The Divine Gift of Gratitude

So many of us had the privilege of hearing this talk given by President Monson during General Conference in October, "The Divine Gift of Gratitude". Today, we had a few talks in Sacrament reference it again as well as the main lesson in Relief Society. I think it is a lesson I could hear many times and learn something each time.

One of the things in my life I'm very grateful for is my wonderful husband Scott. He is the perfect husband for me and I'm happy we are together! I love this picture below because of how Scott is holding my hands. I didn't tell him to do that or even notice it until I saw the picture but it means something to me that can't really be expressed well in words.

I'm grateful for a captured moment!

Family Photos

We went to Garden of the Gods to take our family Christmas photos. The weather was awesome and we had a great time. Our area had a lot of morning fog and we were worried the Garden would be the same way but as you can see nice sun shine with only a little wind. Pretty great for a mid-November day!

BeautiControl Eye Recovery Treatment

THE BEFORE PICTURE -


I know Scary! But I really wanted to see how well the products worked for me. And the best way to see this is to take before and after pictures.

THE BETWEEN PICTURE: The Platinum Regeneration Rejuvenating Eye Treatment patches


THE AFTER PICTURE


Can you tell I just had "Another" birthday ;-) but I love this treatment and the results. This is the second time I've done it. The first time I didn't take pictures but noticed a difference. I took the pictures this time and WOW, was I surprised how well the treatment works. Or maybe I was really more surprised how bad the before was - yikes!


Above are the products I used and below is the "Recipe" for the results.


Let me know if you're interested in learning more about the products. They are all on sales this month and I plan on stocking up! Now if I could only find something like this for my body "Wrinkles"!

I'm putting in an order November 30th and if you're in the Colorado Springs area, we're featuring this treatment at our December 2nd spa night - come try them all out and see your results.

A Visit to the Zoo

We have a great zoo here in the Springs - The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. It is up on the local mountain and just a great spot to walk around and enjoy not only all the zoo animals but the view.


Our friend Beth runs the pony rides and makes Ava feel very special. It is always one of the main highlights of our visit.


Ava is riding Amigo and Beth lets Ava feed him carrots after her ride. Ava loves it and has already started asking when she can have a horse.

A Fun New Hairstyle From Heather

We have a great babysitter - Heather. She does such fun stuff with the girls and they love having her over. Heather is really good with hair and enjoys trying different styles on both the girls. On this day, she put Ava's hair up in two twisted ponies. Of course, Ava had to do multiple outfit changes to fit the occasion!

Halloween 2010

This year we lucked out again with the weather. A wonderful night for trick or treating and no snow on the ground.


Ameya was a Vampire Queen this year. Last year she was a witch and Scott did a bunch of crazy make-up on her. So this year, I said no crazy make-up. I wanted to see more of her cute face. We settled for crazy hair.


Ava was a fairy princess with wings for our church Halloween party but for Halloween, she was a She-devil. How true this is in real life.


Showing off the loot from the church party.

Ava's Comments

Comments from Ava as we drove to the park today:

Ava: Mom, did you see that brown truck
Me: Yes
Ava: There goes your favorite guy

She means the UPS guy as he brings my Stampin' Up boxes and I jump up and down when he comes.

Ava: Mom, does the park have swings
Me: Yes, Ava
Ava: and sand
Me: I think so
Ava: and Boys
Me: laughing

So Boys have already moved up to the third spot - and she is only 3.

Crazy Rain

Lately, around 4:00pm, we've been getting big rain storms blowing over Pikes Peak. The rain usually doesn't last too long but with the amount that is dropped, it doesn't have too.

This picture is of Scott's car parked in front of our house. You can see how much water is racing down our street. The awesome part is that once the rain stops, there is a beautiful rainbow. Quite nice!

Happy Birthday Ava

Today is Ava's 3rd Birthday.


The tradition Scott and I started is to decorate the night before so the birthday girl see everything as soon as she comes downstairs.


Last year Scott started hanging balloons from the ceiling and creating this big arrangement, so of course, we needed to do that this year too.


Ava is just starting to get the Birthday idea and that she is the Birthday girl. She is still not too sure what that means. Here she is coming down the stairs and seeing her "arrangement" for the first time.


But she is catching on quickly and having a great day. She was at the splash park followed by a bike ride on her new bike (a strider)and then we'll be off to a fun family fun center this evening. Woo Hoo for Birthdays!

Ava the Dressing Diva

Ava is so funny. She is really into picking out her outfits everyday and they usually consist of some fancy dress or costume along with my shoes.


I don't know how she does it but she walks around in my shoes, including coming down our stairs.


This day she picked out her Josie and the Pussy Cat's costume, my high-heels and about 30 minutes later, her pink tutu.

Dying Easter Eggs

We had a great time dying eggs this year for Easter. Ameya and Ava both love doing "crafty" activities and of course, we never have enough eggs for their liking.


Ava is really growing and able to do so much for herself....or maybe I should say, wants to do so much for herself and we only had a couple eggshell disasters.


As you can see from the pictures, Ava loves her big sister and Ameya is awesome with Ava. They have so much fun doing activities together.


I had out a bunch of Easter stickers as both girls like playing with stickers. I usually find them all over the house, stuck on furniture and windows and flooring. In this case, Ava was taking them and putting them all over Ameya. You can see a few of them in Ameya's hair and on her face. Ameya is always a great sport with her little sister. It was a great night.

Feeding the Giraffes

We have a great zoo here in the Springs and when the weather is nice we go up to see the animals. One of our favorite activities is to feed the giraffes. At first the girls were nervous but now they love it.

Crazy Spring Weather

It is definitely Spring in the Rockies. During Spring Break a couple of weeks ago we had three different snow storms blow in. This is a picture of the snow build-up after just an hour.


The next day Scott went out with the girls and built a snow cave.
I stayed inside and supplied the hot chocolate.

Too Quite

Ava was taking a nap while we had some friends over visiting. Scott thought he heard Ava get up but I told Scott, Ava would come downstairs if she woke-up. Plus if she did wake up, we'd hear her if she left her room. I was thinking what could she get into in her room. She would just be playing.....yeah right, playing with the lotion that got left in there.
Thank goodness we went up and checked on her before she used the whole bottle.

Ava All Grown-up

It is official. We moved Ava into her big girl bed this past Friday. The crib moved out and she is now sleeping in a toddler bed. She is very excited and loves being like her big sister Ameya.

Fun with Ava

Not too long ago Ava and I got to spend time together while I was working. Scott was gone and my babysitter was not available. This combination always makes for a fun and adventures day. I'm trying to keep Ava busy and she is finding her own things to keep her busy.

Lately, Ava loves getting into my purse and taking everything out. My wallet and all its contents, my change, my gum, which she usually helps herself to and of course, my phone. Here she took my phone and then went into her room, where she commenced to make "fake" phone calls. I hoping fake calls. I could hear her talking away and then I snuck into the room for this picture.


I couldn't resist this shot when she was doing circles under my desk.
My computer boxes and connections are all under my desk. Ava likes to watch the lights but then she tries to "check" the wires.


I distracted her at one point with a plate of apples. She went into her room and got her blanket and put it on the ground for her picnic by my door. A great view until she wanted to show me her food. What is a picnic without sharing of the food. It was a fun and active day.

A Difficult Shot

We went up to The Broadmoor Hotel for our annual Christmas pictures surrounded by the lovely Holiday decorations. The past couple of years Ava was so easy to pose but as you'll see from these pictures, that was not the case this year.


Ava loves the camera, in that she like to take the picture and if she is not the one taking the picture, she wants to see the picture as soon as you've taken it.


The setting on my camera and the lighten in the room did not lend itself well to a quick picture and most the time Ava was done posing before I could get the shot.


Poor adorable Ameya spent most of her time wrestling with Ava and trying to keep her in one spot long enough for me to capture a shot.


Ava had no idea why we were telling her to stay put for so long when the camera was clearly calling for her.


The night was not completely lost to all the crazy shots. In the bunch, there were some keepers.

Sledding and Snow Fun

Scott and Ava going down the hill. Ava had a good time but wasn't so thrilled with the snow flying into her face. She would go down the hill with her hands covering her eyes.




Ameya making it snow.


Ava and I just hanging out.


Ava having a little snack.


Ameya and I almost going into a tree.


Scott surfing down the hill




And of course, the day would not be complete without Snow Angels.