Sabbeth thoughts

So, as I was reading all of my friends' blogs tonight, I came across this one that really spoke out to me. I know this will get "mushy" for me, but it is my blog, so you can read it only if you want to. (That is a quote from another friend.) Blaine and I have had a really rough year this past year, but it has made us such a strong couple. I am so very grateful that God knows more than I do and that he does not always answer prayers the way I think they should be answered. I was driving to work the other day and was listening to the song "Unanswered Prayers", it is a country song and I am not sure who sings it but with all of the little hints I have gotten the past week, this post went right along with it. I have added the comments in ( ).
MY 24 Steps to a BETTER LIFE in 2009...
1. Take a 10-30 minute walk every day.
And while you walk, smile.
It is the ultimate anti-depressant.

2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
Buy a lock if you have to. (With 4 kids that think when you go into the bathroom that means they need to talk to you right now, a lock in necessary.)

3. When you wake up in the morning complete the following statement,
"My purpose is to____________ today."

4. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants. (I have a few friends at work that are changing the way they eat to be more like the word of wisdom, I think I will read that tonight before I go to bed.)

5. Drink plenty of water.
Eat blueberries, wild Alaskan salmon, broccoli, and almonds. (where have I heard this before...?)

6. Try to make at least three people smile each day.

7. Don't waste my precious energy on gossip, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things I cannot control. Instead I want to invest my energy in the positive present moment. (This is actually one of my new years resolutions. There is a girl at work that never gossips and is constantly standing up for anyone that is gosspied about. What a role model she is to me!)

8. Eat breakfast like a King, lunch like a princess, and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out credit card.

9. Life isn't fair, but its still good. (This year has been evidence of this)

10. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. (I guess this means my ex)

11. Don't take myself so seriously. No one else does.

12. I don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree. ( think I should work on this, Blaine is always telling me that it is ok if I am not right, I do not believe him often enough.)

13. Make peace with my past so it won't spoil the present. (Live and learn, not live and fester)

14. Don't compare myself to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about. (this is so true on many levels)

15. No one determines my happiness BUT ME.

16. Frame every so call disaster with thses words:
"In five years, will this matter?"

17. Forgive

18. What other people think of me is NONE of my business.

19. GOD heals all. (I am so thankful for this promise)

20. However good or bad the situation is, it will change. (if I will just remember this when it is bad)

21. My job won't take care of me when I am sick, your friends will. Stay in touch. (I really am not very good at this one. I am thankful for blogs and email and facebook to help me out when I fail to call)

22. Envy is a waste of time.
I have all that I need.

23. Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements: I am thankful for__________. Today I accomplished____________.

24. I am too blessed to be stressed. (this too needs to be remembered when stressed out)

We have had a very rough year as a Murdock family. I am praying that we have the strength to power through the bad times and relax during the good times. I sincerely hope that we can look back and smile at all of the good times we have had!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

So, I finally got around to getting my Christmas and New Years pictures uploaded to the computer from the camera. I guess taking two weeks is not that bad. I did not take the time to edit any of the pictures yet. Sorry for the blurry upper corner too. I just noticed that I had a tiny fingerprint on the lens. Oops!
Well, Blaine got home pretty early on Christmas morning. In fact he got home before the kids woke up! I was really shocked. I think the boys were really tired. They went to bed at 9:30 without fighting about it and then they slept in until 8:30am. I never remember that happening in my entire life. It was really nice to be able to sleep in on Christmas instead of taking a nap after the presents were opened.

Here is Blaine holding up one of his gifts. He has always talked about getting a John Elway jersey, so when I found one I bought it without thinking twice (not to mention it was on sale).
He also got a snow blower and a lift ticket to Brianhead.

This is Kayla and I. We kinda took it slow, she was slow eating and I was patiently waiting for her to finish. She had so much fun eating the wrapping paper. She did occasionally try to eat one of the boxes that her presents came in. She got a doll, a stroller/walker to push when she is able to walk, and a few teething toys. I got a few small things like new gloves, a bracelet, and a couple of rings from the boys, and the cutest shoes from Kayla. Blaine got me a spa day. I am so lucky!

Josh got a few X box 360 games, a helmet, and an LT jersey. He was so excited to get the jersey that he put it on right away. He has continued to wear it as soon as it get clean. He does his own laundry, so if this is what it takes to get him to get his laundry done more than once every 3 weeks, I am willing to do it.

Jared was thrilled to get a guitar, a learning DVD, an Xbox 360 game, and a remote control helicopter. He could not wait to try out everything. He kept forgetting that he needed to open the rest of his gifts.

My sweet little Cayden, I think he was overwhelmed with everything. He really wanted a monster truck. When he opened it as one of the first gifts, he really was finished. He thought we should be done with Christmas and just play with the toys. He is just so cute, I really wish he would just stay this way!

While we were inside warm and excited, there was a blizzard going on outside. Right after we were done opening gifts our electricity went out. We were supposed to have the Christmas breakfast at our house. I was really worried that we would not be able to cook or keep warm. I called Tammy and arranged for breakfast to be at her house instead. She was more than happy to have it there. By the time we got to her house, it was the perfect time for Brunch! She did not have any snow out there, the wind was blowing hard though. We had such a great time just playing the Wii, and spending time together. Blaine had to work again that night so he took a little nap while the rest of us played. Who know you could get sore from playing a video game! I could not believe how my arms hurt the next day!

We got home around 5:30 and Blaine got ready for work. Unfortunately, there was 24 inches of snow in our yard. this is Jared going out to the shed to get the dog some food. The snow is to his thigh, about and inch past his knees. I was getting worried about Blaine driving in this weather. We said a family prayer before we went to bed just for extra protection. I talked to him several times through out the night just to make sure all was ok. the storm was terrible the entire way up to Bosie and back. He did not get home until 11:30 and then had to go back out at 3. I was so mad that his boss did not do something to make him safe! He ended up calling them and telling them he would not be driving at 3 as scheduled. He would pick up the things that need to be picked up but then he would not drive them to Idaho until the next day after he had some sleep. His boss was more than agreeable with that. I was so thankful. I do not know what I would do if something happened because of lack of sleep! He got plenty of sleep before he had to drive again.

We were able to get down to St. George for the New Year. We surprised Blaine's mom. I was so glad that we were able to get down and surprise her. Everyone was able to keep the secret. for Blaine's family that was really hard to do. they talk to each other so frequently that I was sure someone would let something slip but accident. We spent time at my parents' cabin in Parowan too. We stayed in Parowan with my sister and her kids for 4 days. I was so excited to see my sister. We used to spend hours every week together, this move has been hard on both of us.

Here are Natalie and Kayla. Natalie is 10 1/2 moths and Kayla is 7 months. They were so cute taking each other's toys and squealing at each other. Well, it was mainly Natalie taking the toys and Kayla squealing, it was still fun to watch them. I think they will be good buds when they get older.

On New Years Eve we went down to St. George and spent the day with Blaine's family. Blaine and the boys went hiking with Kevin, Aubrey and Trey for the day. I shopped at Costco and picked up some stuff for the cabin. Later we went to Blaine's mom's house for the party. It was great. All of the kids were able to make it for the party. Steve and Ann did not get there until 10pm but all were there before midnight! Here are the kids lined up for their presents from grandma Maggie.

Kayla just laying around.

Josh and Jared starting to open the gift. They look so excited don't they!

After the gifts, we started the party. We ate lots of food and played games until it was time to ring in the New Year. Here are the kids playing Are You Smarter Then a Fifth Grader?

I was playing UNO flash with the adults. That was such a fun game. You have to constantly pay attention to the flasher cuz you never know when it is going to be your turn. Super fun!

Grandma Maggie holding Kayla. She has not seen her since the blessing in September. Grandma was really excited to be able to spend time with her.

More UNO flash. Really the game is pretty addicting.

Grandma with Kayla and Corbin, her two youngest grandchildren.

Corbin showing Jenna and Cayden how to play the game. They were having so much fun, they stayed playing the game for at least 30 minutes.

The rest of the time we spent in Parowan with my family. Here are the kids eating ice cream with whipping cream. We had sundaes for dessert so the kids wanted whipping cream on their cones. After they were done, Grandpa Whittle put the whipping cream right in their mouths. they thought that was so cool. they kept getting back in line to have him do it again and again.

Here is Kayla and Natalie again. I think this shows the size difference between the two. Natalie is so cute and chubby. Kayla is petite and looks like a little doll.

After all of the fun we had to head home. We left late at night thinking that the kids would sleep the whole way home. WRONG!!! they stayed awake the entire time. Even Kayla only took a 45 minute nap. We got home at 2 am. It was really good that everyone slept in until 9 so we (I) could sleep. Blaine had to work again so we let him sleep until 2pm.

It was such a great week, I would not have traded it for the world. I had such a great time with both of our extended families.

Kayla is finally ready. She can for the exersauser. She loves it. She can spin the seat around and play with all of the different toys, my little baby is getting so big. I took her in today and she weighs 13 pounds and 8 ounces. She has also cut her two bottom teeth this past week. What a big girl.

FINALLY

Well it is official! Kayla had outgrown ALL of her 0-3month clothes. She is now wearing 3-6 month size. They are a bit big, but they do not drown her.
I am so excited that she can wear different things now. Having been the same size for 3 months, it got boring to put the same things one her all of the time. Now we get to have variety again!

Catch up time

So this is our past month in reverse. We will start with Christmas Eve. Our family tradition is to open one present on Christmas Eve. Of course it is not just any present. It is pajamas. The kids have to wear the new pajamas on Christmas Day when we open presents. The kids like they get to open one present and I like that the pictures of Christmas morning look decent. We start with the youngest and work to the oldest. Kayla went first. i could not find any cute pajamas that were warm, so she got a bib and a "my first Christmas" doll. She loved to chew on the paper and did not really care about the rest until she could put it in her mouth. Cayden got these cool rock star pajamas. they are super "warm and cozy" he said.

Jared got just pajama pants. He and Josh are too cool for pajama sets now so they get pants and can pick a t-shirt to wear with them.

My camera ran out of batteries for mine and Josh's pajamas but josh got fleece camo pants and I got a hot pink shirt with plaid pants.

This is me shoveling snow. I have done this only 2 times in my life. This is number two. I did it once last year while I was pregnant with Kayla and kept contracting the entire time. It was much easier when you are not pregnant! Now I am hoping that I will not have to shovel snow again. Blaine got a snow blower for Christmas!

This year when we decided to decorate the tree, I thought that it would be really great to have a formal tree and a kid tree. I wanted a tree that was nice and matched. The boys were sad that I did not want them to put up all of the ornaments they had made. So.. we came to a compromise. Two trees. One in the living room that was very nice and matched, and one in the family room with all of the ornaments the kids have gotten and made over the years. Here is the kid tree. I do not think they look very happy.

There are some smiling faces. Josh took the picture so maybe he did not tell them to smiley first. Who knows.

This is a picture of the cute sign I bought while I was in St. George right before Thanksgiving. I have it sitting right above the kitchen sink. Just a nice reminder to believe. Note the super clean kitchen sink and counter? I did spent the night before cleaning so I could take pictures.

My formal tree. It sits right in the center of the living room window. I can not say how excited I feel when I look at my beautiful tree that matches in the formal living room. Note the area is partially clean. The picture I took during the day did not turn out as well as this one. Oops!

Kayla had her six month appointment at the doctor and her shots. She actually did pretty good after the shots. She was just tired all day. The doctor told us we could start advancing her diet, as long as she did not have any milk or soy in the foods we gave her. Well, I was thrilled that she could have rice cereal. I had picked some up the week before just in case we could start feeding her. I could not wait for her first foods pictures. Well I went home and looked at the box to read the ingredients. Guess what...yep..it had soybean oil in it. Dang it! Well, I decided that I could make my own rice cereal. Really, how hard could it be, cook the rice and blend it with some formula, and there you have it, right? Wrong, I ended up with a gooey mess that she did not like at all.

Look at this face! She hated it!

She just make funny faces and would not eat it. She did spit out more then she swallowed. Fortunately, there are brands of rice cereal that do not have and soy in them and we were able to return that cereal that she was allergic to and get some that she was fine with. Thank you Beechnut! (they are the ones without soy.)

Thanksgiving was fun even though both Blaine and I had to work. we bough most of our dinner from the Schwans man so it just need to be reheated. It was super yummy! Tammy and Lynn came over for dinner and we had a great time just chatting and watching football. I got home from work at 4 and Blaine had to leave at 8. I was just enough time to cook and eat and clean with a few moments to spare for enjoying the Holiday together.

No turkey for Kayla yet, she just had fun sitting in the highchair and talking to us.

Cayden picked out all of the black olives from the relish tray when he thought no one was looking.

Blaine made most of the dinner before I got home. He was stirring the gravy and thought he was funny when he made this face. I thought it was funny too.

Jared was helping to take care of Kayla and Cayden while dinner was cooking.

Josh helped out so much with the dinner. He has really stepped up lately and asks what he can do to help. He usually does not wait to be asked before he asks. I am so thankful for this wonderful family of mine. I am not sure what I would do without them!

Christmas is in the air

Well, I was looking at my blog and noticed that I have not posted for 5 weeks! I can not believe that I have gone that long. I did try to post the other day but my Internet was down. Apparently, we had an old switch and it was one that gets stuck when it gets too cold. Well, that made on sense to me since I live in the freezing cold. Anyway after 2 days without phone and Internet service we were up and running again. Unfortunately, I was running again too and did not have time to sort through my pics and post the cute ones. I just wanted to let everyone know that we are still here and I do have some really cute pictures to post.

The other day I went to the mall to get a gift for my dad. Cayden did not want to go so I told him we were going to see Santa. He got so excited he beat me to the car. I did not even have to count to 3 to get him to turn the TV off and get his shoes on. That was saying something. When we got to the mall, Santa was right inside the store where we found a parking spot. Cayden was so excited he could hardly stand it to wait in line. When we got closer to Santa, he leaned over to me and said, "Mom, I want Santa to bring me a monster truck." I know he did not realize that Santa already had his gift bought and wrapped and hidden in my closet. He keeps changing his mind on what he wants depending on what he sees on TV so I was not worried about it. Well for the next 3 days he has continued to say that Santa is bringing him a monster truck. Well, it is a good thing that Santa can still make some toys and a monster truck was made and wrapped and hidden in my closet.

I will post more and some cute pictures this week for sure!

Tagged Again

So I got tagged a few weeks ago by my sister and just responded today. I was so excited cuz I had never been tagged before then. Then as I was reading my sister in laws lastest post, she tagged me for something too. I am so excited to be popular this week!
Rules:
State 6 random things about yourself and then tag 6 people to do the same.

1. I love to clean. I love having a clean house and I love cleaning it. It stresses me out when people are coming over and my house is not spotless. I mean blinds and baseboards dusted spotless. I am so compulsive about being clean. My family thinks I am weird and crazy.

2. I love doing laundry. I love the smell of my house after laundry is done. I love smelling the clean laundry. I love folding everything but underware and just smelling it all. I know crazy huh!

3. I have been on 4 cruises and have never left the American continant. The farthest south I have been is in Central America. I have never been north of Yellowstone, and had never been east of Texas until 2 years ago when Blaine's work paid for us to go to Florida and Atlanta. I have never gotten a passport.

4. I hate large groups of people. I love to shop as long as it is not on Black Friday or the weekend. I do not like the large amounts of people in a small space. I do not large family gatherings that are in a small space. There must be lots of empty space or I am freaked out by the amount of people crammed in.

5. I love my job. I have the best job in the world. I get to play with cute new babies and new moms. It is pretty mucha happy job and I love it. I have been a nurse for 13 1/2 years and I can honestly say that I have never loved any of my other jobs. I liked them but I love this job!

6. I have the best kids and husband in the world. My kids are very affectionate and thoughtful. My husband is always willing to bend over backward to make everyone else's life just a little easier. I could not have asked for a better family that the one I was given!

I tag...
Stephanie
Joy
Tiffany
Heather
Michelle
Alisalee

Have fun!!

Tag

RULES
1) Post rules on your blog
2) Answer the six "8" items
3) Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving them a comment

8 Favorite TV shows:
1. CSI
2. Law and Order
3. Law and Order SVU
4. CSI Miami
5. Heros
6. that is all I watch besides Nick Jr.
7.
8.

8 Things I did yesterday:

1. gave 2 kids baths
2. did 8 loads of laundry
3. folded and put away 8 loads of laundry
4. went to church and got to stay for all of it!
5. read one Ensign article
6. read one chapter of my new book
7. dishes
8. cleaned the kitchen

8 Things I look forward to:
1. no snow
2. moving to a warm area
3. Christmas morning
4. seeing my sister
5. a bigger house
6. every child having their own room
7. no fighting
8. being out of debt

8 Favorite Restaurants:
1. Cafe Rio
2. Olive Garden
3. Red Lobster
4. Cheescacke Factory
5. Johnny Carinos
6. Macaroni Grill
7. La Fontana
8.

8 Things on my Wish list:
1. a bigger house
2. a new van/suv
3. a canon rebel sxi
4. lasic surgery for my husband
5. my sister to live closer
6. my kids to be healthy, no asthma
7. to be a stay at home mom
8. to be out of debt

I am not tagging any one unless you want to do it. I think I have read this tag on everyone already.