Merry Christmas! (as close to a card as we'll get this year)

Merry Christmas from the Prestwiches!

 





 If you made it here, you've probably kept up with our comings and goings this year- or you can go back and read about them! We've had a very blessed, eventful year! I thought I'd recap each person in a few words. Since she'll be last most of the time, we'll start with Eliza.

Eliza- 5 months, sweet baby, big brown eyes, demands to be held, hard to resist, adored by all!

Lydia, age 3 1/2, very smart, loves Eloise books, started preschool, very busy!!!, likes to do things herself, adjusting to life with baby, great helper, loves cauliflower, excited about life!

Aubrey- age 6, first grade, great student, so friendly, growing out her hair to donate, losing teeth, constantly dancing, becoming a great reader, likes to hold the baby, loves to draw & do all kinds of art, likes to go on outings & to the farm.

Jenna- age 8, baptized in July, 3rd grade, great student, avid reader- loves Magic Tree House & Diary of a Whimpy Kid books, always singing, very creative, responsible helper, changes diapers, loves going to Activity Days, making new friends, getting to be more adventurous.

Corrine- older, tired mommy, PTA president, survived child birth again- always a bonus, so blessed to be here with wonderful kids & wonderful husband!

Tim- older, amazing dad & husband, right-of-way acquisition negotiator, in 71st year as Elder's Quorum president ;), likes to read my facebook page, winning his fantasy football league, hard worker, good neighbor, love of my life!

After Eliza's baby blessing in November- it was windy & we were looking toward the sun. It was a wonderful day!



50's girl, flapper, dancing princess on their way to the sock hop at the elementary school.

You might be a winner...

Who doesn't love free stuff? How about really nice free stuff? Some day I'll tell you about what we won shortly after we were married. Funny story.

Tonight, my eyes are on the prize.

Check out cjane's appliance reviews and enter to win some Kenmore goodness!

Proof of snow

Tim went out to shovel our back porch after a two-day storm that dumped 21 inches on us. This really is all from one storm! From Sunday, November 21- Monday November 29, we got a total of 42 inches of snow! Somehow we found the only place in the county that gets more snow than my parents' house at the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon!

Between our extra wide drive way, corner lot, and conscientious Elder's Quorum president here, our snow blower has been well-used. Even the "Blizzard of 2010" that everyone mocked gave us 9 inches of snow. With the wind we had drifts that were a few feet deep in some places. Crazy Winter! (And darn global warming!)

Even further behind than normal...

I used to be a great journal keeper- in high school & college, and for parts of my mission. Then life happened, I got busy & lazy. I said, "I scrapbook because I'm not a great journal writer."

Then came, "I blog because I am so bad at keeping up with my scrapbooks."
Now those who want to see what I'm doing day-to-day can find me on facebook. There is no real long-term memory preservation there, so I need to get my act together!

My sweet little laptop crashed & burned mid-November, but has returned home now. Thanks to my awesome bro-in-law Jake, my photos and documents are safe. I need to get them back on this computer so I can fill in the lost time.

For now, prepare to be inundated (hopefully) with so catch-up posts. cute pictures, blood drive updates, stories about Lydia's path of destruction and maybe even a few Christmas crafts- although the time for that is running out.

Anyway, you've been warned.

The Write Planner

You simply MUST check out this new planner my clever friend, Kim, has created. She is a writer and also the most organized, goal-oriented person I know. This is a brilliant combination of her talents!

Go to her blog to enter to win one! Not a writer? She has a prize for non-writers, too. Hurry! The contest ends today- I'm slow!

Just a few items of business.

My cute little laptop crashed last week, so I'm working here from my desktop computer, which is ancient by computer standards (in other words SSSSSSSSSLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWW). It is older than most of my children. (That's old!)

Last night I dreamt that I did all of my Christmas shopping from Target clearance racks. It was AWESOME! Today I went to Target & got some good stuff, but no where near what I dreamt.

I have a very nice woman/girl/lady, whatever you want to call her, picked out for Tim as a replacement wife in the event of my untimely demise. Am I the only one? Has anyone else made a back-up plan?

At 3am my husband woke up and told me that he'd had a strange dream. We were at the opera and all of the women had on red coats (me, too) and he couldn't find me. He told me the only person he could find was So-and-so, because she had on a blue coat. So-and-so happens to be the replacement wife that I have chosen. I don't think I told Tim that. I was a bit freaked out and wondered if his dream was more premonition than random dream. We haven't seen this lady for YEARS. I had a hard time going back to sleep as I pleaded with the Lord to spare my life and let me raise my children. Seriously.

My girls have been given a $5 per sister budget for Christmas. They will not be buying toys with that money.

I am now the PTA president at the elementary school. If I pester you to join PTA, just pay the $5 and get it over with. It's cheaper than a McDonald's value meal, plus I'll stop bugging you. You don't have to commit to volunteer your time. Just let us use your money. It's for the children. Seriously!

Jenna's teacher told me at SEPs (parent teacher conferences) that she'd like to clone Jenna and have 19 of her in her class. Ahhh! (Love you, Jenna!)

Both girls got excellent reports at SEPs. They are great brown-nosers like their mother!

Ask Lydia to tell you about  Christopher Columbus and Queen Isabella.

Turn your porch lights on at night, people. Don't complain about the county having inadequate lighting and then not turn your outside lights on. We learn at church "Let your light so shine before men." This has practical application in your neighborhood as well. Only a complete idiot would try to break in my back door. My porch is up high for all to see and the light is on all night long. They would have a huge audience. (Plus, there's nothing here to steal. Move along.)

I want to drive to Pennsylvania in the springtime. Anyone live along the way that would rent us a room or want a visitor for a few hours? Let me know.

In case I don't make it back to my blog, HAPPY THANKSGIVING!! May your turkey be Norbest, your potatoes be mashed, your Diet Coke be free flowing, your travels be easy, your family be cooperative, and your shopping be bargain-filled!

An ElfYourself dance for you...

Greetings!
http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/HU95DoawruxhA8ZBj8ly
Check out this dance I made
Visit ElfYourself to make and share your own ElfYourself dance!
http://www.elfyourself.com/
Happy Holidays from Elf Yourself!
Brought to you by OfficeMax, powered by JibJab.
-------------------

Rosettes

Need a quick, easy, cheap project? Check this out. We made a bunch out of fabric, ribbon & tulle. I will post pics later. Check out all the uses on Little Birdie Secrets!

What's more Halloween-y than BLOOOOD!

Here's another blatant request for birthday gifts. Do you remember what I want for my birthday? Here's a reminder.

I have been overwhelmed with the response so far! Each donation of blood means so much- it literally means a gift of life for the recipient! What better gift could you give someone?

I want to share an email that I received from my college roommate & sweet friend, Jana. She married another of my good friends, Tony. (Just so you know the characters in the story) Hope this is ok to share... I should have asked before, perhaps. Every time I read it I cry. Every time I tell someone about it I cry. No one has ever done more for me!

Bean,
I must have missed your post about giving blood for your birthday, but Tony saw it the other day and told me about it. He wanted me to check into where he could give blood (I just can't do it...I pass out every time. Do you remember that from Snow? It's one of Tony's favorite stories to tell!:)) and so I went to the Red Cross website and they don't service our area and I went to a few other sites and they don't service our area either so I called our local hospital and they directed me to the blood bank in Grand Junction. So after talking with them, we're going to be having a blood drive here in Delta on your birthday!! We're hoping to have a lot of people respond especially from our ward that you can count towards your 34. I'll give you the final numbers when I get them! The lady I talked to from the blood bank asked why I was interested in having a blood drive and so I told her your story and she was pretty impressed. This is such a great idea...I may even give it a shot again...we'll see how I'm feeling that day...I might be able to make it through for you!:) So HAPPY BIRTHDAY from Tony and I!!
Love,
Jana

Holy cow! It would have been so easy for them to just not donate since there wasn't a convenient place to do so. If you are in the area of Delta, Colorado on November 9th, stop in! I am crying again...

So, if you are able, please donate blood. If you can't donate blood, donate some other act of service to someone in need. Open the door for someone, read to a child, join PTA :), help an old lady with her groceries, give some one a smile who doesn't have one. Let me know how it goes!

Some Autumn Fun, part 1

Last Christmas I was on bed rest and we were all sick as dogs. Spring was so cold & wet. All summer, I was too hot & cranky to take my kids anywhere more involved than the park. We have been living it up in this beautiful Fall! Here are a few pictures of some of the things we've done. There are more pictures on my facebook page (since they load much easier there), but here's an overview.

We made our annual trip to Gardner Village while the girls were off track. Kat, Kayla and Cayden came with us. It was actually hot, so we didn't stay too long. Aubrey was only a week out of surgery, so she didn't last long either.

Annie Oakley, Amelia Earhart, and a Go Utes cheerleader.

Last night, we had pumpkin faces for dinner. It was my attempt at making mac & cheese a bit more exciting. Good times!

Multi-tasking mama

So, I was sitting at the kitchen table with my little computer paying my bills online with one hand while I held my baby with the other. She was nursing to her heart's content. Don't picture it. I said DON'T.

The phone rings. It is the pediatrician's office returning my call. I give her my credit card number to pay for Eliza's in-hospital care from 3 months ago. (Oops) I am reading the card with about a third of my left eye, since the other two thirds and my right eye are busy with other tasks. I am listening with one ear to her and the other ear is receiving questions from the older girls about where we put hats and gloves the last time we used them 5 months ago. I answer them with jerks of my head in various directions.

Not to be out done in the multi-tasking department, Eliza proved she, too, can do more than one thing at a time as she pooped the biggest blow-out of her short career. Well done! Even I don't eat and use the bathroom at the same time. This girl will go far!

Eliza's 2 month picture- hurry before she's 3 months old!

Sad baby after her 2 month check up. She had beefed up to a whopping 9lbs 7 oz.

Leg warmers !

(the pics are all mixed up, but I'm holding a sleeping baby, so I'm not going to mess

with them more.)

Three shots in those skinny little frog legs!

This was the first time I caught her smile on film, but she was tipping over sideways.

Miss October 2011

Silver Lake with the Gibsons

A few weeks ago we went to Silver Lake with the Gibson family. Here are a few pics of the trip. That is a giant marshmallow Lydia is eating.

Crazy kids!

It was a gorgeous day!

Thanks Libby Gibby & fam!

Words of wisdom from Abi

My sweet niece, Abi, was assigned to give a talk in Primary about the purpose of the church being to invite others to come unto Christ. Sometimes we lose sight of the real purpose of the things we do. Here's the talk she dictated to her mom. Abi knows what it's all about! She lives in PA and has the opportunity to make friends from all sorts of backgrounds. Her mom & dad are doing a great job with this little angel!

I am 4 years old and I go to preschool. At my preschool I have lots of friends like Logan, Thomas, and Abbey. My friends don’t go to primary. My friends are really nice and I like to play with them. Even though they don’t go to primary they are still nice people. I would love for them to come to primary with me. For them to come to primary I could have a play date with them and tell them about primary and invite them to come with me. I would say to them, “Come to primary and I’ll talk to you about Jesus and I’ll talk to you about Primary.”
Jesus is very nice and helps kids and so I want my friends to know about Him. I want them to know how Jesus and Heavenly Father made the Earth. I also want them to come to primary to learn the primary songs so if they wake up in the night and they’re scared they can sing a primary song to make them feel better. I feel happy when I go to Primary and I want my friends to feel happy too because I love my friends.
I hope I can be brave enough to tell my friends about Jesus Christ and how much I love Him. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Her mom, Hillary said "Maybe it's just me because I'm her mom, but isn't that the sweetest, most innocent little testimony of missionary work that just melts your heart?!?!?"

It's my birthday...

...in a month. I'm giving you time now to prepare my gift. Yes, you. I want the same gift from all of my loyal readers. All 5 of you.

I'm sure you've heard mention of that new baby at my house. You may have even read the harrowing tale of her birth. Do you remember back in December when I posted this:? {not sure where to put the question mark there...}

Did I call it, or what?

So, in celebration of living to see another birthday, I am going to boldly ask everyone I know, and any strangers that happen upon my blog, for a gift this year. It's not exactly FOR me, but BECAUSE of me. Let's pay it forward, shall we?

I want your blood. I have been a faithful blood donor for my whole adult life. It's an easy act of service that I never gave too much thought before. I pictured blood going to save a car crash victim or something similarly tragic. I never pictured a mom living to raise her baby because of a blood donation. After Eliza was born, I was the beneficiary of 6 selfless acts of service by some lovely A+ donors.

Since I can't personally thank these anonymous donors, I want to ask you to fill the blood bank nearest you! I am turning 34 on November 9th and would love to have 34 people (or more) tell me they donated blood between now and then. Or even after.

If you can't donate blood for some reason, recruit someone who can. If you can't find a willing bleeder, donate some time or $ to the Red Cross, ARUP, a hospital, or some other kind deed.

If you've never donated before, it is very simple. This is one of those cases where it is better to give {blood} than to receive {blood}! Be brave. Call me and I'll come hold your hand. Plus, you get a treat after for being a good kid! It only takes about 30 minutes and then you are on your way. You can even use it as a reason to avoid house work for 24 hours after!

I am so grateful that I am here to raise my daughters! I know that my miraculous recovery was aided by fresh blood from donors. I hope you'll consider donating blood this month. Please leave me a message afterward! Thanks for the gift of life!

www.redcrossblood.org - (801) 892-4000
www.utahblood.org - (801) 584-5272

While you're at it, register to be an organ donor!
www.yesutah.org

Dinner tonight

Thanks to a great find at Smith's, we are having these pizza bites for dinner. I got Pillsbury pizza crusts for 79 cents each. (with double box tops, no less!)
We are also using the Hormel mini pepperoni slices that Aimi introduced us to. Did you know there was such a thing? The slices are about the size of a dime. Thanks, Aimi! That saves me lots of chopping!
And make sure you check out the chicken bacon ranch variety, too!

What are you making for dinner?

{I am posting this one-handed, so no pictures included!}

Lydia's summation of preschool today...

...if you know her, picture her cute little voice saying this at fifty miles an hour:

"Oh.My.Gosh. I have never had a teacher like her. She is awesome! But those kids- they're astracting, I mean- distracting me. Especially that Danika girl. She says I'm not a good scissor-er, but I'M A GREAT SCISSOR-ER MOM!"

(A scissor-er is one who uses scissors, if you didn't guess.)

She has enough attitude for a room full of teenage girls. Heaven help us!

The day they met Cayden

The newest cousin on the Lloyd side

Cayden Robert Gibson

born August 27, 2010

Congratulations to Kat & Darin and big brother Zach and big sister Makayla!

Random fact:
Kat and I both got married in 2001, exactly one month apart. Our six/five year olds are 2 weeks shy of 6 months apart. Our three year-olds are a month and three days apart. Our babies are one day shy of a month apart. We try to be as orderly as possible.

Frogurt with cousins

We were able to squeeze in one last activity with the Arveseths the night before they went back to PA. Tim and Steve had gone fishing that morning, but Steve hadn't met Eliza. We met at Frogurt in Cottonwood Heights. Luckily it wasn't crowded, because our girls used every square inch of the place. Poor Jason (second from the right) was so out-numbered! He was an angel & stayed put!

Hillary takes the smallest bites I've ever seen.

Tim takes any chance he gets to play with his nephews. It's his only hope. :)

Overheard

As we were moving furniture this morning to get ready for the carpet cleaners, Lydia found a tiny toy camera that was Aubrey's. She wanted to make sure that everyone knew she was claiming it as her own.





Lydia: "Mom, finders are the keepers, huh."


Me (not really paying attention): "Yeah, sure."


Tim: "If finders are keepers, what are losers?"


Lydia: "Aubrey and Jenna."





Are parents supposed to laugh when one child calls another a loser? It was hard not to!

Halloween should go famously

For Jenna

(from here)

For Aubrey

(from here)

I'm trying to talk Lydia out of Dora.

Jenna's baptism July 10, 2010

The Prestwich family

Tim baptized and confirmed Jenna a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
Jenna was so excited to be baptized. She Looked so beautiful- from the inside out! We are so proud of her for choosing and preparing to be baptized. She had also had wonderful Primary teachers and leaders that helped her to this point.

Jenna with my Grandpa- Frank Lloyd. My kids call him Grandpa great.

Uncles Brett & Sam, Dad, Grandap Great, Uncle Darin, Papa Gary. These men & Uncle Jake (below) stood in the circle when Jenna was confirmed.

Jenna with Uncle Jake & Aunt Courtney.

Jenna with my mom's dear friend since childhood- Aunt Deb. (Aunt by choice!)

Uncle Greg (Kelly must have hidden from the camera), Aunt Sharon, Papa Gary...Prestwich family at the dinner after the baptism.

We didn't get pictures of everyone that came. Thanks to all our friends and family who came. For posterity sake, others who were there: Mike & Lisa Gibson family, The Jorgensons- Jenna's primary teachers, Kim Coates (Primary Pres), Sister Coffey, Kim Abbey & girls, Sister Ziegler, and Brother Taylor (bishopric). Thanks to the Taylors for your help with the font & setting up!