Nine

We have been sick all week. It hasn't been fun at all. Kids have missed school, we've watched a lot of movies, stayed in our pj's, and taken a lot of medicine. I am so grateful for medicine. How did people survive with out it? I guess they didn't back then huh?

Besides medicine, I am so thankful for our health. If all we have to complain about are colds we have a great thing going. We have been really lucky when it comes to our health and for that I am so thankful.

Eight

With the colder weather we have been enjoying more hot chocolate. Hot chocolate has been one of my favorite things forever, I absolutely love it. My favorite, of course, is Stephens. And on this specific day I made home made whipped cream for our cocoa. It was so, so delicious.

And look at my cute mug. My good friend Kristen (and Blake) gave them to me and Trent, well to Trent, for being an awesome Captain at Ragnar. Obviously Trent's has a T. They make drinking hot chocolate that much more amazing.

Seven

On the way to work on Monday we only had 1 crack in our windshield, the big one going up. On the way home there were two, the HUGE one going across the whole bottom of our windshield joined the fun. For those that don't know us, we are cursed with windshields. I am not joking. We replace 1 or 2, sometimes even 3, a year. This particular windshield was replaced earlier this past summer so we could pass inspection. 1 week later it had its first crack. 1 week my friends.

So, you are probably thinking why I am grateful for cracked windshields? Well, I am not thankful for that, but in the process of replacing so many windshields while we have been married we have tried numerous glass companies. And we finally found one that installs our windshields perfectly, no air coming through, no squeaks or sounds, AND they totally clean your car inside and out. It's a perfect match for us cursed ones.
We love you Logan Glass.

Six

On Sunday I went to Baby Miles' baby blessing. As always it was so good. There is just something about a baby blessing that gets to me. It made me thankful for my 5 babies and Trent's blessings for each of them.

Having babies is such a miracle. It took a lot of work to get started and too many procedures to count, but it was all worth it. It is amazing what they can do medically to help some of us become Mothers. I am thankful for the many medications, shots, ultrasounds, petri dishes, more shots, and medical support that it took to get Aiden and Andrew here. Fortunately for us, all of that got my system going and we didn't need any "help" with the girls.

And since I have no pics from the actual blessing on Sunday I found pics of all of my kid's in their blessing outfits. They make me happy just looking at them.

And just to have it documented, I went through all the fertility stuff while I was a hospice nurse. I had a certain patient that I became extremely close to. He and his family were so excited when I announced that everything had worked and we were pregnant with twins. They threw me a "party" with a baby cake and everything. When I had the boys I went from full time to on call. My patient passed away while I was on maternity leave. His wife called me and said she wanted to buy the boys blessing outfits because it would mean a lot to Joe and herself. So, now every time I see their outfits it reminds me of my patient and life itself. One minute we are being blessed and the next we are leaving our earthly life for the next. And what matters most is what we do with the time in between.

Time flies.

Make the most of it and have an amazing time doing it.

Five

No, I am not thankful for the snow. I am not that crazy. But I am thankful that my kids stay out in the snow for longer than 5 minutes now. Last year the boys graduated from the whiny snow stage and would stay out for hours. This year Oakley has joined them. Paige and Morgan are less whiny and stayed out for a good hour on Saturday. Makes the 20 minutes of getting their snow clothes on a little more worth it.

I love my snow angels.

Four

I am a little behind on my thankful posts. Kind of sums up my life actually. So, going back to November 4th I was so thankful for Trent and his leaf cleaning ability. He came home from work and went straight to picking up leaves-and we have a ton of leaves, 18 bags to be exact.. It took him all night, but he got it done before he left for St. George and before the snow came.

Obviously, I am thankful for Trent for lots of reasons, but on Thursday it was his ability to never stop working. We wouldn't have survived the past 7 years with out Trent's never ending energy. He really is a machine.

Three

I belong to this church and I am so thankful for that. It helps me make it through life, it helps me try to be a better person, it lifts me up when I am down (did that kind of sound like Josh Groban?), it's a perfect guide in this messed up world, it means my family can be together forever, and it has brought me some of my closest friends.

Last night was no exception. There was a multi-regional YW leadership training. I was not looking forward to it and was actually thinking about not going, until my neighbor called and offered me a ride. Unfortunately I wasn't ready in time for her ride, but since she put the bug in my ear I made myself go. And I am so glad I did. It was just what I needed to hear. It wasn't a typical training session to me. It was as though each of the speakers were speaking directly to me and telling me how I can change my life for the better. I wish I would have been prepared with a pen and notepad so I could have written everything down. But the gist of the meeting was that you need to better yourselves before you can better others. And Sister Dalton said to take care of ourselves and our families first, because that is the number one priority.

We sang "How Firm a Foundation." for the closing hymn and the third verse stuck out to me. I feel overwhelmed the majority of the time and feel like I am failing in most aspects of my life. This verse gave me a little boost as I sang (okay, mouthed) the words.

Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,

For I am thy God and will still give thee aid;

I’ll strengthen and help thee, and cause thee to stand

Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.

During the meeting they showed this video from Elder Ballard. It is awesome. Then the concluding speaker, I can't remember his name, left us each individually with a blessing that "everything will be okay." It was just what I needed to hear.

TWO

For my second thankful post, I wanted to talk about the thing that makes these thankful posts and all other posts possible-my blog. What would life be without blogging? Can you imagine? Well, some of you can because you never update your blogs...;)

But seriously, I love my blog because it is my journal. It has been so much easier blogging than it ever was trying to keep a journal. I only wish I would have started sooner. It is so much fun to go back and read through our lives and to see how much we have changed.

Last year for my birthday Kim and Trent surprised me with a book of my first year of blogging (Trent did the second book later). I always started putting my blog into a book and then got frustrated. So, of course Kim had the brilliant idea of doing it for my birthday and Trent had the brilliant idea to make it his way. It took a lot of time to make it perfect, but here is the result.

I love having a hard copy and the kids love being able to look through a book about them. They are huge 12 X 12 books with tons of fun stuff to remember in them. I love them.
I mean, how awesome is blogging?

Thankful

Well, yesterday was the first day of November. And that means it is time for my thankful posts. I have a lot to be thankful for, but sometimes, like one of my recent posts, I focus on the negative in my life, which isn't good for anyone.

So, here we go. I am so thankful that Halloween and last week are over. ;) I know, still a little negative, but what can I say? We had a heck of a week and ended up with pounds of candy. 40 to be exact. That's what you get when you have 5 kids and 4 different trick or treating sessions.
But I did want to talk about how everything turned out last week. Because I lot of things turned out great and a lot of good things happened. If you can't remember my week you can read it here.

• The part of my costume that got "lost" in the mail was my nude unitard. I had a Halloween party Friday night and no costume. Trent, being the amazing husband that he is, called around to several dance companies and found me one. Can you imagine a guy calling dance companies asking for a nude unitard. He must really love me. Oh and my unitard finally came in the mail yesterday. Duh.



• I passed my drug test and background check for my new job. This job has been months in the making and to finally officially have it is awesome.



• Our talks went well on Sunday. The kids did amazing. They were so excited and not one bit scared to do them. Weird right? And every door we went trick or treating to told my kids how good they did. They were pretty proud of themselves. Trent and I are just glad its over.



• We signed up for the So Cal Ragnar. We have so much fun at these things we can't stop doing them. And I promise my post will be coming this week. Not that anyone really cares...



• And as for the Halloween festivities, we went Trunk or Treating with Heidi Saturday, Trent's work Monday morning, Cafe Rio, Maga's (who actually wasn't home, boo.), Dodee's, Grandpa Brad's work, Grandpa Larry's work, Grandma Holly's work, our own Trunk or Treat, Aunt Rauna's, Kim's, and finally around our neighborhood for 2 hours. It was a busy day, but I have to admit I actually enjoyed it. Usually my kids are ornery and tired when we trick or treat out neighborhood. The houses are a little far apart and it is very hilly. But they were so excited this year and ran from door to door. It was what I always imagined trick or treating would be like with my kids. Loved it.

And there you have it. My first thankful post. So very thankful October is over and done with and November is here. We have an excited month planned already. I'll keep you all posted.

Happy Halloween-

from Super Mario Land

and Forrest and Jenny

One of THOSE Weeks

Coming off an extreme weekend of every emotion into a week filled to the brim has made me a wee bit ornery. I was hoping to get to posting about the amazing Vegas Ragnar, but that will most likely be coming later. Instead you get to join in a pity party with me. You know the weeks when you just can't seem to get on top of anything? Throw in a couple extra things like, Halloween and a new job and it gets that much more hectic. Here are a few things that have been happening this week:

• 
  
  Preschool field trip to the museum. I don't have any pics because I rented a locker for a quarter and as soon as I locked the door I realized my camera was still sitting in my purse. And I didn't have another quarter, so there it stayed.


• 
  
  Book Club. I just got the book on Monday and the party was Wednesday. Needless to say I didn't finish it. And upon arriving to Book Club (45 mins late) I found out I was supposed to be the one leading the discussion. Luckily my group is awesome and Amber took right over.


• 
  
  I had mutual at my house where we made mini donuts and watched Thriller. I love my Mia maids.


• 
  
  I made more donuts the next day for Aiden and Andrew's class party. I don't care if I see another mini donut for a long time.


• 
  
  I was in charge of a craft for Oakley's party and drove around to several different stores(even the same store twice) to find something to do, finally settling on a mediocre craft. Luckily Kindergartners don't care.


• 
  
  Waiting for the most important part of my costume to come in the mail only to find out this morning that they "can't find the package" anywhere.


• 
  
  Having to schedule a drug test and find babysitters because they won't let you take kids with you.


• 
  
  And finally, the worst one, we are speaking in Sacrament on Sunday. And when I say we, I mean all seven of us. It should be a grand meeting. Anyone is welcome to come, you might get a few laughs.

And all you moms know what it is like to do everything while taking care of kids, so while I was making my second batch of over 100 mini donuts:

Paige, Morgan, and Oliver decided to empty out their entire wardrobe into the living room.

Let's just say it was the icing on the cake....or should I say donut.

The Pumpkin Patch

We went to the pumpkin patch (aka Kim and Luke's) and picked out our Halloween pumpkins. You see, they plant pumpkins every year and had enough for each one of The Hoard. I, for one, was very excited to be saving ourselves $20.Oliver was freaking out because I took him out of the picture and the kids think it is funny when anyone other than themselves is crying/getting in trouble, hence the reason for the huge smiles on my kid's faces.

I'm One of THOSE Moms

Before I had litters of children I always wondered how a mom could take her kids out in public looking like orphans. Well, now I am one of those moms. I usually just 'forget' to do Paige and Morgan's hair. More times than not they look like this when we run errands.

They have even started referring to themselves as orphans. It's sad really.

Argh

We went to the Capson's on Saturday for a Pirate Party. Trent always says he isn't going to dress up, but then pulls something together at the last minute. This time he raided my closet for some Mr. Smee clothes.

It is sad when your husband looks better in your clothes than you do...

The Capson's house was totally decked out in Halloween and Pirate garb. They even had everyone pose with the hung pirate at the door.



And here are all the wenches that came.

And while we were partying it up, Kim was nice enough to take care of The Hoard. She even managed to make some sweet Halloween cookies with them.

Thanks Capson's for a fun night out. They even got Trent to play some games....which is worth documenting alone.

Mini Mandonelle

The girls got to do Mini Mandonelles this year. They were pretty excited. I asked them to pose and this is what I got.

Maren is one of my miamaids and the reason for all this fun.
The girls performed at the football game. Brooke and I chatted it up during the first half.

Oakley did great. Paige and Morgan, on the other hand, did not. They were running around and away from the real Mandonelles. Lets just say Trent and I were not happy. However, watching the video all three of them are as cute as can be.

Toothless

Oakley has had a front tooth that has been bothering her for a while. It got to the point where she wouldn't eat much because it hurt. And if you took a gander at her tooth it looked like the whole inside had popped out. No wonder it hurt. So, she begged to go to the dentist and so, to the dentist she went.

She was pretty happy until the needle came out, but she was brave and only cried a little bit. And who can blame her? Those needles hurt.
And once the tooth was yanked out we went to Family Dollar and picked out a prize. Of course she chose coloring stuff. And don't you love her numb lip smile?

And a shot of her gap. Trent really wanted to try and fix the tooth seeing how Oakley probably won't get her adult teeth until she is twelve, but since she is not on our insurance (dumb story), I opted for the cheaper route. And since Oakley is our Brad Pitt, she can make any look rock for at least a few years. ;)

She really has loved the fact that she has lost a tooth. She tells everyone she sees. And another bonus-the tooth fairy. She couldn't wait to put her tooth under her pillow and go to sleep.

She is one happy, toothless girl.

Making Ourselves at Home

We go to the movie store so often that the kids think it is their second home and they treat it as such...

All they need is the popcorn.

New York Visitors

We were able to hang out with some New Yorkers on Friday. My kids were so excited to see their cousins from far, far away. And I was so excited to meet the newest addition to the Veigels, Jude.

My kids, especially the girls, love babies and Jude was no exception.
And my girls couldn't get enough of playing with James and Jack. You can barely see Jack's head poking out from behind Paige and Morgan. And James was so nice to let my girls climb ALL over him.

Thanks for the fun time boys!

These Are My Friends

No, not my thunder thighs, but my running shoes. They have been stuck in my closet collecting dust since the middle of August. I got them out last week and ran down in St. George. It felt so good and so bad at the same time. It was so good to get out again seeing how there is nothing like running. But it felt so bad to see how much I have lost in a month and a half. I only have 2 weeks to get back in shape for the Vegas Ragnar. I really hope I don't die down there in the desert.

And I promise I will come back to blogging soon. I have been home for all of ten minutes this past week and I am hoping things will calm down soon. So, all of you that are still faithful bloggers, just know I am reading and will get back to my commenting soon.

Until next time.

St. George Marathon

We just got back from St. George, where Trent ran yet another marathon. You know the one that he went to the extreme to get into. We headed down South Thursday night and stopped at a Burger King. It seemed that China had exploded in this small BK in a random city. We were surrounded by Asians. Seriously.

Once we got to St. George we did the typical swimming, eating, relaxing, shopping stuff. I was not very good at taking pictures at all, which I always regret after the fact, but I do enjoy not worrying about pictures during the fact.

Now on to the race.

The kids couldn't wait to see Trent come down the chute. And Trent did a fabulous job as always, He finished with a PR of 2:42:02 came in 27th overall.

See what I mean about no pics? I don't even have one of Trent crossing the finish line. Granted I was videoing it, but with our camera we can video and take pictures simultaneously, I just didn't think about it. So here is a quick family shot we took on the way home from the race.

That night while the boys were at priesthood, we tried to fit as many people as we could in our car and headed over to play at the park, while I devoured In & Out.
We stopped off at Grandma Veigel's on the way out of town.

And Trent got to "watch" football on the drive home. Its amazing that his phone fit perfectly there don't you think?

Once again it was another fun mini vacation. Can't wait until the next one.