Addresses

So I just decided today to do Christmas cards. Could you all please email me at sarahlebaron@hotmail.com and give me your addresses! Thanks!

Gingerbread Castles

Count on a house dominated by 3 chicks, to choose princess themed gingerbread houses! This is one of the highlights for me of the preChristmas festivities! There is always more licking than applying, but it makes for some fun memories! I love that my girls are both at the ages where they will start to remember things like this. It makes me feel sad that this is the fifth gingerbread house we've made with her. Where does the time go? I love Christmas! I wish that the next couple weeks could last for months!

Bentley- Before and After...

So when I signed up to get a "puppy" I thought hey how big could it get?... Well our "puppy" is now 6 months old, and is weighing in as of a few weeks ago at 55lbs. The vet is sure he will at least double that before he is full grown... Ya "puppy"! So here are a few updated pics. Despite his size, my girls think he is their horse. Bella is constantly laying all over him. He just lays there. He is soooo good with them. Bella tortures him. Poor dog!

Ouch!

Does anyone have a inflatable donut I can borrow? I finally gave in and went to a spinning class this morning... and all I can say is ouch! My bum was sore before we were even done with the warm-up, padded shorts and all. Everyone keeps saying after a couple of classes you bum develops caulouses, well I'm not so sure if I want my bum to have caulouses, but whatever helps!! I do have to admit that I did like it. Yes mike you were right it was an awesome workout! As a runner, I have not had the best attitude towards road bikers... its just when youve been running for an hour feeling a little tired and slow, when a biker flies by on his bike, I have often thought in my head "get off your bike and do some real cardio..." (not so nice i know) but I have to admit I did really like it and I think I might be getting bit by the biking bug! I just have to figure out how to clip in and out of the pedals without killing myself!!!

My New Discovery

So for years I have been trying (not very hard) to keep a journal. I have about 3 journal entries for the past year. Not doing so well. My sister told me about LDSjournal.com. It is so awesome. You can add pictures and go back and add entries about things you remember, you can do a profile with lots of fun questions about yourself. It is so great. I was wondering how I was going to keep up in my journal and blog, until I found that you can cut and paste blogging entries right into your journal! So I went back and did that with all my old entries. Now I can kill to birds with one stone and even add more detail or personal info into my journal if I wanted to. It has revolutionized journaling for me! It takes just a few seconds to keep up in a journal! You all probably have journals dating back to birth, but for those of you like me who are journally challenged, this is a great solution!!! Oh and it's free too!

Hint Hint....

Kate's Bedtime Prayers:
"Heavenly Father bless us so we can be safe and have fun on our Disney cruise"

Only too bad we are not going on a Disney Cruise. Do you think she is trying to tell us something?...

Trick or Treat!

We had so much fun this year. I decided to forgo the usual handing out candy while Mike took the girls out, and I went with them. Mostly because I did not want to hand out candy. Is that rude? Oh well. This was Bella's first official trick or treat. She loved it. She thought it was so fun to ring the doorbell. I think that would have been enough of a treat for her. She didn't care about the candy. She was a kitty, which is better than what she original wanted to be- a pirate. Luckily she loves cats and it was an easy negotiation. I love Halloween but am all partied out. Thank heavens that there are 365 days in a year!

Kate as Fancy Nancy!

For Halloween this year, Kate dressed up like Fancy Nancy. For all you moms out there who have girls, these are must haves in your library's. They are the cutest books and Kate is in love with them. They are about a little girl who loves to accessorize and use fancy words and she thinks she can speak french. They are so cute and describe our Kate to a "T" Maybe that is why she loves them so much! They sell the dress ups now at Target. She got lots for her B-day & couldn't wait to wear them for Halloween. She had a Halloween parade at school and I helped her with her class party. It was so fun to see her at school. You always wonder what your kids are like at school.

What Boyfriend!!!!?

Kate:
"Mom, can I use the computer, I have to text my boyfriend!" Said so matter of factly.
Help... I think I need to home school her. Who knows what else she is learning in Kindergarten. What a day we live in... Texting and Boyfriends at 5!

Kate's Quote of the Day!

I picked her up from school today and the first thing out of her mouth was...
"Mom, I figured out where Eden lives, She lives... all the way up, and all the way down..." "So can you take me there?"

Annual Couples Halloween Party!

For the second year in a row, my neighbor Lucy and I did a couples Halloween Party at her house. It is always so hilarious to see what everyone comes up with to wear. I almost like it as much as my kids Halloween parties! Mike and I were supposed to be Dukes of Hazard themed, minus the Daisy Dukes of course! Mike however got a little carried away. All I know is I sent him to look for a cowboy hat, and instead he came home with the hideous Cabelas hat, buck teeth, a mullet wig, and genuine Wranglers. He called me on his way home from Walmart so excited that he bought a pair of jeans, sunglasses and candy for under 30 bucks! I am never taking him shopping with me again, he might use that as the standard! Men.... He got really into character that night and had as in tears. oh did i mention the real (unloaded) pistol he had in his pocket!

Barnyard Boo!

Sara and I took our kids and my brothers kids to the Barnyard Boo at Thanksgiving Point. It was literally a zoo! We took them on over UEA. I think every other Mom in Utah had the same idea. So Sara and I had 3-2 yr olds, 3- 5 yr. olds, an 8 yr old and a 10 yr old. It was crazy but super cute. The best part was the horse rides despite the 45 min. wait. and the face painting despite the 35 min wait...

Front Porch

I luuuuv Halloween. Something about Fall weather, chili & cornbread, cinnamon rolls & hot wassil. It is my favorite time of year. Do you like how that mostly stems around yummy food! This is our front porch all ready for Fall and Halloween!

Marci Gets Married!!

On Thursday Mike's little sister Marci got married. It was such a fun day. There is nothing better than a wedding. They got married in the SLC Temple. It was a beautiful fall day, a little chilly, but so neat. I love the temple. My girls love the temple. Even Bella at 2 begs to go walk around the temple. Kate told Bella, this is Christ the Lord, our King's house. Isn't that cute. They had so much fun passing time until Marci and Will came out. The reception was at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. It was gorgeous. Kate called it her "Ball" she kept asking if we would be late for the "Ball" (she has seen too many Princess movies.) We had so much fun dancing. We couldn't get the girls off the dance floor. Especially Bella who at 9:00 was still dancing. Kate's 3 yr old cousin Mac has a little crush on Kate. He didn't want anyone else to dance with her. It was so cute! The girls about died when the carriage came to pick them up. I don't think Kate blinked once. She asked me if she could have a carriage at her wedding. I replied, you are never going to get married! It was such a wonderful day. Going to weddings reminds me of our wedding almost 8 years ago! It makes me so grateful to be married to Mike for eternity! I am so grateful for my girls who remind me that the most important day for our family started at the temple!

Broken Heart!

Mom: "Kate, stop teasing Bella and go up to your room and get ready for bed..." Repeated 3 times.
Kate: Nothing... Kept teasing Bella...
Mom: "OK, your consequence for disobeying, is no bedtime story."
Kate: Burst into tears and in her best Oscar nominated performance "Mom, you broke my heart!"

I don't know where she gets the dramatic flare from, it is not like Mike or I are dramatic... :)

Game Night!

One of my callings is to do a couples game night 4 times a year. On Friday we played the Newlywed Game. It was so fun. I highly recommend doing this with your friends in your ward or with neighbors. I spent forever finding questions that weren't inappropriate. I found some really funny questions. It was such a fun way finding out more about people, even the ones you think you know really well. We had a couple that just moved in come and we learned so much fun stuff about them. This is a must to play. Lots of laughs! If anyone has any other fun games to play let me know. We are also doing another couples Halloween costume party, so if anyone has any good ideas of something they have done let me know!!

ITALY!!!!!

Mike and I went to Italy for this years State Farm trip. We went on a Mediterranian cruise. It was a trip of a lifetime. The most ironic part was that it happened to be the same exact ship we went on to Bermuda. The same staff and everything. The funniest part was that a lot of the staff remembered Mike and I. The ship was amazing! Some of our close friends also qualified so that made it extra fun to have them there! We landed in Rome and went straight to the ship, so we didn't get to see much of Rome. Our first port was Sicily.
Sicily- We took a tour to the top of Mt. Etna. An active volcano that happened to errupt the night we left. We could see the lava flow in the dark leaving the port! We brought home some lava rocks and some local strawberry honey (soooo good), and some soaps that are really good for your skin.
Malta- It was amazing. Some of our friends had hired a private tour guide, so we tagged along and got a VIP tour of the city. The city was where some a lot of films are made including The count of Monte Cristo. So we got to ride under the grotto that the treasure seen was filmed in. It was amazing. The water was sooo clear. You could see the sand at the bottom. We also went through ruins that date back to 3100B.C. It was incredible.

Dubrovnik, Croatia-which was our favorite! It was gorgeous. The whole town looked like a postcard. There was a wall built around the whole city that we walked along. It was sooo hot. It was record setting temps. while we were there. It was like 101 with 100% humidity! We were soaked by the time we were done. So to cool off, we decided to take a dip off some cliffs in the Adriatic Sea! It was totally dark and kind of freaky, but it was so fun. We ate the best food, especially the gelato. I think I gained 8lbs. just because of that!
At Sea- The first full day at sea just happened to be my birthday! It also happened to be Sunday. We got together with other LDS members and had a testimony meeting. It was amazing! It lasted for 21/2 hours. It brought to life the hymn Master, the Tempests is Raging! Mike reserved the Captains table for our group to sit at for dinner. He had the chef make my favorite dessert from the Bermuda trip just for us. They also brought out a Birthday cake and sang Happy Birthday in Phillipino. It was so sweet!

Pompeii and Sorrento- We docked in Naples which was a yucky city so we took tours to the ruins of Pompeii and the city of Sorrento. It was amazing that the city was completely covered in minutes when Mt. Vesuvius errupted. Because of the gases and ash, it even preserved some of the bodies running to taking cover. The one I have pictured was actually pregnant (you can see her tummy if you look closely) The whole experience was incredible. Definitely a must see! We ate pizza in Sorrento which is the birth place of pizza-it was soooo yummy. That night Mike and his friend TJ rocked karaoke with the funniest version of Bohemian Rhapsody. I almost wet my pants. One of these days I'll figure out how to put it on You Tube!
Florence and Pisa- We drove through some Tuscan countryside to get to Florence. It was amazing, I almost cried! Florence was so crowded. We managed to do some shopping and see a lot of museums and Cathedrals. We didn't have five hours to wait in line to see the actual statue of the David... But we did see the replica outside. I think I saw enough statues of naked men to last a lifetime... You've seen one, you've seen em all! We then went to Pisa. It was crazy to actually be there. It almost didn't seem real. I've seen the tower a million times in text books, but to see it in person was awesome. It was amazing to see just how much it is actually leaning! It doesn't even look real in our pictures. We had to be super careful when we were there, because there was a lot of gypsies. While we were there we got some pastas and of course some olive oil.
Needless to say it was the most amazing trip ever. It was my dream trip! The next time we go there, I want to see the backside of Tuscany and Venice! It was so sad to go home, especially since we had to fly back like 11 hours. We then had to leave for my family reunion the same day we got back. It was crazy! Jet lag and all!

So Dumb!

I just figured out that people can make comments. I had no idea. That is so fun! They really need a class for this blogging thing. I love to read the comments. Now that I know how, I will make comments on everyones blogs. It feels like I get to talk to you all without actually picking up the phone. So fun! Thanks for the comments. Any other blogging things I should know about??

First Day of Kindergarten... sniff, sniff...

So today I finally feel all grown up, kind of... Kate started Kindergarten! You would think after 2 years of preschool I would have gotten used to the idea of her being in school, but it is a whole different story taking her to the "BIG" school. She just looks like a tiny fish in a really big pond! She on the other hand was totally excited to be going. Once she saw her own cubby and the playground, she didn't look back. The funniest part was on Back to School night last week we were in the lobby of the school with our entire bishopric, Mike (young men pres.), our old bishop and counselors in the young mens presidency, and 3 friends from our ward-we were all just chatting about our kids. Only in Utah Right! So Kate had such a great day. It helps that her teacher resembles a grandma, jumper and all. She is so sweet. I even made cinnamon rolls from scratch, which my Mom made for us ever first day of school ever! So 3 hours later... They were yummy though, if I do say so myself! She thought so too! Well I guess it is officially time for me to grow up. I have a child that has homework, so weird. I feels like I just had homework due like last week! Scary, I hope she doesn't get smarter than me already, I might have to study myself!

Running shoes $130, Tube of GU $2, Running a Half Marathon with my Dad, PRICELESS!

On Saturday I ran the Hobble Creek Half with my Dad. Of all the races I have done, this by far will be my favorite! I felt more satisfaction from this race, not because it was my fastest time, but because I ran it with someone who I look up to more than anyone in the world. My Dad is an amazing example to me of determination and hard work. I was so proud of him. There is nothing more satisfying then trying to push someone who has pushed you to be better and work harder all your life. It felt so rewarding to watch him accomplish something he never thought possible. I found strength in myself I never thought I had. It is amazing what happens mentally and physically when you put your own self aside in an effort to support someone else. I think I cried the last tenth of a mile. I think everyone must have thought I was crazy! I love my Dad so much. It will be a moment I will always remember!

Our Little Boy!

I think we are destined for a house full of females- so we decided to take matters into our own hands and adopt a boy. His name is Bentley and he is a 7 week old black lab! He is sooooo cute! I final gave into the demands of my three children (kate, bella and mike) and we got a dog. Kate has been asking for a dog every day for the past 8 months. I am not kidding. This is what I have heard every day for almost a year "mom, today is a pretty day to get a dog right?" "mom can we get a dog today" "mom, I really want a dog"....... She has not missed a day. Even on vacations. I have been battling that inner "no" mom in me for so long. I finally decided to say "yes"! Well it is a great story, but don't get me wrong, I might as well have had a baby! This past few days we have been doing sleepless nights, feeding schedules and potty schedules. I had no idea they were soooooo much work! It is a good thing he is so cute... I refuse to pick up poop, and when Mike is home, it is HIS baby! So here is the newest member of the LeBaron family. Meet Bentley!