A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS...

My Christmas Angels

Christmas Sunday dresses

Our neighbor played Santa at his house for the neighborhood kids


Faiths FAVORITE THING...

More CHRISTMAS Stuff...

Saturday Faith had her Christmas dance concert. She did REALLY GOOD! If I can figure out how to download the video of her dancing Ill post it later.

Last night Ronnie and I went to the ASU Gammage with eight of my family members to see the Forgotten Carols. It was awesome this year! Jordan Bluth sang a lot of the numbers. Jordan's family was in my ward when I was growing up and you may know some of his younger siblings that went to Highland with us. Sometimes I have a hard time getting in the REAL Christmas spirit. All the hustle and bustle can be distracting but the Carols ALWAYS hit the spot!

'TIS THE SEASON...

PARTY I

Thursday night we went to Ronnie's family annual Longhurst Christmas party at Jason's house. We ordered pizza, played games and ate dessert.

Ronnie playing "Santa Says" (instead of "Simon Says") with the kids.


Faith had fun trying to "pin the nose on Rudolph"


PARTY II

Saturday night Ronnie and I went to a Christmas party hosted by some friends in our ward. Everyone brought an appetizer to share. The food was YUM-O and it was great to mingle with our "adult" friends!


PARTY III

Last night we hosted my family's annual "Grannie" Christmas party at our house. We had our program on "the true meaning of Christmas" and played games. This party ALWAYS ROCKS because we have the BEST mexican food!

FYI

Faiths Christmas dance concert is next Sat the 15th at Highland High at 1:00pm. Tickets are being sold at Dance Energy or at the door the day of the concert.

What?

I went to check on Jaylee this morning (she was sleeping) and this is what I found:) How did she ever get her arm out of her sleeve and then up through the neck?

UNTRADTIONAL THANKSGIVING

THANKSGIVING DAY we had a yummy feast with Ronnie and his extended family. Aunt Eileen made her homemade chicken and noodles. THE BEST! Uncle Gerald made brussels sprouts, my first time trying them and they are SOOoo good! After pie Ronnie and his dad left for an Elk hunt. Ronnie could be gone as long as two weeks:( The girls and I went up north with my parents and my aunt and her family until Saturday.

TONIGHT we celebrated thanksgiving here at my house with my family. LOTS of WORK but LOTS of FOOD and FUN! I even made uncle Gerald's brussels sprouts:)

MONDAY Jaylee started with the flu. It has been NONE stop throwing up and laundry for the last week. I thought we were in the clear when we left Thursday, boy was I wrong! On top of Jaylee STILL having the flu, Faith and my aunts little boy Chance both came down with it too. Not your ideal thanksgiving/road trip. This evening both of the girls SEEM to be feeling better. I am just crossing my fingers that the flu bug will pass me by, especially with Ronnie out of town.

SENTIMENTAL TIME...
I'm thankful for Faith, her name alone is my everyday reminder to keep the faith.
My Jaylee, I have never loved brown eyes until I looked into hers.
My husband, just thinking about him right now made me chuckle:)
My family who would do ANYTHING for me and who have already done EVERYTHING!
My in laws, I know they love me because I can FEEL it and it feels good!
The gospel, that feeds me everyday.
My home, HOME spells it all.
I am thankful for ALL of my countless blessings!

I hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving!

Ronnie's Birthday

1st Birthday Party

2nd Birthday Party

our nephew Brody shares the same birthday as Ronnie:)

Monday was Ronnie's 29th birthday. Sunday night we had a birthday party at our house with my family. Yesterday we went to the movies with our girls and Ronnie's parents. We saw Fred Claus, it was a really cute show. Afterwards we had dinner at Ronnie's favorite place, El Charro. Then we had a second birthday party at Ronnie's parents for Ronnie and Brody. HAPPY BIRTHDAY RONNIE!

Trick or Treat

Jaylee trying to find her way out of her costume

Faith loved passing out the candy to trick or treaters

Ronnie feeling the Halloween spirit

we started the night off with our traditional soup bread bowls that look like pumpkins. Filled with yummy potato soup and chili

Faith on her way to her preschool Halloween party

Faith having fun at Trunk or Treat last week

TEN YEAR HIGH SCHOOL REUNION & more...

Our senior year book photos...think we've changed?


10th grade valentines dance
a quick photo before we left. My hubby is still one HOT BABE!
Schenpf Farms
Faith & Chance



This weekend was mine and Ronnie's ten year High school reunion. After MUCH deliberation I am really glad that we decided to go. It was fun to see how people have changed and how some people will never change. I won a three day two night trip in the raffle drawing, talk about my lucky night!

We also went to Schnepf farms and had a not so great time (both of the girls are sick). We cut it short after a long two hours.

Faith and her cousin Chance had their primary program today. Ronnie taught Faith how to lip sink before we left for church, thanks Ronnie! Faith sure is good at an EXAGERATED lip sink:)

I also checked out the new mall this weekend. I cant wait to go back. The atmosphere and stores are awesome! It will be my new favorite spot (at least six months out of the year). The new mall is outdoors. You gotta go!

missing post

I was playing around on my dashboard and accidentally erased my Wedding Tag post:( I would post it again but I still wouldn't have all of your nice comments. I keep telling myself that I need to print as I blog and put it in a binder. I am terrible about keeping a journal and so I consider this as my journal.

Beautiful Scenery

We all got a kick out of seeing these cowboys round up their cattle.

We left Thursday night for "little red" because Ronnie had a turkey tag. We were just up there two weeks ago and the landscape has completely changed. It is always beautiful there but this time the leaves on the Aspens had changed to gold and were starting to fall from the trees. Ronnie shot his turkey early Friday morning so we had the rest of the weekend to do whatever:) Saturday night my cousin Shanna who lives in Show Low had us over for a family BBQ. What a great party!

Pay It Forward

Friday night Ronnie, the kids, & I ate dinner at San Tan Flats with my aunt and my grandparents. I have been there once before but only inside. This time we ate outside & it is the coolest place! It has a stage with a live band and little fire pits all around where kids were roasting marshmallows. Now that the weather has cooled off I can see us eating there a lot!
Saturday while checking out at Costco I found out that my membership card was expired. That was an ordeal, trying to get a manager to let me go ahead & make my purchase. I went straight from Costco to Walmart for some more groceries. After walmart I pulled into the chickfila drive through, after sitting there forever I decided to drive to the chickfila on Power & Ray instead. Once I got to the window to pay I couldn't find my wallet. Yep, I left it at Walmart, the worst place in the world to loose your wallet. I drove insanely fast back to walmart, running a red arrow & turning right on a, no turn on red, all the while thinking about my debit card, our business credit card and gas card, temple recommend, gift cards to Dillard's and Express a receipt to BabiesRus for a expensive return I haven't made yet, how Ronnie was going to tease me....my whole life seams to be in my wallet. I pealed into the parking lot where I found my shopping cart right where I had left it but NO wallet. I jumped back into my Tahoe & pealed into a handicapped space. As I was looking at the $100 fine & the handicap sign I thought "I am the last person who deserves to get my wallet back." I grabbed Faith & sprinted into walmart. Somebody had turned my wallet in! I really think that had my wallet not been there I would have burst into tears. Immediately I wished they could announce over the loud speaker a BIG THANK YOU from me. Unfortunately they don't do things like that. I will never be able to thank that person but I can PAY IT FORWARD by being honest myself and serving others.
It turned out to be a great Saturday because after that Ronnie & I got to go on a well OVERDUE date. I cant remember the last time we went out but I know it was sometime before May. I had my first babysitter ever! A girl in our ward watched our kids while we went to dinner & a movie. I was so nervous (hence why I have never had a sitter over before) I only called her three times in the 4 1/2 hours that we were gone. I don't know what I was worried about because Faith had a blast & Jaylee was sound asleep when we got home. Ronnie & I saw Game Plan, it was such a funny movie & fun to watch the ROCK, hehe:)
Conference weekends are always special too! I remember as a kid I thought conference was SOOoo boring but now as an adult I sincerely enjoy the talks, they are so uplifting. There is also something about hearing conference throughout the house & smelling something good baking in the oven that reminds me of being a kid & I love recreating it in my own home. After conference today I had my family over for dinner.
A crazy but lovely weekend at home.

P.S. I got the coolest pumpkins at Sprouts this weekend. I call them "vintage pumpkins" and I cant wait to decorate with them!

Southwest Art Museum Field Trip

Yesterday Ronnie went with Faith on her school field trip to the Southwest Art Museum in Mesa. They had fun looking at dinosaur fossils and at the live dinosaur replicas. Faith got to pan for gold and Ronnie spoiled her at the museum gift shop!

MY FIRST BIRTHDAY!

Today is Jaylee's first birthday! Jaylee has three teeth, two bottom and one top. She's not walking yet, but that's alright:) She can say "more" and do the sign in sign language. She says "mama" and "dada","hi", and "bye bye". Although these words have all taken a back seat for her new FAVORITE word, "what". Jaylee has been a breeze, she has slept through the night since I brought her home. She is so easy going and has the best temperment. Jaylee is a picker eater, she will not drink any kind of juice and hates fruit. I just barley got her to start eating some apple sauce, I guess she will love her veggies like me:)Jaylee loves giving hugs! She has the darkest brown eyes I have ever seen and these long lashes that curl. There is something so special about her! She has definitely stole my heart. Happy Birthday Jay Bird!

TIME OUT FOR WOMEN

This weekend I went to Time Out For Women with my two aunts and my mother in law. When I saw that Michael McLean would be the host this year I KNEW I had to go. I have loved his music since I saw my fist Forgotten Carols when I was in high school. Ronnie gets a little annoyed that we listen to Christmas music year round but there is something about his music that just speaks to me. My cousin Jenny took a picture of me and Michael McLean! Cool cool! I saw people from my ward, people from high school, friends and family there!
There was such awesome talent. Great speakers and singers. Jason Deere has written songs for LeAnn Rimes, Jessica Simpson,SheDAISY and Rubberband. This man can sing himself! Jenny Frogley was wonderful! Merrilee Boyack was hilarious! She talked on marraige and lets just say I will be at Deseret bookstore very soon buying both of her books, Strangling Your Husband Is Not An Option and The Parenting Breakthrough. Dean Hughes is married to the prophet President Hinckley's daughter. Can you imagine...to be apart of that family?
I am SOOOoo glad that I went! I know I was MEANT to be there! I laughed hard and cried hard and feel recharged!

Soup Nazi

At the old stone chapel on main street in Snowflake is a monument. Here is a picture of Faith and Jaylee with my grandpa Merl. They are standing beside my grandpa's grandfather, Jesse N. Smith. Jesse N. Smith helped settle Snowflake and was also a 1st cousin to the prophet Joseph Smith.


Ronnie left last Wednesday to go hunting possibly until the 28th depending on when they get something. That's a total of 16 days! I am only on day 6 and things are going ok so far. This last weekend my family went up to the homestead so the kids and I were able to get out of town for the weekend, which helps the time go by faster. Saturday we spent half of the day in Snowflake. I love this town, it is so steeped with family history (on both my mother and fathers side). I used to spend my summers with my mom there when I was a kid. The second half of the day we spent in Show Low, we had a little lunch picnic (sonic) at the city park and let the kiddos run around. That night we all went to Pinetop and ate at the Pasta House. I had originally heard about this place from Allison and then later from several others. Ronnie and I had tried a couple of times to get in and never could. The owner of the restaurant is just like the Soup Nazi from the sitcom Seinfeld. I am a huge fan of the show and I have even seen Jerry perform his stand up live. Anyhow it was fun to eat there and it was delish too! Wouldn't recommend taking children though. They don't own a highchair so I had to hold Jaylee the entire time. Oh and don't take your cell phone in because she will throw you out, ban you from her restaurant and call the police. No joke. You have to try it! I had a great weekend!

IT WASN'T ME!

I have my TV room blocked off with gates and child proofed. It was a little too quiet so I went to see what Jaylee was up to. I found her standing in a puddle at the water cooler. (1)she learned how to escape around my gates (2) she now knows about the water cooler and how much fun it can be:)

BACK TO SCHOOL

Yesterday was Faiths first day back to preschool. This is her second year going to the same preschool. She loves going and I love that she loves it! Faiths cousin Kiley got to come over and play for a little while before she had to go to kindergarten. After I picked up Faith from preschool we picked up Chance from his school and headed to Gilbert because Faith has dance on Tuesdays. Faith dances with Vanessa Gissel (the best dance teacher in the world for little dancers)! It was a busy but very FUN day yesterday! I love busy fun days!

LABOR DAY WEEKEND

Thursday we left for "Little Red". Every year on Labor Day weekend Ronnie's family has their annual "Longhurst Family Reunion". They camp-out near Greens Peak which luckily is right around the corner from our little cabin so we don't have to rough it too much. Also my entire family goes to the Homestead which is also right around the corner. We were able to split our time between both places and really had a great weekend. Faith especially, had a blast with ALL of her cute cousins. Even Jaylee enjoyed exploring the outdoors. I got to spend Saturday evening shopping and eating dinner with my little sis who lives in Show Low. Sunday my cousin Chads wife Ashley, (who is an amazing photographer) after several months of trying to coordinate a time that we would both be at the Homestead was able to take our family pictures. I am so excited to see them! Thank you Ashley! Yesterday on the way home I got to stop on the side of the road and buy some roasted green chili's from Hatch New Mexico! Yum yum, cant wait to make and eat homemade green chili this week:)
P.S. Ronnie had the camera and video camera all weekend trying to capture a shot of a record breaking Elk (do you sense the sarcasm) :) I stole the camera and snapped these two pictures before we came home yesterday.

FAITHS 1ST DADDY DAUGHTER HUNTING TRIP

My little Faithy then & now


Friday Ronnie and Faith went to "Little Red" for the weekend, just the two of them. I closed my eyes and crossed my fingers that Faith would make it back in one piece. I still haven't gotten over me coming home from work when Faith was only three months old and finding her home ALONE! That's right, not a typo, Ronnie left our baby home alone.(Sorry Ronnie) Anyhow, this was their first alone trip together and yes she is home safe and sound tonight. Few! This was a much needed trip for Faith, from the very beginning Faith has been a daddy's girl! From what I hear they had a great time visiting with my sister and her two little kids in Show Low, riding on our Ranger, eating all our favorite restaurants, hunting today with Jesse and his little boy Colby and even shooting a coyote! I enjoyed a little quiet time and ran some errands that I have put off for months because its too hard dragging two kids around.