PASSED! Disneyland! Crash...

PASSED! Yes! Scott passed! We will finally graduate. (Notice the "we").
DISNEYLAND! We had an awesome time at Disneyland, even though the first day was the Saturday of all the fires in SoCal, so it was raining ash and the air was pretty unbreathable. I will post all the pictures soon...
CRASH...The biggest news right now for us is that, on the way home from returning our rental for the Disneyland trip, we got in an accident on the freeway and we found out last night that our car is a total loss. It was a four-car crash which happened because of traffic. We barely hit the car in front of us either because of, or at the same time(we aren't sure)that a huge Ford truck rammed our trunk almost clear up to the back window. And then a fourth hit the truck behind us. Amazingly, our three kids who were in the back seat were totally fine, and Scott and I just have been a little sore. We feel so blessed! Looking back and seeing a huge truck feet away from my precious little ones and seeing that they were OK, I can't express how grateful I am! All the other cars drove away from the crash, but our little Nissan Altima which has been so good to us, protected us for the last time. Sad! But we continue to be blessed because the adjustor called us tonight to tell us that, even after our huge deductible is being taken out, we still are getting more than we paid for it 5 years ago (we knew we got a killer deal, Ann & Bob!).

Halloween!

So I have improved greatly since last year, when I posted my Halloween pictures in February (ha, ha, ha).
Here is our family night where we carved our Jack-o-Lantern. The girls thought it was pretty fun to scoop out all of the "guts".

Do I have something in my teeth like you do? (A nod to Angel, if you ever read this)

This is the worst picture ever. Unfortunately it is the only one with all of us in our costumes. Scott and Sophie are the Man in the Yellow Hat and Curious George (Sophie's idea, I must say), Meili and I are dancers (her idea), and Euan is a pumpking (a big, fat pumpkin).

More of the Man in the Yellow Hat and Curious George.

Meili, Sophie, and their BFF Katherine Loveless.

Our friends, Dave and Courtney Loveless, and their baby Euan look-a-like, Myron.

Here were our favorite costumes of the ward party we went to: Aang, Kitara, and Prince Zuko. You earn some serious bonus points if you can tell me what those characters are from and why they were our favorite costumes...

Our New Toy!

The girls LOVE their little brother. He is the best dolly that they've ever had! In one of the pictures they are trying to cheer him up with the best things they can think of, their teddys! (Euan doesn't think the teddys are as good as mommy!) They are so good with him, but sometimes they love him TOO much!
The last picture of the girls I just loved because they usually play VERY well together and seem to be best friends (with some exceptions, of course).

My fantastic husband!

This has been such an exciting week! We are so excited that Scott has a defense date set! It is this Tuesday, the 11th, and I am so proud of him! He has worked so hard at school, but has always put his family first and that is one of the reasons why I love him so much. Here we are on a night out for my birthday (in July) and then for Euan's blessing (August).

Thesis Defense Date!

So many of you know how long and arduous this Master's Degree journey has been for us. We have great news, though! Scott was given a Thesis defense date and time yesterday! It will be November 13th at 9:00 am. And then what are we going to do to celebrate? We are going to Disneyland! No, seriously, we really are! Scott's family is taking us to Disneyland on the 14th.
Thank you to all of you who have heard our sob stories through this process and have continued to love us, hope for us, and have faith in us. Yeah Scott! I am so proud of you and your sacrifices for our little family!

"I" is for Imagination

It was a normal afternoon. I was slaving over a giant pile of dirty dishes. Next door in my bedroom, my baby had finally fallen asleep. It was so quiet! Wait, too quiet. Where were my 4 year-old and 2 year-old? And what were they up to? The thoughts had barely skimmed across my mind when out of the corner of my eye I saw some movement and heard two giggling girls. One said, "Mommy, don't I look so beautiful?" and then laughed. I tore myself from my project and instead of my 4 year-old, I saw a "superhero princess" who told me that her super powers were to "save the world from bad guys and bugs".



Welcome to my wonderful life! In a matter of seconds, my stresses of being a mother of 3 young children suddenly melted away and I was transported (no doubt by my daughter's superhero powers) to a more carefree life where laughter and play trumped everything else.

How come I have the coolest friends?

One of my friends, Annelise, sent me some awesome bags that she had made for the girls and also a diaper bag for Euan with a matching burp rag. Thanks Anna! (Sorry no pics of the diaper bag. It is the coolest! Check out some that you could buy for yourself: go to kodakgallery.com and type in the username:adesign.bags@yahoo.com, password:adesignbags) You are so talented Anna! I'm a lucky girl.