11 Years

Wow! It was eleven years ago, yesterday, that Clint and I were sealed to each other in the Salt Lake City Temple. Now here we are, with four wonderful kids, Clint has an amazing job, and we are happy and learning and growing together.

We celebrated the evening by having dinner at The Roof Restaurant and then off to the movies to see The Blindside. By the way, that was an amazing movie. We both loved it.

My dear, sweet, sister who is in town, watched the kids for us and had her hands full. Ty, our youngest, was throwing up most of the evening. She changed his clothes three times, gave him two baths, and spent some time scrubbing carpets. I owe you big time, Diana!

All in all, it was a wonderful evening to sit and have dinner with a beautiful site of the Temple we were married in. I love to look back at where Clint and I were in our relationship eleven years ago to where we are now. Here's to eleven years, love you Clint!

Here is the view from our table during dinner

Christmas 2009

Christmas this year was magical. My parents came for five days from Virginia, and it was heaven having them here. Having your family live in various other states is hard because family visits are few and far between. The last time the kids saw my parents was 1 year ago! So this Christmas was extra special with their company, and we were all able to just relax, spend time with one another, and have fun. I loved every minute of it.

Sledding on the slope in our front yard, putting together the traditional Christmas puzzle, decorating cookies, staying up late because you don't want to leave each other's side, and being with family. This was a wonderful Christmas!

A Perfect Day

Saturday Macy turned 9 and she decided she wanted to have a Cooking Party. So I made chef hats for all her friends and we made pizzas and decorated cupcakes. The kids had so much fun and Macy commented that nothing could ruin her day because it was so perfect.
That evening we went as a family to see "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" (Macy's choice) and enjoyed the movie together. Even Tyler sat and cooperated for it until the last 15 minutes.

It was a great day and wonderful to think about 9 years ago when I gave birth to our first baby. No, not a great day, a perfect day! I love you Macy.

Dancing Queen

This last week Abby's dance class held a little recital to show the parents what they have been learning and working on. Abby was a doll and so much fun to watch!

Santa Baby

Pictures with Santa at the Ward Christmas Party. Notice Tyler is absent from the photos. He refuses to go anywhere near anything or anyone that even resembles Santa. He waves his hands and says, "Scary!"

Snuggie

If you looked this good in a snuggie, wouldn't you want one too?! And who knew they came in leopard print?

Happy Birthday, Sweet Abby!

My sweet, sweet Abby. Where have the last seven years gone? I remember the day you were born, and how sweet and precious you were and still are. You have definitely become mommy's little helper, and I am so thankful for you and your radiant smile. You make my heart happy!



Every other year the kids have a birthday party and this year was Abby's off year. So she decided to go to McDonalds to play and invited her friend McKenna to come along. She really did have a wonderful day and felt so special to have a day to celebrate just her!

Thanksgiving

We had a very, nice and relaxing weekend in Idaho with Clint's side of the family. Things just seem slower paced there and because of that I enjoyed my time.

The day after Thanksgiving, 4 of us girls hit the stores to do our shopping. I love a good bargain and this has been a tradition we have done for several years now.

Saturday was spent in the mountains on Clint's dad's property, looking for the perfect Christmas tree. This too has been an ongoing tradition in the Udy Family and this year we snagged two trees. The one upstairs I decorate, and the one downstairs is the kids tree. They had a blast decorating it this year, and did it without any help!

So we strapped the trees on top of the van, Clark Griswald style!

From Drab to Fab

This poor sweater has been pretty lonely just sitting in my closet, so I decided to tailor it to fit Abby and create a sweater dress for her. With some of the extra fabric I made her a matching headband.


What do you think? From drab to fab!

About $12.00

Can I just say "I love coupons!" Clint calls my use of coupons my part-time job, which I would have to agree. It takes time, strategy, planning, and organization skills to do the coupon thing. I love being able to get a lot of stuff for not very much; to me it's like a game.

This is my latest coupon run at Smith's. About $55.00 in groceries for around $12.00. Not too bad I would say.

Halloween 2009

This year Halloween was wonderful! The kids were so excited to go trick-or-treating and made quite the haul with the candy. Clint went out with the kids while I stayed home and passed out candy.

This year Macy was a witch, Abby was a ballerina (thanks Nana for making the costume) Blake was a pirate and Tyler was a spider. We hope everyone enjoyed their evening as much as we did.

On a side note, Clint and I attended a couples Halloween party where he dressed up as Nacho Libre and I was the nun!

The Kindness of Others

Within the last month, our family has experienced some kind acts performed on our behalf. I thought I would take this time to mention a few of them.

I have been a frequent shopper at Jo Ann's fabric store recently and each visit I have been surrounded by several others waiting in long lines to have their fabric cut. On one visit I was waiting, patiently while my kids were not. I had 2 frustrated kids in the cart and was doing all I could to keep them quiet and happy. A sweet, sweet lady came up to me and asked what my number was. (since the lines were so long you had to take a number) I told her and she said, "Here," and handed me her number. Because of her kindness I was basically next in line and she would still have to wait longer. She told me she was a grandma and had been in my place before. I thanked her immensely and was so appreciative of her thoughtfulness.

Another instance of kindness came from a sweet, sweet, sister in our ward. She approached my husband about a month ago and told him that we were to pick a weekend to go away for the night and she would come to our house, watch our four children and stay the night with them. What do you say to an offer like that?! So this last weekend we went to Park City for the night and enjoyed every minute of it. That was an "extreme" act of kindness and we were so grateful to have the night together away from distractions and the phone ringing.


On our way home from Park City we experienced another act of kindness. Clint's car has trouble making it over hills if his gas tank is below half full. Something with the fuel pump, yaddi, yadda. So we were coming home and trying to make it over an incline when the car starts puttering. Gas tank below the halfway mark. We pulled over to the side of the road 1/2 mile from the gas station. Clint leaves to get more gas and on his way back a kind man offered him a ride back to the car.

I am so grateful for all these kind acts and hope I can do my part in performing kind acts for others. Have you been the recipient of a kind act recently? If so, I would love to hear it.

Witches Night Out

Every year Gardner Village holds a Witches Night Out event. This year, a bunch of us girls made some fabulous tutus and attended the event. We enjoyed the night dancing, laughing and enjoying each other's company. It was a blast!

Halloween Surprise

My mom is always so thoughtful and remembers the kids at every holiday. This year for Halloween she sent a Halloween kit to make a haunted House. The kids had some friends over and I thought that would be the perfect time to put it together. The haunted house turned out great and it was a hit with the kids.

Thank you Grandma Nana!

Pumpkin Patch

I absolutely love this time of year: the change in weather, fall colors, and pumpkins.

This week we hit a pumpkin patch in Riverton and had so much fun. We ran through a corn maze, had a tractor ride, and searched rows of pumpkins for the perfect one. Even Tyler picked out a pumpkin and threw it in the wheel barrel.

St. George Marathon - Round 2

Last year Clint ran the St. George Marathon with his brother Mark, and they both ran their personal best despite the constant downpour of rain. This year was another story. The weather was perfect but both Clint and Mark had a bad race. Around mile 6 Clint hurt his knee and ran in pain for 20 miles. What a trooper.

We loved our stay with Clint's brother and family. We watched Conference together, had good food and company, went to the park and played in the Virgin River.

Macy caught a fish in the River and she brought it home with her in the water bottle.

Thank you Mark and Becky for the wonderful weekend!

FHE

For Family Home Evening last week, we ventured over to Utah Lake. We walked the trails, sang songs, and had a nice quiet evening with the kids. I love nights like these.