Knotts Berry Farm

Last week we set off on our California adventure and boy we had a lot of fun! We had a HUGE crew of kids with us, and somehow we managed not to lose anyone. There were 11 kids (6 of them 3 and under!) and 7 adults. Here are the pictures from our day at Knotts Berry Farm.

Micailey, Cooper and Madison

Jordan and Cooper

Cailey and Cooper

Jordan, Brinley and Cooper

Micailey, Cooper, Madison, Paige, and Mackenzie on the train.

Micailey being cute and Cooper acting weird!

Spanish Fork Light Parade

Wow! I have a lot to catch up on!

The Friday after Thanksgiving we took Cooper to the Spanish Fork light parade. We had a lot of fun, but froze our hind ends off. We had some really annoying people stand in front of us the entire parade, but other than that it was a lot of fun. We were impressed at what a big parade it was. We went expecting a short 10 minute parade, but we finally got too cold and left after about 45 minutes. It will definitely be a new family tradition for us in the future. Spanish Fork City does such a great job of planning fun family events like this one. We LOVE living here!

Airplane Ride

Cooper and I flew down to Long Beach by ourselves and everything went really smooth. Cooper loved the airplane ride, but he wasn't so thrilled about getting his picture taken, so this is the only one I have on the airplane.

YW Evening In Excellence

Our ward had our YW in Excellence a couple of weeks ago. It turned out really well and I am SO glad it is over! I am extremely thankful for all the YW leaders who helped out to make it such a success. I think we all learned a lot of new things about all the girls.

(Joann-- Sorry it has taken me so long to get these posted!)

Survey

One of my friends (and former dance partner) is getting his Master's Degree at BYU and needs some help. He needs anyone who is a mom and enjoys blogging (or reading blogs) to take a short survey. It is really quick and would help him out a lot. Here is the link for anyone willing to help.

https://byu.qualtrics.com/SE?SID=SV_9yi8C8VkcG7rgNu&SVID=Prod

Our Kitchen Is Done!

You all probably know that we have been working on changing our kitchen. A couple of years ago we changed the floor and then in October we painted our cabinets. Since then we have gotten new appliances and a new countertop. Derek has worked so hard to get everything installed and working. We have a fantastic neighbor who came and helped us out at well. So now we are finally done! We are very happy with how it turned out.

BEFORE

AFTER!

One of those days...

Do you ever have those days when you just feel like you have too much to do, nothing is going right, and you just want to stop everything and take a nap. And then someone says the wrong thing and you break out into tears... Well, that is how my day is going. I thought maybe sitting down and updating my blog would make me feel better. However, this may just turn into a big whining sessions. I am just feeling so overwhelmed right now. With the election over and Evening In Excellence over, I really thought I might have a few minutes to just be normal. Maybe fold the gigantic pile of laundry that has piled up, make a shopping list and cook a real meal for my family, sit down and play a new game with Cooper, watch one of the 5 episodes of Dancing With the Stars I have recorded but haven't had time to watch, or maybe even go buy myself a new pair of jeans and do some Christmas shopping. None of this has happened. Instead I have found myself stuck on the computer working. I am so grateful for everything I have, but sometime I just want to scream I NEED A BREAK! So now that you have all listened to me gripe, I am going to do something about my very very insignificant and selfish problem. I am going to shut off the computer, put away all the work I need to get done, and do something fun. Maybe I'll take Cooper to Chuck-E-Cheese just for the heck of it. Sometimes I forget that my first responsibility is to my family. Not the campaign, not my calling, not my friends, not my blog, not my Facebook page, but to my family. So for now, I am going to shut down my computer and go have fun. I know it can't last long, but it sure sounds good right now and will hopefully cheer me up.

Volunteer Thank You Party

On Friday night we had a volunteer thank you party to celebrate Jason's victory and to thank all the volunteers. I wasn't very good to take many pictures, but here are the few that I have.

Cousin Mike and his friend Amber. (I think that was her name!) She seemed really nice and it was fun to see Mike. He is the official DJ for the campaign. He has been to all of our events with his DJ equipment. He does a really great job.

Derek and Cooper had some serious father and son bonding time. They were by far the BEST dancers in the room. (granted... they were the ONLY dancers in the room!)

They were super cute!

Cooper was feeling camera shy!

ELECTION NIGHT VICTORY!

It has been a CRAZY past 24 hours! We had a really great time at the Election Night Party in Salt Lake. JASON WON with 66% of the vote! HOOOORAY! It was a pretty somber party after Obama was declared the winner. Nobody in the room was very happy, but it was still a great night for our campaign. There are so many people who have worked so hard. I am so thankful that I was able to be involved and have such an amazing experience. We stayed up in Salt Lake at the Red Lion and then this morning, my mom and I went to the filming of "Good Things Utah". Jason was on the show so we went to support him. It was a lot of fun-- but all I have to say is that those girls really need to go eat a candy bar! They are SOOOO skinny! After the filming I spent a little more time with Derek and then headed to Jason's house for a post election meeting. It was interesting....

I am so thankful for the entire experience. I have learned so much about how things work in our country. I hope to continue being involved with politics. It really is addicting! Thanks Grandpa Nelson for watching Cooper for such a long time. It was nice to be able to enjoy everything with out a 3 year old at my side. Thanks also to Derek for being so supportive while I've done all this crazy campaigning. He has been so amazing!

This is Jason's youngest daughter Kate. She put on a fashion show (of the hotel robe) while we were all waiting for the results to come in.

Deidre and I listening to Jason's speech-- apparently we all thought there was going to be a funeral, we all wore black! This is in the hotel room waiting for results. Jason is the one behind dad on the computer.

Mom and Dad gave an interview on KBYU. I refused to participate. I would have said something really dumb! I am sure they did a great job.

Derek and Jason's son Max watching Fox News at the Grand America

Jason and Orrin Hatch

Jason giving his speech with his wife Julie, son Max, and daughters Ellis and Kate.

The campaign staff-- Jennifer, Mom, Dad, Deidre and Me :)

Party Night

Well I am about to head out the door to go to Salt Lake for our poll watching party at the Grand America Hotel. Thanks to Grandpa Nelson for watching Cooper for us! It is going to be a lot of fun and I am so excited to finally see the fruits of all our hard work. Watch the news tonight and maybe you will see us at the party. Thanks to all my friends who listen to me talk about politics all the time...I know it can't be very exciting to most of you. Wish us luck! I'll post pictures tomorrow!

Just For Fun!

Silly Kid!

A couple of days ago, I thought Cooper was waking up from his nap. I heard a weird noise so I went up to check on him in his room. I couldn't find him. When I went back in the kitchen this is what I found. ..

I have NO clue what made him want to come downstairs and go back to sleep on the kitchen floor, but I guess it worked for him.

Silly kid!

Halloween 2008

HALLOWEEN!!!!

Cooper wasn't exactly thrilled to be wearing his costume.

(Thanks Justin and Angela for letting us borrow it!)

Once he realized that wearing his costume meant getting lots of candy, he was a VERY happy little puppy dog.

Happy Day!

Here is my happy picture of the day!

Let's hope the results on Tuesday are this fabulous!

Redistribution of Wealth

Katie sent this to me today and I thought it was worth posting...

Redistribution Plan may take a while

Yesterday on my way to lunch at Doe's, I passed one of the homeless guys in that area, with a sign that read 'Vote Obama, I need the money.' Once in Doe's my waiter had on a 'Obama 08' tee shirt. When the bill came, I decided not to tip the waiter and explained to him while he had given me exceptional service, that his tee shirt made me feel he obviously believes in Senator Obama's plan to redistribute the wealth. I told him I was going to redistribute his tip to someone that I deemed more in need--the homeless guy outside.

He stood there in disbelief and angrily stormed away. I went outside, gave the homeless guy $3 and told him to thank the waiter inside, as I had decided he could use the money more. The homeless guy looked at me in disbelief but seemed grateful.

As I got in my truck, I realized this rather unscientific redistribution experiment had left the homeless guy quite happy for the money he did not earn, but the waiter was furious that I gave away the money he did earn. I guess this redistribution of wealth is going to take a while to catch on, with those doing the work.