the holidays.

i am little behind so i have to lump the end of november and december into one post! we have had so much fun!
we ended november with thanksgiving at our house with an "agenda"! {think Dan in Real life without the fighthing and cheating-except maybe from the guys on the kitchen clean-up crossword puzzle!!} it was so much fun to have MOST of the family here under one roof! {thank goodness for this montrous house!}
i need to direct you to the Vidal Family Blog for the complete weekend update - thanks to the best blogger ever, sarah! here are a few random photos, i found on my camera...

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then, it was time to get ready for christmas.

i spent most of my days {and late nights} working on holiday cards for everyone else, that ours was a last minute thought. a quick impromptu photo shoot led to some very cute pictures from our doll faces!

we packed up and headed to vegas to spend christmas with the family there. it was so much fun for the kids to be with their cousins. as always, we get out the angel costumes and shepherd gear to reinact the nativity. aren't these the cutest little mary, joseph and little angels you ever have seen?!

then, of course, christmas morning came and the HOURS of opening gifts. even though tyson's,tad's, and the harris families weren't with us this year, it still seemed to take just as long! the kids were ecstatic about their gifts... hopefully they will help to get them off our iphones!

noah got some swords, a buzz light year, a tricycle, books, etc...so many cool presents from grandmas!! thank you!

lyla got the coolest gift from megan - it's called a bilibo...
she loves it! she also loves her baby doll! a little mother in the making!

and finally, came our family christmas gift...
this one was a little harder to keep a surprise. but we did somehow and on christmas morning, when all the presents were opened, we brought out the last gift wrapped in red with a bow on top...

i am so sad - we had the cutest picture of noah opening the box to reveal the newest little member of our family, but i lost half of my pictures somehow!! i wish you could have seen the look on this little guys face when quincy noel's little head popped out of the box!
the BEST christmas present EVER! sunday after church, we tried snapping a few family pics - got some cute ones, but of course, lost them! i just love the ones of the noah and quincy. he loves her and calls her his dog! she is so fun! it took her a day or two to warm up, but now this little smarty follows us around with a cute little hop in her step. we have a very soft spot in our hearts for cocker spaniels and she reminds me of our little cheerio. So smart and cuddly - the best christmas present!

We have been so blessed this year and are so lucky to have such a wonderful family. I love this time of year and the reminders everywhere of all that our Heavenly Father has given us. We hope that this year has been filled with good memories and pray that next year brings even more!
Merry Christmas and Happy 2010!
xoxo

The Sting Of Death.

I have always been a dog lover. I love animals in general, but dogs have always been a favorite. I always wanted a dog. The first dog that I remember was a Siberian Husky that we called Itch. He didn't last very long, because he would constantly run away and the hassle wasn't worth the reward, so we ended up giving him away. Next we had Luke, a Labrador Retriever. Luke's memory, even though we didn't have him very long either, is special to me for a reason that I will not share at this time, but it is vivid in my mind always. Luke was a Christmas present that eventually ran away. We then had a little dog that we named Rocky, Rocky was a mixed breed that again we only had a short time, because someone took it from our yard. I think it was meant to be a joke, but wasn't very funny even though we hadn't gotten too attached. Then there was Cheerio...

Cheerio was delivered to our home on Easter Sunday of 1997. A wonderful surprise found in a basket as an addition to our family. Little Cheerio was a Cocker Spaniel. Cheerio began as our family dog, but then became my family's dog. All that knew Cheerio seemed to love her even if they weren't "dog people". Cheerio was very well trained, overwhelmingly loving and so eager to please. She also had a sense for the feelings of others. There were times that I would be down and only Cheerio was there to cheer me, or at least be a friend to listen to my complaint.

I will not go into all the things that I will remember about Cheerio, her playing the piano, her crazy hyperness that would surface when the word "walk" would be spoken or the insanely fast rolling over that she would perform in hopes of receiving a doggie treat. When Cheerio was really little, I took her to High School with me to my choir class. Everyone loved her. Especially Sonya. Sonya actually took Cheerio in to live with her while I was at BYU before we were engaged. Sonya formed a very close bond with Cheerio over the last nearly seven years.


Cheerio must have been the best looking dog that existed. She was very smart and loved books, chewing them up that is. Cheerio slept at my feet almost everyday over the last 13 years.

I will miss Cheerio immensely, hearing her little toe nails tap the floor as she walked around, her little bark that was reserved for times of need, her entire backside wagging instead of just her stub of a tail. I know that my son, sooner or later, will ask "Daddy where's Cheerio?" as he commonly does, and that will stir up some emotions, I am sure. My kids love little Cheerio and it pains me that they will not be able to have her be part of their lives.

In the Book Of Mormon there is a verse that reads; "But there is a resurrection, therefore the grave hath no victory, and the sting of death is swallowed up in Christ." Often times this is very misunderstood. Christ overcame both physical and spiritual death and the sting that could have been of eternal loss and utter waste was swallow up. However, the sting and pain of death is less due to understanding the overcoming, but the pain and sting of loss and loneliness, even of a dog, can be the deepest sorrow imaginable. It is written that, "It is natural to feel sorrow at times of death. In fact, mourning is one of the deepest expressions of love. The Lord said, “Thou shalt live together in love, insomuch that thou shalt weep for the loss of them that die.”

Tears have been shed and will continue to flow at times by many who knew and loved my little girl, Cheerio. David O McKay has said that he couldn't imagine the Celestial Kingdom without his horse. I share this same sentiment for Cheerio.

Happy Anniversary

This past weekend I attended a funeral for my mother's Uncle, Gary. I had every intention of blogging about how November has seemed to be the month of sorrows in my life. But as I sat down to make this entry, I put off my selfishness and decided to blog about the 16th of November as a wonderful day.

I was not able to have as much time with my father as others have had with their dads, but in the time I did get, I was able to learn a lot about him and who he was. When my dad was in Elementary School, he and his family moved to Southern California. He was in a class with my mom. My mom told her friends that one day she was going to marry that boy.

Later after my dad had went off into the Army, another boy thought that he would try his hand in dating my mother. The way I heard the story was that when my dad returned home, he chased that boy out of my mom's life with the help of a rifle shooting in the direction of his feet.


My parents were married on November 16th 1968. I cannot recall a time in my life having heard my dad criticize or belittle my mother. Never do I recall him raising his voice in anger toward her. I do remember him always trying to make her happy, feel special and make her burdens light. He would do everything to allow her to be a mother, and work harder than others to allow her to stay home with us kids.

On the 30th anniversary of their wedding, my dad slipped from this life to the next. In the period just after his death I used to have, what I call, nightmares about my mom beginning to date other men and trying to get remarried. Maybe they stemmed for people around me asking if she was dating, or even trying to convince me that it would be best for her to seek companionship. I recall confronting my mother about it once. She reassured me that she had her husband.

You know when someone says,"I love" this or that and then comes the reply "Why don't you marry it?" My mom would always reply, "I am already married." It is true. My mom is sealed for time and all eternity to my dad. She married that boy, and I am forever thankful that my dad treated my mom in such a way that she has been so patient and faithful in waiting to be reunited with her sweetheart.

We, as husbands and fathers, are counseled to live our life in such a way that our families will want to live with us forever. Despite that trials that might have been easier to bare, or the times of complete loneliness that I know my mom feels, my dad lived his life in such a way that she will suffer and be burdened so that she can be with him forever. Mom, dad will always be yours, as will all of your children because you have been faithful.

So despite all the pain of the 16th of November, especially being a Monday morning, I rejoice that I know and have no doubt of any sort that my parents are eternally sealed to each other, and their family will continue from eternity to eternity. God bless November.

eerieeee october.

october was such a FUN month! we started it off with a visit to las vegas to get one last wakeboarding trip in before the cooler weather set in. while we were there, the kids and I met up with my sister and her boyfriend, glen, at the pumpkin patch! it took all we had to get noah to sit still to take some pictures! he loved everything, but most of all, this train...

he tried this ride once, but then proceeded in the riding the train the rest of the night...

i had to literally carry him off the train to get
him to try other things...

here is a cute picture of my sis and little lyla

it's a miracle...he sat still for a picture!

she loved it!

he takes after his dad, mr. muscles

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last saturday, our church had it's annual
trunk or treat.
our little skeleton and witch
{aka johnny lawrence and sabrina}

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then this last week, the harris family came down with cecily and sam and we met up with josh & sarah's and tyson & kari's families and went to the happiest place on earth...
except this kid didn't think so. he threw up in the car on the way there. yep, he was sick and slept in the stroller 80% of the day...our little trooper.

all but a 30 minute nap in the stroller,
lyla loved every minute of it!

noah did get a kick out of the few of the rides,but when we passed by the cars display, he was asleep so loren took some pictures of lightning and mater for him...

it's okay, sam, the teacups will be there next year...

sam, thanking our disneyland guru that he{we} didn't have to wait in any lines...thanks, josh!

finally, at about 8:30, lyla thought it was time to go...