52 Blessings/ Week 3: Friends

I consider my friends one of my greatest blessings in my life. From childhood, to adulthood, I've made great friends along the way. I think back on my childhood friends that would play "house" with me, or "dolls", or sell lemonade with me outside. Good times! Then during my teenage years my friends were so very important to me. I look back and am so grateful that they never asked me to compromise my standards or beliefs. I can remember one time in particular when one of my friends had just gotten her drivers license and so we went "cruising" while listening to church music. Yep, that was the extent of my "wild" days. Boy my parents had it easy with me! LOL When I went away to college I made my lifelong friends. One of those gals just left my house and I'm so bummed that I forgot to take a picture with her. These women have molded me in a very real way. They are women I look up to, respect, and deeply admire. I continue to meet wonderful women and am truly thankful for each one of you ladies. Thank you for your friendship. I hope and pray that my children will also be blessed with wonderful friends.

My Best and Eternal Friend

My dear friend, Suzanna

I'm happy to say that my brothers and sisters are some of my greatest friends

Highschool friends

College Friends

Terrible 2's

How did we go from this....


to this...



He was always my sweet, cuddly, happy little boy! Now he is independent, screams at the drop of a hat (and might I add that his scream is just a few pitches higher than a high C), he likes to go around pointing his little finger at me and say "dop" for stop as he looks at me real stern like. Quite honestly, I can't help but laugh at this little one, but I am sad that he's hitting this 2 stage 6 months early. Just means that my babies are growing up and I don't like that one little bit! From time to time, my sweet little boy will come out and want me to hold him and rock him. I live for those times. Thankfully he still wants his mama when he's sick, hurt, or sad.
Here's just a few more pictures of this little guy that I soooo LOVE!!!

52 Blessings/ Week 2: Dave Ramsey

Ok, I know I should probably think of something more sentimental, but really I am so thankful for this man who preaches to whoever will listen, about the importance of living on a budget and how to get out of debt. Aaron and I started listening to him on the radio a little over a year ago and I'm here to tell ya, he's fantastic! His philosophy is easy to follow. The tricky part is being disciplined enough to stick with it, but we are here to tell ya it works if you stick with it. So, it is deffinately a blessing to be on a budget and also, if you've not heard of him before, he is my gift to you all to start out a wonderful 2009! Happy New Year!


This is what Dave Preaches
Get out of debt the same way you learned to walk, one step at a time. Dave has taught these principles to millions via radio, books, Financial Peace University, Live events, and online:
1- $1,000 to start an Emergency Fund
2- Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball
3- 3 to 6 months of expenses in savings
4- Invest 15% of household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement
5- College funding for children
6- Pay off home early
7- Build wealth and give!

For those interested, check him out at daveramsey.com

Abby at 3 weeks

Some Pictures of our House

So, this is for you Grandma Rietfors. I've been meaning to post some pictures of our new house, for quite some time now and keep forgetting. Here are just a few. Sure love and miss you.

Christmas 2008

CHRISTMAS DAY!

Aaron and I were soooo excited for Christmas since Hannah was old enough to understand the whole Santa thing. Christmas Eve we had a nice dinner together, then made a gingerbread house together. We each opened one gift, then put the kids to bed so "Santa" could come.

The next morning we could hear the kids in their bedroom so we knew they'd be coming to get us anytime. However, they didn't come into our bedroom as usual since the Christmas tree lights were on, they were drawn to that instead. We could hear them ewing and awing (sp?) so we came out to join them. They were so excited! Santa really had come and he brought them more presents then they knew what to do with.

I was most happy when I caught Hannah talking on her pretend phone laughing and really having a good conversation to someone. When I asked her who she was talking to she said, "Jesus, it's his birthday today". So, even though she was excited about the presents, she still understood why we have this special day.

Christmas Day, we went to dinner at my parents house where the fun only continued. All the grandkids were excited to share with everyone what they received that year. Mom and Dad read us the story of the 3 trees and to the kids they read "The Grinch who Stole Christmas". We played games afterward and then headed home in a blizzard! It was such a wonderful Christmas this year. We hope you all had a Merry Christmas and have a very happy New Year!

The kids sporting their Christmas pj's.

Our finished gingerbread house, which is slowly being eaten!

Grandpa Eyre reading "The Grinch who Stole Christmas". Hannah couldn't see the pictures, so climbed on up to have a better look.

Opening presents from Grandma & Grandpa.

Hannah & Gracie

Adult Christmas Dinner

Every year my parents take all their children out for a nice dinner. This year we had the dinner at their house and did some fun things afterwards. We made homemade candies, peanut brittle & pulled taffy. These were some things we would do as children, so it was so fun to share this with our spouses this year, plus it was fun to think back on Christmas' past. My parents also put up a baby quilt in the basement to tie and they will be giving that away. To end the night my dad has been working on his lifes' history for several years and finally finished it as a gift to each of us kids. It really is a treasure to have this book. What a wonderful Christmas present!


Susan & Trent working on the vinegar taffy
Aaron's finished taffy. I must admit that his was one of the best and certainly the best looking!

Dear Friend

I think we all know someone we'll never forget and Anne Shirley, of Green Gables, calls them "kindred spirits". Jen is my kindred spirit. She was one of my great mission companions. We had the greatest companionship. Working with her was such a blast, so much so that we would often find ourselves working over the expected hours asked of us. During the time we served together we laughed, and cried, and grew in ways that I'm not sure we would have with any other companion. I must admit that when I think of my mission it is mostly the time I spent with Jen and the people we taught together.
She now lives in Indiana with her husband and little boy. As if that isn't far enough, they will be moving even further this next year to Pennsylvania! (Darn you Cory)! LOL Thankfully they have family here in Utah and seem to make it back for a visit atleast once a year. Although our visits are limited and short, I ALWAYS look forward to seeing you Jen! I love you girl!



This is her adorable little boy, Jake.

Snowy Days

The first few times it snows, it is soooo much fun! I just love to watch it fall. Of course, I love to be watching it fall from inside, sitting next to a warm fire. However, the kiddos think it's terrific to play in, so we've ventured out in it for some play time.

Abby's 1st two weeks

Aaron and I can't believe that Abby has only been with us for two weeks. She seems so much older to us and it certainly seems longer than two weeks since that scary night of her delivery. We are THRILLED to have her in our home though. She is a sweet little thing; my easiest baby so far. Here are just a few pictures of her these last two weeks.






If Aaron were a girl, we know for sure what he would have looked like!

Our little Sweetie

What a little cutie! Here she is 5 days old.

Abigail Jane Lombardo

I've emailed most everyone the news of our newest arrival, but there are a few whose e-mails I don't have. Abby was born Dec. 7th at 4:20 am. It was the scariest delivery of the 3, only because we barely made it to the hospital. I went into labor at 3:00 that morning, woke Aaron up at 3:15. We called my sister Susan at 3:20, she was over in 10 minutes. We got to the hospital at 4:10. They admitted me into an observation room and I had Abby 10 minutes later. We are so grateful that we live in Lehi now, since we certainly would have had her in the car if we still lived in Eagle Mountain.

She is a sweet little thing. Very similar to Hannah's temperment which was a very good set of vocals on her. :o) We have instantly fallen in love with her. Hannah calls her "my baby Abigail", and Nathan looks at her very awkwardly and confused. It's such a joy to be these children's parents. It's humbling beyond anything we've experienced and a great honor at the same time.

Something kinda funny is that all 3 of our children were born on the 7th of the month without us planning that. Aaron thinks that Vegas should pay him out for having triple sevens! Fat chance!!!

My Sweet Family

Traditional Grandma Eyre Cookie Party

This is such a fun tradition that my mom does. Every year she bakes a bunch of sugar cookies and ginger bread man cookies, has her grandkids over to decorate them and feeds them lunch. The kids look forward to it every year. Hannah really enjoyed it this year and Nathan enjoyed painting his face and hair with the frosting. Once they were finished, Aunt Nikki (my sister) played some Christmas games with the kids. One of the games was to pass some kind of toy around while music was playing and when the music stopped, whoever had the toy had to answer a Christmas question. Well, it stopped on Hannah one time and so Nikki asked her who brings us presents at Christmas. Her response, "Jesus". That gave us all a good laugh. Can't argue with that answer!

Thanksgiving

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving this year. Ours was small, but sweet. We had a wonderful feast at my parents house with just a few of us there. It was nice to relax and enjoy the yummy food. Aaron made the turkey for the dinner. He has the best Brine recipe ever! For those of you who would like to try it for Christmas or for Thanksgiving next year, here it is:

1 gallon of water
1 onion
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup kosher salt
peppercorns to liking

You put all these ingredients in a roaster, soak the turkey for 16-24 hours breast side down and then cook according to directions. We always cook it in the juice, but you can dump the juices out before cooking as well. It is divine!!!