Thanksgiving 2011

 Our family had a great time with family. We went to Ft. Myers and spent 4 days with the "White" fam.

There was lots of yummy food, hours of giggles, snuggles and gifts galore.

The cousins had a blast playing together inside and out! Steve had a great time chillin with his brothers talking and watching.... oh can you guess... FOOTBALL!!!

Ashlea and I went to shop for "Black Thursday/Friday" ha ha - we headed out at 10pm and didn't come home until 1:30 am.

IT was sooooo crazy!

I'm don't usually get frazzled with crowds but OH MY GOSH... there where so many people in my space..  ( they were WAY to close to me)  .ha ha.

Ashlea cracked me up, she said she could smell the alcohol on them and she was just NOT going to stand in line.

She worked her magic and we got into a line that wasn't so long. Yeah for Ashlea!

We totally scored at Walmart.. I brought all of the other adds and showed them and they totally price matched.

We got Wii games for $10, movies for $10, Wii charger $10 and a huge Transformer for the boys for only 10 bucks.. the real prices would have $60 and $40!

Oh yea ladies and gentleman we SCORED!!

 

Hummmm... The kids where waiting for some action, come on... anybody!?!?

No one walked by, drove by, no other kids... aww man as Henry would say...

 UNTIL.....

  This kid drove by with his tractor.  Oh the kids where in heaven.  They all just watched it. It was priceless to see them.  So funny!

So sweet!  These are Hunter's  and Henry's Auntie's Alisha and Ashlee.

Henry was totally teasing Hagen Matt's Dog... it was hilarious!

Only Florida, you go swimming in November!!  The kids had a blast!

Baby Landon is the star of the show.. he is so stinkin cute.

Adult gift Exchange... lots of gift cards got stolen from each other.

I totally scored the motion activated candy machine...  

( oh o.k. I actually brought it BUT I really liked it so I picked it out of the other ones).  HA HA

Ashlea got a new mixer that Steve brought... nice gift Ash!

Hunter giving Grace an archery lesson, in Granny living room... NICE!

Henry is thinking hard... so tempting! 

(P.S. Steve, wo what kind of outfit did you put on Henry) :)

Awwww Mom I just had to have one!

Thanks Granny for the cute monkey's.

Granny got her cuddle bugs matching Pj's!

Playing outside... they played from sun up to sun down!!!  So much fun!

Visit with Soft Granny!!!  She loved seeing everyone. We just love our Granny.

Peanut Butter Ba-By

Henry loves peanut butter,

can you tell!??!

Flower

This is what makes me smile...

I picked up my sweet Hunter boy today from school and he greeted me  with a smile and a flower he had picked just for me.

I have to admit I got a little teary eyed....

I sure love Hunter so much.  He is such a kind and loving little guy.

His smile warms my heart and brightens my day.

Thanks Hunter for making my Friday the best.

Buddies...

 Henry had his own little playdate with Carter and Taylor. 
They played blocks, monster trucks, ate snacks and watched some Dora. 

 It is so fun having little friends that the boys will grow up with.

easy, bite size, yum

12 days of Christmas

Live again

Captain Moroni ROCKED... Scripture reading for the day!

And Moroni was a strong and a mighty man; he was a man of a perfect understanding (Alma 48:11, emphasis added)

These are strong words about Captain Moroni, considering all the knowledge we have today that hadn’t even been thought of in his day. Yet Mormon, a disciple of Christ, considers Captain Moroni’s understanding “perfect”.

Can we aspire to this perfect understanding? Do we need to know everything in order to have this “perfect understanding”?

Mormon elaborates on what makes up Captain Moroni’s understanding.

…yea, a man that did not delight in bloodshed; (Alma 48:11)

Captain Moroni understood the sanctity of life. This suggests he understood the plan of salvation.

…a man whose soul did joy in the liberty and the freedom of his country, and his brethren from bondage and slavery; (Alma 48:11)

Captain Moroni understood the importance of agency. And he loved liberty not just for himself, but for his whole country.

Yea, a man whose heart did swell with thanksgiving to his God, for the many privileges and blessings which he bestowed upon his people; (Alma 48:12)

He had perfect understanding of all the blessings that had been bestowed not just on him, but on his people as well, and he understood exactly who he should be thankful to for those blessings. He also seems to have understood that it was okay to show his gratitude, because he allowed his heart to swell with thanksgiving, rather than trying to suppress it and choke it off.

…a man who did labor exceedingly for the welfare and safety of his people. (Alma 48:12)

Captain Moroni understood the principle of work and he practiced it. He also had a perfect understanding of his own responsibility. He understood there was much to be done for his people’s welfare and safety. No one understood better than he his people’s precarious situation, because he labored exceedingly; there was so much to do and so little time to do it in.

Yea, and he was a man who was firm in the faith of Christ… (Alma 48:13)

He had a perfect understanding of the principles of the gospel and the need for Christ’s Atonement. He put his complete trust in Christ, achieving and retaining a remission of his sins and undoubtedly urging others to do the same.

…and he had sworn with an oath to defend his people, his rights, and his country, and his religion, even to the loss of his blood. (Alma 48:13)

He had a perfect understanding of how covenants bind a person to act and how God assists his people to keep their righteous covenants, so he was willing to bind himself by covenant to defend his people, his rights, his country, and his religion, trusting that God would enable him to faithfully fulfill it even in the greatest extremity.

Based on this description, it seems that “perfect understanding” is possible and attainable. In fact, many of us are well on our way towards it! May we strive until we achieve that perfect understanding so that it can be said of us as it was said of Captain Moroni: “if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto [insert your name here], behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men.” (Alma 48:17)

Eternal Families, Happy Birthday Haley!

Today our sweet Haley Girl would be turning 8!

This SHOULD be the weekend that her daddy baptizes her.

She would wear a white dress that we picked out just perfect for her.

Who would she want to speak at her baptism.  What songs would she pick?

Oh my sweet daughter..... this would have been one of those HUGE birthdays that mean so much.

 As I got dressed this morning getting ready for my Grandpa's funeral, I thought about my Grandpa and sweet daughter Haley together!

They share a day now that would be forever ingrained in my mind and heart.

Today I'm grateful for eternal families. Just knowing I will see my Grandpa and Haley once again one day.













 Dear Grandpa,
Please keep her by your side and love her lots.


Give her Hugs and Kisses from her mommy and daddy.

Please tell her all the great, fun, exciting things about her mommy!

Tell her she is in our thoughts so much.

Tell her that we love our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.   We believe in eternal families and we will be with her again one day.

Tell her that her brothers are just awesome!  She would love them so dearly and Hunter boy LOVES her!

Tell her that we know she watches over us.

Tell her that i'm so grateful for the pure daughter she is.

Tell her that she is missed so dearly.

Greatest of all please Grandpa tell her that her Mommy LOVES HER more than words can express!!!

Love, Mommy and the boys!

So today you see, Haley's birthday was peaceful! 

It was happy in my mind, just thinking of the great celebration of a Granddaughter and her Great Grandpa! 

What greater gift could someone in heaven get?!

Happy Birthday Sweet Haley,
We love you!!!!

Perfection is not in this life but the next... be patient with yourself.

Attitude of Gratitude

Grandpa Maxwell....

My beautiful Grandma, oh how I love this sweet woman... so did my Grandpa so dearly.  She has such a kind heart.  So dear and christ like.  She is such a humble daughter of God. 

My heart goes out to her, I can not even imagine how she feels.  My Grandpa was 85 years old and they where married for a LONG LONG TIME!

They were soul mates, eternal companions and you could see it.  There love made the room shine.

Wow, I really will miss my Grandpa!  Love you Grandma and Grandpa!


This is Anya and Grandma Maxwell!

 Pallbearers :
Ron McFaddin
Roger Maxwell
Steve White
Eli Nunez
Neil Blackwelder
Neil Maxwell
Paul Barattiero

 My Aunt Machele.... it was great to see her.  I love this lady!

 Each Family Member put a rose on the casket... it was a beautiful spread of flowers.

 Uncle Roger, Heather (my mom), Grandma and Uncle Neil.

 All the "Barattiero" Girls with there Uncles Neil and Roger. 

 Hot Momma Emily and our Daddy- O Tom!

 This picture is precious.... Grandma is held by 2 strong sons!  She is so short compared to them. . I LOVE IT!!!!

I hope my boys are much much taller than me.  :)

The kiddos where not sure what to think about the casket going into the ground.... and leave it to the "white boy Hunter"  to say..... Oh MY GOSH there are 2 spiders down there.... you can't put Grandpa down there!!!  That was during a quiet moment... ya gotta love kids... I'm sure Grandpa was laughing a little bit.