It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas......

My girls are thrilled with our Christmas tree this year! Marc and I let them pick the tree, choose the decorations, and decorate it all by themselves (well with limited help anyway). As such, this year we have a cute little tree (McKinley can nearly reach the top of it when it's on the floor) that is decorated with purple lights, silver, red, purple and pink ornaments, candy canes, and a Santa hat for the tree topper! To most people it doesn't mean anything, or win any awards but to me it's the BEST TREE EVER! Shaylie and McKinley had a blast doing it all by themselves (WITHOUT fighting I might add) and they could not be more proud of how it turned out! Here are some pictures of the girls with their tree!

CHRISTMAS MAKES US CRAZY!!!!!!!!

Our cute little family!!!!

Thanksgiving!!!!

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays and this year was a great one! We had Thanksgiving dinner at my parents house in Santaquin with my parents, my brother and his family, and us. We had a WONDERFUL meal and then watched a movie and had fun visiting while the kids played games together. All in all it was a very relaxing day, what more could we ask for.

Shaylie and McKinley have been helping more and more in the kitchen now that they are getting a little older, which is fun, but also more work. This year while we were deciding who would make what for Thanksgiving my girls decided that they wanted to make something by themselves to add to the menu. I agreed and figured out a dessert that they could make ALL by themselves that wouldn't take a whole lot of time or effort, but would still let them feel as though they were contributing. We decided on a Strawberry Banana pie! The girls cut up the banana's, mixed the strawberries and bananas together and poured it into the pie shell. It turned out great and they had a lot of fun doing it. Here are some pictures of them making their masterpiece!

Cutting up the bananas!



















Mixing it all together!

















The finished product!

Great Grandma Winni

Marc's grandma, Winni, was able to come up from Eager, Arizona and stay with us for about a month! Both Shaylie and McKinley were thrilled and loved having her here (anyone who knows my kiddos knows they LOVE their grandparents and can't spend enough time with them). Shaylie and McKinley loved coming home everyday after school and having her there, they also liked it when mom and dad went on a date and great grandma Winni was able to babysit them. While Winni was here she was able to spend Halloween with us, attend Shaylie's baptism, go to Shaylie's school program, and spend lots of time at home visiting. Unfortunately Winni had to leave to go back home on the Monday before Thanksgiving, so we decided to have an early thanksgiving dinner with her (NO ONE can complain about having two big, YUMMY dinners). We all really enjoyed having her here and being able to spend time with her (it's a LONG drive to her home in Arizona and we aren't able to make it often). Here are a few pictures from her visit, enjoy!

Snuggling in bed with great grandma Winni and watching a movie!

4 generation picture with the girls, Marc, Jerri (Marc's mom) and Winni (Marc's grandma)!

The girls with BOTH their great grandma's!
L to R: Winni, Shaylie, McKinley, Inez

THANKS FOR VISITING GREAT GRANDMA WINNI, WE WILL MISS YOU!

Marc

Well, I'm probably a terrible wife because I meant to do this post yesterday on Marc's actual birthday, and now it's a day late. In my defense, I was busy helping in kindergarten and 2nd grade, making Marc a very tasty birthday dinner (not to toot my own horn, LOL), and taking care of a sick kid.

Yesterday was Marc's 28th birthday and I just want to wish him a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY (late)! We have not always had the easiest times together but through it all I never stopped loving him and I think our relationship is stronger now that we have made it this far (9 years in December). Marc is a great husband and dad, he always makes sure we are taken care of to the best of his abilities and I can't thank him enough for that. Marc is a very intelligent person and works very hard at anything he puts his mind to, and for that he is a wonderful role model for our children of how to be an assertive, self-starter in life.

Here are some of my favorite pictures of Marc with our beautiful girls! Enjoy!

In the hospital right after McKinley was born.

Escalante 2005

Disneyland 2007

Marc and Shaylie with their medals at the grappling tournament in May!

Marc and McKinley at the Art City Days parade in June!

Straight or Curly?

Well, the girls were sick over the weekend and we still have a little bit of the sickness hanging on, so I decided to keep them home from school today just to make sure that they are entirely better before I send them back (I hate when parents send their kids to school sick and get my kids sick!).

Since it's a crappy day outside we will be inside pretty much all day and we decided to get a little wild with McKinley's CRAZY curls! I have yet to see my baby girl with straight hair, so, we pulled out the flat iron and gave it a whirl.............she doesn't even look like the same kid! Those who know my girlies know that Shaylie has beautiful straight hair, and McKinley has the cutest ringlet curls around, well that changed today! Today both my ladies have STRAIGHT hair!

Here are a couple pictures to share our fun this morning!

Here's a picture showing her cute, cute curls:
Now, here are some pictures of her with straight hair:

Antelope Island

As I was going through pictures on our computer I found a file of pictures from our trip out to Antelope Island the first part of October. We went on a ride with my parents and my brothers family out to Antelope Island. We walked through the ranch houses and the barn and had lunch at the bistro on the island. It was a nice relaxing weekend and I decided to share some of the pictures, enjoy!
Marc with Shaylie, McKinley and Caleb (my nephew) standing on a fallen tree over yucky water (thank goodness no one fell in).


























































This buffalo was RIGHT NEXT TO THE ROAD! Seriously if I would have opened my car door I would have almost touched the dang thing he was sooooo close! My girls were THRILLED to see one that close and could not get enough of watching him drink from a rain puddle on the ground.

Shaylie's Baptism

On Saturday, November 1, 2008 Shaylie was baptized by my dad. Shaylie decided all on her own that she wanted to be baptized, so, we went ahead and got everything going for her. She was thrilled to have her grandpa be the one to baptize her and could not stop smiling the entire day (maybe it was the sugar from trick-or-treating the night before, who knows LOL). I am proud of Shaylie for making her own choice and following through with it. I only hope that she will continue to be proactive in her life and she continues to grow. Shaylie is a very bright, loving, funny, imaginative little girl and I cannot imagine my life without her! Sometimes it's hard to believe that she is 8 years old already, it seems like it was not that long ago that the doctor handed me my 8 lb. baby girl. Thanks to everyone that was able to come and support Shaylie on her special day.

Shaylie with her grandpa Messick!

Our little familiy.

Group picture with everyone there!

Sleeping Beauty and the Spider Witch

Well as always we had a great Halloween, and we hope the rest of you did as well. The girls had school, but were able to wear their costumes to school (which they both LOVED). They had cute parades that I got to go watch and see all the fun costumes. Once the girls were out of school my mom and I took them Trick-or-Treating here on main street in Springville. After main street we went up to Provo to my brothers (the house I grew up in) and had dinner with my mom and dad and my brother's family. After dinner we got the kids back in their costumes and went out to get MORE candy! Here are pictures from our adventures during the day, ENJOY!

Shaylie as a SPIDER WITCH!!

McKinley as Sleeping Beauty!!

Resting on the lawn during Trick-or-Treating on main street! Could they be any cuter!?

Here are my nephews: Andy = cute puppy dog and Caleb = little devil (LOL)

PuMpKiN fUn!!!!

Here are some pictures of the girls cleaning out their pumpkins and the finished products (FYI I carved both pumpkins so my girls would still have both hands for trick-or-treating, LOL). We can't wait until Halloween to try out the girls costumes! Happy Trick-or-Treating!!Shaylie with her pumpkin, it's a spiderweb with a spider coming off the bottom!

McKinley with her pumpkin, it's a witch!
Both pumpkins once we put them outside!

And the WINNER is............

On October 11 Marc fought in the Ultimate Combat Experience, Round 29.14. The fight was originally supposed to take place earlier in the summer, but due to a shoulder injury Marc had to postpone the fight. This was not Marc's first time in the cage, but it has been awhile.

Marc fought against Mike "Sugaloaf" Crisman and he did awesome! As usual I was nervous enough for the both of us, and Marc was totally cool with the whole thing. Their fight was the main event and they fought under the "pro" rules. Marc was able to win the fight at the end of the first round by putting on an armbar forcing Suga to tapout!!!!

I couldn't take my camera in but below is a picture of Marc before the start of the fight that I got off Ultimate Combat's website. Here is a link to their website http://www.ucombat.com/Index.php. Check out their website and watch on the WB30 in the next few weeks and you can see Marc's fight on TV!

Living Planet Aquarium!

For a fun family activity we decided to go to the Living Planet Aquarium. We went up with my parents, and my brother and sister-in-law and their two cute boys and had a lot of fun! Here are some pictures from our adventure!

Shaylie and McKinley

McKinley and my nephew Caleb

My newest nephew Andy! Isn't he a cutie!

Shaylie, McKinley and Caleb

Jellyfish!

Octopus!

McKinley and Shaylie looking throuh the tank!