they went to this village. The family that still lives there totally remembered them. They brought out a "scrapbook" of Polaroid pictures from when they were there. They were teary eyed just talking to Jarred and Dad and meeting the rest of the family. What a humbling experience. They were amazing people.

This is Juan and Anna. They work for CHOICE Humanitarian that we do all of our humanitarian work through. They live in Mexico. They are such a great family. Juan just happens to be the Bishop in the ward there. We went to church on Sunday. We didn't understand a bit of what they were taking about but guess what. The spirit was still there (of course). We stayed through all three meetings. Jarred, Rachelle, Steve and I all went to primary to see how the kids were there. So great. They were so amazed that we live with in 10 minutes of a temple. They were so great.

One final picture... This was a kitchen in one of the villages. It was outside. With a rock wall all around it. The stove was a "griddle". You put a log of firewood underneath it and light it to cook. I just can't imagine... we have it so great. Even on our worst worst worst day we have it a million (or more) times easier than them.

What an amazing experience. I can't wait to go on a full humanitarian work trip now. I want my kids to do it too. Mom & Dad - thank you so much! I am thankful for the opportunities that you provide for me and my family.
I love you!