Best Day Ever

8 years ago I woke up at 6am, after sleeping a total of maybe 2 hours, to marry my best friend.  It was the best day EVER!   I remember the butterflies  smiles, seal claps and laughter as I got prepared to walk down the isle.  I remember my face hurting from all of my smiling but nothing could have wiped it off my face.  I was beaming.  A cheesy as it may sound it came pouring out from the joy in my heart.  I can remember exactly how I felt as I waited at the top of the staircase for my cue and how incredible it felt to walk down and see Joe standing there.  Our eyes met and they never parted.  From there the ceremony is a bit of a blur.  I couldn't take my eyes of of Joe and the next thing you know we were being pronounced husband and wife, kissing and walking down the isle hand in hand.  It was perfect.
I love Joe so much.  I love him more than I can begin to try to describe in words.  I am a sentimental schmuck and love day dreaming of our past.  Whenever I get a little upset with him I just think back to the day we met and its over.  I get all gitty recalling how I felt when he was in the room and can't help but smile when I think about our story.  
I know I haven't been the "perfect" wife and we don't have a "perfect" marriage.  We argue and can at times be cranky, harsh and well... sinful.  Joe gets the best and (unfortunately) worst of me.  But my love for him never ends.  It is a choice I made 8 years ago and a choice I will continue to make for the rest of my life.  Loving Joe is easy and I pray that each year our marriage only grows stronger and our love grows deeper.

Happy Anniversary Joe Russell!

Thank you for making me your wife!

Advent

I love this time of year.  The decorations, songs, cookies, smells, gift-giving...I love it all.  But over the past few years one of my favorite parts of the Christmas season has become celebrating advent with my family.  It is so easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of "Christmas" that we forget to prepare our hearts and minds for the birth of our savior.  During the Advent season we celebrate the birth of Jesus the Christ in his First Advent, and anticipate of the return of Christ the King in his Second Advent.  I love that it helps prepare all of our hearts for the true joy of Christmas and puts a larger focus on Christ than on presents or Santa.

Here are a few of the Advent traditions in our home.

Advent Calendar

Rather than a piece of candy each day the kids get to open a tiny wooden door and place a magnetic piece of the nativity out.

Advent Chain

A few years back I found this website

I love it!  We make the 25 day chain and each night we read the scriptures from the Bible and do the listed activity.  Today we made handprint angels =0)

Nativity Sets

Our kids love to act out the Christmas Story with their nativity sets...a fun hands on way to learn.

We currently have 2 child proof sets.  One from Costco... 

...and one that was a hand me down from my cousins

We keep the wooden set under our tree amongst our presents as a reminder that the birth of Jesus our Savior is greatest gift of all.  Maybe one day we will get a grown-up Nativity set =0)

Wreath

This year I ventured out and made my own "wreath".  I put 5 candles on my cake stand and adorned it with our tree trimmings.  Joe and I hope to teach our children the significance of the wreath and each candle as we light them.

We also read "Getting Ready for Christmas" at dinnertime.  It is very similar to the chain and is great for families with young children.  It has a simple scripture, prayers and activity for each day.

I am a sucker for traditions and look forward to making may and sharing many with our family.

With the cooler weather, stockings hung, and the tree decorated...it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas at the Russell house  =0)

Thankful

November has been a month of thanks at the Russell abode and I have failed to post/take pictrues of most of it...well done Kim.  To kick off the month we made a thankfulness tree.  The kids made leaves with their handprints and wrote what they are thankful for on each one.  It turned out super cute...next year I will try to remember to take pictures =0)  We also talked about all of the people we are thankful for and how we can show our appreciation to them.  I wanted the kids to come up with their own ideas and they had some really sweet ones.  They each picked people to send cards to and baked some cookies for our special neighbor and for the girls at the coffee shop.  My absolute favorite idea was when Lizzie asked to buy books for the doctors office.  It was perfect.  We spent so much time in there this month that she noticed the patient rooms could use some more so went to the used book store and bought a dozen of their favorite, baked them some brownies and wrote them card.  I actually remembered to take a picture of this!

We had a great Thanksgiving weekend and while I hardly captured any of it on film...here is a snip-bit

The kiddos Skyping their Uncle Paul...so sweet!

Making rolls with Grandma

Gingerbread House...the kids dessert of choice

Babies!

Spending time with family we don't see very often 

We have so much to be thankful for.  We are abundantly blessed by God with each other and with friends and family.  My list of thanks would go on and on. 

 I love that we spent the entire month reflecting about being thankful and I am super excited for advent as we begin to prepare for the birth of our savior.  

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!!!!

Like Father, Like Son

Joe and Michael have always had a special bond...all things sports.  Joe hooked Michael at a young age and at 5 1/2 he prefers watching ESPN over cartoons and can name almost every team during a football highlight real.  Whether that is disturbing or impressive he has a true love for sports.  Like his father he cheers on the Angels, USC and unfortunately the Raiders (YUCK).   Instead of teaching him the ever so popular "How big is Michael?  (hands up) Soooo big"  we taught him "USC Scores...(hands up) Touchdown!".  He has been indoctrinated to say the least =0)  Well last weekend was a special day...daddy got to take his son to his 1st USC Football game!  Michael was all smiles as they left at for the festivities...

The two of them had an incredible time.  They walked around the campus, visited Heritage Hall to see the Heisman trophies, watched the pre-game drumline, and tossed around a football on the grass before taking their seats in the Coliseum to cheer on their favorite team.  

His first game was a success and he is already asking to go back.  He has worn his new jersey 4 of the last 6 days including to church on Sunday.  He would have never taken it off if we hadn't made him =0)  

I am grateful that Joe and Michael got to share this special day.  USC football is one of many things Joe  and Michael love.   Like father... like son.

Halloween

I am not at big fan of Halloween.  As a kid I loved dressing up and getting a pillow case full of candy.  As a parent I struggle with this holiday.  I don't so much mind my kids wearing costumes or getting candy but dislike the gory decorations and inappropriate costumes they can be exposed to.  I tend to side on the "Harvest" theme not "Halloween".  That being said with no other alternative we let our kiddos go trick-or-treating this year in a friends neighborhood.  They had a blast and didn't seem to mind (or notice) the creepy houses we strategically tried to miss.  I on the other hand struggled.  As I saw bloody handprints in windows, dummies hanging in nooses from trees,  and creepy skeletons I questioned what I was doing out there.  I miss having a Harvest Festival on Halloween.  I miss the safe alternative for our kids.  Even if it didn't bother them, it bothered me.  I don't want my kids to be conformed to this world and I certainly don't want them to be exposed to such gruesome ideas at such an impressionable age.  Why should they see grave sites with arms sticking out, people with knives through there head or bloody images?  How could that possibly benefit their little minds?  I don't have a perfect answer or belief...I do however have 3 very inquisitive children who see, hear and ask.  What are ghosts?  Are they real?  Are they always white?  All this came from a Doc McStuffins cartoon...one Joe and I wish they never saw.  I don't know what we will being doing next Halloween...but  I have a lot to think about between now and then =0)  For now I am glad it is over and we are moving on to a month of Thankfulness!

Halloween was also "Crazy Hair Day" at Michael's school so I bought a few cans of hair spray and went to town.  Michael decided on blue hair with green spots and his two best buds joined in of the fun.

Despite my questioning the rituals of Halloween...my kids were adorable cowboys and cowgirls and had a great time with their friends =0)  Here are a few shots from the night...

Harvest Festival

Last weekend we went to/ helped put together our churches Harvest Festival.  Our church goes all out.  We had 3 bounce houses, a huge inflatable slide, a rock wall, jousting, velcro wall, obstacle course, bungee run, pony rides, petting zoo, cake walk, face painting, games, candy, candy and more candy!  With that said...we had the entire place set up in just over an hour.  We have an incredible crew of hardworking volunteers that make this event happen and for that I am grateful.
Our kids loved it!  Michael was pretty into playing games this year and even gave the velcro wall and rock wall a try.  Lizzie and Audrey spent much of their time on the inflatable slide...I think they were there for an hour straight!  And Stephen of course smiled his way through the day =0)

The scoreboard wasn't working properly...I totally worked him  =0)

Sea World

Last week we made a day of it and headed to Sea World with some great friends.  We had a blast!  3 adults, 7 kids, 7 hours and countless memories made.  The child in me still loves the dolphins and still gets super excited to pet them =0)

Here is a glimpse into what our kids called the "BEST DAY EVER!".

Lined up watchign the otters play

This dolphin was very entertaining!  He was throwing the football around and showing off his skills...loved it!

I will forever be amazed by the creatures God has made.  It truly is spectacular seeing their beauty displayed

 Best Friends touching "boogers"  Apparently Rays are slimy because they are covered in mucous or as the staff pointed out to our kids...boogers.  They loved it!

Their faces say it all!!!

Best Buds! (And an enormous Seat Turtle)