I AM GOING TO LONDON!!!!

I am so excited! Brady got me tickets to "Phantom of the Opera" and "Love Never Dies" by Andrew Lloyd Webber in London! "Love Never Dies" is the sequel to "Phantom" and is set in Coney Island, NY ten years after the original. Ramin Karimloo was just Phantom in the West End production and quit in November to start production for the sequel where he will play Phantom as well. I can't even begin to describe how I feel right now! There are no words! I have already started planning what else we are going to do. I quite possibly have the world's most perfect husband EVER!

Here is the Phantom link:
http://www.thephantomoftheopera.com/london/

Here is the Love Never Dies link:
http://www.loveneverdies.com

My Birthday Party

Brady threw me an amazing party for my birthday! All of his family came out to our house to celebrate today. Brady organized a huge pasta bar lunch with bread bowls, and salad, and tons of yummy desserts. My favorite was the Mango/Raspberry cake. It had layers of mango mousse, raspberry mousse and white cake and was covered in whipped topping...so delicious. Sarah got me the new illistrated Children's Songbook for the piano, Anna got me a fabulous looking new cookbook and Karson and Amanda got me new running pants, a long sleeve shirt and a cute short sleeve shirt that says, "run, run, run, run" on it for my half-marathon. So cute! We all ate and then sat around and talked and then had dessert, then sat and talked some more. The boys all played video games, but when it was just Spencer, Karson, Brady and I we all played the new Super Mario for the Wii. I had a great party and love my adorable husband so much for making it purplicious and fantastic!

Santa, Recitals, Festivities, and Wrapping Galore!

We have been so busy this whole month going and seeing and making and wrapping. It has been a great month and we are so excited for Christmas to come! We are planning on doing some baking and my birthday is on the 23rd, so I am looking forward to that! Time slips away from me this time of year and these are the times I wish would linger! Here are some quick pictures of what we have been up to. Breakfast with Santa, Gingerbread Houses, and the Girl's Christmas Recitals for Dance. Click on them to see an enlarged version.

The Hectic Life

Why does time always speed up around the holidays? These are the times when I would love each day to last a life time. We make so many memories around the holidays and I feel like we rush through them. It really bothers me. Here is a quick recap to catch us all up. Catherine started attending Eagle Ridge, which is a school for homeschooled children, I know...it sounds redundant. She is able to take different extra curricular classes during the day and brings me all sorts of fabulous projects that she has made. For example, this month's theme was Eric Carle (the kids author), they read books by him, sang songs about his books, made pictures like his on the computer using a paint program, and made art that looks like his artwork. It was amazing how many things they integrated centered around that theme. This month is snow fun. Cat loves going to school and it is amazing how independent she has become in only 3 short weeks. Sarah, has also turned into a different little girl when we are alone, she turns back into herself when we pick Cat up.
We hosted Thanksgiving at our house this year. It was nice to have a couple of Brady's siblings over. Anna, Rick, Caleb and Emma came, along with Amanda and her three munchkins. The other Phoenix families had other plans this year, which was just fine. We ate and ate and ate. I made 4 desserts that I was very proud of. I made a Meyer Lemon and Cranberry bundt cake; a chocolate cherry loaf; cheesecake filled, pumpkin cupcakes with brown sugar frosting; and Reese's Peanut Butter cookies. Delicious! I also prepared the turkey and I spatchcocked it this year. Spatchcocked, I hear you ask? It is when you cut the backbone out of the turkey and then butterfly the breast and appendeges. You cook it on a huge cookie sheet so it cooks really fast. I cooked my 24 pound turkey in 2 hours at 450 and it registered above temp when I used the thermometer. Quick and efficient, my kind of bird. Brady did the surgery, but any butcher would do it for you. Try it, you'll never go back. Other than that, I am still plugging away with my half marathon training. I ran my first 5 mile run this last Saturday and I didn't die, so there is hope. Hope that everyone is having a great almost December. Don't expect my Christmas cards tomorrow, they are not done yet...I know, I ALWAYS have my cards out on Dec. 1st, this year has just done me in! I am losing my touch!

Crazy!

It has been a little while since I posted, but so much has happened! I will post about it later because things are still crazy and I am out of time!

Makeup, Movies, Smores, and Barbie...What a Night!

Catherine and Sarah invited their cousin Kate over for a makeup and movie sleepover. They were so excited and asked me for two weeks if it was time yet! Another testament to why planning ahead makes you crazy if you have kids! Kate arrived and the girls jumped right into playing. They played Barbie's and American girl dolls before it was time for dinner. We ate chili and then made smores in our new fire pit. They were delicious! The girl's then got in their jammies and put on makeup for about an hour and a half before it was time to wash it off and go to bed. They stayed up late watching "Barbie and the Three Musketeers". When it was time for bed they all had little red faces from being scrubbed clean and happy little attitudes. This morning we cleaned up from last night and then made waffles. The girl's were so excited because they got to eat bacon, eggs AND chocolate chip waffles! It was the perfect end to the perfect slumber party! Now I get to drive to Mesa to drop Kate of and go on my first 4-mile run! I am hoping that I make it!

We made delicious smores

The girls putting on their makeup

Sarah powdering

Kate's RED lipstick!

Cat striking a pose

The three girl's makeup station! They were able to watch the movie at the same time.

Outside while Daddy helps roast marshmellows in our new fire pit that he built.

The girl's this morning eating breakfast!

Christmas is Coming!! AAHHHH!

Does anyone else feel like Christmas sneaks up on them? I totally always feel like I barely get through September and it is Halloween, Thanksgiving and then Christmas in like one week! It makes me crazy! I like to have my Christmas cards done by Halloween so that I am not stressed at all during the Holidays. However, this year I am just starting and don't know when they will be done. I really like to have them out on December 1st for the stress reasons again. We had our Christmas pics taken by Michelle again this year and I am so excited to see them! We totally got kicked out of a neighborhood we were taking pics in. There were no signs and we walked in without scaling any fences or having to cut through any walls. The lady threatened to call the Sheriff on us, but with some smart talking from yours truly, we were able to just leave....very quickly! Ruined the mood a bit. Anyway, just went through all of my decorations and cleaned everything out, plus organized them in their containers for easier access. I am totally excited to decorate for Christmas! Love Hobby Lobby!

Halloween 2009

SNOW!

We barely survived Raton Pass going into Colorado, but we made it! After dinner that
first night all of the kids went out into the snow and played. I am glad they did
because it heated up the rest of our trip and all the snow melted away!

Family Fall Festival

Every year, Grandma Thomason throws a Thomason Family Fall Festival for Family Home
Evening. Whoa! That's a lot of alliteration! We each plan a game or activity and the
kids rotate booths. Dinner was great as always, thanks Grams!

Brady with Tessa Knopp


Me with Tessa


Katelyn Todd, Cat and Sarah dancing in the moonlight


My beautiful daughter


My other beautiful daughter


Sarah getting ready to go out and get some treats


Cat posing pretty


The girls in their costumes

Andrew's Visit

Our nephew Andrew came to visit the week before Halloween. It was so nice to get to
see him. Since Angela and Jason's family have moved to South Carolina, we don't get
to see them as much! We miss them a lot and really enjoyed having the kids come
visit this summer and Andrew just recently. He is a great cousin to have around!

Andrew with our family


Andrew with Tessa and Alyssa

8 Tons of Cobble Stone

I hadn't really ever thought of what 8 tons of rock looked like, but now I know. Can you tell what Brady is going to be doing this afternoon?

Cami Dean Vinyl

Cami came over and put custom vinyl on my door for me today. I totally stole this idea from a blog (http://j-a-girl.blogspot.com/). I loved it and had to do it. The only problem was that I have a retarded door that has the smallest mid-section ever. However, Cami assured me that it would still look fabulous tucked into the nooks and crannies. I have to say that I agree!

All Sorts of New Beginnings, Starts and of Course...DRAMA!

Today is the day. They are finally spliting our ward again. It has been less than a year since they split us I hear some of you saying. It's true, but we needed to be split again the next week after last November's split. I am excited to hear how they will be doing everything and who will be called. Because they are spliting us, they moved our Primary program up to today and Catherine has a speaking part and is nervous that today is the day. I am helping to lead the music and love doing that, so no stress on me. As I mentioned before, I am training for a half-marathon. I have been training for two weeks now and feel good, albeit sore, but good. I think that I can do this! We bought a new dishwasher this week and it was delivered on Friday. I was so excited! Brady unpackaged it and it was beautiful. He spent all evening taking the other one out and hooking everything up. We put it on a quick setting for it's maiden voyage and got the shock of our life! One of the connections burst about a minute into the process and a geyser of water started shooting into our kitchen, flooding it! Brady grabbed his drill and was trying to unscrew the thing, while I am screaming for him to turn the water off. Once it was off, we both just kind of looked at eachother, lost for words. Then he started apologizing and I started laughing. We got it all cleaned up, but it took all of our towels and I have been doing laundry for two days. It now runs like a dream and I love it! It's always something right?

Training Day!

Okay, so many of you know that I pretty much despise running or excersice of any sort...however, I am training for my first and possibly last ever Half Marathon. I know, I know, I hear your cries of shock, surprise and stifled laughter, but come on! I am working hard to be able to run any miles consecutively so that I can be ready to start the training November 1st. I run the end of January so start saying your prayers that I don't die and rot on the side fo the road in Surprise, Az!

Cat's 1st Day of School

Click on collage to see zoomed image

Sarah's Stiches!

Sarah had to get 5 stiches after taking a tumble at the water park at the zoo. If you would have asked me which of my children would have to get stiches, I would have said Sarah.




The Before Picture


The After Picture


Sarah was a trooper through the whole ordeal. She only cried when it first happened and didn't cry when she was getting stiched or when they had to be taken out. She was such a brave little girl!

A Little Vacation

We were so excited for Auntie Kelly's wedding! It was a fun and packed week! After the wedding we headed down to Sea World in San Diego for some relaxation. Here are some of the pictures.