What a great Thanksgiving!

We had an awesome Thanksgiving! We went to San Tan Valley to be with Paul's family. We picked up Paul's brother Kevin from the airport that evening and just hung out and saw lots of family. Kevin's girlfriend Linda was also there so it was good to FINALLY meet her! Our Thanksgiving day feast actually went from an expect 20 or so people to just our immediate family so it was nice.

That night we (Cindy, Linda and I) made our way to Walmart for BLACK FRIDAY stuff. IT WAS NUTS! It was bumper to bumper shopping cart traffic. We got there at 9:58 and made our way through the craziness and I got everything I wanted.... but what I wanted wasn't anything in too high of demand.... a few sets of sheets and a telescope. After maybe 20 minutes of pushing through the crowd we stood in line for 45 minutes and then found Cindy (she parked the car for us and had left her phone at home so we didn't see here the entire time we were shopping). When we got outside it was pouring rain! It just made the night that much more fun! It was my first CRAZY black Friday experience, last year wasn't nearly as bad, but we went to Target and it was a bit after the sale had started.

But the highlight of our vacation was Friday. Bill has been asking us since we got married when would be a good time to do his family's temple work. Well we FINALLY were able to get started on it. It was so special to be able to get baptized for these family members who I never even met. We all got so emotional when Bill was able to baptize Paul in behalf of his (Bill's) dad. It was a very special day. We planned on doing everything, even the sealing of Bill's parents but the temple was so busy that we were only able to do the baptism and initiatory of the ones that needed it in the amount of time we had.

Before we did baptisms we were told it would be an hour wait so we went over to the distribution center and Paul got new scriptures (somehow his mission ones managed to get lost) and we were FINALLY able to purchase our temple clothes! It was so awesome... I think that is the best early Christmas present I've ever received! We haven't been able to do a session at our own temple yet because they don't rent clothes and we didn't have our own. It was such a special day!

After about 2 months of me nagging, I mean gently reminding, Paul we FINALLY (yes, I realize everything is FINALLY happening) were able to make our way into the city and find a scrub store for Paul to get new scrubs. He only had 2 pairs of pants and one was girls and flare on the bottom and I had to sew it straight before he would wear them. We got him 2 new sets and the lady at the store was awesome and even gave us 10% off just because! (turns out that she got married at the Mt Graham golf course 2 years ago... small world!)

It was such a great vacation and visit and Thanksgiving! We wished we could have stayed longer but Paul had to work today and no one would trade :( but that's okay because I was really glad to get to go to Clint and Tiffany's baby shower!!

I'm 3!

Hayden turned 3 last week! He sure was ready!! He's been saying he's 3 for a while now. Two days before his birthday I said "Hayden in 2 days your going to be 3! How do you feel about that?" He said... "4." Guess he was just counting up. We had a little party at home on his actually birthday where he opened gifts from mom and dad. He has quite a few little friends his age so I thought it would be fun to have a party at the park with friends. He picked "Blues Clues" as the theme but I really think he would have rather chosen CARS!

The at home party:

He also got this AWESOME Mater car that blows bubbles as you push it from Grandma and Grandpa Clites and let me tell you, he pushes that thing EVERYWHERE!! We decided instead of blowing bubbles, it should suck dirt! He even takes it to bed and it sleeps next to him and he sometimes won't let me go anywhere unless Mater is in the car! :) He's just so cute!

It was a special birthday! Thank you everyone who came and helped us celebrate!

and no.... we did not consume all of the leftover cake! :)

He had his 3 year old check up the day after his birthday and he was in the 13% for his weight and 4% for his height. I guess I need to feed him more veggies! ;) The doctor was asking all the "does he know" questions and one of them was can he count to 5? I said he can count to 20! He amazes me all the time with how smart he is. A few weeks ago he just randomly sang the whole alphabet!

I don't really think its fair

My sister's 10 year high school reunion is this year and I guess she goes to the planning meetings or something. She was telling me that they decided that only the people that graduated with them could come to the activities. I sure hope that whoever is on the committee when my 10 year reunion time comes around doesn't feel the same way. I grew up in this town and went to Thatcher K-11. My mom got remarried and we moved the summer before my senior year. Even though I didn't technically graduate at THS, I still want to see the people I grew up with. Is that so much to ask?

The key to taking pictures

A photographer's blog that I follow, Katie Evans Photography, is having a giveaway for her book "The Key to Taking Pictures" Go check it out here.

2 long years

2 years of prerequisites.

2 years of Nursing school.

Many, MANY trips to phoenix.

Lots and LOTS of hours studying.

Way too much stress.

Way too many energy drinks consumed.

More hours in class than at home.

Service hours.

Clinical Simulation time.

Shots given.

Playtime missed out on.

Massages given.

Pain medication taken.

Books purchased.

Books read.

Information learned.

Knowledge gained.

NCLEX..... PASSED!

2 years ago we found out that Paul got accepted into the nursing program. We were so scared and so excited and so overwhelmed all at the same time. I know that he will be a good nurse. I'm so proud him for all of his hard work, long hours and dedication. He amazes me with how much he knows. There was not a doubt in my mind that he would pass that test. All of his long hours and hard work have finally paid off. He is officially PAUL LINCOLN CLITES, Registered Nurse! And I couldn't be more proud!! I love you Paul, Congratulations!

25!!

Wednesday was my birthday and as usual, Paul spoiled me! He kept asking me what I wanted and I reminded him that the "Just A Pinch" action set he bought me a month ago was my gift. I woke up to my camera set up on a tripod! I seriously stood there for like 30 seconds in shock! I told Paul too bad our camera doesn't have a motion sensor cause that would have been a classic picture. He made me a delicious breakfast of French Toast with strawberries and home made whip cream. After breakfast he pulled out another present! I couldn't believe it. A camera bag! I needed one so bad. For dinner we got pizza and a movie and after it got dark we set up the tripod outside and drew with sparklers.

Paul's attempt. He forgot he was supposed to write backwards!

My attempt....

Hayden playing...

I told Paul I wanted a party, mostly because friends that we don't see very often were in town and it was a good excuse to get together. So Friday Clint and Tiffany were so wonderful to lend their house to us for a few hours. It was so fun. Someone ordered pizza and everyone brought some sort of goodies! My homemade ice cream was a hit! It was such a fun night! A special thanks to Clint and Tiffany for letting us borrow their home! Love you guys!

modest swimsuits!

check out this site for some cute and modest swim wear!

http://www.hapari.com/modest-tankinis/

Thanks!