Happy New Year!

Paige and Becca taking a breather....Christmas lights can be so taxing!
My Mom and Dad at the Joseph Smith Memorial Bldg. looking out over all the lights in front of the temple they were sealed in.
Jillian, Emma, Paige and Becca enthralled by all the lights atop the J.S.M.B
Emma, Paige, Celia, and one of the twins(I think Becca but I am not sure, sorry lol)
All of us! Shad holding Jillian, Kenzie, Pops holding Becca, Me with Paige and Grammy with Emma and Celia.
Shad and I, nice hat babe!
After our trip we came home and had animal crackers and hot cocoa..it was yummy and we laughed a lot that night.

My parents and their angelic granddaughters (that is what they would want to call them, I don't necessarily have to agree :)

A collection of pictures from our trip to Temple Square to see all the beautiful lights. We had a fun time. My parents were here from the 23rd through this morning and we had such a wonderful visit. The kids love their Grammy and Pops so very much. The children have effectively changed his name this visit. He used to be Popup but when I refer to him as Popup now I am swiftly corrected and told he is Pops. I am just a Mother...sometimes they have to let some things slide. It was great to have my parents here and we really appreciated my brother who drove hours and hours to drop them off at the airport in Chicago and then to deliver them from the Chicago airport to my sister who then got them home. I can't thank my sister and brother enough for helping us to give the gift of grandparents to my children who hadn't been able to see their grandparents in 19 months. Thank you, thank you, thank you Heidi and Dave!!! So I will be puting a slide show together from Christmas Day and also a few choice videos...watch for those!

What a Christmas we had! The Friday before Christmas Shad got a verbal offer from a company he very much wanted to work for. They told him they wanted to hire him and asked him how much money he was looking for etc etc. Shad told them how much he was looking for and then we anxiously awaited the formal offer letter. It was a lot of suspense waiting for this to see what he would be making and the terms of the offer in general, plus that just makes it official. So, finally, on the 29th, Shad received the offer and it is such a great offer I can't even tell you. We have been praying and praying and he has been looking for so long. We were blessed that he had a job but we really needed for him to make a lot more money so we could pay our bills and just live life with 6 little girls and all that having them entails financially. So On January 20 Shad will be working for Omniture in Orem, Utah. He is stoked about the job and not just because of the money at all (although we can't lie this is a substantial raise) He is excited about the work he will be doing there, the company he will be working for, and the challenges ahead. We feel so very blessed. 2009 looks to be starting out well for us and we are praying for those still in need of blessings. We know how very blessed we are.

Mom and Dad, thanks for coming...we are so glad we were able to get you out here and spend the holidays with you. It was a holiday we will remember for years to come. We love you!