First Black Friday without my dad.

Ever since I had my first child I have gone to Black Friday with my dad and some of my other siblings. My dad loved being part of the mayhem and madness that Black Friday brings. So it just became a tradition. We all loved going with him because he became our wallet...LOL! He would see things and say just get it for your kids I'll pay for it. We would always say, "okay dad." haha j/k My dad would get in arguments, push people out of our way, and we would get my dads back when people would cuss him out. He seriously thought he was the Walmart Black Friday police...LOL! My mom hated our funny stories of dads drama sessions...haha Slowly our family members stopped coming because the craziness wasn't worth it, but my dad and I who are die hards went by ourselves last year. It was so cute. He didn't buy one thing, but just wanted to be in the mix of the event. I loved that experience with him, because I never spend one on one time with him. He also bought me breakfast and we just talked, just me and my dad. That is one memory I will never forget. (tears)
Anywayz, this year my dad didn't go. I know he wanted to because he kept asking who was going, but he had to work. He's really gotten to old to be doing Black Friday though. So I was just gonna go alone. And then my two saving graces (Anna and Klarah) came to my rescue. We had fun. Well maybe me and Anna more than Klarah, because we have girls and girls are more fun to shop for. I was so grateful to have them with me. This is what we did:

10pm-1:30am -Toys R Us ( We will never do that again. Toys r Us sucks and they are so unorganized. Do NOT go to their Black Friday)
1:30-3:30 -Walmart (loved it)
3:30- Del Taco (for a quick bite to eat)
4am-5:00- JCPenny (loved it)
5am-6:30 - Target (loved it)
6:30am- Walmart (again to look for DS lite)
7am - Home

I never shopped like that on a Black Friday. It was so much fun being with the girls and shopping til we dropped. I came home and slept til 1pm. My dad called me and asked who I went with and for how long. So cute. I then went and did some more shopping with my hubby from 3pm-7pm. We ended the night at California Pizza Kitchen and then I came home and knocked out til 9:30 am this morning. I am totally shopped out and grateful that my Christmas shopping is DONE!! Thank you Klarah and Anna for hanging in there while I dragged you all over SLC. Love ya and Black Friday!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

I have started a new tradition with my family. We will give gifts of thanks to all our/their teachers and friends at Thanksgiving and during Christmas we will give gifts of love to our family. This way I am not so overwhelmed with giving so many people gifts. I can break it up in two months and feel the love throughout the holiday season.
So last night we delivered our gifts. Everyone was so touched and surprised at receiving gifts of thanks, that it gave us all a warm feeling of happiness and satisfaction that our tradition is appreciated. I was grateful to have my children part of this process in buying, wrapping, making cards of thanks, and giving. I feel that it has taught them to love and appreciate their teachers and friends.
I am truly grateful for all the trials and tribulations that 2010 has brought to my life. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't be so grateful to be where I am right now. I am so thankful to all the people who I have crossed paths with and for their examples that they have bestowed upon me. I am thankful for my calling and for the great presidency that I work with. They are such an inspiration to me. I have learned something great from each and every one of them. I am grateful to be an instrument to God in working with 30 beautiful young women. They try me at times, but I have learned to love and know each one of them individually. I am most grateful for my children and my husband. They are my life! They are what has kept me going and continue to make me want to strive to be a mother/wife of Zion. I love my family, friends and the wonderful religion that I have been blessed to be raised in.
Happy Thanksgiving!! Now eat, drink plenty or water and get ready for Black Friday...LOL! Love you all!

We are the Champions, We are the Champions...

Today was my sons East little league's CHAMPIONSHIP banquet! My son plays for East and my husband coached their defense. I was a little reluctant to even have my son play this year, because last year East was totally unorganized. But you know my hubby is a die hard football fan, so he won. Well it was such a fun year! My son ran the ball and made touchdowns, tackled people so hard, I wondered if he himself wasn't hurt and made some lasting friendships with his teammates. Junior is the only boy in our family. So you'd understand why he loved going to football and hanging out with the boys for 4 hours a day! He didn't know what to do with himself last week, because football was over...LOL! But his Gremlin team won their CHAMPIONSHIP and it was the most AWESOME game ever. It was one of those can't sit down want to jump in the game and play type of games for me...hahaha. I know crazy huh! My voice was gone at the end of that game and I had a huge rush of energy when they WON!
I am so proud of my husband for being there for my son as well as his team throughout the season. He only missed one game, our anniversary weekend, which was a huge sacrifice for him. Solomon took his coaching "job" very seriously and hated when anyone would score on his defense. Even when East won, if someone scored on his defense that was all he could think about til the next game. My brother Lame said to him, "Dang boy, your defense only allowed 58 points TOTAL for the season. That's a lil over one touchdown a game." Sol was all proud, grinning from ear to ear! They played 11 games, lost 1 game and shut out 5 teams. I would have to say CONGRATULATIONS to my defense coach....hahaha!
Today at the banquet which was held at Rocky Mountain Pizza, they had the championship game playing while we were eating and then after the award ceremony, we watched a slide show. My daughter Jasmine turned and said to me, "I'm gonna miss football season." Awww, we had such a good year and I hope this team stays together for many years to come! "WHO ARE, WHO ARE, WHO ARE WE?? WE ARE, WE ARE, WE ARE EAST!

Just Me!

I was invited to a blogging G.N.O. and in order to enter the party, you had to bring a blog written about you without stating if you were married or had children. It was a guessing game so that we could get to know one another. This was my blog:


How do I describe myself without stating my marital status or whether I have children or not? This is a tough one for me. My whole identity is family. This post is taking me out of my comfort zone and enabling me to realize that I am more than that…

~I am a daughter of goodly parents who I love and who love me dearly.

~I am blessed to have been born into the covenant of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

~I am of ethnic background and my life stems from the culture that was planted in me at such an early age. (Whether I want to admit it or not…hahaha)

~I come from a very humorous bunch of siblings, who brighten my day through talk, text and Face book!

~I have not always stayed on the straight and narrow, but quickly learned that repentance is truly a gift that I should not take for granted, but to be grateful for.

~I love to be home. It is my safe haven and a great comfort to me. It is slowly but surely becoming my Heaven on earth.

~I have always had an imagination and I lose myself in books. Some say I’m a bookworm, I say I’m just having fun…LOL!

~I was blessed with the gift of listening, but I seldom listen to myself. (A goal that I’m trying to self-master)

~I am a shy girl around everyone, even my family. I’m weird like that.

~I enjoy life, whether I am sitting at home or relaxing with family and friends. But nothing beats a GirlsNightOut.!

My Gabriella!

I cannot believe my baby is 2 years old today. She is absolutely adorable. Gabby brightens every ones day when she's around. She is just so dang cute. Gabby loves to dance. She recently started mimicking us or anyone who dances around her. It's so funny to watch her try to do a Polynesian dance, hip hop dance, even the cha cha cha. I'm going to have to video tape her. Like I said she's so dang cute. Gabby has all of us in our household wrapped around her little fingers. She gets what she wants when she wants. She tries to get her way with her cousins who are her age and they won't stand for it. She becomes so undercover and "pretends" that she didn't hit them, but is always so quick to say, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." She's so dang cute...LOL. But really those are her favorite words, 'I'm sorry.' She is very loving and caring towards everyone. She is always wanting to take care of you if you're hurt or if you look like you've had a hard day. I love this about her. I am so grateful to have her in my life. She is my little curly girl. I love you Gabby!! Love mommy.

My Ebony!!

6 years ago today my Ebony was born. She came into this world weighing a whopping 9lbs 2oz. Crazy, I know. As you can imagine, the labor was painful. But the only painful thing about Ebony is the volume she uses to speak. OMG, she wasn't only my biggest baby, but she also has the biggest mouth! You would've never thought this was so when she was younger, because she was so quiet. She was raised by the TV, and so she has quite the imagination. Seriously, I love that she can just entertain herself, without a cell phone, radio, TV, or even toys. She has imaginary friends and its so funny to watch her feed, talk and play with them. Everybody loves Ebony. She is so entertaining and so fun to be around. She is the life of the party without even knowing it! She makes friends wherever we go. From the post office to the park, Ebony tends to make friends with anyone and everyone. I love this girl and feel that she is everything that I'm not, but wish to be. She is so sure of herself in everything she does. She doesn't like to play sports, clean, or sit still. All Ebony likes to do is PLAY and annoy her siblings....LOL! I'm so grateful to have her in my life. She is my lil white girl and I love her soooooooo very much. I LOVE YOU EBONY!! Happy 6th Birthday! Love Mommy.

My Jas....

Today Jasmine turns 10! She is my lil spunky monkey. I love this girl to death. Every year we have made it a tradition to come to Hawaii for Jasmines birthday which is on the 4th of July. We tell her that the fireworks off the beach are just for her. She absolutely loves it and so do the rest of my kids. We camp on the beach the night before and then spend the whole day at the beach swimming and bbq-ing. The night ends with a movie played on this huge screen and then fireworks. Jasmine loves it all! We are out here in Hawaii right now. Jasmine was put into a basketball camp for the weekend. She is very competitive and LOVES sports. No matter if we are in Utah or here in Hawaii, everyone who knows her, knows she loves to play ball and will do whatever they can to get her involved where they are at. What makes it even better, is that she loves it and never lets them down.
Jasmine doesn't only love sports, but she loves her family. She is very protective. If anyone does anything to hurt them, she is always the first one there to protect them. Aunt, uncle, mom, dad, cousins, siblings, grandma, grandpa....she will fight for any one of them. At the same time, she is also very sensitive. She does not like to be brought down. She'll fight her tears til the bitter end, and when she does break down...she breaks down!
I love you Jasmine and I'm grateful that you chose me, to be your mother. It's an honor for me and I adore you. I hope you have a wonderful 10th birthday.!! Ummma from Gabby!!