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.