President Gordon B Hinckley

I just had to take a second and pay tribute to Gordon B Hinckley. For those of you who don't know who he is, he was the prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Saints, (the Mormon Church) for the past 12 years. He was an amazing man and someone that we both admired very much. His optimism was contagious and he always gave us so much hope, despite this troubled world. His work for the growth of the church was incredible and his enthusiam for life and confidence in the members of the church inspired us to always try a little harder. We are really sad tonight as we learn of his passing. I am happy for him that he is with his wife now, but sad that we will not be blessed by his presence anymore. He was truly one of our heroes!

Water Safety

Okay, I have no idea how to post a video on my blog, but I hope this link will work. My friend just sent this video to me and while it drove me CRAZY to watch, it really amazed me at what little ones can do. I have a huge fear of having a child drown and I though this was really reassuring that kids can be taught to survive a fall into water. So I am passing it along. I checked out the website and it is based in AZ, but once they have 30 parents sign up in an area, they will send an instructor. Anyway, I just thought it was interesting. http://www.childdrowningprevention.com/index.html

High School Flashback

Aaron and I were in the car yesterday when we found a 80s/90s radio station that took us back to our high school days. I know this is going to date me, but we had so much fun listening to these songs, so I had to post s few on my blog. I am proud to say that Aaron and I both knew every word to the LL Cool J song- I Need Love. What can I say? We were meant for each other!

Happy New Year!

This is one of my favorite times of the year! I love new beginnings and I love having been with family and celebrating the holidays. We had a great time in UT and CA with our families. Here are a few of the highlights!

Cousins and Best Buds!

Of Course, a magical trip to Disneyland
With Grandma and Grandpa at Disneyland
Hallie preparing for an emergency with her 72 hr kit from Nana and Papa

Handpicked gifts for Nana and Papa- Nemo and Little Mermaid games
Best Buddies again!

Little aprons handmade by grandma
Aaron's remote control helicopter stuck on the roof!

Gingerbread Houses
Christmas Eve PJs
A White Christmas
Christmas Caroling at the Old Folk's Home on Christmas Eve

Maggie's first time not crying with Santa

Christmas Festivities

We have ssen Santa, decorated the Christmas Tree and even had a few visitis from the elves! Hallie had her pre-school program last week. We made it for "We Wish You a Merry Christmas", the last song of the program, but luckily Hallie was happy with that. Between the ice storm, having to stop every 4 minutes to scrape the windows, and the car breaking down, I guess we should consider it lucky that we made it for any of it. We are getting so excited to see family for Christmas. Just a few more days!

So it has been a while since I have been on and I want to add a few pictures from Thanksgiving. We went to UT to stay in a cabin with my family and we had so much fun! We played Ticket to Ride and Guitar Hero and stayed in our pajamas. It was great. We also got see Aaron's family and we surprised his mom! Her face was priceless! It seems like we have been so busy lately that it is hard to get in the Christmas Spirit. I need to do something to make it feel like Christmas. Any ideas?

The Strong Clan

Up at the Cabin

GingerBread Houses

Our family

The big surprise

Christmas Fun!

I know that I havn't written forever! I have been crazy busy, but I am getting back on board. I have some fun pics to post, I just don't have time right now, so check back soon. But I do have one thing to share. I think that I have a new favorite, (at least among the favorites) Christmas tradition. Click on this link to see it! http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1401555303