Christmas Break

About an hour before I left for AZ I decided to take family pictures hoping one would be good enough to send out to all my family and friends. Brayden has reached the stage of being very difficult when it comes to pictures. This was the best picture I could get of the three of us. Sad to say this picture did not make the cut as good enough to send out. This year I am simplifying and through our blog I would like to wish all my friends and family a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!! Brayden is at that age where he gets into everything. Nothing is off limits to him. Here is my niece Carly and Brayden hiding themselves in my parents loft entertainment center. They pulled all the videos out of this cabinet and made quite a mess. I think I am scaring my sister into not wanting boys after she spent a few days with Brayden. Brayden is our little Dennis the Menace. He gets into everything all day. I am constantly cleaning up after him. Brayden and his second cousin Dallin were pretending that they were asleep. Brayden had so much fun playing with his buddies.

This is me with my two sisters Jonelle and Melissa. Melissa is attending BYU and Jonelle will be expecting her second baby this May. We will find out soon if she will be having another girl or a baby boy.

Here I am posing with the first pillow I sewed all by myself. My sister Jonelle said she was amazed how I can cook, make homemade bread, and sew now. She said I am becoming a domesticated women.

Here are the drapes my mother and I sewed for two days straight. We made a total of four panels. The pictures do not even give the drapes justice. They look so much better in person.

I think the thing I miss most about AZ is my family and friends. If I could transplant my whole family and my good friends to Texas I would be set. Saying goodbye is always hard but I was excited to get back home and get back into my normal routine. Jeff and I left AZ around 8:00 p.m. Saturday night. We arrived here in Texas around 12:30 p.m. My mother-in-law and sister-in-law came over to watch Brayden so we could sleep since Jeff and I probably slept a total of three hours each driving home. I am grateful that I was able to visit my family and friends in AZ this Christmas. Here Brayden is saying goodbye to Dallin and Carly. He had so much fun playing with his family and friends in AZ.

AZ Winter Wonderland

Well Brayden and I have been in AZ for the past week and Jeff just arrived last night. We will be here until Sunday. I have had a blast hanging out with my family and friends. My mom and I spent two full days last weekend sewing drapes for her living and dining room. I sewed my first pillow. I have found my new favorite restaurant Pita Jungle. I think Janae and I both ate there three times last week. I have been having so much fun. I wish I could stay longer so I can spend more time with everyone. I have been going back and forth from Peoria to Gilbert trying to visit family and friends. Snow was brought to my parents community the other day. My Dad, sister and I decided to take Brayden and his cousin Carly sledding. They had so much fun. They were able to enjoy snow in 70 degree weather. Here are some pictures of us sledding.

This is my Dad, Carly, and Brayden.

Brayden and I sledding down the hill.

My sister Jonelle and niece Carly.

Holiday Spirit

Last night for mutual all the youth wrapped presents for kids who would not normally have Christmas. This program is called Elf Louise. I participated last year and loved it, so I had to make sure I would be in town for this activity this year. We found out that through this program 25,000 kids will receive presents Christmas morning. The youth loved this activity as well as all the leaders. It truly puts you in the Christmas spirit.

Last Wednesday I had the opportunity to be in charge of the Miamaids for mutual. We made ginberbread houses. The girls were very creative. We had a blast making them. We made the houses with graham crackers and juice boxes. I felt like a little kid again. My memories of elementary school came back to me. I really enjoyed making these houses. I think I will try and make a tradition of making these houses each year with Brayden and my future children to come. Tonight I will be flying out to AZ. I guess you could say my Christmas breaks starts tonight!!!

Home Projects

Well these past few weeks I have been working on some home projects. I get so much satisfaction in beautifying things. A week and a half ago my mother-in-law and I put up my Christmas tree. I will be in AZ for Christmas so I wanted to have my tree up for a while before I leave. I think I get more excited now to put up my tree than actually opening presents on Christmas. This year Jill and I found some cute candy decorations at Hobby Lobby. I also found my stockings there as well. Gotta love Hobby Lobby! I can't wait to go to the Orange Patch boutique when I am out in AZ. I got a lot of my decorations there a few years ago.

Jill found these present boxes at Sam's Club this year. They match perfect with our trees.

I recently recovered this bench I bought at Ross(another one of my favorite stores). Originally the bench had a cheetah print on it. We took left over fabric from my drapes in Gilbert and recovered the bench. I love how it turned out.

About a month ago I bought these three large candlesticks for $8 at a garage sale. They were originally a silver gold color. I spray painted them oil rubbed bronze and bought red candles for them. I love taking something old and making it new. I am amazed at how many great things I have found at garage sales. I love a good bargain.

While I am working on house projects Brayden will entertain himself by riding around the house in his coupe car. Never call his coupe a car because he will reply by saying " No, MY TRUCK, MY TRUCK, MY TRUCK!" Brayden loves trucks. Anytime he sees a truck on the road he has to tell us it is a truck and you have to immediately respond by saying "Yes Brayden that is a truck."

To run errands with me he always makes it very clear he wants to go in the truck rather than the chevy malibu. This little boy is obsessed with trucks, but who can blame him. He is definitely our little boy. I love these pictures of Brayden in his "TRUCK."

Hmmm. What should I order?

Halloween 2008

This Year for Halloween Brayden went as a bumblebee. My mother-in- law found this costume at Burlington Coat Factory. I know by next year Brayden will be telling me what he wants to be so I had to pick a soft cuddly outfit. Brayden did not like wearing this costume when we tried it on at the store . I was afraid he would not wear it on Halloween, so we had a few practice sessions. I explained to him that if he wore the costume he would get candy. Then I would take him to the front door and have him ring the door bell and say trick or treat. I would then proceed to give him a piece of candy. After a few practice sessions he was ready to go. By Halloween he was begging to get in his outfit and even the day after Halloween he begged to have it on.

Halloween night we were invited to our friends house for potluck soup dinner before trick or treating. The kids ate bread and soup and played while the parents talked and visited. Then we all headed out together to trick or treat. This was the first year we took Brayden trick or treating. He loved ringing the doorbell and a few times he would just run into the house as soon as the door was answered. If he was allowed to pick a piece of candy he would always try to take a handful and if he was not allowed to pick a piece of candy he would try to anyways. Brayden also wanted to eat his candy right after he got it. By the end of the night he was a pro at trick or treating. Jeff and I had a lot of fun with Brayden and our friends. After trick or treating we visited friends of ours in a different neighborhood and played speed solitaire with them. Halloween was an evening where I just wanted to freeze time because we were having so much fun together as a family! Here is Brayden with his girlfriend Sadie who was a ladybug. They are a perfect match for each other.

This is my friend Courtney her daughter Sadie, son Jack, and Brayden and I.

Fall Fever

I love this time of year. The mornings and evenings are cool but the days are still warm. I love sleeping with the windows open. I love the anticipation of Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas! October is definitely my favorite month.

With the weather being so pleasant we have been doing outdoor activities. Heather and I have been running 2-3 miles a day. Running is not so bad when there is a nice cool breeze. Tuesday night we went miniature golfing with Jeff's entire family. Shawna was the only sibling missing. The boys were very serious and competitive about the game. Jeff got first place and Heather took second place.

To get in the Halloween spirit we all went to Six Flags Fiesta Texas on Friday for "Fright Fest." In the month of October Six Flags decorates for Halloween with pumpkins, ghosts, and even water fountains dyed red to look like "blood." They also put on fantastic Halloween shows. The entire Fuller Family had a blast.

Brayden's favorite ride at Six Flags is the bus ride. Here he is with his Aunt Heather!

You know your child is getting big when he can ride the carousal all by himself.

Grandpa being silly on the carousal!

Brayden won the gold medal!

My friend Courtney's Birthday was Sunday so I invited her family and some other friends over for dinner to celebrate. I made chicken parmesan and homemade rolls. I think I figured out the secret to making the chicken tender and juicy. Just put a little bit of butter on top of each chicken breast right before you stick it in the oven. My friend Pam made yummy banana bread and for dessert we had Mississippi mud pie. I am so glad to have Courtney as my friend. She is very sweet and kind and I felt an immediate connection to her when we first met. Having friends like her makes me less homesick for AZ. Her daughter Sadie just turned two so we celebrated her birthday as well. Brayden loves to play with Sadie. Sadie is officially his first "girlfriend." Happy Birthday Courtney and Sadie!



I found a long lost memory card that had pictures of me last year in AZ with my dance girls. This past year was the first year that I did not teach dance since I was 18. I really miss dancing and teaching. I hope to teach again soon.

Life of a two year old

This is a typical picture of Brayden sleeping. He has to have a whole mouthful of blankie in his mouth. As a baby Brayden never liked binkies or sucked his thumb. Around eight or nine months her started to have an attachment to this blue blanket. Before you know it he started sucking the corners of this blanket causing me to have to cut the corners and wash his blanket every few days. Brayden does not call his blanket "blankie" he calls it "ditty" and we have no idea where he came up with that name. I have tried weening him off his blankie. My mother in law found another blue blanket at a garage sale and we started to give him that blanket. We feared if we ever lost the original blanket my nights of sleep would be over. As time went on Brayden realized there were two blankets so when I now put him to bed he has to have both "ditties." The strange thing is he only sucks the corners of the original blanket. I guess one tastes better then the other! He looks so peaceful when he sleeps.

The other day I walked towards the entryway and found Brayden reading a book on the stairs. He was smart to grab a pillow. I guess this will be his new reading spot!!

The other night my sister in law Heather and I went running. When we returned we found the kitchen floor covered in margarine. I think Brayden thought there were cookies inside because of the picture on the box. I looked to see where Jeff was and sure enough he was on the computer and Brayden was watching TV. I asked Jeff if he saw Brayden get into the fridge and he said no. I showed Jeff the kitchen floor. Jeff was not thrilled about cleaning this mess. I guess Brayden really thought the cookies were somewhere inside the margarine. Who can blame the two year old. (Excuse the grout. We are renting a steam cleaner next week to clean all the tile and grout.)

Happy Birthday Jonelle!!!

Today is my sisters 26th Birthday. I really have no memories of life without her. We always played together as children. We fought over clothes as teenagers and now we give each other comfort and advice. Sometimes I feel she should have been the older sister. We were married exactly two weeks apart and our firstborns are only 3 months apart. We have been through many ups and downs together. I am so glad Heavenly Father gave me such a sweet, kind, and beautiful sister. I love you Jonelle. Happy Birthday!!!

HURRICANE IKE

Early last Saturday morning Hurricane Ike hit Galveston, Houston, and Beaumont Texas very hard. The storm surge was big causing some great damage to these cities. There is a lot of clean up to be done so the church has asked for volunteers here in San Antonio to go down to Houston to help clean up. Jeff and his two brothers (Brian and Mark) who are visiting us will be going to Houston early tomorrow to help out. The women in my ward have been asked to make treats that the volunteers can pass out to the people in Houston. I am grateful that the church is so organized when it comes to disaster relief.

Jeff's Aunt and Uncle who live in North West Houston (near the temple) sent us these pictures of what happened to the homes around their neighborhood. They told us the electricity went on and off all through Friday night and Saturday morning. They survived the storm and were one of the lucky few homes that still had electricity. Church was cancelled for them Sunday, so they helped prepare meals for people in their ward who did not have electricity. Thankfully they had minimal damage to their home.


My best friend Janae' happened to be visiting Vidor Texas (near Beaumont) for her grandfather's funeral when the storm hit. All of her family members are fine and she made it back home to AZ on Wednesday. She told me she saw cars flipped over, homes completely split in half by fallen trees, flooding, and even more things she could not even describe. Please keep the victims of Hurricane Ike in your thoughts and prayers.

This is Uncle Larry and Aunt Sue's backyard. Luckily they were able to board up a few of their windows.