Um...so it really is broken :(

Shawn had a rough night sleeping, his foot really started to hurt. So he decided to go to the Dr. And guess what, it was brokend :(

 This is the stages his foot took...rolled ankle, swollen, walking boot!

Thanksgiving...Stuart style!

This years Thanksgiving celebration was a little different. Both sets of Grandparents are serving LDS missions. My older sister, Jennifer, offered to host Thanksgiving at her house, or rather her church :) Even with my brother, Dustin, and his family missing, and the Grandparents, there were still 21 of us.

(All of us Stuart kids...missins Dustin and his family...so sad)

Last year we decided to stop doing "Christmas gifts" between the cousins and do a service project with the money we would have spent on a family gift. This year we helped make file folder games that are being sent to Vietnam, to teach children how to speak English.

 We also ate a lot...

This would be my nephew, Everett, drinking straight creme :)

And of course the men started the day off with a nice little game of basketball...Shawn sort of rolled his ankle. 

(Day one)

(Day two)

(Day three)

It isn't broken...just sprained. 

I also had the opportunity to run in a Turkey Trot that morning.

It was a good Thanksgiving...Jennifer did a fabulous job hosting. We have countless blessings to be thankful for, especially our amazing family!!! We missed Mom and Mike but were able to skype with them that morning. Next Thanksgiving Shawns parents will already be home...now that is crazy!

Music...it's a family thing :)

We went to an amazing album release this weekend as a family and I wanted to share the fun pictures we took and give a little review of the new album. Hope you enjoy!!

"Monsters" CD release by J.Wride

 (Kambree was Shawns date)

 (Austin was my date... yes he is showing you his bubble gum, awesome:)

(Paige and Shawntell brought their friends)

 This is the fabulous new CD...MONSTERS!!!

J.Wride consists of 4 members 

Jesse Wride:  piano/vocals

Austin Anderson : Drums

Court Eccles: Bass

Samuel J.Duke: Guitar/vocals

My short review of the CD (ok, it's not that short, but humor me and read all of it...please and thank you :)

1. Falling In = My favorite line "I'll be bold and I'll be brave and I'll be strong!". The piano in this song is crazy good...one of the main reasons I love this band is because of how talented they all are.

2. Monsters = This song is amazing on so many levels. Jesse does this rap/sing thing and his piano skills are flat out mind blowing. This song has a great way of creating visuals about the monsters we all have in our lives. There is a guitar part in this song that will blow you away. Plus the drums in this song are incredible! Shawn might have a small man crush on Austin the drummer haha. Paige said this song just makes her want to stand up and dance. p.s. if you listen really close you can hear a "growl" at the very end haha

3. In Time = This song is a slower ballad with deep meaning. One of my favorite lines is "We have been up and down again, we have been here and there again." It's a song you need to listen to over and over again to get the meaning.

4. Cold War 72 = This is a very relateable song, about a tragic breakup (we have all had a few). They played it as part of their encore on Saturday night. One of the things that impresses me so much about these guys is that they sound just as good live as they do on their CD, not the case with many other musicians/singers I have seen play live.

5.  Taken Back = Another great song! I love the bass in this one. This song also shows a great range of Jesse's vocals. And once again the lyrics are very intense and make you think...maybe a little too hard haha.

 (a couple pictures of the set up)

6. Spoken = This is my favorite song on the album, and I wanted to do the review of this song first but my OCD won't allow me to go out of order :) The piano in this song is almost angelic! It sounds like twinkling lights or stars (if that even makes sense) Listening to it will put a smile on your face. My favorite line is "I was spoken for when my heart and mind both went to war colliding with the sound of falling toward you."

7.  Killer = Now who doesn't love a good "break up song" as much as a "love song"? This is a very straight forward song about a pretty intense relationship ending...it is quite awesome!

8. The Super Hero Song = This is one of the coolest songs on the CD. We love to try to figure out how many comic book references there are in this song. Pretty sure we came up with 158, you should listen to it and see if you come up with the same number :) It has a great part towards the middle that says  it is his "theme song." It's one of the best piano solos on the album.

9. Halfway = This is probably my second favorite song. A song all about trying to do better and being better.  Getting past that "I am an idiot" stage in life (does that ever really happen??) My favorite line is, " I know God made me a fighter, but he must have pulled an all nighter that night." 

10. Sidewalks = They ended their CD with another great song! Just like all of their other songs, the lyrics are beyond amazing. They are not your typical band where the songs just repeat the same 7 words. They actually have meaning and depth to what they sing and play. This song is a great example of that. My favorite line says " Did we live just to learn...I never said what I wanted to say."

 (This is one of my favorite pictures...the bottom picture is of the girls at the last J.Wride album release in February of 2011. The top is the album release, November 2013. They grew up a little haha)

 ( yes I am a nerd mom and made them wear the same shirts just so I could take this picture...cuz that is my job)

We had a great night...as we always do at their concerts. They never disappoint! Not only are the guys from J.Wride our friends but we have made a lot of other friends by going to their shows. 

So, now that you have had a small glimpse into why we love this band so much you should go check them out on FB and their web site www.jwridemusic.com, they have the CD for sale and a lot of merchandise. With a whole family that enjoys their music  we pretty much own MULTIPLES of everything they have ever sold :) and when they have another concert... you all should come and party with us!!!

A little late...

This is how I have been feeling lately...like I am slightly late with so many things. I love blogging, but Instagram and Facebook seem so much faster. I get lazy and just post there.

Halloween came and went and I didn't even post a picture on here. Shawn's parents have been on their mission for 6 months already. Mom and Mike have already passed month one of theirs. Parent teacher conferences have already passed and I sit here wondering how that happened so quick. I have lots of great plans for things to do because my kids are all in school full time, but there is still not enough time. I volunteer at the school one day a week, I am the 2nd counselor in the Young Womens. Shawn got put in the Stake High Counsel, so Sundays we are super busy.  I babysit 2 kids before school, 2 kids from 1:30-5:30 every day. And another little girl on Friday afternoons. The older girls are in dance class. Kam is in a cheer/tumbleing class at the rec center. Austin just finished up flag football. The kids are in two different schools and their schedules are not the same. The older two have late start days and the younger two have early out days. Somewhere in all of this is me... I get lost in the randomness of being the mother at times. I still make sure to get my workout in, because even my kids can tell when I havn't been running haha. But there are days when someone will ask me "You are a stay at home mom, don't you get bored? Or, what do you do all day?" I truly just want to laugh at them. I know I have been very blessed to be a stay at home mom, we go without a lot of the worldly things just so I can be home when the kids leave for school and when they get home. They will only be at this stage one time, then it will be gone. Austins crohns has been in remission since September 1st, the greatest blessing ever! But I know it isn't perminant. There is no cure for crohns, he is still sick. So deep inside I also figure, there is no way I could get a regular 9 to 5 job becuase Austin will get sick again and I want to be the one who takes care of him. Life is just moving too fast. Paige is 14...before I know it she will be moving out, going to collage and starting her own real life :) I know this is all just a lot of rambeling, but it was on my mind. To tell the truth I do feel a little better haha...maybe I just need to go to a concert :D they always cheer me up. Anyways, here is the lost but not forgotten Halloween picture. Kambree is Little Red Riding Hood, Paige is "a page" from a book, her shirt has writing on it from a book, Shawntell is Catniss from Hunger games, and that would be Dr. Ashby.

Early Thanksgiving at Moms house

As many of you know, my mom and her husband Mike are getting ready to leave to serve an LDS mission in Nepal, India. 

My mom really wanted to have an early Thanksgiving because it is the next big Holiday that she will miss. So that is what we did :)

Both of my sisters and their families were there along with my little brother and his family. Mikes four children and their families also came to celebrate.

The only people missing were my brother Dustin and his family...they live far far away :( We did skype with them though, so that was good.

These are the oldest four granddaughters, aren't they beautiful!

 These two girls, Gracie and Kambree, clamped onto poor little Olivia and wanted to drag her everywhere they went. They enjoyed pretending they were her babysitters.

 Austin and I messing around on Moms piano :)

 We went up early and stayed late as per Moms request :) While we were waiting for the food to cook we helped Mom clean out some of the house. They are having people rent their house while they are gone, so she needed help moving furniture and cleaning.

While cleaning out one of the closets we found this container full of first aide stuff...from my DAD!!! The things in there were at least 10 years old!

Definitely picture worthy.

It was actually really fun going through all of Moms things. We helped her move her cedar chest and ended up emptying it out before it could be moved. Inside was a piece of frosting from her wedding cake...it is 39 years old!! I dared her to lick it, but she wouldn't haha.

We did find her wedding dress though and Paige, my niece MaKady and I tried it on. Aren't we such beauties...

(MaKady)

 (Me)

 (Paige)

 (this is the original...my mom and dad:)

Then we ate...way too much food :)

This is Grandpa Mike making the potatoes, his secret...lots and lots of butter!

And here is my nephew and I...I am teaching him how to eat a cupcake the right way, with a fork of course haha.

After we cleaned , moved furniture, and ate we took family pictures.

Here is mom with some of the boys...I am posting two pictures, just look at Austin's face...that kid has a hard time taking a normal picture.

Then we tried to get a picture of all the grand kids on my Moms side...

Slight problem...Meggan and Brock are missing in this one...

Then Kambree and Gracie were missing for this one. So we gave up.

Now for the adults...

Mike was trying to hide behind Mom :)

It was a fun day. I love spending time with my family. Mom and Mike will enter the MTC on Monday, October 7th and I miss them already. I am sure 18 months will go by really fast...so much can happen when you are literally half way across the world! Good thing we have Skype, too bad they won't have electricity all the time...oh what an adventure we are all in for.

Day #10 and #11--days of driving to HOME!

We left Chicago early and started west. No more toll bridges yeah!!!!

And yes I drove...once in awhile.

We saw this sign that said there was an exit called "Roscoe", that is my fathers name, so we took a picture of it :)

And here we enter Nebraska!

Day #11...this is what we did...watch T.V.

Then we were home! It was an amazing trip full of great adventures and loads of fun memories. We even came in slightly under budget...gotta love that! The kids did so well! They got a long with each other, they weren't cranky, they just enjoyed being with their cousins. I am so glad Shelley's family was able to go on this vacation with us. 

Hope you enjoyed our fun journey to Pennsylvania and beyond :)

 

Day #9...CHICAGO!!!!

So many people gave us a hard time about going to Chicago...It's so dirty...People are always getting murdered there...There is nothing fun to do there...It is so expensive there...and the list went on and on. I will just say this, I LOVED IT!!! We really did our homework and got the kids opinions of what to go do and see. I felt like it was one of the best parts of our trip and I would definitely go back. The only rules you should stick to are #1. Take lots of money (it really was expensive) #2. Stay at a hotel that is not right downtown. Ours was 12 miles out side of the city, and it was great #3. Do not stay out after dark #4. Do not walk under the freeway (this one was for you Shelley:)

We went to the Pier on our first full day there. There is so much to do here. The kids posed in front of a bunch of pirate statues with part of the city as the backdrop.

This is a great photo of the pier. We decided to take a ride on the ginormous Ferris wheel. So much fun...but if you are afraid of heights you might want o avoid this attraction.

 Shelley and her family.

 The girls and I were on one side, Shawn and the little two were on the other side. There was Plexiglas on all the sides of the ride...so no worries about falling out :)

This was our view from the top.

 

Then we went on the swings ride.

We ate lunch at the pier and the kids had their first "Chicago hot dog", they weren't that impressed. Then we went to the children's museum. It was huge inside. As my nephew Everett put it "it was like the Salt Lake City Children's museum on Crack".

 After the museum we went to the botanical gardens. The kids thought it was amazing that outside it was so windy and hot...and inside the garden it was humid and slightly cool. They had these neat water fountains that sprayed water from one flower bed to the other.

 Then we went to the "Willis Tower" or as most know it as "The Sears Tower". We took the little tour and then road the elevator 103 stories up to the observation deck.

 They have this glass hangover that you can look out over the city. It has a glass bottom too, so it feels like you are standing in the air and could fall 103 stories at any time.

 It sort of scared the kids...but really it wasn't that bad haha

  I had to do a handstand in the box to prove I wasn't scared :)

 After this we went back to the pier to get our car and decided to walk to the other end of the pier and take a few pictures.

We went back to the hotel, the kids were so wiped out! We ordered true Chicago style pizza...like $95 worth of pizza and the kids hated it! 

Oh well, now we know if we ever go back there, do not order anything that is authentic Chicago styled food. But on a positive note the hotel had a great swimming pool. The kids swam in it the first night we got in, the morning before we went to the pier, the night we came back from the pier and again the next morning before we began our long drive home.The extremely long drive home :(