Cheese!

here is ariana. she is showing off her new hair cut for the camera...

isn't she lovely?!

caprice also got a trim and i had to show it off...

what a doll!!!

and the most drastic of all the hair cuts was alexis'. she has been begging to have her hair short but i just didn't have the courage to cut off her long, beautiful, dark hair

...until saturday.

she wanted it..... she got it!

jay said that she is a mini me.

as alexis would say 'awesome'!

thanks julie!

Church Ball

it's that time again...time for church basketball! and jay is so excited to play again. our ward won their game, but not without someone paying the price. (if you don't know already, jay has a slight tendency to injure himself while participating in athletic events.) after a hard foul, jay was bleeding from his eyebrow down to his nose. they guy that fouled him gave in a nice little cut above his right eyebrow. it was kindly suggested that he have it "taken" care of. russ was kind enough to offer his services. so, after the game we loaded up and followed russ home for some fixing up.

he used dermabond to close the wound,



and only took off one stray eyebrow in the process.



tough guy!



that's gonna look pretty in the morning.



see, what did i tell ya?!



and then when we got home, it looked even worse. not to mention, it looks infected and now the puss is glued in! ewwww!



boys?! i just don't understand em!

Homemade Hazelnut Hot Cocoa

around christmas time, our good friend emily gave us some homemade hazelnut hot cocoa. as soon as i tried it i knew i was going to have to make it for myself (and maybe share some). she was more than willing to share the recipe with me and i would like to share it with you...

1 large can (1 lb) nestle quick
1 lb. powdered sugar
1 8 qt. box of powdered instant dry milk
1 bag of marshmallows (optional)
1 lb. non dairy coffee creamer (these can be purchased in 1/2 lb. containers, so if you want two different flavors (ie. one vanilla and another one hazelnut, mix all three of the ingredients above, divide it in half, and and then add in the flavor mixes)

mix thoroughly in a large bowl and store in a dry container

add 3 heaping teaspoons to 1 (5 ounce) cup of hot water or about 1/3 a cup to a mug

and enjoy!

thanks for sharing emily!

Welcome

we moved! and as you can see by the map, we didn't go very far. 1.4 miles to be exact! point a (red) is where we had been living. the girls and i lived with my brother and because jay and i could not find a house fast enough, he moved in after the wedding...in aug! that all changed with tons of help from brother brady. we found a house we loved and were able to close on december 31st. we packed up our moving truck and drove all the way to point b (blue).

moving day!

here is our 24 ft truck that still didn't fit all our stuff.

alexis and ariana showing off what they can do.

they were quite the posers.

welcome to our home!

no shoes.

please and thank you!

off to the right of the front door is our dining room.

we still need to get proper lighting in here.

and to the left of the front door is the family/piano room.

(don't know what i was thinking when taking pics cause i forgot this room)

keep walking in and you will find the downstairs bathroom.

i promise to kick her out if you need to use the restroom.

right next to the bathroom is our office that will be used as a guest room.

we are so excited for our first over night visitors...grandma and grandpa rasband!

this is overlooking the living room.

sorry this one came out so dark.

i love these windows but not the coverings...they have to go!

go cards!

the girls love their daddy mack!

looking from the living room into the kitchen/breakfast area.

kitchen.

i love all the open space.

must be snack time.

off of the kitchen is laundry room.

(nice and spacious)

darn it! i forgot the huge pantry.

upstairs we go!

or down?!

here is the loft.

it is still under construction. we want to build a desk (the entire width of the wall with the two small windows) for all the girls to be able to do their homework, hold the computer, etc.

caprice's room is just off the loft.

and not clean!



starting down the hall is the girls bathroom with linen closet.

beware!

alexis' room.

she has a trundle...great for sleepovers!

ariana's room.

she loves not having to share anymore!

i told you she was a poser!

finally my room!

i mean our...

we have a very nice, very big (very empty) room.

with our own bathroom!

we didn't have that at my brother's house, so it is a big deal to us.

potty room.

walk-in closet.

with cute little windows!

and enough room for all my shoes! yea!

that fan thing above the window has got to go!

thanks for visiting our house!

it still needs lots of work and lots of paint, but it is ours and we love it!

come again when you can stay longer!

bye!

p.s. while cleaning this weekend, ariana found an unwelcome house guest.
he was so quick, it was hard to get a good picture.

ewww!!!

Dear Tooth Fairy?!

yes, that's right, alexis left a letter (note) for the tooth fairy.

it reads

i need $6 for a web-kins, little kinz
pleass

i have never been the kind of mom to encourage writing letters to santa so when i found a note to the tooth fairy i was caught a little off guard. i replaced the note with the standard $3 and made my way out of her room as quick as i could. i took jay the note and we both had to laugh! alexis told us the night before that she had put her tooth under her pillow and was ready for the tooth fairy, we know now what she meant by that.

when she woke up, we had to pretend that we knew nothing of the note. needless to say, she was disappointed. she ate her breakfast in silence and continued the rest of her morning routine that way.

i felt bad but what could i do?! give in? what would the next request be? lol

what would you have done?

Happy Christmas

i am sure almost everyone can relate to this saying..

"it's december already?!"

or

"where has this year gone?!"

i have had such a wonderful year. heavenly father has truly blessed me and my family.

let's recap:

january - i started dating jay, the girls were thrilled. we had known jay for some

time now and for him to be regular around our little family was great.

february - my relationship with jay was steadily moving along. i attended church with jay for the first time. it was also the first time i remember feeling the spirit so strongly..of course

i didn't really understand what i was feeling to tell the truth. i just knew i wanted more! i

found where the church that was within my boundaries and the girls and i went the next

sunday. not too long after, i called the missionaries and scheduled a time

for them to come to visit with me.

march - the discussions with the missionaries were life changing! i had learned so much and was always ready for more. in a couple of weeks i had set my baptism date for

march 22, 2008. that was going to be a day i won't soon forget. i had so many people

around me that loved me and were supportive of my decision.

april - jay took the girls and i home (albuquerque, nm) to meet the family. they are

all loving, caring, giving, funny, sweet, kind-hearted people and

i am blessed to be a part of their family. the girls jumped

right in on all the fun that all the other kids were having. grandma and

grandpa have a very kid friendly house and yard with plenty to keep them

busy for days. needless to say, none of us wanted to leave!

may - summer break was here! but for me, that is not always fun time. the girls left

to spend the summer with their dad in san antonio, tx. this was the first time

they were going to fly - all alone! my nerves were shot by time they landed.

but they all had a good time and were looking forward to spending time with their dad.

june - june 1st, jay proposed! we went from boyfriend/girlfriend to being engaged

to be wed. ahhh! i was so excited! we set the big day - august 23, 2008.

we knew we didn't have much time so we started planning. i still couldn't

believe i was planning my wedding! to jay!!!

july - what i was thinking, i don't know, but i had told jay that i would hike havasupai

with him and a group of friends. i wasn't sorry i said yes until about half

way out of the canyon. it looked like i was never going to make it out! but for

the view of those beautiful waterfalls and the amazing color of

the water, i would do it again!

august - the girls are back! they made it back safe and sound. and the next day

we were off to colorado. jay's family was having a reunion and

we weren't going to miss it. the family had two cabins to hold 14 adults

and 16 kids! it was fun to be around everyone again. and the days

were winding down till the big day! and it was finally here!

i felt like a princess! and jay was my handsome prince!

the day came and went. and we were off for our 7 day caribbean cruise.

september - we are sill house hunting (since july!) the whole process is getting

depressing. the girls are all loving school. alexis is in 3rd grade and is

just zooming past the other kids in reading. caprice is in 2nd grade and is

opening up more and more. ariana started kindergarten this year! and is just

loving it. and i am loving the fact the i don't have to pay

full time day care anymore. yeah for me!

october - still no house! enough said!

november - yeah! our offer on a house has been accepted! it is still in our ward

so we don't have to leave all the good friends we have made.

we went to nm to spend thanksgiving with all of jay's family...our family!

december - still no keys for the house! i am beginning to think that we are going to

live with my brother forever! i really didn't want to adopt a 25 yr old boy! lol

the girls are back to tx for christmas so jay and i are going to

nm to be with our albuquerque family.

i am truly thankful for all our heavenly father has given me and my family.

i wish you a very happy christmas and a blessed new year!

Thank You

on monday night, while i was helping diana de-bone a few turkeys for enrichment
and jay was out christmas shopping with the girls,
a wonderful package arrived on our doorstep

the card read:

rasband family-
merry christmas!
we are so glad to have your family in our ward!!
from-
???

so to whomever left this package...thank you!!!