Daddy's Home!!

We were expecting Erick on the 23rd but were disappointed to find out it wouldn't be until the 24th and his flight would arrive at 4:00pm. Erick called me early morning of the 24th and said he was getting on a standby flight that would arrive at 12:00pm. We thought it would be fun to surprise the kids. We arranged for Erick's parents to pick him up and let the kids think we had the original plan of 4 :00. The ward lined our street with flags it was quite emotional to see. When Erick arrived he knocked on the door and opened it up saying Im home. All the kids went running into his arms. It was so sweet to see. It was the best Christmas present we ever had. We have enjoyed every second he has been here. He will be leaving on the 9th of January back to Iraq until May 12, 2008.

I am always looking for a good Salad recipe. Well I came upon a great one that I would like to share. Diced Chicken, Cilantro, Romaine Lettuce, Shredded Cheddar, Feta Cheese, Tortilla chips crushed, and tomato's. I have even added Black beans and Corn before for a change.
The Dressing has 1 pkg. Buttermilk Ranch dressing mix, 1 Cup Mayo, 1 cup Buttermilk, 3 tomatillo's, 1 jalepino, juice from 1 lime, cilantro and 2 garlic cloves crushed. Mix in a blender and pour onto salad. So Yummy Enjoy.

Sadie, Isaac, Kesli and Saylor playing in the leaves.

Sadie and Saylor. They are so busy I thought they would slow down now that they are 3 but no. They love the fact that my sister had twins this year. They are fascinated with seeing other twins. They are best friends and worst enemies. But they are inseperateable. Sadie loves to tell me stories and they are usually make believe but still fun to hear. She loves to read books. We started going to the library and she thinks it great. She loves princesses, Wizard of oz and her doll house. Saylor has a little more attitude but she is so shy. She loves to be silly and make us laugh. She always says Daddy is her best friend. We love these little girls and they add the perfect amount of craziness that this family needs.
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Isaac or Ikey boy. He is a very unique little boy. He is so friendly and assumes everyone is his best friend. The older girls bring home friends and he introduces himself and tells them everything going on in his life. He has really struggled with Daddy being gone. Everything we do he says when Daddy gets home I want to do this with him. He loves his Dad. He has a special relationship with his Mommy too. When I was on Bed rest with the twins that little boy layed down next to me and watched Nemo over and over for a month. He comes to me for regular hugs. I love having such a sweet son. He loves action figures including StarWars, Ninja Turtles, Batman or any super hero, etc. He loves video games and does well at them. He is in Pre-school and loves it. And I asked him if he wanted to take Karate and he said No I want Ninja classes. So we will start Ninja classes (karate) in January.

Now I thought I would talk about Kesli. Kes is going to be 8 in January. She has such a love for life. She is very easy going and makes friends easily. She is in 2nd grade this is year. She loves to read and has started the Harry Potter series. She is a natural dancer. It comes so easily to her. She is taking at Jive right now and loves it. She aborbs information so well. She is always telling me lots of facts about different things she has learned at school. She loves Math this year. She saw Hairspray in theater 7 times. And High School Musical is still one of her favorites. She has made many friends in the neighboorhood. She is so sweet and loving. We are happy to have her mixed in with the bunch.

Kiah is our oldest daughter she turned 10 this year. She is the most talented amazing little girl. She is currently taking voice lessons from my cousin. She is in the school choir and dance lessons at Jive. She is such a beauty. She is really gotten in to fashion this year. I used to buy her what I thought was cute but now she knows exactly what she wants. Good and Bad I guess. She recently put together a Christmas program with dancing and singing and she and her friends put it on for there class room. I was able to attend, and was amazed at the talent these girls had. She shines were ever she goes. I have teachers tell me I am doing amazing with her and I just say, this isn't my doing Kiah is one of a kind. I am blessed to have her as my daugher and my friend.


Pictures will come later Erick has my digital cameral in Iraq.

Merry Christmas.

Hey all We decided to start a Blog. I can't believe how easy this was. Most things I do on the computer I need my husbands help with. I really have gotten very self reliant over the last 8 months. Can you believe he has been gone that long. We are really enjoying this Holiday season we started with decorations the day after Thanksgiving. Seeing How Erick is coming on Sunday for 16 days we have been kind of rushing the Holidays and hoping it will slow down while he is here.
I thought I would talk about some of our christmas family traditions. My mom is a seemstress and she made us kids matching Christmas Jammies (Pajama's) every year. She even went as far as taking us all in to Walmart for pictures in jammies. Being teenagers it was embarresing. She has kept that tradition with the grandkids. She now has 15 Grandkids and she sews for each of them. We have spent many Christmas' apart with my brother in Med School and the Amry and us Navy, but we always knew we all had on matching jammies Christmas eve. This year we are all going to be together for Christmas the first time in 13 years. Of Course my mom is loving every minute of it and the grandkids have yes had there pictures done in them already. When Erick and I started our family we wanted a Christmas tradition of our own. On Christmas eve day we go to a store usually Family Dollar. And We split into 2 teams. And we have to buy a present for eveyone on the opposite team with a 10 dollar limit. It has been something the kids have loved so we have done it for many years now. On Christmas eve we also write down a gift we would like to give our savior for the next year. And we read the ones we wrote last year. It is a great way to remember the Savior on Christmas.