Merry Christmas!!

We had an absolutely WONDERFUL Christmas!!
We were able to move into the new house on the 18th and we got busy unpacking and setting up for Christmas. That Monday for family home evening we went and got out tree. I think there was like 6 left on the lot, but we got a good one we loved.

On Christmas eve my family bakes a bunch of goodies to deliver to our friends. We all met at my parents house to make the goody plates and then delivered them to our neighbors. When we got back we had our first ever kids Nativity play. Th kids did such a good job and I look forward to continuing that tradition.

Hailey was Mary, Kaleb was Joesph, Jackson and Karly were shepherds, Sean was an angel and a wise man, and Blake and Conner were the other wise men.

We said bye to the family and went and delivered our goodies to friends. We then headed home and opened one present. Guess what it was...PAJAMAS!

Christmas morning was so fun! I love seeing the kids enjoy their Santa gifts and watching them open presents.

After presents we headed over to my parents for some YUMMY breakfast and more presents. I think the highlight for me was watching all the kids open presents. We had them all sitting on the ground with their pile and Amber and I would read who it was from and then say " 1, 2, 3.. GO!" The kids would rip open the paper and grin loving what they got. It was so FUN!

The whole day was PERFECT!! I loved being with my family!

To make the whole Christmas experience even better, we woke up the next morning to SNOW!!!!

The kids and Stephen played outside for hours!

I am so grateful for my family, it is always such a blessing to spend time with them. I do miss the rest of family that is out west, my kids love seeing pictures of everyone. We hope to get out there soon.

Oh, don't worry I will post pics of the house soon!

It's the most BUSIEST time of the Year!

Ok, Ok, I know I have totally slacked on my blogging. After the great post about trying to blog more often, I seemed to have failed, but I do have a GREAT reason( I'll get to that reason later).

I actually don't a lot of time to post right now, so I'll go through some things quickly. Hailey and Kaleb have both started basketball and both are doing great and having a lot of fun. Kaleb had a little performance at school and he did super! He was the cutest reindeer:)

And both Hailey and Kaleb performed at our ward Christmas party. Kaleb was in the heavenly choir. He is dressed like a lamb, not sure why, but still way cute. Hailey had a part in the play. She was the 1st innkeeper and said her one line perfect, and then joined the choir. It was very sweet and I was proud of both of them.

All is well with the rest of family, it's just that Stephen and I have been EXTREMELY busy getting things done at................................

OUR NEW HOUSE!!!!!!!

Yep, we are moving out, on the 18th to be exact. We have had a lot of long days and late nights getting the house fixed up. Here is a little preview of what is going on. Don't worry when it is all done, I'll have plenty of pictures.

This really is just a small part of everything, but I will go into more detail when it is complete! See, I told you I had a good reason for not blogging;)

Stephen and I are so thankful to have this opportunity and VERY blessed to have amazing friends and family to help us out. Stay tuned for more to come:)

Oh, also check out the new pics of the fam, my super talented friend Christina took them!

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! The kids and I watched Stephen, my dad, and Kyle play football that morning, which was a lot of fun. Stephen loves football and I love being able to watch him play. That afternoon, I helped my mom cook. I made the stuffing and potatoes, and I have to say they were very yummy:) I am just thankful that my mom is such a great cook and has taught me so much. All the food was FABULOUS and we enjoyed being with everyone!

I LOVE this picture!!

Friday, my mom and I got up and went shopping!! We went to target at 3:45am and got all that we wanted, well almost. I needed one item for Karly and they didn't have it at that target, but thankfully there are 3 Targets within 15min. of each other and at the last one we went I found what I wanted. We also went to Wal-mart and I was able to get what I needed as well. We were back home by 9:30am, and very happy with all that we got. Some may think I am crazy, but I love shopping on Black Friday!! Stephen, the kids and I did goto the mall that afternoon, after I took a nap;)

Saturday, we were fortunate enough to get some tickets to the NCSU basketball game. We got 4 tickets and figured we would just take Hailey and Kaleb, hoping that Karly wouldn't be to bummed. Well, when we told the kids about the tickets, Karly wanted to go so bad. I was about to try and explain to her, that we could take her another time, when Kaleb says "I want to go,but I'll stay here, so they(the girls) can go." The girls were so happy and grateful that they cleaned Kaleb's room for him. It was so awesome to be there and see how much they care for each other. I was so proud of Kaleb, he is such an AWESOME kid! We had a fun time watching NC State win, and both girls got on the big screen!!

Football

Kaleb had a great football season! I really enjoyed watching him play and play well. He is an awesome little blocker, and made some sweet running plays. I guess he just had fantastic coaches... Stephen, my dad, and brother Kyle:) OH, I need to say a big thanks to my other brothers Derek and Brent for helping out for the last game, I am so lucky to have such an AMAZING family!! Now it is on to basketball!

All Contained

I finished cleaning out and organizing my mom's craft cabinet outside and the kids one inside. I started my mom's Monday, with the help from Stephanie, and then finished it on Tuesday. And on Wednesday, I started and finished the kids. I am really proud of myself:) I wish I had taken a before picture of my mom's, but at least you can see the after. I had a lot of fun shopping for all the containers at The Container Store, it is like my new favorite store. I need to give a big thanks to my friend Stephanie for helping me get started on my mom's, it made the task a lot easier. And, I need to give a huge thanks to Karly for helping me with the kids cabinet. She helped clean stuff out, throw stuff away, put items in new boxes, and help put everything back on the shelf's. She was AWESOME!!! I actually really like organizing and it feels great to have it done!

The leaves have been absolutely gorgeous this year. Karly and I went outside this afternoon to take some picture of the neighborhood.

Crazy Mondays!!

Mondays are always a busy day for me, and today was no exception. I usually try and get all my "chores" done on Mondays, so I can just have fun the rest of the week. Okay, so here is how the day went...

I Slowly get out of bed, really not wanting to face the day. I got the girls ready for school and Stephen got the boys ready ( I love when he is home in the mornings), and then headed down for breakfast. Kissed Stephen goodbye, got lunches ready, book bags packed, and then cleaned the kitchen. Hailey and Kaleb go to the neighbor who we carpool with and Karly and Blake hang out and play. I made out the dinner menu for the week, and realize I haven't eaten and grab me something to eat while I organize my coupons ( I LOVE COUPONS). Then, I sorted the laundry and started a load and finished up with coupons and the grocery list. Finished the grocery list, took the kids upstairs, checked my email and paid some bills. Next, I switched the clothes, with help from Blake, and then headed out the door. We stopped by the bank first, which is a hassle since my drivers side window doesn't work and then headed to the store. The store is actually pretty fun. We always get there when they put out the samples, so the kids and I enjoy all the yummy treats. We rushed today b/c I had my friend coming over to help with a project. When I got home I was on my cell phone with Stephen, and Karly didn't want to wait for me to get off, so she hopped out and went inside. She came back out with my dad and brothers Derek and Kyle, and they brought all the groceries in!! It was so nice. Steph, got there right as I was going inside. I got the kids lunch and started to put away groceries, while Steph was cleaning out the craft cabinet. I put all the groceries away, cleaned up the kids, then cleaned up their lunch, and took Blake for his nap. Steph had her little boy with her, so Karly played with him. I helped Steph with all the craft stuff for about an hour, and then she had to go, but I was so thankful for all her help, I really don't have much left to do. After Steph left, I put Karly in my room to watch TV for some quiet time, and then got dinner in the crock pot and realized again, that I had not eaten, so I grabbed me some lunch. I also forgot about the laundry, so I got the load out and put the other one in the dryer. When that was done it was time to get the kids from school. Picked up the kids from school, helped with homework, practiced basketball with the kids, finished dinner, and rushed off to Hailey's basketball practice!!! We all went to Hailey's practice and then for a special treat went to Krispy Kreme for some hot doughnuts!! It was a prefect ending to a crazy day.

Whoa, I wrote a lot, but it actually helps me feel better to realize I accomplished a lot today. I usually feel like I get nothing done, but putting it all done really helps me to see EVERYTHING.

Oh, and I need to give big thanks to Stephen who put all the laundry away while I was writing this. He is the best husband EVER!!

WHY??

Why do I blog?? I blog for 2 reasons...
1- So our WONDERFUL family in Utah, and Oregon know what is going on in our lives. We love them dearly, but sadly never get to see them.
2- I keep this blog as my journal, so I can have a record of what my family has done.

I try really hard to blog each week, but sometimes I get lazy or just think that nothing special has happened so I don't need to blog. But, I realized special things happen everyday and I need to record them. So, I decided that I would like to blog every night, and I am going to try really hard to do so. Now I know there will be some nights I can't get to it, but I will at least do more than one a week. When I print out my blog I want to be able to show them to my kids, and remind them of all the fun things they did or said, and how proud of them I am. And yes, I will even blog without pictures:)

Wish me luck!

A little Halloween and a trip to the Zoo!

I really hope these videos work, fingers crossed!

We had a fun Halloween week. Here are some highlights:

*pumpkin carving with Stephen

*ward trunk or treat

* Stephen being Lord Voldemort and Blake being young Harry (everyone loved it)

* me winning the chili cook off at church!! my chili was so good, no one else even bothered to bring any:)

* helping sew Uncle Brent's Willy Wonka costume, I helped with the jacket, but the vest was all me!!

* watching Harry Potter, baking cupcakes, and handing out candy instead of trick-or-treating AND

* the kids telling me this was the best Halloween!!

The kids didn't have school Friday so I loaded them up and headed to the NC Zoo. We brought Hailey's friend Taylor with us too, she also joined us for trunk or treat. The Zoo was super fun and we had a GREAT time. I think the highlight of the Zoo trip for me was watching the kids faces while at the elk exhibit... it was mating season;) ha ha ha. Ahh, good times.

The Fair!!!!

This past Thursday we headed out to the NC State Fair!! I love, love, LOVE the fair. Here is how the day went....

We arrive at the fair about 10:30am and enjoy some ham, sausage, and plain biscuits then head out to watch the bike show and saw some amazing stunts like this...

Then we ate the most delicious ice cream ever, from the NCSU creamery. It's the BEST!!


After ice cream we went off to ride some rides





Took a little walk and learned about farming

We held some baby chicks, ducks and turkeys. And checked out all the other animals

We walked around some more and looked at all the fun things. Then met up with Grandma and Papa and had some yummy food. Who doesn't love ribbon fries, turkey legs, corn on the cob, corn dogs, and cotton candy??

We walked around the exhibit halls and collected stickers(Hailey got the most with 10), and then went on some more rides and played some games.

Lastly we gathered on a hill to see my most favorite thing....FIREWORKS!!!

After the amazing fireworks display, we walked to car to head home. We left about 10:30pm, and had a BLAST!! Can't wait till next year!

THE END!!!

What's Going On...

Okay, sorry I have slacked on my blogging, but here are the fun happenings of the Beckstrand family.... Hailey got to cheer lead with the Louisburg High School (where my mom teaches) cheerleaders. She LOVED it, and she did a great job. I was very proud!

Blake is growing up! He likes to take showers all by himself:) And he has moved to a big boy bed!! So long crib, Blake prefers the bunk bed now:)

I turned 27!! And had a great birthday WEEKEND!! It started Thursday when my BEAUTIFUL friends surprised me with dinner (notice all the food on the table)! Friday, I celebrated with Stephen and the kids at home, it was PERFECT. We had pizza and cookie cake. And Stephen surprised me with a Nook!! He is WONDERFUL!

On Saturday, my parents watched the kiddos so Stephen and I could go to Dave Ramsey Live!! It was fun and helped us get even more motivated to pay off our debt!! After that Stephen and I went to dinner just the two of us. Sunday was my mom's and nephew Sean's birthday, so we all got together and celebrated!! We had to move the party to my sis-in- law Amber's parents house, because the power went off at our house. Ahh, good times! It really was a FANTASTIC birthday!!! Thanks to everyone for making me feel so loved, you all are the BEST!

I think that about wraps it up.