Merry Christmas

Last night I had the opportunity to watch the broadcast of the First Presidency Christmas message. I am always touched by the humility and love of these brethren, especially when they testify of our Savior and His birth. I believe it was President Uchtdorf who described the simplistic surroundings of the first Christmas. He was not born in a mansion with fine silk and a warm bed. Instead, He was born in a manger and wrapped in swaddling clothes. The birth and life of Jesus Christ is the most important event that occurred in history and yet it was accompanied by the most humble of surroundings, I love that simple lesson. If those surroundings were enough for Him I imagine a humble Christmas celebration should be enough for me. I am grateful for the reminder that the real and only important gift was already given so many Christmas' ago. I imagine the best way to celebrate His birth is by following His example and serving others, I hope we can all find more joy this season by doing that!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

*If you missed the broadcast you can watch it at www.lds.org!

How Much Pie Should One Person Eat?

Riley and I haven't been up to too much except for eating 2-3 pieces of PIE every night for the past week! You might think I'm kidding but it's true we have been pie eating fools - but if we can't do it during the holidays when can we?

The three of us on Thanksgiving day. We were with the Peck fam on Thursday. We spent ALL day eating, looking through the ads and playing at a school's gym. Randy surprised all of us with a Christmas bonus for Mountainland Exteriors (his business). Randy and Diane are so generous Riley and I are so grateful for the extra money!

We played in a gym and Riley was pushing Kennady around in this garbage can - I'm sure it was clean. She thought it was so funny. The other neices and nephews wanted to do the same thing but unfortunately they fell face first on the tile floor - it didn't work out very well for them :(

We played dodgeball and as you can tell the guys didn't take it easy on any of us...they threw so hard and fast that I spent all of my time in prison.

Friday we spent another Thanksgiving with the Perry family at my church. We played a bunch of crazy games - the Perry family is sure a riot to be with!

One of the games that we played was Human Paper, Rock, Scissors. You can imagine how silly this game can be especially with a bunch of silly adults...unfortunately in our fun we trampled a few kids - oh well parents need to have fun too!

It is definitely safe to say that my favorite thing about Thanksgiving is BLACK FRIDAY. The Peck women sure know how to shop. We begin at 4am and usually collapse late that afternoon. All of the Peck women participate and are assigned a HOT item to run after and retrieve. This year I give the MVS (Most Valuable Shopper) to Lexi. She sacrificed her fingers and almost her life to get a KitchenAid - thanks for the good memories ladies!Lexi the MVSThe Goods

We are smiling in front of Target, mainly because we weren't waiting in the huge line to enter the store. I'll tell you a secret all civility goes out the windo on Black Friday - the Peck women butt in line. Yikes, don't tell anyone!

Every year Riley puts up a Christmas Village underneath our Christmas tree...we never thought much of it until this year now that Kennady is around. It was pure torture for her not being able to touch EVERYTHING! At first we thought it was cute that she was helping Riley...After a while we got sick of telling her, "No, no..." or "Be careful that could break...", etc. We did what any parent would do and placed our cute little daughter in a plastic tub to keep her away from the village pieces. She didn't let that stop her though...She eventually got the Gum Drop Tree and brought it into the plastic tub with her...she was sure it was real candy until she plucked on off and ate it :) Luckily, she took it right out after she tasted it!
Kennady is giving Riley a hug for saving her from the plastic prison... I've been really impressed ever since the village was finished she has only touched it once - I'm sure it is tempting but she justs sits and stares at it! Thanks Riley for the fun tradition.

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season!

First Snowman of the Year

For those of you who don't know I live in my grandparent's basement. It has been wonderful to live here and to have a close relationship with them. I have come to admire them even more with everything they teach me. Kennady has also loved living with Grandma and Grandpa. They adore her and she TOTALLY adores them. She refuses to come to me if she is with Grandma Lucy - they are definitely best buds. Anyway the other morning when it snowed my Grandma was outside shoveling so Kennady and I came to help and the three of us ended up making a snowman instead.

Kennady really wanted to help but she couldn't figure out how to walk or even sit in the snow. Once she realized what we were doing she started patting some snow to make the head - it was pretty cute!

Grandma Lucy and Kennday

I think she was sad because she just knocked off the arm of our snowman -

how terrible after all of her hardwork :)

Keep Up The Good Work...

Kennady is helping Riley study for a test.....
Most of you know that Riley is finishing up the last year of his Bachelor's degree at the U. He is graduating in Biology which has caused him to take some very trying classes. I always thought my degree in Mathematics was somewhat difficult...Ha! I didn't know difficult until I looked at one of Riley's textbooks! The stuff he is required to know and the terms he has to understand, let alone PRONOUNCE, are out of this world. Literally, I wouldn't be surprised if some of the terms and words he uses are from a long lost language off of the planet Saturn. For the past few months the hustle and bustle of Riley's life has stepped up a notch or two. He is currently working for the Division of Wildlife Resources 10-20 hours a week, working for Mountainland Exteriors at night, as well as his new position this semester at the Museum of Natural History as an assistant to a Professor which is an additional 15 hours a week. He recently studied for and took the GRE (entrance exam for graduate school). A little side note about the GRE we received his scores back and we couldn't have been happier with the results. The scores were right where they needed to be to make his application competitive - way to go Riley! He is currently emailing professors and researching different topics for his Master's project as well as applying to five different schools for Fall 2009. He is dealing with all of this in addition to the difficulty and stress that a typical semester of college provides. Wow...who needs a nap after hearing all of that? Riley, I am so proud of you. I am constantly amazed with your ability to handle the stresses of life with perfect balance and ease. With so many areas fighting for your time and attention I know your faith and family are always in the forefront. I admire your commitment even when times get difficult and our goals seem out of reach. Thank you for working so hard to provide for our family and to prepare for our future. We have many adventures coming our way and I can't wait to experience them with you! I love you.

YES on PROP 8!

I usually keep my blog light and fluffy without a lot of opinions and feelings. However, today I want to talk about Proposition 8. I was anxious all night to hear the results of the Proposition in California. This morning I sat down at my computer and the first thing I did was check the polls. To my pleasant surprise the most recent results show that the majority of Californians have voted to ban same sex marriage. Wow!?! Who would have thought? I am so grateful for those who voted based on their moral beliefs and not on the popular trends of this generation. In my short life I have seen a rapid increase in the deterioration of values and moral beliefs and I have felt uncertainty for my children's future amid so much corruption. I know many of you can relate with my feelings and concerns as a parent. I feel a sacred responsibility to lead, teach and set the example of righteousness for my children so they will be armed with confidence and peace throughout their life. I have always known that this peace can only be found in my membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and through faith in my Savior. Even with that knowledge I have felt bombarded with opposition from all areas of life mainly the media. The media in all of it's forms; television, fashion styles, movies, hollywood, magazines and music, the internet and even the news. I have looked outside of family and friends and thought where have all of the good people gone? Where are the people that will oppose all of the ugliness on television and on our movie screens? Where are those that still believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman? Where are those that believe children should enter this world with two loving parents who are legally joined as husband and wife? I guess the answer to these questions is that the good people are still here and the proof is with Proposition 8. When it really mattered and our standards were called out on the carpet those who believe in the true definition of marriage responded and the prayers of so many were answered. I am grateful for the many who spent their time and money to get the Supreme Court decision overturned and the true sanctity of marriage restored to men and women. I am grateful to them for preserving all that is good in this world for my children and their future. Thank you everyone who helped on Prop 8 I am forever grateful to you.

SUPER PECKS!!!

Let's just say I went a little over the top this Halloween. I couldn't help it though I'm always looking for ways to embarrass Riley and I think tights were the perfect ticket this year! Actually, Ri didn't put up much of a fuss when he found out about the tights - should I be worried? My Grandma had a ton of extra fabric so it made it easy to throw some costumes together and spend close to nothing for them - thanks Grandma!

"Two of these things are not like the others....." just kidding Ang! My sister had her two boys be cowboys while the other kids were all super heroes. It would be interesting to see who would win a brawl two cowboys with guns or six super kids....hmmm. Diana sewed the other five super kid costumes - I owe the cute idea to her.

We began the night by carrying Kennady around while trick or treating...... After some time she chose to walk rather than let us carry her....

She then realized that Riley and I were only holding her back and she was off on her own with her bucket and all....

Riley and I couldn't believe that Kennady ditched us so soon on her very first Halloween I thought that might happen when she turned 15 YEARS not 15 MONTHS! ( I know we don't look sad but we were crying inside )

Here is Kennady the morning after Halloween still high on her candy intake - it was 8:30am and Riley insisted on letting her eat a Kit Kat and some candy corns as a reward for her hard work the night before. Thank you Kennady (and Rem) for trick or treating all night so Riley and I can refill our candy supply :)

I think Randy looks pretty good with blonde hair - but really ANY hair would be nice :) I absolutely love Halloween with the Peck family. Everyone dresses up and we spend the night handing out hot dogs to the trick or treaters.

Laurie made Jacey's cute witch costume - it was absolutely adorable! Luckily she promised me that Kennady can borrow it when she is older.

Lexi was a poodle skirt gal and Courtney was some country singer that I've never heard of before...not surprising I'm really out of the "cool music" loop these days. I spend my time enjoying Wee Sing Silly Songs and the Children's Primary Song Book.

Katie and Reagan said next year that they'll have cute matching costumes. I can't blame them they are still newleyweds and hardly thinking about silly things like Halloween costumes!
Grandma and George they were awarded the scariest costumes thanks to good old Wallie's World

Last but not least here is my brother in law, Dave. Well, well, well what do I say about Dave? In the past he has been the Joker with a tight green spandex outfit and Napolean Dynamite with huge hair and big glasses. This year we were all disappointed in his lack of participation. I know I'm not supposed to do this Dave but I ADMONISH you to do a little better next year so you are picture worthy. (This picture was taken months ago since I didn't take one of him on Halloween due to his lame non-existent costume).

I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe holiday...HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Pumpkin Patch and Wedding Pictures (Below)

Every year the Peck family has the first FHE in October at the pumpkin patch! It is a fun tradition that we all look forward too!Leave it to Carter to pull a funny face there is no doubt he is his Father's son!
I love this picture because it expresses Kennady's true feelings about my obsessive picture taking. This was the seventh picture in the same spot and I'm sure she's thinking, "Enough is enough...."
Uncle Reagan was pushing her around like a little pumpkin...she loved it.
The fam. I love Kennady's smile and how she is so willing to share it I love to pinch her chubby little cheeks! However, we are all "extra" smiley in this picture because Laurie came up with a very unusual but funny sound to get us to laugh - thanks Laur!
Nana and Papa with the grandkids, Jacey was having one of those emotional female days - we are all entitled to them every so often.

Here Comes The Bride...

This weekend Reagan and Katie were sealed in the Mount Timpanogos Temple. The wedding festivities began with a wedding dinner on Thursday night. The Peck family sure knows how to throw a great party! We had the dinner at the North Hampton Inn in American Fork. The food was absolutely FANTASTIC! They had two options; steak and chicken cordon bleu. I chose the chicken and it was honestly the size of my calf and the steak was almost the size of my foot - Riley and I were in heaven! After a delicious meal we had the traditional wedding toasts where everyone gives advice and usually sheds a tear or two. However, Reagan wanted to spice up the party a bit and throw in some Greek traditions (Reagan's mom is Greek). After each toast the "toaster" had to break a plate by throwing it on the ground. Diane found the plates for only $0.50 which is a great deal except they were almost a 1/2" thick - some had to try multiple times for the plate to finally shatter - it was hilarious! The next morning we had a beautiful ceremony at the temple. It is a favorite of mine to attend the wedding ceremony and to enjoy the spirit inside of the temple. The sealer gave some beautiful but very simple advice to Reagan and Katie. He advised that they lose themselves in the service of one another, he also adviced that they compliment and express their love often and easily. He counseled them to attend the temple frequently with one another and to set an example for their children. He reiterated many times how important it is to follow the example of those who have gone before and to continue to set an example for their children who will follow. I treasure moments like this because they are simple reminders to me of my many blessings. Riley, Kennady and my family are everything to me and because of the sealing power we will be together forever and to me that is exactly what heaven should be!I think the wedding colors were beautiful and fit a fall wedding perfectly. The men had brown tuxes and the girls were in champaign, gold and pink. We had some scary moments with the bridesmaid tops but thanks to Cindy (my neighbor) and a long day of shopping we found something that wouldn't be humiliating! I really thought everything looked beautiful that night at the reception.
Here is my cute little Kennady Lou! I think I kissed her cheeks off that night - she looked adorable. Thanks to my girlfriend all of the flower girls had matching bows and pearl bracelets - they looked so cute!
Here are the handsome men - Reagan wanted the groomsmen in cowboy boots which sounds silly but I thought their whole get up looked fantastic!
My little family - if it looks like we are freezing it's because we are! Luckily, the outdoor wedding was moved indoor so we only had to endure the cold for the pictures. Thank you Randy, Diane, Annie and Sam for a wonderful wedding weekend! Everything flowed so well and will be a wonderful memory for all of us! Also, congratulations Katie and Reagan! Like they care though they are on their honeymoon and I'm sure checking blogs will be the last thing on their mind :)

To Murder or Not To Murder...That is the Question

Many of you are aware of my husband's love for hunting (aka murdering). I knew this was something he enjoyed before marriage and I was willing to accept it with open arms. He has always invited and encouraged me to accompany him on his hunting trips and so I have grown to LOVE hunting with him. I think the reason is in four years I have ALWAYS missed the actual kill of the animal. So hunting was more like a beautiful ride through the mountains looking for beautiful animals - enjoyable right? I was sure naive to think my lucky and bloodless streak could continue for much longer. Last weekend Riley took Kennady and myself on an antelope hunt let's just say not one, not two, not three but FOUR dead antelope later I think I had hit my limit of death for a VERY long time. Let me just say that my hot dog in my chili dog was left untouched that night for dinner. No matter how unappetizing this experience was I will still support Riley, I'll just make sure the killing happens when I am not around :)The men and their kill...ugh!
Brandon, Riley, Reagan, Cory
These boys are just so fun that even though there was a lot of blood that weekend they made it enjoyable - thanks guys!

We slept in Brandon and Lizzie's tent trailor. I have been converted and someday when Riley and I have money we will get one that king sized bed was heavenly!
We drove around in this truck looking for the antelope. That of course got uncomfortable on the bumpy roads so someone came up with the idea to place our chairs in the back, Could we be anymore "White Trash"? However, our comfort was first priority and we hunted the hills in style!
I think Kennady supports her Dad's hunts 100% she smiled the whole trip!
There is nothing like a family photo with a dead animal - a little morbid don't you think?