Giving Thanks...

Since this is the last day of November, I thought maybe I should squeeze something in about being Thankful...yadda yadda...before December starts tomorrow.

We spent this year's Thanksgiving in Koosharem with Granty's family. It's always fun to get together with family and I'm glad we were able to go. Although I would have rather been with MY family, I was glad we could change things up a bit this year and do something for Granty. It meant a lot to him and that's what was most important...to me at least.

And now, my list of things I give thanks for...

1. My husband
2. My kids. Years ago if someone had told me I'd be surrounded by 4 kids, I never would have believed them. I know I complain about my kids, but I love them dearly!!
3. My beautiful house.
4. My pets!
5. My parents
6. My brother and his cute wife and baby.
7. My extended family (in-laws, cousins, grandparents, etc.)
8. A wardrobe that doesn't fit great, but fits nonetheless!
9. DIET PEPSI!
10. My health (2 summers ago, I was so VERY ill. Three hospital stays in one summer is enough for me! I'm grateful each day I can get out of bed and function!)
11. The gospel of Jesus Christ and being a member of the LDS church.
12. Friends...no matter how distant they might be. I don't have many close friends, but the ones I do, I treasure!
13. CRAZY PILLS! YESS!! Let's hear it for SANITY!
14. Twilight (YES, I said I'm grateful for Twilight! HEE HEE HEE!)
15. Blankets to snuggle up in.
16. Hot chocolate
17. Sprinklers and popcicles
18. Babies (especially Baby Eve, Dane and Elijah)
19. Grant's job
20. Working cars
21. Food
22. ADVIL
23. Christmas lights
24. REESE'S PNUT BUTTER CUPS
25. 4 seasons
26. Holidays
27. Kisses & hugs from my kids
28. Cookies right out of the oven!
29. Hot water
30. A Heavenly Father that loves me

I'm sure I'll think of more, but for now, this is it. Now, on to December! WOO HOO! Let the festivities begin!

My Sweet Baboo...

I saw this on my friend Audra's blog and I thought it sounded cute. 17 things about the man I love most in this world...

1.What's your husband's name? Grant Clifford Sutton
2.How long have you been married? 15 years
3.How long did you date? hee hee hee...this is a very long story, but ONE WEEK!
4.Who said I love you first? I think it was Granty, but I'm not positive. It was kind of like an "Ah-ha!" moment when we both realized we were hooked on each other.
5.Who asked who out first? Granty asked me, but I planned the date.
6.Who kissed who first? hee hee hee again...Granty kissed me. He was so cute and shy and said, "I think I want to kiss you" and me, being not shy and rather forward replied, "Don't tell me about it, just do it!"
7.How old is he? 39
8.Who eats the sweets? Definitely ME! Granty isn't very fond of American candy, but if he gets his hands on something sweet from NZ, there is NO sharing!!
9.Who sings best? Honestly, Granty sings pretty well. I wish he'd sing more with me! Of course, I sing absolutely brilliantly, so he probably gets intimidated. KIDDING!
10.Who's smarter? I hate to admit it, but Granty has the smarts in the family.
11.Who cooks dinner and does laundry? Most of the time I do all the house stuff, but Granty works LONG, LATE hours. When he's home, he's an awesome chef.
12.Who pays the bills? Granty
13.Who drives? If we're in his beloved Mini Cooper, he does. If we're in the Denali, it's me. He doesn't like my car, yet HE bought it!!
14.Who wears the pants? We share the pants...ooo, that sounds kinda kinky!!
15.Our favorite couple thing to do: Practically ANYTHING without the children! Probably Desert Star Theater though. My parents buy us season tickets every year and it is such a great thing to do together!
16.His favorite pastimes: Playing on his lap top, yard work, learning as much as he can about WWII, running to Arctic Circle or McDonalds late at night for a "french fry" run, playing board games, taking NAPS (especially "holy naps" on Sunday), visiting family in Koosharem.
17.What I love most about him: What isn't there to love about my Granty? He honestly is my best friend. He's the one and only person I want to share my inner most feelings with, and the one person I know who I can trust with those feelings. He makes me laugh at myself and has helped me learn not to take myself so seriously. He has helped me learn to accept myself, the way I am, and not worry about what anyone else thinks. He's a great dad to our sometimes difficult children, and is my biggest cheerleader. When things go wrong, he is always there to give me a hug and tell me it will all be okay (I've had to train him to do that, and he's wonderful to remember!) I love my Granty with all of my heart and I'm glad he picked me, even after only ONE WEEK!! Yay!!

...TwiLigHt...

The BIG day finally came...November 21st, 12:01 am and Taylor and I had third row tickets. We had waited SO LONG for this day to arrive...and I got sick!!

Honestly, it was terrible! A few hours before we left for the movie, I felt awful, but I kept telling myself, "I am NOT sick. I'm just fine!" and that lasted for a while. Half way through the movie I had to excuse myself to the ladies room to "toss my cookies" and I didn't enjoy the movie at all. I just about cried.

Taylor had fun though, and that was most important to me! She won a movie poster of Edward *sigh!* and a cute pink hat that says "Forks" on it. She was thrilled and had a wonderful night. That made getting sick sorta okay.

Next day, I was sick in bed with the flu...no surprise, right? I was supposed to go see "Twilight" again with some friends and ended up having to cancel. I was SO bummed! There was a party before it and everything, and I missed the whole thing. I was pretty much in tears and called Granty, whining about the situation. My dear, sweet husband said to me, "Why don't you get us some tickets for Saturday, and I'll take you to see it." It meant the world to me that he would take me to see "Twilight", even though it really wasn't something he wanted to do.

After seeing "Twilight" a second time and really being able to enjoy it, I must admit that I was completely surprised. A book as beloved as this has a LOT of expectations to live up to, and honestly, I was quite satisfied. Yes, some things had to be changed...were out of order...were made up parts of the story...but for production's sake, it had to be done. I absolutely ADORED Robert Pattinson as Edward. I had been rather skeptical about how he'd do, but he definitely swept both Taylor and I off our feet! I already knew that Taylor Lautner would be great as Jacob, and I wonder who will play him as an older boy. Hmmmm...maybe they could just use him and make him look older? Ida know...

Anyway, I loved the movie! I love the book! I'm a "Twilight" geek to the core and it's awesome! Bring on "New Moon", baby! Can't wait!

Construction Worker Orange Looks Good On You!

Ooookay. Today started off great. The kids were in good mooods, the babysitting kids were in good moods, we had pancakes for breakfast--it was a Norman Rockwell moment, and those are rare in our house!!

I got everyone off to school, packed the babies in the car and we were off to make a deposit at the bank. Those who live out in Eagle Mountain know about the construction in our area, but for the most part, it hasn't been a very big deal. WELL...

I'm sitting there in my car, patiently waiting for the traffic to go, singing "The Wheels on the Bus" for the 5th time and I saw just ahead of me, a few cars turning into the gas station. I needed to get to the bank right next to the gas station, so I thought, "I'll turn there." No barricades were in the way; no construction workers blocking the entrance, so the wheels turning in my head said, "Sure, you can go in there. It's not roped off." So I did.

After a few cars ahead of me had turned, a construction worker slammed (not set his hands or laid his hands firmly--SLAMMED) his hands on the hood of my car and mumbled something about "stupid".

I hit my brakes hard, rolled down the window...

me: "I certainly hope you are not calling ME stupid!"

guy: (sputtering) "Yes I AM calling you stupid!"

me: "Excuse me?"

guy: (more sputtering, his cigar hanging from his mouth) "You must be stupid to turn into a closed road!"

me: (pointing out the window) "Cars in front of me turned into the road AND there is an opening in the barricades!"

guy: (more cigar bouncing...I'm getting hypnotized watching it) "No, the road is closed, but you are too stupid to see that!"

me: "Perhaps you should close the barricades or put up a 'road closed' sign so people aren't confused. This is chaos out here!"

guy: "Get out of here stupid! We'll see you in court!"

me: (laughing) "Okay, tough guy!"

Moron...moron, moron, moron. Yes, please take me to court cuz I'm so stupid, I don't know where the construction starts, or where it ends. Sheesh...

P.S. The company doing the work is Geneva Rock and I complained about the one-eyed, missing-teeth, greasy-haired, cigar-smoking, construction worker that I had pleasantries with today. YAY ME!

A Christmas Miracle...

Things are tough right now in our neck of the woods. I don't think our situation is all that unusual, considering the financial state of our country, however, Granty recieving a pay cut of $30,000 a year has put a MAJOR dent in our pocketbook. I've always, ALWAYS looked forward to the holidays. The smells in the air; the delicious treats; the lights; the stories...basically everything about this time of year, I LOVE. It's a magical time of year.

This year...the magic has fizzled out. Not being able to provide Christmas for my kids has weighed on me and I just haven't been able to be positive about anything. We've been paying our tithing, paying our fast offerings, fulfilling our callings for months and months now, and there doesn't seem to be an end in sight. I'm ashamed to admit it, but my faith has waivered a bit and I've been wondering, where did my Heavenly Father go? Why doesn't he help us?

I was talking to my mom last night and told her, "I keep waiting for that envelope of money that everyone talks about. The one that you get as a surprise because you've been paying your tithes and offerings, but nothing has come yet." I was being facetious of course, but half honest.

Today I checked the mail. An envelope addressed to the Sutton Family arrived and inside it was some money, with a note that said, "Have Yourselves a Very Merry Christmas". No signature was attached, leaving me wondering, who loved our family THAT much. I've been left humbled and speechless. I told my oldest son, "I need to know who did this so I can thank them." he replied saying, "Why? They didn't want you to know. Just let it be our Christmas Miracle."

Whoever you are, thank you. Thank you for giving me the means to provide Christmas for my kids, for helping to restore my faith, and for being so charitable and Christ-like. I may never know who you are, but my family and I will never forget the magic you have brought back to our Christmas. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

SIDE NOTE: Umm...just few hours after I posted this, our refrigerator went out. We've been scrambling to get food into coolers and into our freezer downstairs. I should be grateful Granty has a job, we have a house, we have clothes, we have food, but DAMNIT, I wanted that money for Christmas! Oh well, Merry Christmas Sutton Family...it's a fridge!! *sob*

SIDE SIDE NOTE: After having the repair guy come look at said fridge, it turns out everything is still under warranty which means...YAY! Christmas is back on! Hee hee hee! All in all, I am grateful for my parents, my good cousin Dawn, and all my extended family who have kept us in their prayers. No matter how this Christmas ends up, it will always be one I will remember. It's been an awesome Christmas Miracle!!

I gOt tAggEd...whOopiTEe doO!!

Seriously, I do like these tag things...they are kinda fun.

Anyway, my buddy ol' pal MER tagged me, so I supposed I should comply! Plus she said if I do that I might get a MAJOR award! Hey Mer...I only want the award if I get a sexy lamp so I can watch electric sex glowing in the window! (that only makes sense if you've seen "A Christmas Story" and if you haven't SHAME ON YOU!)

Ahem, here we go...

FIVE THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY...

1. My family (specifically, my husband)
2. An ice cold, fountain diet pepsi & pink frosted cookie...together!
3. A clean house
4. Holding my new baby niece, Eve
5. Having something to look forward to (like seeing Twilight in just SIX DAYS!)

And now...if your name is Audra, Lindsay, Tami, Jen, Ade, Heather, Melanie, Marci, Dawn, Alynda, Danelle or Rachel, you have been TAGGED!

"Help me Obi Wan Kenobi!"