Our Anniversary Weekend

For our entire marriage we have always gone away for our anniversary. This year we went to the Blue Ridge Mountains with my sister Adriane and her husband Bryan. We got a cabin high in the Mountains with a gorgeous view! We had a blast! We left on Thursday and came home Sunday. We slept in, watched movies on the big screen in the basement, played pool, relaxed in the hot tub and ATE! We went into town on Friday and went through the cute little shops in downtown and ate lunch at a Bed & Breakfast. It was really good and we had a very entertaining waiter! After being outside all day we went back to the cabin and grilled out steaks that Bryan got, let me just say they were HUGE! Then we got in the hot tub and watched 2 movies. We slept in on Saturday fixed a great big breakfast...scrambled eggs, hash browns, bacon, biscuits and gravy!!! yum! yum! At 5:30 on Saturday we went on the Blue Ridge Scenic Railroad which took us up to Copper Hill, Tennessee. It's really cool there. It's right on the boarder of Tennessee and Georgia, they actually have a dividing line where you can take your picture being in 2 states at the same time. We had dinner there and walked around the Christmas Village where they had a live manager and lots of Christmas lights. We had SOOO much fun and relaxed all at the same time. It's fun being with my sister and her husband because we are like 2 peas in a pod, if I'm not saying something stupid, she is! It's great, I don't feel so alone! :) It's so fun being with Jared away from the kids because it always reminds us how much we not only love each other, but genuinely like each other! We are truly "best friends". It's been the best 15 years of my life and I know we have many more to come! I love you honey! :)

Me & Jared on the Train

Me & Adriane in 2 states at the same time!

At the Christmas Village in Copper Hill, TN.

The hot tub where we spent many hours every night!

Jared doing what he does best!

Adriane & Bryan doing the breakfast dishes.

We built fires in this fireplace while we sat in the hot tub every night. That's the life!

Adriane & Bryan in downtown Blueridge.

This was taken from the deck of the cabin, can you believe the view!!!

Me and my honey!

Decorating for Christmas

The family "homemade" tree

The "pretty" tree! :)

Brooke's tree

I can't believe it's that time of year already! I got all our Chrismas decorations out and it only took me 2 days to put it all out! It's ridiculous! Jared's parents gave us an extra artificial tree they had so I got to make a "pretty" tree. Ya know, one without any Oriental Trading ornaments, construction paper rings, or beaded pipe cleaner candy canes. Oh don't get me wrong, we have one of those trees, BUT it's in the family room. I really do love the "homemade" tree with all the ornaments that the kids made, ornaments I bought me & Jared's 1st Christmas, ornaments people have given us. I even have ornaments that I made when I was 6 years old on it! It may not be pretty to OTHER people, but I THINK it's beautiful. Brooke wanted a new tree this year to "match" her room. She WANTED a white feather tree, but when we got to Michael's they told us they don't sell them anymore! She was really disappointed but she found a SILVER TINSEL tree so she HAD to have it. I know, I know! SILVER TINSEL, but it's actually really cute and it's DEFINITELY Brooke! Now that I'm done DECORATING...the real fun begins with trying to buy that PERFECT gift for those you love and teachers you're trying to "brown nose"! :)

What I am Thankful For

Yesterday I sat in sacrament meeting and listened to a talk on gratitude. The speaker challenged us to give more prayers of "thanks" instead of asking for this or that. She said something that really hit home with me. She said that Heavenly Father already knows the wants and needs that we have so we should give thanks to show our appreciation to Him. I just sat and thought how true I knew that to be and how I know I need to do that more often! So at this Thanksgiving season I would like to write about all the many things that I am thankful for.

I am thankful for this beautiful country I live in. I am grateful for the soldiers that leave their families to stand up and fight for my freedom. I grateful that their families support them in this. I am grateful for eternal families. I am grateful to know that even though we are not together much, we love each other and are ALWAYS there for each other. I am grateful for my amazing husband and SOUL MATE! I am so glad that he is my best friend and he loves me with all of my good qualities and BAD qualities! I am grateful to know that we will be together FOREVER. I am grateful for our 3 BEAUTIFUL children. I am grateful that they are all strong, smart, sensitive and they are just all around GOOD KIDS! I am grateful to know that I have "true" friends! Friends that know I have ADD and love me anyway! :) I am grateful that I have FUN friends that are just plain 'ole "good people"! I am grateful for my healthy body. I am grateful for a roof over my head and food on my table EVERY day! (even though I could stand to skip a few meals!) I am grateful for good music. I am grateful for funny movies. I am grateful for the opportunities that I have had to travel to beautiful places with WARM sunny beaches! I am grateful for a reliable car to drive me anywhere I would like to go. I am grateful my husband knows how much I love to shop and "somewhat" supports my "habit"! ;) I am grateful for memories of good times and loved ones to share them with. I am grateful that I have been able to be a stay at home mom for 13 years and be home when my kids get home from school.

Most importantly I am thankful for my testimony of the Gospel. No matter how simple and elementary it may be, I know that I have a true testimony. I am grateful that I am one of the lucky people that know about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and that I believe it is TRUE. I am grateful that I am not one of the lost souls wondering around trying to figure out what my life is missing. I am grateful for my trials that knock me down and build me up. I am grateful for a calling that makes me want to pull my hair out and helps me grow spiritually all at the same time. I am grateful that I know that Heavenly Father know my name and loves me.

These are a few of the things I am grateful for at this Holiday Season. I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

My trip to see Kizzy in Pheonix!

It only took me 2 YEARS to go see Kristina in Pheonix, but I finally did it! Kristina is "like" my best friend...no really she is my best friend! 2 years ago she and Jeremy decided to move back to Pheonix where all their family is. They have been out here a few times since then, but me and Jared haven't made the trip out there yet. Jared really couldn't take the time off work so he told me to go by myself. It was the 1st time I flew by myself!!! Can you believe it! 38 and never flown alone. It went really good though. I didn't even get lost or confused in the airport NOT ONCE! (that's like amazing for me!) I was really proud of myself. :) We had SOOOO much fun! We shopped a ton! She took me to get "authentic" mexican(Totally the best!). I went to IN & OUT BURGER for my 1st time! Totally yummy, Jared was SO jealous! They took me to see the house Kristina grew up in and the house Jeremy lived in. I met some of her friends and we just basically hung out. Pheonix was really pretty. The sunsets are AMAZING and the warm weather is the BOMB! I could totally get used to living out there where it's warm ALL year! I miss Kristina so much, but I know they made the right decision to move back. Maybe ONE day, they'll be able to move back to Georgia! :)
Jeremy being Jeremy!

Two little hotties ready to go out!

3 little hotties!

Kiley and Tylar after their volleyball game. They have grown up so much! I can't even believe that they're not little girls anymore, they're big girls now! They are just the sweetest and cutest ever! I didn't get a picture of Brielle because she wouldn't let me! But, you can't believe how CUTE she is and FUNNY! She says the most grown up things and she just itty bitty, it's a trip! Jeremy & Kristina have done a great job on them!

Family Day in the Blue Ridge Mtns.

We took the kids to the Blue Ridge Mountains a couple of weeks ago for a "family day". We love to go up there and get away. It's just about an hour north, but when you get up there it feels much further away. We got some mexican spiced hot chocolate, which is the best ever! Mom, it's ALMOST as good as your homemade recipe! :) We walked around the cute little shops and got lunch. It was a great day with the kids. They're really growing up and it's actaully FUN to go and do things like this with them. No diaper bags and chasing kids around. I think we're at a really great "stage" in life. Maybe it's the calm before the storm though!

The kids in front of the train that you can ride up to Tennesee and back on.

I took these pictures from our back yard. I know everyone says we practically moved to TENNESEE, but I love it out here in Canton. It's just beautiful! You know what they say, "you can take the girl out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the girl".

"Mean Girls"

Brooke has been having a hard time at school this year with friends. She has a girl that she has been good friends with off and on and it's finally "off"! I say off and on because the other girl can't "decide" if she wants to be Brooke's friend or not! It's so ridiculous. It's a long story and I won't bore anyone with details, but long story short she said mean and untrue things about Brooke at school. Brooke came home the other day from school and had it out with this girl on the phone and she was REALLY mean to Brooke. I haven't seen Brooke cry like that in a long time. (And for Brooke that's saying A LOT! : ) It's been a tough year for her trying to find a "best friend". Brooke is just different from the other girls at school. She (believe it or not!) isn't into boys and getting into trouble. She's just a sweet girl who isn't mean and CADDY! So, she gets left out. She's the girl at school trying to convert people by giving out Book of Mormon's to her teachers and bus drivers!!! So...needless to say this doesn't make her "cool" with the other kids. So, I found this ADORABLE Betsey Johnson bag and bought it to cheer her up. Listen, I AM NOT in denial, I know that's shallow and superficial, but anyone who denies getting something NEW doesn't make them feel good is a liar! :) She absolutely loved it and flipped over it. It was just nice to see her SMILE again. Kennedy Curtis...she MISSES U SO MUCH!!! I am so proud of Brooke I KNOW that she will go far in life standing for what is right!

COLDPLAY IN CONCERT!!!

Me and Jared went to see Coldplay last Wednesday night. I'm pretty sure they are my MOST favorite group! I love pretty much every song they sing! Jared, being the most awesome hubby that he is surprised me and got tickets. He really doesn't care for them that much, so it was a big deal that he went with me! He kept telling me to invite someone else, but I really wanted to just go with him. We had a great time! By the time he went online to get the tickets all that were left were tickets in the "nose bleed" section! We had never sat that high up before, but they actually turned out to be really great seats! We had a perfect birds eye view. We ate at Ruth's Chris steakhouse (right by Phillips Arena) before the concert, which is ALWAYS good! Then we walked up to Phillips for the concert. Coldplay put on a great show. The set was really cool and they sang every song that I wanted to hear AND they didn't change them or sing them weird! We couldn't bring our camera in so we had the take pictures with my PHONE! So, excuse the low quality pictures.

Here's the set when they performed Viva la Vida.

Me and my "honey" inside Phillips. Aww...what a cute couple!

Way to go GATORS!!!

Jared & Reed Ellsworth, Brooke, Bradley & Chase showing their Gator spirit!

Jared, Reed, Bradley & Chase

I had to post this on our blog because I think this is so funny! We went to the Ellsworth's house on Saturday to watch the Florida & Georgia game. I painted the boys faces in the gator colors and they all looked so funny! It was really cute how they got into the spirit of it all. They went outside and played football while the adults actually watched the game. I just hope my parents don't see Brooke the "traitor" though! She's always been such a HUGE Tennesse fan that I don't think Papa Talley is ever going to let her live it down when he sees her face painted in the Florida colors! She really just did it for the fun of it though, so don't get too upset Papa! Her blood still runs orange just like MINE! Good job Florida though! Jared is trying to get some tickets to the SEC on Dec. 6, so if anyone knows a way for him to get some, LET US KNOW!

My 1/2 Marathon!!!

So I DID IT!!! I ran my first 1/2 marathon on Saturday, October 25 and it was GREAT! I can't tell you how good it feels to have accomplished this goal. I started training for this 3 months ago and worked really hard to get my endurance level up. There were some weeks me and Katy ran 10 to 15 miles in a week. It was hard work, but TOTALLY worth it. I "hit the wall" at about 10.5 miles and thought, "I can't do this, I can't run anymore, this whole race has been up hill!" I stared up this hill that looked like it went on FOREVER! I swear I couldn't see the top, so I decided to walk. I walked for about 1 min and just prayed to Heavenly Father to give me the strength to see my goal to the end. Something inside of me clicked and I started running again and just thought "you can do this, you've come this far don't you DARE give up NOW!" So I just ran and walked the last couple of miles. It slowed my time down, but I still feel really good about my finish time. My goal was to finish the 13.1 miles in 2 hours and 10 mins. I crossed the finish line in 2 hours and 15 minutes! Next time I want to finish in 2 hours!!! Yes, the next 1/2 marathon in is Jacksonville, Florida on Feb. 15! I can't wait!!!

Kathleen, Katy, Stephanie & Me with our t-shirts and medals.

Here we are at 7:00 in the dark and COLD!!! Don't we look excited

Jared and the kids cheered me on as I crossed the finish line. I can NOT tell you what it means to know they are waiting for you and when you get to where you can see them, it's the greatest feeling. This is what family is all about, supporting each other and being there for each other!

The last Marcom to be baptized!!!

I just can't believe that our little Bradley bear is already 8 years old! It literally seems like yesterday I was bringing him home from the hospital! I can still remember what he looked like when he was a baby. All the little rolls on his legs and his little "screwed on hands and feet" with all the wrinkles. His soft little blonde hair that just combed to the side of his head so cute and

perfect. I remember hugging him and how moldable and squishy he was! Now, he's 8 years old and baptized! He is such a good little boy and we are SO proud of him. I KNOW he was really touched by the spirit and will ALWAYS remember his special day! Daddy and Bradley Bear...

Ok, this is the funniest! These kids lined up for the food. You should have seen how patient and polite they all stood there waiting to start until an adult told them to dig in. Then it was every man for himself!

Nana Marcom, Melanie, Munni and Nana Talley talking it up!

Me and all my sistas and Mama!

Andrew, Kevin, Jared and Josh. I don't want to EVEN know what they were talking about, can't be good! :)

Get a load of Chase sneeking into this picture at the LAST minute! What a hoot, it's just soooo Chase!!!

Bradley and Ryan Haymore. His "BEST FRIEND" in the whole world. I'm pretty sure he has a man crush on Ryan. Ok, this is sad, they are the same age...Ryan is like a whole head taller than little Bradley!!!

Bradley with his "future wife". He's only had a crush on Ashley for about 4 years! He is CONVINCED they are getting married. He knows she has a boyfriend HER AGE, but he says he's ok with it because "they trust each other"!!! I really think she is the only person he wanted at his baptism. It's going to be a sad day for Bradley when Ashley gets scooped up by another MAN!!!

Monster Mini-Golf

After Bradley's baptism we went with all the family to play Monster mini-golf. All the kids had a blast! It was really cool with black lights and neon monsters. Bradley had a great day with all of his cousins, aunts, uncles and nana's & papa's.

All the Talley girls AND little Brookie getting our groove on! We did play some golf, in between dancing of course. I don't know WHAT that face is I'm making!

The twins cheesing for the camera!

Some of the "crazy cousins" that played! Ok, there goes Chase again makin' a scene in the picture! He's the funniest guy he knows!

Me and "hottie", I mean Jared, modeling in front of the glow in the dark frankenstein?!? I don't know what the heck that monster is.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO BRADLEY BEAR!!!

He set his candles up in "tepee" style. That's what he wanted. (Don't you love the mess behind him in this picture! Chase's science project behind him.)

The "bear is now 8 years old!!!

Bradley on his new bike. He also wants a rail to add to their skate board ramps. We'll have to get it this weekend.

Eating dinner at Shane's Rib Shack. This is his FAVORITE place to eat. Don't you just love the Disney birthday hat he's wearing. It's our little family tradition to make the kids wear it the day of their birthday. The candles on the top of the hat actually light up and blink! I love it and the kids LOVE wearing it. They stop traffic with it on. :)

Bradley and his class. I went and had lunch with him and passed out the cupcakes. After that I checked him out and he spent the rest of the day with me. The kids loved the cupcakes because they had gummy finger puppets on top of them. They didn't care about the cupcakes, but the finger puppets were a BIG hit! Next time I'll save myself the work!

I forgot like a ding-dong to take pictures of Bradley doing his most favorite thing in the whole world...skateboarding! When Chase got home from school I took the boys to Progressive Skate Park for 2 hours of non-stop skateboarding. That's what Bradley wanted to do on his Birthday. It's a GREAT indoor skate park here in Canton. I'll have to post pictures next time.